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In
the backstage area we will bring you closer to
the band. Mail your questions to info@andromedaonline.com
and they will be delivered directly to the member
they concern. Answers will be published here after
a week or two.
Please
sign the subject of the mail: "Backstage:Band-Member-It-Adresses"
and don´t forget to write in English so
that everyone can read your question!
hi thomas.i'm a fan of andromeda from turkey and i'm listening andromeda a
few years and i truly like your drum performance.it's really good i think(
i'm a drummer too:).by the way i really love andromeda's musiic.
so i want to ask ask you some question.
1)how can you don't forget your drum parts in your song.have you ever play
any song of andromeda with improvisitation.i'm asking you because some parts
are really complex.
2)what do you think about tony williams
3)when will andromeda come turkey.i really want to listen you on live(and a
lot of my friends wants it too...)
4)And this not questionbuti need say it.David Fremberg is the most original
vocal i have ever listen.he is very good.and all of andromeda members you
are all making good music...good luck all of you and best wishes.......
note:if you come to turkey i will take you to eat iskenderun kebap and drink
turkish raki :)
Hello Turkey Today I would love to be in Turkey because its raining like crazy here in Sweden. Anyway, you asked how we remember the songs. We have to play the songs a couple of times, that´s the answer. I really don´t have a special trick or anything. Tony Williams is a great drummer, but I think Johan is more into him than I am. Billy Cobham is another old fusion cat that I really dig. Don´t know when we will come to your beatiful country, hopefully as soon as possible. Take care and keep hitting those drums as hard as you can
Thomas
Hi, when are you plannifying to make a concert again? do you have any kind of mail service for informing to fans about the Andromeda news? per exemple new concertS? best regards for all band
Hi Pablo! There are a couple of shows booked at the moment. There is no mailing system at the moment but you can always check our webpage for the latest info about upcoming gigs and tours!
Take care,
/David
I'm a huge fan of your guitar Johan. What got me started was the Nonexist project years back..your guitars turned that black album to gold. I followed you then to your Andromeda project and now I have Skyfire on the list. I vibe with your sound there's just no other way to describe it. Alright here are the questions:
1) Johan when you write your material for Andromeda or any other band what artists do you draw inspiration from? I listen to you and sometimes I just think of Vinnie Moore and Marty Friedman on a similar color or vibe.
2) Will you be doing another album with Liiva in the future?>
3) What's your favorite drink?
4) What was the first song you learned to play?
Thanks for your time Johan love the band and your work.
Justin from Erie, USA
Thanks a lot Justin!! Great to hear that you dig Andromeda; Nonexist, Skyfire and my playing!
Now, onto your question!
1) Well, a lot of different ones... Marty Friedman is one of my favourite guitarists, yes! I have never heard Vinnie Moore. It could be all sorts of stuff.. Both guitarists and bands, even bands that don´t sound similar to us at all. Like Depche Mode, Sisters of Mercy, Björk, Covenant, ABBA, The Cure. Metal-bands: Megadeth, Testament, Slayer, Merciless, At the Gates, Morbid Angel... Metallica or course. "Progressive": more technical or symphonic groups: ELP, Tool, Meshuggah, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Opeth, Atheist, Mr Bungle, Dream Theater - well mostly the first albums. And other stuff: Tea Party, Porcupine Tree, Steve Vai, Morphine, Chopin, Erik Satie, Schubert, Rimsky-Korsakov, Vivaldi, Soundgarden, Portishead, Massive Attack, Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, John Scofield, Jaco Pastorius, Jan Johansson, Chick Corea, Tori Amos, Loreena McKennit and so on and so on...
2) Maybe. There were loose plans to do it this spring. We had interest from a label and we had a drummer on the way. But it never happened anything in the end. Both me and Liiva are too busy with other things, that´s what we realised when we considered it realisticly.. It´s a pity. He´s a really nice chap and it could be a super-cool album... I have loads of Nonexist-riffs lying around.
3) Beer, various styles and brands, can´t really pick anyone in particular, julmust - a Swedish type of soda, really tasty.. Sort of like dark beer meets cola. And I also like cider very much.
4) "Tom Doley" - D, A7, D, A7 and so on.. Hehe! An old country evergreen. The second one I think was the basic blues progression.
/Johan
My name is Tim Schoessler and I am currently finishing up work on a Master's
degree in music in Piano Performance at the University of Wyoming in the US.
I am a huge fan of heavy metal and I also play guitar in a couple of bands.
I am writing my Thesis on relationship between Classical music and heavy
metal, and I would be honored to have your responses to the questions below
to help in my research.
1. Have you had formal training in music theory or in playing an instrument?
If yes, please describe:
I've been taking piano lessons weekly since I was four, stopped a few years
ago though. I've also been taking drum, guitar, trumpet, and singing
lessons. (6, 2, 1 and 3 years.) In highschool I attended many music theory
lessons, and also during my years at Malmö Academy of Music.
2. Do you listen to Classical music? If yes, list composers and favorite
pieces:
I grew up listening only to classical music. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven,
Vivaldi, Grieg and the rest of the “classics”. It wasn't until I was eight
that I started to listen to popular music. I don't listen so much to
classical music anymore, but I think I can list some favourites anyway:
Mendelsohn - Hebrides Overture
Shubert - Ave Maria
Thcaikowsky - Piano Concerto in Bb minor
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor
Berlioz - Requiem
3. Does Classical music influence your own musical output? If yes, describe
(harmonic structure, melodic style, inspiration, scales, etc.):
Very much so. Probably mostly in the harmonic progressions and voice
interaction.
4. How significant is the relationship between Classical music and Heavy
Metal, in your opinion?
I think the dynamic range could be the same, only most metal bands tend to
play at maximum volume all the time… When it comes to harmonies and
structure it is sometimes possible to see classical influence, sometimes
not. A lot of bands are influenced by older bands like Deep Purple and Led
Zeppelin, which were more blues oriented.
I would personally like to hear more classical influences in metal music
today.
5. Additional Comments:
Interesting questions. I could go on and on about this, but unfortunately I
have very limited time!
Have to write some songs for the fourth Andromeda album, for instance. Maybe
I should put even more classical stuff in there this time…
Thanks for taking the time to respond - I appreciate it very much!
Tim Schoessler
All the best
/Martin
Hi, Thomas. I think your drumming is waay cool, dude, both on Andromeda
and A.C.T. Keep drumming like that and you'll be fine :)
I have a question for ya: what is the model of that beautiful sounding
cymbal that you use on, hm, let's say, One In My head, from 6:54
onwards? Is it a max stax? A mini-china? Maybe not? :P How many inches?
Do you have any other quick "tch!"-sounding cymbals like that one on
your kit?
Oh, and the usual:
See you guys in Brasil (soon, I hope!)
Cheers,
Ravi
Hello ravi !
I´m afraid I have to disapoint you because I dont remember what cymbal I used on one in my head. When andromeda record albums I always bring a bag of broken cymbals that we play around with until we find a sound thar we like. So I´m sorry I can´t help you with this question.
But you are right with the mini chinas I have two sizes that I always use ,10", 12" with with pretty bet up splash cymbals inside them kinda max stax but I got the idea from Terry Bozzio before I even heard Portnoy used his stax. Take care and keep up the drumming
Thomas
Hey guys,
First of all congratulations on being named with Katatonia for best
Progressive album of the year in the Perpetual Motion awards and for
Thomas on his success in the drumming category. It was a shame that
you guys did not occupy these positions in isolation. Katatonia pale
into pathetic nonsense compared to you guys and who could possibly
equal the impressive performance of the great Thomas Lejon. Well Done
alround, its about time people realised how phenomenal you all are.
All my questions are directed to Thomas.
Question One:
Referring to the accenting, subdivisions and notational groupings in
'Going Under'. At time positions: 3:08-3:10, 3:15-3:17, 3:22-3:24
(there are several more instances towards the conclusion of the song),
What are you doing with the notes played on the ride. Are these
fifths, accenting the first note per grouping? What is the sticking
for this? Are you using two hands?
