Interview med Owlbear
Owlbear - Chaos to the Realm
I forbindelse med udgivelsen af Owlbears geniale debutalbum, Chaos to the Realm, har Heavymetal.dk interviewet bandet og fået et indblik i bandets kreative proces og inspirationskilder. Vi talte med sanger Katy Scary, bassist Leona Hayward og guitarist Jeff Taft.
Genremæssigt er der en god blanding af forskellige elementer – hvor vil I placere Owlbears musikstil, og hvad definerer den?
Leona: Instrumentmæssigt føler jeg, at det er en kombination af USPM (US power metal, red.) såvel som 1980’ernes tyske power metal-guitarer, tidlige Iron Maiden-trommer og Helloween-basguitar. Så jeg gætter på, at man kan opsummere det som noget solid power metal?
Jeff: Jeg tror, vi satte os for at lave noget mere i en traditionel heavy metal-stil, men som Leona sagde, så er der en masse elementer af power metal fra begyndelsen af 1980’erne, som jeg synes, er en naturlig del af vores sangskrivningsstil. Vi er også blevet kaldt speed metal, sandsynligvis til dels, fordi det er et meget uptempo-album – og der er bestemt også indflydelse derfra).
Hvilke musikere/bands har påvirket Owlbears musikstil?
Katy: Musikalsk vil jeg sige de første to Iron Maiden-album. Folk bliver ved med at spørge mig om Running Wild nu, men det var alt sammen Jeff og Leonas input. Vokalteknisk vil jeg sige Smolder og Huntress.
L: Til basarrangementet havde jeg bestemt mig for virkelig at prøve at spille på samme måde som Jens Becker og Markus Grosskopf. Jeg kan virkelig godt lide den tilgang, de har til bas i power metal, og det ville jeg bygge videre på.
J: Helt klart Running Wild. Jeg ville tilføje Omen og noget græsk episk metal som Battleroar med hensyn tilting som ”Iuz the Old”.
Teksterne på dette album omhandler alle D&D-universet, og det passer bestemt til musikstilen – men hvorfor faldt valget på netop det emne/univers?
J: De handler ikke alle om D&D, faktisk! Vores første single, ”Fiend of Fire”, handler om Final Fantasy (den allerførste til NES (Nintendo Entertainment System, red)!), ”The Voyage of the Wraith” handler om Pirates of Dark Water (en fantasytegnefilm, der blev sendt i USA i begyndelsen af 1990’erne). ”Iuz the Old” og ”Steel at My Side” indeholder specifikke referencer til Greyhawk (den første D&D-indstilling), og ”Tyrant’s Fall” handler om Dark Sun (en anden D&D-indstilling). Jeg tror, selvom vi kaldte det et ”D&D-metalband”, når vi snakkede om det sammen, så var planen altid at skrive bredt om fantasy og ting, som vi elsker fra genren – bøger, film, videospil osv.
Hvad er jeres personlige yndlingsnummer fra Chaos to the Realm?
L: Sandsynligvis “Fiend of Fire”, “The Voyage of the Wraith” og “Fall on Your Blade”. “Fall on Your Blade” var det første, jeg lavede for dette projekt, så det er specielt på den måde, men jeg elsker også sangens flow, og teksterne er også sjove.
K: Det er ”Fiend of Fire”. Jeg tror, at den virkelig indfanger det, bandet handler om. Jeg kan også rigtig godt lide min vokalpræstation i slutningen af ”Cult of the Serpent”.
Nogle af bandmedlemmerne i Owlbear har tidligere arbejdet på eller arbejder stadig på andre projekter (i andre bands). Hvorfor opstod Owlbear, og hvor mødte bandmedlemmerne hinanden?
L: Jeff og jeg havde været venner online siden midten af 2018 og var endt med at mødes til ProgPower i 2019. Jeg blev ven med Katy gennem ham. Jeg tror, Jeff viste mig en sang eller to og klagede sig over, at de havde brug for en bassist og en trommeslager, og så forstod jeg det sådan, at han indirekte bad mig om at deltage.
K: Jeg mødte sandsynligvis Jeff, mens vi begge var hatere i den samme Facebook-kommentarsektion. Jeff introducerede mig for Leona, hvis første interaktion med mig var at lytte til mig læse erotisk Sonic the Hedgehog-fanfiktion på en Twitch-livestream.
Hvordan var sangskrivningen – hvem fandt på teksten, melodierne osv.?
J: Katy og jeg skrev hver halvdelen af sangene eller deromkring, og for hver enkelt lavede vi for det meste alle teksterne/melodierne/instrumenteringerne helt på egen hånd – jeg smed et par linjer ind på ”Steel by My Side” (Greyhawk-referencerne), og Katy – tror jeg – ændrede ordlyden et par steder på sange, jeg havde skrevet, for at gøre dem nemmere at synge. Leona kom med, efter at sangene var strukturelt færdige, men komponerede alle sine baslinjer – jeg ville føle mig skør ved at fortælle en så god bassist som Leona, hvad hun præcist skulle spille.
