The Median Man sat down with Rick Stallkamp from Niviane to discuss the band’s history and the new album.
The Median Man sat down with Rick Stallkamp from Niviane to discuss the band’s history and the new album.
GOOD FIT
What inspired the formation of the band?
I was approached by Claudeous Creamer (now in Possessed) & Mark Sprague (who I had previously played with in Restrayned) in Sacramento to form a new band. Claudeous said he knew another guitarist, Mark Miner, who was also interested. The four of us met up at a Starbucks in late 2014 & went over a game plan to form a new band. We listened to each others demos and decided it would be a good fit. On the initial meeting we thought it might be more of a “modern metal” band, but soon discovered the stuff we had in common were influences stemming from classic metal & heavy metal. Bands such as Ozzy, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and too many others to name from that era. These are the main influences. This became the musical direction for the band.
How do you approach songwriting?
I approach songwriting from a listener’s perspective. Meaning, as if I’m the listener. I imagine what I’d like to hear if I had my stereo cranked loud in my car as I was driving down the highway. The whole overall aspect of the song. The peaks and valleys and dynamics of what I enjoy hearing as a music fan. I like to say I’m a metal fan first & a metal musician second. I believe this helps me to write songs that flow and have melodic structures which can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of your preferred or favorite genre of music.
LISTENER’S PERSPECTIVE
LISTENER’S PERSPECTIVE
How do you approach songwriting?
I approach songwriting from a listener’s perspective. Meaning, as if I’m the listener. I imagine what I’d like to hear if I had my stereo cranked loud in my car as I was driving down the highway. The whole overall aspect of the song. The peaks and valleys and dynamics of what I enjoy hearing as a music fan. I like to say I’m a metal fan first & a metal musician second. I believe this helps me to write songs that flow and have melodic structures which can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of your preferred or favorite genre of music.
MASTER
Were there any themes that you explored on this album that you haven’t before?
Norm is really a master of coming up with all the different themes and lyrical content of our songs. I think one thing different on the new album is there are a couple songs that speak to personal relationships & difficulties, which is different than the fictional fantasy concepts for our songs on the first album.
What songs should listeners pay the closest attention to on the album?
All of them hopefully! One thing I’ve always been a big fan of is the album track listing. Even though we all have our favorite songs on our favorite albums, I always believed the artist put the songs in a specific order to best portray their artistic vision and coherent flow to their album to provide the listener with the best listening experience possible. We also employed this concept when creating our track listing for the new album. The track listing we decided upon provides a good flow to the album as well as showcasing the different elements and diversity of the songs.
ALL
ALL
What songs should listeners pay the closest attention to on the album?
All of them hopefully! One thing I’ve always been a big fan of is the album track listing. Even though we all have our favorite songs on our favorite albums, I always believed the artist put the songs in a specific order to best portray their artistic vision and coherent flow to their album to provide the listener with the best listening experience possible. We also employed this concept when creating our track listing for the new album. The track listing we decided upon provides a good flow to the album as well as showcasing the different elements and diversity of the songs.
DELAYS
How has covid impacted your plans for the album?
Well obviously no bands can tour or even play clubs since this has happened. This impacts not just the bands but the whole music business as well. Promoters/booking agents/support staff/tour staff/club employees and the list goes on. The release of the new album was delayed due to the whole situation. Hopefully once everything is deemed ok again, we can get out and start playing shows and tour to support the new album.