by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
2020 verified pretty much everything one could have thought or predicted about the present and the future. Even the most staunch opponent of modern technology has to admit that everyone’s life would have been even more difficult and unstable when in lockdown, if things like computers and the Internet hadn’t been invented and the advent of online shopping, social media, video conferences and online learning never happened. And even though the current year is probably the most difficult one in the history of music industry, with postponed concerts and cancelled festival season, bands and labels make the most of social media to stay afloat business-wise. Also, years of experience in recording music in digital enabled many artists and bands to keep on creating and releasing new albums in spite of long physical distance between them. That’s also how the newest album Epitaph by Danish/American group Pyramaze was made, recordings sent back and forth between their US-based keyboard player and songwriter Jonah Weingarten and the rest of the band in Denmark. “Since everything’s done over the Internet these days anyway, it hasn’t actually been a problem for us at all,” claims Jonah as we catch up with him to discuss Pyramaze’s newest offering, line-up changes within the band and his new side project Catalyst Crime.
Hardrock Haven: Years ago, when founding band members left one after another, you decided to carry on with Pyramaze. Looking back, are you satisfied with the decision you’ve made back then? How do you think all the line-up changes throughout the years shaped the band?
Jonah Weingarten: Absolutely. I feel like we’ve made three of our strongest albums ever and that we keep on growing. And I think there’s been an obvious change in our musical direction. We’ve evolved naturally in many ways. And in addition to our sound, also now for our three most recent albums we’ve made a creative unit of guys that are really able to use our relationship with each other, our friendship and our brotherhood to create the best music that we can.
Hardrock Haven: Your previous album Contingent focused mainly on contemporary global problems lyric-wise. What’s the theme or themes for Epitaph and what’s the meaning behind the album title?
Jonah Weingarten: It’s not a concept album this time around, so every song stands on its own. The album deals with some moral issues of course, but also things like relationships… It’s all over the place. What Epitaph means to us is a tribute to the band’s history and everything we’ve ever accomplished together. It’s a way of honoring everything that Pyramaze is and will be.
Hardrock Haven: Many reviewers pointed out to Contingent being pretty complex in terms of structure, way more progressive. Yet, its follow-up is said to be more “accessible”, so what’s prompted this kind of shift?
Jonah Weingarten: I think it’s a natural progression for us. We really like to have big choruses that are catchy and memorable and so we’re just working on continuing to evolve with our sound and make music that will be timeless.
Hardrock Haven:The album’s cover artwork was designed by Remedy Art Design. How do you interpret it?
Jonah Weingarten: Well, that was something that our guitar player Jacob [Hansen, also the band’s longtime producer] did. I think that he was familiar with that particular artist, so the collaboration with that artist was just a natural thing. We like to use different artists pretty frequently for different album covers, so I think the artwork itself is kind of open to interpretation. To me, it looks like some kind of spirit but when you zoom it or whatever there’s more details that can be found, like there’s a little baby’s head growing out of its neck and some cool things like that.
Hardrock Haven: While we’ve all witnessed a shift from Rock music being album-oriented to more single-oriented, do you think album art is still an important part of the package?
Jonah Weingarten: I do think it’s still important. Even though physical media is not what’s common these days, you still have die-hard base of fans that are passionate about collecting and having a physical copy in their hand. Also, album artwork is used digitally as well on things like Spotify, so you have to have some kind of visual representation of the album and the music anyway.
Hardrock Haven: What’s your favourite Pyramaze album cover, and can you pick any other band’s album cover that left a lasting impression on you as a listener?
Jonah Weingarten: Probably it’s actually our first one – Melancholy Beast [2004]. It’s just because it’s so personal to me because it was our first album… and also because it was a hand painting and there was nothing digital about it. As for others, I would say any of the first four In Flames albums. I really loved all that artwork for Colony [1999] and Whoracle [1997] and The Jester Race [1996]. Those were all hand paintings, and I thought they were really cool.
Hardrock Haven: Back to Epitaph, the album features a guest performance by Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers…
Jonah Weingarten: She’s been a friend of the band for many years. Our guitar player Jacob has produced the two most recent Unleash The Archers’ albums, and I’ve been friends with several members of the band for many years as well. So, we do like to have to guest singers on our albums and it seemed natural for us to have her sing on one of the songs, especially that her voice is so powerful and dynamic. So we thought it’d be really cool to have her sing a duet of sorts with our singer [Terje Harøy].
