Berichtet haben wir über Iris schon öfter. Nichtzuletzt ist es der Promotion Arbeit der deutschen Plattenfirma Infacted Recordings zu verdanken, welche seit den letzten zwei Jahren den europäischen Markt mit den Tonträgern, der aus Texas stammenden Musiker, versorgt. Am kommenden Montag wird somit in allen gut sortierten Plattenläden das neue Album "Wrath" erhältlich sein. Dem Gespühr der Band für gute Melodien und die konstante Qualität ihrer Songs über die Jahre hinweg, haben sie zu echten Lieblingen von Electric Diary werden lassen. Genügend Gründe um auch beim neuen Album etwas genauer hinzuhören und nachzufragen.


Your third album is coming up for release. How do you feel letting your child out in the world?

Reagan: We've been working for some time on this record and I think to have finally closed the book feels like a major accomplishment. There were hard times along the way and honestly, some when I thought I might never make it through. Moments of insecurity over my voice were just decimating, and that led to procrastination and not wanting to face the work, and that led to a deficit in everything mind, body, and soul, which led to depression. It's hard to describe how low I had gotten at points, but I knew we were onto something that might not come together until the last moments, I knew that from the start. Now, at the final completion, everything snapped into place, the pieces began to fit, and the life of the record formed. We made it through, put our heads down and gave it a real push towards the end, and having done that, made the best record Iris has released. The feeling right now borders on ecstatic, it's probably the most amazing time I've experienced.

It´s the first time that your album gets released in Europe and America at nearly the same time. Makes this "Wrath" to something special that so much people can get notice from it in the first minute?

Andrew: Well, for the last record ("Awakening"), it came out in America approximately 6 months before it was released in Europe. This created some problems, since Infacted was worried that they were losing a lot of sales to people who had already bought imports, or had copied the CD from friends. So for this release, Torben (Infacted) really wanted to make sure that it was simultaneously released, worldwide! He is also handling some sublicensing for us in Russia, Poland, and Scandinavia. It will be the first time that our music has been released on such a large scale…

You have had tours and gigs here in the last years, that pushed you further on. How do you see the situation? Is the interest in the third record bigger than in "Awakening"?

Reagan: There was a moment between "Awakening" and this record, with the touring, that maybe we began to gel in peoples' minds. A few more people would be at the shows than usual, and just things you notice on forums and talk-abouts, where we started to recognize that, hey, maybe there is a light we're driving to here. You just never know how these things work out, but I know we appreciate every email, every positive comment anyone says on what we're trying to do. It's exciting to think there might be added anticipation for "Wrath" compared with the previous, and of course after all the hard work, that would be an incredible thing to know.

Is the growing public attention towards Iris a source to gain energy for new material? Or would the album have been released the way you did if "Awakening" had been less successful?

Reagan: Yes, I think so. If the last album had earned only a lukewarm response, we would've been less than enthused about making a new one. We gained a lot from "Awakening", and we got a taste of real touring. These things lead you into becoming motivated, or you could say, into momentum. Awakening had momentum, and when you have that, especially with artists of any kind, there's an added passion that brings out the best in you.

Andrew: We weren't sure what to expect with "Awakening", since we changed the style to be a bit more "modern" sounding, and we added some new elements like guitars and different production techniques. But, we were very happy that it was well-received. Also, we were able to go on a European tour for the first time ever (with De/Vision), and that inspired us to want to make another record…

How do you start working on a new album? Do you start working on some songs or do you already have complete ideas in your mind like a sounddesign in the rough?

Andrew: Reagan provides some rough demos, usually just a bassline, a melody, and some idea of the tempo. It also usually contains some unfinished lyrics - just enough to get a sense of the song. Then, I think about it for a while, and then recreate all of the instrumentation, and create a new version. After that, we'll go back and forth, I'll make some changes, Reagan will comment on them… until the song is finished.

"Wrath" is just the second album in the Jones/Sega constellation. Did anything change in the working progress, like it became easier?

Andrew: It was definitely a bit easier. "Awakening" was difficult at first because we didn't really have a good process in place.

When did you start working on your record and how much time did you spend on each of the songs?

