Russell, thanks so much for doing this interview. While I’m a huge Symphony X fan, I’m a pretty new fan as I heard of you guys because of your work with Avantasia. Did you find that your involvement with Avantasia brought in some new fans?
Yeah, I’ve heard some people say that they heard of us through that project. I’ve been doing this Allen/Lande (duet project with singer Jorn Lande) stuff which is similar music. That has brought a lot of folks over to Symphony X because inside all this prog (Progressive Metal) stuff is really great songs. I think the initial turn off is that people get scared off by the prog title. It really has helped to bring in people who would never give this kind of music a second look because of the genre.
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You have done some great side projects outside of Symphony X in addition to Avantasia such as Star One and Ayreon, but the three albums you’ve done with Jorn Lande are stellar.
I’m really glad you like those albums so much. I really don’t know Jorn personally. I was asked to do that by Serafino Perugino of Frontiers Records. He said, “It would be really great to have my two favorite vocalists get together.” Magnus Karlsson is a wonderful songwriter and he kind of put that together. I worked with Magnus on some other stuff, but he pretty much wrote everything on those albums and I just sang my parts. I work with so many different people because it just makes me a better artist.
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So I take it that you did your parts here in the states and Jorn did his overseas?
Yeah, I did my parts in my studio.
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The way you guys sang together on those albums I’d swear you were not just in the same room, but the best of friends.
Jorn is very talented and we’re just working with each other’s talent. I listen to how he articulates the words and how he sings them and I can get it and do it. It’s actually pretty cool to work that way because you’re not bogged down with the personal stuff. You’re just working with talent. You’re just doing it for the song and who knows, we might have been killing each other in studio [laughs]. It just worked out really well and a lot of people like it.
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Have you performed live with Jorn at all?
No, but I’d love to in the future. Maybe we would do a special event like the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise or something like that. I’d like to do that with either him or Arjen Lucassen. Have you heard the Star One stuff? The new album is really good I think.
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Yeah, I really love that material. It’s just another great dynamic for your voice to go into, but what I really loved was the Atomic Soul album. What an awesome rock record. You really channeled that classic rock side of you and even brought out some of that Paul Stanley influence.
Wow, that’s cool you like that stuff man [laughs]. I have another solo album I’m working on that will be done in July. It’s a little more hard rock/heavy metal, but in the same way it’s very honest music. It’s really close to my heart and really straight forward stuff. Simple songs. No hidden message, but just lyrics you can just easily relate to. I really wanted people to see that side of me that was brought up in the metal cheese ya know what I mean [laughs]. I love that stuff. I’m glad you liked that! The next one is coming out and it’ll be the same kind of stuff. I’m really into pirates so my whole album has this whole pirate vibe going on. Pirate rock I guess [laughs].
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How do you have time to do all these awesome projects outside of Symphony X?
I like mixing it up and I like working. Symphony X takes such long breaks and I just don’t want to lose it, lose that love for music or my passion for it. I have to keep trying to find other artists to work with. I only work with people that I really know like Tobias (Sammett of Edguy/Avantasia). I got to know him really well and same with Arjen. I only make music with people I like as a person. It keeps it fun, low drama and keeps me interested in doing my best. The only exception to that is the Allen/Lande thing, but I got to know both Magnus (Karlsson; songwriter) and Jorn through email. That’s the only thing I’ve ever done where I didn’t go into it with a personal relationship already started. I had a personal relationship with Serafino at Frontiers Records so I trusted him and went for it. I like to get to know a person before I start cooking with them [laughs].
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Yeah, sharing a kitchen can be a bitch.
[laughs] Yeah, and you start throwing knives at each other. It’ll happen.
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Let’s talk about the latest Symphony X album “Iconoclast”. I’ve heard the album and it’s stellar and probably my favorite one yet. How do you feel this album measures up to the previous releases?
I think it’s probably the greatest record the band has ever put out. Not only does it encapsulate everything that Symphony X is, but it’s really fresh and new and the production is really clear. We make no apologies on this album.
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I felt that the band really pushed themselves on this one and as a singer I felt like you were even more vocally dynamic on this one than on the previous ones.
Yeah, I’m just taking what I’ve always done and stretched it a little farther. A little more soulful and a little more aggressive and heavy. I’m not a grunter and I’m not a screamo guy. I don’t knock it and I think it’s cool but it’s just not what I do. I’m a rock singer in a prog band and that’s why we’re unique. I’m a power vocalist from a long forgotten era and time that I wasn’t really old enough to be there for. I was just six or seven years old when the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) came about.
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Was that when you realized that being a singer was your calling?
