Witch
Meadow/Tragedian
Some days ago I received
an email by Gabriele Palermo that really surprised me. He was telling me
that he had read the interview I did with Bryan for Witch Meadow and he
wanted to tell me his own part of the story. I couldn't resist and I prepared
the following questions for the interview which turned out to be very interesting
since Gabriele except for being a former member of Witch Meadow, has also
got a new band called Tragedian and participated as a guest on two of the
Metalium albums. All these and many more you can learn in this very detailed
interview. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did...
1. HELLO GABRIELE! HOW ARE YOU? BEFORE WE
ENTER TO THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF
TO THE READERS AND TELL US IN WHICH BANDS YOU HAVE PARTICIPATED AND STILL
ARE A MEMBER OF…
Hello Nikos! I'm great thank you! To all the
readers, welcome to this interview and enjoy. I am a guitarist, bassist,
studio keyboard player and producer. I have a small studio called Area
54 which I'm constantly in. I started playing in 1988 guitar, 1991 bass
and keyboards in 1994. My musical journey started in 1993 with Witch Meadow,
1994 First Power, 1997 Premonition with ex Steel Prophet singer Rick Mythiasin
and currently since 2002 Tragedian.
2. FROM THE EMAIL YOU SENT ME YOU CLAIM THAT YOU
BELONG TO THE FIRST FORMATION OF THE U.S. BAND WITCH MEADOW. CAN YOU TELL
US A FEW THINGS ABOUT HOW YOU BECAME A MEMBER OF THIS BAND?
It all started in March of 1993 when I was
one of the 4 long haired guys working in a sandwich shop. One day at work
I met Geoff when he asked me if I played and what bands I like. He was
more the poser type and I was more the musical guy. I agreed to meet him
and this singer he had been working with for a session. After a few hours
of beer and playing each other ideas, we decided to work together. That
was Witch Meadow MK I.
3. HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTED IN ANY WAY AS A MEMBER
OF WITCH MEADOW IN THE SONGWRITING PROCESS? WHO WAS THE MAIN COMPOSER AND
DID YOU FOLLOW A CERTAIN PROCEDURE AS A BAND IN ORDER TO CREATE MUSIC?
Yes, at that time I was more a music writer.
There was no "main composer" because when any of us had an idea, we all
gathered in a circle, listened and began to make something out of it. The
only procedure was when we had an idea, we were to present it to the rest
of the group and not be shy.
4. ALTHOUGH WITCH MEADOW’S MUSIC IS GOOD, AS A
BAND YOU HAVE RELEASED ONLY ONE OFFICIAL ALBUM. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHICH
WERE THE REASONS THAT LED THE BAND TO SPLIT?
First off, I had no idea that the band lasted
as long as they did since I left our hometown 1 year before the release
and didn't have contact with anyone anymore. I just recently discovered
they had a CD out as I came across it by accident. After seeing the disc,
I googled Witch Meadow and got a few results. As to why they broke up,
you need to ask someone from the last line up.
5. WHEN YOU CONTACTED ME, I CHECKED OUT THE METAL-ARCHIVES.COM
SITE IN ORDER TO GET SOME MORE INFO ON WITCH MEADOW AND I FOUND OUT THAT
YOUR NAME WASN’T REFERRED ANYWHERE IN THE LINE-UP. HOW COME THIS HAPPEN?
I also checked the site after reading your
question and saw only one name I knew and no mention of Geoff or Rich as
well. That’s something you would have to ask Bryan himself and I would
be curious to read his answer. Usually things like this happen when people
are insecure about themselves and what they do.
6. YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU DON’T APPROVE OF BRYAN
MARTIN CLAIMING TO BE THE FOUNDER OF THE BAND, BECAUSE HE CAME LATER THAN
THE OTHER MEMBERS. CAN YOU PROVE THAT? HAVE YOU TRIED TO CONTACT HIM IN
ORDER TO CORRECT THE THINGS HE SAYS?
Absolutely not at all! Because the founding
members were drummer Geoff Caron and singer Rich Chabot. The name and logo
came from one of Geoff’s friends who later became Bryan’s girlfriend and
we rehearsed in her countryside apartment. Here's the whole story as to
how Bryan JOINED Witch Meadow. The formation of Geoff, Rich and myself
only lasted 2 1/2 months. When Rich left, Geoff and I decided to start
all over again with new music. The search for a bass player and a new singer
seemed an eternity since in 1993 it was very, very out of fashion to play
or be associated with Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. One day Geoff and I were
at the local music store when we spotted an ad that said "Hard Rock, Heavy
Metal guitarist seeks serious band". We said to each other "it would’ve
been great if he was a bassist or singer". So later that night Geoff calls
me at home and told me he kept the ad and called the guy. Come to find
out he was into the same bands as us and had the same musical vision as
us. In 1991 I had a Black Sabbath phase and wanted to be Geezer Butler.