Andrew: The first song that was worked on was "Appetite", and that was started in January 2004. We actually played an early version of it while on the De/Vision tour. Each song has about 20 versions that it goes through, and maybe takes about 50-100 hours of production time. We are not usually under a tight schedule, so we can take our time and try some different approaches to songs.

What demands did you have for your record in the beginning? What was it you wanted to change on the successor of "Awakening"?

Andrew: I think Reagan wanted to experiment with more of a "rock" feel in certain songs. I personally wanted to try some "darker" elements. However, the songs were written over a long period of time… for example "Imposter" was written 11 months after "Appetite". So, it was an evolving process.

There are more guitars included in the sound of "Wrath". After "Awakening" I thought that organic instruments got more priority. A change you noticed deliberately as well?

Reagan: We're not looking to be a poster band for electronics. There's no battle being fought, no reason to carry some flag around stating synthpop lives or anything. The classic electronic pop artists were on to a spirit of something that had a lot less to do with electronics than may be apparent. They were doing something else, and they used synthesizers to get that done, not the other way around. So it was a necessary, sensible step to take, and we pulled it off in the most moderate of ways. It's really not a big change from "Awakening", and people will probably see it as an obvious extension.

By listening to some of the songs you might not believe that the first element is electronics. That's how strong the guitars got put in the foreground. "Intercede Light" is such an example. Are there any songs which first chords got played by guitar or got lots of electronic sound tracks removed by the end?

Reagan: Yeah we definitely pulled a lot of electronics back and let the guitars have their space more. There were several tracks like "Intercede Light" that had much greater emphasis on synthesizers in the beginning stages of Andrew's production, but it's just because that's how he tends to start the process. The songs are written, though, with guitar patches. I can't play guitar so I use a guitar patch to write with. It's like I'm playing a guitar but it's on the keyboard. I used to use strings but now it's always guitar sounds. Inevitably the songs come out more like pop rock tracks, but the progressive-retro emotional vibe coats that.

Mostly music gets put into genres. If I´d ask anyone in the scene they´d put Iris beyond all doubt into Synthie-Pop. Do you still have anything in common with Synthie-Pop? If you´d ask me your music is bigger, broader, more than this.

Reagan: I don't think we consider ourselves Synthpop. But then again I wouldn't consider Depeche Mode synthpop. Not comparing us to them, but that is a band, like New Order, that reigns supreme in electronic pop music, and I just don't see them as having anything to do with the modern synthpop scene. The music isn't reliant on anything in particular. You can listen to a New Order track with no synths, like "Turn" from their recent release, and it just sounds like New Order. I think we'd like to get to a place where people associate our sound with how it makes them feel, and let that be the only constant. The way I view synthpop is not how I view those bands. New Order and The Killers and Idlewild have more to do with each other than New Order and synthpop, but that's how I feel. I don't think I'm alone though.

Now you've presented already two songs live. A possibility to get first reactions directly. What´s that feeling like to perform these songs on a stage in front of hundreds of people?

Reagan: We're still sorting that out!

Andrew: The feeling is "nervous", especially when it's the first time with a new song! *laugh*

I totally forgot to ask you about your musical preferences in the first interview. So what artists and musicians do interest you today?

Reagan: We're both huge Idlewild fans, and certainly Imogen Heap. Coldplay is one of the greatest, for me personally, along with the Killers, always Glenn Phillips, Guy Chadwick, REM, and continually Depeche Mode and New Order.

What is happening musical besides Iris? Will there be any collaborations or side projects like Alpha Conspiracy?

Andrew: I'm taking a break from the Alpha Conspiracy project for a while. At the moment, I'm working on another remix collaboration featuring vocals of Frank Spinath (Seabound). I'm also working on some mixes for Danny Hyde (Coil, NIN), and Seize. I'm also thinking of starting a new solo project which will be darker, but also more pop-oriented, more details on that soon…

What are your plans after the release? Any plans for a tour?

Andrew: We are hoping to do another European tour, but right now we're not sure when it will happen. We're going to play the Infest festival in England, and then do a few more shows in the US, especially at cities that we've never played before.

That was it from my side. Thanks for the interview and lots of success with "Wrath".

Reagan: Thank you for your time.

Andrew: Thank you very much.



Interview: Thomas Tröger & Iris
August 2005

Iris:

Reagan Jones
Andrew Sega

Internet: www.irismusic.com