It’s Competition Time!!!
You’ll find the whole of issue 8 further down the page - if you can only find this then just click on the word “Beyond” at the very top and it will show you the whole rolling history, page after page! The following is an extract from that issue…
Before we go, do you remember the photo competition that happened a short while before Beyond was created? Well it’s definitely time for a new one. But this time with a difference…
“Just what does that mean?” we hear you cry! Well we want you to send us ANY artistic interpretation of a Threshold song. It could be a simple photograph that literally shows the song title, or it could be a deeper interpretation of the song’s lyrics or its sentiment. Alternatively you might want to draw, paint or even sculpt! If you do we just want a picture of your work not the original item! In short send us a picture that has a caption that is a Threshold song title.
You can pick absolutely any Threshold song title from any of the albums and the Paradox box set as long as it was written by Threshold band members past or present. Then just get creative. Please remember nothing obscene, offensive or what would be against most forums in the normal world!
And the prize? We haven’t even worked how we will judge them yet let alone a prize! But we do hope to make it worth your effort! (but don’t spend any money!)
When you have something please send it to beyond@thresh.net DO NOT POST IT ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET as we don’t want the judges to see it until the last moment! We probably need to limit this to three entries per person (unless you are very persuasive) and we will set the end of 2011 as the closing date.
Beyond
Welcome to Issue Eight…
Welcome back!!!
We really enjoy trawling around looking for things but would love to have life a little easier. So if you have taken shots of the band let us know that we can use them, maybe send us a link. We also want to receive your stories about live shows, meeting the band or how you got into Threshold.
And please don’t forget we want photos of set lists and especially pics of the venues Threshold play or have played. We want yours though, not just some random one from the web! Sorry to keep banging that same old drum.
Talking of drums, we kick off with a short insight on the Johanne James kit. And trust us - it really is short of much insight! He’s almost as protective of the information as he is of that spare snare that we have once had the joy of guarding.
Next we are going to have a quick look at yet another amazing fan item. We’ve had two cars and some tattoos - now something else.
To close - well of course some more tracks in the spotlight. We’ve given up on trying to do them randomly so have picked three from albums that haven’t been looked at for a while and then tried to tie in with the most recent setlist. Sort of. Well two of them!
Enjoy!
Beyond
(note - quotes or interviews are all in this colour and please remember that all pictures are the property of the person who took them so please ask for permission if you want to use them)
Johanne James…on drums
It seemed like the right time to catch up with Johanne and his drumkit. We all know the noise he makes but tucked away at the back, sometimes smothered in dry ice, just what exactly is in that engine room?
A stubborn limpet!
So Johanne, what’s your current kit?
I now use a black plastic wrap Premier kit. 20” bass drum, 10x6”,12x7” toms and a 16” floor tom. The snare drum is a Premier wood shell piccolo 14x4”.
I use whatever cymbals I can get hold of that are cheap and sound reasonably good.
They are mainly Stagg as I don’t see the point of spending hundreds of pounds on something I will inevitably break within a few months.
It’s an interesting point about the cymbals. Catch up with Johanne after a show and he’s also sure to tell you how many sticks he has got through. And how expensive they are! Presumably a Stagg endorsement won’t be on the cards as it would just cost them too much!
Well my kit used to be huge. 27 piece. My brother and I would take ages setting it up. We discovered that not only did we waste so much time
assembling this monstrosity, it didn’t actually make me play any better, I just threw my arms in any direction and I was bound to hit something.
We literally stared at each other one evening and the connection was made. Get rid of it!! I ended up playing just four drums, three cymbals and two hi hats! I realized that in fact I played much better using less than I did when I had a kit that resembled something like an airplane cockpit!!
Johanne flying a plane? Interesting idea.
We’ve already (back in issue 3 I think) asked about influences and got a long list. But is there a drummer that you really noticed first, whether they became an influence or not?
The only trouble with that, is that I would have experimented with strange animals. You know attaching pigeons to monkeys to see if they would fly? Stuff like that! Best I stick to drums eh? At least the animal kingdom will be safe? For the time being anyway? Ha ha ha ha!!!
We’ll let that soak in for a few seconds.
Johanne’s jumbled animal creations do develop as a conversation with him progresses but for some reason they always come back to pigeon assisted flying monkeys.
