Fates Warning - A pleasant shade of grey

Historic pioneers of the marriage between heavy metal and progressive rock, never falling into genre stereotypes and boasting an unmistakable sound, Fates Warning surprise us by returning just one year after their long-awaited appearance in Brescia.

It would therefore have been a shame to pass up a chat with Ray Alder, frontman of the Connecticut band, who greets us warmly:

Hi, they're making a mess with the soundcheck here, let's escape onto the tour bus!

I'm the first to climb the steps onto the vehicle and I run into an ever-elusive Jim Matheos, who eyes me with a look somewhere between astonished and combative. "He's with me, Jim!", Ray reassures him from outside. "Oh, right, I was just about to hit him!", the band's leader deadpans, showing his fists and cracking a rare smile.

Having found a bit of peace, we begin.

So Ray, how's the tour going?

Good, good. Actually, this is already the second time we've come here to the Colony in Brescia, after last year. I have to say there are fewer people than we'd hoped but... it's fine anyway, we know that's how it is in some countries.

You guys go over particularly well in Germany, if I'm not mistaken. You've played a lot of dates there.

Yes, definitely. We've played there a lot of times just in the last three years alone.

Actually I wasn't expecting to see you again just a year after your last appearance in Italy, here at the Colony (on October 13, 2013, ed.).

Yes, we're trying to promote this latest album as much as possible, since it came out after so many years. We'll probably do a few more American dates before heading back into the studio.

Ah, so you're planning to get straight back to work on a new album? Can you give me any hints already or is it still top-secret?

Yes, we'll start writing something in December, but it's simply too early to give you any hints. I can tell you that we'll make it with the same lineup as "Darkness In A Different Light".

And how do you plan to work on this album? Will it be a work directed by Jim Matheos with contributions from the rest of you, as has often happened in the past, or something more collaborative?

Generally the ideas start with Jim, who uses tools like Pro Tools to sketch out the rhythms, using drum machines and sequencers. Then he sends everything to me and I take care of adding the melodies. With “Darkness In A Different Light” Jim asked me “hey! do you want to write some lyrics?” and I said “uhm, yeah, that's fine!”.

I think people tend to prefer his lyrics because they're generally very poetic, he's more of a writer than I am. I tend to talk more about myself, about personal life, about experiences, while he's deeper. Anyway, he asked me to write some things and I was fine with that.

Compared to the past you're actually writing a lot more now. From what you're saying, it sounds like this process depended on Jim's wishes. Was there also an ambition of your own in that regard? How does it feel?

It's true, over the last 3-4 albums I've written more and more often. I think that for Jimmy writing is already demanding enough as it is. You know, it's a lot of work. Jim is a writer appreciated by the fans, but he's someone who doesn't think about what people want, only about what he wants. Also consider that it's not always easy to put yourself, your personal feelings, into what you write and let everyone know about it.

It's nice, I think it's also a kind of self-therapy, putting your thoughts down on paper. But then you also have to think about the melody, and that can be really hard. I like it, it's a challenge. It's a lot of work but lately I enjoy doing it much more than I used to.

I think showing everyone what you think is not easy at all, in any case.

No, definitely not. Like I told you, it's a tough job. When I write, the first thing I try to achieve is not being too obvious. I'd like the reader to interpret it for themselves, to engage with what I'm saying rather than simply reading my story.

That's the beauty of more cryptic, evocative lyrics, if you will. A certain piece of writing might have come from a completely different thought for you than the one it triggers in me, so there's no single truth or interpretation.

Yes, and it's nice when fans come up to you and say “I read this lyric of yours and it meant a lot to me”. It can be really different from what you were thinking when you wrote it, but it's truly a pleasure to know that there are people who go that deep and to be appreciated for that work.

Speaking of fans. Some songwriters love meeting their audience because through their stories – in some cases even personal confessions, especially in the singer-songwriter world – they draw inspiration, if not energy, for their writing. What is your source of inspiration instead?

Now that I find myself writing a lot of them, I often try to consciously think about what I'm doing in the days I'm living through: maybe I'm traveling in some crazy Eastern European country or in the heart of America, or I think about simple experiences in my life like my relationships, my family. I feel more receptive now, and at a certain point something clicks in your head. At that moment I jot something down with whatever I have, often my phone.