Question Two:
Near the end of 'Inner Circle' between the time locators of
6:16-6:37, Are you playing the bass drum patterns with one foot all
the time, if not what phrases require both feet.
Question Three:
With reference to the compositional approach of Andromeda's
songwriting (especially on Chimera), I have noticed (in my opinion)
that when matching the rhythmic attitudes of the guitar, you seem to
have the uncanny ability of both highlighting the salient points of
the guitars/riffs rhythmic architecture whilst also being able to
infuse your own unique take and impression on the underlying rhythm.
Thus it seems to allow for the presentation of a much more layered and
complex approach towards the music. I often feel as though the guitars
and keyboards make their contribution to the communal rhythmic idea ,
whilst the drums and bass provide the rest of the puzzle. Thus my
question is: When you come to composing your drum parts, are you
initially presented with an idea from either guitar or keyboard to
which you then add/reinforce/present counterpoint ideas. Does the bass
get written after your drum parts. Is this why the bass often seems to
lock with what you are doing? Does the bass closely follow you to add
a greater sense of legitimacy to your sometimes incredibly oblique
constructions (no criticism-only the highest praise and bewilderment
at your extensive and mindbending capacity in the field of composition
and phrasing), i.e. the bass and drums presenting a uniform front
appears to strengthen the familiarity of the rhythms whilst reducing
the audiences initial surprise at their inherent uniqueness? Or is
this simply to balance mix, guitars and keyboards going one way, drums
and bass the other.
Question Four:
Bass drum technique, Do you play heel up or down or a combination.
Question Five:
Do you hit hard? Do you approach your grip from more of the
traditional heavy metal (strong grip) aspect or do you adopt a looser
jazz orientated grip.
Question Six:
What was your kit setup for Chimera? Was it similar to the photos of
your setup for Act's Silence (A true masterpiece-breathtaking use of
subtlety combined with the disciplined presentation of incredible
complexity and musicality) sessions (without the timbales/timbalitos
above the left hihat of course). Could you possibly provide a current
photo (maybe even of the setup for the next album). I already have a
photo you sent me of the setup of 2 is 1-are you possibly still using
the same kit?
Keep up the good work, you have certainly opened my eyes to an
approach that is as fresh and creative and smashed the accepted rules
and guidelines for how to approach rhythmic composition within modern
music. "When playing off the board, The rules do not apply".
Regards
Matt
Hello Matt !
First of all thank you for liking our stuff and really listning microscopically.
answer one: You made a good guess but it´s not five, it´s a grouping of three. This fill is very infuensed by Neil Peart, he uses this a lot. No way in hell could I do this with one hand. the sicking is: rlr l rlr l rlr l rlr l r l r and I play it on the ride bell, mini bell snare and the china.
answer two: Actually when we recorded this pattern I started with using both my feet all the way but I didn´t get the right flow on the doublehits. So I changed it and the doubles with my right foot but the tripplehits is. rlr
answer three: For most part the rest of the band get a demo from the writer either it´s Johan, Martin or David. Then the fun begins, I start throwing in my crazy rythms and polyrytms and stuff we meet in the rehearsal room and see if it works. Most of the time the bass get written after the drums.
answer four: I play heel up pretty much all the time, sometimes on softer parts I play heel down.
answer five: Japp I hit pretty damm hard so I have to say heavy metal grip (danger danger) answer six: The setup is the same you have alredy guessed the diffrences. I think we filmed some shots of the new recording sessions and hopefully we will put it up on the homepage.
To hell with the rules we make up new ones as we go Thank you very much for your letter and take care. Thomas
Congratulations for the amazing music you are creating, you are a great
inspiration for me. I love your three albums, specially Chimera, and I just
want to tell you to continue with this incredible progressive music, because
we want more Andromeda albums!!! You guys rock!!! Now a question for Johan:
Because I admire you, I wanted your advise for purchasing a new guitar, I
been playing for 4 years and actually have an Ibanez S 470, so I don't know
if you could recommend me some good guitars that cost less than $550.
Thanks.
One more thing, when it becomes possible for you to come touring to central
America, please make it in Guatemala, El Salvador, or Mexico. Again thanks
for your music.
Hey man!
Thank you so much!
I´m afraid I can´t give much advice when it comes to guitar-purchases. I´m not really into guitars as such actually, I´m much more interested in playing them. I don´t read instrument-reviews and check out new models and the prices etc.
Of course we would like to come to Central America! It´s just a matter of promotion and back-up…
Take it easy!
Johan
Hey guys!
What's up? Wanted to thank Johan for the tips he gave me a few weeks earlier about improvised playin... it helped in a way, that's for sure, but I'm still getting the hang of it... And i also wanted to ask u guys is there any way that i can get your tabs, but the whole things... I'm trying to find them all over the stinking net but i just cant... The Extension of the Wish album is really a genius revolution of Prog metal, i love that album with all my ears, heart and mind... so i wondered if u guys can help me get tabs for that album, but the whole tabs, its kinda complicated to tab your solos by ear Johan, and I'm desperately wanting to learn them on my screwed up guitar... So i would really be grateful if u could help me with that one... Thanx a lot!
And i also wanted to ask u guys how big are the chances of u coming to Serbia? I even printed a Custom T-shirt with your logo on it... it looks damn cool!
Thanks a lot, for any answer or reply, just keep on jamming, and Fuck all of those girly-britney-sell-out bands, music like this (metal) is ETERNAL!
Marko from Serbia.
Ziveli! (Cheers!)
Hi there Marko!
Thanx a lot!!
You will find tabs for all the songs on “Extension..”, except for “Chameleon..” along with tabs of some songs of “II=I” in the Music-section on this site.
Our status in Serbia is pretty unknown to us. If you speak to any concert-promoters in your country – tell them to check us out and book us.
Bye for know and thanks once again!
Johan
Hey, I am the Spanish guy from the other day. I received your e-mail, which filled me with delight. the city that i live in is called Alicante, although it is quite a small city, but close to Alicante is the city of Murcia and the city of Valencia which are much bigger. My brother and i are dying to see you live and we will wait as long as needed. We only ask that you don't give up your job. Getting to know Andromeda has been one of the biggest achievements in my musical life. I feel that my heart accelerates when i hear songs like 'Extension of the wish', 'Inner circle' 'two is one' or 'Morphing into nothing' and i would hate to see great pieces like those disappear and be forgotten.
Thank you for being so perfect
Hola!
Muchas gracias! We will do our best to keep the good stuff coming…keep the creative juices flowing…
I don´t think it is impossible that gigs will appear for us in Spain on the next record. Stay tuned and spread the word, por favor!
Adios amigos!
Johan
Greetings Johan,
I'm curious how you built your speed up. Was it doing scale runs over
and over again near the metronome, or did you rather play some difficult
songs more to practice out your alternate picking speed?
I'm asking this because I hit a certain speed and I can't go forth for
some strange reason, and my technique isn't yet solid. In fact, I can't
play as fast atm, as I did 2 months ago and I don't know what's
happening. Sometimes I have a good day and I'm fine with 16th notes at
160 bpm and then comes a bad day (happens more and more these days) and
I'm not fine at 130bpm (16th notes). I'm wondering how to get rid of
this inconsistency once and for all. I understand that guitarists have good
and bad days, but when I watch for example Paul Gilbert, this dude
always is in shape... When he starts to shred, he makes really a FEW
mistakes. Basically I am focusing on right hand picking rather than left
hand, since it's the right hand that acts erroneously during bad days -
for example I don't have that feel when I pick strings, and the picking
is uneven and I can't change the strings very quickly. I just lose the
feeling of the tension of the strings and it fucks up my picking.
Any way to deal with this once and for all?
I practice daily for at least 1h30m doing scale runs mostly over and
over and I never seem to get them the way I'd like them to be...
