J.P: Hi Todd it’s me Julian from Rock-Garage.com is speaking. Thank you that you answer me a few questions about your debut album and REVERENCE itself. For those people who did not know you, can you introduce the band first and show the previous career?
T.H: REVERENCE is a new metal band hailing from Michigan in the United States. Bryan Holland was really the main impetus behind forming the band. He had just left from playing guitar in TOKYO BLADE and he was looking to start a new project. Bryan searched Myspace for singers in the Michigan area and stumbled across my page and listened to some of my previous recordings. Bryan liked my voice and contacted me to see if I would be interested in starting a new project.
Once we got writing, we then turned to our friends to help fill out our ranks. Bryan was friends with Doc Killdrums (SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY) and he signed on immediately. Doc then suggested Pete Rossi for the second guitar slot and then I asked Ned Meloni, my friend from BURNING STARR, if he would like to play bass.
J.P: Your Debut Record “When Darkness Calls” is now a quit long released. So how are the reactions from the fans and the press?
T.H: We have received very good reviews and a lot of positive reaction from fans, which is really flattering and encouraging. You never know how people will respond to your music. We were feeling really good about the songs, but when you are close to the songs it is difficult to be objective. We put a lot of passion into the writing and recording of this album. We genuinely love this type of music. Perhaps people can sense it and that is why they are responding so positively.
J.P: Can you tell us something about the „birth“ of your record „When Darkness calls“? How was the recording session?
T.H: From Bryan and I meeting to releasing “When Darkness Calls” took about two and a half years. We spent the first year and a half writing all of the songs and the rest of the time recording and mixing. We wanted the live drum feel, so we recorded all of the drums at Metro 37 Studio in Detroit while playing as a band. We were not totally happy with the guitar sound we captured, so we re-recorded guitar tracks in Bryan’s studio and the bulk of the vocals were recorded in my home studio. Part of the reason it took so long to finish is that we wanted everything just right, but also because we all of jobs and family lives that are our number one priority.
J.P: Are there a story or a concept behind the record?
T.H: There is really not an overall story and concept behind the album. Bryan and I both really wanted heavy, memorable guitar oriented songs with soaring melodic vocals, so that is what we aimed to accomplish. Lyrically, the topics usually stem from my life experiences and often have to do with my frustrations. Even though I am generally a positive guy, it is the things that I struggle with that usually come out as song topics.
J.P: Who is the songwriter in the band? Have you got many “heads” in the band?
T.H: Bryan wrote most of the music and I wrote all of the lyrics and vocal melodies for When Darkness Calls, but that is mainly because the band started with us. Once Pete Rossi joined the band, he started adding his touches and a few intros to the songs. Both Pete and Ned have said they want to be a bigger part of writing any new material we create, so I see future songs being more collaborative.
J.P: Let us look at the songs of “When Darkness Calls”. For me the titeltrack „When Darkness Calls“, “Bleed for me”, “Too late”, “Phantom Road” and “Revolution Rising” are the best songs. Can you tell us something about these songs? Are these also your favorite songs on the album?
T.H: Bryan and I wrote about 16 songs and recorded 13. We then reduced the number down to 11 for the actual release. The two songs that we cut at the end were the two that were questionable in my mind. I am really happy with the remaining 11 and I honestly have a lot of trouble picking a favorite. It is interesting that as reviewers and fans pick their favorites, we have not really seen a clear winner. A lot of the songs from our CD get mentioned.
The songs you mentioned are definitely among the ones mentioned as favorites. “When Darkness Calls” really turned out well once we had it all recorded with the intro, solos, and back-up vocals. “Bleed For Me” sticks out in my mind because I wrote the lyrics for it while on a business trip to Dubai. I think it has the catchiest chorus on the album. Too Late has been one of my top picks ever since we wrote it. I just love the heavy music and the high vocals on the chorus.