I've got ideas for hundreds of songs, of lyrics. I try to talk about something interesting, often personal, but not that kind of stuff like (humming, ed.): “I got in my car, drove for 5 miles…”.

Ray, forgive me if I'm rambling, but right now I'm thinking that this is the first time I've ever been on a tour bus. It's amazing!

Really? Eh, it's not easy to get in here (laughs, ed.). It's nice… well, it's a bit like a nightclub. Wait a second… look at this, quite a sight! (he starts fiddling with buttons and switches on a panel under the table, finally turning on the little decorative lights on the convertible roof, ed.). And then they always put these mirrored roofs on top…

I guess it must be tough though, living on a bus for months, am I wrong?

It is. Definitely. I'm the only single guy in the band, everyone else is married. It's easier for me because I don't have kids or a wife waiting at home, though I do miss my friends back home, my people. A lot of people think it's all glamorous, but honestly it's anything but. We go from city to city and basically only see the venues. A lot of people think stuff like "yeah, guys… you're living it up! Parties, mayhem…". Come on, that's all bullshit!

Maybe there are a few too many stereotypes floating around?

Oh yeah! Maybe a long time ago it could have been like that, you know, you were pumped up all the time, but by now we've grown up, we're professionals and we want to do our job as well as possible and play as well as we can. For instance, I never drink before shows, because it wrecks your voice.

I think that especially in your genre there's a greater focus on stage performance, on technical precision. In other words, messing around is even less acceptable in a case like yours.

Exactly. Everyone's very focused before a show, they keep rehearsing: Bobby, Jim, Joey… and especially Mike, our guitarist! (Michael Abdow, touring guitarist standing in for Frank Aresti. Ed.). He's great, he's always off somewhere fiddling with his guitar riffs.

By the way, he seems really young.

Well yeah, he's thirty.

Honestly I don't remember, actually I think Frank Aresti recommended him. He sent us some recordings, along with a few other candidates, and we chose based on who best fit our criteria. The requirement for the band wasn't to be a rock star - if you know what I mean - and we felt he was perfect for us.

Why such a long break before "Darkness In A Different Light"?

You know, we all have a ton of side projects going on. You always end up in situations like "Ok, you're doing this, I'm doing that." "Ok, I'm done, I'm ready." "No! I still have this to finish, and so does he!" "Ok, when you're done, we'll get in touch and get started". And so on for a long, long time. Joey has another band (Armored Saint, ed.)... Bobby has four goddamn bands! (Riot, Halford, Sebastian Bach and Fates Warning, ed.). And then Jim is in OSI and I work with two bands myself, which used to be three!

It's a vicious circle, and that's how nine whole years went by. Recently there was the Arch/Matheos album (a collaboration between Matheos and the first Fates Warning singer John Arch, joined by the band's current instrumentalists, ed.) that could have become the new Fates Warning. Jim had sent me some music but I was too busy at the time. And so on.

Were you ever afraid that Fates Warning might lose a substantial part of their name recognition and presence in a world like the music industry, which often shows little mercy for long hiatuses.

Sure! Absolutely, it's a fact that our popularity pretty much evaporated, because we were gone for so long. I mean, we're not, I don't know… Iron Maiden or a name that can afford to come back after years and know everyone will be there when it happens. We knew it would be tough. Fortunately we have a very loyal hardcore fanbase that's always there, and that's great. And now we're trying to make a steady comeback.

Your latest album, in any case, got an excellent reception from critics.

Yes, very good. It was surprising, and the fans appreciated it too. There was no shortage of criticism, but I have to say there was very little.

I've always thought that Fates Warning's career has had a truly unusual evolution. You know, so many times a band gives its best in its early albums and then has a physiological decline, more or less abrupt. You, on the other hand, have had steady growth and, in my personal opinion, delivered the best of your career precisely in the last phase, with the peak straddling "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray" and "Disconnected", without taking anything away from the rest. You'll admit that's pretty unusual, and I wonder what set you apart from the others.

Well... wow! Thank you! But, well, I wouldn't know! We're not that consciously aware of what we're achieving, we don't have a recipe. You always want to leave a mark and make a really good album. It depends on who you are at a certain point in your life. For this last album, I have to say Jimmy and I were fully immersed in it, working on it every day. Every day! Always on the phone telling each other this and that. We definitely wanted to make something special, because after nine years I guess you feel you owe it to yourself.

