GOLDEN FARM
GOLDEN FARM is maybe one of the best Spanish AOR bands ever. Their CD 'Angel's tears' contains high quality superbly performed pure AOR in the tradition of STAN BUSH, early HAREM SCAREM, SUVIVOR, ROXUS, SIGNAL, FM, WHITE SISTER... This interview was a total must to do and so it happened not long after the review of their CD was published on our website. Here's what they had to say...
Please introduce us your band, when did you form GOLDEN FARM and did any of you play in bands before GOLDEN FARM?
Golden
farm is the result of a lot of years listening to, and playing, a
whole range of musical styles, from blues to jazz to pop to pure
heavy metal but always related with rock. More importantly
perhaps what drives the group is the desire to write good rock
powered melodies and songs and ultimately the wish to transmit
the feeling that this music gives us to the people who are
willing to listen to it.
Can you tell us all about your fantastic debut CD?
At the
outset I would like to say that we are very pleased that you
enjoyed our album especially given the stature of your magazine.
(Here I would like to add, that I have Dutch friends and they are
great people.) Well, this album emerges from several demo tapes
which I recorded three years ago with a four track recorder with
which I gave shape to my music, recording melodies and guitar
riffs. I love composing with my acoustic guitar. That way, I
started to write a series of songs which are now reflected in
this first album. At around the same time I met Andreas who put
the lyrics to the melodies. When the songs where composed, I
showed them to Ito and Toni who added their respective talents
and ideas and I think the result is quite good.
You play pure 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, which bands influenced you?
I could
name a lot of bands among which are, for example, JOURNEY, TOTO,
FOREIGNER, SURVIVOR, FM, BON JOVI, EUROPE, SCORPIONS, HARD LINE,
HEART, WHITESNAKE, MALMSTEEN, DARE, and MR.BIG.
Are you popular in your area?
The truth
is we started up as a group just a short time ago but we're lucky
to have signed up with a good record company, Avispa. The album
has been edited simultaneously in Spain and Japan (by Marquee
Avalon) and this gives us the hope that it might be of sufficient
interest to be edited in other countries as well.
You're signed to a Spanish label, but I believe you also want to get signed to some bigger labels for distribution of your CD in other countries, do you know the AOR labels here in Europe, I think they will love your band, are you interested in getting signed to one of them?
Of course,
we are very interested in having our album edited across Europe
and we would really be thrilled to have our music reach the
greatest number of people as possible. We already have a few
offers in this sense.
Your CD is filled with high quality AOR, how come your band hasn't had a major breakthough in the AOR scene?
I think
that when you start out in the music world you don't really
decide what style you will play or, for that matter, what
instrument to take up. I thinks its something that springs up
from inside and that you truly feel or connect with the style of
music or the type of instrument and that you want to transmit
this feeling to others.
Do you also tour with your band (probably in Spain?)?
Yes we
expect to do some concerts from February onwards in the most
important Spanish cities. We also plan to open for some
consolidated international acts. It goes without saying that we
would love to tour around Europe and we are working in that
direction.
What are you favourite albums at the moment?
I could
mention several like MR.BIG's MR.BIG, WHITESNAKE'S 1987, EUROPE'S
OUT OF THIS WORLD (in my opinion, this album contains great
melodies and incredible back up vocals), SCORPION'S LOVE A FIRST
STING (for me their best work), and the YNGWIE MALMSTEEN'S ALBUM
TRILOGY (again, one of his best jobs with great tracks). Also, I
really like alot the work done by groups ZENO and TYKETTO
When you write your songs, what are they about and are there any interesting stories to tell about them?
The song
writting process is a bit of a mystery. In our case I pass on the
melodies to Andreas and he is inspired by the feeling which they
give to him. I would say that he writes about things which most
people can identify with but which mean different things to
different people depending on their own personal experience. The
words are sometimes ambiguous and they are purposely so. Of
course, autobiographical elements also come into play.
How did you get your bandname GOLDEN FARM?
The
group's name has its own little story which took place in
Menorca, my home island, during the time that it was a British
colony. Golden Farm is the name of a small palace which, as
legend has it, is the setting of a forbidden and impossible love
affair between Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton, two prominent
members of British aristocracy. Maybe we'll write a song to tell
their story some day.
And what's the story behind the title of the CD 'Angel's tears'?
Angel's
Tears was inspired by track 2 on the album: Tears of loving. I'll
leave it to you and your readers to listen to its words and to
make the connection.
Have you been working on some new material yet?
Yes, we
have quite a lot of material for the next album but, in any case,
we don't save any tracks in particular. I like to compose and
everyday I have new ideas. I don't go about saving 10 or 12
tracks for the next album. Instead, I prefer to compose each
track as if it were the best one and not as if it was a track
just to make up the numbers. For example, when we were asked to
provide a bonus track for the Japanese edition of the album I did
not just take up a song I had lying around. Instead we composed a
whole new song just for the ocasion (its titled "Your time
ain't over").
What are the plans for the next coming months?
Well, as I
said before, in February we are going to start to do some gigs in
Madrid followed by other parts of Spain while at the same time we
will promote the album through interviews for the mass media.
This said, the important thing is to try to improve as musicians
and to write good songs.
Finally, do you have anything to add to our readers?
I am happy to see that AOR has so many followers across Europe and in the world in general and that it hasn't remained stagnant in the 1980s when, arguably, it had its best moment to date. I thinks that people that like good music will continue to enjoy melodic rock and will continue being loyal to it.