But let’s get this back on track with one for the drum freaks - what is your favourite bit of kit and what is the most important?
For both that would be the snare drum, as you can solo on it all day long! If you know how, that is.
No!
Ever generous…
Many thanks to Johanne for his revealing (?) answers! Perhaps it’s best that he stays behind his drum kit a while longer.
New fan item
We know a lot of you may have seen this on Facebook but we wanted to share this with the wider world - Iris Botz has just updated her ‘phone (no free advertising here!) and this is the result.
It was fairly easy to do as I still had the Threshold logo from the mugs I did some time ago, so I only had to make my mind up about the colours. Then I looked on the internet for a company where you can design your own phone case.
First I picked an American one but they didn’t want to do it because of copyright issues, then I found a German company and within a few days I got my Thresh-phone :D
Why did you pick that design?
As I don’t go anywhere without my phone I wanted to have a more personal cover not one that everybody else has too and Threshold is my favourite band, I have lots of great memories of Threshold gigs and many special moments, so for me it was an obvious choice.
And it was a good one, it makes me smile everytime I look at it!
Anything else you want to say now you are briefly in the spotlight?
I’m looking forward to many more gigs!
Well we can’t disagree with that!
On The Road…again
Well it would make sense to start in Derby just as the band did. But despite our best efforts no-one came forward to tell us all about it. We did manage to get our hands on a couple of set list shots but that’s it! And even though it was the nearest gig to Beyond HQ we didn’t make it either.
Fortunately this is where the stories start to come in! First up is Astrid who seems to manage to do something to appear in nearly every issue! This time it was a trip over the water (or rather under) to see the band.
Astrid part one
Threshold’s gig at The Peel was a great excuse to treat myself to a trip to my favourite country and to see my favourite band. After a comfortable Eurostar trainride I arrived at St. Pancras early in the afternoon, a good friend was already waiting for me.
On our way there we passed a restaurant and thought we saw some guys we knew. We were right! After saying hello to Johanne, Pete and Karl we got chucked out because we made too much noise and continued our journey to the venue. (note - I would say the owner looked worried and the rest of the customers confused!)
Of course not without a pubstop :) We arrived at The Peel about the same time as Johanne and Pete. We took some pictures of the lovely venue, admired Johanne’s ‘new’ car and went in. I had been told that The Peel was quite a small place, but it didn’t feel like that at all. It was fairly packed and there was a really nice atmosphere. I saw a lot of familiar faces, some I’d met before and some I met for the first time in real life.
It’s a growing theme and hopefully Beyond does its small part in helping to form that ever growing Threshold family!
THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD
It was so good to see them in their own country. But of course even two hours seems way too short when you’re enjoying yourself so much. I was happy I had another two gigs to look forward to, but this was definitely a brilliant start.Well we’ll leave Astrid for now…
Conny
The UK was done for this mini tour with two dates to come in Uden, Holland (at de Pul, familiar Threshold territory) and on the Friday of the Night of The Prog festival at Loreley (Germany, a new one for Threshold but in its sixth edition). Conny Kopnick takes up the story…
On Monday 4th of July the Belgium show was cancelled and I was shocked. I had planned to go to the Loreley gig and stay the night in Belgium and had already booked the youth hostel and got a day off from work.
I was glad she didn’t have to work! So I managed to get another day off and arranged to stay at the same place as Iris for the night! Lucky me!
On Thursday I caught up with Iris early and we were soon heading for Uden :) Everything went fine and we had some time to spend in the little town of Uden. After lunch and a nice cup of coffee we went to de Pul and Threshold were already there. They were getting ready for the show and I had the chance to talk to the guys a bit.
The concert itself was amazing as is every Threshold gig :) Iris and I eventually got home safely and I had just about four hours of sleep!
After this shock I packed my things and left Iris’ with a pain in my stomach.
I was unsure if I would see the last Threshold gig before they break for the new album! So first I concentrated on driving to Loreley. First thing I found on the road? A huge traffic jam! I thought it couldn’t get worse. But it could… it took one hour to get through the traffic and I reached St.Goar just in time. For all that don’t know St.Goar it’s on the other side of the Rhine to Loreley and I had to drive south a few kilometres.
