I haven’t heard of Brighteye Brison until recently. Thanks to my contacts with Progress Records I had a chance to change this situation and right now I can higly recommend this band. Linus Kase, one of the band founders, answered a few questions. Enjoy.
Hi Linus. How did you come up with the idea for Brighteye Brison?
Could you say a few words about band members to Polish readers?
For a pretty long time during the mid 90’s I wanted to form a band of my
own in the progressive field. The idea for BB came up in 2000 while I
was studying jazz at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm which also
Kristofer Eng attended. Sharing the same musical taste in much, like of
course the 70’s prog movement, I asked if he would be interested in
joining a band with me. Kristofer is an amazing bass player who has
played in lots of bands and different styles. He is composing music for
film, TV and theater plays amongst other things. His range of musical
interpretation is just very wide. My brother Daniel was in the band for
almost six years before Erik Hammarström joined on drums. A fun fact is
that Erik also attended the Royal College of Music in Stockholm during
the same time as me and Kristofer so I knew him from there. I remembered
him as an exceptional drummer in the Zappa-vein, enjoying playing
extremely demanding stuff. When Daniel left I thought he would be the
perfect replacement and he was really interested in being a part of the
band. Erik is a wonderful musician capable of playing any kind of style
which he is doing in various bands. His sound is very distinct. Talking
prog he is nowadays also playing with The Flower Kings. Johan Öijen has
been in the band pretty much since the start and since our very first
recording session. He is educated at another music college and I
remember hearing his guitar playing in other groups before eventually
Kristofer invited him to the band. Johan has a very jazzy side to his
playing alongside a hard rock approach and just so many expressions of
genres that can be drawn out when called for. Per got involved with the
band mixing our first demo. He is actually a childhood friend of
Kristofer so he got into BB that way. He loves the 70’s approach to
music in general and particularly prog. Eventually he joined the band
not only as the main studio engineer but as our second keyboard player.
Per has also studied music and is a great singer. In fact we are three
vocalists in the band; Per, Kristofer and me.
I must confess that „Believers and Deceivers”, so the latest from
your discography, is the only one that I’ve ever listened to. Are the
previous albums as brilliant as Believers and Deceivers? 🙂
Thanks. I’m very proud of this album. This time around the songs tended
to be more arranged from a technical point. I tried to get the fullest
out of every instrument and getting it all to work together. Every
instruments part, as well as the harmonies, is more definitely written
to start with. I guess “Believers & Deceivers” is somewhat our “In A
Glass House” in that sense Also there is a lot more going on between
bass, guitar and drums with heavier riffing and stuff like that.
Basically we just wanted to try something new and with Erik joining the
band it really opened up new doors. “Stories” was also a very good
album, I think. It has some more ad libbing within the instrumentation
which presents a certain sound that I really like as well. We improvised
more with the arrangements during the recording of that album,
especially with the vocal harmonies which had a rather cool effect
sometimes. But we have certainly developed as both a live and recording
band since our first album. I feel there are good songs on all our
albums though. I don’t think we will ever do a gig without playing
either “A Car” or something from the “One Year Alone”-suite. The first
album was very honest and I have fond memories of doing that one.
Let’s
talk about „Believers and Deceivers” – while I’m listening to this
album I get the impression that it was recorded in the 70s and I don’t
mean that from a technical point of view, it’s not about the production
process, but about a distinctive atmosphere of the 70s that you’ve
managed to create.
With “Stories” we had a very strong vision of making a 70’s-sounding
album and in the end I believe that we really achieved it. It was kind
of a homage to all our heroes. In comparison “Believers & Deceivers”
has a more modern edge to it. There were no strict guidelines to begin
with. It was more about letting the music gain its own voice. With Erik
aboard it felt like the natural road to go down since his drumming is
very unique. Somehow I guess we kind of felt like a band reborn. Not
allowing freedom would only constrict the music. But the atmosphere of
70’s music is what we really enjoy so I guess it’s a sound that will
always be present on our albums.
Do you improvise jazz pieces or do you compose them earlier on? What
role does improvisation play in your music? I may only guess that it’s
quite significant, judging by your latest album.
Quite often improvisation is an extension to a song or a part coming out
of rehearsing and playing together although it can also be thought of
during the writing process. Since there is a strong background in jazz
within the band, some of us are playing frequently in our own and
various jazz constellations, the improvisational side evolves naturally.
Having mentioned earlier that this album was more arranged in one sense
it is quite funny that it includes maybe an even larger area of
improvisation than previous albums. But that’s just something I have
always enjoyed. I find both the very precise and written aspect of music
as well as the free aspect that can take you to unimaginable places
very interesting. Letting them counterpoint each other to me adds a much
pleasing effect.
Each consecutive track on the album is longer than the previous one and the last song is 34 minutes long. Was it intentional?
At first we had the idea to give the album the feel of an old LP. That
is by letting a short track be followed by a long one on each side of
the record. Then I guess I got afraid that if people would get bored
after the first “side” they would miss out on a lot of good music, ha
ha!