Botman
Hi again Botman!
It all comes down to hard work, year after year. Hours and hours each day – month after month. It´s good to practice things like these with a metronome, so your method is probably fine. But – there are a lot of other aspects of guitar playing that are important to practice. Other types of techniques except for just fast alternate picking, phrasing, dynamics, sense of melody, following the chords your play over, composition. I think your alternate picking will benefit from doing different things on the guitar. If you practice one type of exercise for to long without breaks you´ll do worse. Practice other stuff in between and then you´ll see it will work out better.
All the best,
Johan
Hey guys!
I am Jose Antonio from Ecuador, I'm a guitarist and a Prog. Metal fan (i would kill for it). Obviously I think your work has been flawless, you're the band who best represent what true Prog Metal is about. No Opeth or things like that which harm the genre, just Andromeda. But anyways, on to my question (for Johan): Are you like the Tobias Sammet for Andromeda (main composer, lyrics, etc...) If so, HOW THE HELL CAN YOU DO TO CREATE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL ART!!!!! i envy you.... ow and as a compratiot guy from Colombia say: Please come to south amerciaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! please please please please!!! C-ya guys, keep on rockin' and take care. All hail all-mighty- Prog Metal!!!
Hello Jose Antonio!
Well,… what can I say?! Feels really good to hear you say (write) that! Thanks A LOT!
It´s hard for me to describe how I come up with my stuff. Basically, for me, it´s a lot about playing around with different riffs, licks, melodies, rhythms, progressions and find out what fits together. And all those ideas originally come from the artists I´ve been listening to. Like all other musicians who write music I soak up musical impressions and spite them out again in my version – that´s it.
Like we´ve said numerous times before: we´d love to come to South America. Just get us hooked up over there… Hehe..
Take care!
Johan
Yo guys! Whats up? How's it hanging? I hope everything is going OK for you guys...
I just wanted to say that you guys have alot of suport from many fans here in Serbia... we give you guys a THUMBS UP for everything you've done for now...
Im very happy to see, and hear, alot of great bands and great music spreading all over the planet, in the last few years... and all of those people are very great musicians, including you guys, so alot of inspiration is spreading quick... METAL IS NOT FADING AWAY!!! Its importamt, at least i think it is, for people to understand this kind of art and just support all you guys... GOD, i F***ING hate those Britney-wannabes, but never mind those fags!
Johan, dude, im 18 years old, and i have 2 kind of problems related to music, of course...
1. I somehow lost the inspiration for playing... i know i have to relax, and let my thoughts and my mind free, but it just looks like i cant play any good riffs or solos or anything... everything i play is so dumb or shalow, with no emotions or any kind of creativity... but it wasnt like that earlier... what should i do man?! Its like im playing the same thing every time... its like my creativity has left me... so my question is: Did u ever have that kind of a problem? If u did what did u do to fix it? If not, what do u suggest i should do?
2. Second... the problem are lyrics! Its probably cause im too young to writte about life and phylosophy and other complex themes, but how do you relax your mind and how do you know what to writte about? How do u choose the right words... For example, your song Extension Of The Wish, i just cant figure out how did u get the idea bout writting that... so any suggestions? any advices for beginers song writting...?
I want to thank you guys for any answers u give me! U GUYS ROCK AND NEVER DOUBT IN THAT!
Just keep kicking, and all the suport u need is right behind you, dont worry :) ! THANK YOU!!!! Marko from Serbia!!!
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
Hi Marko!
The same Marko as above? ;----)
Cool to hear that there are many Andromaniacs in Serbia too! We like that…
Now, on to your questions….
1. I´d say: find some new music and get inspired and then try to use that inspiration and make something creative of it. Or go to Google video/Youtube and search for some guitar instructional video with some ace-guitarist. That always makes you fired up with panic/envy/inspiration! Also – it´s important some times not to stop playing because one is not inspired. If you keep on you may find something eventually and it will make your lowest level of playing higher. And that makes you really take off when you get inspired for real.
2. I have that problem too. Don´t know what to answer really! But – you could write abstract lyrics as well. Then you don´t have to worry as much about the topic or a “meaning” or “making sense”. Some of my lyrics are pretty abstract, it´s quite fun to write like that! If people can create abstract drawings/paintings then the same could apply to lyrics/poetry I think.
Thans a bunch for your interest and support!
Hope to see you guys in Serbia!
Bye!
Johan
Hi there i just wanted to tell you guys that you are GODS, the best band ever !!!! not just in prog but in all genders of metal and rock, your music is perfect and im starting to think that it isn´t from this planet hehe it cant be it´s just too perfect. Well my question David is : who is your main influence ? what singer or what band? and was it a big change to study music as a career or you always had that amazing talent? well thanks for your time :D bye
P.S. hey you really are the most amazing band in this earth, i know it sounds very subjective but it isn´t, it´s the truth.
Hello!
Thanks for all the compliments! I can assure you that our isn´t green or anything ;)
You asked about my main influence. I would have to say Paul Stanley of Kiss. He was my first real idol when I was 10 and I still think he sings really great. I read somewhere that he has cancelled only three shows in 34 years because of his voice. That´s amazing, they played about 250-300 shows a year in the seventies. He has an amazing output and never gives less than 100% no matter how big or small the audience might be. So his attitude and singing has inspired me a whole lot.
I was grown up listening to a lot of black music. A lot of sixties soul music and jazz, so I love those kind of voices. Basicly, singers that sound like they sing right from their hearts and is just giving it all to the music appeals to me. There are way to much crap music out there with people singing about love in a thousand ways, and they don´t even come up with the words themselves.
Studying music full time for many years was a very nice experience. Total dedication to what I love to do. I had a great time and was exposed to lots of new stuff that I otherwise would never have come in contact with. It really expanded my view of music and it led to me meeting Martin and joining Andromeda... so it´s nothing I regret.
Take care,
/David
HI Andromeda, i'm Daniel from Mexico, i like so much your music, you're one of the best bands that i hear. I gotta a question, do you have any dvd in concert or videoclips? because i've looking for your videos and i just found any videos in concerto but recorded by someone in the public, with a bad video quallity. If you have any dvd, can i send you the money and you send me the dvd?
Thanks ps. excuse my english
Hello Daniel!
No, not we don´t have a DVD yet. But very soon... in fact we are are recording it live within a few weeks so stay tuned!
Take care,
/David
Hello,
Just at the beginning, GUYS THANK YOU FOR ALL INSPIRATION! U
guys literally helped me understand some parts of music that isn't trash or
death metal! So thank you on that one. I started with Dream Theater (the
song Lie), and song by song I started liking progressive metal more and
more. my friend gave my your album " Extension of the wish" , which I can
clearly say is one of the best progressive albums I heard in the last few
years. So Andromeda, keep on kicking!
Too bad Lawrence isn't with you guys anymore. he was a very good
vocal (also listened Darkane, it doesn't matter if he sang growl or clean,
he was cool), but what happened, happened, lets move on.
Johan, dude please tell me how did u start improvising your
solos. I try it from time to time but I just can't seem to get it. riffs,
well I play some good riffs from time to time but solos are really killing
me. I try following scales but it just doesn't feel or sound right. so, how
do u improvise??? :-( what is that u do first when u grab your guitar?
I wish u plenty luck in the future, maximal inspiration, and
just enjoy playin'. don't sell out, just be what you are and kick your way
to the stars. I hope to see you one day (live gig), but until then, like I
said, best wishes, thoughts and words from Marko, Serbia.
P.S. U have all the best wishes from the band Alogia too. mine and your
friends! Cheers!
Hi Marko!
Great to hear that you´re getting off on our stuff! It sure means a lot!
Well, how do I improvise? It´s impossible to teach that.. Or at least i can´t do it. Via e-mail it really impossible. But, maybe a few tips?
