MICHAEL HARRIS DARKOLOGY INTERVIEW
by George
Ketigenis of
Metal Hammer
-Interview w/ Michael Harris
2009
Thank you so much – from all 4 of us. We feel that DARKOLOGY really has a great chemistry and we feel really good about “Altered Reflections”, along with the mix & production, (courtesy of Sterling Winfield, JT Longoria, and Gary Long at NOMAD studios.)
DARKOLOGY resulted from some songs that I had written for my “Words Collide” CD in 2003 – songs that I felt were too heavy for that release (namely “Nobot” and “Alone”). So I decided to write more metal and form a real metal band. Our bassist, Mike Neal, and myself have been friends since high school, and I knew he would be perfect for the band. Mike’s basslines are rock solid, he knows exactly what a song needs, doesn’t overplay, and is a true metalhead. Of course, I knew my brother, Brian Harris, would fit in perfectly as well. So the 3 of us recorded the music, and I demo’d it with my vocals. It took us quite awhile to find a singer. We were patient, as we knew we needed a monster vocalist. When we heard Sundown, we were all floored. After finishing the record, it took a good 2 years to shop and release the record. So that is a big part of the time factor, along with me being involved with other projects. Since 2004, I have released the THOUGHT CHAMBER record, my solo instrumental, “ORCHESTRATE”, and did 3 records with Vitalij Kuprij. I also completely remixed and remastered my “ego decimation profile” disc.
During a photoshoot for THOUGHT CHAMBER, keyboardist Bobby Williamson had given me a copy of his Outworld CD. I was blown away with the vocals, so I sent it to my brother and Mike, who were equally blown away. Mike hunted down and contacted Sundown online, to find he was interested. We recorded the vocals in Dallas, TX at NOMAD. Sundown typifies exactly the type of vocalist we were looking for – a Dickenson / Halford / Lande style, range, and vibrato, but with his own thing going. He can also sing with a bluesy & soulful edge, and has an incredible ear. Weak points? none that I know of!
Correct – I felt “The Science of Metal” was an appropriate title, seeing that the suffix “-ology” implies a science. I met some resistance there though, and I wasn’t insistent on that name. Mike came up with the idea to pull “Altered Reflections” from a lyric from “Eyes of Argus”.
I was
fine with that, as I like pulling lyrical phrases for record titles. Plus
“Altered Reflections” still fit with John Holland’s cover art.
I gather musical ideas in many different ways, but I always try to make the parts fit together logically. I don’t write a part and then automatically use the next riff that I write for that song. I’m patient and wait for what I feel is the right part for that song. In fact, I don’t feel that I even have a song until I have a melodic theme or chorus. Then I have something to build upon. For the breaks, solo sections, and such, I always like to write challenging parts, and many times tend to add elements of prog (guess that’s my RUSH influence speaking).
That “I Bleed” pre-solo is an eastern themed harmony part that reminds me of early Mahogany Rush. Frank Marino is a big influence on myself. My favorite DARKOLOGY riff is probably the beginning of “Nobot”. Others: the 5/4 main riff of “Violent Vertigo”, and “Eyes of Argus” has a strong chorus in my opinion. I also like the galloping rhythm of “Aura of Xhad”, the simplicity of “Alone”, and about everything in “Trance of the Gorgons”.
Any favorite vocal performances?
I think Sundown nailed every song, but the highlights to me would be “I Bleed”, (because I don’t know too many metal vocalists who can sing with that amount of feeling); “Nobot” (especially that middle acoustic section); and “Eyes of Argus” shows many different vocal styles.
On the other hand, what were you thinking when you chose to do that laid-back clean “jazzy” thing on the middle of “Dark Energy”? It doesn’t fit!
Haha – well first of all, “Dark Energy” was originally an instrumental, so the mentioned section was more appropriate then. I decided to add lyrics / vocals later, and it worked out great. As far as why it fits, because of the spacey background guitars and overall “drifting” feel of that section, you can imagine yourself floating in space, which is appropriate, as “Dark Energy” is an invisible energy in space. Also, I envisioned the song as a deep cut on the record, but several people insisted that we move it up earlier. An extended solo break would have been less of a factor if it was track #8 or #9 rather than say, track #3.
I guess that depends on the specific song and rhythm. If you want the solo to be heard, you don’t want the rhythm to be too distracting. Many times I leave the rhythm out completely underneath a solo or use a clean tone, because mix-wise, it’s often a real challenge for the solo to be heard over the rhythm. Plus with myself being the lone guitarist, live there will be no rhythm anyway. But yes, depending on the song and solo, sometimes a rhythm guitar can provide the necessary heaviness and impact.
