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#1 2009-02-12 17:16:40

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

A couple of questions

There are a couple of things I was wanting to ask you guys, if I may.

First of all, I'm curious where you got the band name from, or what it means. It's an awesome name, by the way.

I was also wondering who you consider to be some of your biggest musical influences. Do you have any particular favorites from the 70's (or any other decade)? One of the things I noticed right away was your use of vocal harmonies -- something that's not common in modern symphonic prog.

I'm definitely going to spread the word about Brighteye Brison. Thanks for reading, too. smile

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#2 2009-02-12 20:05:00

Per
Moderator
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 10

Re: A couple of questions

I would say that my greatest influence, at least as inspiration, is and will always be Yes. It was the first progact I found and it was for a long time the only progband I was aware of...Later on I started to listen to Genesis and was very fond of it as well. Iīm not that good at finding new (or old, for that matter) music, I tend to be so tired in my ears after working in the studio all day so the last thing I want is to listen to music. I do enjoy Gentle Giant, at least the things Iīve heard so far.

The Beatles is also a huge inspiration for me, especially the work of engineer Geoff Emerick (most albums from Revolver-Abbey Road). The vocals, well some of it is inspired by The Beatles, but I also love the way Queen did their vocal arrangements.
Nik Kershaw is a great influence, as well, both his eighties stuff and the later ones.

Thanks for listening!

Regards/

Per

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#3 2009-02-13 08:37:05

Linus
Moderator
From: Sweden
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 46
Website

Re: A couple of questions

There's a back story to the name. I was going to publish it at some point but I'm still waiting for the right time to do this. Basically Brighteye Brison is our overseer and muse if you will. This will become clearer in portions, beginning with the song "The Battle Of Brighteye Brison" which displays a part of the mythology, in no chronological order.

Ofcourse the influences of the great 70's bands include so many. I grew up listening to jazz music, John Coltrane is my first musical inspiration, and got into prog in high school. If I have to pick one band though it has to be Gentle Giant.
I believe vocal arrangements to play a big part. When all instrumental parts are carefully arranged it feels natural to me to think about the vocal possibilities as well. Not only throwing in harmonies to make the chorus (or something) stand out but to create a good balance throughout the whole piece. Todd Rundgren is a master at doing this. In his band Utopia vocal harmonies were used to perfection since all four members sang and also shared the lead vocals. This concept really appeals to me. Rather than having one person in the front Utopia was a bunch of musicians all playing their part, even sharing song writing. Even from the start this is how I wanted Brighteye Brison to function as well.

Cheers!
/Linus

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#4 2009-02-15 17:14:11

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

Re: A couple of questions

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions. It's interesting to know who some of your influences are, both musical and inspirational. I also look forward to getting to hear more of the backstory behind the name.

Listening to "Believers & Deceivers" reminds me of why I still get excited about this kind of music. It feels like when I first "discovered" Genesis and Yes. I only wish I had found out about you guys sooner. Of course, now I'm telling all of my friends about it. wink

What are your plans for the future of Brighteye Brison? Do you guys plan on writing music for a new album? Do you think we'll see a live album (or DVD) at some point?

Thanks again for reading.

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#5 2009-02-16 19:09:52

Linus
Moderator
From: Sweden
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 46
Website

Re: A couple of questions

Great to hear that, aith01!
What we know for sure is that we are going to record once more for Colossus. It's a new track to be added on the upcoming "Dante's Paradiso" album. Since we did the track for "Dante's Inferno" this feels like a fun project.
There are always songs in the making, and songs that are already finished for that matter. Right now we focus on getting out and play as much as possible and I hope that we will be able to release something from our live performance in the near future.

/Linus

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#6 2009-02-19 04:53:43

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

Re: A couple of questions

Thanks again for the response. It is so cool to hear from you guys. I'm still absorbing the new album, and The Grand Event is starting to sink in more now. I can remember more of it with each listen. Seriously, the new album is highly impressive and I cannot wait to see what you gentlemen do next. Count me as a fan. smile

Per, I was wondering what kind of software you use in the studio. Do you prefer analog recording equipment or digital? And is that you singing in the start of The Harvest?

