KAMELOT
I
follow musically Kamelot since their beginning, since their debut album
entitled "Eternity" and one thing I can tell for sure is that they progress
their music from album to album and enrich it with varius, many times non
metal elements. Soo, their fifth studio album entitled "Epica" will be
released and taking this chance I had a long talk with their singer Roy
Khan, who proved to be an excellent person, very polite, with a good sense
of humour and willing to talk. I learnt many things I wasn't aware of and
will you...
1.CAN YOU POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY UP TO DATE? WHICH ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
MOMENTS IN THE BAND?
Well I'd say that the first important
moment was when I met Thomas and the other guys because it was the first
time that I can in America actually and after we have done "The Fourth
Legacy", the success of this album was a big push and there are also some
certain concerts, some of the festival epxeriences we had in the summer
that are really strong in my mind and of course there are always some certain,
specific situations that stick in your mind.
2.YOU USE MANY NON METAL ELEMENTS IN
YOUR MUSIC SUCH AS ORIENTAL, SYMPHONIC, BAROQUE AND RENNAISSANCE PARTS.
THE BAND'S NAME IS KAMELOT. DO YOU USE THESE ELEMENTS TO CONFIRM IN A WAY
YOUR MONICKER OR DO YOU LIKE EXPANDING YOUR MUSICAL HORIZONS?
Well, both me and Thomas always
try to develop ourselves as musicians, as artists, as songwriters and we
really work hard not to repeat ourselves and part of doing this is always
trying to bring in new elements, bring in new instruments and maybe try
new variations of our music, which still has to be within the metal genre,
it has to be defined as metal of course but ther are still many things
you can do and still be metal and I think that it's really important being
a creative artist, to write, listen to, get your influences from different
genres to the genre you are playing yourself.
3.ALTHOUGH THE KEYBOARDS ARE ESSENTIAL
IN KAMELOT'S MUSIC AND MANY TIMES DISTINGUISHES YOU FROM OTHER BANDS, YOUR
STYLE IS DEFINITELY POWER METAL (CAUSE OF YOUR POWERFUL RIFFS) AND NOT
PROGRESSIVE AS MANY LIKE TO CHARACTERIZE YOUR MUSIC. CAN YOU IMAGINE KAMELOT
WITHOUT KEYBOARDS? DO YOU USE THE KEYS TO CREATE THE APPROPRIATE ATMOSPHERE
OR SIMPLY TO ENRICH YOUR MUSIC, FILL IN THE GAPS LET'S SAY?
Kamelot without keyboards wouldn't
be very interesting. I mean this is the way for example I write the songs
and Thomas also uses his keyboards in his songwriting and you know
I have three keyboards and computers and stuff that I use in the songwriting
process, so of course there will be a lot of keyboards in the end and no
I don't really see Kamelot without keyboards because this is a so important
element of our music. The reason we are not having a keyboardist in the
band is because since the time we started working with Miro we don't really
see the point of having another band member trying to take over Miro's
place, because he is simply one of the best keyboardists...
-AND HE KNOWS THE BAND AS WELL. HE
KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO...
Yeah!!! Exactly! I mean making
music overall for me and Thomas is also try to inspire people that are
around us, to work for the same goal, to try to get everyone the same vision
of what we want this to be.
4.YOU WILL SOON RELEASE YOUR FIFTH
STUDIO ALBUM ENTITLED "EPICA". DO YOU WANT TO GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT IT?
WHEN WAS IT RECORDED, WHERE, WHO WERE THE PRODUCERS, ETC?
Well as always since "The Fourth
Legacy" it is Sascha and Miro producing and the reason is simple. They
are the best in this genre and I don't see any reason why we should change
the production team unless it would be for some artistical reason. We might
well well do that, say in 2-3 records from now...Who knows? But that has
to be only of artistical reasons and the production took us I'd say 5...yeah
5.5 months. It's the longest production that I've ever participated and
I really hope that people will be satisfied with what we did, because this
has costed as a lot...I mean the whole process of making "Epica" started
actually after "The Fourth Legacy" 2-3 years ago and it's been a really
long process because the whole idea of doing a concept record totally turns
around the songwriting process. You have to make music that mostly emphasizes
the story and not the other way around.
