Artist: Redemption
Orgin: Los Angeles (Californien), Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Sensory Records
Link: https://www.facebook.com/RedemptionBand
Bandmember:
Vocals – Ray Alder
Guitare und Keyboard – Nicolas van Dyk
Guitare – Bernie Versailles
Bass – Sean Andrews
Drums – Chris Quirarte
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Hello! First of all thank you very much for taking your time doing this interview. I am very glad to hear from you again after this long time of silence.
Redemption:
Thank you, Heike. It’s good to speak with you.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
For understandable reasons my first question is concerning Nicolas van Dyk. I just saw a picture of him on Facebook. This picture was taken during ProgPower USA, and he looked very good. So I hope and assume that he is still remaining in remission?
Redemption:
Thank you for asking. Yes, I remain in a very strictly defined remission status called “negative MRD” which means I have no detected disease using the most sensitive tests available. Still, this is by no means a guarantee – I need another five years of remission before I can breathe easily. But at this point, I’m in the best place I can be. Just dealing with the after effects of therapy, but otherwise feeling good.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Can you explain the feeling to stand on the same stage like three years earlier, playing again at this well-established festival and also filming this show again? Maybe you also saw some familiar faces in the audience?
Redemption:
We did see familiar faces. We have a very special relationship with our fans; we aren’t the biggest band in the world but because I think we write songs from the heart about subjects that tap into people’s emotions on a pretty core level, when it connects, it really resonates. Progpower is like home for us and Glenn has been critical in the growth of Redemption from the start, so it is always both a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of the festival.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
How did you choose the songs for this show? Are there some certain criteria?
Redemption:
I suppose the only real criteria is that we play material we enjoy performing, and that we hope the audience will enjoy hearing. We had two new albums to select from since the last time we played, so we wanted to showcase some of that material. Plus I was mindful of wanting to mix up the set a bit even among the older material so that this DVD/CD would have a lot of songs that weren’t on our previous one. I think we managed to strike a good balance among all of this.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
As I stated in my review of the album Live From The Pit this was a nice overview over your discography, so that also people who might not have heard of you before, get a nice impression of your work. Do you consider the songs from your 2012 show as a kind of „Best-Of“?
Redemption:
To a degree, I suppose. I think every band should play a “Best -Of” along with some songs that they think the audience wants, while showcasing new material. We tried to do this. I know there are those fans that like the song Sapphire (and I think it’s pretty darn good) but it’s hard to dedicate 15 minutes of a 70 minute set to a single song. We did Origins of Ruin because some fans really like that, even though it’s hard to pull off live – not because it’s that challenging to play but because it has a certain energy to it and can be a little on the bleak side, if you know what I mean. I do think that the set represents a lot of what our fans like about Redemption, and does have some of our best songs on it, so I do think it is a good overview for those who might not be familiar.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
You started both shows with Threads. Is there a special reason for that? Maybe this is one of your favourite songs? I have to admit that it’s definitely one of my favourite songs.
Redemption:
It’s a very good opener because it’s high energy, it’s fun to play, and it was the first song from Fullness which was our first album with Ray so it’s almost like taking people back to when they first heard us. There are other songs that could make good openers, and eventually my bandmates may get sick of starting every set with Threads, but it’s worked well for us so far so it may take something pretty special to displace it, especially because I think it’s a good tune and the crowd responds.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
May I use this opportunity to ask you if you also have some good news concerning a new album? Maybe Live From The Pit is a kind of appetizer? 😉
Redemption:
We have signed a new record contract and I am working on new material as we speak. My priority was to finish the live DVD/CD before working on the new material too much because I wanted to maintain my focus – given that I have a “day job” and a family and other things that demand some of my time, doing too much musically at the same time could result in projects that don’t have the benefit of our full time and attention, so it’s important to give each project it’s share.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
With Redemption existing for more than ten years now, there certainly are some highlights in your career. Which ones are the most remarkable for you?
Redemption:
There are many highlights, but to pick one, it would be when we were headlining in Europe for our Snowfall record and we played in Essen, Germany. We got out of the bus and a couple had driven 400 km to see us. They were waiting for autographs. They were wearing bracelets they had designed for each other which were inscribed with the lyrics to our song Black and White World, which is one of my favorites. We were playing it that evening, although the couple didn’t know that.
When the show came around, it was fantastic – there was so much energy from the audience, we drew several hundred people which was great for our first show ever in Germany, and the crowd was very enthusiastic and singing every word of every song back at us. Meanwhile the couple was in the front row, enjoying the show. I told Ray to dedicate Black and White World to them, which he did, mentioning their names. They both started crying from joy. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced – to be able to exchange that positive energy both with the crowd in general, and with those two in particular, to be able to give them something like that – it was amazing. We left the stage and Ray said “This is why we do what we do.” I couldn’t agree more.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
As there is always light and shade, and also the lyrics of Redemption are dealing with that, did you as a band also suffer setbacks? Or are there generally negative developments that have an impact on your work?
Redemption:
Life does throw the occasional curve ball at everybody and this band is no exception! One recent example: we were recording lead guitars on This Mortal Coil and the bloody studio was struck by lightning and all the power went out for two days. We seem to have more than our share of equipment issues despite having high quality gear. Somehow I always seem to get a guitar that’s tuned improperly at some point in our set (we even make fun of this in the credits on the new DVD). The DVD suffered from incompatible file formats, three lost hard drives, audio and video out of sync, etc. Yet we soldier on! 🙂
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
So that was my last question. Thank you very much once again for your time. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Time For Metal?
Redemption:
I would like to thank your readers for their continued interest and support – I hope you enjoy the DVD, and we look forward to bringing you new music next year!