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Returning
with both a new line-up and their excellent new album 'Artemisia', we
catch up with the men behind the music of Sun Caged to find out more.
MM - Firstly
thanks for agreeing to take part in this interview with us.
Paul Villarreal:
It’s a pleasure.
Marcel Coenen: You are most welcome, and thank you for the
attention!
MM - Since we last talked to Marcel about his solo project there has
been an upheaval in the Sun Caged camp, can you enlighten us on this
major change in the bands line-up?
Paul Villarreal: Well, it’s easy for
fans to view the line-up that recorded the debut album as the
“canonical” Sun Caged line-up. But fans should remember that
the project has been ever evolving since its beginning. All the
changes that have happened since the first album have also been gradual,
and therefore a continuance of that evolution. So even though it
may seem like an upheaval from the outside, there has been continuity.
For example, Roel van Helden wasn’t on the first album, but if you
look at the band history, he’s now been with Sun Caged longer than
several previous members.
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Marcel
Coenen: With previous drummer Dennis Leeflang we always had
some differences, shortly after the first album was released he
parted ways with us and we found Roel Van Helden who is still in
the band. Joost van Den Broek got an offer from After
Forever to be in their band, and After Forever is a pretty big
band, so Joost could not resist this offer and went to AF.
I am still in good contact with Joost and recently I played a
gig together with him on a fair which was pretty cool.
Rene Kroon seemed to be the perfect replacement and Rene also
brings in a new style which enriches the Sun Caged sound.
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Andre
Vuurboom was not really happy with the fact that Joost was leaving, and
also with some other elements happening in the band, so he decided to
leave as well, he then started Sphere Of Souls which is a great band as
well. Finding a new singer was the hardest thing, we auditioned
over 50 singers all over the world, when we finally got an email from
Paul Villarreal, at that moment living in the USA (San Diego) and we
were very happy that he was willing to move to be our singer.
Finally Rob Van Der Loo decided to leave because he wanted to go a
different path in his career, he got asked to play for Delain in which
he appears nowadays. I guess he became a bit tired of the prog scene and
the fighting to keep Sun Caged alive. Roel Vink auditioned with
several others and he was one of the better players and a great guy so
he got the job. I never gave up as you can see and Sun Caged is
totally back on track, and I hope that this line up will be stable for a
long time!
MM - Personally I think the changes in personnel have enhanced the
overall Sun Caged sound, was that the bands impression also?
René Kroon: I agree. We have a lot of different band members with a
different background and a different taste of music, although we all do
like prog rock/metal. That’s why there are more influences audible in
our music.
Paul Villarreal: That’s a fine compliment, thanks! I
think we do also feel that way, and it’s nothing against the previous
incarnations of the band, it’s just that this is who we are now as
people, and that’s what influences the music we make. The current
members all have very different backgrounds, and that means a wide range
of ideas being brought to the table, and yet we have a good chemistry as
friends and collaborators, so it’s a good thing.
Marcel Coenen: I am happy you feel that way, and I am also happy
that most reviews are very positive too, so I know we made the right
decisions!
MM - How did each new member get involved with Marcel on this new album?
René Kroon: Marcel had a good friend “Frank Schiphorst” who
played in a band “Symmetry”. The drummer in this band was
“Martin Kuipers” who plays in the “Barstool Philosophers”.
I’m also a band member from this band. Frank told Marcel that he
knew a good singer (Leon from the barstools). He did an audition
for Sun Caged, but the music didn’t fit to his voice well and he
didn’t join Sun Caged but he recommended me (on keys), so I did an
audition and got the job!
Roel van Helden (drummer): I was the first new band member since
the debut album came out, so I also played about a dozen shows with the
debut-album line-up. I already knew Marcel a little bit because of
a gig with his other band Fifth I arranged for them. I heard
Marcel was looking for a drummer and a bass player to form a real band
for his solo-project. So I auditioned, and got the job. But
unfortunately this band didn’t really get from the ground. But
when SC’s previous drummer left the band, I got a call from Marcel if
I wanted to audition. So I did, and again got the job!
