interviews

> october 2004	interview by oscar lobaton for alterazine in lima peru
> september 2004	review by marcus pan for legends magazine
> august 2004	review by mike for post industry poland
> august 2004	interview by kyle kucate & julie johnson for grave concern e-zine
> june 2004	interview by sameerah blue for the ecto magazine
> march 2004	moose interviewed by matt ossen for blacksheepzine
> january 2004	ld50 review the debut 'attitudes of a difficult mind' hungary
> summer 2002	moose interviewed a while ago for alaskahighway.com...

all interviews and reviews are used with permission. many thanks to the contributors...

october 2004 - interview by oscar lobaton for alterazine in lima, peru.

> When did the band begin and like you met each other?

well, i've been using the name 'alaska highway' since the mid '90s for a collection of projects, none of which materialised in any released material, that was until '99 when i had my first ebm/industrial track released on the negative gain compilation cd. i then married an american girl at sunrise on january 1st 2000 (the first day of the new century) and we moved to california from london, england, in the summer of 2001. this major move took up a lot of my time until, during one of the many wild fires we have here in california, some of my neighbours were good enough to help me move out some of my gear, and one young guy seemed more than a little interested in what i was doing. it turned out that anthony wrote & performed his own music, mostly piano based, and a few months later we decided to see what would happen if we wrote some music together. the result was the debut alaska highway album 'attitudes of a difficult mind' released in november 2003...

> Why alaska highway?. This name something represents specifically?

the 'alkan highway', often misquoted as the 'alaskan highway', is a road in canada running across the country all the way up to alaska. the road was actually built during the second world war so that supplies could be driven up to alaska by the u.s. army.

i saw a tv program in the mid 90's about the building of the road and, for some reason, the name stuck in my mind. its quite funny really, a lot of people think i'm either canadian or an american from alaska, not realising that i'm actually an englishman in los angeles!

> How do you define your music?

that's actually a difficult question. we didn't set out with any specific or defined 'sound' in our heads, just decided to write some music together and see where it took us. we both like a lot of electronic music - from people like gary numan and john foxx through to the newer bands like covenant and seabound - so those styles are naturally evident in the music we write.

our web site has a great line which reads "aggressively layered percussion and heavy dance bass lines from moose support anthony's classically compelling melodies" and that sums it up really. heavy dance beats and keyboards with a sweet tuneful vocal on the top. i know that a lot of bands use distortion and voice processing for their vocals, but we prefer the very clean and neat sound. it helps us stand out from the crowd too...

> Who does take charge of the compositions?

no-one has 'the job' of writing the tracks. sometimes anthony comes up with a piano-based chord structure under his vocals, so i record this idea in to the computer then take the piano chords and create the song, adding all the electronic backing and bulding up the rhythms. often i have an idea and i give anthony the completed music and simply ask for the lyrics, which he comes up with very quickly. i very occasionally write & sing the vocals myself!

> You begin with the lyrical first and later they write the music or vice versa?

thats totally dependent on the track. a simple synth line or a home-grown drum loop can inspire a whole track or lyric, which can then change & grow in to something else. it really does depend on our mood & inspiration on any particular day as to what we do first.

> If you didn't make music. What another thing had preferred to make?

i am a trained computer programmer and spent many years writing software for companies over in london, mostly on large computers - not the pc's on people's desks. i suppose that helps me with my music as i can think very logically.

apart from programming, i'd love to race cars! unfortunately that can cost a lot of money so is something i've not tried yet... maybe one day!

> do you have side projects?

yes. i remix and produce other people's music too, most recently remixing a track for the local band 'monowheel' who will have that remix on the 'state of synth pop 2005' cd set due out soon. i also write music with a guitarist friend of mine using the name 'building 332', though that's a lot noisier than alaska highway's polished sound.

i'm also involved in licensing music from several artists for music & tv. that is a lot of hard work but we should see the first film featuring our music on the big screen in 2005.

> Of all the events in those that have participated. Which of them it is the one that more remembers and reason?

i think that alaska highway will always be my main project and will receive most of my efforts... it was, after all, the band that i released my first album on, so will always have a spot in my heart. the biggest thing so far was seeing my album on the shelves in a shop for the first time... that made all the hard work seem worth the effort. going live is also fun, but seeing that white cover in amongst all of the dark & gloomy covers was memorable.

> you tell us of "butterfly in china" and how you would describe it?

'butterfly in china' is the name of our second album with the title taken from the chaos theory of cause and effect. basically this theory explains how a butterfly flapping its wings in china can help create a tornado in america. everything in this world is linked, and if you do something to one part of the chain something else gets affected.

> When and what label you has released this?

'butterfly in china' has around half the tracks finished, the first 2 tracks being available on blcmusic's interbreeding series of compilation cds. 'breaking the broken', a heavier dance track was released on no.3 with the synth pop 'aesthetic' on no.4.

i'm pretty sure 'butterfly in china' will be released on the same label as the debut 'attitudes of a difficult mind' - negtaive gain up in chicago. micah and the -ngp+ crew have been very supportive of the project even though we don't really fit in to their hard edged plan. we'll still have worldwide distribution through metroplis records and will also be available on digital distribution networks like itunes europe.

> A.H. has some primordial proposal that seeks to make arrive to the public

do we have a message for the public? not really. we enjoy the music that we write and will continue to write together until that changes in any way. we just hope that the electronic fans listen to what we have produced and understand what we are trying to achieve - write songs that aren't following a formula. we don't easily fit one class of electronic music, but tend to take influences from several areas and mix it together. a lot of people like what we do and, unsurpisingly, the emails we get regarding their favourite tracks covers most tunes on the album!

> Some tour planned in a near future

not at the current time, though we will head out to promote the new album.

> Are you working on any new material?. A new album

as i've mentioned, 'butterfly in china' is the name of the follow-up album which should be available by the summer of 2005.

> What would say you of to play at some time in perú? And if that happened. What would alaskahighway offer us in your show?

i'd love to come and play our music to the electronic fans in peru! i've never been to south america and would love to spend some time experiencing the rich culture you have to offer. i was very lucky as a teenager to spend some time in oman, one of the arab states, and benefitted hugely from that experience.

the show would offer different versions of the album tracks, with anthony's clear vocals being ever present. i don't really like going to shows where the band sounds exactly the same as their cd. in fact, i'd probably be more happy to stay at home and listen to the cd!

live we'd also play some other people's songs, as a kind of 'thank you' to the pioneers of electronic music. i've always liked the early tracks by 'the human league' and, of course, gary numan. the problem would be trying to work out which tracks to cover!

