~ Interviews Kamelot France ~

Interview with Thomas Youngblood

Septembre 4th, 2009

We got the chance some days ago to interview Kamelot's guitarist Thomas Youngblood. We hope you'll enjoy it !

.: New album :.

- Are you happy with what has been done so far?

- Absolutely, we feel very revived and fresh after all the touring we have done since the release of Ghost Opera. Lots of new ideas and inspirations have sprung up over the past 2 years.

- Is there any songs entirely composed already? How many? 

- We have at least 12 songs composed so far, some may end up as bonus tracks. Its still too early to tell at this point. We may see the first ever cover song by Kamelot.

- Can you tell us more about what’s been done in Norway - did you mostly focus on music or lyrics… 

- 99% of the time the lyrics come last, sometimes even the night before the vocals are recorded. We focus on music, riffs, ideas for choirs etc during the writing sessions. We also discuss lyrical themes and ideas that translates into the basis of the final lyrics.

- We are in full recording mode now, Roy will be in Germany for a few months on vocals while we work here in Florida on guitars and drums. I will go over again for guitars and the mix.

- Is Oliver more involved into the writing process now that he’s doing a real composition work with Sons of Seasons?

- Oliver has some great ideas and we have a few we think are going to be on the album. This will give the new album something different I think as well.

- You speak about releasing a concept album. Can you tell us a little more about the main themes ?

- We are not sure yet if the whole album will be a concept or if we do a trilogy so to speak, that is still in the planning stages. Any ideas for the themes are a secret for now, we need suspense don't we? Haha!

- Is the work for this album harder than the work for the last ones ?

- No, its probably the same. We know the process now after so many years and also how to manage time effectively.  

- Did you begin to work on the album artwork ? And can you tell us who will make it ?

- Yes, and its all a secret..shhhh

- Did you already decide the title ?

- Not yet.

- How many videoclips do you plan ?

- At least two high quality videos and several personal/live videos over the touring cycle.

- Can you tell us about the guests that gonna appear on this album ?

- We have 2-3 special guests planned, also a secret for now. 

.: Upcoming Tour 2010 :.

- Do you know who gonna open for Kamelot ?
 
- We are going through the bands that have contacted us and we hope to have an announcement within the next 30 days on this.

- What about full stage outfits, greater backdrops etc, for the new album?

- Bigger, louder, hotter, more!! This will be a big step up from the last tour. 

- Kamelot shows seems more and more theatrical. Will you carry on that way ?

- Absolutely, we will invest a lot into the show. As many pyro shows as allowed, bigger staging and lights too. 

- Luminous sticks again for Casey's solo ? Was great!!

- Haha, not sure about that. I think they died after half the tour. He hits hard!

- Will you do a Japan Tour and a US one then ?

- Absolutely, we are planning the US in Fall of 2010 and Japan either in the Summer or early 2011.

- Do you plan any special events for any of the shows like you did in Cologne this year ?
 
- We would love to do another after show party at Hard Rock Cafe. We would actually like to do this at all Hard Rock Cafes on the tour. Maybe I should call the management about this? Haha

- With the coming out of the new album, the setlist gonna change to include new songs. Have you already think of which song gonna stay next years ?

- We will definitely have a new setlist, including at least 4 new songs and some old ones from early records. We have to go back and listen to the older albums and decide what would be good for live.

- Do you plan special stuff for your return in Paris ?

- You have to organize something for us!! What about a parachute drop over the Eiffel Tower?
Coming to Paris is always special and it seems like its been a long time since we played in Paris. I am sure it will be a very special evening for all of us.

- You will play in Montpellier for the first time. How did you decide to come in this town ?

- Ahh...this is second time we will play in Montpellier. The venue there is really cool and we wanted to return again.

- You always said you love touring and fans love to see you live. But we've done massive touring during the last years. Haven't you ever wanted to slow down and give priority to your familly life ?

- We love touring so much, its like we want to be playing now. But our families are the first priority, that is always the case. So as long as there is a good balance between touring and home life we are fine. We actually turn down a lot of touring offers due to making sure we balance home life with touring.

.: Guitars :.

- Do you have any new equipement ?

- Yes, I am now using Boss MultiPedals and Elixir Strings.

- Can you tell us a little more about the guitars you use live ?

- I have been using ESP Guitars for a while now, usually Horizons but now I love the Eclipse Models. 

- How do you deal between your different guitars live ?

- My main guitars is my first ESP, its a Horizon Custom with Floyd Rose and Seymour Duncan pickups. It fits like a glove. For the other tunings I use non-Floyd guitars like the Eclipses. I have a gloss black one, Cherry Red and Vintage Black which look killer and sounds amazing. I used it in the Rule The World video.

- Which tuning do you use ? Mainly standard tuning ? 

- I use 3 tunings, one is a half step down from Standard. D#, the second is D, one full step down and the last is D with the low string tuned to C. Drop C is the term for this.

- What about doing a signature guitar ?  

- This is being discuss now, I hope to have some news about this very soon. 

.: Training & Warming up :.

- What do you do as a daily or weekly training ? How many time do you practice..?

- I like to play acoustic mostly around the house, this strengthens the fingers much better than playing an electric.

- What do you do as warming-up before the gigs ?

- I warm up at least 30 minutes before every gig, sometimes with a Mini Pod headphone amp or just with the guitar itself.

- What do you enjoy playing for your own pleasure ? (favorite musicians / songs)

- I dont listen to much music at home, on tour in the backstage I listen to Malmsteen, Rammstein, TNT, etc...just to get a good feeling for the show. At home I listen to a lot of different music. From Metallica to Enya.

- Which Kamelot members is used to warm up the most ?

- Probably Casey, he is a mad man for warming up. Oliver is reading a book right up to the time we leave the dressing room, its great.

.: DVD :.

- You spoke about releasing a new DVD after the next album. Do you have any ideas about the places you're gonna film it ?

- Yes, we have some big plans for the next DVD, stay tuned!

- Will you pick up videos from the previous tour or will it be only new stuff ?

- Most of the DVD will from the new tour, we will have a camera person with us on the whole tour for behind the scenes footage, press conferences, meet and greets, and all the things that happen on the bus, backstage etc...This will be the most in dept view of Kamelot ever. 

.: Apart :.

- What do you think about Sons Of Seasons’ debut album? About the project itself?

- Sounds great! Oliver has done a great job with it, the band sounds really tight.

- What about Sons of Seasons opening for Kamelot?

- Why not, could be a little strange for Oliver but it could work. It wont happen on this tour though.

- What about making an acoustic show in France some day ??

- I dont know how interesting this is for most fans. Maybe a 3 song portion of the set would be ok. I like loud stuff when I go to a concert!

- Each member of the band has taken part of different project, or done solo project. Waht about Roy's solo project ? Is there a chance to have the album coming out one day ?

- Not sure, I know he has a lot of “non-Kamelot” songs for this in mind. But both him and I are so busy with Kamelot that its hard to realize these other ventures. 

Thanks to all the Kamelot Nation!! See you on Tour, Peace!
Thomas

Thomas

Interview by Erzebet & Waënelin

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