Paul Villarreal: Personally, I came to be a big fan of Marcel’s
work with Lemur Voice. So when I heard that he was doing a new
project called Sun Caged, I followed the band via the internet & the
email newsletter… and one day that newsletter said SC needed a new
singer. I started up some email dialogue with Marcel, exchanged
some samples of my work, and also recorded a version of “Hollow” for
the guys to hear. All the vibes and reactions were good, so we
went with it. The lucky thing for me is that my brother was
already living in Germany. That really made it possible for me to
make a leap to Europe.
Marcel Coenen: Roel Vink auditioned when Rob left the band, Roel
used to take a few lessons from Rob in the past and he had lessons from
Ron Baggerman who is a great bass player/Chapman stick player in The
Netherlands. Roel proved to be a hard worker and learned the songs
very quick, he also managed to play on most of the album, while he was
just in the band for a few weeks, so he is the right guy for Sun Caged.
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MM -
It’s been some four years since the debut album, why the gap
between albums?
René Kroon:
it took a long time waiting to find all new band members and we
spend a lot of time in the studio to make it sound right and we
couldn’t get in the studio every week (rebuilding the studio)
so we had to wait a long time to finish the album.
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Roel
van Helden (drummer): It takes an awful
lot of time to replace 4/5th of a band. We spend so much time
waiting for the right persons and auditioning. Then when we finally got
to the studio, we spend ¾ of a year working on the album. This seems
really long but we actually didn’t spend that much time in the studio,
it had more to do with the availability of the studio.
Paul Villarreal: Obviously the biggest reason is all the line-up
changes, and the corresponding searches for replacements each required
their own amounts of time to find the “right guy.”
The second major reason is that with all the changes, we didn’t want
to rush anything out. We took our time to develop the chemistry I
mentioned earlier. We rehearsed the whole first album as the new
line up, even played some shows when we had enough new material to
debut. In 2005 we were already playing songs like Unborn, A Fair
Trade and Dialogue live. But the more we worked together and wrote
more and more new stuff, we all agreed that the songs kept getting
better and better, and more representative of who we are now. So,
I’m very glad we did take our time. Which segues nicely into
your next question, haha.
MM - One of my personal favourites off the new
album is ‘Dialogue’, what are the bands favourites and why?
René Kroon: Bloodlines is my
favourite. I think the composition is just perfect! It’s a long
song with many different pieces in it and they fit together really well.
In the first place I didn’t really like the song that much because I
couldn’t find the right keyboard parts on it, but when I did and Paul
finished his vocal lines, I was amazingly surprised by the result of
this song!!! I really like the chorus because of the great vocal
lines Paul sings there.
Roel van Helden: Painted Eyes because it´s a relatively normal
song compared to other crazy prog-stuff. And I just think the
verse and chorus melodies of the vocals are really beautiful.
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Paul
Villarreal: Bloodlines – is my favourite because the music
really spoke to me and sparked me on to writing what I feel are
the most personal and meaningful lyrics on the album. I
also think this has some of the best playing by Marcel and Rene
(amazing solos!)
Lyre’s Harmony – another one I really like because it most
clearly illustrates the “theme” of the album. (I’m
choosing not to use the word concept there, because it’s not
really a “concept album” but there are recurring
“themes”) and the vocal arrangement at the end was one
of the most fun parts for me to write.
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Afraid
to Fly – this was very exciting for me to witness a song I brought to
the table really come to life. I wrote this song on acoustic
guitar, and always had to imagine beautiful things happening in the
instrumental section, thanks to the guys, I don’t have to imagine it
anymore ;)
Marcel Coenen: My favourites are Bloodlines, Unborn and Departing
Words, I really dig how they came out.
MM - The whole Progressive Rock genre has come a
long way over the past five years or so, especially in Europe, how does
the band see this new album fitting in with the current status of the
whole Prog scene?
René Kroon: It fits perfect I think. We
have our own sound and people will recognise our music between all other
bands. Well, at least that is what I hope for. It’s always hard do
judge your own music.
