I recently had the pleasure to speak to Voyager’s guitar virtuoso Simone Dow on the brink of their Australian tour. The band will spend July touring from coast to coast in support of their newly released, critically acclaimed album 'V'. The fifth Voyager opus has been gaining rave reviews from both the media and fans alike, Simone is understandably pretty excited about getting out and playing the new songs live.
I asked Simone if it add a new kind of excitement when you are going out in support of a new album, 'This is what you do, it’s what you work for, for so long. We keep plugging away, sitting, ripping our hair out, this is what it’s all about, actually presenting it to fans.'
The new album comes across as not being as dark as its predecessor, the introspective album 'The Meaning Of I'. Simone offered an insight into this. 'The last album was written when Daniel (Estrin – Vocals/Keyboard) was going through some heavy stuff in his life, so the lyrical content ended up reflecting it, I think. So the lyrical content this time around is still about life, but it’s a lot more positive because we’re obviously all quite happy'.
The other key factor in the change was the band took on a different approach to writing this time; 'It’s a lot more of a collaborative effort, which we have not done in the past. It’s been more, Daniel would come in with most of the songs written, then we would work on the arrangements and make small changes and additions to the songs. This time the majority of it was actually written in the rehearsal room, so that is probably why it’s kind of a little bit more focused than previous albums.'
Having released their first album over a decade ago, I was keen to know whether it was frustrating for the band to have to still work full time when a band of this calibre over in Europe or the U.S. could do this for a living. 'It is frustrating, it is hard, but in reality we live in the most isolated capital city in the world, and at the same time, and I think the guys will agree with me, it’s good to have some grounding. It makes you appreciate a lot more, doing what you’re doing and then you come back and do your normal thing. I think even If we were overseas doing it, we would still want to have a little bit of normality, enough to keep you a bit grounded, otherwise you’re living in a fantasy world almost. If you’re doing that all the time. I can understand why some bands go a bit out of control.'
Adelaide will get to witness firsthand how impressive the new album sounds live when Voyager take to the Enigma Bar stage on the 19th July. I asked Simone what the Adelaide fans could expect. 'A crazy, wild night of progressive, pop metal. We will be on our a-game and as crazy on stage as we always are, I hope Adelaide are ready for us.'
Simone’s parting gesture was a message to Adelaide Voyager fans 'We look forward to seeing you, people don’t be shy, come up and talk to us, we look forward to meeting our fans.'
Interview by Mike Trandafil.
You can catch Voyager on tour on the following July dates:
FRI 4th - Canberra @ ANU Bar
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Eyes to the Sky, Renegade Peacock
SAT 5th - Sydney @ The Factory Floor
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Troldhaugen, Without Parachutes
THU 10th - Sunshine Coast @ Vaudeville Room
w/Caligula's Horse, FreeThought, Weightless In Orbit
FRI 11th - Brisbane @ The Brightside
w/Caligula's Horse, Toehider ('What Kind Of Creature Am I?' Album Launch) [VIC], Dark Symphonica
SAT 12th - Melbourne @ The Workers Club
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Toehider ('What Kind Of Creature Am I?' Album Launch), Orsome Welles
SAT 19th - Adelaide @ Enigma Bar
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Dyssidia, Voros
SAT 26th - Perth @ Amplifier Bar ( Amplifier Capitol)
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Orsome Welles (VIC), Local Support (TBA)
Presale Tickets are available at wildthingpresents.com, Oztix & the Venues.
This is an 18+ event.
'V' is out now.
I asked Simone if it add a new kind of excitement when you are going out in support of a new album, 'This is what you do, it’s what you work for, for so long. We keep plugging away, sitting, ripping our hair out, this is what it’s all about, actually presenting it to fans.'
The new album comes across as not being as dark as its predecessor, the introspective album 'The Meaning Of I'. Simone offered an insight into this. 'The last album was written when Daniel (Estrin – Vocals/Keyboard) was going through some heavy stuff in his life, so the lyrical content ended up reflecting it, I think. So the lyrical content this time around is still about life, but it’s a lot more positive because we’re obviously all quite happy'.
The other key factor in the change was the band took on a different approach to writing this time; 'It’s a lot more of a collaborative effort, which we have not done in the past. It’s been more, Daniel would come in with most of the songs written, then we would work on the arrangements and make small changes and additions to the songs. This time the majority of it was actually written in the rehearsal room, so that is probably why it’s kind of a little bit more focused than previous albums.'
Having released their first album over a decade ago, I was keen to know whether it was frustrating for the band to have to still work full time when a band of this calibre over in Europe or the U.S. could do this for a living. 'It is frustrating, it is hard, but in reality we live in the most isolated capital city in the world, and at the same time, and I think the guys will agree with me, it’s good to have some grounding. It makes you appreciate a lot more, doing what you’re doing and then you come back and do your normal thing. I think even If we were overseas doing it, we would still want to have a little bit of normality, enough to keep you a bit grounded, otherwise you’re living in a fantasy world almost. If you’re doing that all the time. I can understand why some bands go a bit out of control.'
Adelaide will get to witness firsthand how impressive the new album sounds live when Voyager take to the Enigma Bar stage on the 19th July. I asked Simone what the Adelaide fans could expect. 'A crazy, wild night of progressive, pop metal. We will be on our a-game and as crazy on stage as we always are, I hope Adelaide are ready for us.'
Simone’s parting gesture was a message to Adelaide Voyager fans 'We look forward to seeing you, people don’t be shy, come up and talk to us, we look forward to meeting our fans.'
Interview by Mike Trandafil.
You can catch Voyager on tour on the following July dates:
FRI 4th - Canberra @ ANU Bar
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Eyes to the Sky, Renegade Peacock
SAT 5th - Sydney @ The Factory Floor
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Troldhaugen, Without Parachutes
THU 10th - Sunshine Coast @ Vaudeville Room
w/Caligula's Horse, FreeThought, Weightless In Orbit
FRI 11th - Brisbane @ The Brightside
w/Caligula's Horse, Toehider ('What Kind Of Creature Am I?' Album Launch) [VIC], Dark Symphonica
SAT 12th - Melbourne @ The Workers Club
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Toehider ('What Kind Of Creature Am I?' Album Launch), Orsome Welles
SAT 19th - Adelaide @ Enigma Bar
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Dyssidia, Voros
SAT 26th - Perth @ Amplifier Bar ( Amplifier Capitol)
w/Caligula's Horse (QLD), Orsome Welles (VIC), Local Support (TBA)
Presale Tickets are available at wildthingpresents.com, Oztix & the Venues.
This is an 18+ event.
'V' is out now.
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