|
D:
Well the band started in November 1997 after almost a year of writing and
recording demos. Dave Boylan and myself go back a long way as musicians in
various bands and we've always written music together, but never seemed to
get involved in bands that really wanted to make a go of it. So we decided
to do it ourselves and from the beginning we knew we wanted to record a
full album. Even if nothing ever came of it at least we would have
something to look back on. So we knuckled down and got working and by
November of 1997 we'd taken the writing/demo exercise as far as it could
go, so the time was right to fill out the band. We formed a working line
up and began to put the pieces in place that would eventually become the
first Celtic Legacy album. We knew we would have to fund the album
ourselves but we also had to take care of everything else as well such as
album artwork, website design and maintenance and eventually promotion.
This was all done using our own resources until we got a manager to take
over the running of the band. We're still looking for a manager 6 years,
several line-up changes and a second album later. But we'll keep plugging
away until it all happens.
As far I know after a bad period for the band,
when you released your first album, you decided to start again working
hard for a new album… and that's
due to the love of a fan that helped you very much. Why did you
decide in the first place to split up without giving an even harder “fight” with the media for your album and for your band? And
what would have happened if Vladimir (the fan) hasn’t raised interest
for the band again? D: The bad period for Celtic Legacy began almost as soon as we'd completed the first album in May 1998 and continued up until April 2001. By that stage both Dave B. and myself were simply exhausted and burnt out. We had been through God knows how many line-up changes, we'd spent a lot of time and effort trying to get people in who were 100% committed to Legacy, but it always seemed to fall apart. As well as internal band problems, Legacy simply wasn't accepted by the media in Ireland or by any other agency willing to take up our cause. Out of 300 press packs sent out over that period, we received a total of 2 responses from record labels that weren’t exactly favourable... that was it!! I learned very quickly that if you don't have any proper contacts in the music industry here then it doesn't matter how good a band or how brilliant your music is... no one wants to know you. And that's still the way things are today. I also very nearly lost my home when I hit financial trouble as a direct result of having funded the first album without any kind of return. I was still paying off the loan until January 2001 and only managed to get out of it by re-financing my mortgage. It was a very depressing time for me and the more Legacy went on without any success the worse my own situation became. So we reached a stage where the fight went out of us and we didn't want to spend any more time and effort on something that just wasn't going to be accepted.
Why did you decide to release an album on your own
and not demo some songs to some labels in order to sign a contract first
and then release the second
album? D: We thought about it, but decided that we
had already spent enough time doing demos and wanted to take the project
to the next level. We also figured that we could wait and see if a label
would consider taking the band on and then do the album. But
realistically, because of the music trends in Ireland we would have waited
in vain, so it was a case of taking the initiative. Again, there's the
problem of us not having any contacts. Both of us were completely unknown
and there was no one we knew or who knew us who we could back us. So we
thought that maybe by showing that we had initiative, that might just work
to our advantage and attract some attention. It didn't... at least not
right away.
Do you believe that it is easier for a label to
sign a band that has a new
album finished and ready? D: Definitely. After all, the product is
there, already finished, the label doesn't incur any studio costs so that
leaves a lot more money available for promotion. We've been hearing
positive signs from a couple of labels about “Resurrection” and we're
still hopeful that we'll get a deal soon to release it.
Now that the album is being finally released are
you totally satisfied with it? D: *LOL* I'm never 100% satisfied with
anything I do, which I know drives the others crazy sometimes, but I
always work towards putting out something that I'm satisfied with
personally. I'm probably too much of a perfectionist, which is not
necessarily a bad thing, but I don't like leaving a job half finished or
not sounding as well as it could. However, I'm 95% happy with
“Resurrection”, which for me is excellent. I think it's a massive
improvement on the first album in every way and, yes, I'm really proud of
how it turned out.
