West, Richard (Threshold) (June 2003)

Appealing To The Critical Masses

By now Threshold need no introduction, as the band have certainly made their mark in recent years, releasing a string of consistently strong albums including last year's Critical Mass. Earlier this month, the band released an fan-club only acoustic CD called, Wireless ? Acoustic Sessions. A new DVD is on the horizon, and we had a chance to ask keyboardist Richard West a few questions about both, about the band in general, and what else lies ahead for the band.

Davide Guidone: This is a busy period for the band with the Wireless - Acoustic Sessions release and the recording of the next DVD, isn't it?

Richard West: There's always something new to do in Threshold, but to be honest we thought an acoustic album was the one project we'd never have time for. But in January we realised we had a few weeks spare, so we decided to make it happen. And the DVD, well we originally wanted to record it in 2002 during the Critical Mass tour but it never quite happened, so it's great that we managed to organise it for 2003 instead.

DG: Speaking of the DVD, this past last June 6th you played at the De Boederij in Zoetermeer, Holland, recording the show for the Critical Energy DVD. If I'm not wrong it's the first one for the group. What are your considerations about this concert?

RW: We haven't seen or heard the footage yet so I'm not sure, but the concert went well and there was a good audience. It took us a couple of songs to get used to the cameras, not so much because of nerves but because they acted as a barrier between the band and the fans. But after a few songs everybody started to relax and the show went well, so I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

DG: You did a mini tour for this event. What went into the choice of the places where you were playing? Why don't you come to Italy?

RW: We wanted to do a couple of warm-up shows before the DVD recording, originally we were going to do them in England and Belgium but they ended up being in Germany. We were also booked to play at the Rock Hard festival two days after the DVD concert, so we added another show in between in Switzerland. Because it was such a short tour it wasn't economic to travel large distances, so although we had plenty of offers from more distant countries we'll have to wait for a longer tour before that can happen.

DG: In this period you also published the fan club CD Wireless ? Acoustic Sessions. What was your approach to this album?

RW: We knew that it would make a good fan club album, but we wanted it to be the same quality as all our studio albums. To keep it interesting we changed a lot of the musical arrangements around, added some unreleased tracks and played a couple of songs people really weren't expecting to hear acoustically. I think the end result is quite unexpected, and when we released it we were nervous to see what people would think, but so far the reaction has been wonderful.

DG: I guess it is a great album. Do you think about giving it a worldwide distribution, through Inside Out, for example?

RW: It's possible, but at the moment we enjoy giving our dedicated fans something extra by releasing them privately. The albums are actually available to everybody from our website www.thresh.net so they already have worldwide distribution, they're just a bit more secret than our studio albums.

In my opinion, the best thing about Wireless are the arrangements. Do you agree?

RW: We've had a lot of comments that some of the acoustic arrangements are better than the original studio versions. Some of the new chord progressions bring more emotion to the melodies, and some of the more epic songs have benefited from being shortened to make them more suitable for acoustic performance. Johanne James gave everything a more relaxed feel by changing his drumming style for the project, and Karl Groom has done some wonderful acoustic solos that really fit the songs well.

DG: In fact, with these new arrangements, every song is a lot different from the originals. So I believe everyone can listen to it, even those that dislike any kind of progressive sound. What do you think about that?

RW: Apparently it's very popular with female fans and girlfriends! I can imagine that a girlfriend of a progressive metal fan would be quite relieved to listen to something acoustic for a change.

DG: On the album there are songs from every CD you have published in the past, so Mac [Andrew McDermott] also sings pieces from discs on which he didn't originally appear, like "Consume To Live" [ Wounded Land] or "Innocent" ( Psychedelicatessen]. What do you think about his performance?

RW: Mac's done a great job, he's wanted to sing "Innocent" for a long time and now we've started playing the original version in our live shows again. It's great when he sings the old material, I think it brings a whole new lease of life to the songs when they're performed by the new line-up.

DG: Which singer do you prefer for the Threshold sound, Damian Wilson, Glynn Morgan or Mac?

RW: That's a difficult question because they're all great singers, but I can't imagine Threshold without Mac. He's become such a big personality in the band and he's got a great stage presence that helps bring our shows to life.

DG: What is the situation of prog music in the world, according to you?

RW: To quote a Threshold song, "somehow I'm surviving!" The major labels may not be interested but our fans certainly are, so despite the lack of big marketing money the prog scene is still very much alive and well.

DG: In which countries do you feel Threshold are appreciated a lot?

RW: Most of our fans come from Europe, the US, and South America, but I guess the main area is Germany because that's where our label is based. The UK is also starting to pick up nicely for us, prog's had a hard time in our home country over the last few years but it's starting to improve.

DG: I've noticed that on your recent albums, you've used many electronic sounds. Why?

RW: I like it but someone maybe disagree with me...

We're not trying to emulate the 70's; you know they're gone now and we're not stuck there. We just want to make powerful progressive music that embraces all that's great about the past and the future, we don't really care whether a sound is electronic or acoustic, we just want to make the best music we can.

DG: Speaking of past albums, do you know if Extinct Instinct and Clone will be reissued by Inside Out?

RW: We're hoping this will happen in 2004, we've spoken to our old record company about it but no deal has been signed yet.

DG: Can you promise to me that in future Threshold will come in Italy?

RW: I hope so, we have some very dedicated fans down there and I think it's about time we came back to visit.

DG: Can you say hello to our friends at Progressiveworld.net and Hmportal?

RW: Of course, hello and thanks for reading the interview, I hope we'll be touring near you again soon!

Live photos of June 6th Threshold show © Sy "Wooks" Seddon, used by permission

[ Extinct Instinct did get a "special edition" release in 2004, but Clone has not. Aside from live releases and fan-club only releases, the band have released a further 2 studio albums. Around 2007-2008, Mac left the band. Damian Wilson returned as vocalist and in 2011 the band are currently working on a new album. In August 2011, Mac passed away -ed.]

Discography:
Wounded Land (1993)
Psychedelicatessen (1994)
Livedelica (1995)
Extinct Instinct (1997)
Clone (1998)
Decadent (1999)
Hypothetical (2001)
Wounded Land: Special Edition (2001/2002)
Psychedelicatessen/Livedelica: Special Edition (2001/2002)
Concert In Paris (2002)
Critical Mass (2002)
Wireless - Acoustic Sessions (2003)
Critical Energy (2004)
Extinct Instinct: Special Edition (2004)
Subsurface (2004)
Replica (2004)
Surface to Stage (2006)
Dead Reckoning (2007)
The Ravages Of Time (2007)
Paradox - The Singles Collection (2009)
March Of Progress (2012)
For The Journey (2014)
European Journey (2015)

Critical Energy (2004) (DVD)