John Arch (Arch / Matheos) – “Uzeo sam mikrofon i počeo pjevati Victim of Changes, i to je bilo to”
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John Arch (na gornjoj fotografiji desno) svojevrsna je kultna figura klasičnih dana heavy metala! Između 1982. i 1987. pjevao je u prvoj inkarnaciji nezaboravnih Fates Warning, u kojoj su on i gitarist Jim Matheos činili kreativnu jezgru prve ere sastava. Arch je suautor većine skladbi s ranih albuma Fates Warning, a ujedno je važio za temeljnog tekstopisca grupe. Njegov nevjerojatno prodoran, autoritativan, eksplozivan, kristalno čist i pečatan, gotovo operetni vokal, koji je kao tenor izdašno poduprt “head voice” pjevanjem, srodnim Midnightu (Crimson Glory) ili Geoffu Tateu (Queensryche), utisnuo je u stilsku sliku sastava i njegovih ranih albuma neizbrisiv pečat koji u srcima obožavatelja zauzima posebno mjesto. Unikat. Nakon što je napustio Fates Warning, nije ga bilo na vidiku punih sedamnaest godina, sve do izdanja EP-a “A Twist Of Fate” 2003., kojim je pokazao da je i dalje vražji vokalist. Slijedila je nova duga stanka. Sve do 2011. i okupljanja s nekadašnjim kolegama iz Fates Warning, odnosno s klasičnom postavom Fates Warning (bez Raya Adlera). Tako je nastao projekt Arch/Matheos, u sklopu kojeg je u rujnu 2011. izašao odličan album “Sympathetic Resonance”. Osam godina poslije, prošle godine, naslijedio ga je ništa manje fascinantan “Winter Ethereal”, koji je ponovno probudio onu nezaboravnu magiju davnih vremena, kad su Fates Warning, a s njima i metal, još bili mladi.
Bok John! Kako je nastala ideja da se ponovno okupite i snimite novi album uživo u klasičnoj postavi? Koja se priča krije iza toga? Zvučali ste odlično i opet ste razvalili. Ovo je jedan od najboljih albuma uživo zadnjih nekoliko godina.
John: Prije svega hvala na komplimentima, drago mi je da ti se DVD sviđa. Kao što si možda i pogodio, ja baš nisam pristaša snimanja uživo. Prije nego što me Jim kontaktirao, vjerojatno su se svi uključeni uvjerili da se svi slažu s tom idejom.
John: Kroz godine je trenutna postava benda albume slavila brojnim nastupima povodom obljetnica i reizdanjima. 30. obljetnicu albuma Awaken the Guardian, koji se mnogima urezao u srce, doista je vrijedilo proslaviti. Kad me nazvao Jim Matheos, znao sam da se nešto mora napraviti. Nakon brojnih razgovora zaključili smo da bi se obožavatelji najviše razveselili DVD-u uživo. Njime bi naime svi oni koji to nisu imali priliku doživjeti mogli iskusiti tadašnje razdoblje Fatesa uživo. Srce mi je poskočilo do neba na pomisao da ću stati na pozornicu i pokušati zavrtjeti vrijeme tri desetljeća unatrag, ali znao sam da si nikad ne bih oprostio da barem ne pokušam.
Kako ti je uspjelo zadržati tako dobar glas i otpjevati sve one visoke tonove na albumu? Vježbaš li? Dugo te nismo čuli kako pjevaš uživo. Imaš li melodije još uvijek u glavi, pišeš li još glazbu ili pjevaš?
John: Još jednom hvala, ali budući da sam po prirodi sklon kritici, lako mogu reći da moj glas više nije takav kakav je bio u mladosti. Znao sam da će se s godinama i neprestanim nastupima moje pjevanje uživo naći pred novim izazovima. Moj je cilj bio ogromno vježbati i tako se što više približiti nekadašnjem glasu, otpjevati pjesme onako kako zaslužuju i otići u nadi da fanovi znaju da sam dao sve od sebe. Vjerojatno su očekivanja obiju strana bila prilično realna, obožavatelji su bili blagonaklonih, i svi smo se odlično proveli.
Namjeravate li u bližoj budućnosti snimiti novi album Arch/Matheos? Kako je bilo ponovno surađivati s Joeom? Kako teče vaše zajedničko stvaranje glazbe?
