– Hello! Lots of thanks for taking your time to answer to our interview. How is everything going right now into the HIGH SPIRITS’ camp with the release of your upcoming album?
Chris:  Hello!  It’s a bit busy right now yeah, we have the album release coming up fast, and we are also looking forward to two different tours right now.

 

– When you started with HIGH SPIRITS you were already involved in several other musical projects so, what motivated you to form this band in first place?
Chris:  Well, I realized that I had something to say that maybe was not a good fit for my other projects, so I decided to create a new “container” for these new ideas.  And that container was soon given the name High Spirits!

 
– Your new album is entitled «Motivator», a quite straight forward album title, and quite a lot into the band’s style. Did you want an album title that could have some impact and also to represent the vibe your music provides?
Chris:  Yeah, exactly!  It also gave me a good “boundary” for the songwriting.

 
– And talking about such, what do you want to convey with your music?
Chris:  It’s that sensation of taking off into the air.  The “rush” you feel, like when you’re driving fast at night, it’s a lot like listening to your favorite rock and roll albums, right?  We want to exhilarate you!

 

high spirits
– When and how did this new «Motivator» started to get shaped? Since I read you got a lot of ideas soon after releasing your previous «You Are Here».
Chris:  That is correct.  “You are Here” was released in April of 2014, and I had some new inspiration already during the next month.  Actually the song “Thank You” was even older.  We recorded one version of it for “You Are Here”, but it did not fit the atmosphere, so we saved it for the next record.

 
– In fact there’s one song, «This is the Night», that was included on the 2015 compilation «Official Bootleg». Is this song from the same era as the rest though?
Chris:  I wrote “This is the Night”, “Reach For the Glory”, and “Take Me Home” in May of 2014.  As I said, “Thank You” was even older than these.  The others were written in early 2015, before the recordings began in April of that year.

 

– As with your previous albums the cover for «Motivator» is quite 80’s looking. How did you get the idea for this one?
Chris:  It just appeared in my imagination one day!  The title, the album cover, everything, I held onto this concept for a long time without changing my mind at all.

 
– You always come up with the idea for your covers, but who crafted this one?
Chris:  It was painted by Alexander von Weiding, who has done many great artworks and layout for High Roller.  He really captured my idea 1000%!  I have a lot of confidence for this album because I know people will see that album cover right before listening to it.  If you are not already “in the mood” to listen, I think you only need to gaze at the album cover for a few seconds, and you will change your mind!

 
– About the recording and production process, how was it this time around? Did it also take place between different studios?
Chris:  Yes, I recorded the drums and vocals in my home studio.  The guitars were recorded by Morgan Demling, who was the drummer of Züül.  Morgan also has his own studio, but unlike me, he also builds custom guitar amps.  Then the album was mixed by Matt Crooks, who also did the mix for “Another Night” as well as producing several albums from Pharaoh.

 

– Once more what you are delivering here is a quite traditional Heavy Metal but as always, with your own personal touch. How easy is to add a fresh element to a classical style and not getting stagnant? Most bands attempting in doing so end to fail going too much into one or another direction.
Chris:  It is easy to be “trying too hard” instead of letting things happen naturally.  I put way too much pressure on myself making “You Are Here”, and it was not healthy at all!  So with this album, I took some good advice: slow down, let things breathe a little more.

 
– You also seem quite inspired by the British scene rather than the US. What could you say have been some of the most significant influences for this album? What were you listening to while creating it?
Chris:  For myself, I didn’t listen to a lot of music during 2015.  I was on tour a lot and also working on the album, so my ears were always sore and tired.  I guess I mostly listened to whatever my kids were listening too.  Luckily they have good taste!  Lots of English bands!

 
– You are somehow following the path marked on «You are Here» in the sense it is a quite lively album rather than being as raw as «Another Night» was. Was this the specific sound and feel you had in mind for this album?
Chris:  I’m not sure I agree, but for “You Are Here”, I wanted to capture the harder sound we have as a live band.  What I failed to realize at the time was that the songs were of the more melancholy and atmospheric style such as we did on the “2013” EP.  I think you can maybe hear that tension.  Again, trying too hard, instead of letting the songs dictate absolutely everything.

 
– Sogwriting has been evolving a lot album after album. Has anything changed in this process?
Chris:  Technically speaking, the process is exactly the same.  I write and record alone, using the same basic PC setup as always.  I think if something has changed, maybe I am focusing more on the vocals.  Or, maybe I bring them into focus sooner.  But it’s hard to say, since I am basically writing all the instruments (including vocals) at the same time.  So, I guess the short answer would be “no”.  I’m very reluctant to change anything about the studio or live situation for this band, because it’s working well.

 
– All this about «Motivator» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
high spirtis 2Chris:  New High Spirits!

 

– And finally, what are now your near-future plans? What’s in store for HIGH SPIRITS?
Chris:  We have two tours upcoming and a third tour in the planning stages.  See, the guys in the band have day jobs and families and stuff like that, but we also love to get out and play.  So, the compromise is that we do these kind of incremental tours of a week or two weeks at a time.  If we plan enough in advance, we can make a lot happen that way.  For example in March of 2015, we were on tour for two weeks, and we managed to include four festivals during those dates!  Anyway, we’re going to the west coast in October, then doing a week in the UK in February 2017.  And then we hope to be back in Europe later in 2017, possibly September, which would leave our summer open for a few gigs in the USA.  We’ll see how it goes!

 
– That’s all fro our side thank you so much for answering to our interview. If you now want to add some final words for our readers feel free to do it.
Chris:  Thank you very much and have fun!

 

Tania Giménez
tania@queensofsteel.com

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