Metal
Rules!! Interview with Pat Reyes of Dali's Dilemma, November 1999,
Interviewed by Steve.
How long has Dali's Dilemma been together?
We've been together about four years. Only last
two have been with the current line-up.
How did the band form?
Matt Guillory (keyboardist) and myself started jamming
about 4 years ago and it came to the point where we were going to get a
drummer and bass player and have something we could call a band.
So we asked my brother Steve (Reyes, bassist) to play bass, he wasn't
doing anything at the time, so he was very interested and we got him
going and things were going smooth. The other thing was it was
hard to stick with a steady drummer and find a singer we were happy
with. So eventually, after 3 years or so and after having hard
times with drummers and singers, we asked Mike Varney (president of
Shrapnel Records) if he knew any guys and he said "Yeah, I know
this guy, Jeremy Colson (drummer), a young kid and a really hot drummer,
you guys should check him out." So we did and we loved
him. We thought he was excellent. And so there was still the
singer dilemma left. So again we turn to Mike Varney, who said
"We got this guy, Matt Bradley (vocalist) here so check him
out." So we bought the album he was on and it was good, we
liked it and so we made a demo and you know from there it was history
(laughs), we decided to make an album.
I must say its a good album, a great album!
Thanks!
If
you had to name some of your influences, and give an overview of the
influences of the rest of the band, what would they be?
Some of my influences are Michael Schenker, Uli Jon
Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore. I like Brian May, Allen
Holsworth, those type of guys I listened to at an early age.
I noticed a bit of Yngwie style in your playing.
I personally love Yngwie.
Yeah, he's very influential. More ways than just
one. A lot of guitar players and keyboard players, as well as Matt
Guillory, are into Yngwie as well as my brother Steve. As a band I
believe we have a lot of different influences, not just metal and prog
metal genre. Along the way we listened to jazz, fusion, a little
blues, many different styles, artists, and bands.
How did you get in touch with Peter Morticelli
(president of Magna Carta) and the Magna Carta label?
At the time when when Matt, my brother and I started
jamming, Matt was already in the process of doing sideman work with
Magna Carta. So it wasn't something where we had to get together
and look for a label. We started to develop a professional
relationship from that point on, to the point where we were working with
them. So it really wasn't hard at all, we just said here's a demo
of a couple songs we wrote, check it out and let us know if you want to
work with us. From there it went pretty smooth.
So was there many songs from the demo that made it on
the "Manifesto for Futurism" CD?
Yes actually, "Miracles in Yesteryear" was one
of the first songs we put together and demoed out. There are bits
and pieces of every song but they got re-arranged to the point where you
wouldn't recognize them.
Your debut album "Manifesto for Futurism"
is, in my opinion, one of the best first album I've ever heard.
Did the album take long to make or does writing come naturally to the
band?
We're the kind of writers where we like to take our time
and do a lot of refining. We don't feel comfortable just whipping out a
song and saying OK here's four songs we'll throw that on the album.
We like to take our time, re-evaluate the song, and determine whether or
not this part is going to work or that part is going to work, you know.
You can record a demo and two weeks later say, well you know it sounded
good at the time but some things could be better. That's the way
we approach it and, to answer your question, it took us a couple of
years I think.
Who came up with the name Dali's Dilemma?
Matt Guillory's uncle, actually. He suggested that
name and we were having a hard time finding a name and we weren't
getting anywhere. One night Matt called and said "My uncle
suggested this name, what do you guys think?" It does sound kind of
different and kind of had something to do with what we are about.
Dali was an underground, cult artist and we are kind of in the same
boat. Our music is underground and not accepted by the mainstream.
We took a liking to it right away and liked the fact that it was
different, nobody else would have it and we were having problems finding
a name that nobody else would have. So we thought we'd take it and
went with it.
So, Manifesto for Futurism, who's idea was that?