Alone Records er jeres nuværende pladeselskab, men Chaos to the Realm er en uafhængig udgivelse – hvorfor det?
J: Det er en lidt sjov tidslinje – vi havde planlagt at udgive albummet selv, fordi det tog ret lang tid at få det hele klart, og vi ville ikke bruge meget mere tid på at shoppe rundt. Men efter vi udgav ”Fiend of Fire” som single, henvendte Alone sig til os om at udgive albummet. Vi er ekstremt heldige, at tingene skete, som de gjorde. Emmanuel – Alones ejer – har været utrolig støttende, og uden ham ville ting som at udgive albummet på vinyl – som vi absolut ikke havde nogen plan om – have været umuligt.
Er der allerede nogle fremtidsplaner i støbeskeen for Owlbear – koncerter, festivaler, musikvideoer osv.?
L: Der er helt sikkert planer om noget ekstra musik og måske nogle andre ting. Responsen på albummet har været fantastisk, virkelig mere end nogen af os havde forventet, så der er muligheder.
Til sidst har jeg nogle hurtige spørgsmål:
Hvad er jeres nuværende yndlingskunstner/-band?
L: Galneryus, Octaviagrace, og jeg har også lyttet meget til Elfensjon, Dragon Guardian og Angel Witch på det seneste.
K: Hellripper.
J: Atlantisk Kodex.
Hvad er jeres all-time-favoritsange?
L: Ifølge min last.fm er de tre mest lyttede sange Black Sabbaths ”Mob Rules”, Atheists ”Mother Man” og Mercyful Fates ”A Dangerous Meeting”. Jeg er også nødt til at tilføje ”Raise My Sword” fra Galneryus der.
K: Liveversionen af ”Starbreaker” af Judas Priest og ”Irvine” af Kelly Clarkson.
J: Blind Guardians ”Mirror, Mirror”, X Japans ”Kurenai”, Kamelots ”Karma”, Gamma Rays ”Rebellion in Dreamland” og som et et ikkemetalnummer Siam Shades ”Calling”.
Hvad var den første plade, I købte for jeresegne penge?
L: Jeg tror, det kunne have været Paranoid fra Black Sabbath, hvis jeg husker rigtigt. Enten det eller Scenes from A Memory. Jeg begyndte faktisk ikke at købe album, før jeg havde været til tung musik i et år eller deromkring. Indtil det tidspunkt var jeg ved at indlæse Napster-fund på en Diamond Rio mp3-afspiller. Jeg var klassens nørd og lyttede til Hammerfall på en mp3-afspiller med omkring 128 MB plads i 1999.
J: Slippery When Wet af Bon Jovi på kassette.
K: Jeg vil sige Millenium af Backstreet Boys.
Hvad nyder I mest:store festivaler eller små klubkoncerter?
L: Jeg klarer mig bedre med mindre publikum – jeg er en shut-in – så jeg foretrækker mindre klubkoncerter.
J: Snyder jeg, hvis jeg siger små festivaler? Jeg kan godt lide atmosfæren ved flerdages festivaler med en masse bands, men ligesom Leona er jeg ikke rigtig til store menneskemængder.
K: Jeg vil ikke engang stå ud af sengen endsige svare på e-mailen, hvis jeg bliver bedt om at spille et sted med færre end 200 personer.
Genre-wise there is a good mix of different elements – where would you place Owlbear’s music style and what defines it?
Leona: Instrumentally, I feel like it's a combination of USPM as well as 80s German power metal style guitars, early Iron Maiden drums and Helloween bass guitar. So, I guess it comes back to something solidly power metal?
Jeff: I think we set out to do something more in a traditional heavy metal style, but like Leona said, there’s a lot of elements of early/80s power metal in there which I think are just naturally part of our songwriting style. We’ve gotten called speed metal as well, probably in part because it’s a very uptempo album (and there are definitely influences there as well).
What musicians/bands have influenced Owlbear’s music style?
Katy: Musically I would say the first two Iron Maiden albums. People keep asking me about Running Wild now but that was all Jeff and Leona’s input. Vocally I would say Smoulder and Huntress.
L: For the bass arrangement, I had determined to really try to play in the vein of Jens Becker and Markus Grosskopf. I really like the approach they have for bass in power metal and I wanted to build on that.
J: Definitely Running Wild. I’d add Omen, and some Greek epic metal like Battleroar for things like “Iuz the Old”.