> Which is it for you the maximum dream to achieve with alaskahighway?

well, i'd like to be able to carry on with writing music for as long as people like what the band creates. this ultimately means more album sales or paid downloads so that i can afford to spend the time writing music, and not have to worry about where the money for the next bill will come from.

i think playing in front of a big audience would be an amazing experience - something along the lines of the pasadena rose bowl concert done by depeche mode, or one of the other large venues. we'd have to get very popular to be able to play at these places, though we'd certainly be very happy even supporting a larger band.

> Something more than you wanted to add

well, i'd just like to thank you and your magazine for the opportunity to answer these questions. i know a lot of your readers will not have heard of us before, but i'd like to thank these fans of electronic music who help people like me create our dreams. by supporting the overall music scene we all benefit.

> Thank you for this time and we hope they can include to perú in your shows route

hopefully see you soon!

september 2004 - review of 'attitudes...' by marcus pan for legends magazine

Oh wonderful, yet more farty-based electronic, but wait what's this? Vocals not so overly laced with vox and whispers greet me in the Weep With Me opening track and suddenly I'm enjoying myself. The musicality that surrounds the vocals are deep and moving with plenty of grinding low tones to rail the woofers of any under-cared for stereo (like mine).

Alaska Highway is made up of Anthony (vocals) and Moose (vocals & music) with a number of buddies coming round about to throw in a few words here and some programming there. Including Robert Smith (surely not one and the same, but it says it right there on the jacket). Regardless of the name of the outfit, they hail from Pasadena California and have plopped out their debut of Attitudes of a Difficult Mind on Negative Gain, who are surely building a fine stable of electronic and industrial acts to take the world over within a decade or so.

Track two, Intelligence War, is a favorite of mine. Negative Gain seem to be into picking up artists that continually remind me of Nothing Inside. But unlike the last review of this nature I did I'm finding this CD to be quite good, better than most of the electro that's been piling up here. Intelligence War is a grooving instrumental, excepting the samples laid into it. By the time we reach the fourth track, Hell Bound Heart, I'm also finding myself able to compare Alaska Highway to Psyche as well as the vocals get toned down and the melodies get a bit more ambient yet spicy.

Radio Prague throws an ambient sample in the midst of the album to break it up a bit. Not necessary, if'n a little interesting. As the second half of the album moves along, it does fall victim a little bit to the "same old standard fare" disease for just a little, but not enough to turn me off that much. The vocals of Anthony and Moose are quite good and really help make even the occasional sub-par instrumental mixes shine. On Fatal Resistance, for one example, the nearly un-touched singing actually is Alaska Highway's saving grace on a song that would easily have become another boring electronica tune.

But just in case you start to fall asleep, the work within I Believe throws in a truly catchy trip. Using a standard drum track, adding some low down bass on top, applying some moving guitar rhythms and then sneaking in a few keyboard slides, the result is a fine trance style tune and quite radio friendly as well. In fact, most if not all of this CD is radio friendly, something you don't find on my desk very often. The lyrics here on I Believe is kept minimal so that our flippant dance floor divas can groove to it without spending too much time having to reconnect brain cells through the haze of THC and XtC.

Even Angels Have to Die is Attitudes' sweet moment with excellent vocals and lightening melodies speared with darker choreographed chord progressions. It reminds me of the way Psyche broke up their Misguided Angels CD with the forelorn musings of Fallen Horses. The surprising piano piece, Warmth, shows off the musical prowess of the guys and the vocal capabilities as well. As good as any love ballad I've ever heard.

A great piece of work is Attitudes of a Difficult Mind and, at least for the space of the CD, I find myself remembering what I liked about the industrial and electronica genre of music before I got lost in a deluge of same-old shite. I'd like to see these two continue - their voices are top notch and their programming is dead on. I'd be fine if Alaska Highway was the only new industrial and electronica band to keep going from here.

august 2004 - review by mike for post industry (polish to english translation by tomski)

This debut slipped out unexpectedly. Well, maybe not quite a debut because Anthony and Moose put out a live recording "Reddevillive" and also 3 demo's ("Ideas on Postcard" - 1998, "Butterfly in China" - 1996 and "Attitudes of a Difficult Mind" - 1994). I have to say this : I haven't heard a synth pop album in a long time that gives me so much joy and doesn't get boring. There's something interesting going on all the time. It's not the aspirational / ambitious type of music we have come to know from the likes of 'SPOCK'. This is more a really multi-style of synth-pop, with gothic overtones, EBM-esque, and new romantic.

The last records by 'De/Vision' are crap in comparison to Alaska Highway. I always preferred the older productions of 'Red Flag', and I sense a similar atmosphere going on here. The number of songs presented here is worthy of note. This duet show us they can put out quantity too.

After my first listen, I fell in love with "Weep With Me", the vocal and music was captivating, it makes me think of 'Covenant' - "Dreams of a Cryptank" era - basically this song is a candidate for a hit, the likes of which we don't hear much lately. Apart from that, the aggressive, beat-y "Intelligence War" is superb and so is the dance floor track "Darkness In My Eyes". In time I grew to like the whole album. Some bits are a bit too atmospheric for me - "Warmth" and "Even Angels Have To Die" - but even these comforting tracks don't spoil the overall effect. This is one of the most interesting synth pop acts of recent times. And we can see that it's still possible to come up with something new and interesting in this genre.

august 2004 - interview by kyle kucate & julie johnson for grave concern e-zine

We are happy to have this opportunity to talk with him on Grave Concerns E-zine.

> Where did the name Alaska Highway come from?

i remember watching a television show back in london on the making of the alcan highway, what is now called the alaska highway. for some reason the name lodged in my mind and later i was very fortunate to be able to get hold of the .com name, after a short battle with a web development company.

> How long has AH been making music?

i've been dabbling in music for some time now, probably since the early '80s, learning all the technology involved and gradually getting better and better at what i was trying to do, mostly through experimentation.

with the investment from the day job i am a now a completely self-contained production area where i can write, edit, produce and even master cds in my private studio... not having to watch the studio watch is a god send, meaning that we can spend extra time experimenting with sounds, ideas, grooves or whatever, often letting tracks evolve through several iterations before deciding on the correct direction or mood for a particular track.

