This is Matt Longo with Mind Over Metal interviewing Warrel Dane. Thank you for joining me today, Warrel … I really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
You’ve got a long, storied career spanning well over two decades: from the early stuff with SERPENT’S KNIGHT, to SANCTUARY, and now NEVERMORE … why was this the right time for a solo project?
Cuz I hooked up with the right people at the right time. I always wanted to do stuff that was more Rock or… whatever it is, and Pete [Wichers] was the right person to do it with.
So it wasn’t a contractual thing with Century Media; it was more of a personal experience for you?
No, nothing contractual at all … it was just cuz I wanted to do it.
So what did you feel that you could accomplish that you could not with NEVERMORE?
Well, NEVERMORE is what it is. It’s my baby and I started the band back with Jeff [Loomis] and Jim [Sheppard] and that’s our thing; it’s gonna go on as long as it can …. With this, I just wanted to do something a little bit different and focus on stuff that may be considered a bit more…”commercial,” I guess. I never had the opportunity to do that in my career so why not try it? Pete [Wichers] was really instrumental helping with that. I love all that old SOILWORK stuff, which is originally what got me into this, and then we toured together and I realized he was writing stuff that was really interesting with his band. Then I thought why not take that to another level and do something completely outside of what both of us are doing. So that’s where it all started.
The album has a lot of personal lyrics, with songs like “Brother” and “This Old Man” … are these reflections of your own life?
Oh yeah … wait til you see the video for “Brother.”
What should we expect?
We’re in the final editing stages, and we used a lot of home movies from when I was a kid … it’s gonna be really good.
Is this kinda like exorcising demons for you? What made you want to share these stories with your audience?
It was more like the music inspiring me to go to that place. It sounds so phony for a musician to say that songwriting was therapeutic or cathartic … but it really was! That song “Brother” in particular was baggage I’d been carrying around for years. I don’t talk to my brother anymore. He has stage 4 leukemia and he doesn’t talk to anyone in my family anymore. He has issues from back when my mom died, and it’s a really hard thing for a family to go through. I don’t know why I had to write the song, but I did, and it definitely made me feel better. The video takes it up another notch.
What was the recording process like? You just mentioned that the music was in place and you lent lyrics to “Brother” … was it typical for the music to be written first?
Well again, Pete and I did do some collaboration on tour and we had been sending stuff back and forth over the Internet. A lot of the time, lyrics were already penned, but I often took inspiration from what he had given me, too. Then I went to this other guy, Matt [Wicklund] from HIMSA and we kinda did the same approach with that. But it comes from a number of different places, which resulted in a nice variety.
Do you think there will be another solo record down the line? Are you anxious to get back to doing stuff with NEVERMORE now that this has been done?
Yeah, we’re working on new NEVERMORE material … it’s brutal and heavy as shit … and it’s my first love. But I think we will definitely do another solo album cuz we’ve already been talking about it.
Cool, so how long until that gets released?
Well Jeff just finished his solo record too, and I have to tell ya, it’s amazing. The cool thing about it is that it’s not really gonna be what you’d expect. I bet a lot of people will anticipate nonstop shredding from start to finish and that’s not what it is. There’s some really cool moments that are gonna take people by surprise and I’m very proud of him. As far as NEVERMORE goes, we have a few solid tunes right now and should be in the studio by the end of the year.
You’re no stranger to non-Metal covers. One need only look to “The Sound of Silence” from Dead Heart in a Dead World to see that. You now cover “Patterns”–another Paul Simon song–and “Lucretia My Reflection” by SISTERS OF MERCY. Why are you choosing these songs in particular for this latest album?
I remember when that album Floodland came out and all my friends were pushing it on me, so I checked it out. We were all listening to Metal and old school Goth. That’s back when Goth was cool, cuz right now it’s not cool anymore; it’s become really formulaic and repetitive and poppy. “Lucretia…” was very catchy–it was my favorite song off that record–and I always thought it would make a good Metal song. Matt [Wicklund] really helped with that. He reinterpreted it so well, using the bassline as a guitar riff, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I was pretty scared to do it, cuz that’s like treading on sacred ground–it’s a fucking classic! As far as Paul Simon goes, he’s always been a huge inspiration for me. From a lyrical standpoint, he always wrote in such a grotesquely beautiful, dark, poetic nature, which I always have really admired.
Since you have so many loves outside of the world of Metal, what would be a dream collaboration for you?
Well if I could hook up with Paul Simon, that would be awesome … but I gotta tell ya, that will never happen for obvious reasons!
Well never say never, I suppose.
I’d love to do something with Peter Murphy [BAUHAUS] as well. He’s one of my favorite singers. But Paul Simon probably tops the list.
Is there a tour lined up for your solo album?
We’re working on that now and it’s gonna happen, probably around September-October. At the same time, we’re working hard to get the NEVERMORE tour solidified. I’m multitasking at the moment.
What are you listening to right now, Metal or otherwise?
Oh jeez, let’s see. I just pulled out Battles in the North [IMMORTAL] yesterday and all the old DEATH records and just made a day of it. I’m really hooked on Spiritual Healing right now. I do listen to so much different stuff, and I think that’s really important as a musician to listen to things outside of the genre you’re writing in. I gotta admit I like a lot of Celtic music and Loreena McKennitt is just amazing. I could listen to her for years and I love her new record. I often go back to older Rock like THE BEATLES … you really need to have an open mind to be creative and have a broad range. A lot of Metal fans don’t get that … they only want to listen to one thing and there’s more out there.
Yeah, Metal can really be a double-edged sword. On one hand you can find Norwegian Black Metal bands embracing Folk music or avant-garde bands working in Jazz passages and Classical elements, but on the other hand there’s so much rampant elitism coupled with ignorance which can close people off.
That’s true … people gotta open themselves up just to stay well-rounded–especially if you’re playing music–in order to stay expressive and creative.
Absolutely. Well I want to thank you again for the interview, Warrel. Good luck on both upcoming tours, and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Thank you for the interview as well … take care.
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