Luckily I was able to call my dad and he kept on telling me that it will be alright soon. I should just stay calm and let the brakes get cold again. After a while the brakes worked again and I got on the ferry and drove up to the Loreley amphitheatre. But I still had no ticket. So I waited for my friend Pauline and I told her that I had no ticket. Somehow she arranged one for me and I was able to get in! Bless her!
I saw an amazing Threshold show again. Damian was jumping into the audience by the third song and everyone was surprised. Those who know Damian wasn’t…. ;) But he really reached nearly every person in the audience and this gig turned into a gigantic one. I really hope that there are a lot more Threshold fans now!
So there are some thoughts from Uden and Loreley and it sounds like Conny, and a whole load more new fans at Loreley, had a great time with the band.
It was amazing to see a crowd that was quiet at the start of the gig really come to life - hard not to when Damian comes and stands next to you!
Time to return to Astrid…
Astrid part two
When it was announced that Threshold would play at the German Night Of The Prog festival I thought I just had to go there. The rest of the lineup didn’t appeal to me at all and I found it quite far and expensive for just one interesting band, but hey, we were talking about Threshold here! However when Threshold announced that they were also going to play in Uden and Tongeren the decision of skipping NOTP was more easily made.
After a couple of hours of panic and confusion and some e-mails, text messages and ‘phone calls things developed very quickly. Mister Beyond managed to get us passes for NOTP and Mrs Beyond booked us into a hotel not far from the festival site. Things were looking good again!
Justin, Liz and I arrived at De Pul in Uden early afternoon shortly after the band got there. We were welcomed by Steve, Johanne and Damian and before I knew it Johanne had sneaked into the driver’s seat and I was standing next to my own car! Something was wrong with that picture :) After the van was unloaded I got the very important job of helping Johanne set up his drumkit. I don’t think I was doing a very good job, but he was very patient and I was told to stop saying sorry! It was great fun to see what goes on before a show. You never realise that when you go and see a band, do you?
They played the same setlist as at The Peel. The photographers amongst us will agree that it was almost impossible to take decent pictures of Richard and Johanne as they were completely in the dark most of the time.
Good thing we could hear them very well! The sound was superb and the band looked like they were having great fun. And so was the audience. It is a shame that this was their last full show the year, as the NOTP festival set would be slightly shorter.
After the gig there was plenty of time for everyone to get stuff signed, take pictures and just have a chat. And they were off!
We were truly amazed by the beautiful amphitheatre, the stunning view and the fab weather.
Like I said before I wasn’t very keen on the lineup of this festival, but must admit that I quite liked the first band, Martigan from Germany. The second band was a different story, all I want to say is that we have Saturday’s ProgPower lunchbreak sorted! (sorry!) We got a little bit worried because there was no sign of the Threshold guys yet and Justin was on guitar duties again, so he needed to be backstage at some point.
I am sure that Threshold gained a lot more fans at Night of the Prog.
After the gig our “press” passes got Liz and me through to the backstage where we had (some wonderful) dinner with all the bands. What a fantastic end to a fantastic adventure. Thanks to everyone involved for making these the best days of 2011 for me!
Well before we can go forward we are just going to have to go backwards And I don’t mean to just a few weeks ago…
Liz
Two nights ago I was standing on the rail of the magnificent Loreley Amphitheatre watching the members of Threshold bustling across the stage setting up their instruments. As the ever-enthusiastic Damian took a pre-gig run through the photographers pit and up to the rail to greet the fans, it struck me as quite extraordinary that just a few years ago I’d have chosen to spend an evening watching paint dry over what I now know was certain to be another amazing night in the company of this tremendous band of musicians.
I first came across Threshold 18 years ago. Theirs were the cassettes, ancient T shirts and shards of cymbal that arrived at my flat when my husband moved in. These relics came from his teenage years following the first incarnation of the band playing grimy sounding pubs through the South East of England and arrived with tales of guitarists piggy-backing on singer’s shoulders, audiences standing on and sticking to pool tables and something to do with ceiling fans. All this washed over me and happily the cassettes were too precious to ever get any airplay.
Our travel rule of ‘my CD, your CD’ became for me, ‘my CD, chance for a sleep’.
It would seem that I’d fall asleep on his CD only to wake up an hour later as the latest social commentary I’d dropped off to was still going on and on and on, oh, and on. I was firmly decided that progressive metal was not for me.
