Talking with . . . O.S.I.
Interviewed 3/24/2003 by Brett VanPut
Interview with vocalist/ keyboardist Kevin Moore and guitarist Jim Matheos by Paul LaPlaca
When the news that a new prog “supergroup” was forming
consisting of the monumental talents of Fate’s
Warning’s Jim Matheos, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy,
DT alumni and Chroma Key mastermind Kevin Moore and
Pain of Salvation frontman Daniel Gildenlow there was
an electric sense of anticipation for what was to
come. Early on in the project it became apparent that
Gildenlow and Moore’s writing styles weren’t going to
mesh well and it was decided to focus on Kevin’s
direction as well as utilize him as the project’s
vocalist. To be expected, most prog fans reactions
consisted of much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth.
Gildenlow is arguably one of the best vocalists out
there right now with a Mariah Carey-wide range and
incredible stylistic variety. To choose Moore over
Gildenlow as a vocalist, to some, seemed like passing
up a gourmet meal for fast food. That is until one
hears the c.d. OSI’s debut is moody and pensive, rich in dynamics and
textural soundscapes. The progressive elements are
layered and unobtrusive- impossible time signatures
and snakey guitar lines merge with undulating synth
melodies and Moore’s sonic surgery to create an
entirely unique listening experience. OSI owes as much
to Pink Floyd, Radiohead and King Crimson as it does
to Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Chroma Key.
Moore’s vocals are ethereal and haunting, a perfect
compliment to the brooding and complicated lyrics that
infuse this disc. Although seemingly limited in terms
of passion and range, Moore manages to convey a great
deal of emotion with his laid-back approach and vocal
effects treatments. Additionally and not to be
overlooked is Gordian Knot’s Sean Malone who puts in
the final touches with his tremendous bass and stick
work.
This music defies categorization and would probably be
at home as a thematic backdrop for any number of
modern films or television shows. The following
interview takes place in NYC at a hotel near Time’s
Square.
Walk me through it from the beginning, how did you
start writing back and forth?
Kevin: I was in Costa Rica and Jim was sending me MP3s
of guitar, keyboard and bass tracks and he was like
”Do whatever you want.”
Jim: And not expecting him to do whatever he wanted. (both laugh)
But pleasantly surprised?
Jim: Oh, absolutely. It was great for me. It was so
refreshing to send something out and I kind of had it
in the back of my mind that he was going to add some
nice keyboard patches over it and it came back
completely different than I had imagined it but like
you said, “pleasantly surprised” to hear my own
material come back as something new that I could
listen to objectively, it was great.
Is that something that you find within your own band
you don’t have that opportunity as the focal point, as
the main writer that you have more rigid parts that
don’t get manipulated as much?
Jim: Yeah, for whatever the reason I think we’ve just
become comfortable doing things that way, so things
get written and pretty much stay that way.
Is that a question of maturity or the fact that you’ve
played together for so long?
Kevin: Immaturity. (laughs)
Mike mentioned in his studio diaries that this was the
first time he really took direction in the studio. How
did that go?
Kevin" “Can you try this?” (folds arms and heaves a big
sigh, both laugh)
Jim: I think it was tough for him, he’s used to being
in control and doing things the way he wants but I
think to his credit he took direction and he had a
hard time with some of it but I think he’s happy with
the end result.
Kevin: Yeah, and just that fact that after he recorded
the parts I asked him if I could mess with it after
the fact and he was like, “Yeah, break it down, tear
it up.” I think he had a hard time actually having
somebody stand at the board saying, “Can you try this,
can you try that?” He wasn’t used to that. So it was
frustrating for him but he did it and I think he was
happy that he did. You know he tried different stuff
and a lot of times simpler stuff.
Jim: Definitely got him to go in places he hasn’t been
before.
It seems in terms of the three of you, for Jim and
Mike this was a really different project but for
Kevin- from Chroma Key to this isn’t that big a leap
texturally.
Kevin: I think it just seems like that because I sang on
it.
Jim: I would agree with that.
Did you feel challenged on the material, that you were
going in a different direction yourself?
Kevin: I did, I loved it, like the song “OSI”. I was
never able to work with heavy guitars on my own before
and just having Jim send me his guitar parts (was
great).
How was this different from working with Fate’s?
