MORPHEUS
MUSIC INTERVIEW - BLUE STONE
27.03.07
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| Q:
Can you give us a bit of background as to how Blue Stone got
going? |
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Bill
Walters and I have been friends for a long time, but after
awhile, we lost track of each other. After several years,
we reconnected when I was really into the electronic music
thing and looking for someone to work with. He wasn’t
really sure about electronic music, since he’s a blues
and rock guy. As it turns out, his non-electronic background
makes things a lot more interesting. In fact, most of our
songs still start out on guitar and piano.
After we had a few instrumental tracks recorded,
we started to experiment with small vocal parts. The vocalists
that we were using were adept at different styles, so we
just kept building and building until we developed our own
sound and style. That’s when we said we needed a name.
We decided on Blue Stone and called our first release “Breathe”
– which was the first song that we recorded.
For the next release, “Worlds Apart”,
we wanted to continue experimenting with the music and the
vocals. That’s when we recruited Sheyenne Rivers.
She had just become available and was looking for something
different. She definitely brings a powerful element to our
sound. We also brought on the very talented Samantha Sandlin
and Maura Hurley to maintain the theatrical character. All
of our singers are incredibly versatile and unique.
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Q :
What was the vision for Blue Stone initially - what
sound were you after?
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We didn’t purposefully try to sound like anyone. We
wrote what we liked to listen to. If we liked something
and listened to it over and over again, then we followed
it. If we tired of something quickly, then we let it go.
For “Breathe”, we wrote about 25 tracks and
ended up throwing away ten of them. By the time we had five
or six really solid tracks, we had found our direction.
At that point, we charged forward.
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| Q :
Did you have a particular aspect of your sound that you wanted
to develop on Worlds Apart? |
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On “Worlds
Apart”, we wanted to shift our focus a little bit more
towards the vocals. There’s so much that can be done
with the human voice. And I don’t mean just catchy verse/chorus
stuff. All the layering and descants and syncopation possibilites
are endless. I’d be happy producing an “a capella”
project. That said, we didn’t want there to be too much
departure from “Breathe”. That theatrical/operatic
ingredient is a very important part of our sound. |
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Q :
How do you see Worlds Apart as different from your debut Breathe
now that it's complete? |
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It’s
really hard for Bill and I to see the difference because we’re
so close to it. But, most people are telling us that it sounds
like Blue Stone grew up for “Worlds Apart” and
that it’s a bit more sophisticated than “Breathe”.
I think there’s a double personality to “Worlds
Apart”. The songs with Sheyenne are more pop leaning.
But, the songs with Samantha and Maura are more atmospheric
and dramatic. I see this duality as one of Blue Stone’s
strengths. If you listen to the whole CD from end to end,
you’ll see that the two styles compliment each other.
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| Q :
There is some darkness about Worlds Apart that wasn't there
in Breathe, including the cover art - what led to this development? |
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Perspective
is a funny thing. Bill and I always try to write along the
dark and moody vein. We’re always telling each other
“That sounds too happy – make it sad”. But,
by the time the song is finished, people are telling us that
it sounds dark but uplifting!
It’s that contradiction that led us to the concepts
for the cover. Even when the music is at its most powerful
sections, there are still a lot of little intricate and
delicate parts intertwined within it. I think that the artwork
did a good job in capturing that strength versus frailty
coexistence.
One more thing about perspective – some people are
calling it the “sleeping angel cover” while
others are calling it the “dead fairy cover”.
Maybe it’s a glass half-full kind of thing?
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Q :
How did the singers on the new album come to be involved?
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We’re
always looking for new and distinctive voices. We also wanted
to move toward using a more vocally-oriented palette of sounds.
Sheyenne had just left her band and was looking for something
very different. She heard of us through some friends and
checked out our music. She liked the music, but she never
sang like this before. We tried her on “Waters Flow”
first. Bill and I were floored. We knew right away that
we had to work with her. We all got along so well that the
creativity really flowed. As things progressed, she became
involved in the writing process on later songs.
As we were working with Sheyenne, the music was taking
on a wonderful life of its own. But we also had other, more
theatrical tracks that needed to have their own voice.
Samantha is a wonderful singer that I met at a karaoke
contest (which she won). While talking to her, I discovered
that she had a diverse musical background. She stepped right
in and recorded “Adrift” with very little effort.