> What lead to the formation of AH?

i don't have the confidence to sing much, even though i do provide the voice on a couple of tracks on the debut album, i definitely consider myself a non-singer. i therefore needed a vocalist as a front-man for the band when we went live, and through one of the many southern californian wild fires i met up with a neighbour who actually had an interest in the same styles of music as myself. we got talking and after several months decided to work on some tracks together and see what might happen. the result is the debut album 'attitudes of a difficult mind'.

> Who is involved in AH?

Presently there are 2 members of alaska highway : anthony on vocals & me doing everything else. writing duties are usually shared with a lot of the core ideas coming from anthony and his musically educated background. its then my role to take these ideas and morph them in to full blown tracks...

live we've added rich on guitar & keyboards. having 3 people moving on stage is obviously more fun to watch than 2, and rich's live guitar adds a lot of aggression to the shows.

> What influences does AH take inspiration from?

quite a varied bunch really - obviously early pioneers such as gary numan, kraftwerk through depeche mode and to the more recently arrived bands such as covenant, vnvnation etc. throw in to the pot bands like dead can dance, david gray and the blue nile and you get quite a diverse pool of inspiration!

> What would you consider AH music style to be? Industrial/ EBM/ Electro or do you feel there is no reason to label yourself to any specific genre?

this is probably the biggest part of the band people have a problem with as we're not easily pigeon-holed in to one these predefined categories. we have 100% euro-dance tracks like 'aesthetic' and 'deceiver' followed by dark dance tracks like 'darkness in my eyes' and heavier stuff like 'breaking the broken' and 'intelligence war' - we cover a multitude of styles which does keep things interesting. if the album or live set flows easily from one track to the next i can't see the problem and we've certainly not received any complaints so far!

> How did AH get in contact with Negative Gain Productions and how long did it take to get some label attention?

the previous owner of -ngp+ was in the process of compiling a cd for release in the u.s. and asked musicians on a few mailing lists if they'd like to submit tracks. i'd literally just started to write in a much harder style so sent in 'dream industry' for consideration, not really expecting a reply, and to my surprise tony immediately loved it and asked if i'd consider releasing more material through his new underground label. my first attempt at sending in a track had actually worked!

i thought joining -ngp+ was a great idea but unfortunately several major events got in the way (including getting married & moving to los angeles) so there was quite a delay until the album was finally released in late 2003. this actually meant that tony was no longer in charge of the label but i felt an obligation to follow through with my promise (an englishman's word & all that!) and, thankfully, the new owners still felt alaska highway would fit in with the label's revised plan.

-ngp+ now have a good quota of bands producing top quality material - quality over quantity any day!!

> Does AH perform live or is the band strictly a studio project?

we performed live last summer in los angeles & san francisco to check out the crowd's reaction to the new songs and have been trying to go live again this year, but due to a severe lack of enthusiasm by a lot of promoters we've not had the opportunity. we have several fingers in a few pies so hopefully will be live before too long.

its actually quite interesting speaking to other bands around the u.s. as quite a few of them are not stopping in los angeles these days. seemingly this is because the turnout for bands around here is fairly low, even for some 'major' electronic artists!

i am working on a few other projects which are definitely studio based, but i definitely want to get out live again. there's something about playing to a large room full of dancing feet that can't be beaten by anything!

> Is there anyone in particular that AH would like to work with in the future?

personally I'd love to write a track and have someone like gary numan or john foxx providing vocals! i was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to work with frank m.spinath from german band seabound on album 1 and have already lined up a few guests for album 2, but no-one really 'famous'...

> Aside from making music, is there anything else that AH would like to pursue?

being a freelance computer programmer before i moved to the u.s. i have a sort of fascination with computers and programming, whether that be for accessing large databases for law firms, mortgage data anaylsis or churning out bass drums! its all data processing really and i keep my hand in programming web sites for a few people.

my wife owns a hot air balloon but, unfortunately, we don't get the opportunity to get out flying too much.

i'm currently spending most of my time writing music for alaska highway & my tv/film licensing company pigpen digital, but if all else fails i'll probably head back in to the world of programming. i used to find programming very rewarding and having quite large computer systems working flawlessly is quite an achievement. i kinda miss that instant buzz of no help desk calls!

> I first heard of AH from a cd compilation from Industrial Nation Magazine, how did AH manage to appear on that cd?

i saw an advert that industrialnation were accepting entries for their second cd so decided that, as they are a well respected magazine in the alternative music world, it'd probably be a good investment. its certainly turned out that way with a lot of feedback from people around the world.

we also have our music featured on blcmusic's interbreeding series of compilation discs. xenophobic featured the first track to be heard from our follow-up album and the next release in the series - dangerous - will feature another new track and, hopefully, a remix of 'who can you...?' originally featured on our debut.

> How will the new album "Butterfly in China" connect with the present album as I did hear something about Butterflies mentioned within the lyrics?

that'd be the track called 'butterfly in a glass jar'... the second album was actually named quite a while ago as i have a little black book containing lyrics with possible song and album titles. i'm sorted up until album number 8 so i'd better start thinking of some new ideas!

the debut, 'attitudes of a difficult mind', sums up quite a lot of thoughts and ideas i've had over the years, and with anthony contributing his song ideas enforced the concept that we aren't fitting in to the usual pigeon holes - our music is standing out from the crowd. i'm not saying that we've set out to be different but we're tagged as another ebm/industrial-dance band as its an easy fit, and listening to some of the tracks i can understand the label, but then other attributes of our music run a full 180 degrees from the norm. i mean, how many dance bands have a concert grade pianist playing half way through?

> Where does the album title come from and what does the meaning have in common with the lyrics?

the title 'butterfly in china' relates to the generally accepted concept of the chaos theory where any action occurring anywhere in the world will have a reaction somewhere else. the example here is that a butterfly flapping its wings in china has the effect of helping to create a tornado in america. in a similar way, something you say or do today may have a drastic effect on someone else's life tomorrow, or even your own life.

in this way i like to think that if we treat others the way we'd like to be treated the world would be a better place, but thats probably a dream too far!

> You have a very interesting way of layering your drum programming, can you tell us more about your special technique?

theres no real secret or special technique to it. i like to layer sounds together so a track can be chattering away with a typical drum machine set of sounds then be enforced by a custom drum sample (usually heavily processed to within a inch of its life!) to be totally overtaken by the heavier 'real' sounding drums. the contrast between a thin & mechanical drum machine to deep, heavy & aggressive sounding drum kit adds a huge amount of depth to the track. the new album has me experimenting the same way with bass lines too, layered (of course) over the trademark drums.

i'm sure i was a drummer in a previous life!