That was Steve's idea, I guess he got it from some news
drone or something. Again we were looking for a title and the time
was coming where we needed to get the name and title, we were already in
studio and Magna Carta were bugging us for a name. We wanted a
strong name, we wanted a long name like three words and Manifesto for
Futurism was perfect. It had a strong name and we're not futurists
but it means to move forward and that's what we're about, moving forward
and not staying stagnant.
One thing I liked was the artwork on the cover and
inside. It was done by Dave McKean who does graphic novels and is known
for his work in the Sandman series. Is anyone in the band a fan of
his and how did you get him to do the artwork?
Originally we weren't aware of Dave McKean too much. We
were in the studio doing my tracks with James Murphy and Dave McKean had
done work for Murphy on some Testament album, I think, yeah. So he
(James Murphy) was showing us and saying this guy is awesome and we were
like "Wow man! We want this guy too." So we asked to
hook us up and he said "Yeah I'll give him a call."
I se his artwork has really taken off.
Mullmuzzler used him and so did Dream Theater on the new album.
Magna Carta is starting to use him. I'm glad we
did and I'm very fond of the artwork.
James Murphy recorded the guitar, bass, and keyboards
on the album. Was he your first choice and did you want him right from
the beginning?
Ah, he was doing some work for Shrapnel and Magna Carta
at the time. He was the guy that Magna Carta kind of suggested and it
worked as far as budget and convenience. He didn't live too far
away. He was able to provide a place to stay and things like that.
He wasn't someone we wanted to work with from the beginning but it came
together that way from the suggestion of Magna Carta. He was fun
to work with and a cool guy.
How has the response been to the album?
I hear its doing really good and getting good response
from Japan and Europe, I'm not sure about South America. I know
there has been some good response from the states. I'm not sure
how well it is doing in Canada, where your from. Overall I think
the response, so far, has been pretty well.
How good is the progressive scene in California?
California? I don't really hear about too many
progressive bands in California. I live in the bay area and there
are a few bands such as Zero Hour, which are friends of ours.
They're a pretty good progressive metal band. I know Cairo are
from the north bay area. Magellan are from the east bay area.
I guess most of the bands I hear about in a prog style are from the bay
area.
How would fans of Dali's Dilemma get in contact with
the the band? Is there a web site we can log on to, to get news and
updates?
Their actually is. Unfortunately, our domain name
got taken, so we
don't have a domain yet. There is a web site at www.best.com/~dali.
So what is currently happening with the band?
Right now we are in the process of writing another
album. The writing process will be going on for another month or
so. We hope to finish sometime in the early new year.
So are you touring for the album?
We definitely want to make a valiant effort to get a
tour happening. I know we weren't able to do it for Manifesto although
we really wanted to do it, it just couldn't happen. Magna Carta
supports touring but I think it will be all up to connecting with the
right people.
Are you or any other band members currently doing any
side projects?
Most recently Steve, Jeremy, and myself did some work
for Magna Carta on an upcoming project written by Trent Gardner called
"The Absolute Man." The album is based on the life of Leonardo
DiVinci. So that should be coming out soon with singers from Magna
Carta and others from the same genre. It's a great album and I
enjoyed making it, performing, and
writing guitar parts for it.
How would you describe it musically?
Musically it's very operatic. Designed for vocals,
so the vocal parts will definitely stand out and the shredding type of
thing. It's definitely for vocals. I describe it as sounding
like Queen at times, maybe a little like Genesis, like a bit of Yes.
It's great, a really good album.
My last question is what can we expect from Dali's
dilemma in the future?
I think you should expect something a bit more
aggressive and heavier than Manifesto. We brought in 7 string
guitars and 5 string basses and that part alone will be heavier.
The music will be a little heavier and more aggressive. The people
who were into the "pop" aspect of Manifesto may not like it as
much but there will be lots of hooks and the good things that Manifesto
had to offer. I think people will be satisfied.
We'd like to thank Pat for taking the time to answer
our questions. We wish him and Dali's Dilemma lots of success and
hopefully we'll be hearing big things about them very soon.
©1999 Metal Rules!!