John: Trenutno intenzivno pišem i vježbam materijal koji će, nadam se, završiti na novom A/M albumu. To nije službena izjava o novom izdanju, ali razgovori svih strana idu u tom smjeru. Ja ću nastaviti pisati i nadam se da će se projekt ostvariti. Jim i ja radimo isto od samog početka. Dok on zapisuje ideje po osjećaju, ja ih još emocionalno i razumski proučim kako bih se melodijom i tekstom što više približio emocionalnoj atmosferi napisanog. Nemamo nekog određenog redoslijeda, ponekad prvo nastane snažna melodija ili možda ritam, a ponekad uz ono što čujem prvo dobijem ideju za temu i tekst … Znam samo da ništa ne možeš forsirati, dogodit će se kad bude vrijeme za to. Naravno, događaju se i mučne stvari, ali općenito prilično dobro usklađujemo ideje i sklapamo kompromise. Krajnji cilj je da oboje budemo zadovoljni i – nadam se – fanovi također.
Kako je uopće došlo do toga da postaneš pjevač Fates Warning i kako si počeo pisati za prvi album? Znam da si iza sebe imao mnogo obrada u svom glasovnom rasponu, poput Iron Maiden i Judas Priest. U SAD-u ste sa svojom glazbom bili korak ispred vremena. Kakav je bio odziv na vašu autorsku glazbu i kako vas je prihvatila tadašnja metal scena?
John: Istina je, pjevao sam u cover bendu i jedne nas je večeri došao slušati Victor Arduini. Nakon nastupa pozvao me da dođem na probe njegova benda. Svi su dobro svirali, uzeo sam mikrofon i počeo pjevati Victim of Changes, i to je bilo to. Nastavili smo s obradama, imali nekoliko nastupa. Nakon nekog vremena Jim je spomenuo da bismo trebali raditi autorske komade … Začuđeno smo se zgledali, bilo je kao da nas je netko bacio u vodu, a mi ne znamo plivati. No vrlo brzo smo počeli udarati rukama i nogama i svi se oduševljeno bacili na novi izazov. Naš prvi pokušaj naravno su obilježili “overtoni” i utjecaj svih naših najdražih bendova, ali kad je to čuo Brian iz Metal Blada, morao je u tome vidjeti nešto spasonosno, jer je brzo nastao demo snimak kasnijeg “Night on Bröcken. Budući da tada nije bilo društvenih mreža kao danas, odzive smo dobivali od ljudi, u časopisima i na nastupima. U biti je to bilo prilično pozitivno iskustvo.
S godinama se vaše stvaralaštvo razvijalo, jer ste na svakom albumu napravili korak naprijed. Je li do toga došlo samo od sebe? Kako su nastajali pojedini albumi? (Night on Bröcken – 1984, The Spectre Within – 1985 i Awake the Guardian – 1986)? I tvoj brat je sudjelovao u snimanju, svirao je klavijature, zar ne?
John: Uvjeren sam da smo s godinama postali bolji glazbenici, pisci i povezaniji kao bend. Sa svakim albumom dopuštali smo si sve više isprobavanja različitih ritmova, gitarskih harmonija, preklapajućih vokala i drugih stvari koje su stvorile zanimljiviju i kompleksniju glazbu, jer su skladbe bile vrlo dinamične, a ipak su imale čvrstu osnovnu liniju pod vokalima da se sve slije u cjelinu. To je fantastično za one koji vole da sa svakim slušanjem čuju nešto novo, koji vole nešto što na prvi dojam nije lako probavljivo. Barem se meni sviđa tako. Isto tako mislim da nam je ponekad dobro uspjelo i nešto posve jednostavno, dakle nije uvijek riječ o prezasićenosti u sviranju. Trudili smo se za razigranost u svim dijelovima skladbi i pazili da su smislene i skladne i glazbeno i tekstualno.
30. obljetnicu albuma Awake the Guardian obilježili ste s dva nastupa 2016., na festivalu Keep it true i u Atlanti. Kako je bilo izvoditi te pjesme nakon toliko godina? Možeš li reći nešto više o samom albumu, koji su fanovi proglasili najboljim svih vremena? Kakve uspomene imaš na njega, na snimanje, pisanje, koncept …?
John: Pa, što se mene tiče, nastupi su bili zastrašujući, ali kad se na nešto obvežeš, nema povratka. Mnogo prije počeli smo s individualnim vježbama, svatko je radio svoju domaću zadaću. Nakon tri, četiri mjeseca počeli smo sa zajedničkim probama. Snaći se zajedno nakon toliko vremena bio je svojevrstan izazov. Brzo nas je preplavio osjećaj domaćinstva, pa smo kao nekad prasnuli u smijeh uz sjećanja na dobra vremena koja smo proživjeli. Na početku je bilo nekoliko problema, ali već nakon nekoliko proba zvučali smo bolje. Kad smo konačno stali na pozornicu, sve je bilo totalno nadrealno, ali budući da su fanovi držali tu glazbu na životu toliko godina, na nastupima je u trenutku oživjela, kad su s oduševljenjem i strašću iz svega glasa pjevali sve pjesme. Bilo je fantastično!