Yes - learn scales and experiment and have fun with them - try to see what melodic possibilities can be ventured. Also - FUCK the scales and go outside them every now and then in your playing, go "out" and go "in" again and see what happens. You have to get obsessed and put down hours and hours of time.. and have fun! But then again there are exercises that are really useful to your technique that aren´t fun - and you have to deal with those too.
Another thing that´s important is to listen and watch other great musicians to get inspiration. Maybe copy them at first and then make something of it in your own style.
That´s about all I have to say about that, I hope it made some sense..
Thank you and good-bye for now!
Take care!
Johan
Hello guys. My name is Miguel, I'm from Guatemala. Let me say I love your
music. I haven't heard your latest
album (Chimera), but I'm dying to have it, I'm sure it is amazing, as the
others. I know some Proggresive bands, like
Symphony X, Planet X, Dream Theater, Circus Maximus, Pagan's Mind and
others, but I have to say, you are one of my
favorite bands. Congratulations... My question is: Will you come someday
to Central America??
Miguel Aguilar Rodríguez
Thank you Miguel!
Yes! We will some day come to Central America!
Until then, take care!
Muchas gracias!
Johan
Hello, once again, im Diego, from Colombia... I've been searching for your cds here in my country... but metal culture.. specially the good metal (prog) is... poor... if u can tell theres some... : ( .... so i cant find them anywhere... i dont have any qeustions... well... i do i have one.. but i 99% sure of the negative answer ill get... Have you guys.. planned.. or even thinking... about coming to.. south america... i know.. its a RELLY hard thing... but since its also hard for me to go to europe.... i dont want to live my life without seeing you guys live... so.... well... thats all.. ohh and yes.. keep the music... i love II=I just... perfect.. good compositions.. excelnt prog.. just.. amazing... i'd say the best album!! keep it up!!!
"Exitos y muchas suertes.." which means Good Luck and.. hmm.. a lot of success in everything.. in Spanish
Diego!.
Hello Diego!
Happy to hear that you like our music! I understand that it is both hard and expensive for you to travel to Europe. We would love to come to South America for some shows, but unfortunately it´s not up to us. If we would get a good tour offer then you bet we will come and play for you. Let´s hope it happens someday :)
Take care,
/David
hey guys! my name is Rafael Tueros from Dominican Republic, I have 24 years old im a doctor in medicine and im guitar player an vocal on my progressive band. ANDROMEDA is the best band never hear, i can't wait the dvd... I NEED SOME VIDEOS PLEASE...
PLEASE, and Picture course...
P.D: my english so bad!!
Hello Rafael!
I think this was our first mail from the Dominican Republic! Nice to hear from you.
We will put up some videoclips from our recent tour here on our website very soon along with some pictures. We are looking forward to doing the dvd which will be a full 90 minute set. There will also be lots of bonus material, so there is something to look forward to! Take care,
/David
My name is Tal and im from israel. i have a few questions!
but first, i love your music so much, i think that the music youre making
comes from true emotions and as a musician i can say your band is the true
meaning of good music.
but! i never found a cd of yours in israeli record stores. why is that? i
hope this problem will soon be solved, because i do not own your cd's, only
through the pc - that sucks. i only own I=II which is my personal favourite
(a tough choice due to the amazing quality aof EXTENTION and CHIMERA) and
that's because i went to europe a year ago.
is there any chance you'll be touring through israel?
another matter.
how do you, andromeda, are able to preserve your sound from album to album?
your sound is amazing and very unique btw.
consider touring in israel!
MAKE MUSIC NOT WAR
Hello Tal!
Thank you for those very kind words! About the sound... I was under the impression that we CHANGED the sound radicly from album to album, but I guess it doesn't matter so much since you can still hear that it's us playing. That's something that just happens.
If you can't find our records in the stores you can always get them online. There are several online stores that sell our albums.
/Martin
Hi, my name is Daniel, i'm from México. i know to play guitar and keyboards, but my strong is the guitar, i like so much your music. you've 3 disc now, i saw that the 3 discs has differents styles, for example extension of the wish and chimera are so similar, and II=1 is different. but all are awesome. well i would like, if you can upload chimera lyrics, because i have been searching them for all internet and i couldn't find them.
Thanks
ps: i hope one day you may come to mexico, specially at the north of the country =D
Hello Daniel!
Glad to hear that you like all three albums! I hope we can come to Mexico some day soon.
About the Chimera lyrics, the reason we don´t put them on our site is very simple. We may sound like cheap bastards to some, but if you actully BUY the album then you can find the lyrics in the booklet. So if you like the songs enough to care for the lyrics... then I think you might just qualify for taking a trip to the record store.
There is a difference between big pop acts like Britney Spears and Andromeda. We are not on a major label like Sony or Warner. We don´t get a lot of money for all the thousands of hour we put into an album and we don´t sell nearly as good as sell-out commercial bullshit bands whos hair is better than their singing. We simply do it for the true love of our music. So if you really like to continue hearing a diversity in music and not just stereotyped RnB, then I think you should support your favourite bands by paying for what you listen to. And by doing so, you show your local promotor that there is an interest in the band for coming to your country and play.
All the best,
/David
Hey Johan,
This is Agah from Iran.I've some questions and your answers will help me
alot.Do you have any special and/or regular formula(s) to use odd time
signatures?in term of writing new song,what's your very first view of the
song's structure?Do you begin in modal way or tonal one?what I got from your
musics,specially the ones from II = I,is you have combination of both.so
what's the exact way for yourself?I also wonder to know the way you begin to
create your solos with.do you use improvisations over each chord?if so,do
you following modal way or you create it in your own way?it would be more
than awsome if you give me a analyse of writing solos,in your own way.I'm a
progressive rock/metal guitar player and your answers will help me
alot.Thanx for awsome musics,
Agah
P.S. I also intrest to know your opinion about John Petrucci and Dream
Theater in general,too.
Hello Agah!
Sorry for taking such long time to answer your questions!
I can´t say that I use any specific formulas for the odd-time signatures. Well ok,
if you mean how to divide them into smaller units - yes, for example 7/8-time often becomes
4+3 and 5/8 - 3+2. But that happens quite naturally. I don´t know that´s what you mean?
About modality/tonality; yes, some riffs that I write are quite modal - they don´t change
harmonically. But when Martin adds his chords that often changes - and he´s brilliant at
coming up with cool chord-progressions! Most of my riffs are actually not modal though.
My solos begin with improvisation, which is the case with my composing in general, then
when I play some lines or a passage that I´m really pleased with, I keep it. And little
by little the solo gets written and decided. Some solos are improvised live though, to keep
myself, and maybe also the audience interested, others that I´m really pleased with
are played the same each time.
Of course I pay a lot of attention to the chords I´m soloing over, otherwise it will sound
pretty bad. Of course you can play "out" here and there but it must be done with taste,
using it as tension and then come back "in" again.
I think John Petrucci is an awesome guitarplayer. Both his rhythm and lead-playing is
excellent. But I mainly enjoy Dream Theater´s early work. I think they´ve lost a bit of
their inspiration and creativity nowadays.
Both Liquid Tension Experiment albums are great too.
Take care!
Johan
Hi, I'm Rob from the UK, I play keyboards and I was just wondering
what your practise consists of as i guess it takes more than just scales to
be THAT good, and is there any form of pattern you use when soloing or is
it all just a bit of improvising in that key until you come up with
something good.
Thanks for your time,
Rob
PS What sort of keyboards do you use, i have a Novation KS4 which is pretty good.
Hi Rob!
Don't bother with the scales, I always hated them! Try to play things that seem just a little bit too hard, play it many many times in different tempos, and you will eventually make it. Listen to your favourites and try to make them out by ear, that's a good way to get new perspective on your own stuff.
Maybe I sholdn't give too much advice about practising, since my technique mainly comes from playing insanely much piano as a child. I never really practise anymore. But what I do, for instance when it comes to the solos, is that I don't let my fingers decide what I'm going to play. I try to find interesting ideas by ear instead, and force my fingers to do it. I guess you can call nailing the ideas practise. Of course I throw in a few easy-to-play-but-flashy arpeggios sometimes, but only where it fits with the music.