“Phantom Road” is actually a song that I wrote with Dirk Kloiber, the sound engineer for Magic Circle Music that I met while recording the BURNING STARR “Defiance” album. Dirk is also a great usician. He played me a demo and I asked if I could write vocals for it. Bryan and I met because he liked the “Phantom Road” demo he heard playing on my Myspace page. Dirk was nice enough to let us record it for the “When Darkness Calls” album. “Revolution Rising” has a special place in my heart. It is the first complete song that Bryan and Iwrote together. When we finished it, I was so pleased with it that I thought we just might havesomething good going.
J.P: You filmed with “Bleed for me” and “Too late” two video clips. Are these clips actually today necessary? Or would you really make two clips? I think it cost much money to make videoclips, or?
T.H: Fortunately, I have creative friends that can also film and edit video and they were willing to put in a lot of work for us for very little money. Otherwise, you are correct. It costs more money to make the video than you can ever get back in CD sales. One other challenge is that the guys in the band do not live close together. We had to fly Doc, Pete, and Ned in to do the video shoot. To take advantage of the situation, we actually filmed three different videos over the course of two days. It made for a really brutal weekend, but it made creating the videos more affordable. I think video clips are very helpful, because they give people a chance to see what we look like while performing. For smaller bands like us, it is difficult and expensive to tour, so a video is the next best thing.
J.P: A question to the label situation. You are under contract by Razar Ice Records. How satisfied are you with your label choice? How did the contact works? The contract did not apply for europe releases, or? Because it was very difficult for me to get the record and the promo.
T.H:We essentially put the album out independently, because Razar Ice Records is Bryan Holland’s label and he has released alot of music in the past besides REVERENCE. Bryan and I struggled with the decision of how to release the CD. The music scene has changed so much. We had other labels interested, but so few CD’s are purchased these days that the contracts are stacked against the artist so that only the label gets paid and the artist cannot even make back the money spent recording the CD.
One other challenge is the notion of distribution seems to have changed. We would love to be in stores all over the US, Europe, and even Asia, but how people purchase music has changed. Here in the US, over 50% of the music is purchased electronically and heavy metal music is not available in stores. You can buy a new CD through a store, but the store has to order it special for you.
Most people would rather buy it online than do that.In the end, we decided to go with Razar Ice Records, because we were more in control of how the album is distributed. Keep in mind that anyone, anywhere in the world can purchase the CD through our web page at www.ReverenceMetal.com.
J.P: Some of you are members in other bands too. JACK STARRS’S BURNING STAR and TOKYO BLADE for example. How did these memberships impact to REVERENCE? On which band did your main concentration depends?
T.H: Having experience playing live, recording, and writing music is a great benefit to us, because we have been around long enough to know what we would like to accomplish. Ned Meloni and I are still members of BURNING STARR, but the notion of where to concentrate our efforts is not really an issue. I could see that if you were in a big band, like IRON MAIDEN for example, it would be difficult to have side projects. Fortunately, having more than one creative outlet is not a problem.
J.P: Todd what comes next for your band? Is a second record planned? What’s next for yourself?
T.H: We are still hoping to put together a small European tour for REVERENCE, but I am not sure if we will be able to make it happen with all of the people and scheduling conflicts that get involved. We also have a third video for “After The Leaves Have Fallen” that we plan to release in the next month of so. As for new REVERENCE material, Bryan and I are definitely looking forward to releasing another album and plan to start writing new songs soon. On the BURNING STARR side of things, I am working with Jack Starr and Ned Meloni on a new album and we have an appearance at the Keep It True Festival planned for April 20, 2013.
We might have some other shows booked in Europe around the same time as well.
J.P: Thank you Todd for your time, and for the interesting answers! I wish you all the best for the future, the last words, of course are yours.
T.H: Thank you very much Julian. I really appreciate the chance to do the interview. Hopefully all of your readers will check out our videos and give our music a listen. Best wishes to you and all your readers as well.
Julian
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