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It was only recently when
I
couldn´t believe my eyes…I searched the Web for some of the good
old Bands and checked out the Site of one of the best Melodic
Metal-Bands of all times, the one I was bemoaning in one of our first
Online-Features. As I was even reading about a Reunion, contact was
made quickly and Brian Heaton passed my questions on to guitarist Ed
Archer. Before we start let me mention that the Line-up features Ed
Archer (g), Ted Pilot (v, both also played on the legendary Debut
Album), Kendall Bechtel (g) and John Macko (b), so we have 4/5 of the
“Time will tell” Line-Up. The fact that singer Ted Pilot announced his
departure from the Band exactly the day we received the reply by Ed is
somehow typical for us…it´s ages that we did an interview and now
that we did one we get overtaken by events.. more of this later,
here´s the interview with Ed Archer:
In the Interview on your homepage from 2007 it said that there
won´t be any reunion due to the long time you would be absent
from your sons due to preparation of a tour. But they are still there,
right? Or are they old enough now so that you can be away a longer
time from them? Also, in addition Ted meant that a reunion without
playing live won´t be worth it, so the matter of playing live
must have been the definite question to answer, right?
Well....a couple of
things here. My son is now a bit older....you know with kids,
they grow up fast, and they become more independent and less
‘needy’. Plus, he’s getting to an age with getting into the teens
where the idea of his dad being in a band is a pretty cool thing! I’m
really in a different place in life now than back in 2007, it’s amazing
how just a couple of years can make such a difference! But,
there’s been some tough challenges in life that have made me come full
circle, and get re-acquainted with the ‘old friend’, being music. Plus,
what we’re doing here is not planning on any full blown touring, but
rather, a gig here and there where we’re wanted, where it makes sense
for us to do, so we wouldn’t be gone for any great length of
time. But who knows, I suppose a bigger tour sometime in the
future is not out of the question!
How do you consider your chances to get a proper record-deal? Would
this be a one.off or would you try to commit the Band for a longer time
again?
Honestly we’re not
even
considering any ‘record deal’. Things are so different these
days, the way it use to work with the “big machine” of record companies
is so different now because of technology. We’re doing things on
our own, today’s technologies make this possible....so this is very
satisfying and no pressure....although it does mean that we’ve got a
helluva lot of responsibility on our shoulders with planning,
organizing and trying to see things through.
How can you avoid to get into the same label-problematic thing as with
CBS in the 80s? Do you have a good lawyer that will do some consulation
with a possible contract?
Man....attorneys!!...no
offense to anyone out there, but yeah, there is a legal and contractual
side with ‘business’. Even without plans of being “signed” to a
record deal, there are still legal aspects of it all.
Of course there must be the question re how the new material will
sound? I hope it won´t be too modern with tuned down guitars or
stuff like that….you say that it´s kind of a dark sound but
hopefully with the great melodies as well?
We’ll be using the
same
tuning as we did on the previous releases which is ½ a step down
on all strings, but we won’t be doing the heavy duty down tuning that I
think you’re referring to...although we might do just the low E string
being dropped down low on a song or two, really not sure. The
songs so far are mainly normal tuning but with everything ½ step
down, like before.Yes, melodic, and yeah, dark themes to the
lyrics....some interesting stories to be told about the more unpleasant
side of human nature. I’ve definitely experienced being exposed
to this, a very tough thing, but it’s all around us. So,
musically it will probably be somewhere between the first and second
albums, lyrically....maybe a bit different than both? The lyrics
are true stories, based on real life....there’s some scary stuff there
for sure!
Why didn´t you invite James Byrd to take part? Is he still bitter
about the way you parted company in the 80s? And how about Ken Mary? Is
he too busy to give his former Band a shot? Will it be easier for you
to find a new drummer now than it was way back?
I guess no one
brought it
up about james, I don’t know....Kendall really is the one that has had
most recent contact with James, but I don’t know where that is
at. I think James is an incredible player, really an amazing
talent!
Ken is also
amazing,
really great guy too! I’ve stayed in contact with Ken with him
being an old friend...you know I met Ken when he was just 15 years
old?! And he was amazing even back then. Ken is president
of VSR Music Group, so he’s very busy with running a record label, plus
doing a few different projects. It would be great if Ken were
involved in some way. As for the drummer thing....I think a lot
of things today are easier than they use to be because of
technology. It’s so easy to post something or send out
information that hits the whole world literally in seconds! So
with that in mind, it’s easier to make contact with people.
I learnt that you never played live – weren´t there any offers
after your fantastic debut album? I remember seeing so many Bands live
in Germany mid/end of the 80s that were far behind you in terms of
quality…why didn´t it happen? Was it really just because some
members wanted to di bigger gigs only?
We all had played
many
gigs over the years in other bands, cover bands mostly. The
mindset of Fifth Angel from the very start was making the best use of
our time to try and reach our goals....playing live did not fit in with
this...writing songs and recording did. We wanted to focus time
and energy on song writing. And it did work, in terms of getting
signed, getting noticed, etc. If we had spent time focusing on
playing gigs rather than writing songs in the early years, who
knows....I like what we did, how we focused our time. So we spent
our time as we did, did the first record, quickly got things going
after that with getting signed to Epic/CBS....not to mention being
lucky and at the right place at the right time for that....leaving not
much time for playing live, plus we really were holding out for doing
gigs of some real substance, rather than some bar in Seattle or
something. But the live thing never came together, things all
fell apart before any real live opportunities arose.
I found the 2nd album being much more melodic than the 1st, much more
easier to listen to, more choirs and less heaviness. Was this the price
one had to pay when signing a major label? Do you think this crap of a
label trying to dictate what you have to do has changed nowadays?