Kevin: Well Fate’s I knew it was, “play these parts” and
Jim wrote most of the parts and most of it was just
sound programming and once in a while a solo and
(smiles) I knew my place. And here I didn’t know my
place. (both laugh)
How did you feel about Daniel Gildenlow’s early
involvement in the project? Was it a rough transition
when you decided to not work with him?
Kevin: That was just Jim working with him, I never
really dealt with it. We didn’t work with his music or
anything, never really wrote anything for him. It was
soon after the beginning, we were still trying to
figure out who was going to be involved with the
project.
Where do you get your ideas for soundbites and how do
expect the listener to respond to things that may be
so obscure that your just getting the texture of these
words? There’s the section in “Space Dye Vest” that
carries so much emotion but it isn’t obvious where it
is from. Where do you want to take the listener with
soundbites?
Kevin: It’s the same way I do the lyrics, just like
mumbling along to the song and then deciphering what
I’m saying. I think when I’m trying to place samples
it’s sort of what fits rhythmically, because a lot of
times a spoken word sample will have a pace to it and
it will really click with the tempo of the song.
Sometimes it might be really appropriate contextually
as far as what the person is saying so that is also a
really important thing.
When you pick your soundbites, do they come to you
first or do you have a piece of music and then kind of
fit it in?
Kevin: No, I sample a bunch of stuff first that might be
good for using and then when I’m working on songs I’m
like (snaps finger) “Ah, right here, this would be a
good place.
What does OSI stand for?
Jim: Office of Strategic Influence.
There seems to be a political statement going on here.
(Both laugh)
How do you feel as artists, you have a very unique
platform to say things that don’t get said in the
media, how do you feel about that responsibility?
Jim: I’m a bit leary of it myself, I don’t like to
approach political subjects from a lyrical point of
view when I write lyrics. I think it’s a dangerous
thing because you have a lot of people who might
listen to what you are saying and take it as the truth
without really researching it on their own just
because they look up to you and that’s not a position
I want to be in really. I like people to decide for
themselves so it’s something that I stay away from but
I think the way that Kevin approached it on this
album, he’s not doing it in a preachy way I don’t
think.
Kevin: I try not to talk about politics because someone
might believe (pauses) me. (both laugh) Anytime you’re
talking, “Yeah I have an opinion, I feel it’s
important.” For this record it wasn’t like I have this
political agenda or I want to change the world or I’m
gonna change- Dream Theater fans (both laugh). I’m
realizing more and more that one of the reasons making
music is so important to me is because I have a hard
time communicating in other ways. That sounds trite
but you have something you are feeling all the time
but it’s not being communicated to anybody, you can’t
communicate it to friends because it’s not really
words or anything, it’s sort of a feeling but when I
make a Chroma Key record or something like that it
really seems like that’s what I’m feeling and people
pick up on it and they are like, “Oh, that was really
cool, what were you thinking?” (laughs) And that was
what I was thinking. So with this, after Sept. 11th
it affected everybody, it affected my family a lot, my
brother is a fireman in NYC so he was working at the
towers and I was totally apolitical before this,
politically naïve and I still am. I was like, “Whoa,
what the fuck is going on in the world?” just learning
little bits of stuff as I went along. Just watching
CNN and that general feeling that they only have one
side of it.
(At this point Jim has to leave to take care of his
hotel room but we continue on without him)
Your lyrics in gerneral are very poetic and you don’t
just come out and say the obvious. There’s always some
nuance there that is very valuable.
Kevin: I like different kinds of lyrics too, when
something is really explicit and nailing things and
when you know just exactly what they are talking about
I really like those kind of lyrics but I don’t write
like that. I don’t know why, I think it’s like what I
was saying before, when I’m writing I’m trying to
express something I can’t really express in words it’s
mostly the music, the sound of it. And that’s more
important than the lyrical content and I think you
can’t really be, it’s not really an exact science for
me because I’m not a poet.
I think some people would disagree with you,
especially compared to what else is out there.
(laughs)
A lot of people want to know if OSI is something we
are going to see live?
Kevin: We haven’t talked about it yet. We never played
the songs together at the same time except for “Set
the Controls” the cover song, Mike and I played it
together in the studio. I think for it to happen as a
live thing would be a huge production, time and
expense but everything is possible.
Is this a one off project?
