Even though ARCH RIVAL are together for quite a
while already,
their latest release "Third Degree Burns" is only their third full
length.
We hooked up with guitarist MICHAEL HARRIS to bring you some
more in-depth information's about this American Power Metal institution...
When exactly did ARCH RIVAL get together
then?
"The first version of ARCH RIVAL got together
in 1986."
Has anyone of
you been in other bands prior to ARCH RIVAL?
"We were
all in other bands prior to ARCH RIVAL. Jeff
used to be in our bassist's ex-band RIGMAIDEN and Aaron was
in a band called RUCKUS."
On the just
mentioned single, you still had a different
singer named Aaron Wallace and a second guitarplayer called Jeff
Dennis. How long have they been in the band and what did cause
the split-up?
"Aaron
and Jeff were in the band for approximately two years.
They were truly great guys, but not serious enough and we felt
we needed a more original voice to give us identity."
Why didn't
you continue to work with a
second guitarplayer afterwards? Especially on
stage it could be very helpful...
"Having a second guitarist does have advantages
if the
chemistry is good. I could never find the right though, so I remained
the only guitarist which I enjoy the challenge of and the space it
creates, especially in the live environment."
It took you
three long years to release new ARCH RIVAL
material then. What had caused this long silence of the band and
how did you hook up with John Angel, the vocalist on the '89 demo
"There Is No Escape"? What had he
done previously and why did the co-operation
with him not work out on the long run?
"It took
us awhile to put out "There Is No Escape", as we went through several lead vocalists and the recording
of the EP was quite lengthy as well. John Angel didn't last in the band.
Although he did have an excellent range, his style and vibrato was not what we were looking for. We actually had
two singers,Dan Mayer and Roger Hamilton
before we found John Angel, who was in another
local band, ALLIZE and our drummer had jammed
with them on stage once. John fit in pretty well at
first but we again realized we needed a more
powerful and dynamic vocal style in ARCH RIVAL."
How did you find out about your current vocalist Steve Snyder then?
"Steve
was referred to us by a friend, and for
once it was a good recommendation!!! He lived about three
hours away in Michigan and would drive down to practice with us on the weekends."
Would you
agree that you used less (or almost none) classical influences for the ARCH RIVAL songs after the release
of the "There Is No Escape" demo?
"Absolutely, as ARCH RIVAL has
always been a Hardrock /
Power Metal / bluesy type band with not a lot of classical influence
(although I love that style) and we enjoyed writing songs within
that Hardrock context. I believe there is an art and challenge
to that as well as composing other styles."
In 1991 you
finally managed to release your debut album
"In The Face Of Danger", which features two re-recorded songs off
the "God Bless America" single, but surprisingly no material off the
'89 demo. What was the reason for that?
"Steve's
style of singing was totally different than
John Angel's, so he preferred to sing the "God Bless America"
material, which he did quite well. We really didn't want to redo
any older tunes, but were short on songs for the "In The Face
Of Danger" sessions."
Is the title
"God Bless America" somehow meant ironically?
"I
originally wrote "God Bless America" as a joke and a
parody on the original!!! Our fans loved the tune, so we recorded
it and it became the title song of the first EP. It all seems
pretty silly in retrospect. I never "demoed" the song, as I
almost always do completely with a drum machine, so Greg
Martin is responsible for the "busy" drum part, which I think
attracted a lot of people to the song initially as well. Looking back,
the songs on the original EP were very immature. That version of
the band had much better (and heavier) material that never got
recorded unfortunately."
The cassette
version of that album comes up with a really
cool looking coverartwork, while the CD just features a black & white
bandpicture. Why didn't you use the artwork for both formats?
"We
originally did have the same color cover for both the
"In The Face Of Danger" CD and cassette, but reprinted some CD's
with the b/w cover, as our manager felt this necessary while
shopping to American labels."
Why have you added a bonus track to the CD version and
why a BEATLES track? Would you consider them as an influence?
Who else influenced the ARCH RIVAL style?
"The
BEATLES are definitely one of my top 5 bands of all
time. Paul McCartney is an absolute genius in my mind. We all like
the BEATLES, but I'm sure their 
influence hasn't found its way
much into ARCH RIVAL's
music. We used to do "Revolution"
live and decided to record it
ourselves. At our producer's
suggestion, we changed the
groove and made it straighter, but I
preferred the BEATLES' "bouncier" groove in retrospect. Every member
in ARCH RIVAL has different influences, ranging from RUSH
and JUDAS PRIEST to WHITESNAKE and ZAPPA and some common
ground in KING'S X."
You surprisingly also sold a video cassette at that point of time, which features the title track of the album as well
some behind the scenes footage. So, were you really able to sell
as some copies of that or was ARCH RIVAL still too unknown for
a homevideo release?
"That
video was just sold on a local level, but the
response was excellent."
Was the
videoclip for "In The Face Of Danger" broadcasted
somewhere and did it help to increase the band's popularity?
"The
video was played on some cable access TV shows,
at a Foundations Forum, and several other locations."
How active
has ARCH RIVAL been as a live act over the
years? Have there been good possibilities to play or did you also have to suffer from the fact that you are playing Heavy Metal?
With which bands were you already able to share the stage?
"The
band was extremely active live until 1994 when I moved
to Texas. We have shared the stage with CHASTAIN, FATES WARNING,
TESTAMENT, WRATHCHILD AMERICA, NITRO, ANVIL and others.
We still play live shows, but haven't done any extended tours in a while. We have a great following in our home tri-state area, but the
present state of Metal in the US does somewhat decrease our
playing options."
In 1995 you
released your second album "Wake Up Your Mind",
which came out on a label I've never ever heard about before.
