Almost two years and one highly adventurous album later, they're still psyched about the opportunity to discuss their music. Vocalist Erik Rosvold once again joined in to discuss the band's music from the lyrical viewpoint.
Oh...they've already requested interview number three. Twist my arm.
Steve: Many of us applauded when it was announced that Ken Golden of Sensory Records stepped up and signed Zero Hour. Tell me how that deal came about, and what it means to the band.
Jasun: Ken is really a great guy to work with and what he says he does. We approached Ken and said, "We want to give you first crack at the new ZH disc, if you're interested."
Erik: This deal with Sensory means a lot to us because it means we won't get screwed. I'm not sure how it came about because Jasun and Troy really handle that end of the band. They have done so much to get this thing going that they probably have spent just as much time on the business side of things as the music. Many times they would say we talked to such and such a label and they're ready to deal, but nothing ever transpired. For the most part, if not all, there's nothing but broken promises. When you hear of bands splitting-up because of the way the industry works you can't blame them.
Jasun: Ken was always very cool to us, and it just made sense to do the CD with him. All the other labels wanted to hear something, but Ken believed in us enough to just take our word for it that this CD is going to slam.
Steve: Erik made an interesting point about how much time you two invest in band business. At what point do you feel the administrative requirements of running a band cause damage to your artistic soul?
Jasun: It's really tough to be involved in the business side as well as writing and performing your music. You have to have a thick skin in this industry because you will be told (verbally) all these promises and what sounds like a fair deal. Then you receive the written part of the contract and it is something totally different from what you discussed.
Troy: You will see third party issues involved in the contract, all rights of publishing
taken away from you, the label owning the masters for 25 years. That's just some of what
creates a real headache for bands. Jasun: Troy and I read many books on contracts, and Zero Hour has a great manager in Ron Sansoe.
Steve: The songs on your self-titled demo CD were drenched with great keyboard work, but the songs on the new disc were arranged so that the guitar and bass dominate. Why'd you make this change?
Jasun: When we did the s/t CD we were thinking of the keyboards the whole way in the writing process. With Towers we said let's just go in and write nothing but intense material with the trio and then think of keyboards later.
Troy: When we finished all the parts for Mikey, Jay and I, we said man this stuff doesn't need keys. It would have taken away from the heaviness from the material and we felt it wasn't needed...the vibe was there.
Steve: Sounds as if you don't have a definitive game plan from album to album.
Jasun: Yeah we just let it happen! We want to sound different on every CD but we don't know the vibe exactly until we jam a little bit together and feel it all out.
Troy: Then from there we look at each and listen to some recorded stuff and say what is the stuff we dig hearing out of the parts from the recordings. Once everyone agrees we let it fly from there.
Steve: Let's talk about the writing process itself. How closely---or, how separately---do you two work together at writing the music?
Troy: Jasun, Mikey and myself will go into the studio and write all the music out. We
will scrap a lot of material before we have the right vibe for everyone to agree on. Jasun: As soon as we finish the music we give it Erik to write lyrics and he will come and say what melodies do you like and what is not acceptable. Troy, Erik and I will make the changes in the melody lines and then Erik will finish up the lyrics.
Steve: Erik, how would you describe your influence on the writing and the composing of the music?
Erik: Interesting question because for the first CD all the music was already written. I think a couple of the songs were already recorded and mixed on 24 track and were just missing vocals. They gave me a tape of what they did and I added the lyrics and vocal melody without having them go back and rewrite or extend certain parts. That made the music more unorthodox. I like the challenge of trying to fit a melody into a spot that "traditionally" shouldn't work. For "Towers" I think all the music except "The Ghosts of Dawn", which I wrote, was for the most part finished and recorded to boombox or ADAT. Really, everything we've done so far has been more about talking about what we want the music to sound like rather than sitting in the studio and writing together. In fact we've never done that. Maybe this time around we will.
Steve: Jasun mentioned to me in an e-mail recently that you guys have written two new songs since recording "The Towers of Avarice." That doesn't sound like a band that sets aside specific blocks of time to write a new album. Instead, it suggests that you guys write whenever the inspiration hits you.
