Bryan Holland, Guitarist for Detroit’s Power Metal band Reverence.
Reverence Interview
How was it recording the new Reverence album When Darkness Calls?
It was a bit of a long process to get to the point of actual recording, forming a new group is an enormous amount of work, thankfully we were able to call in a lot of our friends to be a part of it. Todd and I didn’t know each other before Reverence, so it took a little time to find a direction and process of writing that worked for us. Once all the song were written and demoed the actual recording process went quickly.
We recorded at Metro 37 in Detroit, MI laid down the drums in a day and the bass took another day and a half. We also recorded rhythm and Pete lead guitars there but we were not very happy with them so we re-tracked all the rhythm guitars in my home studio as well as all of my leads and a few of Pete’s which means we did keep many of his original leads from Metro 37. Todd recorded all of his vocals in his home studio, but we did go back to Metro 37 for background/gang vocals, mixing and mastering was done by a friend of mine Sid Garcia at Sight16 Studios, NM.
Overall it was a great experience, although a lot of work and we’re just now starting to write for the second album now over the winter months for release later this year.
Who’s concept was it for the album cover?
I found the initial black and white image which is very basic, nothing like the finished cover art. I thought even the basic original had lot of character and could be developed into something amazing, giving us a bit of a mascot if you will. So I gave it to our artist Jobert Mello of Sledgehammer Graphix and gave him a direction and ideas of making the original more lifelike and what you see if nearly the final product of what Jobert came back to us with as his first draft, we only tweaked it a small amount, mainly adding in some other small details within the image. Jobert did an amazing job and took it beyond our expectations.
How was it recording the guitars? The tones that Reverence has is classic.
Thank you, as I said above, we original tracked the rhythm guitars at Metro 37 but the end result tones weren’t there, we really wanted a much higher gained tone with a lot of bite. Re-tracking in my home studio was a lot more relaxed and we could take the time to dial in the tones we wanted, which also helps a lot with the performance, so it was definitely the right call.
Pete used a Bogner for most of his leads and rhythms which gives his sound a little more creamier sound. I recorded using a Mesa-Boogie Dual Rectifier for all of my tracks which gives me a bit of a hotter sound. Between the two of us it worked well meshing the sounds together so we didn’t sound the same. We purposely didn’t want them the same so we could get a fuller sound and used the same concept on the songs so we often aren’t playing the same parts to give the songs a lot of depth and texture.
What do you think of promo videos nowadays with everything going on YouTube?
Well we recorded three videos for this album, we did them for the songs, ‘Tool Late’, ‘Bleed For Me’ and ‘After The Leaves Have Fallen’ which is coming out next week on 1/25. I think YouTube is another medium for getting seen, getting yourself out in front of people, which is the entire point so I think its been very important for us to push Reverence out to the masses.
Any Reverence tours soon in promotion of the album?
Yes, we have a couple of tour runs this fall in both Europe and on the US East Coast, we already have some shows confirmed, more will be booked through the next few months. I’m really excited about getting back to Europe, I haven’t played over there in a few years so taking Reverence on the road for the first time should be really special.
Would you say the music scene in general is getting better or worse?
I think it depends on where you are. Having experienced it, I know Europe is still has a lot of metal fans that support the scenes over there, its not like the 80’s but still better than the US scene which is pretty poor. I do believe there’s an underground movement like it was in the early 80’s happening in the USA right now that given the right climate could really break out but the global economy and the fact that people aren’t supporting bands through cd sales isn’t helping. If fans don’t support the bands, the bands can’t economically continue and the fans will loose the very thing they love…so if you love it, you must support it.
What were your earliest influences?
Well I grew up in the 70’s-80’s so there was a lot of diverse quality music, being a youth, I was just soaking it up, anything, no just metal. To me a good song is a good song no matter what genre. But Kiss is who got me started into wanting to be a musician, but I also loved The Sweet, Thin Lizzy, Rod Stewart, America, Hall & Oats, etc. Once I got may hands on a guitar the whole world changed and I fixated on bands because of their guitarist, so I’d have to say my biggest influences are Rik Emmett (Triumph), Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne) and Criss Oliva (Savatage). I also had a real love of the dual guitar bands like Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest with KK and Glenn and even Jeff and Brad from Night Ranger, the harmony soloing and trade-off’s had a real impact on me which I hope fans can hear in Reverence’s music.
What could we find interesting in your music collection at home?
Actually many of the bands I listed above, I think being just a metal head is a bit limiting, I love all kinds of music. I love classical guitarists like Andrea Segovia and Christopher Parkening. I think to be a well rounded musician you need to be open to different styles and genres. I do draw the line with Rap and Country though, I have to admit I have great difficulty finding anything positive for me in those two genre’s.
Could you describe what goes on in a day in your life as a musician on tour?
On the tours I did, it was lot of fun and a lot of work too. which means a typical day would be getting up early traveling, sometimes driving or flying, which could mean long waits in airports and getting there early is crucial. I try to get up as early as I can to do some sightseeing but its not always possible. Once you finally get to the next destination you check into the hotel room, try to catch a quick nap, if you not so lucky you have to get down to the venue for load out, setup and sound check, then its out to dinner, often with radio people or promoters then back to the hotel for that nap or at least try to relax and then getting around for show time, if I can I’ll go sight seeing but that’s not always possible, on occasion we’ll get a day off but its usually reserved for traveling.
Then its back to the venue, hang in the backstage, go over my gear one more time, check over the set list tune up and warm up for our set time. Time to hit the stage, this is what its all about, I like to put a lot of energy into the show so by the end of the show and with the hot lights on you all night I’m usually drenched. We get off stage, change or shower backstage if possible and then head out to meet and great, hanging with fans.
I love this part too because I get to connect with the fans, its not just a bunch of rock star fluff, we do this for the music and the fans and I love getting the feedback and hearing how our music affects them. Then its back to the hotel, try to get some sleep which is tough because your wired…get up and do it all over again! If you are on tour long enough you start losing track of days, it all turns into a blur, it can be grueling but I love it!
Without Social Media could bands today manage to survive?
I think it would extremely difficult to survive without social media, it one of the bright spots out there for bands to take their destiny into their own hands, because frankly most labels are worthless or you simply don’t need them, people aren’t buying music. Recording music, making videos and going on tour costs a lot and the only way to get your music, product and brand out to the masses is the social mediums and then your have to take it on the road, playing live is the other half of how a band will or won’t survive. So I think without it, most bands would perish faster than they already do, this business is not for the weak hearted.
Extra questions for Reverence guitarist Bryan Holland
Life without music would be – Unbearable
Favorite movie – Inglorious Bastards
Favorite sport – Basketball
Favorite food – Italian
Favorite drink – Coffee
Favorite saying – “Keep It Loud!”
Favorite car – ’81 Olds Cutlass Supreme
Favorite book – Beyond Band of Brothers-Dick Winters
Favorite band – Led Zeppelin
Star Wars or Star Trek – Star Wars
PC or Mac – Mac!
Check out Reverence Online http://reverencemetal.com/