Talking with . . .   Avian

Interview with vocalist Lance King
Avian is a new band filled with some of the best metal musicians in America. Their vocalist is Lance King, best known for his superior work with Balance Of Power and Pyramaze. Their guitarists are newcomer and band leader Yan Leviathan and a shredder from Lance's old band Gemini named Roger Moore. Bassist Dave Ellefson is best known for his long tenure in Megadeth. The drummer (David Small) plays in F5 with Ellefson. The keyboardist, Jonah Weingarten, is also a member of Lilitu and doubles with Lance in Pyramaze. Avian's debut, From the Depths of Time, is an excellent metal album and Lance uses his vocals in ways never before. We are always eager to talk to Lance, as he is one of the true promoters of quality metal.

How did you come to be involved with Avian?
I got a call from David Ellefson, we'd been in contact for the last couple years, and had been talking about doing a project together. This was something that started as some demos for Yan, and progressed from there.

Explain your vocal approach on this album. Why did you choose to experiment and do some new ideas?
I wanted to bring something new to a new band. Avian sounds different than any band I've done to date, though similar in some respects there's different sound on the album to other albums I've done. There are quite a few different voices that I used on this album, including the deep Viking type thing on "From the Depths of Time" and on the "where are they now" part. It's always fun doing something different, this tone really resonated in the chest and allowed me to project pretty intensely- sort of found a new voice doing it.

I understand the band was originally started by Yan, how did David get involved? Are both full time members of Avian?
These are Yan's tunes, brought to David. They banged out some rough arrangements, then sent them over to me. I put down my parts and worked on the arrangements a bit more and we brought in Jonah and Roger to ad their flavors, then I mixed the album in my studio at Nightmare. David is committed to the project as am I, we hope if takes off. Did I say that? Bad pun!

David's, of course, best known for his work with Megadeth, but with F5 and Avian we see a new side to his music- what was it like corresponding with him and having him work on the Avian debut?
Brilliant, we worked together great, we seem to have similar thoughts on a lot of things so it was nice. David is an intelligent and gracious man and is also from Minnesota originally, so it really couldn't have gone any smoother.

I see you will be recording the new album in a few months with Tommy Hansen, what can you tell me about the new music? Why did you choose Tommy to produce the next effort?
Well that was Yan's first thought, he wanted to explore that option, but as reviews have come in, we've all realized that if things are working you don't change it, or as I like to say: "Don't fix it if it isn't broke". I'll be recording, mixing and producing the next album as well. We're talking about bringing in a few faster songs, but all in all it will be an album that is basted in the same sauce so to speak though were going to try and outdo our last efforts as always.

How was the experience this year at Prog Power?
Fantastic, saw some great bands that I had never seen before, got to meet a lot of really nice people and moved a lot of the new Avian disc there. People seemed to embrace it, we received a lot of really excited feedback from the fans, and that to me is what it's all about. I also got a feel for how many Pyramaze fans there are there and that made me feel great about our new album coming in February.

How did you hook up with Jonah and Noah from Lilitu? What can you tell me about the new Pyramaze disc?
I've not actually met Noah. He was to be a live guitar option for Avian, this was later on when we realized that Roger couldn't do the prog-power show due to his father being scheduled for a very serious surgery. Jonah, is my keyboardist in Pyramaze- so we have made noise together several times. What I can tell you about the new Pyramaze album, Legend of the Bone Carver, is that it's a pretty cool tale. It's by it's very nature a concept album, because it's a story from start to finish, but that's not a bad thing, because it's done right. I personally think the album is faster, heavier, and even better than our last, however all musicians say that, the fans and the reviewers will of course determine if I'm correct on that. The one thing that you will notice, that is different is that we've added Danish guitarist Toke to the mix. Toke was our touring second guitarist last year, he and the band hit it off great, so he was invited to join as a permanent member. What this brings to the album you'll have to decide for yourself, but I think it was what was missing from our last album.

I was also blown away by Roger Moore's solos on From the Depths of Time, how is a guy this talented not more popular? What was it like working with him in Gemini?
Roger is one of those guys that just gets it, he can hear something once and rip it out like you've never heard it. Back in Gemini, we'd do "stump the guitarist" live with Rog, and have people yell out of the audience any tune, let's see if Roger knows the riff, you couldn't trip him up. Rog is a character, fun to be around rarely serious, cracking jokes all the time, so it was a good time. Roger, took a different road than I, when he left Gemini back in 1991 to join Mike Poe (ex-Apocrypha drummer) to form a new band called Arcana with another local bass virtuoso Johnny D, and a hot unknown singer not too different from the stellar voice of Kelly Sundown, they were on the right path and all the metal world would have know Roger if the band would have signed up with Shrapnel when they were offered a deal. But Poe had a bad taste in his mouth from his old deal with Shrapnel so they passed on the only deal that was on the table. They played some metal clubs in Vegas for a few years wrote I believe a couple of stellar albums with that stuff that have never seen the light of day. Now that you get me thinking, I should talk to Rog about those old albums. Roger came back to Minnesota and rejoined Gemini for a while after I had left the band to form the Kings Machine, actually I think it may have been even later when I had first joined up with Balance Of Power. He's an amazing talent that I thought needed to be heard so I invited him in on this album.