Troy: You're dead on right man. We are not writing at this time because we want to clear our heads for a little while.
Jasun: We have been writing for 5 straight years and now we want to play-out and support the CD. We want come back with a great attitude towards the writing process.
Erik: The only way to write is from inspiration. You just can't force it unless you're writing specifically for some "hit-making" machine. You need the time to come back to something you've written and listen to it with fresh ears because a lot of times you'll get rid of it and say "What was I thinking? This isn't happening." If it isn't inspired then what's the point?
Steve: Erik, I detect a strong literary presence in the lyric writing.
Erik: I've got an AA in Art from the local community college and then went to San Jose State for a couple years for a BA in Art with a minor in Radio and Television, but I ran out of money so I never finished. That experience exposed me to a lot of artists both in film and traditional art that I never knew existed. I got more of an overall pictured of how these things were created more than just from being influenced by one specific artist. I also like checking out writers that I've heard about being "great" or "influential". I really like the "Beat Generation": Kesey, Kerouac etc., Herman Hesse, Edgar Allen Poe, Jung, Nietzsche, Kerry Livgren, Dylan,Discover Magazine...
Steve: With the music turned off, portions of your lyrics read like a short story. How tempted are you to try your hand at some other literary output?
Erik: I would like to get into writing more if I had the time. To extend "Towers" to a
short story would be interesting. We were also thinking of doing a graphic novel-digipak kind
of thing. So if there are any illustrators out there that would be interested you can e-mail
me at erikrosvold@hotmail.com and I'll get in
touch with you if it looks like it will happen.
Steve: The way you alter your singing style reminds me of how a keyboardist will change sounds to reflect and to enhance the mood of what the lyrics are conveying. How did you develop that kind of versatility?
Erik: Dio is the king of that. He's got that angel or devil presence. The worst thing you can do is not be part of the music that's underneath you. I've heard people that sound like they are singing to a completely different track than the one that's on the CD. Some soloists are like that too. Dio is a huge influence along with Peter Gabriel in his Genesis years. "Selling England by the Pound" is one of my favorite albums if not "the" favorite. "The Battle of Epping Forrest" has him doing a couple of different voices and so does the song "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". "Fly on a Windshield" is atmospherically intense and then goes into a "Beat Generation" influenced lyric section: "Lenny Bruce declares a truce...". Anything Genesis did with Gabriel is classic. I always liked when a band had more than one singer. Styx sounded great together, Crosby Stills and Nash, Kansas. I try to get that same effect by myself by varying each voice in a harmony using different tones. On "Demise and Vestige" the part of "Wailing pounding sound..." has three voices singing that part and underneath there are growling low voices singing "down" on the beginning of each phrase. Another example is the "We must bring the oppressor here" part where there is three distinctive lyric parts going on at once as well as some different tonalities. Tori Amos does that every once in awhile as does Take 6. If anyone's a singer they've got to check out Take 6's "So Much to Say". It's six guy's singing a cappella and making instrument noises. It's part gospel, jazz and R&B. That one's an influence not just because of their amazing technique but also because it has melody and soul.
Steve: Congratulations to Jasun and Troy on your new product endorsement. What exactly is involved with a product endorsement?
Troy: First off we want to say that we are so stoked to be with the Mesa/Boogie team, because we can honestly say there the best amps and cabs out there.
Jasun: We have the gear, and what they do is take care of us when we need repairs and things of that nature. Tien of Boogie just the coolest, and we thank him for everything.
Troy: It just means a lot to have Mesa/Boogie say we dig you and we want to help you out.
Steve: As it applies to the performance of the band, how close are you guys to being what and where you want to be?
Erik: Since we've only played about a half-dozen times with this line-up there is room for improvement all the way around. That's just from the aspect of not playing the material that many times. I think the energy and the intensity is there, regardless of the mistakes. I'd rather have it raw and a little off than some "by the number" performance. That's what I go to see shows for: some band who's willing to take chances on stage and let it go.
