AN HOUR OF ESCAPISM
A CONVERSATION WITH ARJEN ANTHONY LUCASSEN
Arjen Anthony Lucassen is an extremely talented artist. Singer, songwriter, musician, storyteller, and so much more. With his project, Ayreon (“you can’t really call it a band, it is more of a project, because members change with each album,” Lucassen said), he has composed several operas/rock operas and used that as a vehicle to release music as one part of his career. He has also released a number of solo albums over the years. Lucassen is ready to release his fourth solo album, Songs No One Will Hear, an epic rock opera/concept album. It is a very ambitious project, considering he wrote the entire album, and plays the majority of instruments.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him about the new album, Lost In The New Real. One thing is certain, he has been busy between his solo albums, not just with Ayreon albums. “It’s been 13 years,” Lucassen said. “I did loads and loads of side projects, too many really, people have lost track. I did the Simone Simons album [Vermillion, which he not only played on but wrote the entire album]. She is from Epica, and she asked me to write an album for her, and I did. Then Robert Soeterboek, a Dutch singer asked me to write an album for him, and that became Plan Nine (released as Lucassen and Soeterboek). And I did some Supersonic Revolution, which is a bunch of friends. I did an album for them [Golden Age of Music].”All of this work with other artists prompted Lucassen to work on his own solo project. “This is why I did the solo album. At some point, it became, let’s do something for myself. Let’s be an egomaniac and write an album entirely for me,” laughed Lucassen.
The album is quite an interesting story set to some brilliant prog rock and rock. “I always start with the music. I listened to the music, and it was so eclectic, there were happy songs, sad songs, and huge, big epic songs, so I needed a concept that reflected that. I had to think for a long time as to what it could be, and then suddenly the idea came to me, what would people do if they only had five months to live? So, I didn’t know what the reason was or anything, in this case it was an asteroid, it could have been anything from nuclear war to whatever. That fits the different styles of music. Different emotions…I think if something like that happened, every person would have a different reaction. Some people would party like there is no end, which there is. Some people may not want to know anything about it and just continue their life. Other people would find friends they have not talked to for a long time and others may commit suicide. So, you know there was a lot I could do with the concept to make it interesting.”
Lucassen even brings in conspiracists. “It is a hot topic at the moment. With AI, what is real, what is not real? So, I could not avoid the conspiracy theory stuff. I think that would happen. Of course, I mention all the hot topics of conspiracy, like the flat earth and moon landing, and 4G, it is all there in “Goddam Conspiracy”. It is going to be the next single, we are working on the video right now.”
Speaking of singles, the first single released from Songs No One Will Hear was the epic, 15-min song “Our Final Song”. Not the usual choice for a first single, nor a video, which is really a short film. “It’s crazy,” agreed Lucassen. “Of course, the label was ‘You’re crazy, we are not going to release a 15-min single. How will it work on Spotify, who is going to listen to a 15-min song these days?’. And I said, ‘ok, I will pick another song’ and went through the album. But as the first single, people are going to think ‘ok, this is his new solo album’, so it has to be representative of the album, which none of the songs are. So, the only song that reflected the album was “Our Final Song”. You have the big epic parts, the small acoustic parts, the more funny parts, the serious parts. Everything was in there. I thought it was too much of a risk to release another song. Even “Goddam Conspiracy”, which is a straight-ahead rocker, then people would think, ‘ok, the album is a straight-ahead rocker’. But, no, it isn’t.”
SONGS NO ONE WILL HEAR ALBUM REVIEW
And coming up with a video for a science fiction 15-minute epic is really no easy task. The biggest challenge, of course, is how do I make a video clip for 15 minutes, when you have nothing. I spent weeks and weeks writing a whole script for it and gathering material for it. It worked out and has been received very well. I think it worked out. I am not the type of guy who will get millions of views, but the views I have had are quality views, and people have watched the whole thing. May even decide to buy the album.”
To help with the story, Lucassen included a narrator in this album in the form of a disc jockey, who augments the music in telling the story. “I have loved narration ever since War Of The Worlds album with Richard Burton. And I always loved narration on albums, like Rick Wakeman’s Journey To The Centre Of the Earth, but also in TV series. It makes it easy to get into the story. I’m not the kind of guy who says ‘here is my story. It is very cryptic; you figure it out.’ I want to make it easy for people and offer escapism. I want people to be drawn into the story and a narrator really helps. Especially for this album I was looking for someone who could be really funny and serious. Mike [Michael Adam] Mills (from Toerider) fits the bill. He actually wrote most of his narration.”
A version of the album, without narration, is also available. “My last Ayreon album had Tom Baker on it to narrate it. I am a huge Baker fan, he is my favourite Dr Who, and I loved what he did. But there were so many complaints from some fans. They just wanted to get to the music. Also on Spotify, you get a song with narration, you are in the middle of a story, so I asked the label if we could release a version with narration. That would keep everybody happy.”
Following the work he had done with other artists, coming up with his own album, initially, was not that easy. “I did the album for Simone, after doing all the other albums for other artists, and I was empty. There was nothing left. It was very scary for a couple of months. It is like a black hole. It is terrible. I don’t have a family, I don’t have a social life, I have a studio. I want to wake up, go into my studio and work. If that isn’t there, I have nothing. I am not a gardener. I go into the garden and do the weeds and think, shit, they will be back again tomorrow. But then it always happens, and I get an idea and I think, ‘mm, this is good.” I think the first song was “The Clock Ticks Down”. Once I get the one song I am happy with, or one idea, the ideas come pretty fast. This being a solo album it is a little bit easier than doing an Ayreon album, and Ayreon albums take me about two years, and this one takes much less time. It took about a year.”
Songs No One Will Hear is an epic album meant to be heard as a complete album, like reading an entire book or watching a film. Lucassen does have hope that the album will offer the listener something that is very much needed today.
“I don’t think there is a real message with the album, at least I don’t want to force it on people. I don’t think it is my task as a musician. I could have made it very political, and sure, you can read between the lines, there is a message. But I never liked it as a kid, when they try to shove a message at you. I just want to offer escapism, forget everything. We made great art work, with amazing pictures, which get you into the story. I just want to offer an hour of escapism.”
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Photo Credit: Lori Linstruth
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ARJEN ANTHONY LUCASSEN – SONGS NO ONE WILL HEAR
