Interview with Lucid Dream

Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Norwegian hard rock/heavy metal band Lucid Dreams. The band recently released their excellent self-titled debut album (which you can read about below) and I would highly recommended it to anyone who loves top notch hard rock and melodic heavy metal! 

Andy-First off I just want to thank you for setting up the time to do this interview. How are things going for you gentlemen these days?

Lucid Dreams-Things are going well at the moment. We are pleased that our self- titled debut album Lucid Dreams finally was released in November 2013. It has been a long process writing, recording and mixing, and it is feels  good to now see and hear the final result.

Andy-How has the reception been for your new album? I would assume that it's a hit in your home country right?

Lucid Dreams-Yes, the reception has been very good. Both critics and fans seem to enjoy the songs and the fact that there is a lot of variety on the album. Different people seem to have different favourite tracks, and we are pleased that the album can have such a broad appeal.  

Andy-Could you give us a brief rundown on how Lucid Dreams came together.

Lucid Dreams-Back in 2007 guitar player Rune Hagen, drummer Rune Gutuen and former guitar player Silvester Pozarnic came together and started the band, then came bass player Jan Erik Lysø and Henrik Manfredo on the vocals.  Some of the guys already knew each other from earlier days, and some even from school days, growing up not far from each other in Oslo. The band started jamming and writing songs, did some gigs, and started to attract attention. Then after a while the band wanted to expand their musical possibilities, and at the same time by coincidence Rune Hagen got to know keyboard player Thorleif Østmoe. He joined the band, and the songs were slightly re-arranged to give space to the keyboards. After some gigs Pozarnik wanted to step back, and was replaced by new guitar player Ådne Brandås. His playing style and approach is slightly different to the style of Rune Gutuens, so they are a great match. Some more gigs later Fredrik Sindsen aka. Freddy Vain replaced Manfredo on vocals. Fredrik has a classic powerful metal voice and the band is now more complete than ever.        

Andy-I must say that there is a hell of a lot of musical experience between all of you guys. From the sounds of it Lucid Dreams wasn't the first hit band for some of you correct?


Lucid Dreams-That is correct, Andy. The band members have been involved in numbers of band through the years, some more and some less famous. Panama, Trendkiller and Hush may be some of the more known bands, at least in Norway.  Rune Hagen's band Panama had a hit song years ago  called "Keep On Loving You", and Panama toured the country with among others Swedish band Europe.

  
Andy-How did the name come about?

Lucid Dreams-One of the guys had a weird dream, and refused to get out of bed before he got to the end of the dream. He later wanted to interpret the dream, and was introduced to the kind of dreams called Lucid Dreams. In a Lucid Dream you are dreaming but still kind of awake and aware that you are in a dream.. and you are able to control your actions in the dream..We thought it was a cool name for a band.

Andy-Your self-titled debut album offers the listener tons of variety. As members and as a band who has influenced you?

Lucid Dreams-I guess we all have some favourites from the classic hard rock bands of the 80s like Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Dio, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Malmsteen and so on. And at the same time we are influenced by bands like Dream Theater and Pagans Mind (Norwegian) who play a more prog influenced kind of style.Guitar player Rune Gutuen's all time favourite is probably Eddie Van Halen, while he is also into more heavy stuff like Annihilator and of course guys like Stevie Vai.  Ådne Brandaas loves Malmsteen but also listens to gypsy jazz. Thorleif Østmoe is like most hard rock keyboard players in some way inspired by Jon Lord. Singer Fredrik Sindsen got his earliest inspiration from The King of Rock n Roll, Elvis Presley.     

Andy-Any favorite tracks off of the new disc?


Lucid Dream-"Stormy" is definitely one of our favourites . It has many different parts and lots of energy. Strong vocal parts, great solos, some odd rhythm parts, and it is fun to play. "Daisy Duke"s is also great, since it's so catchy it is always fun to play live. "For Your Love" is also one of our favorites.

Andy-Where do you guys go from here? Touring in your home country?


Lucid Dreams-Yes, at the moment we are booking tour dates in Norway for 2014. We are also discussing gigs in other parts of Europe, so it will probably be an exciting year for the band. At the same time we are working on some new tracks that hopefully will end up on our next album   

Andy-How can our readers get a copy of "Lucid Dreams" for themselves?

Lucid Dreams-The easiest way it so get the CD is to send an email to album@luciddreamsband.com

Andy-And if people wanted to find out more about Lucid Dreams in general where should they go first?

Lucid Dreams-The best way to find out more is here:

http://luciddreamsband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LucidDreamsRocks

Andy-As I always like to give bands the last word I will give you free reign on the mic. Anything you'd like to share?

Lucid Dreams-Well, we just wanna say a big thank you to all of our fans and friends who have supported us, and to everyone who helps us getting the music out to new listeners !!

And  to all the talented bands and musicians out there working hard for the music they believe in, we wish you all success !! And hopefully we see you all somewhere on the road next year.    

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2013/11/lucid-dreams-lucid-dreams.html