Troy: We are very happy with Towers and we know there's a lot to explore still in this genre of music. We are very happy with our music and now we just want the fan base to grow. The fans are great and can't thank them enough. They really keep us going!!!!
Steve: How about as individual musicians? Jasun, I'm thinking of you in particular, because you stepped aside just long enough to record and release a solo album that sounds nothing like Zero Hour. You've obviously got your eyes on a musical evolution that spans more than just the prog metal realm.
Jasun: There is still so much I want to venture into musically. When I did the Night's
Pulse CD, I wanted to achieve a very mellow, late night -classy sounding CD. It's got a bit of
New Age, adult Contemporary, Jazz, Spanish filmscore vibe to the whole thing. Troy and I love
Jazz and later want to do a Night vibe R&B Jazz CD, as well as doing soundtracks for movies. I
myself would love to do an intense Bop-Jazz CD as well.
Steve: I've not yet been to a Zero Hour show, so I'm curious to know what aspects of your sound are an improvement in a live setting?
Troy: The live setting is great cause of the Energy you get from the crowd!!!
Jasun: It sounds heavier and more in your face when we do it live, Towers has such a vibe when we play it live.
Steve: What aspects of your sound do you lose in a live setting?
Troy: You won't hear backing vocals. The music is way too tough to sing and play at the same time.
Erik: Harmonies for one, and some sound effect things. But that doesn't bother me at all because there's a rawness and energy that comes across that is different than on disk. This stuff is made to be played out. It's too bad that right now we don't have a light guy that that can accent the songs. Some of the moments onstage are begging for complete darkness as well as blaring light. I don't go to see bands that are Karaoke acts. I want to see something that you can't get at home.
Steve: I've read a number of posts on the Perpetual Motion board that say there's practically no scene for your type of music in the bay area, a point that Troy hinted to in our first interview. How much thought, if any, has Zero Hour put into the possibility of relocating to a much more receptive part of the country?
Erik: I really don't know if there is a "scene" for this kind of music anywhere. The best scene is probably the Internet. Look at Progpower; there were people coming in from everywhere who's main connection to this music is the Internet. From what I hear Europe seems to better than the States but as far as relocating goes I just don't see that happening because we would still need day jobs.
Jasun: The music is more accepted in Europe. Everyone I talk to in the States says there's no scene for Prog-Metal music. We are lucky in the South-Bay because we draw pretty well in our area, but beyond that it's real tough.
Steve: "The Towers of Avarice" has been receiving fantastic reviews, and I've no doubt that you guys have gotten plenty of congratulatory e-mails since its release. I'm always curious as to what kind of pressure this might put on a band when it comes time to follow up such a well-accepted album.
Jasun: The Towers of Avarice is going to be a hard CD to follow because we feel it's a
one of a kind CD. So yes there is pressure for the next CD but we have some really good
ideas.Troy: There's only one Towers and we are not going to make The Towers of Avarice Part Two because we want to be a little different on each disc.
Erik: I don't feel any pressure really because I like to go in new directions anyway. I hope to never make the same album twice. If you're moving into somewhere new, the end result will always be better than trying to repeat yourself or go for a formula. I 'm not saying that a radical change is always a good thing but I like bands that take chances and try to expand their music. Dead Can Dance is a perfect example. There last few albums were definitely "Dead Can Dance" but they used different instruments and rhythms on each one. One album was more Native American influenced than another that was more Middle Eastern, etc.
Jasun: We have written a 12 minute tune that sounds great and are excited about the next disc. It will have more middle-eastern scales and chords for the vibe. It will have its crushing heavy parts but will have a lot of mixtures of clean areas as well.
Steve: Now, it's free-form time.
Erik: Since this kind of music is so underground it means a lot knowing that there are people out there who appreciate what we're doing. Of course, when some A&R guy proclaims this genre as "the next big thing" and all the bands get deals with Sony then everyone can say that they were there from the beginning!
Jasun: If anything bro, I want to thank you and the Zero Hour fans so much for everything. Our new music is really sounding good and hope to have a new CD for everyone in Late 2002. YOU RULE BROTHA and let's do this again on the next disc!
Told you!
