It's been a bonus year for debut albums and Outloud are right at the top of the heap. Read on to hear about future world domination from all the guys involved...
So guys - how did you all come together, being that you are all spread around a bit?
Tony: After finishing a bunch of songs with Bob for what would eventually be our first album, and while we saw that the material that we had exceeded our expectations, we decided to take it to the next level and we started seeking out band members to complete the line up. At first Bob remembered that he had met a singer in New York, during one of the Firewind U.S tours, Chandler Mogel who, after singing some demos, turned out to be just the right guy. After that Bob called his friend and band mate from Firewind Mark Cross to be the drummer and finally I gave the position of the bass player to Jason Mercury to complete the line up. I must mention here that Jason is no longer with us and he was replaced by a new bass player Sverd! All of us live here in Greece except Chandler, but that certainly doesn't keep us behind in any plans that we have as a band! Sverd: Well, I've been good friends with Bob for more than 3 years now and one day he just called me to fill in the place...And I have to say that it is one of the best decisions I've ever made to do so!
Tony - you were taking guitar lessons from Bob - a case of the apprentice joining the master?
Tony: The truth is that Bob has affected me in many ways, such as my playing, in the song writing and in the whole perception of music generally. He mainly was my guitar teacher but he especially affected me just from watching him!! I guess when someone knows something pretty damn well he can affect you with his knowledge unconsciously!!
Chandler - how was this project pitched to you and why were you the best man for the job?
Chandler: I had originally met Bob on Myspace, he listened to some of my demos (and I had heard some of his solo work before) which he dug. Then I met him in person at a Firewind show in NY, we talked about what was at the time a project he was starting with Tony and the fact that they needed a singer for the tracks. When Bob got home he and Tony sent me “Wild Life”, I did some vocals on it and they liked what I did with it. So they flew me over to Athens and as they say, the rest is history!
I like how you all quickly called this a band - a real gigging, playing band and not just another "project". How important was it to be perceived as a band from the outset?
Tony: First off things moved very fast. First came the finishing of the album, then the deal with the label, the tour, second album on the way…all this just in a few months of time. That came out of the interest from all of us. We didn't want to leave it and just to be called a "project" but to make this band a real live band and that's why we moved that fast. We knew this would ultimately determine if we stay around or just fade away. It's a long way until you become a real band when you start from the beginning but if you want to be able to play live shows and be prominent in the music industry I don't see anything more important than achieving that. Sverd: In my opinion, it's the most important to us...That's what we're here for...We're a band and we want to share our creativity and feelings with the people. It's really pleasing to receive such a warm welcome from the outset!
The debut album was recorded some time ago now... mid-2008 right? Chandler - you handed me a CDR at Firefest in October 2008.
Chandler: The majority was recorded in Sept. 2008 yes! A lot was recorded even earlier, but as most know we had a computer crash and lost most of the tracks, then we all went in the studio together that Sept. and banged them out again, but this time we recorded the basic tracks live! So, it was a blessing in disguise, that computer crash – because of course things turned out much better the second time.
I'm certainly glad I handed it to you my friend! You helped us to get the ball rolling on it!
It took a while to find the right label and I'm personally disappointed the Angelmilk deal didn't come to fruition, as I thought you guys would easily make a mark and had a great attitude.
Chandler: But things worked out how they did, and everything happens for a reason! We're just glad that you respected our decision in the end, and continued to support us.
Frontiers saw the potential with you guys and snapped you up - are you pleased with their handling of the debut album to date?
Chandler: Most definitely.They really believed in us from the get-go, gave us an extra push as a newcomer band and really had a lot of press done on us, for which we saw the tangible results at our sold out shows! Not to mention they've been honorable, responsive and very pleasant to work with. This is why they're THE label in melodic rock.
You guys have been everywhere in the press, which again, is a great thing. You want to get your message out there. So go for it...what is the Outloud "message"?!!
Sverd: Live the rockin' life at last...Fill your hearts with the desire to accomplish your dreams and just go for it..! Tony: Outloud is a band that is here to stay and ready and willing to play good music!! We love what we are doing and we love writing good songs and having a great time. Stay tuned guys this is just the beginning!! Chandler: “We'll Rock You to Hell and Back Again” – this means that we'll be courteous enough to not leave you stranded in Hell once we rock you there initially. We're the band that rocks you back from Hell as well for no additional fees or hidden charges!
I was instantly impressed by this album and the hard rock attitude within. It had a killer production and a current appeal, but the heart of the songs came from the best of the late 80s/early 90s...yes?
