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By: Raymond Westland
Seeing someone like Damian Wilson (Threshold, Star One) in an acoustic setting is quite an experience to say the least. Raymond Westland had the chance to sit down with him at Gigant Apeldoorn and he was every bit the charming and witty guy he’s known for. Please enjoy one of the funniest and most entertaining interviews Raymond has done in a long time…
(((o))): Currently you’re on tour playing acoustic songs in a singer/songwriter type of setting. How are things going so far?
Damian: The main reason for this tour is that I need some practise in talking. I feel I don’t do enough talking in my shows. I need to concentrate on my delivery. It’s very much a talking tour really. Perhaps that may even improve my musicianship.
(((o))): How do you prepare yourself mentally for an acoustic show? Is it very different from a Threshold gig for instance?
Damian: The one thing I try to do, besides the talking element, is do as little preparation as possible. The less preparation I do, the less thought I put into it, makes the whole show far more natural and pure.
With Threshold I always go for a run, do a vocal warm up, get myself energized and go on stage. That’s it. To be honest I do the same with this talking tour although the shows are very different of course. I like to go for a run just before the show, which can be quite of an issue sometimes. Well, If I need to sing a Threshold song, like ‘The Rubicon’ for instance, I really need to warm up. The studio version is sung in a ridiculously high key. When we did it live Karl Groom [Threshold guitarist] came to me and said that he changed the key. Fantastic news. But he’d changed it to a higher key! Karl is a wonderful man and I thought he had come to my aide. But when I realised the song would be played in that higher key? I thought it was near impossible to sing it in the studio but still managed live with pure luck and a prayer. That’s why it’s essential for me to do vocal warm ups and have my vocal chords stretched (laughs).
(((o))): What can people expect from a Damian Wilson acoustic show?
Damian: Quite a bit of talking, of course (laughs). Besides the talking I play songs mainly from my solo albums. They’re very genuine songs. Writings songs is like therapy, it helps to focus your mind. When you come to my show you’ll find a very stripped down version of me. It’s all about very genuine emotions and simple songs, simply played.
(((o))): Your last solo album, entitled Let’s Start A Commune was recorded and released back in 2005. Is there another possible solo record in the works?
Damian: Yeah, it’s a good ten years ago. Time does go by fast. My main focus at the moment is doing another solo album. I want to record songs again. I’ve been in the studio already and I hope to continue working on the new album once this tour is over. My agent said it was my fourth acoustic tour without a new album and it was getting quite ridiculous. He was concerned the interest would be completely gone because of that. On the contrary, the shows are getting better and better on this tour, so that’s quite a relief. I cannot give away any song titles or a release date, so people will have to be patient. I’d like to work with a label, but so far there is still, no news on that front.
(((o))): Let’s talk Maiden United, which is your acoustic metal band/project. How did you become involved?
Damian: Initially I had no interest to become involved. My main interest was because of Ruud Jolie [Within Temptation guitarist]. We did this tour together, which was a Damian Wilson band thingy. I felt that I’ve given him a rough time on tour and that I had to patch things up with him. So when he came to me with the idea of this Iron Maiden acoustic tribute band I thought it was a really bad idea. The idea of a Dutch metal band playing acoustic covers of Maiden didn’t seem like the best idea on paper. Despite this, I went into the studio with Ruud and Joey and we recorded ‘The Trooper’.
To my surprise it actually worked. I’ve enjoyed it so much, all the adventures we had with that band. A few months after the release of our first album we played Download Festival at Donnington and headlined our stage at Wacken Open Air. It wasn’t the main stage, mind you, but it was still a great thing to do. They’re great guys and I love them. Every time we play those songs, they don’t feel like Maiden songs to me. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing covers. People probably won’t even recognize the songs when we play them (laughs).
(((o))): Bruce Dickinson’s trademark vocal lines are quite a challenge on any given day. How do you manage to make them your own nonetheless?
Damian: Most of the time I simply ignore his vocal lines. I’d rather invent my own. I try to make things different as much as possible, to put my own stamp on it. Songs are presented by the band and I put my own interpretation on them. There’s no point in sounding like or copying Bruce Dickinson. It’s something I like to have fun with and that’s basically it, you know. Bruce is unique.
(((o))): Another musician you’ve worked quite a lot with over the years, is Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon and Star One fame. What makes working with him so great?
Damian: Arjen is a great guy and he really manages to get the best out of everyone he works with. No one understands my voice as much as he does. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some really great producers and musicians like Arjen. Richard West from Threshold is another guy, he really understands my voice and how I sing, it’s a real talent to have that ear. Arjen manages to bring the best out of me as a vocalist and all the other musicians he works with. He has a gift and he’s a lovely fellow. He’s loved by the people who record with him and is a well known musician with a large following, which never hurts (laughs).
(((o))): It certainly doesn’t hurt to raise your profile by being included on an Ayreon album.
Damian: True, but at the time when we first worked together on The Electric Castle, his profile wasn’t that high. To me he wasn’t really well known. Yet he managed to get Fish and Sharon den Adel [from Within Temptation] aboard. Of course he played with Vengeance, but he wasn’t that well known under his own name. When we did ‘And The Druids Turned To Stone’ and he first presented it to me I just didn’t see it. There was nothing particularly appealing to me as a vocalist. It’s about Stonehenge, so it was really close to Spinal Tap to me. Yet Arjen insisted, so I came over, but I told him if it doesn’t work out I’ll go home straight. It turned out to be the best thing I ever did with Arjen. Just like Maiden United I initially didn’t like it. I thought it would be terrible, yet it turned out fantastic. And the things I think will be fantastic, turn out terrible, (laughs).
(((o))): You were also involved with Star One, appearing on both the album and the subsequent live tour. How did that came about?
Damian: I’ll jump at every chance to work with Arjen, because of what he manages to bring out of me. Star One was initially conceived with Bruce Dickinson in mind and when that didn’t happen he put his group of singers together and we recorded the whole thing as a team. That’s basically how it was. I’ll always be open to working with Arjen.
(((o))): Finally, could you end this interview by telling a very funny anecdote of the people you collaborated with?
Damian: You ask me for a funny anecdote. Now, here’s the thing, I try not to be funny. When I try to be funny it’s the most disastrous thing in the world. When I try to be serious, everyone thinks that I’m funny, and laugh at me. So that’s how it seems to work. For example, I went to the Fringe festival in Scotland with some friends of mine who are comedians. They wanted to have a musical interlude for their act so they asked me to come along. Things were a little stressful and I was late and I had trouble getting the guitars on stage but there were some pretty big named comedians up there, like all the well known guys from the telly. People like Stewart Lee, Bill Bailey, good names. Stewart is always travelling around Scotland, cracking jokes. That’s his big thing.
My comedy friends really had a hard time, because of a lot of Scottish students who were there completely hammered and they were being quite difficult. When I went on stage, I had prepared a number of thought provoking songs about tragedy, death and misfortune. I was hoping the packed crowd would respond sympathetically, but walking purposely on stage I was met by giggling. I even stopped mid song in disbelief at the response of the audience to my recollection of personal misery, only to hear the echoing thunder of laughter. As I came off stage bemused I was greeted by the organiser of the event who told me my show had been hilarious. Adding ‘the lead routine was spectacular’. I had simply plugged in my guitar? The drunk students crowded round me and declared me the funniest act on all night. When I informed them I was simply ‘the musical interlude’, they brushed it off, saying, ‘It takes a lot of guts to get up there and make people laugh’. I can’t agree more with them, it does take a lot of guts to get up there and make people laugh. It’s just I had never meant to.