And how is the reaction of the fans and the press
so far? D: We've had a far better response than we
could have hoped for. A lot of people pre-ordered the album well in
advance and were expecting something of similar quality to the first
album, but “Resurrection” has taken them completely by surprise. We're
getting messages every day telling us what an excellent album it is which
is really wonderful. We hope that continues. The readers of one U.S.
webzine have voted the “Resurrection” as the best album of 2003 which
completely blew us away. The reviews have been nothing short of
sensational. I knew we had a better album than the first one, but it seems
that it has really woken up a few people. We're overwhelmed by the
critical reaction to “Resurrection”. The response has been the same
everywhere and I'm talking places as far a field as Peru, New Zealand,
Greece, USA, Germany and even Korea. However, there is still no response
whatsoever from Ireland... go figure!
By the way how you could characterize the music
style of your band? Do you consider Celtic Legacy as an epic metal band? D: Not solely. We do our fair share of
epics that's true and we'll continue to do so, but I think we're a more
straight-forward Metal band with Celtic influences. We've been described
in many ways such as Power Metal, Celtic Rock, Epic Metal, Melodic Metal,
Classic Rock, even folk Metal. I think Legacy is really a combination of
all these elements rather than just one particular sub-genre.
Now let's get to the new album. Does the title
"Resurrection" implies that the band is about to resurrect or
has already resurrected? D: Well the album title was decided on in
2000 after I wrote the music to the title track and Dave Boylan came up
with the lyrics. It was purely coincidental that the song and album would
soon describe a second lease of life for the band. At the time we didn't
know that the band was falling apart and would soon break up, the song was
just part of what was going to be the next Celtic Legacy album, but when
things started to come back together the track seemed to take on more
significance, so the lyrics were amended so that they would have a loose
analogy with the band returning from obscurity. The band has well and
truly come back to life so I don't think there's ever been a more apt
album title.
I would like also to tell me a few words
about each one of the songs. Just a line or two for each song. D: “The Fallen” is
a piece of music I wrote which I thought would make a good intro for the
album. It also became the middle section for Emania too. I wanted it to
have a definite Celtic feel with the voices and tin whistle. “Live By The Sword” was written by myself and Dave B. It was one of three songs that were
written around the same time (“Resurrection” and “Children Of The
Sky” being the others) and we knew when it was coming together that it
was definitely going to be the album opener. The lyrics are loosely based
around a famous battle in Irish history. “Guardian
Angel” is a
Dave Boylan track that he came up with shortly after we finished the first
album. In fact he had intended the lyrics to be used on the track “Waterfront” from the first album, but I had already written a set of lyrics for
that song, so he used the lyrics in a totally new song he came up with
which turned out to be “Guardian Angel”. “Resurrection”
itself came
together over a period of a few weeks and I worked hard on it, because we
had an epic track on the first album and I love writing long tracks as
long as they're musically interesting. The lyrics are a tale of the
reawakening of people's sprits after they have been oppressed and beaten
and the regaining of their pride. Like I said earlier, there are also
parallels with the story of Celtic Legacy and how we got our fire back. “Children Of The Sky” is based on an old Celtic myth: "The Children Of Lir" which is
one of the most celebrated and well known of all Celtic myths. I had a
riff that had a very Irish feel to it and asked Dave B. to come up with
something to reflect the music. Within a half hour he the lyrics
completed. There is a very definite Thin Lizzy influence in this song and
there is also a kind of deliberate homage to Philip Lynott in this song
during the end solo, where I took a few melody lines from “Black Rose”
and put them in. We did something similar with a track on the first album
called “Glen Corr - The Spirit of The Vagabond”, where I put a
small piece of the riff from “Emerald” into the music at a certain
point in the song. It's become something of a Celtic Legacy tradition to
have at least one tip of the hat to Thin Lizzy on our albums. This is one
of my favourite riffs on the album. “Timeless”
was written
very late into the album rehearsals and was still being worked on while we
were recording it. That's another Dave Boylan classic. That man has the
best ear for a melody out of any musician I know. Everything about that
track works perfectly. It's been lauded as a single and it's as a catchy
as hell. Everyone in the band put their own stamp on this track and it's a
real band composition. “Sloidephuch Doin” is a tune I came up with a couple of years ago. I had this idea for an
instrumental song with a very Irish feel and developed the idea to point
where it's almost an Irish jig, but with a very Iron Maiden feel to it.