> What kind of sounds have you been experimenting with for 'Butterfly in China'?

i've spent quite a bit of time trawling through my keyboards finding weird and bizarre sounds that i've not used before - some of the data cards are being used for the first time in probably 10 years! i've also spent a lot of time creating brand new sounds on my huge array of keyboards i've amassed over the years... its quite fun having the time to delve deep in to a quite familiar synth and finding a lot more functionality buried down there.

i've also invested in some drum machine sample cds. some of the sounds are taken from 1970's machines so sound really bad by themselves but heavy processing, and with the additional layering, really brings them back to life.

> I believe I have recently heard some guitar into the mix of songs, have you always had this or is this something new?

this is new. to make the live shows more aggressive we've got a guitarist on board. rich is an accomplished guitarist and has recorded many albums, and adding his aggression to our identifiable style has been great fun.

> Has Anthony been working on his vocals differently with the new album to stretch them more as a singer?

not really, though we have been spending more time working with the vocals to react more with the music we've written.

> Is it easier to have no guidelines when recording, especially for 'Butterfly in China'?

i've never written using guideline as i've had no musical training so work a lot with my ears. that might sound like an odd thing to say but i work by the thought that if something sounds good then it probably is. i know a lot of people who restrict themselves to certain chord progressions or whatever but i think that is like caging themselves in to a box. i literally make things up as i go along, then often fine-tune the demo songs at a later date. a few times though the song is written in literally a few hours - 'deceiver' was conceived & born in about 90 minutes.

> Would you say at this time Alaska Highway is a studio- based project?

at this time yes, simply because getting electronic gigs in los angeles is so damned difficult! if the band is not punk or rap then most clubs don't want to know... we were actually told this a few days ago by a large los angeles club so its not just my imagination! other areas of the country are very receptive to our style of music so, hopefully later this year, we'll be heading further afield. i'd love to link up with our label mates in the north east - having cruciform injection, filament 38 and alaska highway on the same bill would be a show not to be missed!

> Why do people have such a lack of enthusiasm for this type of music?

the reaction we have received from people who have heard our debut album has been huge, so saying that there is a lack of enthusiasm isn't quite right. i know some people have become disillusioned with certain aspects of this genre, which is probably why alaska highway actually stands out. as you've noticed, mixing heavy dance electronics with a pure vocal really can work. also, playing the debut you hear several styles of music - euro club followed by industrial-dance - so there is nothing boring about the same sounding tracks one after the other.

> If the new CD takes off like the first CD, will there be a more of Alaska Highway?

definitely yes. for the follow-up album i am working with a few guest vocalists (including ash from label mates 'filament 38') and already have some plans for side projects, and some interesting twists! it grows from the sounds on the debut and even though there are some similar sounds used there is much more depth. this has not been a defined step we thought we should take, its just that we've been working together to a lot longer now and can react to each other's ideas better.

> Do you have any remix ideas in mind for any of the new songs?

i've recently remixed a couple of the new tracks just to see how they'd work in a club environment and the beta testers have all given a thumbs up! i'm not sure that we'll have extra club tracks at the end of the album as we did on the debut, but i am considering that the second album may consist of 2 cds - disc 1 being the album and disc 2 being bizarre and dance remixes. alternatively we'll give away mp3 remixes on the web site.

> What is your darkest influence and how far will you take any given influence in a song?

tough question! i think if you get the opportunity to look in to your soul, and also the history of the generations before us, you can see some pretty dark areas. lust and passion can be a very dark part of people's lives, often repressed because of the fear people might have to it. what your neighbours get up to in the privacy of their own home could be alarming to some, and liberating to others.

> What do you hope to achieve with AH in years to come?

i'd love to be able to spend a lot more time with alaska highway producing more and more material that people love to listen to. we're not setting ourselves any guidelines or goals, just that we have to continue to enjoy what we are currently doing.

the reaction to our debut has been very favourable with some people even commenting that we're pushing the boundaries with *clean* vocals, aggressive dance beats etc. we didn't set out with this plan in mind but can understand where these views come from.

in the evolving world of software synths and distorted vocals we definitely stand out, and will continue to do so...

> Any last words to say?

if the readers are interested in getting more information about us then please head to our web site, http://alaskahighway.com , and look around. we have some mp3 snippets available for download and have albums available to purchase at metropolis mail order, cdbaby and most of the usual suspects...

watch out for the follow-up album, entitled 'butterfly in china', scheduled for release later this year.

oh, thanks for all your continued support!

june 2004 - interview by sameerah blue for the ecto magazine

While looking for bands to feature in the first issue of Ecto I had the opportunity to listen to the latest IndustrialnatioN compilation cd in a friend's car. One track stood out - 'Darkness in My Eyes' by a band called Alaska Highway. I liked what I heard - dark and danceable with great vocals and some killer keyboards.

Later that evening I checked out the band's web site and fired off an email requesting a cd for review, expecting more of what I'd heard on the IndustrialnatioN compilation. I ended up with was something far exceeding my already high expectations - more than just gothic or industrial or ebm or any other category that I could think of and, in all honesty, I couldn't find a place or words to describe the sound outside of 'killer'! With my curiosity rapidly increasing I contacted the band again to arrange an interview. I had to meet the men whose music had now made it in to the 'heavy rotation section' of my cd collection...

A few weeks later I met the duo who are Alaska Highway at their studio just outside Pasadena for tea and cookies. Before we got started with the official interview Moose asked how I had initially heard of their music and, as he handed me a steaming mug of English breakfast, I told them the story of my chance encounter with the cd in a friend's car and he laughed. "That just goes to show how it pays to get yourself on to a good compilation!". It certainly worked for me.

Alaska Highway consists of Anthony, who provides most of the vocals, and Moose, who is not very moose-like at all really and is in charge of the keyboards, production, occasional vocals and just about everything else possible. Brought together during the Williams' Fire in 2002, they actually met when Moose needed help moving some equipment out of harms way and had to ask some neighbors for help. Being the nice guy that he is Anthony and his family offered their assistance and, in the process of moving piles of boxes, Anthony began to notice posters and cd's from bands like Nine Inch Nails and Dead Can Dance around the evacuating home. "Imagine my surprise finding someone with the same musical taste living right next door!" Anthony said over a cup of his special tea. From there the visits started and continued for several months, ultimately laying the groundwork for a friendship that would result in this amazing musical collaboration.

