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Frontiers Records present Outloud, a multi-national band which many might see as a project due to the musicians involved. Anyway, the guys offer an album full of 80's heavy metal which sounds fresh and is highly infectious! Thanks to singer Chandler and guitarist Tony for talking about Outloud!
Outloud was started in 2008, but the initial idea was born 2004, is that right?
Tony: Yes, that's right!! It all started in the year of 2004 when I was looking for a guitar teacher and that's when I met Bob. After a few guitar lessons he challenged me to bring him ideas to record them over there at his studio. So I started bombarding Bob with lots of ideas, which soon turned out to be really good songs. So after finishing several songs and since the result was much better that we expected, we decided to form a real hard rock band by 2008!
Why the name Outloud? And whose idea was it?
Tony: Well the band's name was a complete headache for me for a long, long time. The only thing that I can recall is going to Bob's studio one day and just announcing to him the name 'OUTLOUD'! Bob named the project with that name and he said to me "Great, let's continue!"
Did you want to do some 80's metal? Or did it just developed that way?
Tony: My influences come from the 80's hard rock area. My whole idea was to form a band under the 80's hard rock / heavy metal sound. It started with that idea, but afterwards while working the songs with Bob, the result was a hard rock album, but with a completely modern sound. Bob’s influences are more modern and that appears in the album.
Which bands from the 80's are you still listening to?
Chandler: Well, we like all the essential ones. A lot of 80's metal, like Maiden, Priest and Helloween. But we listen to many different things, each one of us, for example, Bob likes Dream Theater, Annihilator... I like mostly 70's hard rock and also funk and soul music!
An international band very often is working with modern technique and distances are cutting short by internet. Why going back and work as a real band? Is it easier to create an authentic atmosphere that way?
Chandler: Yes it is, and that's the lost art today, to some degree. The internet, while a great facilitator of communication, also makes it very easy to patch a project together, and call it a band. There are many good albums done like this, but you know you can record a record with someone and never even have met them. Looking back in the 70s and 80s, in my opinion bands had more chemistry then, a sort of x-factor which made them more authentic. This is what we are creating. Outloud started out as a project, but soon became a full-on band, and we're glad it did, because it feels like a band.
I guess that through MySpace you already got some feedback, at least about the songs which are online there... Are you satisfied with the feedback?
Chandler: Yes, we've gotten amazing feedback from Myspace and also Facebook. We've seen the interest in our profiles on these outlets translate so far to high quantities of interviews, great reviews, and huge amounts of e-mails! But the true test will be to see, if it translates to album sales. With the music industry the way it is and music being 'free' all over the internet, artists rely on fans to truly support them by purchasing their product and telling others to do the same. We hope that we can generate a large amount of people making it a 'trend' to buy the CD...! Ya know, you can get it right now at www.nehrecords.com ! Simple as that! :)
Have you been confident that you can infect the fans with the 80's metal?
Tony: That is one of the band's goals, but no matter how good the product is that you have, nobody can be confident about that these days especially when you are a newcomer in the music industry. We just have to push it as hard as possible! Till now all the reviews have been outstanding and our label is really supporting us. We feel very strongly about the record and we will see what happens after the release!
You did a video for We Run. Why this one?
Chandler: Well, we felt this is the definitive Outloud song from the record. We feel strongly about every song on there, but this one had 'single' written all over it, and this tune had all the band members putting forth their input as opposed to 3 – a true collaborative effort and the energy and intention of all of the members really comes through on the track in a special way. It's got something for everyone!
Check it out, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aifdQ6CfKL0
Can we expect to see Outloud live when the Firewind schedule allows it?
Tony: Definitely. We will have some shows around Greece after the album release and we are planning a tour after the beginning of next year.
What's on your schedule for the next couple of months?
Chandler: Promoting the hell out of our record, working on a new video clip, writing and recording the next record, and as mentioned earlier working on live shows! It will be a crazy schedule, but a very productive one!
That sounds absolutely great! Outloud had me right away and so I'm glad to hear that they will hit the road and also work on a new album! Looking forward to hear more from these guys!
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