-WELL...IF YOU ASK ME I THINK THAT
EPICA IS AN AMAZING ALBUM!
OOohhhh!Thank you! Thank you very
much!
5.YOU HAVE MANY PARTICIPATIONS IN "EPICA".
HOW DID IT HAPPEN? HOW DID YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH THESE GUYS IN SPECIFIC?
YOUR CHOIR IS CONSISTED BY INCREDIBLE VOICES. BESIDES THAT YOU USE SOME
NON METAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS JEMBE AND BANDONEON. CAN YOU TELL ME SOME
THINGS ABOUT IT?
About these guest musicians and
instruments...well, you know sometimes is just coincidence, sometimes is
planned out. Most of the times, normally is planned out, like for example
the character of Helena is played by a girl called Mari from America...
-SHE HAS AN INCREDIBLE VOICE...
Thank you! I will pass that out
to her! hahahaha
So, ther reason why we wanted to
use this kind of a soprano is that she has this high kind of innocent sounding
voice and this character was totally,perfectly suiting the part of Helena
in the story, who is representing good in the concept of Epica and then
there's Luca Turilli playing a solo in our album. This is totally coincidence.
He was mixing his record, when we were down there producing and he asked
me to do some background vocals in the choir and of course I did that and
as a trade he did half a solo on one of our songs. Sometimes we just do
it for fun! But also like the instruments for example...
-WELL, YES THAT'S WHAT I WAS ABOUT
TO ASK YOU NOW. WHAT KIND OF INSTRUMENTS ARE THEY? NEVER HEARD OF THEM
BEFORE...
Ok, ok! The jembe is some kind
of a drum, it's an old fashioned big kind of drum and bandoneon is some
sort of accordeon which we used on the song "Lost And Damned" in the verse.
Now, about this bandoneon, this instrument has something like a tangled
feel and we felt that ok maybe we should use an instrument which would
be very natural to use in our music. It was a pure tangle and then
we turned our eyes to Argentina where this instrument comes from and we
said ok we want to use bandoneon as an extra to emphasize the feel of this
verse.
6.SOME OF YOUR SONGS BROUGHT ME GREATLY
IN MIND RHAPSODY (THE CHOIRS AND THE INTERLUDES ESPECIALLY). IS IT BECAUSE
OF THE PRODUCERS AND THE STUDIO? WAS IT MADE ON PURPOSE OR IT JUST SIMPLY
HAPPENED?
Hmmm...well,I don't really think
we sound too similar to Rhapsody.
-NO, I DIDN'T SAY IT ABOUT YOUR MUSIC,
JUST THE CHOIRS AND INTERLUDES. YOUR MUSIC REMAINS KAMELOT...
Yeah! But of course, but the fact
that we are using Sascha and Miro, it might give a certain reference to
the other productions that they do. But I don't know...our interludes to
my ears don't sound like the Rhapsody interludes, I don't know...Of course
it's Miro that arranges things, he has a certain way of arraning things,
which is similar but besides that...I think that Kamelot is also a band
with fast songs and with double bass and drums and catchy courses and I
don't see too many similarities to Rhapsody...
-YEAH BUT MAINLY YOU SOUND CLOSE IN
THE CHOIRS.
Ooohhh the choirs! Yes! That's
because most of them are the same poeple. I mean the people that we use
in choirs, you know there are many times the same people like Robert Hunecke
-Rizzo, Cinzia Hunecke-Rizzo, these peoplle that they work in Wolfsburg
with Sascha and Miro and so this is because there are many same poeple.
7.WHAT ARE "EPICA'S" LYRICS DEALING
WITH? IT'S A CONCEPT STORY, RIGHT?
-CAN YOU TELL US THE MAIN PLOT? WHAT
IS "EPICA"? A LAND PERHAPS?
Well Epica to us is three things.
First of all is a physical place in the story, but this is epica part I
so you haven't really gotten to Epica yet.
-SO WILL IT BE A TRILOGY?