Linus, I've not heard Utopia but now I'm curious to hear them. Gentle Giant are a favorite of mine, and I thought I heard a little bit of GG in The Grand Event. Very nice. smile

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#7 2009-02-20 00:06:33

Per
Moderator
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 10

Re: A couple of questions

Hi again! Nice with all your questions, I enjoy having contact with fans.

Yes, thatīs me singing in the beginning of "The Harvest" (and the rest of the song as well, when itīs one person singing...).

I use Cubase as my DAW, with almost only Universal Audio UAD Plugins. They have recreated a lot of the old tools in the digital world in a impressive manner, so Iīm quite happy with the results I can get out of it. I started in the analog domain, so thereīs still an old magic there that Iīm very fond of, but still Iīm happy with the digital domain as well. Both has itīs advantages and disadvantages, I guess...
I do have two Roland Space Echo 301 and 501 units I try to use as much as possible although UA has quite a good emulation of a 201.
Iīve put most of my money in purchasing good microphones, preamps and converters to get a great sound into the computer, if you have that it really doesnīt matter what tools you use to tweak the little things that needs a bit of work...itīs 90 percent in the playing, arrangements and songwriting anyway :-)

Regards/

Per

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#8 2009-02-20 18:21:42

Linus
Moderator
From: Sweden
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 46
Website

Re: A couple of questions

Yes. There are two homages on The Grand Event. One is the a cappella part which is obviously GG. The second is the tenorsax solo which draws inspiration from Van Der Graaf Generator. Other than that there are probably influences from others too, it's all in the eye of the beholder. But those two are however intentional.

Thanks for listening, aith01!
/Linus

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#9 2009-03-02 14:26:44

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

Re: A couple of questions

Hey, thanks for posting again guys! It's great getting to talk and ask you questions.

I think the epics on "Believers and Deceivers" are my favorite songs (although the shorter songs are still very good, and I still listen to the whole disc). It's the kind of CD I would use as an example of why current symphonic prog is just as worthwhile as the old stuff. smile

Linus: While I do hear some influences from other bands in the music, Brighteye Brison really does not sound like a copy or clone of anyone. I didn't mean to sound like I thought you guys were copying anyone. smile  By the way, is "The Grand Event" part of the Brighteye Brison mythology by any chance? The lyrics seemed somewhat sci-fi based, but I thought maybe it was part of the overall story. Or is it just a standalone piece? Great song, either way.

I was also wondering what kind of synth you used near the beginning of the song (around 3 minutes in, after the acoustic intro). I love the sound of it.

Per: I figured it was you singing lead on "The Harvest", but just wanted to be sure. I was wondering, what is "The Harvest" about? From what I could tell, it seems like it involves a patient in a mental hospital or something like that, but that's all I've been able to gather so far. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the song, or where you got the inspiration for it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Cheers! smile

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#10 2009-03-02 17:58:06

Per
Moderator
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 10

Re: A couple of questions

Hi again!

Basically "The Harvest" tells a story about a man, wanting to sort out a thing or two in his life, but due to malpractice or bad judgement regarding treatment and medication takes the wrong turn and plunges into a deeper and deeper depression ending in a psykosis of schizophrenia...not a very true story, though. smile
I have always been interested in psykoanalysis and that sort of thing and the title is a reference to the fact that most of our experiences in life will come back to "haunt" us later on.

Regarding the synth sound on "TGE" itīs probably the Korg Mono/Poly. We used that for most of the synths on the album, but also Korg MS-20, MaxiKorg 800-DV and Vermona Synthesizer. All are analog monophonic synhts (the Maxikorg is actually duophonic...), the polyphonic things are made with a Logan String Melody II.

Regards/

Per

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#11 2009-03-02 22:08:46

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

Re: A couple of questions

Oh okay. It makes more sense now, and I understand the harvest allegory too. That's very cool. Thanks for taking the time to explain it.