Paul Villarreal: That’s a tough question. There are SO
many bands out there now, and because of software based recording,
it’s so much easier for people to make records. This is good of
course, but it also means there are many, many bands just rehashing the
same old formulas over and over. I think the metal genre is
becoming really guilty of this.
On the other hand, there are also some major bands like Radiohead, Tool,
Porcupine Tree and others, who have really blurred the traditional lines
between “prog” and mainstream rock. This makes it possible for
bands like us to say, “sure, we’re ‘prog,’ we like to make
challenging music, but let’s not forget about the ‘songs’”.
So we try not to let the technical aspects of the music overshadow the
“listen ability”. I know that we’re not the only ones out
there with that concept in mind, but it does separate us a bit from so
many bands out there who seem to just want to say “my complicated and
fast licks are more complicated and faster than your complicated and
fast licks.” Prog is also known to be pretty snobby and elitist
at times…we try not to take ourselves too seriously. Our
rehearsal jams usually end up in the realm of free jazz, with a bit of
reggae and thrash added. ;)
MM - Are there any plans to tour extensively to promote the new album?
Paul Villarreal: Of course. We
are eager to play anywhere there are people who want to see us, and we
can afford to go
Marcel Coenen: Definitely, we will play a few shows with Adagio
later in the year in The Netherlands, we are also in contact with a band
called Awake from the UK with who we might do a little tour in the UK
later this year, and we have a gig coming up with Spock’s Beard, so
that is really great for us. We are booking a lot of shows currently and
I hope that we can hit the stage as much as possible!
MM - The whole Sun Caged sound is quite unique, how would the band as a
whole describe it to anyone not familiar with the band?
René Kroon: People
relates our music always to Dream Theater, but I think we sound really
different. So I would say: call it progressive rock with metal and
influences from anything inside and outside this genre ...
Paul Villarreal: To the untrained ear, it might just sound like
heavy metal, but take a deeper listen and you’ll hear that there’s a
lot going on harmonically, rhythmically, not to detract from the
emphasis on melody, but to enhance it. All of us are interested in
jazz to some degree, so that really influences the harmonic structures
and let’s the melodies go to places that are not so predictable.
There’s always something interesting going on…even in the seemingly
mellow spots. Vocally there’s no escaping the references to
70’s rock sound of bands like Styx and Kansas, but I’m also really
influenced by the jazz approach of Sting, as well as the blues approach
of guys like Paul Rodgers.
Marcel Coenen: Sun Caged is a band who writes music what is in
our heads, it surely can be anything, from really mellow stuff to very
heavy odd time signatures stuff. There is not a standard we
follow, all influences from each member in the band blend together and
makes the style of Sun Caged. I hate to label it, I would say:
just take a listen and decide yourself!
MM
- What short phrase best describes the band and it’s mood right now?
René Kroon: Horny
Roel Van Helden: Insane with really bad humor.
Paul Villarreal: Ready to Rock.
Marcel Coenen: Soft as satin underwear, heavy as a ton of bricks.
MM - What
do you think of the state of the current state of the progressive
rock/metal scene? Any bands in particular that you like?
René: The
current prog metal scene needs a new album from Sun Caged!!! That’s
what I think of it, hahaha!, I’m a big fan of Spock’s Beard. So
I’m really happy doing a gig with them! They have a great “swung”
(say groove) in their music.
Paul Villarreal: Well, see my previous
answer for my views of the current state…as for bands, well, I try and
keep it short (haha).
I don’t really listen to that much metal. I used to listen to a
lot more. Metal bands I still really enjoy include Pain of
Salvation, Ark, Tony Harnell, the work he’s done in recent years (Westworld,
Starbreaker, and the last TNT album) is to me, vastly superior to the
early TNT stuff he’s most known for.
Glenn Hughes latest album, Music for the Divine, is also amazing.
Prog stuff: Spock’s Beard, A.C.T, Porky Tree, Echolyn
Some favourites who probably wouldn’t be filed under “prog” in a
store, but are very progressive in my opinion: Mike Keneally, Kevin
Gilbert, Jeff Buckley.
