When our motley crew ventured into Oslo in August, we didn’t expect to encounter one of the best up-and-coming prog metal acts, but we caught Cloudscape with Pagan’s Mind at ProgFest in Oslo, and they kicked our ass.
Coming from New Zealand’s black & death-oriented metal scene, it was such a treat to see a club show with such talented prog bands. We brought an album which we listened to all the way to Bergen (which is a rather long way). And now, I’m lucky enough to have Cloudscape’s Mike Andersson to answer a few questions:
Tell us a little about Cloudscape’s last album, Global Drama. What are the concepts behind the songs on this release, and how has it been recieved so far?
Well, the basic concept was to write lyrics about different things in a dramatic way. Some songs are more fantasy/science fiction related and others are more down-to-earth: about things people can relate to and recognize themselves in. Each song/lyric is drama and the 12 songs make it Global).
A weird answer maybe but, I think you catch my drift ;).
Global Drama have been recieved really great from fans and media and we are extremely happy that most of the reviews we’ve read thus far have turned out fantastic:).
How do you think Global Drama stands up against the band’s previous releases? Have you done anything different on this album?
Global Drama is definietly more thoughtout compared to its predesserors. Of course we are very satisfied with our debut and our second album Crimson Skies but, with Global Drama we’re more mentally prepared. There’s a nice balance between the more brutal/raw songs and the more melodic and atmospheric songs, which creates a nice atmosphere and varied album.
We dug really deep in our minds to find the right touch and atmosphere to create and record Global Drama. So, even if I am proud of our first 2 albums I must say that Global Drama is without doubt my (our) favourite album thus far.
To support the new album, you’ve done a few shows and festivals around Europe over the last two years. How have you seen the fans reaction to your songs?
I’m happy to say that our audience mostly rocks like crazy during our shows and supports us really great:). We have played live as support band in a club for a crowd that didn’t know who we were but, normally we manage to get them hooked, hahahaha.
When we played live at Bloodstock Open Air in England in 2008 the audience was AWESOME. I mean, we entered the stage at 11:00am and infront of us there were about 3000 metal fans rocking with us through the whole concert. That was really cool and memoriable considering the early hour of the day.
A crowd favourite that we always play live is the song called “Under Fire” from our first album. If the audience for some reason have seemed “mellow” they always wake up when we play that song … it’s become kind of a metal classic in a way.
Coming from the NZ metal scene and seeing you guys perform in Oslo, I was blown away both by how tight your were as a band, and how much support metal is given in Scandinavia. I noticed in Europe the focus of metal seems geared towards folk/viking bands. How is prog metal being recieved nowadays?
Thank you very much, we enjoyed being on stage in Oslo and it’s great to hear that you enjoyed our show:).
Well, I think prog metal depends on quality and promotion just like most other genres. The music biz ain’t a dance on red roses anymore which is sad but, nonetheless there are many fans that support the genre wholeheartetly, which is deeply appreciated. We can’t say enough of thanks to the metal fans that support Cloudscape and other bands to keep us/them going.
When I saw you guys live I noticed you didn’t have a keyboard player. Why is that?
That’s a choice we made when we formed the band in 2001. Since we don’t use the keyboard layers as a “solo instrument” we decided to have them pre-recorded in a backing track instead.
By doing that we’ll keep the whole sound atmosphere even when we play live. But, of course there are times when we think that a keyboard player would be great to hire but, we are already 5 members in the band and we have known each other for many years now, so we are like a family. The fact of the matter is there are many bands that have a keyboardsplayer that use backing tracks nonetheless …
Since your debut you’ve played some big festivals – Sweden Rock, Bloodstock, Progpower, etc. What was your favourite festival experience? Tell us how playing festivals differs from playing regular gigs? Which festivals do you hope to play in the future?
First of all I must be honest and say that we love to be on stage no matter if it’s a big festival, small festival or a club. What is important to us is to deliver our music the best possible way for the audience and feel the feedback and support from the crowd and hope that they enjoy our music and show.
But, personally my favourite show is the one we did at Bloodstock Open Air in 2008. I mean, we were prepared and thought that we would perform live for a few hundred fans but, there were close to 3000 metal fans in the audience which was a fantastic surprise and experience :).
The biggest difference between playing a single club gig compared to a festival is that it’s more stressful at a festival. It’s rare to have lots of time to gear up and get started;). But, the actual show is more or less the same. The best thing with a festival of bigger size is that you’ll get the chance to perform live for curious metal fans that might not have heard about the band before. At a club it’s normally die hard fans that is in the crowd supporting you which is really cool and overwhelming at times. Normally it’s more intimate performing live in a club, which is a cool feeling.
The bottom line is, either way we love to be on stage ´performing live. As long as we feel that the audience enjoys our show we are happy:). That’s what’s important for Cloudscape.
Festivals we would love to visit is any good and suitable festival wherever in our world but, a few prestigious festivals that we would love to visit for a live performance is the German major metal festival “Wacken Open Air”. There’s another festival called “Bang Your Head” and “Rockhard Festival”. “Gods Of Metal” in Italy would be awesome to visit and a REvisit at “Sweden rock Festival” would of course be very appreciated;).
