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<< Interviews this month
file under heavy / power metal
Meyvn is the the ultimate proof that it is still possible nowadays to release a debut album that does really make a difference. ‘Splintered Skies’ is an insane mixture of prog, power and thrash metal, performed on a very high level. The organisation of the Dutch ProgPower festival was very much impressed of Meyvn’s music, that they decided to add them on the bill for this year’s ProgPower fest. Lords Of Metal was also impressed by ‘Splintered Skies’ and thought it appropriate to do an interview with this promising band. Guitarist Drew Ceel did the talking…
Text: Fons
Meyvn is quite a new and unknown band, but with a debut album as ‘Splintered Skies’ it will only be a matter of time before you guys have your major break through. Maybe you can tell our readers how it all happened back in 2003.
It all started in another band, actually. I was playing in a different power metal band and the keyboard player and I began writing some new material that didn’t really fit with what the band was doing, and the band didn’t want to adapt. So he and I struck it out on our own and started working on a demo. We recruited a drummer and our singer Richard Clark from classified ads in the newspaper and I knew bassist Ken Liao from a previous band that he and I were in, so after a few months we had a full line up and after a few more months we had a completed demo! Looking back, I’m pretty surprised at how lucky we were that everything came together like it did – no one thought there was an audience for progressive metal in Austin, Texas! But we proved them wrong and started playing shows in Austin and surrounding cities. We built a name for ourselves very quickly as a high-energy must-see live show – no one else was doing anything like we were. We added guitarist Jon Simpson to the line up after we decided that we needed a fuller sound – our keyboard player had left the band by this point and having a second guitar instead of a keyboard player really added some weight to our sound. In 2005 we began working on the full-length ‘Splintered Skies’ and in 2006 we started shopping it around to different labels. At this time we parted ways with our old drummer and drummer Rebuen Posey joined the band – this is the current line up, and will be for a long time! We signed with KillZone Records that summer and released the album in the fall. We are extremely pleased with how well it has turned out and are overwhelmed at the response that it has received!
What does the name Meyvn mean?
Meyvn is a Yiddish word that means “To know” or “To understand”. Music is a language like any other, and playing/hearing it is a deeper form of communication – you can express and understand a lot more through music than with just words. We wanted a short, easy to remember name for the band, and the extra meaning behind “Meyvn” made it a great fit.
I thought I heard it all, but apparently I was wrong, for ‘Splintered Skies’ is one of the most exciting releases I’ve heard the last twelve months. Where did you guys got the idea to create such controlled chaos as performed on this album?
Thank you! We started the band on the idea that we wanted to write complex songs, with plenty of instrumental complexity and keyboards and “sung” (as opposed to screaming or growling) vocals, and that we wouldn’t compromise to try and fit in with what was popular at the time. Keep in mind that over here in the States most metal bands are “hardcore” or “metalcore” or whatever they call it right now. So for the album, we stuck to our guns and wrote exactly what we wanted to hear. We tried to balance the “controlled chaos” with some catchy parts and melodies that would draw the listener in – even we don’t want to listen to technical wankery for an entire song. And it seems to have worked! We really underestimated how much people who were not familiar with the progressive metal genre would like it. I think it just goes to show that people are always interested in something new and different.
In my review of the album I compared Meyvn as a mixture of Dream Theater, Dragonforce and The Dillinger Escape Plan added with some eighties prog metal bands such as Atheist and Watchtower. What exactly are the band’s main influences?
We have many different influences, including all of those you described! We are all into the “classic” prog metal bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Queensryche, and Fates Warning. And of course we all like the standard thrash metal bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, and Pantera. Each of us have our own influences as well – I’m into a lot of the technical stuff like Watchtower, Spiral Architect, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Necrophagist, while Jon likes a lot of modern metal like Lamb of God and Children of Bodom and guitar shredders like Paul Gilbert, Bucket, and Ron Thal. Ken and Rick are huge Iron Maiden fans and Reuben is into everything from Rush and Planet X to Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. We all listen to a very wide variety of stuff and it all influences us in different ways.
Which one of you guys was responsible for all this insanity? How do you write these complex songs?
We are all guilty as charged! Song writing usually goes like this: Jon or I will come up with some ideas, whether it’s a single guitar riff, a verse/chorus, or almost an entire song and we’ll bring it to practice, where it is built upon and refined by the rest of the guys in the band. We’ll practice the song for a while and tweak as needed. Everyone is pretty creative and everyone contributes different ideas, so the end result is an amalgamation of everyone’s individual styles, which are pretty different. The fact that everyone contributes and that everyone has such different ideas is what makes our sound unique.
