OMEN, PHANTOM X Danny White
\r\n Both Phantom-X’s and Omen’s plans to record a new album gave us\r\nthe will to talk with Danny White, the drummer of those bands and ask\r\nhim about their latest information. Enjoy!
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\r\n Metalzone: Hello Danny, I’m glad to have the chance to do an interview with you, how are you? \r\n
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\r\n Danny: I am great, glad to be here, a big hello to all of our fans.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone:\r\nIn September ’06 you released your second full-length album with the\r\ntitle “Storm Riders”. What reactions did you get from the fans and the\r\npress? \r\n
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\r\n Danny: The reactions\r\nwere fantastic, the European fans are great and we love to come over\r\nand perform for our loyal fans. The press was very positive and we are\r\ngetting more and more attention with every tour.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Recently you changed your guitar player Eric Knudson. Do you still have a good relationship with him? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nI haven’t really spoken to him and don’t want to create any negativity\r\nin this interview, all I can say is that the split was mutual. I wish\r\nEric well in his new band and I hope he wishes us well with our new\r\nline-up.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: What about the new one, Dave Harvey? Do you think that he fits in the band’s plans? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nI think that Dave fits in great with Phantom-X. He is more of a full\r\nblown Power Prog Metal player and the stuff he writes does change our\r\ndirection slightly more towards that. I think the fans are going to\r\nlove our new material.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: You have already visited Greece twice. Are you satisfied with the metal crowd here? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nThe fans in Greece are amazing, we have made some great friends there\r\nand will always love Greece. We always love to visit there.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: A lot of artists derive from Texas so we kind of thinking it as a Metal State. Do you agree to this? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nYou are correct, Texas is a metal state. There are so many bands that\r\nit is actually hard to stand out unless you have incredible talent and\r\ngreat songs.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Where would you prefer to be with the band, in Greece or in Texas? \r\n
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\r\nDanny: I being from Texas, love my state but I have to say that playing\r\nin Greece is unbelievable and playing there is something that you can\r\nget addicted to. The fans in Greece are so animated and loyal that I\r\nwould have to say that I enjoy playing for Greek and other European\r\nfans better than in America.Metalzone: Do you believe that the type of metal you play fulfils the expectations of the hard-sound-fans now days? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nI think that our sound fulfils the power metal fans expectations, if\r\nsomeone is looking for a more hard edged sound, they might not think\r\nthat Phantom-x is there cup of tea. Phantom-X is more of a melodic\r\nprog power metal band.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone:\r\nWould you suggest a new band to start playing like this or your advice\r\nwould be to try something that deals with the popular kinds of today? \r\n
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\r\nDanny: That depends on the person’s agenda. If they play for business’s\r\nsake then they should go for a more popular style of music, if a person\r\nplays from the heart, then they should play the style of music that\r\nthey enjoy. If they are smart then they do both.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Which do you think is the detail that separates Phantom-X from other metal bands? Danny:\r\nPhantom-X’s music is full of power metal melodic hooks with great\r\nmusician’s that love to play and perform. The separation happens when\r\nwe hit the stage, we are all seasoned musicians that have been\r\nperforming for years and the chemistry just happens when we perform.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Are the basic riffs composed by only one person or you all having ideas about the songs? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nWhen someone brings a song in, we have the basic idea then we put it\r\ntogether and each individual either writes his own part or just adds\r\nand puts his individual signature on it. Then we go in and record it.\r\nOn Storm Riders, to be honest, we were on a time crunch to get it to\r\nthe label. We actually wrote the album around the drum tracks. I had no\r\nidea what we were going to record when we went in. We had the basic\r\nideas for the songs but no final arrangements. I recorded my drum\r\ntracks and the Kevin, Glenn and Eric wrote their parts around the drum\r\ntracks.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Tell us a few things about Omen. How did 3 members of you join the band? Was it Powell’s idea? Danny:\r\nWe knew Kevin was the singer for OMEN and we always knew that OMEN came\r\nfirst because of the popularity of OMEN. When Andy Hass and Rick Murray\r\ndecided to step down from OMEN, Kevin asked us if we wanted to check it\r\nout. We knew Kenny but really didn’t play with him. We got together and\r\nthe chemistry was there so we did the tour and became full fledged OMEN\r\nmembers after that. OMEN really has some great and loyal fans worldwide\r\nand I feel very fortunate to be part of this line-up. Our new CD called\r\n“Hammer Damage” will be out sometime this year and I think that fans\r\nwill really enjoy it.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: You have got almost the same members. Have you ever thought to break up one of these bands so to focus on the other most? \r\n
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\r\n Danny: No, we really don’t want to do that. Phantom-X is completely different than OMEN. \r\n
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\r\n Metalzone:\r\nThe members of Phantom-X are not only known from the band. All of you\r\nare really good musicians alsoand that seems that you spend a lot of\r\ntime practicing. Is that true? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nWell to be honest, we all could practice more. That is where the\r\nseasoned musicianship comes in. When you get to a certain point in your\r\nplaying, it almost is like clockwork, you just set your body in motion\r\nand it runs by itself. As far as being in OMEN or Phantom-X full time,\r\nwe all own our own businesses and have lives outside of the music but\r\nwe still take our performing very seriously.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Are you going to release any DVD with some of your videos or live appearances? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nIt is funny you mentioned that because we had a meeting last night\r\nabout that very thing. We are planning on releasing something from OMEN\r\nthis year from our 2006 Euro tour.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Which is your biggest influence as a drummer? \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nI have been drumming so long that I have so many influences I can’t\r\nmention them all. I started playing at theage of 4 so I used to listen\r\nto drummers from the 70’s all the way up to now. I get inspiration from\r\na lot of different drummers. One of the biggest thrills as a drummer\r\nwas to meet Louis Bellson in January at The NAMM show in Californis.\r\nThe other was to go on tour with Robb Reiner of Anvil. I am a big fan\r\nof both drummers.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: I’ll ask you to introduce us to your 3rd album which is going to be released in Spring of 2008. \r\n
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\r\n Danny:\r\nWe have started to work on new material with both OMEN and Phantom-X\r\nand can’t wait to get the music out there. Fans will love our new songs\r\nfor both bands and we will look forward to seeing you all again when we\r\ntour in 2008.\r\n
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\r\n Metalzone: Thanks a lot Danny, hope to see you soon in Greece again! \r\n
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\r\n Danny: Thanks and we look forward to seeing all of our loyal fans and friends again soon. \r\n
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\r\nΡÎνα ΚουτσοÏ\r\n
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