Freedom Call Interview

This next interview is with another one of my favourite bands: Freedom Call. Their brand of incredibly happy power metal is beyond infectious, and given that the band is in the studio now, I thought it would be a good time to reach out and get some insight on the new record (and a few other topics). Huge thanks to Chris Bay for the interview!

Skull Fracturing Metal (SFM): Hello Freedom Call! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! You guys are in the studio working on a new album right now. Do you think this album will be similar to “Beyond”, or are you planning on doing something a little different?

Chris Bay: Hey, Skull Fracturing Metal, yeah, we're still in the recording process of our new upcoming studio album...which will become amazing ;) The new “masterpiece” will include the traditional typical Freedom Call Happy Metal Style with lots of catchy chorus lines and hymn like arrangements, but we also will surprise the listeners with new paths of creation. We're always feeling free and are open minded for new influences while composing and arranging.

SFM: I read in a previous interview that “Beyond” was the first Freedom Call album where every member participated in the songwriting. Was that the case again for the new album?

Chris: That definitely felt great when all members are involved in the songwriting process. We continued this way and now we created an for all members born “Baby”, which needed a bit more time than 9 months ;)

There is growing up a special atmosphere in the band's mind, another inspiration in the studio is arising if all musicians are pulling together..

SFM: Do you have any details on when the album will be released?

Chris: First idea was to produce straight as possible and have an quick release...but then the heart of the musician was beating stronger than the business ;)

So, we found out many very cool sounds and detailed melodies, that we're still recording the big choirs and rounding out the new opus.

We don't wanna be pressed for time, so the release is planned for end of this year 2016.

SFM: The last 3 Freedom Call albums all had 14 songs each, whereas the earlier ones had 10-12 songs. Are you finding it easier to write songs as time goes on?

Chris: I don't want to focus on the amount of songs of an album...more worth is the quality of songs. How many songs...it's changing from album to album. Some of our songs do not need so much time to produce, because of for example less keyboard arrangements or vocal tracks, for another song I'm sticking for months to create a cool classical string arrangement...

But I promise, that always you will find enough music on every Freedom Call album to make you feel happy ;)

SFM: A lot of Freedom Call fans that I talk with are big fans of the first 3 albums and the new one. Personally, my favourite has always been “The Circle of Life”, which doesn’t seem to be as popular of an opinion. Are there any albums or songs you guys have done that you think are overlooked by fans?

Chris: O yes, to each his own...the taste of music is so different, but don't care, there are some more Freedom Call fans which favorite album is “Circle of Life” as well ;)
That is the good thing of art, it's just a kind of taste. You can't be right , but you also can't be wrong...for everyone.

New songs and new album are always a challenge for musicians...again and again. You never know if you're pitching the right musical flavor for all the metal heads.

I personally love the album “Circle of Life”too, because it's a bit different to our traditional work, so I don't regret any of our songs from the past ;)

SFM: A lot of your albums feature bagpipies on the last song. Is there a specific reason for this? Could we expect this on the new album as well?

Chris: I'm just loving the sound of bagpipes, for me it's like a symbol of victory and glory...or something like this. I'm joining the sound of the pipes with bravehearts and amazing fests with lots of beer, wine and ladies ;)

In my songwriting it probably expresses good mood and happiness.

But we don't have a special connection to Scotland, but that we always had a great time while touring in the UK!

SFM: You guys like to use a lot of piano/keyboards in your music, but don’t have a full-time keyboard player. In the past, I believe you guys have had touring keyboardists, but not necessarily on every tour. How do you balance these types of songs (“The Quest”, “Beyond”, “Land of Light”, etc.) with the ones without keyboards when you’re playing live?

Chris: Yes, in the past we had keyboardists in the band, but we couldn't find the right guy with the right attitude ;)

We started with our, in my opinion, unique style to arrange the keyboard parts from the beginning on. Maybe the reason of this distinctive use of keys is, that I didn't really study to play the piano or keyboards. It's pure from the heart...

No keyboardists could reproduce this special charm, so we decided to keep our style without an keyboard player.

SFM: Later this year, you’ll be playing the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta. Is this the first time you have played in North America? What are your expectations for American crowds?

Chris: Yeah, we can't wait to play the first time for Freedom Call in the US! We just played at the cruise “70.000 tons of Metal”and one show in Mexico.

So we are very excited to meet all the metal heads at the Prog Power Festival.
I'm getting lots of requests and messages from metal fans from the US, so we are happy that the time has come for us to bring the “Happiest Metal of the world” to North America.;)

SFM: I know this question comes up often, but given the news about ProgPower, I have to ask: do you have any plans for a full North America tour?

Chris: We would love to tour all over the world...and after finishing let's start again ;)

Our tour schedule is increasing from tour to tour and we started to play outside of Europe...step by step.

But the focus of our tour activities is still in Europe...

Touring in the US is very complex for European bands, because of the visa issues and expensive at once.

But never say no...if we would get a good opportunity to come over, we would love it!!

SFM: Thank you again for the interview! Do you have any last words for the fans?

Chris: It was a pleasure for me to answer, thanks to you for your efforts and the interesting questions.
We are already very excited to come our first time to the US. The year 2016 seems to become an amazing year for Freedom Call. A fantastic new album is coming out and a complete tour in Europe is in progress.

So, the metal heads in the US can expect a extremely good-humored band Freedom Call on stage...

Cheers
Chris

SFM: Be sure to check out and like Freedom Call on Facebook!