Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.39 03/02)
excerpts from an interview with Andrew Robinson (Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals)
The biggest difference was that I collaborated on 2 songs ("Illuminati" and "Man Who Killed the River Part2") and I no longer have to record at a commercial studio because I have my own studio now. I recorded most of the "Highway 375" EP at my studio too. It enables me to not have to watch the clock constantly and to capture inspired performances at my leisure. I also can take my time and get the mixes right,whereas before I would be in a commercial studio and be under a time crunch and often had to settle for a mix that wasn't quite the way I wanted it.
Is "The green earth" some kind of concept album, because I found a connection in the lyrics and song titels that deal with the beauty of nature and the relationship of man and the natural resources?
Yes, it's a loose concept about the natural world and it's beauty.I grew up in a meadow surrounded by the forest and hills in rural Vermont. I've always felt most at home in a natural environment.I regularly hike and run in the mountains and forests with my dog. It really horrifies me to see the destruction of the natural world.I'm also a big admirer of the British Romantic poets and the Pre-Raphaelite painters of the Victorian era, as well as William Blake, Henry David Thoreau and William Butler Yeats. I wanted the music to reflect the feeling I get when connecting with these artists and their works and how it affects the way I view the natural world. I was also reading 2 books ("World Without End" and "Sea Without A Shore") by fantasy author Sean Russell while working on the recordings and these affected me too. I named one of the instrumental compositions after one of the books.
For "The green earth" you worked together with a lot of guest musicians. Did they have any influence on the music or did you exactly tell them what to play?
I let the musicians interpret the music for themselves. If I didn't like what they were doing I would tell them and they'd try something else. Jon Barris, who co-wrote several of the songs, laid down his drums without any accompaniment and I built the compositions around his drum tracks. A very strange way to write to say the least! If you listen closely to his drums you can hear how logically he built the arrangements. He had no idea what I'd do with them...
Concerning my personal taste "The green earth" is your matured album so far. How do you see your musical development looking on all your records and how things have grown over the years?
Most of the compositions on "the Green Earth" were written many years ago. The music for "North Atlantic Song" was written in 1983 and I recorded the 12 string guitars and the atmospheric keyboards in 1987. I dumped then down onto my multitrack from the original analog tape and wrote the lyrics and performed the vocals in the spring of 2001. "The Shepherd" was recorded in 1987 also. "I'm the Sun" and "Stranded" were composed in 1992. "Rainforest/the Green Earth" were written in 1988, but recorded in the spring of 2001 after going through several revisions. "Sea Without a Shore" was composed around 1994.The remaining songs were written and recorded during the spring of 2001. It was originally meant to be an Andrew Robinson solo CD while waiting for the band to get it together and commit to recording. This was not to be so I turned it into a Magus album. But to answer your question, I feel my music has been constantly evolving with each release and the fact that I now can spend more time in the studio helps immensely. The first CD,"Magus", was a very cohesive and well written album, but I was rushed and not happy with the results, especially the drums. For the "Traveller" CD, I signed with a small prog label called InEarVision. The owner made me include songs that I didn't think fit with the overall feel of the album and he also changed the song order from the way I wanted it. It ended up being a bit of a stylistic trainwreck. It would have been a great and cohesive 45 minute album. The "Highway 375" EP was very short and concise work that I feel works very well. The last track,"Highway 375 (revisited), is probably one of my finest mixes. It turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. I feel "The Green Earth" is my most cohesive full length recording. I think artists often feel they have to try to fill up the full 74 minutes on a CD, or close to it. This often creates "filler" and a lack of cohesion. I would much rather hear a concise 45 minute CD than a meandering 74 minute one. In the Ancient times B.C.D. (before compacts discs) 35-45 minute albums were the standard.
You already work on your next release "Escape from the circle", which is planned for release in May. Can you tell a little bit more about it?
There's a 24 minute concept piece entitled "The Garden". It's based upon a short story that I wrote and hope to include in the CD booklet along with the lyrics. It's the story of a man and woman living in a post-appocalyptic world. It's much more rock oriented than "The Green Earth" but still has many atmospheric sections. I'm playing alot more bass, which is the instrument that I always used to play when performing with bands. I hope this will be the work that will really put Magus on the progressive map.
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 2002