Jon Christain Lie: And we've got Alan Case on the line. Hello.
Alan Case: Hello. Good evening. This is Alan
Case.
JCL: First of all, I would like you to tell me something about the CD and as far as I can see you
produced the whole album yourself. Is that right?
AC: Yes. That's correct. You can say that it's a solo project of mine. All of the recording was done in my own studio. Only some additional parts have been performed by other musician friends of mine like lead vocals. But the whole recording process, writing process, the arrainging, and up to the finishing of the project have all been done in my own studio.
JCL: Could you please tell me about the line of the album?
AC: About the line-up, you mean the other musicians?
JCL: Yeah.
AC: First of all, I'd like to name Eddy Bopp the guitarist. He's been a friend of mine for almost ten years now. We've worked together on lots of different projects and he's been helping me on mine. We've also had a mutual project with a band called Mystix. Which, well, regretably hasn't culminated into a record contract, but I'm sure we'll do something again in the future. And he's been a very important factor on this album.
JCL: What kind of music was Mystix like?
AC: Mystix was, well, kind of the same sort of music I'm doing on my project, but it's a little more rock orientated. It's a little more rock and not as much symphonic rock. I'm the symphonic factor in the band.
JCL: The musicians that's on the album; did they record with other bands?
AC: Well, Eddy Bopp has recorded albums with a band called Vandale, which was a fairly well-known Dutch metal band in the early 80s. And Debbie Nagy, one of the background singers, recorded a single about 10 years ago ("Dead Of Night" produced by Ronald Sommer). And a few others I've worked with and have done recordings as well.
JCL: I've noticed that some of the members of the album come from a band called Legend. Is that right?
AC: Legend?
JCL: Yeah.
AC: Well, there's just one. Mr. Jan Trervoort.
JCL: Well, OK. That's a band I have heard of.
AC: You've heard of Legend?
JCL: Yeah. Is it the same band?
AC: I think there are more bands that are called Legend. So it's doubtful that it's the same band.
JCL: You called the album 'Wide Awake'. Is there a story behind the name?
AC: Wide Awake is obviously an opposite to "Fast Asleep". And I think the whole album is an album of conflicts. And there is a lot of differences and angles to the album. Once I had a track called "Fast Asleep", I imediately felt that there had to be a track called "Wide Awake" on the album to ballance "Fast Asleep" on. So I thought that "Wide Awake" would be an appropriate title to the entire album.
JCL: The CD is released on the Japanese label Avalon (a subsidiary of Marquee). And how did you get the record deal with Avalon?
AC: Well, it was a matter of pure coincidence. I had sent a tape, at random you can say, just to a Japanese music magazine (Marquee). I didn't even know it was also a record label attached to it. But I got a letter back saying that they loved it and would like to do a record with me. So that was a big surprise.
JCL: What kind of response have you received on this album so far?
AC: Well, actually there have been a few articles in Japanese magazines, but I don't have a clue what's in them because I don't read Japanese. So I don't know what they wrote about me. But in Europe, I've had a few fairly good reviews in Wonderous Stories, Empire a German magazine, and iO Pages in Holland all had positive feedback on the album. It's just a shame that it's not for sale right now. There's no European deal for the album yet.
JCL: Now I would like you to tell me about your musical background and where you have played before you became a solo artist.
AC: One bit I told you already about Mystix that was prior to the Alan Case project. I recorded and played in Mystix and prior to that, well, there isn't much to tell actually. I studied physics. So I've totally switched into an entirely different direction. And before that I've have some musical training, but most of it I've learned myself.
JCL: I would like to know what kind of music your listening to yourself when you have time enough to spend in front of your stereo.
AC: Yeah, well that rarely happens nowadays. But when I do, well, it's sort of hard to differenciate between classical music and symphonic rock music. Especially Kansas. Kansas is the band that I admire the most of all rock music that I know of. There are numerous bands and artists that I could mention, but I think the greatest 70s influences: Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, Saga from the 80s, Rush. That's the kind of music I like to listen to myself.
JCL: So you're mostly into the progressive stuff?
AC: That's right.
JCL: How is the interest in in home and the rest of Europe as well for Progressive rock, you think?
AC: The interest in my own country? Well, it's limited to a very select group. But they are quite fanatic, this group. So I think that it still justifies the existance of symphonic rock. It's not a big audience, but it's a true audience.
Thanks to both Jon Christain Lie and Mai-Helen Myhre for their help.
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