How did Cloudscape get started? I know the band rose from the ashes of Doctor Weird. Why did the band rename and change direction? What do you think has given Cloudscape the success that Doctor Weird never had?
It’s hard to say why Cloudscape found success and Doctor Weird didn’t but, personally I was more driven when we started up Cloudscape which ended up with Cloudscape signing management deals and record deals. The music of Doctor Weird wasn’t bad at all but, when looking in the mirror I think there was a lack of memoriable songs and catchy songs. There was also a lack of variation and the songs we had as a whole seemed monotonuos compared to what we achieve today with Cloudscape.
The reason for “renaming” the band was simply because we started over from scratch in 2001 and the fact that I started to sing. In Doctor Weird I was keyboard player and there was another guy who was the singer (curiosa: The Doctor Weird singer sings backing vocals on 2 songs on Global Drama) but, when he left the band on mutual basis I said to my partners in crime that it’s time to start over from scratch as a new fresh band and that I wanted to be the singer considering I’ve always been a singer in all my previous bands except for Doctor Weird.
The main focus with Cloudscape is to compose songs with strong melodies and arrangements and spice it up a little with some progressive elements. But, nonetheless I think Cloudscape is more of a “melodic metal” band compared to a “progressive metal” band. The ones who listens to bands like Symphony X and Dream Theater often finds our music to be more straight forward melodic metal while the fans of bands like Hammerfall or Europe finds Cloudscape quite progressive in the vein of Dream Theater, hehehe.
How has been in Cloudscape changed your lives? What’s it like being part of the Scandinavian metal scene? How has the music scene changed since you’ve been involved in it, and what do you think the future of metal holds?
It’s of course great to be a part of the Scandinavian metal scene. Even though we have only been in the music biz for about 5 years I must say it has changed drastically.
It’s much harder to get good promotion nowadays and support from the music industry because of labels selling less and less albums. There are sadly already a few labels that have gone bankrupt. Record labels do not sign bands anymore (some do but, it’s more rare nowadays). The bands themselves have to work more with promotion which is sad in one way because I would much rather focus on my songwriting and play live, instead of working on promotion. Back in the day the labels did the promotion job or had a company do it for them but there’s no economy left to do that and it’s only the “big names” (bands) that still get lots of promotion.
It’s a really tough business nowadays but, we hope to see better days to come and we really hope that our fans and our fans to come will support Cloudscape and the genre by attending to our shows, spreading the word out on the internet and buy our albums either in digital or physical form. But, even if it’s “dark times” at the moment we love to be here and we are happy to have come this far nonetheless:).
Describe a typical week in the band’s life? How do you balence band committments with your jobs and families?
Well, basically we rehearse 1 evening per week. Most of us have dayjobs and families so, of course respect have to be shown from both parts etc. Personally I have the luxury to be engaged to a very supportive and understanding woman who understands me and my music when it comes to songwriting, promotion and other music/band related things + she helps me out a lot:).
A week musically is never the other one alike but, in general I think I except for the weekly rehearsal dedicates around 10 hours per week for my musical works. Some weeks I work more and some weeks I work less….it all depends. My family is most important for me.
What was the first album you ever bought?
It was a Vinyl single back in 1981 (Kiss – Heaven’s on Fire) followed by Come án Get It with Whitesnake.
What bands and albums have you heard recently that have stood out to you?
The latest Symphony X, Frost, Pagan’s Mind, Rush and Whitesnake albums. All of them are awesome!
What was you best ever live music experience?
When I saw “Rush” in “Globen” (Stockholm) in 2004 (anniversary tour). A MAGICAL performance from start to finish.
Many of our readers are aspiring musicians. Do you have any advice to help them get their own projects off the ground?
Well, like I said earlier it’s very hard nowadays to get recognition from the music industry but, there’s a lot to be done through the internet by using www.myspace.com and getting the word out. If you’re a single musician without a band, please don’t be afraid of keeping your eyes open to replace members in bands if such thing happens. I mean, my good friend Anette Blyckert took a chance by sending Nightwish a demo with her singing when they were on the search for a replacement for Tarja Turunen.
Anette wasn’t very known before but, now she is VERY well known and have even changed her last name to “Olzon” since she became the singer in Nightwish, hehehe;).
What I mean is, don’t be afraid of taking the chance when there’s a chance to take:).
What does the future hold for Cloudscape? Any chance for an Australisian visit?
Oh, that’s really hard to say. We are struggling to find a good booking agency to work for us. We have played at lots of festivals and done lots of single gigs but, never a tour which we really hope to do as soon as possible. We would certainly love to visit Australia for shows and many other countries too but, right now our main focus goes to complete the songwriting for our fourth album. But, when a gig opportunity comes we rarely say no:). Spread the word and let organizers know that metal fans NEED to see Cloudscape live definietly helps :).
Thanks for talking with us, Mike!
The pleasure is all mine and thank you Steff for talking to me:).
Cheers: Mike Andersson (Cloudscape. Full Force). If you wanna know more about Cloudscape or listen to a few tracks, check out the official Cloudscape website, the Cloudscape myspace page or Mike’s myspace page.
This was the first band interview on Steff Metal, and I hope to do more in the future. If there’s a particular band you’d love to see on the blog, or you’re in a band yourself, send an email my way, and let me know.
Horns up \m/
Steff