It seems that you are busier than ever, how do you keep your sanity and keep things in order? What is the secret to not losing your mind?
It's a good thing I like to keep busy or it would not be as much fun as it is. Yes, it's a really tough balancing act though with family, Nightmare (named appropriately) and the bands I play in, I work pretty much from morning until late at night, taking breaks only to eat and a few hours in the evening to spend with my kids or work out I have found something that works a whole lot better for me than drinking or toking. I kick box- seriously, beating the crap out of pads and sparing with other like minded people until you can hardly breath is a great way to release all your frustrations. I train Muay Thai (Kick boxing from Thailand) it's a killer sport that I totally love, much less boring that lifting weights or working out at the gym, it's challenging physically giving my brain a rest and a good shot of endorphins.

You're one of the most talented and underrated vocalists in metal- how do you keep challenging yourself and improving?
Thank you very much, I appreciate that- well to me it's not about me, it's all about the music, it's about the song. I'm there to make the song as good as I can. I always try to do a better job than I did on the last song I recorded, every time, better than the last album I did. I'll start recording an album and by the time I'm done, I'll go back and start working on the first five or so songs to bring them up to the level of my performance on the last few songs. That's my gift, that's my curse. The other thing is, I'm doing this because I love it, not for the glory. I'm not out there trying to make a name for myself by creating controversy, I'm not creating headlines to get press time. I'm working on the craft and promoting other great bands that I work with on Nightmare. This is real to me, I'm not acting a role, I feel a lot of performers do that in order to get a buzz I just do it, unless someone like you asks me, I don't talk about it.

The label Nightmare Records is working with even better bands these days and you have some amazing bands to promote- how do you feel about the evolution of the label?
I feel good, I've been able to bring some killer music to the fans lately, and that is what it's all about. The label will do well I believe, the market is forever changing, the last few years with the mp3 and ipod, itunes technology, this is a positive, if smaller labels learn to work with the new trends. I'm going to get on my soapbox for a minute. The thing that has hurt the industry most in the last few years and I'm talking about the entire music business, is that just about everyone has the ability to burn c.d.'s and also to download them from share sites. So I guess I would just say to the fans of metal, if you want it to survive, if you want the bands, the labels that bring you the bands, the distributors that get the stuff out there for you to buy, the entire scene to continue- you need to do one thing. Just don't share your music. Most of the people in the scene at the labels and distro's and magazines and radio the entire scene love metal and are there for it, none of us are doing it for the money. If that was the case we'd be doing something else. It's a lot of work. We're all just trying to get our stuff out there and hope to make a little on it, but if it's only a one way street it won't last for long will it? So my new saying is: "Help preserve the metal scene. Play it for a friend, but don't burn if for them!"

What's new with your life besides music? Do you feel satisfied with how your career has gone thus far?
I feel blessed beyond belief, I have so much to do that I never get it all done, and that in my opinion is success. I've got new projects that are slated, and will be worked on in the near future, Avian and Pyramaze will continue to make music. I've got a new album coming out with Shining Star in November. It's all good, as to what's new in my life other than music? My son Tomy is running for class vice president this week in his elementary school. I'm cheering him on.

Final comments?
Dude, you miss anything? Never! The reality is Brett we could talk for hours about this stuff and completely fill your magazine, but there is a lot of other cool bands that need the coverage too. So what I would say to the people reading this is: Come on over to www.Nightmare-Records.com and get a free sampler with an order of one or more c.d.'s. If you want to splurg, and buy five or more c.d.'s and I'll hook you up with free stuff- your choice of a free c.d., a free Nightmare tshirt or free shipping. It's a commercial, it's an interview, it's Lance King's Nightmare. Stay tuned my friends there's more to come.

Discography:
2005... From The Depths Of Time (Nightmare)

Current line-up:
Lance King... vocals
Yan Leviathan... guitars
David Ellefson... bass
David Small... drums
Jonah Weingarten... keyboards

Avian Band

TTM reviews of albums by Avian:
	2005 - 'From the Depths of Time'