I also think that Octavarium was one of the best Dream Theater albums in
recent years.
I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Shadrane project from
Vivien Lalu and joOp Wolters. They got Goran Edman to sing on that album
and I’m a big fan of his. (also love his work on the Karmakanic
albums)
But the vast majority of what I listen to is either not current, or not
prog/metal, so it doesn’t really belong here in answer to your
question. ;)
Marcel Coenen: I also listen a lot of different stuff, from Pop
music (Madonna, Sting, Jamiroquai, Tower Of Power, David Bowie etc) to
the most extreme metal (Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel, Meshuggah) and all in
between. Lately I am really into Porcupine Tree, Dream Evil and
Tribal Tech, but this changes like every week ;)
MM - Let’s say that you are given
a big budget to do a video clip, which song off the new album would you
choose to visualize and how do you imagine it to be?
René: Painted Eyes. It’s perfect for
a video because it’s a “short” song and easy for the ears. I have
no idea how to visualize it.
Paul Villarreal: I would love to do video for Doldrums.
There’s a lot of imagery I like if you listen to the lyrics. It
would be a mini Sea-faring epic like Master and Commander but more
melancholy.
Marcel Coenen: Doldrums would be cool since it is easy to
visualise, but it is probably too long, Unborn would be a great song
too, but also Painted Eyes would be nice since it is a more mellow song
which is easier to digest and it would have more chance to get airplay.
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MM
- What about the band members of Sun Caged, are you spending time
together in your spare time also, or is it just the music that brings
you together?
René: We do spend time together. Although it’s not that easy
‘cause we live a long distance from each other. We’re all not sane,
so that works really well in a band!
Roel van Helden: No, we spend time together going out, and mostly
it becomes quite an alcoholic event; which is great for team-building by
the way. Paul even caught me on camera while I was dancing on a
stage to Right Said Fred … they can really blackmail me with that
stuff ...
Paul Villarreal: From time to time we do get together just for
fun. But unfortunately it can’t happen all that often because we
all live relatively far apart from each other.
Marcel Coenen: Our little parties always end up with a lot of
alcohol and party moods, which is great! We really do go along
very well which is very cool.
MM - In music today, I feel it’s hard to find something that sounds
different. Something worth caring about. Something that you need
to hear. What efforts do you take to defy that?
René: Nothing special. Just write music and keep it if it sounds
and feels good. If it doesn’t, we’ll just dump that piece.
Paul Villarreal: I think
there’s really only one way to achieve what you’re talking about and
that’s to play/sing from the heart. You have to really have some
emotional content in what your doing, and have really invested some of
yourself into it. You surely won’t appeal to everyone that way,
but I think that the people you do appeal to will subconsciously connect
with what you’re communicating, and feel the sincerity.
Marcel Coenen: I think Paul could not have said it better, I feel
the exact same way!
MM - Finally are there any words of wisdom or
fortitude that you would like to share with all our readers out there?
René”s tip:
For finding the best synth sound possible: just buy every synth on the
planet. Then if it still doesn’t good, then you know you’re the
problem and that it’s not a synth issue!!!
Roel van Helden (drummer): Never eat yellow snow!
Paul Villarreal: Music is one of the greatest things humanity has
ever come up with. Sadly it’s getting lamer and lamer, more and
more of a commodity to be bought and sold for purposes of fashion and
profit … that’s not art. No matter what kind of music you
love, try and communicate to young people why you love it! Don’t
force-feed them your views, but just let them see how much you revere
and respect the mystical power that true art music possesses.
Marcel Coenen:
Sun Caged is still alive, this only because I decided to fight for it,
this means that all of you can achieve anything as long as you believe
in it and are willing to work hard. Also a BIG thanks for all our fans
and the people who kept believing in us! Also a big welcome for all the
new people getting to know us (:
MM - We'd like to thank Marcel and
the boys for taking the time out to talk to us and wish them every
success with the new album. Hopefully it won't be too long before
we see them on these shores. |