'If no one knows who you are, you need to reach out and find the listeners.. they won’t find you - at least not initially (no one knows who you are, remember?)  So it takes good old fashioned leg work, a lot of which can fortunately be done at a computer terminal. Like I said before, the Internet has shrunk the world and it’s easier to reach out to people. '

First of all, many thanks for the kind words about the album, it means a lot!  The Second One has Bruce as a songwriter as well, which is really nice. The First One was songs only written by Tom and myself, except for the White Rabbit cover. Fortunately we’re all on the same page pretty much, so our sound is still consistent throughout the album. I think we tied all the songs and sounds together nicely on this one.

Musically, Let The Children Play started out with a riff and structure that Bruce was working on. He and Tom worked on the music and I started writing lyrics that were inspired by a presentation I’d attended which was about how the “corporate world” was marketing to our children, and using sex and violence in their marketing campaigns. It was then recorded, same as the others….and a lot of coffee on mix day…We were all really happy with how it turned out.

Not that much really. On The First One we recorded a lot to A-Dat, whereas The Second One went straight to a hard drive. In terms of the actual recording/mixing process though, they were both pretty much the same. We used Beatty Lane Studios for the rhythm tracks on both, and Craig Waddell at Gotham City Studios was the mastering engineer for both.

You hear the phrase “time and money” a lot in many endeavours. So if you don’t have money, you have to spend the time. A lot of it!

If no one knows who you are, you need to reach out and find the listeners, they won’t find you, at least not initially (no one knows who you are, remember?)  So it takes good old fashioned leg work, a lot of which can fortunately be done at a computer terminal. Like I said before, the Internet has shrunk the world and it’s easier to reach out to people.

There are numerous OMD’s out there now. Put your music on them. There are numerous music forums and discussion groups. Join them. Be sincere and genuine in your endeavours. If you’re just out there for yourself, that attitude will get discovered pretty quickly. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. It’s hard to gain people’s trust, even harder to get it back once you’ve lost it!!

Put together a mailing list of people/places that will likely review your music. Send them a CD!! An email telling them where to download your tracks won’t cut it. It’s unprofessional, and most won’t do it!

If you’re serious about wanting a review (or airplay), send the CD. So many bands get caught up being stingy with their product, no one ever hears about it. Get it out there!!!  Give it a life of its own! Yes, it’ll cost you postage and some CD’s, but the return is well worth it!

Also, recognize who your target audience is, and spend your time marketing to them. If your music is heavy metal for instance, don’t waste time and effort joining the Barry Manilow Forum and asking people there to listen to your stuff.

I have to say we write/record for ourselves. And by that I mean, we want to finish with a product that we’re proud of, and that we want to hear. We don’t write with the intent to please anyone other than ourselves. I think once you try writing to please someone else, you lose your creativity somewhat, and that’s very limiting. So when we receive accolades for what we’ve done, be it Awards or good reviews etc.. it’s immensely rewarding!!  It kind of says to us that others feel the same way about the music that we do and it’s very validating. I think as human beings, we all appreciate a pat on the back for something we’ve done, and Symphony in DeMeanor are no different.

Again I’m really pleased with how all the tracks turned out. If we had doubts about any of them, we wouldn’t release them. That’s kind of where the 6 track album came from for us. We always said “no album filler” !!  Having said that, our next release looks like it will be a full length album…. But with NO filler (laughs). My personal favourite changes every time I hear the album, but right now I’m really liking 'Dreams'.

Well, that’s a huge compliment and we thank you very much for that. We truly enjoy creating and producing music that we’d like to hear. I guess if there’s a frustration, then it’s simply just that it’s a slow process ‘getting the word out’, and that’s where the Indie world is a bit more difficult than having the marketing power of a record label behind you.

I’m not sure there’s an issue in it, really. I have that album and I respect what Nigel did. To me it’s a far better album than 'Driving Rain' (which I don’t own). We fully expect Paul to call us though, to produce his next one (laughing). Seriously, we really appreciate the huge compliment you’ve given us, and now we’re feeling all kinds of pressure about our next release (smiling).

That's great Rob... I can accept some responsibiliy then for 'enhancing' the next album... what a buzz!!!

Ok.. let's take a look at location for a moment.. now seeing that your based in Vancouver, (in BC, Canada)… how’s the music scene down there at the moment and how would you say the band is doing in Canada compared to other countries?

I’d say we’re more popular the farther from Canada you can get (laughing). The music scene typically eats their own, so trying to succeed in your own area can sometimes be tough. I think we’re actually more successful in the U.K. and Europe than here though. Russia and Japan are also very warm to new music. And there’s a little town in Holland called Koog a/d Zaan where I have some distant relatives that like our music (smiles).

I think iTunes and similar is the way the industry seems to be going. I don’t think, however, that you can ever replace “the Album”. iTunes is like buying a 45 rpm single, which people did when they knew the rest of the album sucked, or because the album wasn’t out yet. Put out a great “album” and I think people will still want the album. There’s nothing like having the actual product in hand but digital distribution is the future for sure.

I will still pick up a vinyl album or 45 for the nostalgia or sentiment.. and I actually picked up a nice turntable at a garage sale last year but it still needs a new cartridge that I haven't got around to buying yet!

OK back to Symphony in Demeanor… what are your plans for the rest of this year?

We’re actually writing material for the next release right now. So the rest of the year will be working on the next album!! We’ve demo'd a couple and are loving how it sounds and like I said, it’s going to be a full length monstrosity!