Although initially it was common musical interests that brought the two guys together they came from very different backgrounds. Anthony, who has always had a passion for the piano, started playing at a young age and was performing his own music in clubs while he was still in high school, in addition to singing, conducting choirs and theatre. He is currently working on a side project - his own theatrical production called 'Dominion of the Dead' which will be more of a music video on stage than any kind of traditional theater. While he does have a more classical background from singing in choirs and performing on stage, Anthony has never been one for taking lessons. "All I wanted to know was how not to damage my voice and how to structure the voice and the melodies. Lessons may lay down guidelines but I usually don't follow them because, quite frankly, I don't think they sound that good."

Moose, on the other hand, has more of the computer techie and self-taught style - the "if it sounds good then it probably is" school of thinking. Vince Clarke first introduced him to the world of keyboards in the early eighties through the BBC's weekly chart show 'Top of the Pops'. (God bless the BBC!) He took one look at Depeche Mode miming their first major UK hit 'New Life' and said 'I can do that!' It didn't take too long for Moose to bring his technical background in to his synth playing whilst adding mixing, programming and production skills to his already impressive resume. He is currently moving in to film and DVD scores as well as providing production & technical assistance to several local bands.

Being friends before band mates may have slightly softened the transition of collaboration but it didn't always make it easy to work together. "'Butterfly in a Glass Jar' was a song I had written back in 1999", Anthony continues, "and when you've held on to something for that long it's really hard to let it go". "Yeah" Moose agrees a little too eagerly! "There were times when I would play something and Anthony would say, 'no that's not how it's supposed to sound' as if I was doing something wrong". On top of this learning process there was a language barrier they had to contend with, Anthony having the ability to read sheet music and explain things in purely musical terms and Moose who was more familiar with the technical jargon.

To combat this hurdle they ended up creating their own kind of language being immediately able to describe the sound they wanted to use for a particular song. In time both parties were able to adjust to the developing partnership and were able to show what each of them could add to the music. The resulting collaboration is their first full-length disc entitled 'Attitudes of a Difficult Mind', containing 16 tracks and over 72 minutes of quality music.

Like I said before its hard to put the music created by Anthony and Moose into any kind of category since their music touches and embraces the best of many genres. Anthony's voice soars with passion and heartache with every note of 'Butterfly in a Glass Jar'. When the song was finally over I didn't want her to go either! I was also amazed by Moose's powerful subtly as he merged the almost sweet and uplifting sounds of 'Radio Prague' with the darkness of 'Who Can You...?' immediately after. The tracks on "Attitudes..." cover a range of emotions and sounds that some other bands can't even fathom, while still managing to always keep your mind going and body moving.

Alaska Highway are already back in the studio working on songs for the follow-up to 'Attitudes...' tentatively scheduled for release later this year. To add a bit more depth to their already trademark sound, the two guys have recently added a live guitar player to the mix. "Rich will definitely add more depth & aggressive noise to our live sound" Moose told me. "The first record is really good. I'm really proud of the work we've all done on the debut but we've learned so much working together since then that I believe 'Butterfly In China' is going to absolutely flatten it" he continued like Babe Ruth calling one out of the ballpark... Bold words that I have decided to hold him to. So I turned off the recorder to bask in the new sounds of Alaska Highway... and a hot cup of tea! Now that I have heard a few of the works in progress, I believe that Moose may be right. As much I would like to write more about the new material, I've been sworn to secrecy on that note.

All I can tell you is this.......KILLER!!

'Attitudes of a Difficult Mind' is available from metropolis mail order http://industrial-music.com

For more information on Alaska Highway check out their web site at http://alaskahighway.com

moose interviewed by matt ossen for blacksheepzine

In the last month, I have had the pleasure of chatting about everything and anything with ALASKA HIGHWAY's driving force Moose. The following interview is based on some of the recent conversations that Moose and I have had regarding upcoming releases, gear, hobbies, painting, you name it.

Interview conducted by Matt Ossen. March, 2004. BEGIN TRANSMISSION...

So Moose, I am a big fan of your work. 'ATTITUDES OF A DIFFICULT MIND' is by far one of the greatest albums I have heard this year - awesome mix of harsh sounds and sentimental lyrics and vocals.

moose : its not one set genre but a mixture of several styles that all work together. doing stuff like mixing the synth pop track 'deceiver' straight in to the harder noise of 'fatal resistance' was quite fun. nothing is sacred if the music flows...

When did you start working on the album?

moose : seriously when i teamed up with my neighbour, anthony jones, at the beginning of 2003. that's when we started working as a team, but some of the tracks date back to late '98 when i purposefully changed my writing style. some of anthony's date back to the same time but were mostly written for voice plus piano. he'd taken his songs out for live performances but compared to the sound we now produce they are completely different tracks.

Are there any aspects of the music that you are most proud of?

moose : production wise 'attitudes' was my first serious attempt at getting a whole set of tracks to work together. i've had no formal training in music at all though i was a computer programmer for many years - maybe that helps me think logically. my mantra is that if it sounds good, then it probably is. even though the tracks individually are all very good, i think i'm most pleased with the whole package - the album's cover work doesn't give much of a clue as to whats inside and, from track to track, the listener isn't quite sure what to expect next. playing the album now is great fun...

How has the album been received on the whole? For example, have you found that the most die-hard of Industrial fans enjoy the album although it borders heavily on the synth-pop side?

moose : thats actually a difficult question. overall the album is very well balanced though people who've bought the album rarely highlight the same tracks. some prefer the darker tracks like 'who can you...?' with me singing, anthony's more traditional ebm/gothic tunes or even the synth-pop tracks like 'deceiver' or 'weep...'. the synth sounds themselves could have been used in a very industrial way but i used them slightly differently. the big thing with alaska highway is that anthony can sing really well, so i didn't need to use distortion, pitch correctors or whatever to cover up the vocals, not that i'm saying that everyone who uses this additional processing doesn't have a good singer but why should i cover up a perfectly good singing voice? the voice gives alaska highway the immediate synth pop tag but, on further listening, you can hear definite non-synth-pop music. we didn't plan to ruffle people's feathers but it just turned out this way - we're different in that the album can't be put in to one pigeon hole but individual tracks probably can.