I'm not a very good improviser, I plan my solos in detail. But of course some parts are born the way you describe it. Here's what I use: Korg Triton, Yamaha SY99, Kurtzweil K2000 and various softsynths.
Thanks for the kind words!
/Martin
Tjenare! Tar de på engelska:)
I pretty recently discovered Andromeda. I listen a lot to Wuthering Heights and I found your band that way. Anyway you guys kick some serious ass. Thomas. Did you have any formal education in drumming or music theory? Also, how does your practising routines look like? Im a drummer, currently injured (back problem)... so I haven't been able to play for halv a year which totally sux. Thanks Andromeda for your good work, It's like rehabilitation just listening to;) Fortsätt råkka röv! Och se till att dyka upp på en spelning i Sverige snart! :)
/Per Grundtman
Hallå och tack som fan.
I did take some drumlessons early on and learned how to read drumnotes. From then on I´ve been doing it on my own with different books and modern drummer. That is a real cool magazine with lots of great stuff in it. My practise routine is different from day to day but when I practice I tend to concentrate on one thing instead of just fooling around all over the drumkit. Hope your back will be better.
/Thomas
Hi guys,
I'm Handerson from São Paulo-Brazil, and I'm trying to be a drummer. I really have to say that I went crazy when I heard Extension of the Wish, almost one year ago, and everytime I hear it (once or twice a day) I find something more that surprises me. I have your all three albuns on MP3, 'cause I couldn't find them at the stores yet :-( Your technique is incredible and the harmony between you guys is something unbelievable! So Thomas, I never heard anybody play drums like you, you are my favorite drummer since I heard Andromeda first time and my dream is to see you playing live. I hope you come here in Brazil soon. Now, some fan questions. About your equipment: could you talk about your drumkit, speacially the snare drum and cymbals that has a unique sound (there's a chinese that you play in the begining of Going Under with the snare that is fucking great!,a picture of your drumkit in the site would be nice!), and about your favorite drummers and influences. Maybe I could play 1% that you do. Don't forget Brazil and continue making this wonderful job. Congratulations to all of you!!!!!!
Thank you for buying our record and for enyoing it. About the drums I was paying on at the extension of the wish is not the same I play on these days. Pearl master series mahogny kit 8" 10" 12" 14" 16" bassdrum 22" and a steel snare drum I´can´t remember what serie that is. Ashit load of sabian cymbal. This is what I use these days when we did extension I played on Yamaha 9000. Infuenses are million different drummers but recently I´ve been listning a lot to tool drummer Danney Carey
Thomas
hey guys, this is john from chicago illinois, usa. i just wanted to let you know
i am 37 years old and i have been studying music and bands from all over the
world for about 20 years now and thank god for the internet or i dont think i
would have dug you guys up ! man your new disc"chimera" is so god dang good i
cant believe it !!!!!! i am very particular on who i listen to and who is good
enough to be in my treasured collection of music i have. bands i have have to
meet certain criteria and my standards are set very high for who i deem worthy
of purchasing ! there are endless bands out there that are very talented
musically but they lack in there creativeness and songwriting but i am here to
tell you that you guys have topped the charts and out did yourselves on chimera
!!!!! i cant seem to take it out of my cd players wherever i am !! way to go
guys ! you made me a very happy
person
when you did your magic on chimera and i had to take the time and sit down and
write to you guys and let you know that you guys are so awsome and i love the
way you decided to write this new one ! what can i say besides i love it !!
please come to chicago in the usa sometime if you ever can !!! if people here
knew about you they would love it too and i know you guys would pack all the
concert halls we have here! and we have a lot of them here in chicago that are
really close to each other and i know you guys would really do good here with
your material ! ok sorry this was so long but i cant say enough about you guys !
thanks for your time and i will certainly keep turning other people on to you
guys and loooking for a concert date here ! thanks again, john..............p.s.
you guys also really need to be at progpower fest in atlanta georgia in the usa
for good exposure so people know
about you !!!!!
Hi John!
It´s an honour to hear you utter such words regarding our music. Thanks a lot!
We are dying to get over to you guys in North America and play some gigs. We are currently looking into the possibility of going transatlantic next year. Stay tuned to this site for updates!
All the best,
Johan
Greetings Johan,
Recently I've been trying to create my own prog song but I just seem to
be missing something... Everytime I try to come up with something, it
ends up in the trash the next day. The question is how do you write such
great songs as The Words Unspoken or Extension Of The Wish or Archangel?
Do you make progressions first and then jam on them or do you find a
riff and build other parts on it (like in Words Unspoken I presume), or
maybe you have your own way of doing a decent prog metal song?
Johan:
Hi Botman!
It´s almost impossible to teach someone how to write songs. You have to have the talent for it and you have to keep doing it many many times – trial and error. Sometimes when I listen to a song I´ve finished I can´t remember how I did it, most of the memories may be a blur… I think it´s very important to listen to a lot of music. Different styles and artists to get inspiration and ideas to rip-off… No but seriously – you have to pick up a lot of stuff from others and try to sculpture it into something original. Just like authors have to read a lot.
I write songs in different ways. The most common method for me I think is to come up with two or three main ideas, mostly riffs or chord-progressions, that fit together. Then I start adding stuff before and after. Maybe find that a particular riff, drumbeat, melody or chord-progression that I wrote three-four years ago suddenly fits like a glove. Then I´ll work on the arrangements and which parts that should be repeated and for how many times etc.
I also use the computer to great extent, making up drum-patterns, synth-lines etc. that I would never have able to come up with otherwise. Not seldomly I first write a passage for the guitar on the computer that I then have to learn on the guitar.
Like I wrote, it´s hard for me to give you any hands-on tips how to do it. Keep on trying! Trial and error! Good luck!
The second question regards soloing... whenever I try to to a smashing
solo, it backfires :) I try to improvise on progressions I came up with
and I seem to get stuck inside the same old fingering and patterns on my
guitar... how do I get around this? For me the safest way is to
improvise because I know I will be able to play what I just improvised, however
there's the same-pattern issue... I'd like to do something similar to
your soloing in extension of the wish (the song) I have a really hard
time doing it...
Johan:
I think a lot of guitarplayers, and people who play other instruments as well, feel like this too. It´s hard to break out of the idiomatic patterns of any given musical instrument. In other words – it is hard to be able to have the mind and the heart reigning over the playing – the fingers all too often take control. I feel like this very often and I try to get away from it, but it´s damn hard.
Some tips:
1. learn licks/lines/patterns from other players – check out magazines, pick them up by ear from records, from instructional videos. This way you get fresh ideas. Best of all: learn stuff NOT written for guitar – then you´ll get your fingers doing new patterns for sure!
2. Try improvising using only string-skipping. You can skip one, two, three strings etc. Makes you play fresh stuff for sure, big interval-skips.
3. Try improvising playing solely on one or two strings; this will make you play mostly horizontal which will get you out of playing those all too familiar boxes…
4. Improvise over modulating chord-progressions. This will force you to change scales in the middle of your noodling and help you find new lines.
5. Learn new scales.
6. Don´t give up.
7. Play every day.
Thirs question is from the basic ones but I just have to know... In
archangel there's an area where you sweep during the main theme. I
haven't done much sweeping, but I can play some patterns. However, your
speeds kinda kill me. How do you practice sweeps? Whenever I try to
speed up, I get a major left / right hand desynch. This makes me feel I
practice badly since I make more errors when I push the speed limit to a
bit more... Is it worth going over my limits and killing myself on those
sweeps or should I follow the same old practicing pattern, first really
slow and then constantly increasing the speed? It's difficult since
sweeps are made with a touch of feeling into it hehe. You know what I'm
talking about... it's like you're doing good sweeps all the time and
then comes the day and your hands just have a desynch and you break
everything up... Any tipes how to practice this technique?
