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Hi,
first off all thanks for doing this interview with us at
powermetal.dk.
Congratulations
with the re-release of “Resurrection” it sounds much better
than the original release. But
didn’t you break up the band?
Tim - Yes
I did. When Stu and Glenn left, it felt wrong to continue on under
the name of Dungeon when it was just I and our new drummer Tim
Yatras. It’s not all doom and gloom, however, because I am
continuing on with the style of Dungeon under the name of LORD,
which was originally my solo project, but is now a proper band. It
will feature me (obviously) with Tim on drums, plus some very
talented musicians that I will be revealing very soon. The full
press release about the split and future plans is posted at www.dungeon.cd.
Why
did you decide to re-release the “Resurrection” CD?
Tim - When
Dungeon signed to Limb Music Products, they wanted to eventually
release our back catalogue, which included the “Resurrection”
album. The original recording was dreadful and fell short of our
expectations even back then, so we knew that there was no way it
could compete against any current releases as it was. So when we
were recording the “One Step Beyond” album, we re-recorded
“Resurrection” entirely. It’s great to hear it as we had
always intended it to sound and it’s nice for fans all around
the world to finally get to hear the material.
How
would you describe your music to an outsider?
Tim - That
depends on whether the person was a metalhead or not. For a non
metalhead, I would say we have generally up-tempo songs with
strong operatic inspired vocals, big harmonised choruses and
aggressive but very melodic and memorable songs. For a metalhead,
I would say combine the basic style of Maiden and Helloween, the
vocal harmonies of Dokken, the thrash elements of Slayer, Blind
Guardian’s choirs and arrangements and the melodic death
elements of Soilwork and you have a basic idea of what we do.
Why
did you replace “Let It
Go” with “Severed
Ties”?
Tim
- “Let
It Go” was a song that was written by (then bassist) Juz. It was
a great song but even then it wasn’t really a Dungeon song when
you compared it to the other songs on the album – it seemed to
be out of place. When he left the band, we stopped playing the
song because he was playing it in his new band and when it came
time to re-record “Resurrection”, we felt that it needed a bit
of balance since all of the songs were fast songs, so we replaced
“Let It Go” with “Severed Ties”.
“Resurrection”
has been released as a regular CD and as a Limited double CD. Why?
And what is on
the
extra disc?
Tim - The
double CD is limited to 4000 copies world wide and is really made
as an incentive for people to own a limited edition version. But
aside from that, it’s great value for money. The package
includes 3 bonus tracks, a video clip, the entire “Under the
Rising Sun” live album from
Japan
in 2003 and a poster, sticker and full album liner notes. Not bad!
Who
and what inspire you when you write a song?
Tim - I
get inspiration from a lot of places, from books to films, to life
experiences and to my own feelings, thoughts and emotions. Mostly
I try to write from a personal perspective rather than writing
about some mighty fantasy battle or something like that.
Who
has produced and mixed the album? Are you pleased with the result?
Tim - I
produced and mixed the album and for the budget we had to work
with, as well as changing members during the recording, I’m
pleased at how it turned out. There are things I’d like to
improve on with the next album, as there always is when you record,
so hopefully with a better budget and no last minute surprises, we
can achieve an even better result then.
Who
has done the artwork? And how important do you feel it is to have
a great cover?
Tim - For
the LMP release of “Resurrection”, the artwork was handled by
Mattias from ProgArt Media, who did a fantastic job. It’s a sad
thing that people generally judge an album by its cover first
before listening to it (and when there’s so many albums released
these days, you have to have something which will grab people’s
attention) so your artwork must be good to even get people to pay
attention in the first place.
Let’s
speculate – you have been granted a free slot on a tour of your
own choice – who would be your ideal touring partners?
Tim - Iron
Maiden! Not only have I been a massive Maiden fan since I was a
kid, but they play to monster crowds and that would be an awesome
experience. Other than Maiden, I would go back out on the road
with Megadeth any day of the week – that tour experience was the
best I’ve ever had in the entire 16 years of Dungeon’s history.
How
do you feel about the co-operation with your label?
Tim - Truthfully,
there have been some hard moments in the past, especially in the
early days of dealing with them, but we have since worked out a
lot of the problems and I think they’re doing a great job now.
The
Internet is a very important source for many metal fans – how do
you use the Internet and how important is it for you and other
bands?
Tim - We’ve
always realised the importance of the internet as a promotional
tool. We have a website and a very busy discussion forum where
fans all around the world can chat to each other and the band
directly. It’s good to be very hands-on with your audience, I
think. It may take away a bit of the “rock star mystique” but
I think it’s a good thing, We’re just regular guys and we chat
to our fans as equals. That alone has really helped us gain a lot
of attention over the internet and in some cases even large tour
supports. Any band that hasn’t got a good website is missing out
on a lot of promotional opportunities.
And
how do you feel about the Australian metal scene in general at the
moment?
Tim - The
Australian scene is small but filled with plenty of amazing,
world-class bands of all subgenres of metal. There are tours,
festivals and visits from international visitors happening very
regularly and we’re seeing more and more bands tour overseas,
which is great for our music scene here.
Which
song do you consider to be the best one you have ever written?
Tim - There’s a lot of songs I’m very proud of. For Dungeon, I think it
would be “Against The Wind” from the “One Step Beyond”
album, because it’s such a personal song of mine. On the first
solo LORD album, either “Last Rites” or “Behind The Mask”
would be right up there alongside “Against The Wind”.
When did you start playing and how old were you when
you became interested in metal?
Tim - I first wanted to be in a band when I was 14
after seeing Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran in the video clip for
“The Reflex” on TV, so I tried to form a pop band like that
with me as the singer. The only problem was I was too shy to sing
in front of anyone. Eventually I picked up keyboards, bass, and
drums and finally guitar when I was 17 and when I was 19, I
finally sung in front of people for the first time when Dungeon
started. With metal, I was brainwashed into thinking it was just
stupid noise like everyone else is when they’ve never really
heard it until I saw Hear N Aid “Stars” on TV on a video hits
show. I just stood there and went “wow! These guys are amazing!
This is metal?!” Not
long after, I bought “Live Evil” by Black Sabbath and “Rage
For Order” by Queensr˙che and haven’t looked back since.
Name
an album, person or event that has had a huge influence on your
life … and why?
Tim - Hmmm…
That’s a hard question. There have been a few fairly big events
which have changed the way I’ve looked at things. I think the
obvious ones would be buying my first Duran Duran album and
wanting to form a band and then getting my first Queensr˙che
album and wanting to play metal. If it wasn’t for those things,
I probably would have ended up in some crappy job somewhere
earning much better money but feeling pretty unfulfilled with my
life.
Which
music do you listen to at home?
Tim - With
my schedule, about the only music I really listen to is Dungeon,
LORD,
Ilium
or any other band I’m currently working with. When I do get a
chance to listen to anything, it’s usually some of my favourite
albums I grew up listening to like early Dokken, Queensr˙che,
Maiden, Priest, etc.
Last
question - do you have any famous last words for our readers?
Tim - I’d
just like to say thank you for the support you’ve shown Dungeon,
it really means a lot to us. I hope everyone enjoys the final
Dungeon album that will be released in 2006 and enjoys LORD as
much as Dungeon. Hope we see you on tour very soon! Cheers!
Thanks,
Jųrgen Ditlev
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