Yeah, definitely. I was so into Van Halen. I love David Lee Roth’s swagger and I love his voice. A lot of people don’t like his voice, but I think he is an incredible singer. He had that soulful tell it like it is kind of voice. He had all the sexual innuendos and the ass cut out of his pants but whatever man, he was a killer front man [laughs]. I loved Van Halen so then I wanted to know who influenced Van Halen and I heard them say Led Zeppelin so then I wanted to see what Led Zeppelin was all about. My parents were into folk music and are bluegrass musicians now so I come from that country/bluegrass kind of roots. That has helped me to be really honest in my music. If I’m not feeling it it’s not worth singing. With Symphony X I get really into it mainly because of the messages in the songs.
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Speaking of messages in the songs, let’s talk about “Iconoclast” and the underlying message. There is a lot of political and social commentary in there. What are you guys touching on?
The new song “End of Innocence” is all about social networking. It’s a little eloquent with the words, but the message is very clear.
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Do you think technology has hurt music more than helped it?
No. It’s a catch 22. The dark side of technology and social networking is like with these kids. Kids are mean ya know? Like that college student up in Rutgers, I think it was Rutgers, who was gay. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone and his roommate found out so he killed himself. A lot of these stories are happening and you don’t hear about them in the press all the time. There’s a lot of big fucking money behind these social networking sites. The movie “Social Networking” wasn’t too far off. That kid has made himself a mogul in a short amount of time. Anybody who makes that much money that fast, the morality compass is all over the map. I’m not saying that he’s an evil guy because he’s not. He’s just that man in this time now. He’s the Bill Gates of this next generation.
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He created something that was way bigger than himself, you and me.
It’s a monster that sometimes can get out of control. You can only control what people say on there to a certain degree. When you’re in the presence of another person like you and I having a face to face conversation you have a little more respect, a little more dignity, a little more admiration for social etiquette. When you’re behind a computer screen everybody grows a big pair of fucking balls. Everyone gets a big set of nuts and that is the thing that pisses me off. I would never type anything into a computer that I wouldn’t say to your fucking face. If you were some big ass dude I would think twice before I’d go up to you and say, “Hey man, I don’t like your shirt” [laughs]. That’s where social networking empowers them, but in a lot of ways it falsely empowers some people and those people don’t have the maturity in order to handle that responsibility. That’s where technology becomes a problem. It takes away. Our banking system is completely run by technology now. The conveniences are great. I can look at my money any time of day, but someone can also steal my money any time of day [laughs]. That’s the theme of the record “Iconoclast.” You watch. My son’s generation of soldier will be in a room controlling some sort of robot.
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Oh yeah, and it’s not that far off.
No, it’s not. It’s already here. Taking the pilots out of the planes and all that kind of stuff. We’re heading into the “Terminator” area and that’s where Symphony X draws from. We draw from the darker, heavier stuff. The story lines are from things like that, but they’re not from any movies. It’s just what’s happening in the world.
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I feel like growing up and listening to metal as a kid, strong lyrics was what I used to love. I’m a really lyrical person. If you have the ability to express yourself through music, make it meaningful and I feel you guys are doing that.
Thanks man. I’m just a singer and I need something to sing about. If it’s a love story or if it is a journey like “The Odyssey” or something, you’re pretty much putting on a melodrama musically that has all these peaks and valleys and it’s great. When you’re trying to make a statement out of thin air, you need something to talk about and I think for this album the topic is great. There are so many facets about technology being good and evil that it’s just all there. That’s why we have a double album because there’s just so much.
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So Russell, I heard you at one time worked for Medieval Times. What was that like?
I used to be a knight for those guys. I heard they have a castle here in Atlanta.
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Yeah, my wife actually took me there for NYE!
[laughs] That’s cool. I always wanted to be a knight when I was a kid. It was a good run for me and I made a lot of friends there. Some of my friends went on to be big time movie guys. One of my best friends went on to be in all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies as a double. I still go back to Medieval Times and all the younger knights are like, “Dude! You’re Russell Allen” so they think I’m the shit [laughs]. I love them to death. They’re a bunch of great guys. I know what it means to do that job and any guy whoever does that job I’m immediately connected with and I understand how hard it is. I was the company spokesperson for a while so I would talk on television about Medieval Times and the show and the history of the company. The castle itself went through a corporation and went through some changes and became less about being about the show. It wasn’t a show anymore. There used to be two castles and now there’s like 10. It becomes a little McDonalds ya know?
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It’s a lot like music in the sense that it’s a lot harder than it looks to the general public. The people see you guys performing and they love it, but to do this every night is just physically taxing.