The band thought that this was probably the weakest track on the album
when we were recording it so I had to push to get it the way I wanted it,
but as it turns out, it's become one of the most popular tracks on
“Resurrection”. Short and sweet. “Shine”
is a reworking
of a track from the first album and it's a song that sparks a lot of
debate. People either love it or hate it. Personally I didn't want to
re-record it, but the other guys thought it was a great song so I was
outvoted. In the reviews we've had, it's either one of the best or one of
worst songs on the album... take your pick. It works well live though and
Mark does a great job on it. I have absolutely no idea what the hell this
song is all about though as I wasn't involved in writing the lyrics. “Always
The Hero” is
about as close as this band gets to Thin Lizzy. Dave Boylan phoned me up
one day and said he had this great new melody he wanted me to hear. So I
called up to him and he'd programmed the melody line into his mobile
phone, as it was the only way he could get it down before he forgot it.
But as soon as I heard it I knew it was going to be a cracking tune. This
was the last song written for album and it's one of the best in my
opinion... plus, it's another example of a full band composition. The
lyrics are all about the wife of a hero who has gone off to fight. She's
waiting for his return but he's killed in battle. While we were recording
this I thought it needed something to make it stand out, so we got a
fiddle player in to add the final touch at the end. This part of the song
is one of my favourite moments on the entire album. It gives me goosebumps
every time I turn the volume up. “Emania
-Shadows of Moonlight” was
a track that I had going through my head one day that I developed. I
started to hear the riff in my head so I spent an entire weekend on the
music. I knew straight away that it was going to turn into another epic. I
got everything down on demo and brought into the rehearsal studio and when
we got in again the following week Mark had written the lyrics and they
went perfectly with the music. I thought this was another song that needed
a bit of Irish influence so I took the melody from “The
Fallen” and
used it as the middle section complete with tin whistle. Actually it's a
very simple song, one of the easiest I've written, but it's a powerful
track too. Mark has great knowledge of Celtic mythology and he used
another old Celtic myth as the basis for the story. “When A Stranger Comes” is a very personal track for me. I wrote this song when things were at
their worst and it kind of became my own personal prayer in a way. The
lyrics are saying, “Don't give up, be true to yourself and follow your
heart”. And with things so bad at the time I needed a song that I could
really feel an emotional tug with. I wrote a very simple piece of music to
go around the lyrics and then recorded it at home and just kept on
soloing. That did the trick for me. I'm looking forward to playing this
song live although the guys are asking me to keep the guitar solo short...
no way guys!!!
Which is your favorite song of the album and why?
I like best “Timeless” cause it reminded me a little of Styx
(“Pieces Of Eight” album). Do you agree with me? D: I've never been a Styx fan and I don't think any of the others are either. I think I've probably heard 2 or 3 Styx songs at most. I think there are actually a lot more Iron Maiden influences in that song than any other.
Do you believe that your new album is far better
than a lot of new albums from bands that have the support of their labels? Personally I totally believe that
and due to things
like that, I keep thinking how unfair music industry is. D: A lot of the reviews have mentioned that
it's beyond belief that this album was done without any kind of backing or
label support and why hasn't Celtic Legacy been signed yet? I wouldn't be
so arrogant to say that our album is a lot better than a lot of stuff
that's out there now. But I do believe that we have a damned fine album
here and I do wonder sometimes why we have to resort to our own resources
to get any kind of product out there. Bottom line is that record labels
aren't interested in quality, it's only what they think will bring in a
fast buck and the music suffers as a result. Fair enough, that's the
nature of the industry. What has changed though is that the labels are
aggressively marketing the short-term money makers and then dropping them
as soon as they hit a dip in sales. The whole industry has gotten even
more cynical over the last 20 years with all these manufactured pop acts.
There's no long-term investment anymore and until that changes we're never
going to get any quality music out into the mainstream.