In addition to the success of AOADM, ALASKA HIGHWAY is scheduled to appear on in the INTERBREEDING compilation series as well as INDUSTRIAL NATION's next compilation CD. Could you describe the AH tracks that we can expect to hear on each compilation?

moose : the IndustrialnatioN mix is a slightly different version of 'darkness in my eyes' from album 1. i noticed after playing the album mix a few times was that the drum track was pretty much the same right the way through, so for the live set i've added a lot more snare. this gives anthony better cues in the song and i felt it lifted the track. the interbreeding III compilation is an 'exclusive' early mix of 'breaking the broken' which is destined for the follow-up album and is a lot harder. it's what i'd class as a more mature sound but is still immediately identifiable as alaska highway. heavy dance beat with a decent melody and the pure trademark vocal. great lyrics too...

Is Moose your real name? How exactly did you get the name 'Moose'?

moose : nope. years ago i started getting in to this new thang called the internet and discovered the usefullness of online chat rooms both for tech support & general information. i needed an identifiable nickname and, with the band name of alaska highway, decided quickly on 'moose'. for some reason it stuck. a bizarre looking creature but instantly loveable. a bit like me!

How did your relationship with -NGP+ begin? Will they be releasing your next full-length album as well?

moose : tony scharf, the original owner of -ngp+, released a compilation cd back in '99 to showcase some of the up-and-coming underground talent and i submitted the first ebm/industrial-dance track i ever wrote called 'dream industry'. he loved the track and asked if i'd be interested in releasing more stuff on his label. unfortunately, my big move from london to los angeles got in the way time-wise and i didn't really get everything sorted out until late '02, hence the delay.

as for the next album, well, thats for the new owner, micah from cruciform injection, to decide. initially he was unsure that alaska highway would fit in with his overall plans for the label but with the way things are going i'd love to release album 2 on negative gain, and we've already received a lot of support from micah and his team. having a decent roster of bands on a small label is essential in this day and age, with a quality product being key. there are now 5 bands on the label and the quality can be heard on every release.

You currently live in the Los Angeles vicinity, but you are originally from England. I know that you have lived in many places throughout you life. Where exactly have you lived, and where have been some of your favorite places?

moose : my father was in the british army so we moved around quite a bit, spending quite a lot of time in germany. we were also lucky enough to get a trip to oman, one of the arab states, before tourism really took off. seeing such a beautiful country untouched was a real privilege, and we even got to see bizarre stuff like tin & mud shacks with huge satellite dishes sat on the roof! its all changed now & i wouldn't want to go back, but having the chance to see it at that time was totally amazing.

i ended up living & working in london for quite a few years and considered moving to the u.s. for my work in the mid '90s. i was actually offered a job in el paso but turned it down. its strange how i actually ended up in los angeles a few years later... things in my life usually happen for a reason & i literally moved next door to a great vocalist. i think someone somewhere was looking after my interests.

Let's talk a little about the infrastucture of ALASKA HIGHWAY. We know that the band could not exist without you of course. What exactly are the roles of each of the other bandmates and guest mucisians?

moose : alaska highway consists of 2 people - broadly speaking anthony on vocals & me doing everything else. we've have special guests and have recently started working with rich ford on guitar who is adding a lot of depth to the new material. most of the tracks are laid down on a piano by anthony using the chord structure he's written for the vocals, then i record these guide vocals. its then my job to take the structure & morph it in to a track, whichever direction i feel it should go. when we first started off anthony had fully written songs with a definite direction and set of sounds in his mind's eye, and these turned out to be real pigs to work on as anything i tried that deviated from 'his vision' wasn't acceptable to him. after a while he realised just what we had together as a team and we ended up working in a very flexible way. the more tracks we do together the better we get at it, as the new material can testify to.

SEABOUND's Frank M. Spinath did guest vocals on "Seen To Run". How exactly did you both meet?

moose : that was pure luck from a chance internet encounter back in '99. we were both on one of the many emailing lists and started talking about music, composition, computer technology & stuff. i'd lived in the same german town as he does so we kinda hit it off. we both wrote music, at that time i think seabound were still unsigned, and i suggested that maybe he'd like to record vocals on one of my tracks not really expecting him to agree or ever actually releasing the track, just more of an experiment for me to work with someone else. i sent him the rough mix of 'seen to run' as a guideline and he emailed me the vocals. i remember playing them & the hair on the back of my neck stood up...! it was a real revelation going from a rough demo of the music to hearing the vocal version, without anything inbetween. the track then sat on the back burner for a few years and i resurrected it once anthony & i started really working on the album. it still sounded great and after a few hours reprogramming the drums i had a final version. the performance from frank is excellent and adds another dimension to the album.

late last year i finally got to meet frank when he was over in los angeles for a lecture and he actually stayed with us for a few nights. he's a really nice guy & we got on very well. its odd to think that we released a track and hadn't even met! anyways, a few weeks after he headed back to germany, martin (the other half of seabound) was literally just down the road so popped in for a beer. i could instantly understand how they produced great music together.

Are there any plans to work with Frank on the next album?

moose : well, frank is very very busy with seabound and his own career so i doubt he's got the time these days, but we often email each other with news & updates. he collects weird and bizarre cds so i always put him on the mailing list for our beta testing cds and any compilations we're on. i do have plans to work with a couple of guest vocalists on album 2, but i'm not at the stage where i can mention names.

We can just get the tiresome 'remix question' out the way here... Any remixes planned, do you even care about them, yada yada yada?

moose : remixes are quite fun. i currently have a couple lined up for locals bands, and i actually did one for seabound during my move from london. it wasn't in my studio so didn't turn out quite as well as i'd hoped but i'd like to get in to remixing other people's work. the remix of 'weep' on the end of the debut album was about 20 minutes work for me under the 'mishikawa' name... anthony was blown away by it when he heard it for the first time. he knew i'd remixed it but wasn't expecting such a change. one of our d.j. friends on the east coast, fractured, loves all the mixes & tweaks that i do to the tracks as he gets exclusive premier rights to them. its fun having other people being so excited about my work as that gives me extra drive...

How about live performances? Any shows or tours planned for the future? How often has the band played live in the past?

moose : we definately want to get out live again and are currently trying to plan some local shows to try out the new material. mid '03 we teamed up with label mates emergence to play in san francisco & los angeles to see how our songs on album 1 would be received and, even though the crowds weren't huge, we had a great time. people loved the shows and we realised that a couple of the tracks didn't really gel in that form, so were totally reworked for the album. it was a good experience.