Tony: That was my interest from the beginning, to form a hard rock band with powerful songs and attitude. My influences come back from the 80's and in combination with Bob's influences that are a bit more modern I agree that the whole album takes place somewhere around the late 80's / early 90's!!
Favourite songs from all on the album?
Sverd: My personal favorites are "Broken Sleep", "Outloud!" and "Search For Truth" BK: I would say Tonite and Broken Sleep because they have this minor scale feeling which I generally prefer. Chandler: It's a tough call, but I'd have to say We Run, Broken Sleep, and Lovesigh… CROSS: I'd say “Broken sleep”, “Search for truth” and “Wild life”, they're great live songs and fun to play, not to mention “We Run” my all time fav. Tony: I'll say that my favorite song is Broken Sleep and beside that one I'll say What I Need and of course We Run as well!
And the feedback from press and fans - happy? The majority seem to get the album and dig where you guys are going here.
Sverd: The feedback has been simply amazing so far! Especially from the fans! It was vary nice to get to meet and see all those people on our tour and personally I was really happy to see that our songs have touched a lot of people that also followed us and got to be one with us so soon! BK: To be honest if there wasn't this positive feedback I wouldn't continue doing it and be so enthusiastic about it. What started as a cool collaboration between me and a student of mine led to a full band with great musicians having great times on stage. And once again I'd like to say that this was the reason we did it at first hand. Tony: The feedback is really great. The press seemed to love the album and we've been getting great reviews from several magazines and sites around the world! We were amazed from that response and from many fans as well!! CROSS: It's been amazing. Honestly we didn't really know what to expect, but I think the response simply shows that good music will never die! We wanted to play and record what we felt like without any cliché conceptual background, and keep the songs and recording simple. You know, we didn't really overdub or clean up the files to make the album sound programmed and perfect, we are good players and wanted that raw live attitude and definitely kept the dirt and you can feel that energy. Outloud is a live band and the response we got from the press and fans on our first tour in Greece, was just.... OMG!! Well, it seems that we've done something right and that makes us also very proud! Thank you!!
Do you have any feedback on sales numbers yet?
CROSS: Now after the holidays we'll have to ask again, I heard that the first pressing of Frontiers elapsed over a month ago, and I think that was 4500. So I guess we aren't too bad and the promo goes on......
How was the recent Greek tour? Happy with response, crowds and the way you guys played together?
Sverd: Everything was just perfect man! There have been some amazing crowds that made the gig nights unforgettable...It is the biggest pleasure you can get as a musician when you see people supporting you like this! The way we played was also rockin' and it felt like we've been all playing together for many years...the bonding on stage and off stage was miraculous! CROSS: Absolutely, it was amazing but also a risky start! You know, we had several non-profit offers, to tour with MSG in the UK and several other support slots, but were financially impossible, so we made the decision to kick our first live dates off in Greece, to first of all warm up and tighten the band before we head to other countries and further activities. Now I can say that the band is ready for more gigs!
Crossroads Productions booked this tour which went really well and drew a lot of people. I saw a lot of young kids out there who are thirsty for rock'n roll and good live bands.
We released our first album on August 28th in Europe and 3 1/2 months later we headlined on 6 shows in 200-700 seaters in Greece, which went very well! Tony: First of all I must mention that we took a big risk doing that tour and what I exactly mean with that is that we are a completely new band, never played live together before and three months after we released our first record, we managed to start a tour and also to play headliners on the whole tour but hell it was totally worth it! Not many bands do that, but we really wanted to surprise people and just go out and hit it hard. I guess that that can explain the attitude that the record has!! All the gigs were a huge success, the crowds were perfect, singing in like every song, shouting, just being one with us. When we were on stage, we were very enthusiastic playing our music live for the first time, jumping up and down and sometimes even getting out of control!! BK: We really didn't know what to expect. Times are difficult, people don't embrace/trust a newcomer band so easily these days, and they prefer the "safe" bands. But what we lived was really an amazing experience: we sold out almost every venue and felt that we already have a growing hardcore fan base who will support us in the future! Being used to playing with FIREWIND where we never rehearse, just go out and play 101% made things a little more difficult for me since we had to rehearse and start from scratch. But we did it. Even if we were not performing perfectly technically-wise, OUTLOUD were delivering this kind of energy to the people which makes a Rock n Roll show successful!
How does playing live as a unit tighten you up and perhaps change the dynamics somewhat when you go to head back into the studio for album number two?