So, please tell us a bit more about that company, like how you
hooked up with them and if that co-operation worked out better
for you in any way than your self financed debut release?
"Wake Up
Your Mind" was self financed and released as
well as "In The Face Of Danger". I just changed the name of our
record company from Windmill to "Imminent Music Force" (IMF).
It was actually our highest budget album, but we felt working in
that particular studio changed our sound too much."
Why did you
change the label's name
from Windmill to Imminent Music Force?
"The
name of the label was changed to a more professional name. I simply didn't like the name Windmill."
To me
"Wake Up Your Mind" is ARCH RIVAL's weakest
release to date, as I don't like Steve's singing on most of the songs.
So, what had caused the change in his style of singing towards a
more DANGEROUS TOYS type direction?
"It's
very hard for us to be objective, never being able to step back from our music and truly "observe", but I think the
factors that would affect a change would be: new songs could
definitely dictate a change in vocal style and a new studio could
definitely change the "quality" of the vocals."
You already
played the ballad "A Funny Feeling" on
the 1991 video release, so why did you wait so long until you
finally released that officially? Is there maybe even more old
material on that record?
"A Funny
Feeling" was not an "old track" or anything.
It was released on the earliest possible release after its creation,
"Wake Up Your Mind". We spent a lot of time writing and
arranging material for that album, and I wanted to let the other
guys have more input than I ever have, which I did. We didn't
redo any old stuff for that CD."
There's once
again a four year period between the release
of "Wake Up Your Mind" and your current album 'Third Degree Burns".
So, are you just slow songwriters, did the band spilt-up in
between or what had caused this long silence once again? I mean,
you didn't even have to face any line-up changes this time, so...
"I moved
to Texas in 1994, so this made it difficult to
continue as normal. The reason that it has taken so long between
albums is that I basically write all of the music, and I have several
other bands as well! Also, the distance apart made the recording
of "Third Degree Burns" very time consuming as we were sending
demos by mail and recorded in three different locations. We have
some ideas to make the recording easier next time around."
What is the
reason for you to play in several other
bands as well? Aren't you able to incorporate all your ideas
into ARCH RIVAL's music?
"Absolutely
not. I am interested in a diversity of styles
from Jazz to very heavy and progressive music and my writing
partner in ARCH RIVAL, vocalist Steve Snyder, is into very soulful
and bluesy music, which I enjoy too. So, we have to find our common
ground when we write together. With SURGEON I am able to get my
heavy and progressive side out and many other styles with my
instrumental music, which I enjoy the most."
Don't you
think that it would be more effective
to concentrate your energy exclusively on one band?
"I would
not be able to satisfy my musical needs in one
band. I not only enjoy, but do compose a diversity of styles. It's
very hard to find one group of musicians that can play and have
a true passion for all these styles. Nor would I be able to market
a band with no specific direction."
All your CD's
come up with very poor booklets that
mostly just feature the lyrics. Is that just for financial reasons?
"I guess
we've put our faith in graphics people that
haven't been too concerned about the booklets, but we intend
on being more meticulous about that in the future."
Where do you
see the main differences
between all your three albums?
"Each
album is definitely different and unique
and there are high points on them all and songs that we're
proud of on each, but "Third Degree Burns" most accurately
reflects our true direction and style. I personally think this
Power Metal direction is the best for ARCH RIVAL, although
we do like being diverse."
You already
mentioned that you moved from Ohio to Texas. What was the reason for that and isn't it more difficult
now to keep the band going?
"The
reason I moved is to get to a better climate and music scene: mission accomplished! Yes, as explained previously,
it has made the band rapport a little more difficult for ARCH
RIVAL. But I have sustained my solo career in full force and
have formed SURGEON as well, and am forming a progressive
band with keyboards as well this year, so my move has been
justified and we proved we can deal with the logistics by recording
"Third Degree Burns" as we did."
Texas is
often in the worldwide public eye due to the
death penalty. What is your personal opinion about that subject?
Have you ever regretted moving there?
"The
death penalty is a very touchy subject, but to be
objective about it, one must consider their feelings if their own
family were the victims. There is no justification for these violently
insane acts and there truly are some people that the world is
better without. At the same time, I wouldn't want to be the
executioner. No, I've never regretted my move to Texas."
How is the
mood within the state Texas these days
concerning the subject "death penalty"?
"To be
honest I have not followed the news much in
quite a while, as I've been musically swamped!!! I haven't picked
up on an overall mood in Texas about this topic."
When did you
hook up with Limb Music Publishing and
what do you expect from this co-operation?
"We
hooked up with Limb Publishing through Leviathan
Records during the release of "Third Degree Burns" and it has
proven to be a very beneficial rapport as Limb are very great people
and promote their bands more than most publishers do."
And last but
not least I would like you to tell us a
bit more about your side-project... What is it like, musically,
compared to ARCH RIVAL, who else is playing with you there
and why did you change the name from DR.PSYCHO to SURGEON?
"SURGEON
is very heavy and somewhat progressive. We have a killer drummer in Matt Thompson,
a fine bassist James Martin,who is
also in my solo band, THE MICHAEL
HARRIS PROJECT (I'm presently
recording my new solo instrumental
album,"Distorted Views") and
SURGEON's vocalist is Len Jarrell,
who was with WATCHTOWER and
JUGGERNAUT for a while.He has an
amazing stage show and voice.
Too many people didn't like the name, DR.PSYCHO, so we changed it to
SURGEON. Did we do the right thing?"
Contact:
ARCH RIVAL
P.O. Box 863
Lewisville, TX 75067
U.S.A.
Frank Stöver