IVORY KNIGHT is a classic heavy
metal band from Canada and John (singer and leader of the band) one of
the coolest guys I have ever chated with and he has a real love and passion
for heavy metal music.I think that IVORY KNIGHT is a band that plays the
kind of metal that is famous in Greece. I wish them good luck.
1.FIRST OF ALL TELL US THE STORY OF
IVORY KNIGHT, UP FROM THE FORMATION OF THE BAND AND THE CURRENT LINE -
UP.
Oddly enough, the band originally started
out as a 'fun project' by original drummer Paul Malek (who played on the
original Annihilator demos) and myself. The idea was to put together a
cover band to play some shows. Unfortunately, or fortunately (in retrospect),
the bass player for the fun project literally disappeared (spontaneous
combustion, maybe?:-)) . In the absence of a bassist, we had a choice -
we could either start the search for a bassist - never a fun thing in Ottawa,
or we could write some tunes, and put together a demo, and I could fill
in on bass. We decided to write some tunes, and the result was 'Voices
in your Nightmare'. We added a bassist for live shows, and actually played
around a bit, including shows in Ottawa's top clubs - Barrymore's, Roxanne's
etc… Despite the excellent reaction to Voices, other members of the band
were not happy with the musical direction we were taking. There was actually
a follow-up demo, called 'Breaking the Ice' that we recorded shortly after
Voices. On that demo I took more of a backseat role, creatively, and added
the lyrics and melodies afterwards. The riffing is highly technical, but
I never did feel that the songs or production are up to par on that demo.
Breaking the Ice was basically shelved pretty soon after it was completed.
One of the constant tug-of-wars in those days was the fact that I have
always been interested in the 'darker' types of metal, like Mercyful Fate,
King Diamond, Black Sabbath, etc… The other members of the band were heading
in a more 'positive', hard-rock direction, wanting to play stuff like Van
Halen, D.L. Roth etc… Lacking maturity as a songwriter and as an artist
in those days, I went along with it. We released a demo 'Restless Heart',
which featured the original version of our song 'Last Dance', which was,
lyrically, drastically different from the version that you hear on our
new album, 'Up From The Ashes'. To fit with our 'hard rock' visage, the
band name was changed, and we actually played quite a bit in the clubs
around Ottawa, as well as with recording and releasing another cassette
demo. Eventually the guitarist left, and we hooked up with Rob Gravelle,
who joins me in the current lineup of Ivory Knight. We recorded a CD as
Sudden Thunder, but shortly after, decided that we were not into the poppy
and commercial aspects of that band.The band broke up in '93. In late 1999
I was playing bass and writing with a non-Metal band, but I was finding
that more and more of my writing was heading in the Metal direction. I
was increasingly feeling that my own voice would be best for singing the
new material. I was also becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of
effort and commitment in the old band, and decided that it was time to
start work on something that I would really enjoy doing! I decided that
my new material would form the basis for a new Ivory Knight. At that point
I created a web site with some of the tunes from the 'Voices' demo, more
or less for fun. The reaction was overwhelming! And that was what really
convinced me to put an actual lineup together. My next concern was finding
a drummer proficient in double-kick styles and interested in playing melodic
metal. Luckily enough, former Bio-Encrypt drummer George Nesrallah was
available, and he liked the songs that I had written. As soon as I heard
George play, I knew he was the right guy for the job! Next we needed a
guitarist to elevate the material beyond basic 'good songs'. I had worked
with Rob Gravelle in my last band, and have always been a fan of his playing
ability and style. Again I was very fortunate in that he liked what I was
doing! Steve, our bassist, actually found us a bit later via the Internet.
Being a bassist myself, I have very particular ideas of what I would like
to hear on the bass. Steve is one of those rare players who can keep the
feel of what *I* would play, yet somehow express it within his own style.
2.HOW WOULD YOU CHOOSE THIS NAME FOR
THE BAND? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY WITH IT?
Actually the name came about after
the recording of the Voices demo - after a brainstorming session that lasted
several hours and several beers (back in the old drinking days ;-))! I
used to play a bit of chess in those days, hence the name.
3.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL
STYLE? WHICH ARE YOUR MAIN INFLUENCES?
I call our musical style is melodic
heavy metal, or classic heavy metal. We incorporate some faster elements,
as well as some elements that some would say delve into the threshold of
'hard rock'. As a singer, my main influences include Ronnie James Dio,
Ian Gillan, Rob Halford, David Coverdale. We don't really have a common
'influence' for the band as a whole, as each of us is into quite different
material. Our web site goes into more detail on that sort of thing.
4.HOW MANY ALBUMS HAVE YOU RELEASED?
ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH ALL OF THEM? WHICH ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES
AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN YOUR ALBUMS?
