Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.42 12/02)
excerpts from an interview with Tomas Bodin (Keyboards)
Well, I had some thoughts about that during a period of time. The most easy thing would have been to work with Roine "as usual". But then I fell in love with the idea of making a trio. I had some influences from ELP I guess... I think you can here it on the first song "Sodium Regale".
Why did you choose especially Jonas and Zoltan as your musical partners?
Jonas was the obvious choice. He´s such a talent player and also a dear friend of mine. When I was looking for a drummer, Jonas suggested that I should try Zoltan. First I was a little bit suspicious abut his young age. Jonas said that I at least should TRY him. So I did and was totally blown away. This guy did all the things I needed for a trio. So here I had two very gifted muscians.
Was everything composed and fixed before you went to the studio or are there parts / songs which evolved during the recording process or are even purely improvised?
I have my own studio at home so the border between compositions and recording are now very thin. Of course I tried different versions of the songs before I decided to record the drums. From that point everything has to be finished. The rest is very must a production phase. Jonas was recording the bass at his studio in Malmö. When I got the files I realized that some parts needed to be rearranged. Jonas had come up with some great ideas. So I would say that the songs went thru a huge process.
The CD spans a wide range of style, with "Harlem Heat" even including a gospel passage. Where did this particular idea came from and who's hiding behind the mysterious Reverend Mr. Hope and his Hopettes?
I wanted to make a song based on a "private-eye" concept. I love movies like "Mickey Spillane"... Then one day when I was recording handclaps on the refrain on the first part I felt how close this handclap was to gospel music. So from there the rest was pretty easy. Mr Hope and his Hopetts are very determined to stay in cognito. That was the deal :)) I can tell you that it ain´t Neal Morse anyway!!
In which way do the song titles have a real connection to the contents, musical meaning of the particular song or are just more or less nonsense?
"Sodium Regale" is a play with words. I am a heavyyyy coca-cola drinker. So here we got "The King of Soda". "Me and Liz" is a song about my Ex-wife Elisabeth, but also a I realised that Liz Taylor and I are going thru a lot of marragies. She´s still leading :)) "New in the hood" is actually about my own neighbourhood and I do remember the day when I saw that beautiful woman next door. So I think some titels are very much "alive" some other are perhaps more nonsense.
Who had the idea for the interesting visual aspect of the cover and how did you came up with the name of album?
I would say that Thomas Ewerhard at InsideOut did the main work. Still I had made some pictures myself. So in the end the result was this beautiful mix of ´different ideas. The name was a suggestion of Ian Oakley - The Flower Kings webmaster.
Comparing your two solo albums, in which way were they different - composing, productions, trying out new things etc. - or is "Pinup Guru" more a logical follow up of "An ordinary night in my ordinary life"?
If I compare them I would say that they are very much alike. But the main difference is that I wanted to include new elements on "The Pinup" I wanted to include more grooves and some influences of world music and ambient - I had a period when Peter Gabriel was running hot in the CD player. But to my this is a very logical follower.
In which way did the technological development of the last six year affect the composing process and the production of the album?
A LOT!!!!! Today I have everything I need inside of the computer. I work with Emagic´s sequenzer LOGIC - BTW a German company ta-ta-ta-ta!!! So it´s so simple to work in the production. Last album I draged a bicycle into the studio in order to reach a sound. Today I can make it in a different way. Also I have some Swedish synts - Double Ta-ta-ta!!!! - that is a super clone of the old hammond organ. So everything is much easier now. But you got to be careful because sometimes the choices are too many!
Lately your own website was launched. Can you tell a little more about the plans what will happening there in the near future?
The plans are so funny.... I will have a webcam so that the fans can see my in action!!!!!! Not the bedroom! Also there will be a paypal system so that I can sell some merchandise. I will release a new CD in the beginning of next year. This CD will only be available via internet. Also there will be a section call "Mr.Hope" this section will be very "Monty Python" influenced. Also there will be plenty of downloads. Here we have music for free. You can use the music if you address the source. I will try to release one song each month! So please check it out often at tomasbodin.com
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 2002