DREAMSFEAR was started back in 1994, however you’ve managed to release only a couple of demos as well as one and only MCD thus far. How come…???

- Since we started the band we have been plauged by line-up problems. In fact in the seven years of DREAMSFEAR we have only ever had a full line-up for about a year. It is extremely hard to find people who are talented enough and interested to play in DREAMSFEAR over here in Ireland. This is why we have had so few releases over our quite lengthy history. We will always be determined to continue despite these setbacks though and if things go as planned we will have a full length album out this year!

“Prelude To Destiny” appears as a uniquely emotional piece. Seems like you’ve put much effort into it?

- Thank you! Yes, we did put a lot of effort in to the writing and recording process. Before we wrote most of the songs for “Prelude To Destiny” we scrapped a number of songs which we weren’t fully happy with. We started from scratch for 3 of the songs and we revived a really old song (“As Darkness Falls”) and tidied it up until we were happy with it. The recording process itself was extremely intensive, we only spent 4 days in the studio (due to financial restraints) but it was very hard work indeed. We were very happy with the CD when we left the studio so it was very much worth all the effort.

“Burning Bridges” strikes as a love song sung in a bit unusual way, being no less emotional than all the tunes off “Prelude…”. Any comments on this piece?

- Yeah, it is kind of a love song and I remember being a bit apprehensive about how people would respond to a song like this from a band like us. I mean the difference between say “Ruins” and this song, lyrically, are enormous. People seem to either really like or hate that song, but we are very proud to have dome something like this and it means people won’t be surprised when we do some different things again! I think musically it’s a pretty melancholy piece. The keys in the final minutes of the song are just great and that whole section itself is probably my favourite off of the CD.

Isn’t “Burning Bridges” lyrically based on a certain story which took place in the real life of yours?

- Well, because Cathal wrote the lyrics I can only speculate that the ideas expressed in “Burning Bridges” are based on some of his personal experiences. It’s not really something we have discussed. I read the lyrics and draw my own conclusions most of the time.

Actually, all the lyrics “Prelude…” comes with, appear as kinda sorrowful ones. Have you written ‘em in such a way on purpose?

- Yes indeed the lyrics are quite sorrowful throughout though there was no conscious effort to write them in this style. But they did need to be of this type to suit the music which is quite sorrowful too. As for why they turned out like that I think there is a sadness within us and it came out through the music and lyrics we wrote.

Off to musical canvas. “Prelude…” undoubtedly is rather excellent work when it comes to sound execution, as well as musicianship. Aren’t you the ones craving for the utter professionalism, and therefore perfection on the outcome (regarding all the aspects)?

- Again thanks for the compliments. Yeah I’d have to agree with you on that, I am a perfectionist by nature and it was very important that we did the best we could regarding songwriting and production. Obviously there are things I would change now about the CD but that is always the case. We would not have released the CD if we were not happy with it at the time.

Genius in simplicity. That’s what popped in my mind at once, when I gave the MCD you’ve made your debut, an attentive listen. Based on actually simplified structures, it nevertheless enshrouds the listener with it’s own kind of charm, the one based exactly on this simplicity. That’s what you’ve been aiming, to come up with a simple yet enrapturing kind of music, I assume?

- Well again there was no concious decision to keep it simple. We just wrote the songs as best we could at the time and that is they way they came out. We did put a lot of effort into keeping the songs flowing pretty well though, they did have to make some musical sense and I do think that we achieved this. Also it was important that the songs weren’t boring because they were quite long, some people have commented that some of them were boring but we were happy with the song arrangements at the time and felt that the songs were quite strong.

All the songs off “Prelude…” appear as quite lengthy, yet fascinating – sort of contradiction, isn’t it? What’s the secret? I mean, does it come natural?

- Absolutely! We never set out to write long songs specifically, they just turned out that way. I really love long songs so I guess it’s kind of natural that we would write long songs ourselves.

Whom are you going to replace Rob with? In fact, I was truly upset when I’ve found out he’s no more part of DREAMSFEAR… Man, he possesses undoubtedly inimitable voice perfectly fitting DREAMSFEAR; I believe this wasn’t a good kind of loss…

- We haven’t found a replacement yet. We do have someone in mind for recording purposes if we cannot find anyone. The reason we asked Rob to leave was because we required someone who was more melodic and with a wider range. Our newer music is much more melodic in certain parts than “Prelude to Destiny” and we need a singer who can cope with this. Even for some parts on “Prelude..” I feel that it would have been better with someone more melodic.

What about the artwork, or more likely it’s utter absence? Couldn’t you come up with at least a bit more excitingly designed appearance?

- Well, we had someone do us a cover but when it came to using it, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it. We had waited so long for this artwork that we figured we should just go ahead with the logo on a black background. Whilst it isn’t an amazing cover it is definitely better than putting something we were not happy with on the cover.

Rodgers + Hynes = DREAMSFEAR, huh?

