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AYREON: New Audio Interview With ARJEN LUCASSEN Posted Online

January 25, 2008

A 15-minute audio interview with AYREON mastermind Arjen Lucassen conducted earlier in the month by Vassil Varbanov of Bulgaria's Tangra Mega Rock is available for download at this location (MP3, 4 MB). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Tangra Mega Rock: How long does it take to create such an ambitious and monumental record like "01011001"?

Arjen Lucassen: It took me all in all about one and a half years — maybe half a year to gather ideas, and then a year to record them, get singers, mix it and everything.

Tangra Mega Rock: Is this the average time, or this time you managed to make it faster?

Arjen Lucassen: Well, I think I'm getting a little bit better. I've got my own studio now and... Yeah, I think I'm getting faster. The other six albums took a little bit longer.

Tangra Mega Rock: Normally the singers in a rock band have the most expressed ego, and you had 17, including yourself! You should be a great manager!

Arjen Lucassen: Ha-ha, I only had to put up with these guys for one or two days, so that's OK! It gets a lot of work to get all these singers to my studio, but once they're here — even if their egos are huge — we always have a great time.

Tangra Mega Rock: Was there any singer that you invited to take part in the album who said no?

Arjen Lucassen: Yes, always. I was very close to get Ian Gillan from DEEP PURPLE, but unfortunately in the end he couldn't make it. There've also been other singers who said no — I asked Steve Wilson of PORCUPINE TREE, but it turned out that my music is a little bit too progressive for him. He really liked it, but said, "No, sorry man, it's not my style of music."

Tangra Mega Rock: has anyone offered you to do a movie based on your music?

Arjen Lucassen: The problem is the stories are huge — they're about the big bang, how the universe came into being, how mankind was created, and the end of mankind... A production like that would cost millions, but of course for me it would be a dream come true. Who knows, Spielberg might be listening to your radio show now... ha-ha-ha!

Tangra Mega Rock: Is there any technological trick you used while recording this album that you're very proud of? Being obsessed by science fiction, you probably dig into technology, right?

Arjen Lucassen: Well, not that much. Actually that's the concept of the album — is technology good or bad? On one hand it's good, because things get faster and easier, but on the other hand technology is really fast... I mean, I don't understand what I'm doing anymore with computers - it's all so complicated! You know, back in the '70s they used to make great albums as well, so I don't really think that you need all the computers to create great music.

Read the entire interview at Tangra Mega Rock.

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