Yeah. It definitely takes its toll on you. We put our asses on the line to be up on that stage every day and the fans kind of get it, but most of them don’t because they have their own lives and their own things to worry about. They see us and they see that it’s all glory. We go through a lot of crap out here. Being a knight is the same thing when you start swinging that sword and you see it and it looks so easy. It’s like watching Tiger Woods play golf. It looks just like he stands there and he hits it, but if you hit the ground one time you could crack your wrist pretty damn good. Like you said, everyone’s perception of this is that it looks so easy, but the behind the scenes stuff is all the hours of rehearsal both in the music and the production just like at Medieval Times. We rehearsed every single day.
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So being a knight really helped prepare you for being a rock singer on a larger scale.
It was a huge thing for me as a young man that forged me into the entertainer that I am now. I had a lot of practice in front of an audience every night. Medieval Times taught me to hone my skills and my people skills as well. For example, after a show at Medieval Times the knights would go out and mingle with the audience. This was my introduction to signing autographs and just being myself around people. By the time I got in to music I had already had a huge background with people skills in talking to fans, press and just being able to be me. All that was like training for me. I just didn’t know that at the time. My signature is probably worth jack shit because I’ve signed thousands and thousands of those crappy Medieval Times programs [laughs].
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You know somebody’s looking at one right now going, “Holy crap. That’s the dude from Symphony X!”
[laughs] It’s in some kid’s dresser drawer. My last show was about 10 years ago so that kid’s probably in his 20’s now [laughs]. Those were good times.
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You and I were talking about this classic metal that we grew up with and I’m starting to see that sound making a comeback. What is your outlook on the current state of metal music? Does it have a chance?
I think there’s a huge void in the business right now for it. I think people are starving for that good, classic kind of sound wrapped up in a new package. I’m excited to hear some other people come up with it, but right now I don’t hear anybody. I’m still hearing a lot of that screamo thing or the cookie monster stuff which really isn’t my cup of tea. The closest to that is Phil (Anselmo) from Pantera, but he can sing. He had a killer range and Phil’s a good singer. He delved real deep into that stuff later on with Superjoint Ritual and stuff, but I love the singing. That’s what made it cool for me. I hope that some bands come out with some more shit like that because I want to hear it.
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Ok Russell. Let’s have a little fun here. What is one album that you can’t go a week without listening to?
Oh man, that’s a tough one. I don’t really have one album I have to listen to. When I’m home, I have to listen to Van Halen in the summer. In the winter I get into the Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd mood. When I’m on the road, I’m wailing my balls off every night and listening to the band on “11” for like 90 minutes a night so the last thing I wanna do at the end of the night is to go listen to some fucking tunes [laughs].
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So do you listen to anything in particular to wind down after a show?
The other guys all like jazz. Someone might put on some old R&B or some old Motown stuff that has a cool groove or if we’re really wanting to goof off we’ll put on some Zappa because it’s fun yet still really interesting to listen to. We love to have Van Halen parties though [laughs]. Those are really bad because everyone is so wrecked by the end of it because you have to drink every time Dave does a scream. By the time the Van Halen party is in full effect everyone is just loaded [laughs].
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Man, I’d love to get in on one of those parties! Ok, next question. f you could front any era of any band, who would it be and why?
Man, that’s a toss up between Van Halen and Led Zeppelin, but probably Led Zeppelin. Van Halen to me is the ultimate rock band, but Led Zeppelin just had that rawness and so many different styles of music that they did. That mystical, magic that they had in their sound always intrigued me. Robert Plant is a huge influence on me in that department. I don’t have his kind of voice, but if I could front a band with that kind of power, that’s the kind of music I would do. I’m in the wrong era man [laughs].
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Ok, and finally, if you could fence or duel anybody, who would it be?
Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden singer) and he’d probably kick my ass [laughs].
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I had a feeling you’d pick him!
[laughs] He’d probably kick my ass but man, I’d give it a go [laughs]. I don’t fence though. I’m a medieval sword guy. It would be like scene out of Rob Roy where I’d have to catch it and then cut him in half or something [laughs]. I’d have him sign all my records first though [laughs]. I think it would be great. I bet he’d teach me a lot though. I’d love to duel with Dickinson. Hell, maybe he’d just get in his plane and drop bombs on me!
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Russell, thanks so much for doing this man. It was so great to get to know you and hear your stories. I’m really excited for Iconoclast and I wish you tons of success on this tour and with the new album!
Thank you Don. It was nice to meet you too. Thanks.
The Brainfart & Sir Russell Allen of Symphony X
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