Is it difficult to compose a 34-minute piece?
Somehow our songs tend to be rather long, which I find is a natural way
of writing. These days we refer to a 7-minute song as “the short one”. I
didn’t sit down one night and write “The Grand Event” from beginning to
end though. I had a terrible amount of ideas in my head that had been
gathered up during many years. My conclusion was that if this music had
stuck with me for such a long time they had to be pretty good, at least
in my world. I demoed them in no particular order and soon discovered
that the ideas had a lyrical thread all the way through. And that is how
a bunch of seemingly different ideas eventually can give life to half
an hour of continuous music!
Is it true that there are no computer made sounds on the album and all we can hear are „real instruments’” sounds?
Yes, that is true. We take pride in playing all the real instruments
ourselves and recording them in a way that sounds organic and true to
the sound ideal of our favorite era in prog. Since Mellotron is a kind
of artificial sound source in itself, maybe you could discuss the term
“real instruments”, but that’s another story…
There’s a kind of magic that happens when you hook up a real Taurus
pedal or a Mellotron and play it, in contrast to using a software piece.
You play differently, and most importantly, you feel different,
triggering new ideas you won’t get in front of a computer screen.
In your music, you do not use much of special effects offered by
modern technology and as a result the album sounds very softly. How did
you make this effect?
We have from the beginning had the intention to make music with a sound
that had that organic sound we heard on our favorite albums. In
analyzing what makes that sound, it was apparent that the emphasis was
more on the recording phase than the mixing.
That made it more important to record good sounds from the start, using
effects as true “effects”, not changing the overall sound of the album,
but just to make a sound stand out more in the mix.
This being said, there is quite a lot of effects on the album, but we
never did anything that couldn’t have been done with 70´s technology.
You’ve recorded a brilliant album, do you plan any concerts in Europe?
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A BOOKING AGENT!!!!!
Is Brighteye Brison popular anywhere else apart from Sweden?
We probably sold more albums outside Sweden than here… It’s very
strange that a country that spawns such a large number of great prog
acts has such a small market for prog-rock.
Your
style could be described as a tribute paid to prog-rock stars of the
70s. How do you perceive the period after the 70s, I mean the so-called
neo prog rock (early Marillion, Arena, Pendragon, IQ) and prog rock of
today (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield)
Oh, there are some good bands out there. I’ve been a die-hard fan of
Echolyn ever since I stumbled across “As The World” in the mid 90’s.
That album just has everything that I enjoy about prog. Although there
are many shorter songs on the album each one holds a truly intricate and
demanding content that grows on me still after twelve or thirteen
years! The vocal arrangements are one of a kind. I also enjoy the
“Unfolded Like Staircase” album by Discipline since it was released,
listened to it many times. Basically I have a lot of albums from later
bands. Another favorite which I like to mention is Phreeworld’s
“Crossing The Sound” from 1998. That one is really unique. Then of
course I have listened to Spock’s Beard, their “Snow” album is really
good, and I have seen them live a couple of times. I have all of Salem
Hill’s releases, very good band. In the neo movement of the 80’s I enjoy
“The Sentinel” by Pallas. Of course Eddie Offord produced it so the
70’s connection is there The albums of It Bites are wonderful. “Once
Around The World” is still a frequent guest in my CD-player.
Are you into prog metal?
Not that much anymore. I’m not sure why. Quite often I find the harmonic
range of the metal scene a bit unsatisfying to me. Unfortunately that’s
also apparent in lots of modern prog music. Personally I play a lot
with chord changes and constant change of modes which perhaps is closer
at hand to me being a keyboardist than it would be to the general rock
guitarist. I used to listen to prog metal a lot. A band like Dream
Theater was a big inspiration to me. I always found that their harmonic
display was the cornerstone in their music which was a thing that later
many “DT-influenced” bands missed out on completely. I think I’ve been
colored by the things I like in metal considering my own music. On the
other hand there are genres I’m not really an active consumer of anymore
but have qualities that inevitably have become a part of my own
expression.
Do you know any Polish prog rock bands? Are you familiar with any of these bands? Quidam, Riverside, Collage?
Yes. And Satellite is a Polish band that I believe are really cool. I
have the “Into The Night” album from last year which I enjoy very much! A
very varied album that is fun to listen to.
Brighteye Brison is your way of living or a hobby?
I work as a music teacher and freelancing musician. As things are I
could not go on with Brighteye Brison without working. Everyone in the
band are professional musicians so we feel it is very important to play
in other bands, other styles and meet other musicians as well. That
makes you more diverse, experienced and in the end you will bring more
depth to Brighteye Brison!
Is it a first interview for a Polish music portal?
Yes.
Thank you very much for the interview. If you wish, please say a few words to our readers.
To those of you who’ve read this interview, thank you! I hope you will
support Brighteye Brison by buying our new album entitled “Believers
& Deceivers”. Hopefully we’ll come visit all of you very soon. After
the gig we will drink beer and talk prog music! All the best!
Piotr Michalski
translation: Gosia Michalska