Johan:
I think sweeping differs a lot from alternate playing, at least for me. Becasue when I play alternate picking I can play at different speeds: slow, medium, fast etc.. but with sweeping I can basically only do it at two tempos: slow and really fast. Ok, I can do it at mid-speed but it doesn´t sound very good – there´s no flow. I guess my sweeping-technique isn´t the best..
But anyway, try to get the hands synced of course, that´s number one. Number two; make the right-hand do the sweep in ONE motion, push the pick against the strings, pretty hard in the beginning to nail it, and let the pick fall from string to string – do not make separate motions – don´t lift the pick after each string.
Thank you very much
P.S.
Andromeda truly rocks, keep up the good work!
And sorry for a bit longer mail :)
Botman
Thank you for an interesting mail and for digging Andromeda!
Keep picking!
Ciao!
Johan
Hi, my name is Sergio and I'm from Guatemala, I'm a 16 years old guitarrist.
I just wanted to say that your music is amazing, and with my band we hope to
play like you. I really admire you guys, and have Extension of the Wish and
Chimera which are now on the list of my favorite albums. Since I started
playing guitar I just wanted to make music and don't like to do something
else, it's funny when my friends tell me that I will end my life on the
streets asking for money.
Hey Johan, I wanted to know if you have the tab for "The Words Unspoken",
because we want to make a cover of this incredible song. Thanks and
continue making all this amazing music, and one more thing if it could be
possible for you guys to come someday to Guatemala or any other country
in Central America it would be great!!!! thanks.
Hola Sergio!
Muchos gracias hombre! Great to hear, great!
You can find the tab for ”The Words Unspoken” on this site: go to the Multimedia section, then click on Music and voila!: there you have tabs for several songs!
It goes without saying that we´d love to come to Guatemala or any other country in Central- and South America!
Adios!
Johan
Hi Andromeda, you guys are incredible. These questions are for Johan. First,
What string gauges do you use. Based on pictures I have seen, they look very
thick. Second, what model is that black ibanez that you use so much. It looks
cool but it's not on the ibanez website, is it discontinued? Last and most
importantly, What tuning do you use. Do you stick to one tuning or do you use
many. I would really like to know the tuning for "The words unspoken"( First
song
of yours I heard and I'm trying to learn it). Thanks in advance, you're an
incredible guitarist.\m/
Hej du!
Thanks a lot for your kind words! Great to hear!
I use these gauges:
010. 013. 017, 036, 046, 056. That´s an Ibanez Roadstar II, from ´85 or something,
and yes; they don´t make that model anymore.
I mostly use this tuning: D,A,F,C,G,D
sometimes I drop the lowest string to a C.
Standard tuning and really low tunings with A-flat or B-flat as the lowest are also
tuning that I use.
On the "Extension.."-album I used that first tuning I mentioned throughout.
Thank you and good-bye!
Johan
Hello Andromeda! I come from Greece and I really really like your music! I have also a few friends who feel the same...and I wonder...are you coming here? When? WE WANT TO SEE YOU LIVE!
Cheers
Dimitris Damilos
Hello Dimitris!
Cool to hear that we´ve reached Greece. There aren´t any shows booked in your country right now, but we would like to come and play for you as soon as we get an invitation. So ask your local promoter!
Take care,
/Dave
My name is Jose Daniel and I'm from Guatemala. I must say your music is incredible, Periscope hooked me from the beginning. Chimera and Extension Of The Wish are both amazing albums. Me and a friend love your work, im currently learning to play drums. I've been playing for around 8 months, and we are hoping to play like you do. The only problem is that my drunmset is very shitty, but hey its something. Justr wanted to say thanks for the incredible music and maybe someday a live DVD could be done, I'd definitely buy it. Thanks
Hello Jose.
I'm very pleased to hear that you enjoy our albums. It's a cool thing that you started to play drums. My best advice is to play along to records you like maybe start with some ac/dc or something like that just to get in to the timekeeping. Then just move on to some more advanced stuff.
Good luck.
Thomas
Hello Andromeda, more than a question, this is a congrtualtion mail, for your great music, for one of the best Prog band i've heard. Im Diego, from Colombia, since i heard you for the first time, Extension Of The Wish... i loved you... and i've been wishing you guys come over to South America, and specially to my countrie... well... not much more to say.. keep on making great music... by the way, i love thos keybords they're just amazing better than Oleg Smirnoff from vision.. keep on making great music... ill keep buying Cds!! ty for making such a great band, c ya!
Hi Diego! Thanks for loving the music! It means a lot!
/Martin
hi guys...!!
hello guys...i'm fady...drummer of 20 years old from egypt ,really,u r one of the most beautiful bands i've ever heard......i have all your albums also...!!your guitar riffs and solos are killing...drums are really mind blowing...and all the band...bassist is superb also the keyboardist....all of u honetsly are more than amzaing...your music rocks..not only some progressive music with a lot of odd time signatures ...but also features incredible riffs and playing....!!i think that you r certainly of my favourite nowadays...some of my favourite songs are:reaching deep within-in the end-mirages-iskendrun-cage of me-archangel....and many more...i think most of ur songs are my favs..lol..!!! anyway i have a question to ur drummer thomas....hailz man...your work is more than amazing....i wanna ask you what's the model of the pedals for drums you use??or double pedals whatever??....also what did u started playing specifically...i mean the style of music...and do u like to play any latin or any other style than progressive???cuz your ideas is always fresh and great!! bye now......Andromeda Ruleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezz!!
Hello Fady.
Really glad to hear that you enjoy the band so much.
The pedals I use is an old pair of iron cobras. Since we don´t have any sponsors we can´t afford new stuff all of the time, but still those old cobras are very good but perhaps a little bit worn out.
I started playing when I was eleven yers old, at first I just sat around my basement playing along with the recordplayer. Then a few years later I started to play in a blues band, can you belive that? I never liked the music but it was a good way to learn to keep the time and feel. But when I found out that you could play cooler music like rush, led zeppelin, black sabbath aso. I formed a band with a few friends of mine and we started to challenge ourselfs with a lot of odd time playing and instrumental stuff.
The latin stuff I´m not so good at. I have never really played in a latin sitiuation. Hope everything is nice and warm in egypt, keep up the drumming and rock on.
Thomas.
Hello Andromeda:
My name is Daniel, from Ecuador. Well, I only wanna say you guys are awesome... very cool music (at the moment I´m writing this, I ´m hearing "Reaching Deep Within"). You are one of the best bands of Prog Metal....
I just have one question for Martin, do you use the Yamaha SY99 in the "Reaching Deep Within" Solo? or what keyboard do you use then?
and... do you have plans for touring in South America (it would be great you could come to Ecuador) and/or a DVD Live Show?
Greetings from The Middle of the World...
Daniel
Hello Daniel!
That sound is actually a combination of two sounds. One is a monophonic lead from the Triton, the other is a clav-ish sound from the SY99 that gives a more percussive feel. I think I turned it off on the faster parts, though.
We would love to tour South America, someday it may happen! Greetings from the arctic circle (almost)!
/Martin Hedin
Hi Andromeda
I am Soheil, a 19-year-old Drummer from Iran
I send you a mail about 2 years ago but I didn't recive any answer and I was waiting for that since I saw a mail from others ,Then I think that may be you didn't recive that...
Any way I want to congratulate you about your 3rd album,this one is a popular album and also too nice :) But I like more progressive music from you like the 2nd album ;)
I asked from you in my last mail that is there any site that has your musics tablatures in it or not, also I said that you have a lot of fans in Iran , I hope a successful year for you in 2006
We are looking forward to your next album ;)
Bye
Hello Soheil!
I´m sorry to hear that we didn´t answer your last mail. It must have gotten lost somewhere along the way! We aim to answer all questions sent to us. Great to hear about our fanbase in Iran, I had no idea!
