Search - Totalisti :: Slave to None

"One of the things we really enjoy is odd times and really syncopated parts - and trying to make them groove. We tried to make the technicality second to the ability to make it feel good. The guys will come in with a melody and then I approach them with the rhythm and say, ?Here's how we can do this; here's how we can break it down,? almost like a math problem. ?If you want to turn it into a 4/4 feel we can do that; if you want to turn it into a 6/8 feel, maybe a 5/4 or a 7/4, let?s go!? For example, "Severed Ties" is a song that starts out in 7/8, goes to 4/4 for the verse, then goes to 5/4 for the chorus, and it's just a matter of feel. Our big thing is instead of trying to create these big parts, I think we try to focus on making great transitions from part to part. As far as, ?Where does the thought go?? - it's definitely in our transitions." The swirling, exotic, percussive, yet seamless feel of Slave To None, no doubt has a lot to do with the producer for the album, none other than Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield. "Scott was just a great inspiration," says Tom. "He was able to come in and provide a lot of insight into how to make a good song. He was able to sit down and say, ?OK, let's make this cohesive. Let's work on adding some flavor. Let's build up these lyric ideas and add some different harmonies here.? He was able to give us some ideas on small transitions, especially for me, being a drummer. He was able to say, ?I'm hearing a lot of this repetitive part; spice this up a little bit. Let's take a little more risk here.? so he did just that. He came in as producer and added a lot of experience and expertise. I would say he really helped us vocally. We were strong with our instrumentation and he helped the vocals reach that same level. He said, ?Let's sit down and make this happen.? and when it came to do lyrics, he would say, ?OK, let's make this icing a little bit sweeter.?" "Mark usually takes the lead, and I, on this album, typically drop an octave below him," explains Taitano. "And there are other songs where you hear Eric, our bass player, who will normally go a third above Mark, or drop somewhere, maybe a third or fifth between what Mark and I are doing. But our normal way of doing things is Mark sings the high note, I sing an octave lower, and Eric is somewhere in the middle."