No. It will be a double...Part
I and part II. Epica part I is based on Faust part I by Goethe and Epica
part II will be beased on Faust part II. The story is...it is loosely based
on Faust and when we say it is loosely based on it we really mean that
it is loosely based, because this book took Goethe his whole life to write
and it is maybe one of the most complex works in modern literature and
whatever Goethe wanted to say with his book it's totally impossible for
us to capture in a 60 minutes cd but under the surface the story is very
similar and the story is...we have a main character, his name is Ariel,
he is searching for the ultimate true answers in his life, that he can
not find in religion or science. I mean it is a classic story anyway. Goethe
wasn't the only to write this kind of story, but at a point Ariel makes
a deal with the devil, he is called Mephisto in Epica like in Faust and
this partnership with the devil causes him a lot of troubles, especially
in his relationship with Helena, who let's say is his love interest in
he story and also representing good. She is the opposite of Mephisto and
Ariel is some how in between these two characters.
8.OOHH NOW I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS THAT
I WANTED THOMAS TO ANSWER BUT MAYBE YOU CAN ANSWER THEM AS WELL...
Maybe! I'll try...hahahaha
-OK! YOU ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF
THE BEST SINGERS IN THE POWER METAL SCENE (AND IN PROG AS WELL DUE TO YOUR
WORK WITH CONCEPTION). WHAT CHANGES DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE BROUGHT TO THE
BAND WITH YOUR ARRIVAL AND IN WHICH SECTORS?
Well, I'd definitely say that of
course I contirbuted in the melody making and my way of writing lyrics,
as a certain influence on how I deal things and also the fact that I am
part of the songwriting process from the very beginning...It is very hard
to say what I am contributing and what Thomas is contributing. He
is making melodies, I am making guitar riffs, we can both write drums...It's
a totally 50-50 work between us and we also divide the business part of
this whole thing that Kamelot has achieved, between us... I don't know
what to say. I think it's in other people to judge...Of course you have
the drastic difference between the old Kamelot and the new Kamelot, for
people to hear for themselves. the difference is also based in the fact
that we started using Sascha and Miro as producers at this point, so I
really hope that my work and melodies and my lyrics and the way I write
songs that is an influence in the band. It would be strange if it didn't.
9.THE PREVIOUS SINGER MARK VANDERBILT
HAD A DIFFERENT VOICE, A DIFFERENT WAY OF INTERPRETING AND PRESENTING THE
VOICE TO YOU. WEREN'T YOU AFRAID WHEN YOU WERE FIRST SLEECTED TO TAKE HIS
PLACE THAT YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PERFORM THE OLD SONGS AS GOOD AS HE
DID?
Noooo, not really. After all we
don't play that many of the old songs live. I mean Kamelot has become so
big now compared to what it was before I joined the band that the percentage
of the fans that knew Kamelot before me is now a small percentage of our
total fan base, so I don't feel that I have a problem to be honest
and we pick out from the old albums some songs that would fit my voice
and that we all would like and I think it's working pretty good and also
one of my favorite songs is "Call Of The Sea". It's an amazing song!
-YEAH!IT WAS AMAZING WHEN YOU PLAYED
IT HERE IN GREECE!
Oh thank you! You were at the gig?
-YES OF COURSE I WAS!
In Thessaloniki or Athens?
-IN THESSALONIKI.
Ohh cool! That was a really cool
gig! I liked that one!!! Playing in Greece was a really fantastic experience!
That was the first time I played in Greece actually. we never played there
with Conception and I was really amazed by the enthusiasm in the Greek
fans! Totally fantastic!
10.NOW THAT YOU MENTIONED IT...ARE
YOU PLANNING TO COME AGAIN?
Absolutely! We are no working on
different touring alternatives and Greece is definitely part of one of
them and the one tour is starting in March and the othe rone is starting
in April, but you know it's in the middle of negotiation process and we
haven't yet really decided which one we really wanna go for and also the
other tour might also have Greek at it after a while. Nothing is decided
yet. It's all part of the negotiation on who will be on the tour, the economics,
the record label has its say, the package, there are a lot of things that
have to be discussed as far as touring goes and you have also to know about
touring that this it's business that the band doesn't really have much
to say...
-YES OF COURSE THERE ARE THE MANAGERS
AND THE POEPLE THAT BOOK YOU...
Yeah!Exactly, exactly! The promoters...These
are the people that have most of the power when it comes to decide where
we are actually playing you know on this tour. But if it was up to me I'd
definitely play in Greece again and again! It was really fantastic when
we played there with Crimson Glory!
