MM - Before we begin I’d like to say a huge thank you for taking this time
out to take part in this interview with us, it’s been a while since we
last spoke and the band really do seem to have come on huge leaps and
bounds over this relatively short space of time.
Richie/7th heaven: Thanks much. We have worked very hard and it’s nice
that it didn’t do unnoticed.
MM - The band has just released ‘Silver’ their new double album. What
factors helped you decide to release a double album? That’s quite an
unusual for a self-financed band to do, especially when it’s not a
greatest hits collection (although I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot
of hits from this collection of songs!).
Richie/7th heaven: Thanks... the decision to do this double cd came after
we spent over a year writing music and we felt that we had a lot of great
music... We wrote and recorded about 150 different songs and picked the
best 30 to make “Silver”.
We also wanted to open more opportunities for film/TV placement. 30 songs
are too many to download off the net, it’s easier to purchase for $10,
which leads to the last point, we wanted to give the fan a GREAT value...
and 30 songs/double CD is a GREAT value for $10.
MM - I have to say I honestly think the whole album is one of the best
melodic rock albums I’ve heard for a long time, and is definitely THE best
so far this year. How does it fell to have the new album finally out there
getting all these great reviews from around the world?
Richie/7th heaven: It feels great. When you sit and get into a songwriting
mode you’re never sure how your music will be accepted. Our approach to
“Silver” was “Let’s make a great CD that WE would LOVE to hear, play and
buy” and we think it translated well to a final product.
We are very proud of “Silver”. We wanted to a diverse CD rather than one
long song (10 songs sounding exactly the same). Hopefully more and more
people will find out about our CD and feel the same way as all the reviews
have been saying.
MM - How do you feel about the finished product? Is it everything you
hoped you would achieve with it or are there any parts that still niggle a
little bit at you when you listen to them?
Richie/7th heaven: As a producer I’ll always hear something I could make
better, but as a band member I am 100% happy with the way the CD turned
out. We all sit back and are sometimes blown away that this is OUR CD. We
hit the bulls-eye with our goals we set forth with “Silver”.
MM - One of the strongest things for me about the album was the sheer
quality of the production and packaging. Am I right in thinking you
oversaw all the production yourself? I’ve heard you can be a bit of a task
master when it comes to how you’d like the songs to sound.
Richie/7th heaven: That’s funny. Yes, I am a task master. I search and
search for the right tone/sound I’m looking for. I’ll change a tempo of a
song by a hair to make sure the right feel is there.
I’ll re-track a song if the key could be sung better. When it comes to
producing, writing and arranging a song, you have to have a distinctive
vision on how you see it sounding. Then make sure the band shines on all
the parts by capturing the best performance possible. And lastly
understand the tools to make it all come together. I probably spent over
2,500 hours on “Silver”.
MM - Going back a step to the packaging of the album. Whose idea was it to
have the whole black and white disk thing and who designed the album
cover? Both concepts are so simple but so classy and stand the product
head and shoulder above the rest on the market at the moment.
Richie/7th heaven: Well, I thought of the concept of having a black cd
with a white cd, which is how I wanted the CD’s to be, kinda a contrast in
a way, but one within itself. And Black and White mixed makes Gray or
“Silver”.
I didn’t want the CD to have any graphics or photos that would sway a
buyer on what it was. I don’t think a photo or graphic can sum up what
“Silver” is, so by making it simple, it leave a world of possibilities for
the music to shine.
MM - Other than you and Dan, the line-up of the band has changed quite
dramatically over the last few years. Is this just a natural course for
7th Heaven or do you feel this latest line-up is ‘the one’?
Did your hectic tour schedule have anything to do with the changes? Did
the former members feel they couldn’t commit the time that the band and
its music demanded of them?
Richie/7th heaven: Good questions, the new line-up is perfect for what 7th
heaven is right now. Hopefully this line-up will remain forever.
7th heaven has always been a group of talented musicians, songwriters and
performers that give 110% effort at all times. 7th heaven is VERY hard
working band. I love being in a band with these guys.
MM - How do you all find the time to do so many gigs and guest
appearances, it must put a lot of pressure on your daytime jobs? Can I
also ask who gets the job of doing all the driving? Do you have someone
else to do that or do you all take it in turns?
Richie/7th heaven: We are in promotion mode for “silver” so the more shows
the better for us right now. Some of us do this full-time, we have a great
crew of guys who travel with us to shows and help out with driving.
We are a VERY busy band and we try to conquer a lot of ground is a short
period of time. We have a game plan we set forth and then we work to
attain those goals and stay on target with them.
MM - The album contains so many different styles of rock music and often
borders on the melodic/AOR/pop-rock genres. Would you say the songs on
this album accurately represent what the band is all about, particularly
it’s versatility to its approach to the music?
Richie/7th heaven: 100% yes. This CD IS 7th heaven. It’s funny depending
on who you ask, people call it different styles.
In Europe it’s called “AOR” or “Melodic Rock”, in the USA it’s considered
“Modern Rock” or “Pop Rock”… it doesn’t matter to us what it’s called, but
as long as people like the music. One thing I can say is we feel this CD
fits a void the music business is lacking right now.