BK: You can't imagine how much these 6 shows tightened us together. We became a family. We started having the vision of "Yes, we can go out and make it!" Chandler learned some Greek, Mark did his crazy stuff on stage and party'd like crazy even after endless hours of driving, Tony killed his stage fright just like this *snap* and of course Sverd, our new bassist embodied himself 100% in OUTLOUD and did a very good job. Now we really go in the studio united as a fist. Sverd: It makes us wiser and stronger as musicians and also helps on the understanding of each other's style and way of playing...The dynamics are now set for higher levels! hehe
Speaking of album number 2 - Chandler - I recall you talking of working on the second album back in October 2008, so how is progress there?
Chandler: Yeah, now that the tour and the holidays are over, we're staring to pool our ideas again. Tony and Bob are always writing non-stop so since you and I met a lot of ideas and rough tunes have been accumulating. And they've been writing some killer stuff recently. But now we're getting down to it as we'll be solidifying everything for the next record very soon….
Where do you see the new album going direction wise?
BK: Fun to ask since last night me and Tony wrote a brand new killer track completing the majority of the songs for the new album and we are very happy about it! Next album sounds like OUTLOUD only now everybody will be at his best! From my experience as both a musician and producer I know that it's just not easy to succeed an inspired debut album but I'm not afraid; Tony always comes up with great ideas and now we know where we are going and what people want, and that's what we are going to deliver! CROSS: I can't really say yet, I'm sure we'll keep it in a similar direction, but as you know a first album and tour always gives new impressions that lead to new writing ideas, now the holidays are over and we'll focus on new material. Bob and Tony already worked out a bunch of new riffs, hahaha.... Girls girls girls! Tony: The next album will be in the same mood as the first one, but with more powerful songs and a strongest attitude. Get ready for the first album to get topped off!!!
Any further plans to reach out and play other territories? Any offers or deals done at this stage?
CROSS: Yes, there are, but we'll get into details very soon. The plan is to do a few shows in spring and festivals in the summer.
Tell me guys - what other acts around right now do it for you and what classic acts from the past are influences?
BK: I don't listen so much of new music, I'm really stuck on my early 90's beloved metal bands like Annihilator, Megadeth and of course Dream Theater, haha! But in OUTLOUD my "secret" desires like Alice Cooper and Bon Jovi just jump out and say "we're here!" and I'm very happy about it! CROSS: There are a few newer ones, but I don't even know their names, to be honest! My favorites and influences from the past still are Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rainbow, Whitesnake, the Stones, AC-DC, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mr.Big, Bad English, Toto, Iron Maiden and of course Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest!! Sverd: My thing is mostly powerful and atmospheric metal bands...I like Wintersun, Katatonia, Swallow The Sun and stuff...When it comes to older rock stuff I have to say that I really dig Whitesnake!
So what would the last word you would like to get out to fans of Outloud be?
Sverd: Thank you for everything guys, you made this tour an excellent experience and also thanks for supporting us guys everywhere..! We'll be there for you!!!Rock on! BK: Stay tuned to OUTLOUD cause an amazing new album is coming and of course I'd personally like to say to all the FIREWIND fans that they have nothing to worry about (since I'm having all these questions) cause we are also ready to deliver our new masterpiece pretty soon! CROSS: We'll rock you to hell....... and this year again!
Be good, stay away from drugs, read books and don't waste your time and life on the internet cause “the real life ain't virtual”, have fun, be honest and don't piss off your loved ones, and believe in your abilities!! Cheers.... And a bottle of Rum, hohoho! Tony: Everybody to stay tune for the next album that is on the way, which will rock you to hell and back again even further that the first one!! Chandler: What they said…..and for everything so far, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We love you guys, after all…..you are the music, we're just the band! Stay tuned for a great year ahead.
And any potential fans reading this?
BK: Just give us a chance...maybe OUTLOUD is what you've been looking for in the Rock n Roll world for so many years...!
Anything further you guys would like to add?
CROSS: A huge thank you for your support and believing in Outloud! We will carry on and make it your way soon! We love ya all!! Alright yer lassies!!......to be continued.... BK: Chandler please start reading that Greek dictionary that fan gave you. Next year you'll be moving to Greece!!! Chandler: Haha! The story behind that – I told Tony that if we sell 25,000 copies of the next record, I'll move to Greece! Maybe I'll end up eating my words……hmmm, salt & pepper please?
Thanks for your time and sorry this interview came to you way too late. Never too late to promote a great CD though :)
Chandler: Better late than never. Thanks as always Andrew, from all of us, for your continued support! Here's to a great year ahead…..for everyone!