11.KAMELOT IS A WELL KNOWN BAND AND
AN ESTABLISHED NAME IN OUR MUSIC. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR COURSE SO
FAR? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANTED TO ACHIEVE BUT HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE SO
FAR AND SOMETHING YOU MANAGED TO ACHIEVE AND WANTED IT FROM THE VERY START?
Hmm...We are definitely extremely
happy with the progress of the band and you know it has been going really
really fast since we released "The Fourth Legacy" in 1999 it has been going
so fast and the band has been growing tremendously from record to record
that...you know I am always too busy. I've been talking about doing a solo
project for a long time now and I just don' seem to find the time to do
this, because Kamelot is keeping both me and Thomas so busy all the time...
What I am really looking forward to now is having Christmas vacation! Because
I've been thinking, dreaming and living Kamelot for at least a year...
-I WISH YOU TO HAVE NICE VACATION THEN!
Thank you! Hahahahahahaha
12.EUROPE IS THE MOTHER OF METAL AND
THE PLACE WHERE IT CONTINUES TO DEVELOP. MANY SAY THAT HEAVY METAL IS DEAD
IN THE STATES. HOWEVER, THERE ARE MANY BANDS COMING FROM THERE WITH A STRONG
PERSONALITY AND GREAT AWARENESS OF THE SPIRIT OF HEAVY METAL, LIKE YOU.
WHY DO YOU THINK THIS HAPPENS?
I am totally sure that the bands
follow their hearts and do what they really feel is right and if they have
the right talent and the right people pushing them, they'll get somewhere,
they will grow and I mean the whole genre had a real strong push these
past 5 years but of course there are certain bands that will stand out
always and I think it is important to try not to repeat yourself and still
keep this feeling of the band, you have to work within the frames of your
own music and always try to bring in new elements and not repeat
yourself and I'd say that Kamelot is one of the very few bands that put
almost all the money that we make back into the production, because we
want to produce the best possible product with the available resources
that we have both because we want to be proud of our music, in he future
when I am 60 years old I really wanna hold "Epica" in my hands and say
"oohh yeah I am still proud of this!" but we also do this in respect to
our fans, because they are definitely the reason why we are getting bigger.
13.WHICH SONGS FROM "EPICA" DO YOU
LIKE THE MOST? WHICH ONES WOULD YOU SUGGEST TO THE METALLERS TO LISTEN
TO FIRST IF YOU ASK ME, I ADORED "EDGE OF PARADISE", "DESCENT OF THE ARCHANGEL",
"A FEAST FOR THE VAIN", "THE COLDEST WINTER NIGHTS" (WHICH I FIND TO BE
UNIQUE) AND MY MOST BELOVED OF ALL IS "THE MOURNING AFTER".
-YEAH.
-WELL WHICH SONGS WOULD YOU SELECT?
Ooohhh...hahahahaha. It's very
hard to be subjective you know...Pppffffit's really impossible for me to
say. I really like all the songs but I...
-WELL THEN TELL ME WHICH ONES DO YOU
LIKE THE MOST TO SING?
Which ones do I like the most to
sing?
-YEAH
Oooohhh...Hmmm...I have to say
that "The Coldest Winter Nights" was very special. It was played live in
the studio and the whole band was in the studio at the same time because
the drum set was very simple because we used this jembe and this song somehow
obtained a really unique atmosphere. I also like the song "Farewell", I
like "Edge Of Paradise", I also like "The Mourning After"...I like all
the songs!
-WELL I LIKE THEM ALL TOO!
Yeah!Hahahahahahhaahaha...So, I
guess it's pretty hard to say.
14.WHICH SONG WOULD YOU SELECT TO MAKE
IT A VIDEO CLIP AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
Ooohhh...This is something I really
haven't thought about before. There are so many ways of promoting an album
and we don't totally believe that making a video clip is the totally right
way for a heavy metal band. You know a video costs so much money and there
aren't many tv channels that wanna play heavy metal. You know Headbangers
ball doesn't exist anymore and metal is still somehow and underground thing,
so this is not an issue that we thought about. This is something that we
would discuss in connection to a dvd for example.
15."EPICA" WILL ALSO BE RELEASED IN
A DIGIPACK FORM, WHICH WILL INCLUDE A BONUS TRACK, SPECIAL INTERACTIVE
MULTIMEDIA TRACKS AND A FEW MORE SURPRISES. CAN YOU BE A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC
ON THESE EXTRAS?