The album is totally devastating. How long did the recordings take of the album? Did any of the band members had any studio experience? Was it difficult to record your songs and are you satisfied with the final result?
It took about three months to record all of the tracks for the album and another few weeks to mix and master it. Most of us have had studio experience before and I have actually had some experience recording bands, so I put on the “engineer” hat and recorded all the tracks on my home studio setup. It took a lot of time and effort because I am by no means an expert recording engineer, but by doing it ourselves we were afforded the luxury of taking our time and making sure everything sounded as good as we could get it. After everything was tracked, we took it to a professional here in town to mix and master it. We are very pleased with the outcome, it turned out better than we expected. Of course, the goal now is to do better on the next album!
‘One World’, one of the album’s absolute highlights, is a very lengthy eleven minute song. What is the song about and how important are lyrics for a band like Meyvn? Is it just a ‘must’ or do they really have a deeper meaning?
The song was inspired by a person who has severe personal problems but refuses to confront and acknowledge them, and instead blames the rest of the world for his misfortune when they should be waking up and trying to pull themselves out of their self-made predicament. The lyrics are all written by our vocalist Rick and he usually writes about personal experiences and current events. The lyrics are very important, and we really make a conscious effort to match the lyrical content and the music – in ‘One World’, for example, to me the chaotic nature of the music in the song and all the complicated technical parts represent the chaos and conflict in the person’s life that the lyrics are about. People identify with the lyrics as much as the rest of the music, so they’re definitely important in that respect. If our songs were all instrumental, it would probably sound like something was missing from our music because we always write with vocals in mind.
In my review of ‘Splintered Skies’ I wrote :”The music of Meyvn is too heavy for proggies, too hectic for power metallers and too melodic for mathcore fans”. I think you guys are great and I really hope you manage to be a successful band, but do you think there is actually a market for a band like Meyvn? Your music is not very commercial or trendy in any way…
I think there is definitely a market for us right now. We’re a bit different from a lot of the stuff out there right now, but we appeal to a lot of different groups. I think we have a lot of “crossover appeal” – we have elements of prog, power, math metal, and thrash in our sound, and we appeal to people who like any of those kinds of music. For example, a power metal fan might buy our CD for some of the faster straightforward songs but then end up enjoying some of the more progressive and technical songs as well. Most people who are into metal are pretty open minded, and I think the way we combine all the different styles will cause us to stand out from the pack.
What can you tell about the Texas’ metal scene? I only came up with Helstar as a well known name…
The Texas metal scene is alive and well, that’s for sure! There are plenty of talented bands from around here – some of the more well known bands to come out of Texas are Pantera, Helstar, Watchtower, and King’s X (I’m probably forgetting a few). But there are lots of other excellent bands that aren’t well known outside of Texas and there are plenty of people that like to come out and see shows, so it is a great place to be from. We get to play whenever we want and its always a good show! The level of talent in the other bands around here is really amazing and it keeps us on top of our game, trying to outdo everyone else!
Here in Holland, musically, we are very open minded and we are fond of prog metal bands. We even organize a festival for ‘different’ (or should I say difficult?) bands like Meyvn. It is called the Prog Power Festival, and look who’s also on the bill!!! How did you arrange this gig?
Well, we have some very, very nice supporters that recommended us to the promoter for ProgPower Europe, so the promoter contacted us and requested a promo package, which we sent him. Next thing we know, he offers us a spot on the bill! We were blown away and accepted immediately. We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of ProgPower – just look at the bands we get to play with! I’ve always wanted to visit Europe, and to be able to do it AND perform there with the band is a dream come true.
Let Meyvn PLEASE be headlining Prog Power 2008!
Hahaha, we would love to return to ProgPower in 2008! Although I’m not sure that we will be headliner status by then. But we would take any opportunity we can to come and play in Europe, or anywhere else for that matter! We are going to try very hard to return to Europe in 2008, if not for ProgPower then hopefully for another festival.
Is the Prog Power gig the only gig in Europe or are there any more gigs planned?
We are planning on doing a short European tour leading up to the festival. We haven’t confirmed any dates yet, but we hope to hit the Netherlands and surrounding countries before performing at ProgPower.
Anything else you like to say to our readers, any famous last words?
Thanks for listening and we hope to see all of you at ProgPower Europe in Baarlo (Netherlands) on October 7th, 2007!
http://www.meyvn.net
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