Despite all that and because I must have been a dutiful wife once, I eventually agreed to go along to a gig at The Peel in 2008. I didn’t really know a single song but something must have seeped into my brain on those endless car trips as I found myself singing along to snatches of songs and just a couple of days later I was caught singing the Slipstream chorus as I walked through the door.
Not being one to analyse why I like or dislike music I can’t explain why this change has come about. But I do know that at Loreley, as I watched Damian raging through the
crowd testing the limits of the wireless mic to the max, listened to his stunning voice soaring through that spectacular venue, caught Johanne and Steve’s eyes for a moment and was rewarded with beaming smiles, was carried away on another extraordinary guitar solo, delighted in seeing Richard play not obscured by a microphone and later chatted with some of my wonderful fellow Threshold fans and the band, I felt part of something very, very special.
Phew! Three great stories from very different perspectives and we hope you enjoyed them as much as we did. We are also grateful that we didn’t have to write our own diary this issue!
Venue spotlight
It’s already been mentioned three times in the tour stories above but we have to say something about the Loreley venue and any visitors to Night of the Prog or other events there would agree that it’s fantastic.
Better still is the stage and viewing area. The stage itself has projections similar to castle battlements that just lent themselves to the adventures of Pete and Karl but the seating area is something else altogether. It stretches back up a steep slope that first of all gives everyone a perfect view but secondly means the sound travels perfectly.
We asked him about using a mic that far out from the stage…
Oh. I’m sure they normally work that far away. Didn’t someone check?
Well that would have meant someone knew he was going to go that far!
Loreley is the one of most astounding venues we’ve ever stood in and it’s a great addition to the Threshold list. Don’t forget that we want to get a pic (from you, not an anonymous web one) of EVERY venue Threshold has ever played. It can be an old venue that you have just taken a pic of or a photo taken at the time.
ThreeTracks
Now things are coming to a close it’s time for a little bit of focus on some of the music from albums past. We’ve got another three tracks in the spotlight.
Well fitting the general theme of the album Angels seems to be a track that was a bit of a construct and an assembling of parts, as Richard explains,
Angels was a song that was started by Karl Groom. He’d written the beginnings of a song which included the verse and chorus riffs, and if I recall it also had a long atmospheric solo at the beginning which never made it to the final recording. Nick Midson had also written a number of riffs that helped to form the middle section of the song.
Angels was a rare collaboration in the early days between Nick, Rich and myself. I had started writing a song with a long solo at the beginning and never really found a suitable arrangement to complete it. The verse, pre chorus and chorus are as you hear them on the final version.
Then the whole slower mid section with solos was the material that Nick had for another incomplete song.
At this point we handed it all over to Richard and he put them together whilst writing the lyrics before it made the cut for Clone. The track was a live favourite for quite a long time and it would be good to play something again from Clone with Damian singing.
How we’d all love that!!! Rich further explains how he then gathered up those different parts,
I put the pieces together and added the melody and lyrics to be part of bassist Jon Jeary’s overall Clone story. Jon had put together a strong lyrical concept for the album on Freaks, The Latent Gene, Lovelorn, Life’s Too Good and Voyager II. I added a rather different thread to the story on the other songs which I hope didn’t blur his original concept too much.
Angels - Track 2 on Clone, 1998, at 6:42
Next we are going to come a lot more up to date with a track from Dead Reckoning and the one that fulfills our commitment to include something from the recent set list.
Again Richard explains how Hollow fits into the longer back story as well as being a great song in its own right.
So what of Hollow’s part in the story?
It wasn’t until a conversation a long time later that I realised I’d never concluded the trilogy, where hope is restored and the story resolved. So that became Hollow, complete with a reference to Flags and Footprints in verse two.
Hollow - Track 4 on Dead Reckoning, 2007, at 4:00
To close here’s another older song and another set list favourite that has been going down extremely well in the recent live shows.
Karl adds a little more to the story of The Ravages Of Time.
So how did you capture that atmospheric closing sound?
It was played through a portable stereo on a cassette tape with a microphone in front of it to get the lo-fi sound. My only regret for this one is that Damian is not on the studio recording, because he sounds quite amazing to my ears since we have been performing it live..
Couldn’t agree more with that - definitely one of a long list of songs that he has really made his own.
The Ravages Of Time - Track 3 on Hypothetical, 2001, at 10:17
It’s Competition Time!!!