I have seen pictures of your studio, and I am quite impressed! Can you describe the current setup of your studio?

moose : as a home studio it's amazingly powerful. i have a dual screened apple mac running cubase, peak, a powercore & uad1 pci cards, my master keyboard and 2 sets of studio monitors mounted on a custom table & wall unit combo - everything i need is in front of me. to the right i have the mixer, a yamaha 02r, and to the left i have the three packed 24u racks with the keyboards behind. it's designed to be used primarily by me but 2 people can just about squeeze in. everything is wired in to the patchbays in the first rack for accessability, and most of the cabling is hidden in plastic pipes mounted on the walls. the studio looks great and sounds amazing which is handy as we master all of our tracks here too.

Is it true that you have 19 Macs? Do each of them serve current functions?

moose : yup, though we only have 4 in constant use. most of the others were bought for the sole purpose of spare parts, so one of the bedroom's closet is a mac haven. i've picked up cheap machines when i see them offered as even older beige power macs can still do a great job. as an example, i have my original big pm9600 set up to work as a 24-bit 2-track recorder linked digitally to the 02r's aes-ebu output. the other pm9600 we use daily is in the loft area by the apple laptop and runs as a backup machine. its not overly fast by todays g4 or g5 standards but i can take a firewire drive from the studio and get the data burned to cd or dvd-ram without tying up the main machines. with some planning and spray paint you can turn an old beige mac in to a very useful powerhouse.

What are some of the greatest synths that you have used throughout your career?

moose : the one that has had most influence on me must be the korg wavestation. i had 3 at one point but now have just 2 - a/d & sr racks. some of the default patches are instant film soundtracks, and the whole concept of wave sequencing pioneered by dave smith on the sequential circuits prophet vs is still awesome. my dream is to own an oberheim matrix 12 as it sounds amazingly thick but i'll probably get one & realise that the other big synths i have, including a yellow waldorf Q, can get pretty darn close. i'm a huge virtual analogue fan, not because i'm trying to emulate old classics but they give me the current batch of sounds i need. layering decent va's with some older digital synths can create some really nice textures, and thats before i get the external fx processors fired up!

What are your feelings about Software synthesizers?

moose : i'm not a great fan but they are getting much better with the more powerful cpu's becoming available. one of the reasons why people think that the alaska highway sound is so different is that we don't use soft synths at all. saying that though va technically is software but they run on dedicated hardware so don't really count. trying to run my size of system, all running live in to the final mix, on a computer is simply impossible. at least i know that with all my keyboards turned on i get no cpu overhead, my midi timing is perfect and i get full polyphony from all of the machines. trying to run two 128 voice samplers, decent drums and 13 polyphonic synths on a computer is still not a reality.

So rumor has it that you are having quite the hectic time painting your studio. Why has it been so difficult?

moose : oh its a nightmare... dark grey paint on cream speckled walls is an absolute pig... every little spot shows up so i can't use a roller and have to dab the paint brush. even a seemingly perfectly painted wall 2 hours later needs touching up. now i remember why i hate painting...

Let's talk a little about your non-music activities. I know that you are married and have quite the pleasant lifestyle. What do you and your wife like to do in your spare time? Do you have any children or any future plans to have children?

moose : we're up in the foothills east of los angeles and have an uninterrupted view of the mountains, the ones that seem to burn every year - the reason why all my racks have wheels and everything has a flightcase... we have no real plans for sprogs just yet though the 5 cats do keep us very occupied! mrs moose has a hot air balloon so we occasionally go flying in that, which usually means a 4am start at the weekend. but since she gets up early during the week so she can go to work for NASA, she is usually spaced out at the weekends and playing sleep-catch-up.

What are some of your plans and future goals regarding ALASKA HIGHWAY or just life in general?

moose : we, as a band, need to get out live again as we both enjoy the ebm/industrial-dance scene, plus rich will add so much aggression on stage too with his guitar. i need to also practise my drum skills as i've just set up a custom made drum rack consisting of a heavy duty ultimate support speaker stand and 7 pintech 12" drum tube triggers. it looks really weird and sounds great by simply firing my samples off of a korg esx-1 via a roland tmc-6 thingy. album 2's sound is more mature than the debut, and this will continue over time. i'm already looking forward to album 3, though i've not thought of a name for it yet.

i also need to finalise just who the guest vocalists will be on album 2 as thats something i want to continue with. having guests adds heaps to the album and lets me explore different avenues away from anthony's voice. maybe i should get more in to the remixing you mentioned earlier...!?

Moose, thank you so much for your time! I am looking forward to all of the ALASKA HIGHWAY material set to release this year! And closing words or comments?

moose : well, anyone who wants to hear our music can listen to snippets on the alaska highway web site (http://alaskahighway.com) then head over to metropolis (http://industrial-music.com) to buy the actual album. please drop us a line & let us know what you think - feedback is always appreciated!

thanks for your continued support.

END TRANSMISSION...

LD50 review "Attitudes of a Difficult Mind"

Briefly: new boys came to redefine electronic music in no more than 70 minutes. The material's an irresistible and precise punch in the otherwise standing water, so rush to your nearest album dealer and buy it. NOW.

And a bit longer: we're talking about a debut album, Canada, puritan snow white covers, real long credits, a fully written CD. The very first impressions before the first listening. A kind of a childhood excitement took over me and I really hoped that I do not have to be disappointed. Let me clear it up, no signs of disappointment, nowhere, none.

The genre is peculiarly interesting: EBM basis, subtle touches of industriotica, dancey-melancholic themes, all of these in a real poppy performance. Don't get shocked too much: it is pop here that means the irresistible magic of the album. This is a real refreshment after countless hours of dark aggressive darkness, the sound is crystal clear, we dance if we feel like doing it, we get emotional if we feel like doing it. You gonna be whistling the songs, I say this with a money-back guarantee, this is how it has to be done. You have live vox besides distros which is a real painkiller - I was so much hurt by overdistorted vocals surrounded with past industrial releases. Anthony's vocals are enchanting, appealing (girls beware!), playing well with emotions and LAVIROZ well among different themes. The greatest key point of the album is the huge range of emotions, you even get a vocals-grand piano track with all the other dancefloor tracks as well. I wish I had enough space to write a paragraph each on every track, they're sooo unique, but because of all the limitations, let's just focus on the shiniest pearls.

