Dragonforce are no strangers to Australia and once again they are heading over for the biggest festival on the heavy music calendar, Soundwave. I had the pleasure to talk to vocalist Marc Hudson about the tour, their latest album “Maximum Overload” and what it was like to go from relative obscurity to one of the most respected vocalists of the power metal genre.
In 2011 Marc went from to singing in unsigned bands to fronting one of the most exciting bands to come out of the U.K. in years, his first show was supporting Iron Maiden so his initiation to the band was not for the faint of heart. So how did he handle this trial by fire, his response was “It was actually a lot of pressure, I think at the beginning I found it kind of tough but yeah at the same time it was so cool because obviously joining the band from pretty much never playing in front of a decent size crowd before to suddenly they had me playing in front of I think it was about 40,000 at the O2 arena in London. But yeah it was really cool, I mean as you can imagine it wasn’t exactly easy. Now days after being in a band for some time it’s become a lot easier but the beginning was really quite hairy “
Dragonforce released their sixth studio album “Maximum Overload” in August last year and for the first time in their career the band chose to enlist the services of a producer. Marc reflected on what it was like to hand over some of the control to an external influence, that being Jens Bogren (who has previously worked with Opeth, Katatonia, Devin Townsend and Paradise Lost). “The recording process was quite different, we all took it in turns to fly out to Sweden to go to his studio. Yeah it was interesting because he has worked with a lot of different bands, and his influences are kind of different to say Sam’s for example, but he kind of saw some things in our music that he kind of wanted to extenuate and bring out. So I think the influence he had on the band some of the songs ended up kind of heavier and thrashier sounding, which I thought was really cool. And then at the same time he has a really good ear for catchy melodies and stuff. It was good to have some fresh eyes looking at it and giving different opinions and I think the end result is actually really good. I think the overall mix, the way it was produced as well as some of the influences you can hear from him, overall has resulted in a what I think is a pretty diverse and good album.”
The vocalist formerly known as “Mr. Scream” by previous band mates commented on how well the album has been received both by the fans and the media alike. “Really well actually, because this is the 2nd album that I have been on with the “Power Within” before that, but that for me this was the one that the fans were going to judge me on being the first performance. I really think that this one has been a huge step up from that, not to say that the album was bad or anything, but I think this has been quite an evolution from that we have taken all the good stuff and kind of improved on it. So I think that the fans have appreciated that, as all the comments we’ve read and everything have been along those lines. And the album itself has done really well in different territories and we have been in the top 20 album charts in Germany now, which is pretty unusual for a power metal album because it is normally dominated by pop and stuff. So yeah it’s definitely done well and hopefully the success will continue.”
In 2011 Marc went from to singing in unsigned bands to fronting one of the most exciting bands to come out of the U.K. in years, his first show was supporting Iron Maiden so his initiation to the band was not for the faint of heart. So how did he handle this trial by fire, his response was “It was actually a lot of pressure, I think at the beginning I found it kind of tough but yeah at the same time it was so cool because obviously joining the band from pretty much never playing in front of a decent size crowd before to suddenly they had me playing in front of I think it was about 40,000 at the O2 arena in London. But yeah it was really cool, I mean as you can imagine it wasn’t exactly easy. Now days after being in a band for some time it’s become a lot easier but the beginning was really quite hairy “
Dragonforce released their sixth studio album “Maximum Overload” in August last year and for the first time in their career the band chose to enlist the services of a producer. Marc reflected on what it was like to hand over some of the control to an external influence, that being Jens Bogren (who has previously worked with Opeth, Katatonia, Devin Townsend and Paradise Lost). “The recording process was quite different, we all took it in turns to fly out to Sweden to go to his studio. Yeah it was interesting because he has worked with a lot of different bands, and his influences are kind of different to say Sam’s for example, but he kind of saw some things in our music that he kind of wanted to extenuate and bring out. So I think the influence he had on the band some of the songs ended up kind of heavier and thrashier sounding, which I thought was really cool. And then at the same time he has a really good ear for catchy melodies and stuff. It was good to have some fresh eyes looking at it and giving different opinions and I think the end result is actually really good. I think the overall mix, the way it was produced as well as some of the influences you can hear from him, overall has resulted in a what I think is a pretty diverse and good album.”
The vocalist formerly known as “Mr. Scream” by previous band mates commented on how well the album has been received both by the fans and the media alike. “Really well actually, because this is the 2nd album that I have been on with the “Power Within” before that, but that for me this was the one that the fans were going to judge me on being the first performance. I really think that this one has been a huge step up from that, not to say that the album was bad or anything, but I think this has been quite an evolution from that we have taken all the good stuff and kind of improved on it. So I think that the fans have appreciated that, as all the comments we’ve read and everything have been along those lines. And the album itself has done really well in different territories and we have been in the top 20 album charts in Germany now, which is pretty unusual for a power metal album because it is normally dominated by pop and stuff. So yeah it’s definitely done well and hopefully the success will continue.”
As well as the Soundwave shows Dragonforce will be undertaking some sidewaves with the giants of British heavy metal Judas Priest. In almost what could be seen as a handing of the baton between one legendary band and the new champions on the scene. The singer was very humble when speaking about the shows “Yeah I haven’t actually been thinking about it too much because it’s one of those things when I first started singing and everything, I was always thinking it would be so cool to be playing with Iron Maiden or Judas Priest and those kind of bands, and now obviously this just came up, it’s quite a big thing, but the band have actually toured with Halford before and they know each other which will be cool as I think they area already kind of friends and everything. But I definitely think it’s going to be… I think it’s going to be a good night for everyone, bands and fans included and everything. Yeah two kind of British metal bands that kind of share influences with, we obviously think about Judas Priest, but were more power metal, so I think the fans will be pretty happy with the spread they have in front of them that night so it should be pretty cool.”
For those unfortunate enough to never have witnesses the adrenalin charged stage performance that is a Dragonforce show Marc described what to expect. “Our performance on stage I think is an energetic one, especially now after we’ve been touring for a little while and we are really well rehearsed and everything. We are going to be playing songs that are going to satisfy all Dragonforce fans, the kind of guys that have there from the beginning listening to Valley of the dammed all the way up to the new fans that have kind of just joined and just started listening to the last couple of albums. But we are really playing a good spread across from the very early to recent, so it should be a diverse set list with hopefully a couple of surprises, but also playing the songs that people are expecting to hear so that’s more important as we don’t come to Australia too often so that will be the case I think. So yeah, a high energy technical performance I think.”
Interview by Mike Trandafil
For those unfortunate enough to never have witnesses the adrenalin charged stage performance that is a Dragonforce show Marc described what to expect. “Our performance on stage I think is an energetic one, especially now after we’ve been touring for a little while and we are really well rehearsed and everything. We are going to be playing songs that are going to satisfy all Dragonforce fans, the kind of guys that have there from the beginning listening to Valley of the dammed all the way up to the new fans that have kind of just joined and just started listening to the last couple of albums. But we are really playing a good spread across from the very early to recent, so it should be a diverse set list with hopefully a couple of surprises, but also playing the songs that people are expecting to hear so that’s more important as we don’t come to Australia too often so that will be the case I think. So yeah, a high energy technical performance I think.”
Interview by Mike Trandafil
RSS Feed