So after thinking to myself "this guy is a Sabbath freak, maybe we could
do something great", I slept on it for one night and called Geoff the next
day and asked his thoughts on me playing bass and Bryan joining us. At
first he asked if I really wanted to do that and I said what do we have
to lose, if it doesn't work I can always go back to guitar. So we called
him back and made a session, he came down and the feeling was as if we
played together forever and we later sat at the local donut shop and Witch
Meadow MARK II was born. At the following practice, Bryan presented a lot
of material he had written and picked the best of the best cause he had
a lot of good ideas. While we were re-working these songs to sound fresh,
Bryan wasn't to thrilled that I was playing the bass like a guitar. I told
him "If your gonna do the Tony Iommi thing by just hitting power chords,
then it would only make sense for me to play like Geezer Butler by filling
the empty gaps". That’s when the problems started as Geoff starting in
as well that I was overplaying. Geoff was a good rock drummer but no Simon
Philips and Bryan was a very good guitarist but no Yngwie Malmsteen. I
was the guy listening to neoclassical musicians as they preferred simple
music. At the same time; Geoff announced a singer would be coming down,
a guy he found at the local mall printing and selling T-shirts. By the
first sound of this guy, he sounded like he only sang to a radio in the
background. From day 1 Bryan was quiet and didn't say much and looked very
serious all the time but when he played, he played. This on going problem
of me "overplaying" went on until September 1993 when I arrived for practice
and Geoff announced we would have a meeting. In that meeting they only
talked about how they wanted to make the people’s music (short and simple)
and didn't want the music to be a music lesson. Of course I answered
by telling them I’m just filling the empty gaps left by the guitar and
drums and how usually that’s the guitarists job. The new guy Paul didn't
say a word. After 2 hours and a pointless meeting, I just got up and left
the room. It was a little funny for a while because I landed a job at Bryan’s
workplace 2 months before and I had to see him everyday. Then they announced
the new bassist, of all people, another guy from the same workplace who
never played an instrument in his life. They just put a bass in his hand
and told him what to play, for sure that’s no person to be intimidated
about. That lasted until late November/early December 2003 when on a Sunday
my phone rang and it was Geoff. He seriously asked me if I wanted to rejoin
the band. I asked him "Are you for real?" he said he was dead serious.
To this day when I think about it, I don't know why I said yes, when I
should’ve told them to fuck off. Back to the countryside house I went and
Geoff, Paul, Bryan and his girlfriend were all there. After 2 weeks it
all fell apart again and that was it. Geoff and I formed a new group and
Bryan stayed with Witch Meadow since his girlfriend came up with the name
and logo. So how could someone be a founding member when they are the 4th
person to join a band? I have tried to contact Geoff recently to get his
view but so far no luck yet. He should still have a home video we did and
some photos. I’m sure he would back what I'm saying. As far as contacting
Bryan, I'm sure he will get in contact with me after he reads this. I bet
this would be something he wouldn't expect but if he would like to talk,
no problem from my side.
7. EXCEPT FOR BRYAN DO YOU CONTACT THE OTHER MEMBERS
OF THE BAND? ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOW? ARE THEY STILL IN
THE HEAVY METAL MUSIC?
I have not spoken to Rich since winter 1993,
as far as what he's now doing or what music he likes, I have no idea. The
last time I talked to Geoff was in July 1995 at a night club. I would guess
he still listens to metal but he was always a nostalgic type so he's probably
still hearing bands like Mötley Crüe, Poison, Winger and Warrant.
8. YOU ALSO TOLD ME THAT YOU MOVED FROM U.S. TO
EUROPE. WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT LED YOU TO THAT DECISION? HOW EASY
OR DIFFICULT WAS IT FOR YOU TO ADJUST TO THE EUROPEAN WAY OF LIVING?
