Rockezine.com interview with Jacobs Dream on May 12, 2005

with John Berry on May 12, 2005


		Your new album, “Drama Of The Ages”, was recently released. How have the reactions been so far? We have been quite pleased with the reaction so far. A lot of people are hearing us for the first time so few people are comparing our old singer to our new one. Although it is a fair comparison, they really are not that different from one another.
		How would you describe the music on “Drama Of The Ages” in your own words? Emotional and powerful, driven. Not for the passive listeners, it is for real metal fans only.
		Where did you get the name Jacobs Dream? It was just on of many many names we considered after deciding to leave our old name (Iron Angel). I believe our drummer’s wife suggested it or was somehow involved in it.
		Your music is very diverse and at times complicated with a lot of different elements. Do you think it’s difficult to appeal to the European audience, who seem to be in general much more into straightforward power metal? Actually I have always thought of German listeners to be more open minded and appreciative of the diverse elements in our music. The Germans are culturally educated and sophisticated far beyond the average American listener.
		What do you think are the biggest differences between the European metal scene and the American one? I scratch my head in amazement when I listen to the radio here. No one really likes what they play on the radio but nor do they take any initiative to find out what other kind of metal music is out there. WE ARE THE NEW ALTERNATIVE! Wake up America!
		The album features a new vocalist, Chaz Bond. Can you tell me a little bit about his background and how you managed to recruit him? Chaz had very similar tastes in metal when he was younger. He moved to the darker more modern style of metal later on but he has used his old and new influences to give a Jacobs dream a new voice.
		Can you tell us a bit about how the band approaches song writing; is it a process that involves the band as a whole or is it more an individual process? I might bring a cd of song demos for the band to listen to. Often they will just take the parts I came up with and reinterpret them with their own inspiration. Other times they will just take bits and pieces from here and there. Sometimes they will reject a song altogether and then that song gets filed away for my solo project.
		“Drama Of The Ages” is your third release on Metal Blade Records, easily one of the best labels in the metal scene; are you satisfied with the cooperation and the way Metal Blade promotes the band? Metal Blade does a better job promoting our cds than we could do alone. And that is why we signed to a label to begin with. Many bands really expect far too much from a label and end up being disappointed with the results.
		When I listen to the album, the thing that I like the best is the typical down to earth feel; the production is sober but sounds authentic. Would you like to comment on that? We engineered it ourselves. We have no interest in the latest methods of recording where they make a good album sound lo-fi. Why make it sound bad when you could make it sound good?
		Can we expect to see Jacobs Dream on tour in Europe, and if so together with what bands will you be touring? We have no plans to tour yet. We are lining up as many shows as we can for the next few months on our own.
		During the long time that you have been active in the metal scene, what did you like the most in being part of the scene, and what the least? I like the fact that the bands are much less competitive than they used to be. There is more cooperation and brotherhood. On the other hand the venues seem to treat the bands more as nuisance than as a business partner.
		What can we expect from Jacobs Dream in the future? More killer cds. Hopefully a European tour.
		Well that’s it. Thanks a lot for this interview and good luck with the release of “Drama Of The Ages”. Thanks for the chance to talk to your readers. Rock-zines have always been a friend of the band and we appreciate it. Stay True!
		(Frank van de Voorde)