Before we go, do you remember the photo competition that happened a short while before Beyond was created? Well it’s definitely time for a new one. But this time with a difference…
“Just what does that mean?” we hear you cry! Well we want you to send us ANY artistic interpretation of a Threshold song. It could be a simple photograph that literally shows the song title, or it could be a deeper interpretation of the song’s lyrics or its sentiment. Alternatively you might want to draw, paint or even sculpt! If you do we just want a picture of your work not the original item! In short send us a picture that has a caption that is a Threshold song title.
You can pick absolutely any Threshold song title from any of the albums and the Paradox box set as long as it was written by Threshold band members past or present. Then just get creative. Please remember nothing obscene, offensive or what would be against most forums in the normal world!
And the prize? We haven’t even worked how we will judge them yet let alone a prize! But we do hope to make it worth your effort! (but don’t spend any money!)
When you have something please send it to beyond@thresh.net DO NOT POST IT ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET as we don’t want the judges to see it until the last moment! We probably need to limit this to three entries per person (unless you are very persuasive) and we will set the end of 2011 as the closing date.
Until next time,
Sorry what’s that? New album? Best ask Richard…
I don’t know what to say except that it’s progressing well but there’s still a long way to go. We don’t have an official release date from Nuclear Blast but it should be out around spring 2012.
Beyond
- July 31
- , 2011
Apologies - it’s been a little quiet at Beyond HQ although not in the Threshold world! With the recent Threshold tour dates completed we now have Maiden United shows (Tilburg as a warm up before Wacken), Headspace announced for Summer’s End in October and of course more Kyrbgrinder.
Add to that My Soliloquy is being mixed and the new Threshold album is taking shape.
So apologies again - but Beyond 8 will be out on Sunday!
- July 11
- , 2011
Johanne and friends have been interviewed!!! This time is is courtesy of the Rocktologist and you can check it out here (long hand for ease of posting in other places) http://www.therocktologist.com/interview-with-kyrbgrinder.html
So spread the Kyrbgrinder word! It’s a nice interview with the band playing as you read!
Don’t forget - Threshold setlists, venue pics, stories and anything to beyond@thresh.net
- July 3
- , 2011
Damian Wilson has moved!
Well his website has. For everything OFFICIAL about Damian just go along to http://www.damian-wilson.net/ and ignore any other sites. You’ll find a bio, discography and even a little shop!
- June 24
- , 2011
If you haven’t noticed we nearly have some Threshold dates upon us - Derby, Kingston, Uden, Loreley and As!!! We really need YOUR stories - why you went, how you got there, where you came from, the gig, the after gig and much more! Just send us any thoughts and we’ll do any editing and you could be in the next issue of Beyond!!! beyond@thresh.net
But what of the news?
Well Kyrbgrinder have launched a new website so you can join Johanne and his friends to find songs videos and much more! http://www.kyrbgrinder.net/
Not enough for you???
Metalloid are also starting to work towards an album - so some more work for Pete! To celebrate they have been gathering together loads of videos from all sorts of places and here is one you can look at now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1skAUFhtPTk
We’ve left the links long hand as that is what people have said they prefer - don’t forget to email us with ANYTHING and we’ll share it with the Threshold family!!!
Well the subtle hint in the last issue worked - we have pics of the main missing venue, de Boerderij in Zoetermeer.
Here’s another plea, we want a pic of EVERY venue Threshold has ever played but not just any old picture - your picture.
It could be one you took at the time or a venue you have revisited or even just been passing!!! beyond@thresh.net
As you may know we want a pic of EVERY set list Threshold has produced. Not just the songs, the physical list. And we don’t mind having multiple pics from the same gig!!!
We are really keen to get a pic of the hand written one from Bochum - one of a kind and in our own fair hand, it was last seen being signed by Damian.
Four of these are the very set list we hand annotated with key changes (in our own unique way!) so that we made sure we gave Pete and Karl their guitars at the right time.
Got an old one in a drawer? We would love to see it!
Here are a few new venue pics which we will add to the combined list as soon as we can.
Still no de Boerderij…
We want a pic of EVERY venue has ever played, whether taken at the time or since. But we don’t want them off the web, we want yours!!! So look through your old pics and check out the tour section of the Threshold website (long hand link below) and see if you’re going to be anywhere near an old venue!!!
http://www.thresh.net/touring.htm