Kevin: They’ve already asked for another OSI c.d. and I
enjoyed doing the first one so I’d like to do another.
How was it being back with Mike again, was that
awkward?
Kevin: It was just a week, during the middle of the
project so, nah, it wasn’t awkward I mean I hadn’t
seen him in years and years and (quickly) yeah it was
awkward. (laughs)
There’s a certain romance about that period of Dream
Theater when you were with them. To many people
Images and Words is the high water mark for
prog-metal, because of the blending of the lyrics, the
pop element is outrageous and the instrumental
performances are amazing- a lot of people want to go
back to that.
Kevin: Except for me. (laughs) I don’t agree with you.
That’s not a high-water mark for anything for me. The
thing about progressive rock, I think I enjoyed
working with OSI because I could use my progressive
roots and I’m far enough away from it to play with it
and they were very cool about letting me be irreverent
with it, like chopping it up and it was sort of “Don’t
take this too seriously.” Even the performances that
you are hearing aren’t the performances that Mike was
playing exactly. Sometimes I think that progressive
fans, they think this music is way above other forms
of music. It’s either this or Back-Street Boys or
something like that, I see it on the message boards
all the time, “What do you like, Brittany Spears?”
It’s like “Dream Theater rules!” Well, have you heard
anything else? It seems that in the eyes of prog fans
it’s such a measurable quantity, the quality of a
band’s music, the technical prowess of the players,
therefore it’s superior, don’t you sense that?
Absolutely, it’s the gunslinger attitude from the ‘80s
with guitar players. You’ve got technical chops but no
soul, there’s no communication there. However as a
soloist, I think you are one of the best synth players
out there. I thought your melodies were extremely
interesting and very fluid. Why did that style loose
it’s attraction, why don’t you express yourself in
that way anymore?
Kevin: I’m trying to think why I did it before, I guess
because that’s what it is with progressive music.
That’s how you set yourself apart from other people
or other bands, pop bands. It’s not by writing a
better song, it’s by being flashy really. Doing really
intricate, fast solos. Just as flashy as I could
possibly do, I always wrote it, there weren’t that
many times that I actually improvised maybe little
parts live. Just because that was the progressive
model and you’re supposed to do certain things and
when it comes time for your solo you’d better do
something that people are gonna like, when you play it
live people should be looking in your direction.
(laughs) But I never thought I was a great keyboard
player, you know there are tons of people better than
I am at that kind of stuff. I wasn’t into it like John
Petrucci was, I was sort following those guys’ lead. I
don’t know, it was fun but if you look at in terms of
what it does for the music or the song, it doesn’t do
much. I guess I’m more interested in the song and the
textures and the mood of the song and how is the solo
going to contribute to that? Plus it’s a different
thing, progressive metal is supposed to be exciting
and I don’t do stuff that I want to be exciting I
don’t think. I think if anything is supposed to be
exciting or adrenaline rush kind of stuff, it works
more in the Dream Theater genre. Stuff I’m doing, “Ah,
don’t play a solo there, just like get on with the
song.”
What would you like people to get from this project?
Kevin: Well the general audience is going to be a prog
audience, they are going to be the first ones to buy
it and hopefully others will as well. Just a sense of
having fun with it, progressive rock has been around
for so long and we have to stop taking it so seriously
and really have fun with it. It really is interesting
and there are so many possibilities but just from
taking it so seriously it’s going nowhere now it’s
getting flat like jazz. (laughs) Now it’s becoming a
museum piece, an artifact. I think the way to get out
of it is to stop being so reverent and just have fun
with it.
It was a real pleasure to sit down and chat with these
two fantastic musicians. Getting a feel for Kevin as a
person and his sense of humor has really given me a
deeper sense of appreciation for his music as well. As
we were riding the elevator down to the lobby I
remarked as an afterthought to him-
I really liked the video on the c.d. for “Horseshoes and
B-52’s”. It reminded me of Darren Aronofski.
Kevin: Who?
He directed “Pi” and “Requiem for a Dream”.
Kevin: Oh, I don’t like him. (slight grin) He’s pretty
progressive.
Discography:
2003... Office Of Strategic Influence (Inside Out)
Current line-up:
Kevin Moore... vocals and keyboards
Jim Matheos... guitars
Sean Malone... bass
Mike Portnoy... drums
OSI Band
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