MER:
First, congratulations to you on your upcoming new album IndoctriNation, which came out in late October 2011. Talk a little about the new album, and how it compares to your 2010 release Building The Towers …
JB:
We’re pretty excited about the new CD. Basically, when we wrote & recorded Building The Towers, we knew we had way too much strong material for one disc, so we had to decide if we were going to either put out a double CD – which meant that no one would listen to disc 2, haha – or we were going to put out two full-length CDs. We decided to do the latter, and so IndoctriNation is the sequel to Building The Towers. The timing worked out well, because when I was out dealing with my illness, we felt that we were losing momentum not being able to tour, so this gives new life to Building The Towers as well as IndoctriNation, and we plan to tour behind both in 2012.
The new album continues the sound that defines us, which is heavy, melodic, and catchy – with big hooks, but a bit of death vocals, heavy riffs, and sick drumming. We make sure that we distill all that into good, memorable songwriting and we feel that we did a good job of that!
MER:
Your music is very diverse, and can be described as one part Progressive with an extra large dose of heaviness. What are the qualities you believe make Halcyon Way stand out from the pack?
JB:
It’s no secret that we got our break in the Prog scene – that’s how we met Lance King with Nightmare Records, Claus of Intromental, and made many of our fans – but we feel that we’re a much heavier band than most of the ones in that genre. I’m more influenced by bands like Testament, Megadeth, Nevermore, and the like – as well as Prog bands like old Queensryche or Fates Warning – but also Old School Death Metal and some of the new stuff like Chimaira or DevilDriver. Kris Maltenieks (Bass Guitarist) has a Black Metal background. Ernie Topran (Drums) listens to a lot of Technical Prog, but also plays in a Black Metal side project with Kris called Xeroderma. Steve Braun’s (Vocals) biggest influences were ’80s Glam bands and the like, but he also listens to a lot of modern heavy stuff. We’re both influenced as songwriters by bands like King’s X and Galactic Cowboys too. So we think that we bring all of these really diverse influences to the table and it makes Halcyon Way into something really unique. It’s heavy, it’s driving and energetic, but we never lose sight of a good melody or a hook – the songwriting as a whole is more important than any other element. If it’s not an anthem, we don’t want to put it out.
MER:
Many of the songs you write have a politically charged message — what kinds of things inspire your lyrics?
JB:
Our debut A Manifesto For Domination had a lot of subjects, but I think the overriding theme on that CD was just about being strong, and true to yourself. Overcoming adversity through focus and will, really. Building The Towers & IndoctriNation are what will most likely be known as our “political” albums because we wanted to have a theme dealing with the loss of freedoms we as Americans have. Generally speaking, we have short attention spans, we don’t really care what’s going on with our country unless it interferes with our TV schedule, and the like. So we’ve allowed the government to slowly take away our freedoms in exchange for what we think is “security”. There’s also a strong idea on there that our political leadership is really just out to keep their personal power bases, and they care nothing for the people. So the title of Building The Towers is really about politicians building their own Towers Of Babel, so to speak; trying to become gods. We wanted to tackle these subjects from a non-preachy, non-partisan type of standpoint so that’s how we did it.
MER:
Since you have been primarily playing in the local Metal scene over the past few years, do you feel like you are on the verge on an international explosion?
JB:
We really do. We had the opportunity to tour with Fozzy in Europe in 2010, and that went extremely well for us – it was a short tour but we gained a lot of fans that are buying the music and following us on Twitter and the like. We were scheduled to do 3 weeks in Europe with Stuck Mojo later in 2010, but I found out about having Lymphoma only 2 weeks before we were scheduled to leave, so we had to back out of that. While I was in treatment earlier this year, we were offered 2 more European tours that we couldn’t do, as well as a US tour. So our management at Intromental is working hard to get us some good tours in early 2012. We’re very much a live animal, and we think that getting out on the road is essential to take us to the next level.
MER:
Steve Braun is obviously very talented and has become the signature voice of Halcyon Way. What attributes does he bring to the success of the band?
JB:
Steve’s a great singer, and he and I were able to really click instantly from a writing standpoint when he joined Halcyon Way in 2009. Like I said, he and I both really like bands like King’s X and vocal harmonies have always been an important part of the HW sound. So we were able to really flesh that aspect of our sound out. He’s got a really great sense of melody and harmony, and so he could take an idea for a part from me, and turn it into some kind of epic thing by layering harmonies and stuff. That’s a really great tool to have as a songwriter, because you’re able to write with it in mind and you know that when the hook rolls around, it’s gonna be big.
MER:
Who are some of the main influences that drive your creativity?
JB:
I’ve really got a lot of them that I’ve accumulated over the years – from a guitar & riff standpoint, I’d say Testament, Megadeth, Chimaira, old In Flames, and the like. From a soloing standpoint, I’d have to say Petrucci, Skolnick, DeGarmo, Schon, and players like that who approach a solo from a melodic & vocal place as opposed to a SHRED-ALL-THE-TIME-MELT-FACE type of thing. Another player I really like is Marc Bonilla, he’s got a great sense of melody. When I write hooks and things, you’ll really hear the old Queensryche influence come out, with all those big guitar harmonies and open chord progressions.
MER:
How long have you been playing guitar and what other bands have you been a part of?
JB:
I’ve been playing a bit over 20 years – I’ve studied Jazz as well as Rock techniques and although I completely suck at playing Jazz, I’ve been able to incorporate some of those ideas and approaches to my Rock playing, so that’s been cool. I’ve got a nice ProTools setup in my home studio, and I’ve co-produced all of the Halcyon Way material, so that’s been fun and also very educational on how to put a good song together, when to go nuts and when to let the material breathe, and so on. I play Brian Moore Custom Guitars and Framus Amps, and I’m fortunate enough to have endorsement deals with both companies, which has been great. I also have an electronica side project called KarbonBlack and did the remix of “The System” that appears on IndoctriNation. I’m also working on a Rock side project, which I hope will see the light of day soon. The only other band of note that I’ve been in was called Final Judgement back in the early 90’s. It was a Death Metal band and we did a couple of demos — then the band got signed to a small label and completed a CD. I was only 15, so I left to focus on school when things got going with the record deal and all, but some of my material made it to that CD.
MER:
So what is in the future for Halcyon Way? Will there be tour dates to support IndoctriNation?
JB:
Definitely. We’re working hard to get some things going for the first of the year so we can properly support Building The Towers & IndoctriNation. Once we feel that we’ve done a good job of getting out and promoting the new CDs, we’ll likely start working on our 4th album later in 2012. I’ve already got a bunch of material written and at some point we’ll all hole up and put our stamps on it and bang out a new one!
MER:
Thank you so much for taking time to talk to Metal Express Radio. Do you have any final words to share for your fans?
JB:
Thanks again for all of the support over the years, we really do appreciate the airplay and coverage, and I’m looking forward to the next Guest DJ spot! To the fans, we’d like to ask that they tell their friends about Halcyon Way, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation, and all the other sites. You can also order IndoctriNation right now at www.halcyonway.com/webshop.
Be the first to comment