Which are you favorites bands and musicians that
influenced you and your band? D: Well between the lots of us it's a
pretty mixed bag. I'm into the more classic rock and metal such as Thin
Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Rainbow and Pink Floyd. Dave Boylan likes
absolutely anything metal, Darren and Mark are into everything from Jimi
Hendrix right up to Metallica and Stevo likes the more hardcore metal, so
there's a huge range of influences in there. But the overall band style is
definitely modelled on the Thin Lizzy/Iron Maiden sound.
Do you think that the audience have raised
interest for the classic heavy
metal music again? Or will it happen in the next years? D: Well you have band's like the Darkness
out there getting mainstream airplay, which is a good sign, although I
think the Darkness are more a novelty band and there are far more
deserving bands that could do with the attention than them. A lot of it is
down to the media and who they see as the next big trend. Metal needs a
band that will get a huge promotional push and then maybe things will
change. I think word of mouth has a lot of influence with our kind of
music and we've been well served by it so far, but whether it will be
sufficient enough is another matter.
And some "weird questions" now to relax
somehow!!! Do you believe in luck and in coincidences or do you believe
that the human mind and will can affect all the things in life? D: Let me put it this way... if everything was down to luck then this band would have been dead years ago. Legacy has been a damned unlucky band in the past, in fact there are times when I think we have some sort of curse hanging over us. Things had a habit of going wrong for no reason. For example, we booked a prestigious venue to launch the first album in 1998 and the night before the gig, the drummer came down with a perforated ulcer in his stomach, which led to panic, and another drummer had to be drafted in on a few hours notice. Needless to say it wasn't a great gig. Other things continue to happen. For instance, we booked a studio for rehearsals in January and for the first 3 rehearsals somebody in the band had to cancel because of a family problem. Everything was fine except for any night we wanted to get some work done. And when I got on a flight over to Germany with the “Resurrection” master disk I didn't know that the disk was useless as it had been damaged and another one had to be used. By now we've come to expect things to go wrong and we're almost disappointed when they don't ;-) We're thinking of getting a priest in to perform an exorcism on this band. ;-)
Do you earn your living from your music, or do you
have to resort to other jobs too? D: At the moment that's not possible
because we don't have any money coming for one person to survive on let
alone five of us. Every cent that comes in from sales of
“Resurrection” has to go toward the next print run of the album
because we have to fund it ourselves yet again. Maybe in the future we can
concentrate exclusively on Legacy, but for now I earn a living as a
graphic artist and the rest of the band all have day jobs too.
How do you imagine that the music world could be,
one thousand years from now? And why? D: Unless things change I think the
commercial forces will continue to dictate the music industry to the point
that there's no quality music being released... it's almost at that point
now unfortunately. As for 1000 years from now... I'm sure everyone will
still be listening to Celtic Legacy's music *LOL*
If you were living in Middle Earth (I hope that
you have seen or read the Lord Of The Rings) which character would you
choose to be and why? D: Well if I was vain I would say Arragorn, but I would dearly love to be Elrond so I can attempt to get into a compromising position with Cate Blanchett. :-)
Imagine that your wife/girlfriend is selling your
whole album-collection just to buy for herself an expensive ring.
How would you react? D: I'd react by creating a fellowship to
take the ring to Mordor and cast it into the flames of Mount Doom. After
all, if it made her sell my music collection to buy it, it must be evil!
Alternatively, I'd take the ring back to wherever she bought it from,
getting as much money as I could for it and then buying the entire
collection back. After that I would go find a new girlfriend/wife who
knows how to appreciate good music ;-)
(Interviewers note: Excellent answer!!!)
Ok Dave, I wish you the best for the album. The
last words of this interview belong to you. Thank you again for your time! D: It's been a pleasure. I'd just like to say a big thank to you Thanos for the opportunity to say a few words and for giving us such a great review. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who has contacted the band since “Resurrection” was released. Your faith keeps us going and we hope that we can do it all again on a new album next year, hopefully on a record label that will push the band to the limit. Now as a certain rock idol of ours used to say: “Spread the word around”!
by Thanos Aggelakis |
Hi
Dave. First of all I would like you to give a brief review of Celtic
Legacy's story for our readers.