MM - With so many great songs and so many different styles showcased on
this album, can I ask which songs stand out as personal favourites of
yours and why.
Richie/7th heaven: For me it’s always changing… I like “Gravity” and
“Cellophane” and “The One”, but then there’s times I like others…. It all
depends… I love the entire CD.
MM - Listening to the album there seem to be a number of strong
influences, some of which you have openly admitted to on the website under
the directors notes section. Would you like to tell us about a few of
those influences?
Richie/7th heaven: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Incubus, Linkin Park, Michael
Jackson, Police, Duran Duran, U2, Rage.. man the list could go on and on…
we all listen to so much different music from the 70’s and 80’s to today…
There’s so much great music in the world that influenced us.
MM - One song in particular ‘Faces of Terror’ sounded very similar to some
of Alice Cooper’s newer material, particularly the vocals and the overall
composition of the song. Are you familiar with his more recent material
and would you say this is a fair comparison?
Richie/7th heaven: I have never heard any new Alice Cooper. The song came
out of the unfortunate events the USA faced on 9/11/01. I was looking for
a powerful song musically that could enhance an angry vocal.
MM - It’s often said for every band signed to a record label there’s
another 100 still looking for a deal. 7th Heaven are a band who have
become bigger than most signed bands but who have managed to achieve all
this on their own.
Do you feel with the release of this new album it might be time to start
shopping around for a deal with perhaps one of the ‘known’ indie labels,
or do you have reservations having come so far to hand it all over to
someone else to decide your fate?
Richie/7th heaven: Wow, another great question. Right now we are faced
with a lot of big record labels in the music business going out of
business. If 7th heaven was on one of those labels we might get caught up
with the fall of the label and be left in the cold.
We don’t want that to happen, we want to write, play and keep this show on
the road. Stopping this 7th heaven train is something we are not
interested in doing.
If we knew we had a great company behind us helping us enhance what we are
already doing, then we would love to talk to them, however we are not
actively searching for it. We have thought about working with a European
label because we are not there to work it. We’d like to tour Europe, but
need help doing so. We are also looking to possibly partner our record
label (NTD Records) with a distributor.
MM - One of the many highlights that stand out from album are the strong
harmonies and the way the various band members voices blend and compliment
each other and the songs so well.
When writing the lyrics and the music to the songs do you all think about
the effect this can have on the finished song and also the importance to
have a few big ‘sing-along’ chorus’s for the fans to join in with?
Richie/7th heaven: Yes, we’ll re-work a vocal line or rhythm or melody in
a way that it sings well. We layer a lot of vocals and like to have a lot
of our choruses be a sing-along. We usually like the peak of the song to
be the chorus. A few of us have education in musical theory, which helps
in arranging harmonies.
MM - I know a lot of bands have mixed feelings about the internet and how
it can help or hurt bands today. How do you feel about it overall and also
what do you think of the ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ download sites out there
and do you use any of them?
Richie/7th heaven: Well, the internet is the BEST thing that could have
ever helped us. We are now very accessible to our fans. If you have been
to our website it is MASSIVE. We have news, our live dates, photos, bios,
custom video games, message board, a college section, store, videos, a
street team section, links, contact info, a press section for people like
you to grab photos, bios, and all related 7th heaven stuff.
We are also in the works to have a the website change based on the
different countries, for example if your from Germany and log onto
www.7thheavenband.com, you can find a flag of your country which if you
click, it will take you to a page in German. Since we have gained a lot of
worldwide success so far, we are going to make sure fans from around the
world can reach us.
MM - There was talk some time ago of the possibility of a 7th Heaven DVD
release. Has this been shelved for the time being or is it still in the
pipeline?
Being based outside the States I for one would love to see the band
release a live DVD of one of their shows, although it might make it even
harder knowing I can’t make it to any of the many shows you do over there.
Richie/7th heaven: We are working on a DVD to come out possibly around
Christmas time… it will all depend on our schedule and if we can get all
the video shoots in, in time to have it done. We just started the
pre-production of our “Gravity” video. So a 7th heaven “Silver” DVD is
coming, just not sure when yet. Check website for updates.
MM - Is there any chance of the band coming over to Europe and in
particular the UK to do a few shows for all your fans over here?
Richie/7th heaven: We want to come there; we are waiting for the right
opportunity to do so. We would like to get some radio play there before we
arrive so there’s an audience to play for when we arrive.
MM - Lastly, is there anything you’d like to share with all your many fans
out there before we sign off?
Richie/7th heaven: Thank you so much for taking the time to find out what
7th heaven is all about. We love meeting new people and playing live.
We love to hear from new fans and friends. Tell us where we should play;
tell us what radio stations we should send our CD to. What festival we
should be at. Then join our “Street Team” and get even more involved. 7th
heaven is a band that welcomes everyone into our circle of friends.
MM - I’d just like to close by again saying thank you for speaking to our
readers and to sincerely wish you all the very best of luck with the new
album and all the albums to come in the future. Hopefully we’ll catch up
with you face to face in the not too distant future.
Richie/7th heaven: Yes, hopefully soon… with the help of people like you,
our music will reach more and more people, which is our main goal. Thanks
for everything.
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