Wasn´t it too late for this kind of melodic metal when the 2nd
album was released or do you think you could have made it with proper
label support?
Man...some good
questions, but I don’t know. There’s always a lot of
shoulda’, woulda’, coulda’ done this that or the other...especially in
hindsight. The musical landscape was changing when the second
album was coming out, and ironically this change was coming from
Seattle with grunge, and it effected the entire world.Yes the second
album does have a different kind of overall vibe than the first, but at
the same time we tried to preserve some of the heaviness as well.
We had to do demos of songs and submit them to the label (Epic) for
approval...I suppose I can understand this...they’re investing some
major bucks with recording and need to know what the hell they’re
spending money on! But, yes there was some sense of “Mr. Record
Label” needing to know what is going on. I really don’t know how things
compare with labels now. The major ones are really having
problems, the industry as a whole is in somewhat of a tailspin...so
with that in mind it could be that labels really want to ‘hit the mark’
as best they can and dictate more than ever, I don’t know. It is
a business after all, and record labels would rather ensure that they
make money rather than lose money, like any business. As for label
support and success....I think the more effort or backing that is put
into something, the better the chances that it could be
successful....now I’m saying “could” be successful rather than “will”
be successful...it’s always a gamble, you never really know. I
really don’t know if things would have played out differently for Fifth
Angel if there had been more label support....maybe!
Provokingly asking – why didn´t you get your old logo back, at
least on your homepage? Shouldn´t a band have some kind of
trademark? The one of the first album is what people like me connect
with you – maybe I´m not that representative but didn´t
Maiden or Priest or Motörhead have their logo unchanged, creating
some kind of trademark with it?
Now there’s some
good
feedback! I’ll run this past the other guys. The logo on
the first Shrapnel release is different than the same album when
re-released on Epic/CBS, then the logo on the second album is just
slightly different, you have to look close. Now there are two
websites, fifthangel.net and fifthangel.com so I’m not sure which one
you’re thinking of...fifthangel.com is very new and is under
construction. By the way...Kendall designed and created the logo
at fifthangel.com he’s really multitalented.
Which jobs do you have (I know that Ted is a endodontist, even though
can only vaguely imagine what this is…)? Can you get the time off to
get into the Reunion without any problems?
Yeah, I think it
will be
fine.....I work pretty independently. I work in the technology
field, I’m actually right next to the Microsoft campus, their worldwide
headquarters. I deal with internet systems and digital television
systems....it’s been a good gig, interesting, challenging...it’s been
good to me! John has his own computer business, Kendall is into
computer graphics.
How do you look at the metal scene of today? Did you all keep in touch
with what happened during the years? In your case I would have been
deeply frustrated seeing Bands that were and are less talented than you
were selling tons of records….
Ya know....as time
went
on after the breakup of the band after I had left, I didn’t think much
about it. I was really busy in life, had a family, a career...I
guess at times when I stopped to think about it I was a little
frustrated, not much really.I have no regrets with my path in life...as
far as I’m concerned, I’ve had the BEST of ALL worlds....rockin’ out as
a kid being in bands, getting into song writing, not just metal but
other styles too....getting into my twenties and eventually being a
founder of Fifth Angel and everything associated with that...then going
on my path away from music, and now getting back into. I feel
that I’m very lucky, it’s been a good life so far, for the most part.
What do you think about downloads?
I must admit I can understand Bands that don´t want their
stuff to be downloaded for free, in the end you cannot give your work
away for free.. It’s part of the world we now live in with
technology. I think this is the main reason why record labels are
in a tailspin...it’s turned the industry upside down. But it is
what it is, it isn’t going away, so I suppose you have to accept things
and adapt. So record companies or people that want to try and
make some money through music have to come up with a different business
model, because the old model is no longer...they have to come up with
new ideas of what can be sold and make money off of, something that
cannot be downloaded for free.Downloading music for free is an
interesting thing...I can see both sides. As a
musician/songwriter I see the side of having your hard work with
writing, developing and recording a song just being given
away....that’s frustrating, it costs money to record, not to mention
purchasing guitars and other equipment, although the same technology
that makes downloads possible also allows inexpensive recording that
sounds very good....on the other side, it is what our society and world
have become....it’s really an ‘on-demand’ type of world, do a search,
click here and click there, and you have what you want instantly,
pretty much for free! The thing is, there is so damn much out
there on the internet, a million bands or musicians or whatever, how
can anyone get noticed or stand out from the crowd?
Finally, I want to end this interview the way we did it most of the
times in the 80´s – any words to our readers?
I’d like to say
that the
band and I really appreciate the continued interest in Fifth Angel
after all these years. We are really wanting to get some new
music recorded and out there for people to hear....if everything falls
into place, it will happen, and we’re in the hopes it will be received
well by anyone interested in listening! And who knows, maybe some
live gigs out there for those that want it.
Cheers!
As said previously, singer Ted Pilot announced his departure from the
Band in the meantime, private and business matters got in the way..so
the gigantic voice that put both albums to another level will be
missing, damned….we re-contacted the Band about this but didn´t
receive a reply, so we checked the Homepage and can inform you that the
new singer is Tim Branom. As far as I can see from the facts provided
there is that he is a relatively unknown, just check www.fifthangel.net
for yourself. I have to admit that I´m disappointed that Ted
Pilot isn´t there anymore and I doubt that such a singer can be
replaced so easily (even though this is not the fault of the Band, just
to make this clear). Let´s hope that were will be something good
in the end coming out of all this and wish the Band all the best.
Frank
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