"Celebrity" Trivia

Tuesday December 25, 2007 - 11:00pm (PST)

(Ok, it's 10:04 PM on Christmas Day, and I'm bored!)

Ok, if you're just as "rảnh" as me, and like to wonder about useless stuff, you have probably wondered what band A listens to band B and if they do, what they think about it (of course both are your favorites), if Mike Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren actually took a sauna together naked (=)) refer to Opeth's facebook page for details), blah blah blah. Well I ran into a handful of interviews that can answer some of those questions. They're quite amusing to read I have to say. All of the interviews are by French sites (the French do have interesting questions). I removed some of the questions as they are not so fun/concern things I'm not interested/etc. The first one is a "Blind test" taken by two guys from Marillion, they have to name the songs that the interviewer made them listen to... The second one is from another site where we'll see how Mike Akerfeldt rates some classic prog names...

(as the interviews were published in French, I had to POORLY translate them back to Engl.!)

BUT BEFORE YOU ENJOY THESE OR ANY INTERVIEWS, LISTEN TO STEVEN WILSON'S WORDS OF WISDOM HERE!!!!

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"Blind Test" Marillion

(artiste: Pink Floyd, album: Wish You Were Here, chanson: Wish You Were Here)

Mark Kelly (keyboard) : (after a few secs) PF’s Wish You Were Here

Steve Rothery (guitar) : Super album, super group. Ex-group at last (rires)!

(artiste: Archive, album: Noise, chanson: Noise)

Mark Kelly : (immediately) Radiohead!

-the lord : No but it’s one of their big influences. Like Pink Floyd as a whole... modern group... british... down from the trip hop scene... It’s Archive!

Steve Rothery : That’s weird! I was thinking of Pineapple Thief.

Mark Kelly : Ah that’s funny, sb told me ‘bout Archive the other day. This is the first time I listen properly to them. There’s some Radiohead in there, all the little sounds we hear.

****

(artiste: Transatlantic, album: Bridge Across Forever, chanson: Duel With The Devil)

-the lord : (seeing that they don’t recognize it after the long violin intro) You two gotta know them, their bassist is rather well-known...

Mark Kelly : Ah that wouldn’t be Transatlantic (laughs)?

-the lord : It is!

Steve Rothery : Pity Pete Trewavas isn’t here, I think he would recognize. It’s the 2^nd album, right? I don’t always listen to them that’s why, I only know their 1^st right now.

(artiste: The Gathering, album: Sleepy Buildings, chanson: Saturnine)

Steve Rothery : Mostly Autumn?

-the lord : No but I knew u were gonna say that. It’s a dutch group that I would recommend if u don’t know them yet...

Mark Kelly : It’s some kind of neo prog but I can’t put a name on it

the lord : It’s The Gathering!

Mark Kelly : Ah! J'ai un de leurs albums mais je ne crois pas que cette chanson en fasse partie. J'ai trouvé que leur musique était intéressante mais pas assez pour que je continue à fouiller dans leur discographie.

(artiste: Porcupine Tree, album: In Absentia, chanson: Trains)

Mark Kelly : It sounds good but I can’t say who it might be…

-the lord : You guys gotta know them…

Steve Rothery : (at the moment of the chorus) Oh yea it’s PT! It’s a song from their new album.

Mark Kelly : I don’t know this album. I know LS very well though and I think there are excellent songs in that one.

-the lord : In fact, what exactly is SW’s role in Marbles?

Steve Rothery : We worked with Dave Meegan and things don’t always go fast. We got a bit stuck ‘cause a tour was ready and we realized we would never finish on time working at this pace. So we decided to ask other ppl that we know to help us mix the last parts of Marbles. Dave has mixed some, as did Mike Hunter and SW with whom we worked before. He’s done two songs, one was used and the other we only used the singing part. Angelina is then the result of a fusion between Dave Meegan and Steven Wilson.

-the lord : For me, Steven Wilson is the best producer/mixer that exists. The sound in In Absentia is purely extraordinary! Do you agree?

Steve Rothery : Euuuuh, yes and no... It’s true that he looks for certain incredible sounds but most of the time I’d like to hear more warmth in his mix. It’s related to how he achieves the sound of guitars. He uses “simulateurs” instead of the real amplis which is what I don’t like personally. For me nothing is better than the sound of guitar right out of the amplis.

Mark Kelly : Yea some times u have to pay attention not to make ur music too automatic and cold. Still, he’s brilliant and got my admiration.

(artiste: King Crimson, album: Starless And Bible Black, chanson: The Great Deceiver)

Mark Kelly : (laughs) I don’t know if I would listen to this at home. Caravan?

together : (once John Wetton started to sing) King Crimson!

Steve Rothery : King Crimson has made some good stuff...

Mark Kelly : ... and bad ones (laugh).

Steve Rothery : I mostly love In The Court Of The Crimson King and Discipline. But I’m not into all that they’ve done, especially recently. It’s all about what you look for in a band. My part I don’t especially like this song, as does Mark.

Mark Kelly : I believe that it got worse as it becomes older. At the time they were impressive but now this song has nothing exceptional any more. A bit like Gentle Giant!

(artiste: Anathema, album: Eternity, chanson: Angelica)

Mark Kelly : I don’t know...

-the lord : D’u like it?

Mark Kelly : Not especially... It depends on the vocals, really.(waits for the vocals) No, I don’t see it!

-the lord : It’s Anathema!

Steve Rothery : Oh yea, of course! Musically, I find it rather interesting. Although the vocals doesn’t necessarily convince me.

(artiste: Opeth, album: Damnation, chanson: Windowpane)

-the lord : (seeing that they can’t find it) SW is very close to this group.

Steve Rothery : Opeth! I know simply as SW has told us about them. I find this extract very interesting. I’ll try to give this CD a listen.

If you can understand French, I recommend you the proper version here

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Mike Akerfeldt on...

Genesis : 7/10, really good stuff, a little pretentious. At the moment I only listen to the 69-77 period

King Crimson : 7/10, I love the more obscure stuff they’ve done, particularly the 69-74 period

Camel : 9/10, one of my fav bands although I only like the first 4 !

Pink Floyd : 10/10, I love all that they’ve done!

Dream Theater : 7/10, J’étais à fond dedans quand « Images and Words » est sorti , un bon groupe ! (I'm not sure what "être à fond" means so sb help me out here!!!!)

Yes : 7/10, they’ve made some classic albums but today? Really not!

Marillon : 2/10 , not for me , too pretentious !

Porcupine Tree : 10/10 , as for Pink Floyd , I love all that they’ve done !

(full interview available here)