Regarding your question. There are some Andromeda tabs floating around on the net, and I have seen in the forum that there are new ones on the way. We are gonna put a tab section on the page soon, but until then, check out the forum and I´m sure you will find some there!
Take care,
/David
Hi,
I'm a drummer from Quebec city and you probably heard about my brother who wants to invite you in montreal this summer for his festival. I really hope you'll be there cause your the best drummeur i ever seen in the metal scene and i really want to see you in front of me and watch you play ! I just want to know if you have some drum tabs cause i didn't found one yet on the internet and i want to see what it's like a drum tab for an adromeda song so let me know and maybe we'll meet on this summer in Montreal !
Alex
Hi there Alex!
Thank you for writing, and belive me when I tell you that we really want to go to Quebec.
The drum tab question is a hard one. I dont think there are any tabs of my drumming. If I had the time it would have been fun to write something down, but right now the time just isn't on my side.
I'm looking forward to see you in the summer.
/Thomas
I Andromeda , I just want to tell you the great job you made on your new
disc chimera !!! It's so Great !!!! Your are one of my favorite metal
progessive band with Dream theater .You do great job !!!! And I want to ask
you a small question .I listen and listen chimera and I want to know the
tematic of the album ?? So continue to do good job !!!! I listen your
precedent album Extenxion of the wish ans II=I so cool !!!! You are really
a Great Band of Prog Metal !!!!! And I love Prog metal It's so Great !!!!
My name is Guillaume From The Small city of Rivière-du-loup(Québec) Canada
Hi Guillaume!
Thanks for the kind words. I'm not quite sure if you refer to the music or the lyrics, but Chimera is no concept album if that's what you mean. The lyrics all have different topics, although most of the ones I wrote expresses irritation and frustration at the way the world works nowadays. But that's just because I can't get over how sick things really are in this world.
Musically the songs stand on their own. The only exception is at the very end of Blink of an Eye, where I introduce the Periscope theme again. It felt like the perfect closure, making a full circle. Also I intended to remind the listener of the beginning of the album, hopefully making him/her play it over and over again! :)
/Martin Hedin
Finally...FINALLY, a local record store got my order for extension of the wish. So i now officially have an Andromeda album. Anyways, a friend of mine, a drummer, and myself love the drum work on the album and we were just curious as to what type of exercises/moreups/techniques you use to keep yourself "sharp". Well thanks! Can't wait for the new album.
--Jeremy S. Long
Augusta, WV, USA
Hello Jeremy.
Thank you for finaly getting "extension of the wish" and I'm pleased that you are enyoing the album. Lately I haven't been practicing regulary I'm sorry to say but when I do practice it's pretty much the basic stuff, rudiments, polyrythms, ostinato playing, playing to records and so on. I don´t have a schedule I just do what feels fun at the moment. Hope you will enjoy the new album
Thomas
Hi guys!
I'm Amir 23 from Tehran - Iran
I'm a fan of Prog Rock and Prog Metal but Unfortunately our regime won't let foreign band to come and play here! and your CDs can't be found here .
Sorry i have to download your albums from file sharing programs, i have no other choice!.
Just wanted to tell you have even fans in here!
Keep the good work going !
and your new album (as i listened to the samples) is really great!
Thanx!
Hello Amir!
Nice to hear from you. We forgive you for the downloads, in your case it´s highly understandable :) Keep on spreading the word in Iran and rock on!
/Dave
hey guys,
im a 18 year old drummer from new york. i love all the music u guys put out. i have been listening to your music sinse your first album in 01. i just have a few questions i would like to ask.
1. im in a prog metal/jazz band. we got a show comeing up, are set is going to be a orginal song, dream theater's - the glass prison, the mahavishnu orchestra's - noonward race, and we are to a cover of one of your songs - morphing into nothing. now that song is kind of tricky to get down. me and my brother are trying to break it down for everyone. but im busy enough trying to get the drums down for that song. they are pretty technical lol. if u could give any pointers tabs, or anything to help i would apriciate it lol.
2. i was also curious if u had an estimate when chimera is comeing out in the U.S.A (new york). i cant wait to hear the new stuff man.
3. and my final question, are u going to be touring the U.S after the release of chimera? i would love to see u guys live. if u do tour the us please come to new york city. u got a pretty nice group of fans here. hopelly i'll see u soon.
take care,
mike.
Hi Mike!
I bet you got your hands full doing Morphing... That´s a crazy song. There are some Andromeda tabs out there, and here you can find Morphing: http://www.911tabs.com/tabs/a/andromeda/
If you record your show, please send us a Mp3 of your version of it. It would be great to hear!
On your second q... we don´t know an exact date yet. But sometimes this spring! We will keep you posted on this matter... check back for news on our page.
Third one... Don´t know yet. We would all love to come to the US for some shows though!
Take care and good luck with your practice,
/Dave
Hey guys!
I'm a 16 year old bassist in Australia and i owe you guys alot already! For
my last set of music performance exams i put together a band and played some
andromeda stuff, 100% on all of them ^^. Anyway i have two questions for
you:
1.Was it hard at first for you guys to write your lyrics in english? They've
always been a highlight of your songs for me and are somewhat better written
than alot of english bands i could mention ;) .
2.Andromeda are obviously well known for their incredible solos and
progressive leads, when are we gonna see Fabian break out into some
neoclassical shredding of his own? His basslines are already damned fun, but
it'd be awesome to see some real virtuosic stuff from him as well.
Oh, and one more thing, do you guys have notation or tablature of your songs
around? We've figured out chameleon carnival and arch angel but it's very
time consuming. If you guys have any around it'd help alot.
Ta,
Liam
Hi Liam!
Cool that you´re gonna play our stuff!
I´ll try to answer your questions...
1. I think it comes quite natural for us. We hear English all the time here in Sweden,
it´s almost like our second language. Also, most metal or even rock-bands in genral write in
English so it feels more normal. But yeah, sometimes it can be hard not use expressions or words
the wrong way, it´s difficult sometimes to be totally idiomatic in English.
2. Hehe! I don´t know actually! I wouldn´t rule it out as unlikely.
I have some tabs of our songs, but only on paper not as files I´m afraid! Maybe I will transfer
those tabs into files sometime, but it´s not one of my priorities right now, too much to do...
Take care!
Johan
Hey guys my name is Javier I´m argentinian , I ´ve been listening to your
music since 2004, and I can´t stop saying that Andromeda is one of my
favourite bands! Morphing Into Nothing is freakin amazing!! hehehe so I
wanted to know if you have the tab of this marvelous song, so I can made a
cover of it or use it for technical porposes in my guitar.....
I´m sort of "promoving" (I don´t know if it is the correct word, my English
ís quite poor, i´m doing my best) your band here, and I can´t wait to see
you live..... Hope you come some day
Cheers, Javier
Hola Javier!
Thanks for your appreciation! Please promote as much as you like! Always good...
Well, actually I only have one passage of "Morphing..." as tab. It was sent to me by a fan. I´ll put it up on the site soon.
Ciao!
Johan
Hi everyone! It's really nice that you guys take time to answer your fans'
questions. I guess you're not big enough yet. lol ^^ I said YET because you will
keep growing bigger without a doubt, you're too good. I am also spreading the
word here in Québec, Canada! ^^
My question is a little complex and maybe selfish too because all I want is to
know if any of you have been through the same things I am going through myself.
I am completing college in one term (in computer sciences, and God I hate that)
but I'm hanging on... one term only, and it's over. After that, I'm seriously
considering studying music, but there are some problems :
1. I've been playing drums for only six months now.
2. I know nothing about music theory.
3. It's hard to get a job in music (if you don't wanna become a teacher).
The pros are :
1. I love music. It's probably the most wonderful thing in the world (in my
opinion).
2. My dream is to become drummer of a great prog/metal band.
3. I cannot see what else I could do with my life...
Ok, I know it is pretty radical, but simply put, that's the situation. I see
musicianship as a job you can get only if you are lucky. Have you guys ever felt
like you could not do what you want to do in life? Was it your dream to be part
of an internationnal band or did it only "end up that way"? Thank you very much
for your time, I really appreciate it.
