Sidste måned anmeldte vi det seneste album fra det australske band Caligula’s Horse, som vi var ret glade for.
Da de fem gutter spillede forleden i lille Vega måtte vi selvfølgelig ind og hører dem live. I den forbindelse stillede vi Sam Vallen en række spørgsmål. Sam er en af hovedkræfterne bag Caligula’s Horse, og er både lead guitarist, sangskriver og producer.
Det er bandets første tour i Europa, og koncerten i lille Vega var bare nummer to på touren, der afholdes sammen med det norske Jazz-Metal band Shining.
RockZeit:
Thanks for an fantastic show last thursday. Do you ever get the chance, while touring, to enjoy the different cities in between your shows, and do the cultural differenties sometimes inspire you to write songs in a different way?
Sam:
Thank you very much! It was a pleasure to play in your beautiful city!
In terms of exploring, absolutely! It’s something that we treat as practically mandatory. To be honest, seeing the historical and cultural sites in every city is the absolute highlight of touring for me personally, and it’s always the priority over sleeping and eating. According to my little iPhone app, we walked around 17km around Copenhagen, and it was absolutely gorgeous.
RockZeit:
Do you normally write new material on the road or only at rehearsal/studio time??
Sam:
Unfortunately we rarely write on the road for logistical reasons. Touring back home usually requires flights/hours at the airport, and touring here in Europe takes place on a cramped, full bus. Neither situation is really conducive to the mindset that I need for writing.
RockZeit:
Your complex songs and their changing styles and emotions have some progressive elements, and one can often hear folkpop, shoegazer, hard rock and metal within the same song. What motivates that? Is it because all the group members have different taste and everybody join in in a democratic process?
Sam:
The writing in Caligula’s Horse is a collaboration between myself and our singer Jim Grey. Occasionally the other guys have some ideas, but the vast majority of the music is written by us.
And yes, the variety comes from eclectic, contrasting tastes and ideas. I get bored if music doesn’t have surprise twists and turns!
RockZeit:
How do balance the different styles, in order to maintain the right dynamic and balance within one number?
Sam:
The main factor is how well integrated the ideas are. It’s surprisingly easy to follow the route of “eclecticism for eclecticism’s sake”; mashing up genres and feels for the sake of provocativeness, and that approach does very little for me artistically or emotionally. For us the important thing is that everything serves a purpose in the statement of the song, and communicates something, even if that communication is quite varied and dynamic in nature. The message should always be clear and consistent.
RockZeit:
During the concert it seemed like you had some extra vocal samples? Maybe it was just extremely good singing jobs from frontmand and bassist Combined with effects?
Sam:
Our bassist Dave does some fantastic backing vocals, but to replicate the album properly sometimes takes additional layering. We put certain less audible harmonies (usually low stuff, or stuff that uses a lot of studio-effects) on a backing track to compliment Dave and Jim, and to convey the big vocal arrangements we create in the studio.
RockZeit:
What is your view on samples and click-tracks when you play live?
Sam:
We use a backing track live, and our drummer plays to a click track. Our backing track is fairly minimal, consisting mainly of synth pads and samples like sub hits or backwards cymbals, always less important things that help replicate the album but have little effect on the live performance as a whole. I think with music as dense and production-heavy as ours is, a simple backing track is a necessity, otherwise we’d be touring with a 10 piece band!
RockZeit:
You music points in many different directions, which bands, new and old, inspired you?
Sam:
My favourite bands and artists include Steely Dan, Opeth, Meshuggah, Steven Wilson, Devin Townsend, Pain of Salvation, King Crimson, The Beatles, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, and many more. Recently I discovered an amazing Icelandic band called Agent Fresco who have absolutely blown me away. Also, the openers for our current Euro tour, Jack Dalton have an incredible take on post-hardcore with twisting angular rhythms and amazing riffs. Highly recommended!
RockZeit:
Do you consider yourself Metal, rock progressive, post rock or maybe a hole other category?
Sam:
I like the progressive moniker, because it carries with it connotations of musical freedom and diversity. We call ourselves “progressive alternative rock” because it covers most characteristics of our sound, but calling us a metal band would ring true as well.
RockZeit:
Do/did you listen to Buckley, since you nearly pay homage to him in “Dragonfly” – and that awesome Brian May solo afterwards in the same songs, after the calm part, how do you come up with that?
Sam:
Interestingly, Dragonfly is partially an homage to Jeff Buckley. The languid 6/8 feel, floating vocal melodies, and clangy tension are very much inspired by him and his work. Dragonfly was one of the funnest to create because it was so free: there were no time constraints or needs to adhere to any stylistic boundaries in that song. That’s what let me play such an over-the-top, layered guitar solo!
RockZeit:
Our reviewer mentioned artists like Opeth, Jeff Buckely and even Queen in his review of your latest record. Who do you look to for inspiration?
Sam:
All three of those acts are massive influences on us in different ways. Add to that Jim’s love for Tori Amos, my love for jazz harmony, in particularly the amazing work of Steely Dan, and the inspiring creativity of King Crimson, Pain of Salvation, or Devin Townsend. We have many influences, but they’re some of the biggest.
RockZeit:
How did you end up touring with a Norwegian Jazz-Metal band?
Sam:
Shining are a band who do something very unique that I respect immensely. When we started talking with our people about options for Europe and the conception of touring with Shining was floated, we jumped at the idea. Jorgen and his guys are a spectacle to behold live: incredible, original, and very powerful. It’s a privilege to share the stage with them every night!
RockZeit:
As an Australian band how is it to be on tour with “Shining” far from home?
Sam:
Although we all feel the homesickness and the culture-shock, there is nothing more amazing than engaging with fans literally as far from our home as they can be. It’s an amazing, very positive experience.
RockZeit:
In terms of reaching goals, what will make this European tour a good tour?
Sam:
This was our first time outside of our home shores, and meeting the amount of people we have on this tour who adore our music is affirmation that we’re on the right track. In Warsaw some particularly ardent fans brought an Australian flag with them to make us feel at home. That was a lovely gesture, and a powerful reminder that what we’re doing is having an effect on people.
RockZeit:
Our reviewer especially liked “Dragonfly”. Do you have a personal favourite from the new album?
Sam:
Dragonly! I’d actually say Dragonfly is probably my favourite song I’ve ever written. It’s dark and subversive, but also colourful and punchy. It allowed Jim and I to really stretch out into musical and lyrical territory we hadn’t had a chance to explore previously.
RockZeit:
You are only a few concerts in to the European tour, but is there a diffenrence in the Europeans vs Australians approach to the music and performance?
Sam:
There certainly is, but it’s hard to tell sometimes if the difference is cultural, or due to language barriers! Jim has a very natural, funny stage persona that he’s engendered from years of touring Australia which seems to be quite different than the approach of European bands; not in a bad way, just in that it’s different. We are what we are, being Australian and acting Aussie is what sets us apart!
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