Interview with guitarist Carl August Tidemann and keyboardist Andy Winter
Norway’s supergroup Winds brings us back to a time when musicians shred with their instruments, yet Winds also adds their own unique quality that pushes the boundaries of progressive music and over the course of one e.p. and one full length have already developed their own identity. Lars Eric Si’s (Sensa Anima, Khold, Jack In A Box) clear, experimental tones, drummer Jan Axel Blomberg’s (Mayhem, Arcturus, Kovenant) solid double bass pounding, Alex Winter’s expressive, over the top keys, and Carl August Tidemann (Arcturus) shredding solos and technical approach to guitar playing makes Winds a once in a lifetime listening experience. Here are guitarist Carl and keyboardist Andy.
Are you pleased with the new record?
Andy: Yeah, the reviews have been great so far. We’re happy with how everything turned out. When we started out we weren’t sure what to expect. It’s difficult with record number two, you always try to improve upon record number one and do something better. At the end of it all we were more pleased than we hoped to be.
Carl: We’re very happy with the new album. The mini c.d. was an introduction to the band but now you get to know what we really stand for.
You’ve proven that Winds is a serious band.
Andy: I think people had the impression that this was just a side project for all the members. It’s for sure not. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this. We’re already working on the pre-production for the third album.
Carl: We’re moving along at an incredible speed and really focused on this band because we feel it brings us something as musicians and it’s really a lot of fun to do.
What was your original vision for the band?
Andy: In the beginning it was only to create music and have an outlet for creative urges. It wasn’t about becoming rock stars. It was much more personal to try to create some good music. That’s still one of the important things with Winds.
Do you place any boundaries on your music?
Carl: We left all the boundaries behind when we went into the studio. We made what we thought was great music. It’s not about being the best progressive or the best power metal band, it’s just making the best music we can possibly make.
Why do the keyboards play such an integral role in Winds?
Alex: For the most part, Carl and I are the ones who work with the basic material to begin with. It starts with me and him. It’s only natural. I write a lot of the music on the keys so it ends up being a necessary part to the album. When you just throw in keyboards for the sake of it, it’s worthless. For us, it’s a natural integration between classical music and metal influences. I don’t use many keyboards per se, it’s only piano. Synthesizers and things like that have only a limited use in Winds. The only thing that I used on the second album, was on some parts were some pads.
The guitar playing shreds all over the place.
Carl: It’s hard for me to play a record without the guitar solos. I’m a fan of guitar solos and I grew up with Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and all the great guitar players of the eighties and nineties. I’m heavily influenced by some of them.
Alex: With guitar solos it’s a don’t be a show off mentality. We try to get above that. We’re playing tasteful music, whatever intrument it is. We play nice melodies but at the same time it can be very technical. We want to make sure we always keep the integrity.
Carl: We put a lot of time and effort into getting this right in the studio. Most of the time guitar players want the rest of the band to take a backseat so they can keep on jerking off the guitar. It’s very important that we didn’t end up with that kind of sound. The music is very atmospheric. There’s no room for me shredding all over the place. We spent a lot of time getting the solos in the right places. We cut out any solos that didn’t fit the total sound. I learned over the years that sometimes it’s better to not play a solo than to do for an ego. I’m thirty eight now so it took a few years to get to that point.
Andy: That’s a very good point, we can’t stress enough how we work with all the arrangements. The guitar solos are a very important part of our sound. All the instruments have an emotional playing style. There are many elements and that’s become our trademark. One thing that pisses me off, when we don’t get a good review- it would be all based on personal opinion. You should be able to recognize the quality of something even if you don’t like it.
Do you notice that people expect something different because of Hellhammer’s participation in Winds?
Carl: Not yet, but we may have some black metal fans buying the album who may be disappointed because it’s not what they’re expecting.
Andy: It’s important for people to understand that even though most people know Jan Axel for his black metal playing, he likes to listen to and play different styles of music. It’s important for him, as a musician, to evolve and grow into different musical stuff. He doesn’t have to play blastbeats all day long. That gets tiring after doing it for many years. It gets very boring. We’re not a black metal band or a death metal band, we’re something different. They might like it even better, I don’t know. We’re doing what we want to do. There are people who don’t like his playing in other bands, like what he’s doing with Winds. It’s more diverse, there’s jazz influences, there’s fast typical metal drumming, there’s experimental stuff, and he integrates a lot of different stuff to the music.
It would be difficult to make a line-up change.
Carl: When we were done with this record Andy told me that if anyone were ever to leave the band he would put the project to the side. It would be difficult to replace any of the members because we’re all part of the unique sound. Replacing any of the other three members would have a great impact in the total sound picture.
Andy: If you take away one member you take away such a big part of the sound. The band wouldn’t be Winds anymore. Now everybody’s very dedicated to it and wants to work with the band and keep it a priority so it looks like we’ll be around for awhile.
Discography:
2002... Reflections Of The I (The End)
2001... Of Entity And Mind (Avantgarde)
Current line-up:
Lars Eric Si... vocals
Carl August Tidemann... guitars
Andy Winter... keyboards
Jan Axel Blomberg... drums
Website:
www.winds.nu
| TTM reviews of albums by Winds: | |
| 2004 - 'The Imaginary Direction of Time' |
| 2002 - 'Reflections of the I' |
