Jean Michel Volz
Season Of Dreams
Hello Lior, I'm fine thank you, the virus didn't have me for yet and beautiful days are coming. So I can tell I'm fortunate. Hope you're doing ok as well!!
For now, everything is going well, I've had my first vaccine 2 weeks ago and the second will be at the end of June. I hope vaccinations will help mankind returning to a normal life or a more normal life. I know that many people don't want to be vaccinated (I was one of those), but I think now that is the only way to fight against this Pandemic.
It's totally true for many bands and that's great to have news more often from them but for me it didn't change so much, it's my way to work and create new music, I think I could ship out 2 albums a year... haha!
I have a regular job that takes me from 7am to 16pm from Monday to Friday but I'm often getting up at 4am and after making my coffee I directly start to work on my music while my wife and children sleep peacefully. It lets me 2h30 the morning and sometimes a little the evening. I work most of time with studio headphones for the creating and recording phases. After that I take time during the week end to make the mixes. And Johannes record his vocals and keys faster than the light haha.
John was and he is still a good friend but due to his work and renovation of his house he didn't had so much time to spend with Season. So he took the decision to left the band. He still writes sometimes music for his own. He is a great guitarist and a great composer too.
My generation is living an unprecedented moment. How would we have been able to face this pandemic without this remarkable work accomplished by all these medical teams and nursing staff...? For me it was my best way to pay homage to them. One more time thank you to all of these "normal" persons becoming heroes for us !
My wife, who is caregiver, got it in a light way. I know some "older" people who got it but by chance they are all still with us but by chance no one in my friend circle or family approached death.
It's a joint work with the amazing Stan W. Decker. I had an idea of the heroic side of a doctor in a fight, sword in a hand and syringe in the other and he proposed to me the fight against a virus in this Epic/Heroïc world with a Caduseus Sword. I have always been fascinated by illustration of Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo and different works in metal like Andreas Marschall, but when I discovered Stan, I knew that I found the right guy for ours Album cover
The theme of heroes is a bit the guideline that we find in several songs but from different points of view. For example, in Heroes it is the nursing staff considered to be the heroes of modern times. In the song Season of dreams it's more the idea of a roughed up childhood which, well guided by people of good will, can lead them to have a glorious destiny and therefore these people can be considered as heroes in a way. In the song To The Glory it is through music and belonging to a band that you can become a hero and bring joy and support to the people who listen to it. In the song Reign of Wisdom, the epic side of the hero who fights for his King ...So everyone can be a hero in a certain way.
I did not want to place myself as a leader of a movement to follow but rather as a spectator and storyteller. Currently on the internet a lot of people have become doctors, politicians and others ... haha. I leave the field open to them. I only tell what I see and make up beautiful stories.
My shelter is our first album and despite the fact that we love it, we made mistakes on this album. With hindsight at different level it could have been better and we certainly wanted to do too much. From these mistakes we were able to learn and evolve and I hope that it will be heard on this new album. I worked more on my guitars, more worked on the harmonies to be catchier, the drums and the mixing in general and also let the mastering done by HK Strauss in his excellent studio Vamacara here in France.
Like O said, we tried to be catchier and direct but still with this mix of Heavy and Epic. Songwriting is always an interesting process that allows you to review your way of thinking the song, the approach to power and melody and specially to find ideas that have not already been heard hundreds of times... Even if it is difficult not to fall into the cliché, we try to make our contribution to the building of an interesting album.
Writing lyrics is sometimes done very naturally, a Heroic melody often leads to a heroic text while a dark guitar riff can get you to write lyrics with more aggressiveness (in a real or fantasy world). But sometimes the lyric writing can be more complicated and often the text that comes out will be more tortured. The human brain is capable of so many things, but it also has its moments when it finds itself tied up. haha
In fact, it was not a will on my part but it happened naturally. I have always been a fan of Heavy / Power metal but also of Thrash bands such as Kreator, Testament and old Metallica and this type of guitar riff has become part of my playing. Of course we are and will remain a Heavy / Power Metal band, but why not integrate a little more of this type of riffs ... The future will tell ...
From the departure of John, it was clear that I could not replace him, I was never a lead guitarist but rather rhythmic. I prefer to be satisfied with what I can do, namely knowing how to play the guitar and compose songs. The idea then grew in me, rather than recruiting a new lead guitarist I wanted to have guitarists by my side that I adore and who I was sure, capable of bringing superb melodies and technique. I discussed it with Johannes who loved the idea and we started recruiting. We are more than honoured to have such guests on our album.
Choosing the guests was pretty easy as I tried to match the songs with what I like about each of the guest musicians. They each did an incredible job in their own way and were unparalleled kindness! Friendship ties have been created and will probably lead to a new project ... But for the moment it's a secret.
Johannes is an incredible singer. I love him since the first notes I heard at the time on tunes of steel with his group ZONATA! Working with him is very easy, he very often knows how to type just for a particular melody the first time. Sometimes we rework it together to be catchier or more impactful. For this track it was obvious that the old Rhapsody era had to be part of it. It's a glorious song and Johannes's voice makes it even more epic! He sings with his guts and sometimes goes a little off the known paths to bring his personal touch. Every time I hear this song I feel like pulling out my sword and singing with it!
The track Heroes should have been told completely from the point of view of the caregivers and medical staff at the base, but it sounded presumptuous to call yourself a hero. So I preferred to give it life to a neat sick person who could see the work accomplished by all the staff around him. Musically I could have made an epic title of ten minutes but here too I preferred to make it shorter and more efficient in the end. I think it's a song that shows our know-how at our level.
And you're right! But we're going to take the time to make the best 3rd album possible, probably with other prestigious guests ... For the moment everything is possible.
I think like everyone else, to be able to go out freely, without health constraints, to find family and friends around a drink outside. Resume normal activities if I may say so ...
Thank you very much to you for coming back to us! And I hope to see you again soon! Cheers, Jean Michel
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