The Human Equation
Y.Boertje for ArjenLucassen.com
Especially for Ayreon.com, Arjen took some time out of his very busy schedule to answer a few questions.
First of all, something that we think fans would really like to know: Have you started work on the new Ayreon yet?
Yes. During the past few years I've recorded many song ideas on a simple cassette player. I've recently listened to them all and realized that most of them are quite soft and melodic. I think this is because I come up with most of my ideas at night, sitting in front of the TV screen with an acoustic guitar. So I don't think the next Ayreon album will be a very heavy album, besides I have put all my heavy ideas in Star One. I do, however, want to make the next Ayreon very diverse, moving from one atmosphere and style into a completely different one. But then again I don't really plan ahead that much; so I never know how it will turn out in the end. Maybe it won't even become an Ayreon album?
Did working on side projects like Ambeon, Star One, and the many guest performances you've done, inspire you to work on the new Ayreon? Or is Ayreon a completely different project for you?
Ayreon is a completely different project for me. I approach it differently than Star One (mainly heavy guitar riffs) and Ambeon (mainly constructed behind the computer). Ayreon songs are mostly based on chord sequences, melodies and atmospheres. However, strangely enough I did get inspiration from guesting on all these other projects; somehow I could concentrate more on my own stuff, I guess because I wasn't so focused. I'm slowly starting to climb out of the black hole now. Very soon I will simply start recording without thinking too much about the direction I'm going in. Like with every Ayreon album so far, everything will fall into place somehow, also lyrically. I wouldn't want to force (and limit) myself to go into a certain direction.
Although you are likely to change your mind a lot over the course of the creation of the new Ayreon, could you give us a little hint of what we can expect?
Judging from the material I have so far there will be acoustic folky stuff with mandolin; 'Beatle' stuff with psychedelic influences; proggy stuff with old analog synths, Mellotrons, and flute; heavy stuff with low tuned metal guitars; atmospheric stuff with electronic sounds; orchestral stuff with violins, celli and horns; etc. No limits. Well okay, no soul, rap or hip-hop ;o)
Recently you posted a request for singers on the site. We were a little surprised; don't you have enough singers to choose from?
Oh no, the list of singers (I already had before this request) is endless!
But because 'our kind of music' is not very popular these days (on TV and
radio), there must be a lot of undiscovered talent that just don't get exposure.
Instead of trying to only get big names, I also want to give those unknown
talents a chance. I think receiving the recordings of Astrid (Ambeon) out of the
blue a couple of years ago, might also have triggered this. And besides I think
my own name is established now and I don't need big names anymore to sell my
albums. Quite the opposite, singers who sing on my album will get a lot of
publicity themselves. On the other hand, it's still a great feeling to work
with some of my heroes. So I'll definitely keep on trying to get some famous
singers whose albums I've been listening to over the years.
I do feel however
that the musicians I work with have to like my music, that's very important to
me. If they would do it for any other reasons, it wouldn't work for me. There
has to be a certain respect for each other in order to achieve great things.
Hmm...having said that, I'd pay someone like David Gilmour a fortune to guest on Ayreon, even if he uses my CD's as frisbees!
How has the response to your request for singers been so far? Any surprises?
Great, I received many recordings! I haven't listened to them all yet. No real surprises yet (like with Astrid), but, unfortunately, I am very hard to please.
Later you added that you are specifically looking for non-metal singers. What exactly do you mean by that?
95% of the recordings and emails I receive (also from well-known singers) are from metal singers. So I've already got a long list of metal singers. But, unlike Star One, metal is really only a small part of Ayreon. Somehow it's very hard to convince non-metal singers to sing on my projects. As soon as there are just a few metal passages on an album, people file it under metal, very strange.
What kind of singers can become part of the future Ayreon universe? Should they have stage- or recording experience? Or have had any voice training?
Oh no, absolutely not. I'm not really interested in their singing techniques, but much more in sound of their voices. Some of my favourite (non-metal) singers are definitely not the world's most technical singers; John Lennon (Beatles), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Dave Brock (Hawkwind), Donovan, Leonard Cohen, Russell Mael (Sparks), Mike Scott (Waterboys), Graham Nash (C, S&N), E (eels) etc. I just like their voices and their way of singing or acting or even their pronounciation. I can't really explain what it is. And I am by no means a technical singer myself, but somehow by keeping within my own limitations I succeed in getting my message across. A metal/hardrock singer on the contrary has to be a technically good singer. *And* I have to like the sound of his voice. For instance Ronnie James Dio and Glenn Hughes are both technically brilliant singers, but I do like the sound of Dio's voice and I don't like the sound of Glenn Hughes' voice. So that's purely a personal opinion.
We thank Arjen for his time and hope you all enjoyed reading it!