We start with weep_with_me, the top suspect for a hit song. Upbeat and dancey, spiced up with Anthony's touching and beautiful voice. The next song shows an absolutely different face of the album, a real technocrat-industrial feeling, rivetheads are gonna like this one. butterfly_in_a_glass_jar is a trulz beautiful love song, not that we haven't heard a thousand love songs before but I enjoy playing it over and over again. Slamming is radio_prague as a bridge, a signal with a headline, but impressive, and then you get booom, slapped by the beat of who can you..?, one of my big faves off this album, posing an armada of questions towards the listeners, ending up in a poetic last question mark. Gorgeously danceable is lust_for_your_body, whereas the synth lines of deceiver instantly make us remember the Hungarian synth band Elso› Emelet, they'd play something like this if they were still playing. The song i_belive is interesting if not for else than for the fact that someone under the name of Robert Smith was responsible for guitar and prgramming. Strong kudos for lyrics go out to even_angels_have_to_die, an enchantingly beautiful melody such as warmth, the previously mentioned vocals w/ piano track and a mood that will make girls sob real hard, I wish I were a DD fangirl. The album ends with darkness_in_my_eyes resembling to Depeche Mode and as a bonus we get the club mix of the opening hit.

I wish I got such magnificient surprises like this album in all my life :) The debut album of Alaska Highway is a real breakthrough with a touch-and-kill atmosphere and a perfect synthesis of styles. The moods they evoke can easily make them successful within the mainstream, meaning this in the possibly best sense of the word. Fans of the darker sounds will still be attracted with songs like fatal_resistance and darkness_in_my_eyes. Colourful gapfiller of the genres! Some of the songs will and must be club hits - I'll be working on it, that's for sure. 8 points without any thinking and I might come back to modify that to nine. All hail, guys!

moose interviewed a while ago for alaskahighway.com...

firstly, thanks for setting aside some time for this chat. what did you have to put off?

only supervised kitten play. we've recently taken care of 5 little kittens and we've managed to find good homes for 4 of them so that leaves woody. we're in the process of introducing him to the other 4 and i must admit that its going better than expected. not that we set out to get 5 cats but thats what we've ended up with..

they are really cute. do they get in the way?

as all little house animals yeah sometimes, but they have a space in the studio where they can sit down out of the direct line of fire and chill out. one of them nearly got run over by my chair the other day but she survived unharmed. its amazing how far she can jump from a sitting position!

i know you were based in london most of your life so why the move to california?

i can totally blame the wife for this one! she survived one english winter and didn't really want to experience another one, so with the end of one of my contracts we decided to move her home to california. better weather and cheaper petrol, it wasn't a very hard decision though i do miss my family and friends.

i've been able to make a load of new friends here too, and with the support of the in-law's i'm heading in the right direction.

how have you found the adjustment to the different way of life?

i thought it'd be quite easy but its actually been a lot harder. its so beautiful down here with the mountains at the back of the house and so much to see that the temptation to go out has been huge. i love taking pictures so with exploring the neighbourhood and the 5 cats i can loose weeks no problem. thats why the cdep and album are way late.

i've recently rebuilt the studio too as the first design didn't feel right, so its a lot more like the system i had back in london. everything is much lower and just feels 'right'... hard to explain.

we'll come to the studio shortly, but i must ask an obvious question, why 'alaska highway'?

the number of times i've had to answer this one! i saw a program a few years ago on the building of the alaskan highway back in the 40's and for some reason i liked the name. i was writing material using the name 'your virtual friend' and i thought that this one was better. people seem to like it and its stuck with me for 7 years now.

OK, studio time... talk me round some of it

where do i start? the main computer is an apple power macintosh which runs all of my music software. i have a second machine for recording onto as i now don't use digital tape (dat) at all. the music from the mixer runs into the second macintosh at 24-bit so it sounds better than dat. my computer keyboards and speakers are all on the same table infront of me with the master keyboard, the one that i play, to the right of me.

as i swing round to my left i have the digital mixing desk with the 2 main racks of synths and fx units, then behind me is the second rack of keyboards.

the system is quite compact really as the room is only 12ft by 14ft but i do have room for a little bit more gear, though now i don't really think i need anything else to get the album done. all the sounds i want can be produced by this little arsenal.

i can go from writing the music through to the production of the master compact disc all in this room. actually thats a lie, the cd burner is on one of the other macintosh machines in the loft by the stairs.

any favourite bits of gear?

well, the big mixer (expanded 02r) is the most expensive piece of gear in here but it is so much better than the old mixer. i can store complete mixes in the memory and recall them at any time. such a time saver.

the big yellow synth is a favourite too. its made by a german company called waldorf and sounds like an old analogue machine but with so much more power. i'll never sell that one.

on to the sound of alaska highway. how would you describe the music on the album?

i hate having to pigeon-hole the stuff that i write, though if i must i'd say it was dance music with a heavier edge sorta like nine inch nails and depeche mode meeting the dance crowd like the grid. i do seem to have a distinctive sound which is probably all my earlier influences trying to get recognised...

like who? name some names!

well, the first was probably gary numan in '78 when he was tubeway army. then there was the rush of people getting noticed in the early 80s like john foxx, depeche mode, the human league, simple minds, ultravox etc but they all had their own styles. i've liked what vince clarke has done through the years as he changed from depeche to yazoo, the assembly and then erasure. simple synth pop but i like it.

mid 80s i was a huge howard jones fan, and not embarrased to say it! great live performer with jed doing mime on stage and i also saw a gig with howard and a real drummer. that guy looked the biz with a beard and a huge cage of electronic drum pads.

more recently there's been people like nine inch nails and marilyn manson. i've also been playing a lot of the old music i have on vinyl but didn't play much like the cult, new order and people like that. heavier music you might say with guitars, real drums and stuff.

i think you can hear all these ideas coming through on the tracks. light drum machine patterns with heavier drums layered on top. simple synth lines with distorted backing. its really hard explaining it but it all comes out in the wash... the way some of the tracks flow together is nice too, jumping from a piano piece to short wave radio to heavy dance.

whats in the car at the moment?

bought the 'best of' simple minds last weekend which contains some of my favourite tracks like 'love song' from the early 80s. they're discs 1 & 2. i have a home grown gary numan compilation too, featuring tracks from his last 3 albums. savage garden are usually in there, i think the first album is in there now. covenant's track 'stalker' is a great driving tune and the album that one is on was the last disc to get played yesterday.

OK, must let you get back to the music. when will the album be available?

i'm working on the first single now then once that is in the bag i'll get back to the album. i have half of the tracks actually written but they just need rerecording, which leaves about 6 or 7 tracks to do. my current vocalist lives over in london so i'll be sending him ideas over the internet then we'll get together in here in a few months and record all the vocals properly.

i've also decided to work over the web with a few muso programmers like hunter, so hopefully we'll see some collaborations on the album too.

it's all quite exciting really...