Morgan Rider bassist and vocalist for Canadian Epic Death Metal band Vesperia. Interview talks about the Tempests Over The East Tour and more. November 6, 2015.
Vesperia Interview
Since our last interview with Vesperia in May 2015 how has the band been doing?
Morgan: the band has been doing great! We have done quite a bit of touring across Canada, we went overseas for Wacken (as you know) and we have also been extremely busy writing and rehearsing the material for the next album!
– November 6th you will be playing Halifax, NS again. Tempests Over The East Tour is travelling quite a bit how far are you going?
Morgan: Yes, we can’t wait to come play beautiful Halifax again! We were supposed to be originally playing about 22 shows on this tour, but due to visa issues we have had to shorten the tour. Halifax will be our furthest date for this run.
– How was it playing Wacken Open Air in 2015 must have been a special feeling?
Morgan: Wacken, for anyone who has been, its an unreal experience. The energy, bands and other metalheads, despite its immensity gives a very ‘welcome home’ atmosphere. There is something there for everyone. Playing it is something else entirely. We grew up seeing pictures and videos from Wacken, hearing stories from people who have been and it seemed like this unobtainable goal. But playing it was awesome. Very awesome.
When writing songs what would be one of your strangest inspirations?
Morgan: I can’t speak for Frankie as he has been writing most of the new material, but in the past I wrote Voyage from Vinland as well as An Olden Tale in their entirety. The strangest inspiration I’ve ever had for a song was writing the title track for An Olden Tale, I was actually sitting at a tattoo studio watching my now-wife Hannah getting a huge back tattoo. I don’t know why, maybe I was bored enough to write an 18 minute epic metal, but there you go.
– How was it filming the video for The Western Tempests?
Morgan: Sketchy would be one word. We filmed all the band shots in an abandoned and dilapidated prisoner of war camp in Ontario. We spent the first hour of our shoot standing outside one of the buildings trying not to look conspicuous as police helicopters circled above us (we were definitely trespassing, but all in the name of artistic endeavor!). The building itself was half burned down and it was pitch black too. We had to bring a generator for the lights, which made an awful lot of noise, but we managed to find a little closet in the building to put it in to dampen the noise. It was also April when we filmed, so it was pretty cold at 3:30 am, as you can see my breath in the video. The actual filming was pretty easy once we had everything set up and Alex is a professional with a good vision for lighting, direction, etc. We only had to end the shoot early because a bunch of teenage kids broke in with baseball bats, hockey sticks, etc. We obviously didn’t want them to fuck with us and our thousands of dollars worth of equipment, so we left with the shots we needed!
– Could you describe some of your earliest influences in life and in music?
Morgan: I guess I was left to my own devices a lot when I was a child, and I definitely have a large imagination. I would find my father’s rock and metal tapes to listen to while I would dream up crazy childish stories about warlocks and dragons and big epic battles. I think I still have a few of those old tapes (Iron Maiden, early Def Leppard, Metallica, etc) but I have no idea what I’d listen to them through now, haha!
– What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
Morgan: I listen to everything. I think most people would be surprised to find stuff like David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, The Darkness, Planxty, Whiskey Shivers, etc.
– Without social media could bands manage to survive now?
Morgan: The cool thing about music is that over the centuries it has adapted and survived through many arduous changes in political structural, technological advances and general interest. I wholeheartedly believe that if tomorrow social media were taken away, people, being the creative creatures they are would find a way to make it thrive. Sure, a lot of bands would flounder as their main center of business and interest rely on social media platforms – but the ones who are true to their craft would survive.
– Any words for your Maritime fans coming to the upcoming shows?
Morgan: We love you and we cannot wait to see you again in this tour and our next one in April with Kalmah!