What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
Hi it’s Brewin here, thank you for inviting us! The band name comes from the supernatural horror novel The Dark Horde that follows the story told on The Calling album. The Dark Horde in these stories is an evil other-worldly force with malicious intentions, but to know more you’ll need to hear/read the story. Musically the influences are primarily heavy metal and horror movie soundscapes from the eighties when the story is set, particularly bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper, and soundtracks by composers like John Carpenter and Giorgio Moroder. Lyrically the influences are authors like H. P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker and H. G. Wells. In terms of execution of the concept, my inspiration is definitely Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds from the late-seventies.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
The Calling was conceived as a musical prelude to my supernatural horror novel back in 2000, and over the years I have worked with different musicians, vocalists, artists, etc to bring this idea finally to life. The lyrics that appear on the released album were written by me mostly in those early years with some recent changes. Hanny Mohamed and Logan Jacobs composed the music, aside from a couple of guest tracks (by Chris Kane and James Lowe). Essentially, I would provide the lyrics to them, as well as the moods and flow I wanted for track. From that they would come up with some ideas, that the three of us (myself, Hanny and Logan) would review and discuss, and we’d record the ideas we settled on going with. Once we’d worked out the entire album this way, it was a matter of recording the actual tracks, and then recording the vocal performances, particularly those of Danny Cecati, Kevin Powe and Shaun Farrugia, that helped shape the tracks further, and those of the other actors too. Here again I’d provide the lyrics and direction, but the performers were able to make the track their own too. Changes and re-recordings as we decided were needed were made throughout the process, right up until the mix was finalised.
The story told on The Calling is that of Henry Wilcox, a young and broken man living alone in Melbourne in 1989. He records his final words in the hope that someone hears them and thus knows of what is to inevitably come… Horror themes range across insanity, anger, despair, rituals and slaughter and all under the shadow of an otherworldly malignant force that is the Dark Horde.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
The Calling was conceived as a musical prelude to my supernatural horror novel back in 2000, and over the years I have worked with different musicians, vocalists, artists, etc to bring this idea finally to life. The lyrics that appear on the released album were written by me mostly in those early years with some recent changes. Hanny Mohamed and Logan Jacobs composed the music, aside from a couple of guest tracks (by Chris Kane and James Lowe). Essentially, I would provide the lyrics to them, as well as the moods and flow I wanted for track. From that they would come up with some ideas, that the three of us (myself, Hanny and Logan) would review and discuss, and we’d record the ideas we settled on going with. Once we’d worked out the entire album this way, it was a matter of recording the actual tracks, and then recording the vocal performances, particularly those of Danny Cecati, Kevin Powe and Shaun Farrugia, that helped shape the tracks further, and those of the other actors too. Here again I’d provide the lyrics and direction, but the performers were able to make the track their own too. Changes and re-recordings as we decided were needed were made throughout the process, right up until the mix was finalised.
The story told on The Calling is that of Henry Wilcox, a young and broken man living alone in Melbourne in 1989. He records his final words in the hope that someone hears them and thus knows of what is to inevitably come… Horror themes range across insanity, anger, despair, rituals and slaughter and all under the shadow of an otherworldly malignant force that is the Dark Horde.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
You create things that reflect what you love. I’ve always loved supernatural horror stories and I’ve always loved heavy/power metal, so I sought to create something that combined the two.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Given that The Calling is a studio project album, with many of the band’s members in active bands of their own, live performance isn’t a focus for us. That said, there are plans to do this soon, and with songs already chosen to perform for that, I can say that the selections are based on what is the most captivating for the audience – the powerful performances of singer Danny Cecati, the most catchy riffs that fans have responded to, and showcasing the talent of not only the main musicians Hanny and Logan, but the guest musicians as well, and of course the other singers and actors taking part.
Transferring the atmosphere, the cinematic experience of the album to the stage will certainly be challenging, and we have discussed many ideas around this. What it will be is different from the album, yet hopefully a compelling, inspiring and unique experience for all concerned.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Given that The Calling is a studio project album, with many of the band’s members in active bands of their own, live performance isn’t a focus for us. That said, there are plans to do this soon, and with songs already chosen to perform for that, I can say that the selections are based on what is the most captivating for the audience – the powerful performances of singer Danny Cecati, the most catchy riffs that fans have responded to, and showcasing the talent of not only the main musicians Hanny and Logan, but the guest musicians as well, and of course the other singers and actors taking part.
Transferring the atmosphere, the cinematic experience of the album to the stage will certainly be challenging, and we have discussed many ideas around this. What it will be is different from the album, yet hopefully a compelling, inspiring and unique experience for all concerned.
What plans do you have for the future?
For the band, it’s hard to say yet, beyond what I mentioned before. But speaking for myself as a writer, I am working on other projects including a sequel to The Dark Horde novel. However most of my creative focus is currently directed towards a game that I’ve worked on since 1985. Considering how much I’ve worked on that over the decades since, it’s about time I finished it and released it to the world… But time will tell what happens ey?