1. Both of you are also members of AUSTERE... and the first impression I get during the listening was regarding sounding; some of the parts sounds like extended AUSTERE’s last album. May we understand GREY WATERS like a project where you can realize imaginations that can’t be realized in AUSTERE or other bands?
D: Grey Waters existed years before Austere started, but unfortunately a public release has only just surfaced, so I wouldn't really agree that Grey Waters is an extension of Austere's last album. Grey Waters does allow ourselves to follow some different avenues musically that we can't in Woods of Desolation, for example. That would be one positive aspect of this band.
Tim: As D. said, Grey Waters existed some years before Austere, with some material on the EP having been written long before Austere existed. I don't think of Grey Waters at all as a vessel to use what I don't use for Austere, and actually Austere lies dormant at the moment, with no new material having been composed since April 2008. When I write a song, I have a clear vision of how I want it to turn out, and within the first seconds of writing I know if it will be a Grey Waters song.
2. I’m really satisfied with the sound; it’s powerful, clean, but still greatly atmospheric. Did you record the release in a professional studio? When you entered the studio, were the music fully prepared or did you modify some tracks during the recording? How much time the recording took?
D: The EP was recorded with Tim Grose at his SLS studio and we are very happy with the sound with got and the ease at which we worked in that studio. We entered the studio rather prepared so there was not much deviation from the original ideas we had before entering the studio, and after roughly 5 days or so the EP was complete.
Tim: As D. said, we were very prepared when we entered the studio, having spent quite a bit of time on preproduction. Personally, I'm not at all interested in "home" or "budget" recording again. I would rather make the effort to record with professional equipment, and I'm lucky that Tim Grose, a good friend of mine for some years now, runs an excellent studio.
3. I read in your biography that past years have been complicated for GREY WATERS. You’ve composed a lot of music, but after that, you’ve re-compose the songs, re-re-composed etc. How to understand that? Did you search your right sound or your ideas went different over the years?
D: Not really. The delay was primarily caused by allowing other members into the band which prevented things from ever getting done, so as the years passed, I would continually re-work material as my writing style progressed etc whilst waiting and waiting for things to eventuate. As soon as the line-up was stripped down to just Tim and myself, the band progressed very quickly and I don't forsee this changing anytime soon.
Tim: I think it was certainly a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. D. and myself work fine together, and I don't see the need to bring anyone else into the recording lineup.
4. I saw many comparisons over the net, as well as ranging into some music genres. How would you describe your music as creators?
D: I would not be sure what to describe ourselves, I don't think I would like to have to do that. We have never intentionally tried to perform in a specific style / genre or deliberately mould our sound into something it's not going to be. Our sound is just pure natural expression.
Tim: Agreed. I don't feel the need to finely categorise the music. I just see it as a type of rock music.
5. How about the texts, is there any compact idea behind the album? Do you have any recommendation for the listeners which way to approach towards the album?
D: I believe you will get a pretty clear idea with the subject matter we deal with lyrically as soon as you read the lyrics.
Tim: Yeah, there's not really any cryptic meanings. All pretty self explanatory.
6. Vocals are very variable, most of them are clean, distorted ones are just like a background. Was that a natural step or it has ensue directly from the compositions?
Tim: Actually, on an early demo from around 2006, Grey Waters featured primarily harsh vocals. I absolutely did not think they fit the songs, and so when we approached the songs for this EP, I knew that I would sing them cleanly. It takes quite a bit more effort this way, as I had to sit down and re-write lyrics to fit the melodies I had in mind for the songs, and then work out harmonies to sing, etc. I did use some sparse harsh vocals in a couple of songs, to lift certain sections, but whether there will be any on the full length album, I don't know.
7. I think that the album will get interest not only by metal listeners; honestly, did you thought about during the recording or composing?
D: Not really, as said above our sound just naturally evolved into this style. I have no problem with non-metal listeners getting into our music, Grey Waters is not a band made for just "metal listeners" by any means.
Tim: If someone into, for example, Justin Timberlake, can get something out of our music, then I don't have any problem at all with them listening to us.
8. The most important points over the album are melodies. How big emphases are being putted on in your work? And, moreover, what can you tell about the writing process? Are you working spontaneously? Are working as a team or separately? Who is more active?
D: The songs on the EP were written by myself and arranged together with Tim. The full-length will have material written by both of us. So we will definitely be working more closely together for future songs.
Tim: When I started working with D. again in the beginning of 2009, he had a lot of material demo'd. There was no need to write new material, we just needed to sort through and find what we believed to be the strongest, or at least the furthest along, of the demos and then re-arrange them. For the full length however, 90% of the material will likely be new, having been composed by the both of us in the last year or so. So far the writing of new material has ranged from one of us bringing a couple of riffs to the other, and then turning it into a song together, to completing a song on our own before gaining the others input. I think this method is working fine.
9. Do you have any idea about the future? Are some songs for the planned full-length album already composed? Will they be different? Any plans for live shows in the future?
D: Yes, the album is roughly half composed. The album will probably be in a similar style to the EP but with more variety. After the full-length, we will aim to start performing live. Time will tell how this eventuates. Tim: I would certainly like to play live in the future, but it just depends on finding the right people to work with.
10. Thanks for the interview and we of course wish you all the best in the future. Take care.
D: Thanks for the interview. For those interested contact can be made via the following avenues:
www.myspace.com/greywatersband
[email protected]
Tim: Thanks.