I steered most of the lyrics in a sci-fi / fantasy direction – from previous lyrical experience,
I had spent many hours on introspective or philosophical lyrics, only to find that no one really cares, so I figured why not just make up some stuff!
“NOBOT” is about a futuristic mechanical master race which evolves and threatens humanity - series of man made “humanoid” robots are created for the purpose of executing high risk and covert missions for the US military. Several years into the project, it blows up in our face, as they form a “silent conspiracy” to overtake their creators. Using the scientific knowledge and “human intuition” we had programmed into them, they confiscate even our molecular and DNA structure and take it into the laboratory to perform mutations far beyond human knowledge in a successful quest to become more human themselves. Hence, they become NOBOTS: the new master race.
“TRANCE OF THE GORGONS” is based on the mythological story of the 3 Gorgonian sisters - chiefly Medusa, who could turn one to stone with her stare. So I got to thinking what if she stared in the mirror and turned herself to stone?!
That’s quite possible! I knew there was a positive side to that experience, haha!
He cannot THROW his voice that I know of, so one thing we can rule out is ventriloquism. But I think he’s got all the other bases covered! But seriously, I’m glad you hear the passion in his voice, along with the killer range and vibrato. Good idea - I will order Sundown a green and red straitjacket. No wait, make it black.
Well, what someone hears in our music is up to their own ears, but I think it can certainly be appreciated by both new and old school fans, which implies a wide age demographic. We are getting a lot of similar comments to yours, that in spite of the musicianship, we don’t overplay, and that’s exactly what we want to hear. It’s all about the song and melody first & foremost. The proggy sections, etc are just so we can have a little fun. Again, we feel the strength of the band is in the songs though. It’s not challenging for us to just string a bunch of riffs together and growl over them. Not that a good gutter growl isn’t effective at the right time, but the music that has had longevity for me has always incorporated melody. So DARKOLOGY offers both heaviness and melody for those who are receptive to it.
I think it was actually me who told him, and we were certainly both happy for Gus!!!
Because I have so many releases, most of my discographies are “selected” or partial discographies. “Shock Waves” is a cool record, and it was fun being able to just cut loose on it.
Haha – actually I only met Leather once. I recorded her solo CD at David Chastain’s home studio at a different time than when Leather did her vocals. Many people have asked me about her whereabouts. David would be more inclined to have an answer for that, but I do find it surprising that there is so little information about her on the world wide web. She had some serious pipes!
Yes, although that is definitely not intentional. It is just very difficult to get musicians to commit to performing live. Let’s face it – it is one thing to do a record at a local studio or to E mail .WAV files back & forth, but quite another to give up a job & family to tour for very little profit.
But I agree – touring is what it takes to stand out in the plethora of bands in the world. I do play live a lot with my own band, The Michael Harris Tranz-Fusion, (which also features my brother Brian on drums), and I have also done some touring with a guitar fest called “Virtuosity”, with shredders like Joe Stump and Sean Baker.
We have already written some material for the 2nd DARKOLOGY record (which we are very excited about), and it is looking good to be a live touring band as well. Regarding THOUGHT CHAMBER, after finishing the record, sadly the guys didn’t have any interest in playing live, and I share your disappointment on that.
In looking back at all the CDs I bought this year, they were mostly personal classics that I wanted on disc. I did hear some new records this year, but unfortunately, nothing noteworthy.
Haha - maybe Uli Jon Roth would know, because he nailed the perfect solo in “The Sails of Charon”. He’ll have to tell you about the perfect woman though.
Some bigger labels really liked it, but they weren’t offering much to a new band in these financially troubling times. We wouldn’t settle for a label just to simply be “signed”, but we loved the enthusiasm and hands on approach of Rock-a-Holics, as opposed to becoming a tax write-off for a larger label, so we gladly signed the deal!
Well of course it feels great to hear comments like that, but a record is really all about how it makes you feel as an artist, even before it is released. We felt good about "Altered Reflections" from the start, and to now have that confirmation from listeners and critics is incredibly awesome.
Well “Eyes of Argus” would certainly fit that mold.
That’s difficult, but I would say Judas Priest.
To collaborate more while making the best metal music we can, and to perform live as much as possible with minimal hearing loss!
You are very welcome, and we’d love to come to Greece to play! In the meantime, we hope that fans will support us by buying our CD and checking out our official website www.darkology.com