I don't know if we have a general (Solo + Side Project) Labrie discussion
This is it, this is the one, we also talked Mullmuzzler stuff in here 
I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record...
*finds something new for Matt to talk about* 
One thing that always interested me in the whole story - well, two things:
1) the huge gap between the second Mullmuzzler record and EoP makes me wonder which was the first song written for Elements, and how did you guys "find" each other again - was it a matter of not losing contact and occasionally talking about doing another record, or was it a "omg let's do another record" somewhere a year or so before it came out.
2) During the writing for Static Impulse, how did it exactly go from "let's make it heavier with some harsher vocals in there" to "let's find someone who can do screams and growls, make it REALLY METAL"?
Bonus question: on the DT side of the forum some people were reminiscing about how Elements was was labelled as Octavarium on some illegal sharing sites to mess with people, and how people totally believed that, so I guess the question is - how does it feel like to be mistaken for Jordan Rudess
RE: Question 1 - "Slightly Out Of Reach" was the first song written for EoP. Throughout our 15 year history of working together, James and I have always remained in contact. We knew would wanted to make another album after MM2. The big gap in between MM2 and EoP was only because we were both so busy with other commitments. If memory serves me correctly, we started working on EoP in 2003. Seems like it took *forever* to get that album done! Another thing worth mentioning is that we had another full album worth of material we were going to record as a follow-up to EoP, (in 2006) but those songs eventually were shelved.
RE: Question 2 - To be honest, I actually wanted to have screaming on EoP, but the material (imo) wasn't really calling for it. It didn't really make sense. The back story is this.... Mike (Mangini) was working on the drums for Static Impulse but because of the timing and logistics involved, we had to seek another drummer for Static Impulse. Fortunately, Peter Wildoer was recommended to me through a mutual friend of ours, Teddy Möller. By that time, I had already written a significant amount of material for Static Impulse, and I knew the songs really needed some screaming and after discussing the material with Peter, I asked him if he could recommend any screamers. He was like, "Well, Bjorn Strid is a very good friend of mine. I could ask him. Or, if you're interested, I could do it!" I had no idea that Peter could do screams, AND do them well! He sent me some songs with him screaming and I was floored. I passed it along to James and he was floored as well, so it was on! That's how the whole screaming thing came about.
RE: Bonus Q - LOL I have to say, being mistaken for Jordan is much more pleasant than having to play in front of him! Our very first show of the EoP tour, Jordan came out to see us and I have NEVER been *so* nervous in my life. Talk about pressure! I wanted to go to a dark corner of the venue and crawl into the fetal position. LOL Seriously though, aside from being a monster player, Jordan is such a sweetheart and he has always been so kind to me over the years. I don't think I sound like him at all, but I consider any comparison to him a HUGE compliment!
Cheers,
Matt
Topic: James LaBrie Solo (Read 409210 times)