The lyrics on this album are all set in the universe of D&D, and it certainly fits the music style – but why did the choice fall on that particular topic/universe?
J: They’re not all about D&D, actually! - Our first single, “Fiend of Fire” is about Final Fantasy (the very first one for the NES!), “Voyage of the Wraith” is about Pirates of Dark Water (A fantasy cartoon that aired in the US in the early 1990s). “Iuz the Old” and “Steel at my Side” do contain specific references to Greyhawk (the first D&D setting) and “Tyrant’s Fall” is about Dark Sun (another D&d setting). I think even though we called it a “D&D metal band” back and forth to one another, the plan was always to write broadly about fantasy, and stuff that we love from the genre – books, movies, video games, etc.
What is your personal favorite track from Chaos to the Realm?
L: Probably “Fiend of Fire”, “Voyage of Wraith” and “Fall on your Blade”. “Fall on Your Blade” was the first thing I did for this project so it's special in that way, but also, I love the flow of the song and the lyrics are fun as well.
K: It’s gotta be “Fiend of Fire”; I think that one really encompasses what the band is about. I also really like my vocal performance at the end of “Cult of the Serpent”.
Some of the band members of Owlbear have previously worked on, or are still working on other projects (in other bands), why did Owlbear come into existence and where did the band members meet each other?
L: Me and Jeff had been friends online since sometime mid-2018, and had ended up meeting up at ProgPower 2019. I became friends with Katy through him. I think Jeff showed me a song or two and was lamenting that they needed a bass player and a drummer and so I took that as him asking me indirectly to participate.
K: I probably met Jeff while we were both being haters in the same Facebook comments section. Jeff introduced me to Leona whose first interaction with me was listening to me read erotic Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction on a Twitch live stream
What was the songwriting like – who came up with the lyrics, the melodies etc.?
J: Katy and I each wrote half the songs or thereabouts, and for each one, we mostly did all of the lyrics/melodies/instrumentals entirely on our own – I tossed in a few lines on “Steel by my Side” (the Greyhawk references) and Katy, I think, changed the wording in a couple of places on songs I had written to make it easier to sing. Leona joined after the songs were structurally finished, but composed all her basslines – I’d feel crazy telling someone as good as Leona what to play exactly.
You are currently signed to Alone Records, but Chaos to the Realm was an independent release, how come?
J: It’s sort of a funny timeline. We had planned on releasing the album ourselves because it took quite a while to get it everything ready and we didn’t want to spend a lot more time shopping around. However, after we released “Fiend of Fire” as a single, Alone Records approached us about releasing the album. We’re extremely fortunate things happened the way they did. Emmanuel – Alone’s owner – has been incredibly supportive, and without him, things like releasing the album on vinyl – which we had absolutely no plan for – would have been impossible.
Are there already some future plans in the making for Owlbear – concerts, festivals, music videos etc.?
L: There’s definitely plans for some additional music, and maybe some other things. The response to the album has been fantastic, really more than any of us expected, so there’s opportunities.
Lastly, I have some rapid-fire questions:
What is your current favorite artist/band?
L: Galneryus, Octaviagrace, and I’ve been listening to Elfensjon, Dragon Guardian, and Angel Witch a lot lately, as well.
K: Hellripper
J: Atlantean Kodex.
What are your all-time-favorite songs?
L: According to my last.fm, the 3 most listened songs are Black Sabbath - “Mob Rules”, Atheist - “Mother Man”, and Mercyful Fate - “A Dangerous Meeting”. I’d have to add “Raise My Sword” from Galneryus on there as well.
K: The live version of “Starbreaker” by Judas Priest and “Irvine” by Kelly Clarkson.
J: Blind Guardian - “Mirror, Mirror”, X Japan - “Kurenai”, Kamelot - “Karma”, Gamma Ray - “Rebellion in Dreamland” and for a non-metal pick… Siam Shade - “Calling”.
What was the first record you purchased for your own money?
L: I think it might have been Paranoid from Black Sabbath, if I remember right. Either that or Scenes from A Memory. I actually didn’t start buying albums until I had been into heavy music for a year or so. Up until that point I was loading Napster finds onto a Diamond Rio Mp3 player. I was being the nerdiest kid in class, listening to Hammerfall on a mp3 player with like 128mb of space in like 1999.
J: Slippery when Wet, by Bon Jovi, on cassette.
K: I want to say Millenium by the Backstreet Boys.
What do you enjoy the most – big festivals or small club gigs?
L: I do better with smaller crowds (I am a shut-in), so I prefer smaller club gigs.
J: Am I cheating if I say small festivals? I like the atmosphere of multi-day festivals with a lot of bands, but like Leona, I’m not really a big crowds person.
K: I will not even get out of bed let alone respond to the email asking to play a less than 200 cap venue.