My decision to move to Europe was due to the
musical climate in America from 1991 until I left in 2000. Overnight metal
died and Grunge was king. I tried L.A. for a few years until I met a few
German girls who told me that in Europe people still love this music and
showed me German metal mags. I was completely blown away by what I saw
and heard on the sampler CDs. So after 5 years of not finding the right
players or anyone who understood this music and hearing that Slipknot and
Korn is the new wave of American metal, I decided to take my chance and
I proved my feeling right as I did more here in 2 years than I did in 10
years in America. The only difficult adjustment was the German language
as it’s the 3rd hardest in the world. Lifestyle wise it was not hard at
all cause the people here are laid back and my parents are European, so
I grew up with that culture.
9. YOU NOW HAVE A NEW BAND CALLED TRAGEDIAN. CAN
YOU TELL US IF THERE ARE ANY SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WITCH
MEADOW AND TRAGEDIAN?
Music wise we are as similar as an apple and
an orange. If you must compare, Witch Meadow was Black Sabbath and Tragedian
is Stratovarius. The only way both bands were similar was the way we worked
in putting the music together and each of us passing ideas around until
a song came out of it.
10. HAVE YOU USED ANY OF THE MATERIAL THAT YOU
HAVE WRITTEN FOR WITCH MEADOW IN YOUR NEW BAND?
None of it at all. Since Witch Meadow my playing
and my music taste has progressed along with the way I hear and write music
since discovering bands like Stratovarius, Freedom Call and Labyrinth.
11. SINCE I HAVEN’T LISTENED TO TRAGEDIAN, CAN
YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS HOW YOU SOUND AND WHICH BANDS HAVE INFLUENCED
YOU?
As far as how we sound, we play over the top
European Melodic Power Metal with Neoclassical guitar and keyboard solos.
The influences of the band in general are Stratovarius, Helloween, Labyrinth,
Freedom Call, Dream Theater, Hammerfall, Yngwie Malmsteen and Fifth Angel.
12. FROM YOUR SITE I SAW THAT SO FAR YOU HAVE
RELEASED ONE DEMO IN 2003. HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY NEW SONGS RECENTLY AND
WHEN DO YOU PLAN TO RELEASE THEM?
As I'm writing this, we are in the middle
of preparing our first full length CD on a soon to be named label. Since
the demo from 2003, we have written a full program in total of 10 songs.
If that sounds too less for that amount of time, we are going for quality,
not quantity.
13. HOW DID THE PRESS AND THE METAL FANS ACCEPT
YOUR FIRST DEMO? DID YOU HAVE ANY OFFERS FROM A LABEL IN ORDER TO RELEASE
YOUR FIRST FULL LENGTH ALBUM?
This was really a Love/Hate situation. The
fans, press, labels and anyone else who heard us loved the music but hated
the singer’s voice. When we hired him, we figured he knew what he was doing
since he is a very good guitarist. He had the right ideas and the power
and emotion to deliver the songs but the ability to hit certain notes was
not there. The first live show we did was 85% out of a 100%. We all said
"Not bad for the first, we can only get better from here". Then comes the
second gig where we almost broke up due to a replacement drummer who couldn't
find the 1 if you painted it on his hand and after the 3rd gig, the fans’
feedback was "we will see the band again when you have a new singer" and
a label who was interested insisted we had to get a new singer to go forward.
We did have a few labels who were interested in developing the band but
only if we had a new singer. Now that we found the guy who we should of
had when we formed, there is interest again from the fans, press and labels.
14. AS I SAW, YOU HAVE ALSO PARTICIPATED AS A
GUEST ON A METALLIUM ALBUM. CAN YOU TELL US WHICH THIS METALIUM ALBUM WAS
AND HOW THIS COLLABORATION OCCURRED?
Actually I participated on Chapters 3 and
4 doing choir shouts and correcting English grammar. It started when I
first moved to Hamburg and heard that Metalium was looking for a second
guitarist. As it turned out, I was a few weeks too late as they just hired
Tom Naumann from Primal Fear. So instead I joined them as a guitar tech
and got to travel a bit. After the live shows ended, Lars the band boss
had asked me to correct the English grammar of the lyrics and later sing
in the choir from hell. The following year when it was time for the next
release, I did the same.
15. THANK YOU GABRIELE FOR YOUR TIME AND GOOD
LUCK WITH YOUR NEW BAND! THE LAST WORDS BELONG TO YOU…
First thank you very much Nikos for giving
me the time to share my side of the story. I'd like to thank the readers
for reading and keeping the music and metal scene alive. Anyone interested
in what I'm up to now, please visit www.tragedian.com.
Drop me a note, I'd like to meet some of you. Drink hard, play fast and
fuck till you drop. Until the next time!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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