|
I didn't know what to expect when I got the CD, but after listening to the album, I wanted to know more. And so I sent some questions to the band.... Here are Jon's answers!
Please tell us a bit about the beginning of the band! And how you came up with the band name. What does it mean to you?
The original line-up was formed around a couple of Westminster University mates, Chloe (Alper) who I already knew from bands in my home town of Reading and my brother Andrew. Since then there have been changes but one again the replacements have come from Uni friends and local musicians.
Your debut is called The Dark Third. How did you come up the the concept?
As a band we're fascinated with the questions raised about the origins & meanings of dreams. By the time we die we'll have spent more than six years of our lives dreaming & a third of our lives asleep. So The Dark Third is essentially a concept album that investigates the supposedly sharp boundary between dreaming & wakefulness. And that perhaps the two states aren't actually so very different! In life, as in dreams extraordinary things happen that do not seem so extraordinary at the time, and after all, waking & dreaming states are both products of the same brain.
Please tell us a bit about the story of the songs and how you came up with the name: Goshen's Remains... Apprentice Of The Universe... Nimbos & Tambos..
The song titles just come from the subject matter of the songs, it's kind of in an indirect way. I suppose because our songs and lyrics aren't so cliché with the musical scene at the moment we try to do the same with our song titles too.
At The Bright Ambassadors Of Light - and also at He Tried To Show Them Magic! - you used a line off Pink Floyd's Echoes. Who had the idea? And why did you pick this line?
I write all the material so it was my idea, I just like the feeling of the words.
Paul Northfield produced the album. How came that you work with him? And will you work with him again in future?
We met up with and interviewed a whole bunch of different producers with various degrees of experience, but Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree/Blackfield mentioned Paul Northfield who had produced bands such as Rush, Porcupine Tree and Gentle Giant. We met up with him and immediately wanted to work with him. Paul is still in touch so you never know...
Cover artwork... Who did the cover? Was it an existing piece? Or done for the album?
Well we started working with a graphic design company & I gave 'em a whole load of ramblings about the concept & what we we're about... They then came up with the whole statues thing which we really liked... we felt it gave a really striking image... I'm big into renaissance art/architecture... gothic stuff too actually... actually I think the figures on the cover are the transformers Optimus Prime & Megatron...!
The album is out for months in the UK and also in the USA. Now it's finally released in Europe. How are the reactions here in Europe compared to other territories?
We've had great reaction in the UK and the US, but it has been frustrating to have not been able to do more (in the US in particular), but Europe has been fantastic and does seem to be a bit special for us!
You just been on tour with Blackfield. How were the reactions? And will we see you again soon on stage?
The Blackfield dates were some of our best ever so we will be back in the Autumn for a much longer tour.
As the debut album was recorded awhile ago, have you already wrote some new tracks?
Yes, we have just started recording the next album and will complete it between a festival in Spain and short US tour in June, but hopefully it will be released in the Autumn, we want to make up for 'lost time' now we are with a new label things will move much quicker.
Give us a brief look into the near future of PRR! What's coming next?
The second album and much more touring than ever before, so must go now, the studio is calling...
And perhaps next time I can catch them on tour and talk to them in flesh. Meanwhile I keep listening to their debut album... See you later!
|
|