John: Na pitanje o albumu ATG mogu reći da je bio rezultat vremena i prostora u kojem smo se nalazili. Od samog početka imao je neki zarazno mističan osjećaj, koji nam je nekako uspjelo uhvatiti kroz cijeli album. Svi su se trudili iz petnih žila da dođu s dobrim idejama. Očito smo i glazbom i porukom ostali vjerni biti Fates Warning. Bili smo potpuna suprotnost jednostavnosti ili glam bendovima tog vremena, uvijek smo željeli da glazba bude neka vrsta putovanja daleko od apatije i prosječnosti svakodnevice. Mislim da je album utjelovljenje onog slobodnog duha svih nas koji želimo dati na volju mašti.
Jesi li možda slušao i kakvu novu stvar Fates Warning? Kako ti se čini njihov novi stil?
John: Sa svim bivšim i sadašnjim članovima benda ostali smo prijatelji, također podržavam sve njihove pothvate, tako da ih idem slušati, a imam i sve snimke.
Što John Arch radi ovih dana? Bavi li se glazbom ili se posvećuje drugim stvarima? Hoćeš li možda ikad ponovno stati na pozornicu s Fates Warning ili otići na turneju kad završite album s Matheosom? Znam da ti nastupi ne leže baš najbolje.
John: Kao što sam već spomenuo, John sprema nešto novo, a inače život uvijek pobrine da imam šaren raspored, pa pokušavam pronaći vremena i za zabavne stvari koje volim raditi.
Za kraj … što bi poručio našim čitateljima i tvojim fanovima diljem svijeta te svima onima koji su na početku puta u svijet progresivnog metala?
John: Huh, ja sam zadnji čovjek koji može davati savjete (smijeh), ali … radi ono što ti se sviđa. Odmakni se od divljenja i vizija veličine. Moraš slijediti osjećaj, a pritom slušati srce. Sretno.
Hvala ti što si odvojio vrijeme i podijelio s nama svoje misli.
Autor: Jani “The Sacred Heart” Mihevc Cah
Prevela i uredila: Nataša Fajon
Uvod na slovenskom jeziku: Aleš Podbrežnik
full english version:
Interview with John Arch
Hi John! How did you guys come up with the idea to have a reunion and record a new live album with the classic line up? Can you tell me the story behind that idea? You sounded great and delivered it again. I think this is one of the best live albums of the past few years.
John: Well first off thank you for the compliment and I am so glad you liked the DVD. I personally was not the impetus for the live shows as you might have guessed. I’m pretty sure everything was discussed with all parties involved to make sure everybody was on board with the idea before I was contacted by Jim. Through the years there have been many anniversary dates played and re-releases in the current lineup of Fates to celebrate the albums. Awaken the Guardian reaching the 30-year mark was really worth celebrating its place in the hearts of many. When Jim Matheos called I knew it was something that had to be done. After much discussion we thought the best way to bring something to the fans was through a live DVD. It would give the fans that didn’t get to see that era of Fates live a way to experience the music live. There was no doubt my heart rate was through the roof at the thought of hitting the stage to attempt turning the clock back three decades, but I knew I would never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try.
How did you continue to have such great voice and hit high notes so well on the live album? Do you practice? It’s been a while since we heard you singing live. Are melodies still in your head, do you still write any music or sing?
John: Well thank you again, but I have a natural tendency to be more critical and can comfortably say that my voice is not what it used to be in my youth. Having said that I went forward knowing that aging and not performing on a constant basis would bring Its challenges singing this music live. My goal was to rehearse as much as possible and hopefully obtain a reasonable resemblance of my former voice to do justice to the songs and walk away hoping the fans knew I did the best I could. I guess it was all about realistic expectations on both sides and the fans were certainly forgiving and gracious and we all had a great experience.
Are there any plans to record a new Arch/Matheos album in the near future? How was it for you to work again with Joe for your Arch/Matheos album? What kind of process do you have when you do music together?
John: Well I am currently immersed in writing and rehearsing for what I hope will be the next A/M release. This is not an official statement of release, but all parties are discussing the good possibility of another album. I will continue the writing and hopefully the future will bring a collaboration to light. The writing process with Jim and I has been the same since the beginning Whereas Jim will compose musical ideas through his inner workings and I will then study it through an emotional and intellectual side to come up with melody lines and lyrics to fit as best I can the emotional side of what he has written. It may be in no particular order as sometimes strong melodies come through first or maybe the tempo or feel of what I’m hearing bring good subject matter and lyrics first… All I know is You can’t rush it and it will come when it’s ready. Of course, there are many other tedious things that go on, but all in all we are pretty good about bouncing ideas off each other and are respectful of how sometimes we hear things differently and meet half way. The end goal is that we are both inspired and hope the fans are too.