Well,I'm not totally sure what
is gonna be. This multimedia thing it has interviews, it has like the band's
favorites, aaahhh it has all kinds of things, it also has something like...not
a video game but a 3D introduction to "Epica". I think there's gonna be
a tattoo in the package, what else? I can't remember all the things that
there gonna be in the multimedia thing, but this is something that the
director has been working on with connection with us, there are so many
little things in this special multimedia thing, but I can't list them all
right now. But it's good to have a few surprises for the fans when it comes
out! hahahaha
16.WHICH WILL THE BONUS TRACK BE? "LOST
AND DAMNED" OR IS IT ANOTHER BONUS TRACK?
No, no! The bonus rack is called
"Snow" actually and I don't think it's in the promo. It's not "Lost And
Damned". Does the info sheet say that?
-WELL MAYBE I GOT IT WRONG...
Oohhh...ok. So, "Snow" is somehow
part of the concept but it's also not part of the concept, mainly because
the music was made right after "The Fourth Legacy" and we didn't put it
on this album, not because it wasn't good enough but we didn't need it
for the album and this time we used it as a bonus track and you know the
lyrics somehow fit into the story but it's not really part of the concept
and to be honest I didn't really wanna do a bonus track because this is
a concept cd and it's funny to have a bonus track on a cd that is supposed
to be linked together and presented as one piece and you know it's wrong
anyway, you put a piece that is part of the concept and then take it out
again? Or having a bonus track after the album that is concept is out?
But the record label wanted it, so there you go...
17.IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION WHAT
WOULD IT BE?
Oohhh....hahahha...Ooohhhh. Melancholy.
If you say that melancholy is an emotion, some sort of sadness. Not really
sad, but some sort of sadness...
18.SO, IF IT WAS A PAINTING WHAT WOULD
IT SHOW?
Ooohhh...That is impossible to
say...I mean our music is so visual and it is so full of images that is
impossible to say...Maybe a mixture of our cover artworks. I don't kwo.
Impossible to say!
19.IF YOU COULD TRAVEL BACK IN TIME,
WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE
MOST FROM OUR TIMES?
Hhhmmm...hahaha...Ahhh I'd probably
go back to the time of the...hhhmmm...I wouldn't mind being around you
know, down in the Middle East around year zero...hahahaha. I'd like to
see for myself what was really happening those days. I would really try
to see that with my own eyes!hahahaha
Aahhh...I really haven't thought
about that. And what would I miss from our times?
-YES.
-OK!
-WE MODERN PEOPLE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT
OUR PC'S RIGHT?
No! Exactly!hahaha...So maybe my
keyboards and my pc! hahahaha
20.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE
CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?
Hahaha...Why????????? Hahhahaha!!!!
Why did you do this to us? Why? Why do I exist?
21.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T
ABLE TO COMPOSE MUSIC?
I don't think there is an alternative.
Maybe I'd be a writer. I couldn't be a painter but I could do photography
I could do sculpturing,aaahhh I could also be a movie maker I think.
-SO YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT ANY ART
FORM?
No! I can't live without the art,
but I chose to become a musician. I think that is the only real alternative!
22.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
AAaaaaaaa!!!!!Not really!!!!!hahahahahaha
I think you pretty much covered
all of it and I also had a lot of interesting and anorthodox questions
to answer! It was one of the best and most interesting interviews I've
done!
-THANK YOU!
Hahahahaha. Yes! i think you pretty
much covered it all!
-SO, I'D BETTER LEAVE YOU NOW, CAUSE
I GUESS YOU HAVE SOME MORE INTERVIEWS...
Oohhh yeah! I'm stll going on tonight!
-THEN I SHOULD WISH YOU GOOD LUCK AND
PATIENCE!
Oohhh thank you Christine! It was
really pleasure!
-OK!AND MAYBE WE'LL SEE YOU SOON FROM
OUR PLACES FOR A LIVE SHOW!
I really hope so! I am crossing
my fingures and hoping that we will come to play in Greece in connection
with the release of "Epica".
-OK THEN I AM CROSSING MY FINGURES
TOO!
-BYE!
Christine Parastatidou
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