Hello!
You have to be prepared to work on your drum-skills for several years, practice many hours
a day to become a good drummer. I also have to remind of the sad but true fact that our learning
skills are not at all as good in the twenties as when we are younger. So you have to keep in mind
that you will have to work harder.
But sure - just try to have discipline and you will be able to achieve a lot.
To be able to live from music is hard, and you can easily become bitter if you´re not prepared to
realize that it might to work out.
Since I started listening to music seriously I´ve always wanted to play in a band, so yes it has
been a dream of mine for quite some time.
Hope that answers your question... Good luck!
Thank you and good-bye for now!
Johan
Hey Johan,
Greetings from the home of death metal. First of all Andromeda is great, and I
am huge fan of Skyfire as well. (Spectral is one of my favorite albums) Anyway,
I am looking for a new amp and I was wondering what you would suggest that I
look at. I want something that will really clean up my sound, and not break on
me. I was thinking about looking at a Peavy. Also, where do you get your
inspiration as far as writing music? I think it's all genious. And one last
question. If you had to choose, what is your favorite band, and or album?
Thanks a lot,
Charlie
P.S. Come to Tampa!!
Hi Charlie!
I´m not really that well informed about amps or equipment in general either, I don´t buy new stuff
often at all. But yeah, Peavey makes good stuff, I have one myself, a Bandit 75.
Sorry, I can´t really help you. Go to the music store and try them all out.
Inspiration? From all the great bands and artists, not many too mention... I´ve made a list of
bands that have inspired me in some other answers in this section, check that out!
It´s too hard to just pick one album. Sorry!
Thanks for you interest!
Bye!
Johan
Hey!
I'm Damla (17) from Turkey, and i won't tell you how
powerfull the music you are playing is or ask you to come again to istanbul
again, 476876 of those people who wrote you in this site tried to tell you
this and i'm sure you understood it=) but i have to ask a question to the one
who wrote the lyrics of "in the deepest of waters" (thomas?, fabian?, martin?,
david? or johan?). actually you made me asphyxiate in this lyrics and i tried
to find out the internal conflicts in you which led you to write
this lyrics.
But I know, yes I know; it's only in my mind In the depths I mirror myself,
twisted reflections It is not me, must be a wicked imaginationIn the language of
sorrow at the bottom of the sea The shape turns it's head and speaks to me
you know, yes you know, it is only in your mind, but you could express it and
took the thoughts out with this song. I'm only asking you to tell me
if you know that it is only in your mind; why do we creations want to make
everything more complex so that we can suffer with that agony within in order to
not get bored with the monotonous rhytm of this life? i'm asking it only to you
because i realized -after i listened to this song- that only you can
understand my question by creating another conflict both in my and your own
mind. So "come spread your wings around megive me air to breathe and tears to
shed, feed me lies of hope; words so bittersweet, save me from myself and the
agony within".. But you know, yes you know, it's only in your mind, and i am
also too many for my shadow on the wall.
by the way i'm sorry for my english (there can be a lot of mistakes about
grammer and spelling) =) anyway, you can think that i'm only a 17-year-old
girl trying to grow old and it is usual in this ages to say nonsense things like
that, but i'm waiting for your answer... thanks a lot for both your great
music and overwhelming lyrics.Sohbet ve eglenceyi web kamera ile senlendirin!
Burayi tiklayin!
Hej på dej Damla!
Thanks a lot for your kind words! Yes, would be great to come back to Turkey. We might do so this
spring actually!!
The lyrics for "In the Deepest of Waters" are not based on my personal experiences. It´s about
schizophrenia and the inner chaos and pain that this causes. Can´t really elaborate more on that
I´m afraid...
Take care!
Johan
Hello guys
I'm Ji-woong Jung and I live in Korea. Hows it goin buddy :)
I've listened your two albums very well, so that I cant wait your third
album.
I wonder whens it coming out.
Korean metal fans are waiting for your new album
and hoping to see you guys in Korea.
Buy the way, I'm playing keys. In a few months later, I'll get my own keys.
I guess that Martin uses triton extreme and studio, right?
why do you use this? is there any special reason?
and what shoud i buy? my band plays some piece of music like europian power
metal such as stratovarius, sonata arctica, celesty, dreamtale...some kind
like that.
I'll very glad if you answer my questions :)
Hope to see you guys in korea,
keep it goin!
Andromeda RULES!
Hello Ji-woong!
At Rock Istanbul last summer I rented the equipment you refer to. Guess you
paid a visit to the pictures section! Usually, my setup is: Triton
(original), Yamaha SY99, and softsynths (mostly in Logic). The reason I
bought the Triton is that it’s very flexible and easy to program your own
setups and sounds. I don’t have to change sounds so often in the middle of a
song, ‘cause I’ve made a setup for each song, spreading out the sounds to
different zones on both synths. Usually I’ve splitted both (four zones) but
sometimes it’s closer to eight zones. The only problem is to remember where
to play…!
I don’t really know what you should buy, I can recommend spending some time
in musicstores testing. When you’ve decided and bought one, it’s good to
check out every feature of the machine. Read the manual from start to
finish, that’s what I do! ;)
About the new album: Chimera will be out in Japan on the 21st of January
2006. We don’t have the rest of the releasedates yet, but they will follow
shortly after. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
/Martin
hey johan thanks a millllllllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn for replyin to my message. you have no idea how exited i was to actually read ur reply. God that was amazin. thanks fo rthe advice. but there is one thing wat u told which i totally dont agree. u asked me to imitate other guitarists. i surely would love to try imitating u or petrucci or romeo or sat or any other amazin guitarist for that matter. but that is not wat i want. i thought being a reputated guitarist was all about finding urself and finding ur style. cant really put it in words but u get the idea. its abt finding urself. please do give that a thought and let me know wat u have to say abt that. did u actually think that indians dont listen to prog metal. believe me metal is on the rise here and lots of guys like me worshippin bands like u.lots of my friends like ur music and ur technicality. they are crazy abt ur guitar playin. u should actually try listenin to some of the rock music we indians make.try checkin out thermalandaquarter.com.......... these guys are amazin. their songs are available for download. it aint prog but its really good. if u are interested i can update u on other sorts of indian music. thanks for ur time. really means a lot to me. i cant believe iam actually getting through and bein able to reach andromeda. keep rockin guys. cant wait for the next album. try for a worldwide release.thats it then. thanx a dozen. keep it goin ur greatest fan ramanan
Hi Ramanan!
Yes, I agree with you – it is really important to find your own style, that´s what it´s all about. I just meant that in the beginning, or even later on, it´s very benefiical to pick up stuff from other players. When you´re starting out on the guitar, or any other instrument for that matter, it´s the only way to learn how to play.
Cool to hear that prog and metal is on the rise in India!
Yes, the new album is most likely to be a world wide release. But I don´t know about India. It will probably be available there as an imported cd, but I don´t know about labels or distributors in India.
Thank you and good-bye for this time!
Johan
----------------------------------------------
HEY johan how are u doin.cant wait for chimera to be released make it as soon as possible.not enough prog stuff comin out nowadays anyways i have encountered a major barrier with my guitar practice i have been playin for three years and practicing only excersises to just make my playin faster and totally neglected theory and now i have just realised wat a blunder i have done i picked up a theory book and just goin thru the book freaked me out abt how complex each and everything is how can i remember so much. did u feel the same way when u started off wat did u do to get over this fallback please do mail back cause this is really important thanx a lot and take care
Hello!
I don´t think I ran across this ”fallback” as you say, because when I started taking lessons at the age of nine, my teacher introduced theory little by little, and so I kept building my theoretical knowledge quite slowly.
My advice is that you start really basic and take it gradually from there. That way it won´t feel that complex.
Good luck!
Johan
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