- That’s the way we started out back in 1994 and that’s the way it has been for most of the 7 years of DREAMSFEAR but that is not to say that we wouldn’t accept any input from any members that we will have in the future. In fact our new drummer has definitely had input in the material which we are currently working on.

There’s kinda strange effect at 5:02 of “Burning Bridges” – when that
guitar lead seems to float from one headphone to another one… Is it simply a recording’s drawback?

- I asked the engineer if he could put some delay with a pan effect on the solo (coz I thought it would sound cool) but he misunderstood me and just panned the lead manually and without delay. Due to the time constraints we couldn’t go back and fix it but it didn’t affect things too much so we were okay with it.

What if I’d reckon your band to the genre of thrash metal? What’s your opinion on thrash, as it was and as it is? Hasn’t it stylistically already exhausted itself?

- There are most definitely elements of thrash metal in our music so I’ve no problems with people calling us that… but there are also elements of doom & power metal too, and our new music has definite progressive metal elements! Regardless of what genre people put is in we will continue to write songs they way we want to and not to fit into any categorys. As for my opinion on thrash metal I really love some of the bands from this genre. Mostly American thrash bands like METALLICA (obviously their older material!!!), FORBIDDEN, OVERKILL, TESTAMENT, SANCTUARY, FLOTSAM & JETSAM, ICED EARTH etc… I don’t really know if it has exhausted itself, straight thrash probably has but bands can bring other influences and styles into their music to keep them fresh.

Any comments on this “retro-thrash” epidemic which seemingly takes place nowadays?

- There aren’t too many bands playing thrash now that I really like. But I’ve discovered a band called PROTOTYPE, who have been around for a long time but are still playing a form of thrash, it’s kind of progressive thrash and they rule! Also the latest AGENT STEEL album is very thrashy and also quite excellent.

What is “commercialism” in your comprehension? If a certain band suddenly contrives to increase it’s sales (f.ex. up to hundred thousands copies), should we consider ‘em “wimped out”????

- At the end of it all if a band releases an album that I enjoy then it doesn’t matter too much how commercial or uncommercial it happens to be. The music is all that counts. But having said that it is rather annoying when a band you really like releases some crap album and it becomes really popular.

Have you ever heard any black metal acts? What’s your attitude to this kind of music?

- Yeah, I’ve heard a bit of black metal, the usual bands like CRADLE OF FILTH, EMPEROR, DARKTHRONE, etc. but it’s just not my thing. I’m not a big fan of the singing style and I’m not too fond of the riffing style either. It’s just not for me.

What about religious issues? What’s your attitude to christianity (or
should we say, “modern day’s slavery”)?

- I’m not a religious person at all. I’m quite agnostic. To me it takes a leap of faith to believe or disbelieve in the existence of a creator. I’ll continue to sit on the fence. As for christianity I’ve no problems with other people’s beliefs as long as they do not try to force these beliefs upon me, which is something that christianity was once very guilty of but their influence is waning so…

If you had a possibility of gaining incredible success (this question doesn’t necessarily regard the band you take part in) only by killing or torturing someone, what would you do an how would you act?

- I would say no. It is hard to predict exactly how you would act in such circumstances but I can’t really imagine killing someone.

Personally I can’t stand when someone treats animals in a brutal way; what about you?

- There is no need for it most times so it is hard to understand. Also they same can be said for humans too.

What’s your attitude to Mother Nature, generally speaking? What about those who consider it a deity to be worshipped?

- I wouldn’t consider myself a “green” by any means although I do think that we could treat the earth better than we currently do, unfortunately it is humankind who will suffer in the long run. As for people who consider it a deity I don’t have a problem with that, I don’t agree with it though, I think it is just another tool for humanity to use as we see fit.

You’re of Irish origin, right? Is there anything of importance regarding Ireland, we’re ought to know?

- Indeed, we are from Ireland. I don’t know if there is anything in particular that you should know about the country. It’s probably like most other western civilisation countries just a little less developed than most of them but that seems to be changing at the moment though we have a way to go yet before our infrastucture is up to the standards of our neighbouring countries.

It is said, not that many Irish speak in their native language. What’s the reason for that?

- That is correct. The reason for it is that for about 400 years Ireland was under the control of England and so their customs & language were forced upon us for a long period of time, this is why our native tongue is almost dead. There are only a few small regions in Ireland where it is spoken everyday.

Do you know anything regarding Russia? Any metal bands coming from the country of mine you’ve heard lately?

- I do know some general history of your massive country and also some of the current political news. As for bands from Russia I don’t think I’ve actually ever heard any – which is kind of sad. Maybe you can tell me some bands I should check out (as long as they aren’t black or death metal!).

Final words (in Irish, please!)

- My Irish has deteriorated so much since I left school so all I’ll say is: Go raibh mile maith agat – which translates as: thanks a lot
(for this interview!).

If anyone is interested in checking us out go to http://members.tripod.com/~dreamsfear or you can contact us @ dreamsfear@hotmail.com .

Best of luck with the zine Kai. Cheers!