As Ivory Knight we have released the
'Voices in your Nightmare' 5-song demo as well as the recent 'Up From The
Ashes' CD. I am very proud of both releases, although I am really looking
forward to releasing our next album! We're in the arranging stage right
now! As far as similarities and differences go, I would have to leave that
up to the listener. My personal opinion is that 'Up From The Ashes' is
lyrically much deeper and more intense than 'Voices' , but 'Voices' is
generally a little faster musically. Again, all our songs are reflections
of how we were feeling at the time of writing - we didn't make a conscious
effort to make anything different or similar.
5.WHAT ARE THE REVIEWS THAT YOUR ALBUMS
RECEIVE UP TO NOW? HOW CAN SOMEONE GET THEM?
So far the reviews have been very positive.
Our web site has many review clips, and features links to the complete
reviews. Check it out at http://www.ivoryknight.com.
6.WHAT'S YOUR CRAZIEST DREAM ABOUT
IVORY KNIGHT?
I don't know how crazy, but, like every
musician, I would love to see the band reach millions of people!
7.WHERE ARE THE LYRICS OF YOURS REFERING
TO? WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU LIKE TO HURT THROUGH YOUR LYRICS?
My lyrics tend to revolve around people
that I have known, events of which I have heard, or characters that I have
created. Some lyrics are based in reality (for example, Perfect 10, which
is about a character who is obsessed with making her physical appearance
conform to the standards set by the fashion industry), some in fantasy
(i.e. Voices in your Nightmare - about insanity). One theme that I often
revisit is the oppressive and anti-individualistic nature of religion ("The
Cage").
8.DO YOU THINK THAT METAL MUSIC SHOULD
HAVE ITS LIMITS OR SHOULD IT BE ENRICHED WITH OTHER GENRES AND OTHER MUSICAL
STYLES?
I think every artist and every listener
has to address that individually. I personally tend to like more classic
style metal, but it's really up to each person. It also depends on whether
the 'enriching' is done honestly and "from the heart" or if it is done
simply to follow the current trend and to be like everyone else.
9.WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE NU-METAL.
DO YOU LIKE IT?
No, I can't say I personally like all
that yelling and screaming, although some of the grooves are cool, although
monotonous, but again, those artists do what they do, I do what I do.
10.WHICH THINGS WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE
IN THE METAL MUSIC INDUSTRY?
Not so much in the Metal music industry,
but in the North American music industry as a whole, I would like to see
less power of marketing of mindless rubbish and more power of good songs
played by good performers. I would also like to see less trend-following.
11.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN YOUR LIFE IF
YOU HADN'T GOT THE ABILITY TO COMPOSE AND PLAY MUSIC?
Bicycling.
12.ARE THERE ANY PLACES IN CANADA WHERE
A BAND LIKE IVORY KNIGHT CAN PERFORM LIVE? HOW EASY IS IT FOR YOU
TO BECOME WELL KNOWN IN YOUR COUNTRY?
Our home town of Ottawa, Canada, is
not known for metal music. There are no metal clubs here, in fact, there
is nothing appearing in our clubs that is remotely interesting. Most of
the time we have to go to Montreal and Toronto to see good bands. Haha!
So far no-one in Canada knows we exist - we've tried to keep it a secret
;-)! Most of our CD sales have been to people in Europe!
13.WHICH SONG OF YOURS DO YOU CONSIDER
AS THE MOST IDEAL TO MAKE YOURSELVES KNOWN IN PUBLIC?
Last Dance certainly seems like the
song that most people like, although, again, we made no conscious effort
to achieve that. It's just the way it came out.
14.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A GUY TO CONVINCE
HIM BUY YOUR ALBUM INSTEAD OF SOMETHING ELSE?
Listen to our album :-)!
15.HOW DO YOU FIND THE METAL SCENE
OF CANADA? IS IT INTERESTING? HAVE YOU HEARD ANY NEW UNDERGROUND BANDS
YOU FOUND INTERESTING AND WORTH TO BE MENTIONED?
Not much metal here, sorry. Our hometown,
of course, boasts the mighty Exciter, and Canada is also home of the excellent
Annihilator. But these acts never play in our hometown. The clubs here
are not interested in metal. There are probably other good acts that I
am not aware of.
16.DO YOU LIKE READING BOOKS? WHICH
IS YOUR MOST BELOVED BOOK AND AUTHOR?
I love reading! I read approximately
4 or 5 novels every month. Right now I am reading a lot of J.F. Freedman,
John Lescroart, Michael Slade, Tami Hoag, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker
etc... I can't really choose a favourite.
17.WHICH HERO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?
I don't know.
18.WOULD YOU LIKE TO CREATE THE SOUNDTRACK
FOR A MOVIE? WHICH MOVIE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
The Others.
19.THESE LAST LINES BELONG TO YOU...THANKS
FOR THE INTERVIEW!
I'd like to thank our fans everywhere
- stay METAL! Thank you, Nick, for the iinterview! Cheers!