Tell us a little bit about your project?
The aim of the project is to create meaningful, powerful music that tells a story and at the same release a full length album independently from labels. It has flashes of 80’s hard rock (Another Stab At Apathy), symphonic power metal (Revelation) and even a bit of thrash metal (Burden Of Dreams)!
It’s called “Only Shadows Touch”, which has a dual meaning – the romantic love-lost, “I’m so alone” meaning, and the science-y one saying that, since atoms repel each other, we never actually touch anything… Ever. They both have a strong resonance in the album’s tracks which treat these subjects in all kinds of ways. Distance, war, love, death, understanding…
Interesting blend of genres. Would you mind telling us how come you choose this particular genre?
I’ve been listening to rock and heavy metal (Judas Priest, Scorpions…) since I was 6 years old. I don’t think I had much of a choice in the matter! Since then I’ve fallen in love with bands like Blind Guardian, Angra… But also composers such as Joe Hisaishi.
My “sound” is heavily inspired by the Scorpions too (but heavier) while bringing in performances from vocalists who all have their own ideas and influences. This makes the album very diverse!
When did the production of the album begin?
I began writing the songs for this album at the beginning of 2011 but I never imagined it would amount to something this big. I’ve learnt a lot as a composer and producer in the past two years, so much so, that I’ve actually redone many of the tracks multiple times.
How many people are collaborating in your project?
Four of us are working on it together. I’ve written and performed all the music but since I’m not a confident singer yet, I felt I needed someone else to do the vocals to really finish it off. Over time I’ve found quite a few people, namely Fredrik Park, Chris Scheer (Torn) and Walid Feghali.
They’re all amazingly talented people and the work they’ve done so far is beyond anything I could have imagined so I’m very pleased!
How did you manage to control the process in such a project (logistics, communication, etc)?
Control is a big word ! I usually just send them the tracks and they work their magic on them.
I think it’s more a case of annoying them until they get started! As soon as they get started though, they seem to get that spark of inspiration and then I can’t stop them! Fredrik and Chris are working on a duet on one of my favourite tracks of the album too!
Where can people find out more about your project?
Well the planned release for the album is in the early Autumn so until then you can subscribe to my YouTube channel where I upload new music every week including regular information and updates about the album.
Otherwise, you can hit the like button on my facebook “fan page” where I keep everyone up to date even more than on Youtube.
You can also check out the other guys:
Chris Scheer (Torn) @ SoundCloud
Tracks mentioned above :
Another Stab At Apathy
Revelation
Burden Of Dreams