10 Quick Ones with ADRIENNE COWAN of SEVEN SPIRES – June 2017

According to a recent press release: “With its new theatrical piece “Solveig”, the female-fronted American band Seven Spires is about to pull off a major coup in the ever-growing symphonic metal scene. This debut album, which is to be released worldwide on August 4th, 2017 via SAOL, indeed succeeds in establishing as of now the four-piece orchestra as an essential figure of tomorrow’s extreme soundscape.   The first video from the album for the song “The Cabaret of Dreams” can be viewed HERE.” We get vocalist Adrienne Cowan to answer our 10 Quick Ones about the new disc, his influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

I write (and orchestrate) with musical themes, and love weaving them in and out of songs. Re-colouring familiar melodies with different harmonies can elicit a powerful emotional response – something I learned from studying Howard Shore’s work on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. There are at least ten major themes on “Solveig”, and our new single “Stay” features one of them quite prominently, although there are others woven in from Act I as well.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

All of us grew up playing music from a very young age, and we met at Berklee, so it honestly feels like it was meant to be for us. Pete started on upright bass, Chris started on drums of course, Jack on viola, and I started on classical piano and singing.

3. Who would be your main five musical influences?

This is always a bit tricky because there are SO many artists we draw influences from. But, for the sake of picking five major ones, I’d go with Hans Zimmer, old school Kamelot, Dimmu Borgir, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Romantic Classical music.

4. If you could call in any one collaboration to do a song with, who would it be?

Easily Jeff Loomis – dueling guitar solos are always awesome, and we love his sense of melody and harmony.

5. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before?

Melancholy and theatrical orchestral arrangements meets highly trained technical sensibilities, hooks galore, and storytelling. Everyone in the band, particularly the rhythm section, is very proficient at their instruments. Even though the songs are meant to be catchy and memorable, they are always written with space for the guys to really shine.

6. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Music – and especially metal – has a magic way of bringing people together. It makes for a beautiful escape from whatever troubles you, and it creates amazing families of people who understand you on a level that outsiders do not.

7. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Jack cooks mostly awesome Italian dishes and fancy coffees, Pete has some favourite wines and I bring Kraken rum or my bourbon of the month, hahah. Nobody really brings acoustic guitars out, but our playlist usually includes Chopin, Ravel, Mozart, Dragonforce, Insomnium, Amaranthe, the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, Sidney Bechet, and various black/melodic death metal bands.

8. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

I would be an astrophysicist, because space is fascinating and my brain sometimes misses handling science-y thoughts instead of analyzing chord progressions and wondering if Bach would approve of them. Jack would probably be a chef because he finds great fulfillment in creating delicious meals, and Pete would make a great stock broker because he works beautifully under tonnes of pressure and is awesome with money. Chris would definitely be a comedian or an actor – he is the band prank caller and all around funny guy.

9. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”?

Every band has difficult times, but I don’t think there is anything we wish we could go back and redo. Every hard time has been a learning and growing experience for us, whether it’s how long it took us to get the current lineup together or how long it has taken us to get this record out, or all those tours that fell through. Everything happens for a reason and the hard times have always worked out for the better for us.

10. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

The album I’d wish to be a part of the making of is actually a live one – Dimmu Borgir’s Forces of the Northern Night. They release the live video of “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” ages ago. I remember sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee watching that video for the first time, and feeling in my soul that this was exactly everything I’ve ever wanted to do: super dark and theatrical metal with a live choir and orchestra. This was one that Pete and Jack pretty much unanimously agreed on… but knowing Chris, he’d probably go with any Slayer record 🙂

SEVEN SPIRES LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Interviews