Hardrock Haven: Also former Pyramaze singers Matt Barlow and Lance King are featured on the album. Is it an attempt to build a bridge between the band’s past and its future, especially that every fan has their favorite era and favorite singer?
Jonah Weingarten: Absolutely. It’s definitely some kind of fan service I would say. But in addition to building a bridge between our past and our future, we also have always felt like Pyramaze is one big family, so anyone that’s contributed creatively [to it] or been a part of our past – we still consider them a part of what we’re doing. And then of course yeah, fans have their favorite album or their favorite singer, so why not just to have it all in one song, right?
Hardrock Haven: Definitely! What in general was the songwriting and recording process for Epitaph like, especially with the pandemic still going on around the globe?
Jonah Weingarten: Well, the songs that I wrote, I started with a bit of orchestration and then I sent it over to Denmark for these guys to add guitars and drums to it etc. And then vice versa with the songs that they wrote in Jacob’s studio – they sent them to me and I added my keyboards and orchestral arrangements here. So since everything’s done over the Internet these days anyway, it hasn’t actually been a problem for us at all.
Hardrock Haven: As with the previous albums, it’s again Jacob Hansen who’s produced Epitaph. Do you think his continuous work behind the console makes the band’s sound more consistent?
Jonah Weingarten: I definitely think so. He’s produced and mixed every one of our albums we’ve ever done, so you can kind of hear his actual evolution as a mix engineer and producer if you listen to all of our albums sequentially. Melancholy Beast had more of a rough kind of sound while our new material – our two-three most recent albums – is more polished.
Hardrock Haven: Last December, you guys stated that 2019 was a great year for the band. As it’s November 2020 already, what are your thoughts on the last eleven months in Pyramaze history?
Jonah Weingarten: Well, it’s been great obviously to put up the Epitaph album. We had to postpone some tours and stuff like that, which of course is a big bummer, but 2021 is near and we’re optimists, so we’re looking forward to when the pandemic is over and we can get out and play for people again.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking of 2020, what albums other than Epitaph but also released this year do you think are particularly interesting?
Jonah Weingarten: I like the new Amaranthe album [Manifest]; Jacob also mixed and produced this one. The new Unleash The Archers is outstanding – that’s my other favorite album of the year so far as well.
Hardrock Haven: Obviously this year was difficult for every band, but social media, live chats and live streams allowed many of them to keep in touch with fans. Can you imagine what the situation would be like if social media were never introduced?
Jonah Weingarten: Yeah, that would be very difficult. Very hard. Thank goodness for things like social media and YouTube, so that we can stay connected with our fans.
Hardrock Haven: What are the band’s plans related to the new release under current circumstances?
Jonah Weingarten: Well, as I’ve already mentioned, once the pandemic is over we’d like to get out and play some shows in Europe in 2021. And I’m thinking this winter I’m gonna start writing some material for the next album ‘cause I don’t like to waste time and I’ll have some little bit of downtime I suppose in the winter time – because of the pandemic and the snow and everything (laughs). So why not, right?
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! And what else are you up to these days, especially having some other projects beyond Pyramaze as well…
Jonah Weingarten: Yeah, this year I joined a band called the Catalyst Crime and we’re Symphonic Metal band and we’re actually gonna be announcing our record deal that we’ve just signed very soon. And some touring plans coming up, and so forth… It’s a band with myself and Gerit Lamm, the drummer from Xandria, and our singer’s name is Zoe Marie [Federoff] – she’s a very talented vocalist from Arizona. So, we’re really looking forward to having an album out in 2021 and having some new music videos and everything like that. We’re on Facebook, so be sure to check us out as well.
Hardrock Haven: Any last words?
Jonah Weingarten: I just wanna say thanks to all the fans that are supporting us and buying our new album and buying all our albums – but also buying all the albums from all the other great bands out there and supporting the industry. We need your help in staying afloat now more than ever. Help us and the music industry get through these hard times and then we can all get back on the road and come to see you as soon as possible.
Visit Pyramaze and Catalyst Crime online.