I would play the line on the piano, and she would sing it
back to me perfectly. It went like that for all of her other
songs as well.
Maura is a singer/actress that lives in New York. We met
her through some friends that recommended her. We flew her
down to Florida and recorded all of her songs in one afternoon.
It was pretty amazing to work that fast.
We’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with
such talent and professionalism.
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| Q :
What aspects of your music do you feel each singer draws out?
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I think
that the combination of singers cover a wide range of moods,
from sensual intimacy to operatic theatrics and everything
in between. Sheyenne is skillful at expressing emotion through
her singing. Samantha and Maura gave us that nice blend
of operatic and pop voicing with their own flair. The mixture
of all their talents shapes the Blue Stone sound. I’d
say that the quality and capabilities of each voice guides
the music. |
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Q :
How do you go about recording your music - what gets laid
down first, when do the singers get involved?
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Bill and I start off writing independently.
When we show each other what we’ve been working
on, we decide which songs sound decent. I take the good
songs and produce them into the full tracks. Sometimes
the songs get reworked entirely, and sometimes they only
change a little bit. If the track is strong enough to
stand on its own as an instrumental, then we work together
to add the vocals. Most of the time, we write the words
and melodies as we’re recording them. Even if we’re
actually prepared and have something written, it will
change a lot during the recording process. Overall, it’s
really interactive and fun.
There are exceptions to this process,
however. Joe Hurteau, a very good friend and lyricist,
wrote the striking words and melodies for “Worlds
Apart” and “Event Horizon”. He worked
independently on those and brought them to us.
After the vocal tracks are all recorded,
then they get produced and finished off. It’s not
always that easy, though. Event Horizon had great lyrics,
great melodies and great vocal performances. But, the
music was so horrible that Bill and I were going to scrap
it. I ended up wiping out all the music and started over
by writing new music to the vocal tracks. In the end,
we couldn’t believe it was the same song. Now, it’s
one of my favorites.
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| Q :
How involved are each of you with the artwork and in
what ways? |
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Bill,
Sheyenne, Neurodisc and I were all very involved with the
artwork. We all had the same vision about the mood it should
convey, and the concept of the sleeping/dead angel/fairy
was liked by everyone. Sheyenne offered to pose for the
photograph, which I shot. Then, we worked with an artist,
Brian Son, who did amazing things with that photograph.
Brian was able to capture exactly what we wanted. We also
included a couple of throwbacks to the “Breathe”
cover by including the blue ring on her finger and the mask.
I don’t know if other people have noticed that stuff,
but I like the continuity of it all. |
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Q :
Is the discarded mask from the previous album significant?
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The thinking behind the mask (ha ha) is
that this beautiful angel put on the mask and something
terrible happened to her. Then she cast off the mask as
her wings turned to stone and she fell to earth. She might
be sleeping or dead, but there’s a glimmer of hope
that she’ll wake up. I don’t know if that’s
just a cool idea, or if I need therapy. |
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| Q :
What was the intention behind the video and how is it
being received? |
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Gary Cole, the director, approached
us with his vision for the song “Worlds Apart”.
Once he explained it to us, we were hooked. There’s
so much more behind it than can be explained in a four-minute
video. Gary is a genius with both the technical and creative
sides of filmmaking. It was a great experience for all of
us. Once completed, we weren’t
really sure what was going to happen with the video. We
knew it was really good, but we think everything we’re
involved in is really good (just kidding). When you’re
involved in something like this, it’s really hard
to be objective about it. Anyway, Borders asked for an exclusive
deal to sell the DVD together with the CD in their stores.
That special edition includes 20 minutes of behind-the-scenes
footage and a couple of remixes. In addition to that, the
video was in the Top 5 of MVSpy.com and has gotten a lot
of positive feedback on other sites.
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Q :
Where do you see Blue Stone heading
soundwise - what are your future plans? |
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While we were recording many
of these songs, we kept thinking “Wow, that would make
a great remix”. So, we’re putting together remixed
versions of several tracks. There’s a lot of freedom
in this genre anyway, but when you do a remix, the sky’s
the limit. We’re also putting
together a live show. It’s amazing how alive the music
becomes in a performance setting with a full band. The live
show is going to have a lot of energy and dimension to it.
We’ve actually had to reign it in to not rock it out
too much. We’ll have to see how much influence these
shows have on our future releases!
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Thanks
to Robert Smith and Bluestone for allowing us that interview. |
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