Can you tell me the story of how you became the singer in Fates Warning and how you started writing for the first album? I know you did a lot of cover for your vocal range, for example, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest. You guys were ahead of time with your music in the USA. What was the response when you did your own material and how did the metal scene accept you in those days?
John: Yes, as you mentioned I was singing in a cover band and one night Victor Arduini came to see us. After the show Vic approached me and invited me down to a rehearsal with his current band to check them out. We all hit it off pretty well and I grabbed the mic and started singing Victim of Changes with them and that was that. We continued with covers for a while and did some shows. Jim mentioned we should start writing originals and we all just looked at each other like we were about to enter uncharted waters in which we were actually. Everything changed pretty fast and I think we were all excited and hyper focused on our new venture. Understandably our first attempt at writing possessed overtones and influence from all our favorite bands, but upon Brian from Metal Blade hearing it he must have heard something redeeming about it and we quickly made work of finishing what was a demo into “Night on Brocken”. Social media not being what it is today, it really was like an underground experience getting feedback basically through word of mouth, magazines, and through performances. All in all, a pretty positive experience.
Over the years you developed through your albums because you always went a step forward with style on each album. Did it come naturally? What kind of process did you have with each album (Night on Bröcken 1984,The Spectre Within 1985 and Awake the Guardian 1986)? Your brother recorded keyboards, too, right?
John: I believe over the years we became better musicians, better writers, and more cohesive as a band. With each album we became more exploratory with alternating time signatures, guitar harmonies, overlapping vocals and things that made the music more interesting and complex in a good way because there was a lot of movement going on in the songs but still had the heavy root lines under the vocal lines to gel it all together. It is great for the listener that likes to maybe hear something new with each listen and not easily digestible on the first listen. That’s the way I like it anyway. I also think we did simplicity pretty well at times also so it is not always about crushing things. We tried to be dynamic in all the movements of the songs so they make sense and come full circle musically and lyrically. My brother Jim did play Keys and vocal harmonies on Epitaph and did a great job.
You’ve been celebrating 30th anniversary of Awake the Guardian and you did two live shows in 2016 at Keep it True and in Atlanta. How was it for you to play those songs again after so many years, and can you tell me a little more about that album? It became an all time classic in fans’ catalogue. What are the memories, recording, writing, concept of the album, etc.?
John: Well, from my perspective the shows were a daunting task but once you commit to something in good faith, there is no turning back. We began practicing individually and doing our homework with plenty of time before the shows. I think it was about 3 or 4 months out and we started rehearsing together. It was quite a trip getting together for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. We were all pretty comfortable and we were cracking up like we used to just remember all the good times we had. Things were a little rough around the edges but within a few rehearsals we were sounding tighter. When we finally hit the stage, it was surreal in so many ways, but it was the fans that have kept this music alive for so many years that certainly resurrected it at the shows with the enthusiasm and passion of them singing all the words at the top of their lungs! It was just great. To answer the question about the album ATG I can say it is about a time and a place that we were a part of. From the very first notes written it had a haunting mystical feel to it and somehow, we managed to capture that through the whole album. It seemed like everyone was working hard firing on all cylinders bringing creative things to the table. It seems we were keeping the music and the message true to the Fates Warning perception. We were the polar opposite of simplicity or the Glam bands of that era and always wanted the music to be a journey of sorts away from the doldrum or mediocracy of life. I think the album embodies that free spirit in all of us that want to untether the imagination and let it wander.
Do you listen to any new stuff from Fates Warning? What do you think about the new Fates Warning style?
John: I have remained friends with all current and past members and support everybody in all their musical ventures going to the shows and owning all recordings. I have followed Fates and appreciate every era and the methodology behind all the music. I have my favorites like everyone does of course. I most appreciate the fans that have come together and can appreciate all the colors and eras of Fates Warning and I am grateful we were all able to make a contribution for the fans of music
What is John Arch doing these days? Is he involved in music or is he into other things in life? And do you think you will share stage again with Fates Warning or maybe if you do an album with Matheos and hit the road again? I know you are not much into touring.
John: John is cooking up something musically for the future as I mentioned earlier and life has a way of keeping me very busy and trying to find time for the fun things I like to do.
For the end, what can you tell our readers and your fans over the world and all the people who are starting their journey into the world of progressive metal?
John: Man, I’m the last person that should be giving advise ha-ha, but whatever you do, do it because you love it. Forget about accolades, about visions of grandeur. Follow your instincts but listen to your heart. Best to all!
Thank you for your time and sharing all your thoughts with us!
author: Jani “The Sacred Heart” Mihevc Cah
