Conducted By Karla Ash
Sometimes one wonders if Canada shares the same air as Washington
State. After all, Alaska is cold, too, and you don't see any
dark grunge bands emanating from there, at least any of significance.
The Canadian group Tenth Planet revolves around the same black
hole sun that Alice in Chains and Queensryche did but with the
anthemic punch of U2 at their most rocking. Good music seems
to be always coming out of Canada, from Images in Vogue in the
'80s to the Tea Party in the '90s; we just aren't always aware
of it. And whereas the Matthew Good Band and Econoline Crush
were unable to break into American borders, Tenth Planet just
might have the otherworldly might to do it. The band's guitarist
Brian Paul recently shared his thoughts.
Karla Ash: Pretty ominous album cover and title - what
does it all mean, basically?
Brian Paul: We had a few different album titles floating around,
and what we did was send them to our graphic designer in Germany....we
had him sift through the titles and try to come up with some
corresponding graphic ideas. The title The Prophet Curse is actually
a line from the song "Shadow," track one on the CD.
I guess it hit a nerve with him and hence the inspired CD cover.
Ash: How does Tenth Planet fit into the Canadian scene
today?
Paul: I think there are a few bands doing what we do in Canada.
That sort of heavy alternative rock thing is very big here. Our
Lady Peace, Nickelback, etc., will rock out but also have some
ballads and mellower songs to counteract the fist-pumping stuff...we
like to do both.
Ash: I hear the influence of Seattle grunge in your
sound as well as the progressive rock of Pink Floyd and Queensryche.
What other artists influenced Tenth Planet that we probably couldn't
have guessed?
Paul: I've always been influenced from a song writing perspective
by bands like Stone Temple Pilots. Fans loved them but critics
are only now coming around, but when I started learning to play
guitar I listened and studied their music 24-7. I don't know
if it's noticeable in the finished product but they're a huge
influence on me as the primary music writer in the band. Also,
our singer loves U2 and I think that comes across in the ballads.
We've always loved Alice in Chains too, but I think it's only
been recently that we've started to write stuff that sounds influenced
by them.
Ash: What messages does tenth planet want to convey to
its audience?
Paul: Peter Gabriel said a couple of years ago that he believed
lyric writing to be a lost art and I agree....while we may not
be trying to convey one linear message to the audience, I hope
that people will take the time to digest the lyrics because there's
some very strong stuff there.
Visit the website at: http://www.tenthplanet.ca