How do you go about writing long songs like these? Do you compose with a certain scope in mind, or do you just write several pieces and then put them together -- or is it a mixture of both, or something else entirely? I'm an amateur musician (emphasis on the "amateur" part. lol) and long compositions that hold the listener's attention are very interesting to me. I've never really known how it comes together.

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#12 2009-03-03 19:55:10

Linus
Moderator
From: Sweden
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 46
Website

Re: A couple of questions

As for "The Grand Event" there were parts, ideas and pieces that I had written seperately during different periods. It was not originally intended to be one long song but I noticed that the lyrical contents within the songs actually would fit great together. From there I put it all together in one bowl and wrote the intro, some interludes and new themes that could recur and make it work like a whole. It's a sci-fi story that lyrically is a homage to books, movies and TV-shows that have influenced me and really doesn't have anything to do with the Brighteye Brison mythology. It is about a guy who departs to space on his own and the demons who then come back to haunt him within that emptyness. "One Year Alone" from the first CD deals with a similar subject so "The Grand Event" felt a bit like a follow up. Originally I was going to name it "One Year Alone In Space".
Some pretty long songs like "A Car" and "Patterns" were very easy to write. They came with a natural flow together with the lyrics. I probably wrote them both in a couple of hours.
I believe I look for a flow in the songwriting. That means you also have to know when to stop! The Stories album have a couple of shorter tracks that work fine just the way they are.
And yes! It is the Mono/Poly

cheers!
/Linus

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#13 2009-03-23 15:33:05

aith01
Member
Registered: 2009-02-11
Posts: 16

Re: A couple of questions

Wow! It's been a few days since I've been back here.

Today at  work I've been listening to Stories, just finished We Wanna Return actually. I've got to say, at first I felt that Believers & Deceivers overshadowed this album quite a lot for me personally, but Stories has really grown on me a lot in the last month or so of listening to it. There's not a single track on it that I'd skip, and that's a rarity for me. wink

Seriously, these two albums are quite possibly among my favorite "discoveries" of recent years. I'm not trying to just be flattering or insincere. It's so rare to get to actually communicate with the people who make the music I listen to, so when I get the chance I try to make it known how much their work inspires me. You're one of my favorite new bands now, and I've been going on and on about you guys to my friends and relatives.

Believers & Deceivers is in my top 5 CD's of 2008, easily. I'd cite this disc as an example of why modern prog is still a worthwhile endeavor. I can't wait to see where you guys go next. smile

Thanks again for answering all of my questions too, Linus and Per. Please convey my appreciation to the other guys as well (Kristofer, Johan, and Erik).

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#14 2009-03-23 22:25:58

Per
Moderator
Registered: 2008-12-26
Posts: 10

Re: A couple of questions

I have a special place in my heart for "Stories", and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. We struggled a lot through the process of making it, with hard disk crashes and other problems that made for a frustrating experience at times, but in the end it did come together and it was at the time the closest Iīve come to a finished product sounding like the sound in my head...a rare thing for any engineer/producer, I think.smile
It is maybe a more subdued product than "B&D", but as you have noticed it does have that "grows on you" thing about it, I experienced that during the making of it, with different songs fighting for the favorite song award each day. I still canīt decide what song is best...wink

Itīs great that you keep spreading the gospel about our albums, weīre happy to get more fans. We have started rehearsing a few new songs and it seems like Linus has even more magic up his sleeves. I must start to cook someting together as well, at the moment I have a few kernels for something, but need a little time (and inspiration) to get them to a point that I can take them to the guys.

All the best/

Per

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#15 2009-08-05 18:39:44

Eowyn
Moderator
Registered: 2009-07-27
Posts: 34
Website

Re: A couple of questions

How cool to read through this! If I wasn't intrigued before I am now.  Thanks Aith01 for asking so many questions and thanks Linus and Per for answering them!


Hasse Froberg and the Musical Companion: http://www.myspace.com/ha....lcompanion
Unitopia: http://www.myspace.com/unitopiaband

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