Backstage Pass - Iron Kingdom - Interview

ATP

What is the title of your CD? How did you come up with the name?

IRON KINGDOM

The title of the new album is ‘Ride For Glory’. The name was first intended for the track ‘Ride For Glory’. The song itself described many themes within the album, along with the title sounding very straight forward but also very strong. On a side note Iron Kingdom is as a touring band and, if you will, we Ride for metal Glory!! haha

ATP

This is your third CD, how is it different from the others?

IRON KINGDOM

This album is different in a lyrical and themed aspect in that we focused on medieval subject manner, including many true stories of ancient warriors, battles, and ways of life. We tried to write about as many different places and civilizations as we could manage, in an attempt to more or less state that no matter where we came from or who we are, we all fight for what we believe in, whether that’s for our freedom, honour, glory or a variety of other things. Now speaking strictly about the musical side of things, we have improved, each individually, and as a group, and so musically it is different. I also feel that we’ve sort of come up with a slightly different or progressed sound from ‘Gates of Eternity’ our 2nd full-length album. We looked for different ways to write the music, different song structures, tried out different keys, and techniques. However don’t misunderstand, this album is still very old school in delivery, the changes are more improvements than anything at least in our minds, so we hope you feel the same!

ATP

Did you write all the songs before going into the studio or did you write them as you were recording?

IRON KINGDOM

For the most part the album was completed before entering the studio, (this saves us both time and money) but it was a close call. The last month or so before recording started we had to sort of work overtime in a sense to finish putting it all together. The writing of ‘The Veiled Knight’ specifically was a bit rushed, but we’re all very happy with how it turned out in the end.

ATP

Walk us thru the process of writing your music?

IRON KINGDOM

Well usually I will come up with a bunch of riffs that work well together, Ill show the band what I’ve come up with and then usually Leighton (or sometimes Amanda) will have an idea for lyrical content. At that point we usually jam on the riffs for a while to see how things feel as a group and move forward from there. Once the band feels good about a few riffs I start to put the song structure together, I try to tell a similar story with the music that the lyrics tell. In other words backing up the story musically just like a movie soundtrack is intended to do.
The writing process is pretty continuous until the song is actually recorded. Each song is different and so deserves a different type of writing to accommodate it, but this process is more or less similar from song to song.

ATP

Where did you record and why?

IRON KINGDOM

We recorded at True Sound Studio’s in Langley, BC, because our favourite engineer, Andy Boldt works out of it! He’s practically the 5th member of the band at this point! Andy has recorded and mixed all of Iron Kingdom’s releases up to this point and we hope to continue that relationship in the future.

ATP

HHow did you pay for your recording?

IRON KINGDOM

This time around we took out a loan, we’re hoping that our tours will help us pay off our debt, and that our loyal fans will purchase our albums to keep us on our feet. Of course it’s a huge risk, but what’s heavy metal without risks?

ATP

Did you have a producer or did you self-produce? If so, what kind of input did the producer have. If your self-produced, why?

IRON KINGDOM

I Co-Produced this album with our studio Engineer, Andy Boldt, as we have with the past two albums. There are a few reasons why this method has worked well for us. First off the cost, adding another person into the mix always causes a higher price on the overall product, and being an independent, underground band we can’t afford to spend more money than we have to. The second reason this works well is I really know what I want to hear, and Andy works tirelessly to help us achieve that. Adding in another person can possibly help the album improve, however if they are not the right person they will or can destroy the same album easily.
It might be interesting to see what a separate producer could do with our sound, but for now this is how we’re doing things, and I feel that its working great!

ATP

Did you try to capture your "live sound" or did you go for something else?

IRON KINGDOM

To a certain degree, Yes! We wanted the speed and raw energy in the songs that we add in a live setting, this helps us keep the music sounding as similar on the record as when we play live. However we also wanted that polish of a studio release, along with adding in some more sound effects and production techniques to help bring the overall sound of the album up a notch.

ATP

Did your record label have any input into the music you recorded?

IRON KINGDOM

None of the record labels involved in this release have had any input on the music or production of the music on this album.
As we are an independent band the record labels working with us have made deals just for short runs of specific formats. We supplied them with the music and artwork completed.

ATP

Are you pleased with the final product?

IRON KINGDOM

Yes absolutely, I think this is the best record we have made to date; I think the album proves it in many ways, from our song writing abilities, to the actual performances, all the way through to the album cover and production sound of the album.

ATP

Where will we be able to pick up a copy?

IRON KINGDOM

Most likely all the places we sold the first two albums, plus a few more!
If you’d like a physical copy, you can order them at any HMV in Canada (ONLY), as well as through the band, or at any show.
You can purchase the pre-sale right now at Iron Kingdom’s Official Merch Store: http://ironkingdomsofficialmerchstore.bigcartel.com
We also made deals with:
Underground Power Records (GER) to sell Vinyl copies,
Tridroid Records (USA) to sell Cassettes
As for Digital sales, we will be selling Mp3’s through all the sites we worked with on the last two albums, including iTunes and all the other ones out there.

ATP

Will you be touring to promote your CD?

IRON KINGDOM

Yes, we will be touring through North America, including 30 dates all over the USA, as well as Western Canada. After that we plan to take the album to Europe and elsewhere! Heres a link to the current North American Tour 2015: https://www.facebook.com/events/618927521576410/
http://ironkingdomtour.armthepit.com

ATP

Would rather be recording or playing live shows?

IRON KINGDOM

I personally prefer live shows, some of the best experiences of my life happened on stage. Nothing beats that feeling of being on stage, it is hard to fully describe but when you put on a show that just really truly rocks and the crowd totally gets into it, something magical happens and nothing else matters for that time. You just never know how it’s going to go, but when it feels right, man nothing can stop you.

ATP

Anything you would like to say to your fans?

IRON KINGDOM

Without your support Iron Kingdom would not be possible, every album we sell really helps us move forward! If you’d like to see Iron Kingdom release more music in the future, we really are counting on all of you to buy our music and to help us spread the word!
And a HUGE Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far! You guys truly rock!
Keep the faith! \m/
Cheers,
Chris Osterman
(IRON KINGDOM)
www.facebook.com/ironkingdom
www.iron-kingdom.com
http://www.ironkingdom.armthepit.com