By the way, if I'm not mistaken, you and Jim live very far apart.

Absolutely. He's on the East Coast, in New Hampshire, I'm on the West Coast, in Los Angeles. But that's obviously not a problem today, between phone calls, video calls and file sharing, it's like being in the same room.

I'm afraid I have to ask you a pretty obvious question, Ray: what's your relationship with progressive rock?

It's funny, but I don't listen to it at all! I know there are fantastic bands out there, but I don't feel anything progressive. Maybe it's because I play it - listening to it might actually change my attitude, the way I think within the band...

But it's curious how Fates Warning started approaching progressive with "No Exit", right around the time you joined the band. So it's not your fault!

No, not at all! At the beginning I was really confused! When Jim gave me the parts I said: "What the hell! How am I supposed to play this stuff?" (laughs, ed.).

I like writing melody. Certain structures are terribly complex, with odd time signatures in five, seven, nine, twelve. You know, those things that go a bit like "tum-ta-tu-tu-tum-ta" (hums a syncopated melody, ed.); I, on the other hand, want everything to flow, even if the music underneath is moving like that.

Anyway, you've always had this fusion of elements: progressive and more technical metal, as well as a pop side.

We have a varied, heterogeneous style. I like it, for instance, when the audience sings along with me. That's exactly why I think "Firefly" is a wonderful song - I loved it right away because the melody was fantastic, the song is just great. Jim loves it a lot too...

"Darkness In A Different Light" is a fairly melodic record overall, though.

Yes, and by the way, there's another thing we talked about. I didn't join the Arch / Matheos project also because... I didn't fit in there, I'm sorry to say, it was too demanding, it didn't feel right to me. And after that we made this latest work, very catchy and immediate, which I also like.

Indeed, after your more strictly progressive phase, from "Perfect Symmetry" to "Disconnected", you created a break. First with "FWX", catchier than usual, then even more so with the latest album, perhaps the heaviest metal record in at least 15 years. Is this also down to your increasingly greater involvement in songwriting?

Yes, Jim and I work together much more than we used to. In the past Jim would write the songs completely and then hand them over to me, but this time we discussed the tracks more, what exactly needed to be done. It was a chance to do something together, something catchy, working on the same page.

Do you think you'll come to Italy more often in the future, now that you've started playing dates here at a good pace again?

I hope so, I love playing in Italy. We don't have that many fans here, but the ones we have are special. I mean, you don't usually come to one of our shows because you want to grab a beer, but because you really appreciate the music. If you go to a Fates Warning show on a Sunday night - or a Monday or Tuesday night, considering people's commitments - I think there's a good reason for it, it's really great and that's why we do our best live for them. Especially in places we haven't been to in 3-4 years, like yesterday in Turin, or in Milan where we haven't played since 1995.

On this tour we're going through places that are unusual for us: Serbia, Croatia, Poland. Poland is an incredible country, we've had a response far beyond our best expectations, one of the best audiences we've ever had, just like in Greece. I don't know why it happens there...

Lately a lot of you have been pushing into Eastern Europe, where there are actually some pretty interesting venues too. Just think of the beautiful live show that Anathema did in Plovdiv (as documented in the live video "Universal", ed.).

Yes, I saw it and I love it; especially in that beautiful Roman theatre. Besides, I really love their album "Wheather Systems". The East is a very interesting place, we've already played in those areas. I don't know what to expect for the next date in Croatia, I don't know anything about them, about their culture.

One last question, Ray. It would have been amazing, ten years ago, to witness the historic American tour where you played alongside those who, like you, are considered the pioneers of progressive metal: Dream Theater and Queensryche. Are you still in touch with them?

Not so much with Queensryche, but we see them as old-time comrades. As for Dream Theater, we're friends mostly with Mike Portnoy, who however is no longer a member of the band. We don't have that kind of relationship with the other members, we just played with Mike Mangini in Greece recently. We're still friends, but not that close, let's say.

So you rule out something like that happening again, maybe in Europe.

(Shakes his head firmly, ed.) Definitely not. Too bad, it was a great experience when we played in America. It was hugely successful, we consistently had 6,000-8,000 people at every show. But I really don't think it could happen again.

Oh yes, I can't wait. But first I need to get something to eat and get some sleep, I'm exhausted!

(Brescia, 9 November 2014)

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