In His Own Words - Bernd Joachim (brighteyes.de) & Milan Polak
From now on Milan Polak: 'Panic Room' was originally written for the fusion project 'J.A.M.' but after finishing it I had the feeling that it did not really fit on there because the rest of the songs definitely headed towards an different direction. But it seemed to be the perfect opener for 'Dreamscapes'. The song should give the listener a taste of what to expect - that this is not a 'know one, know all'-CD. The different styles integrated in this tune definitely make this clear to the more experienced listener. 'Girlfriends' I don't know if you can publish this here... Well, some of my girlfriends and ex-girlfriends are bi-sexual. So I was lucky enough a lot of times to get in the situation... well, you know what I mean... If two women get at it, it is a bit different from what most men fantasize or what the porn industry is selling you. Anyway, I woke up one Sunday morning recalling one hot night with my girlfriend and her best friend. I tried to digest these impressions emotionally and my mind started to come up with the main theme - like a movie score, so to speak. I ran to my studio immediately and recorded the song. If you listen closely you can hear the two lead guitars approaching each other in a careful way that keeps becoming more playful and intensive until the mutual climax. Most people believe that I wrote the song about my girlfriends in general but sorry, that is not the case... I also did not - as some people think to detect - try to copy Vai. With all respect, the song was written for different reasons. 'Dreamscapes' There is a very intensive, personal story related to this song: I was on holiday with my girlfriend at that time on a Caribbean Island. We had rented a bungalow with a terrace where I was sitting one evening noodling on an acoustic guitar and looking at the beach watching the sun disappear into the sea. Inspired by this impression I wrote the main theme. Back home I went to my studio and recorded the song. A few weeks later a mutual friend told me that Falco had just returned from the Domenican Republic to look for a new guitarist. He arranged a meeting and I prepared a demo with 'Dreamscapes' and 'Spanish Romance'. Falco and me got along great instantly and he wanted me to come to his house to jam. While driving there in separate cars he listened to my demo. Sometime he stopped, got out of the car and told me he really digged both songs, especially 'Dreamscapes' reminded him of the sunset on a Caribbean Island. When I told him that the song was written under exact these circumstances it was clear to him - before ever having played a note together - that I was his new guitarist. But there is also a sad part to this story: Just when I was in the studio to mix the song 'Dreamscapes', Falco died in a car wreck that afternoon. 'Spanish Romance' When I was a little kid there was a lot of Al DiMeola, Paco de Lucia and similar being played at our home. So when I started to play I thought that it was standard and totally normal to play like that. Lol When I was 15 years old I was already able to play 'Mediterranean Sundance'. With 'Spanish Romance' I simply wanted to pay tribute to those two. I get fan mail from Spain and South America with compliments on me being able to play that way of phrasing so authentically and where I learned that. To tell you the truth, I do not know myself. Sometimes I wonder myself about certain things that I just can't seem to explain. I guess, it is really because I grew up with that kind of music. 'Quicksilver' This song is arranged pretty much with a live-feel. I wanted a performance that can be heard on the good old Van Halen records. A lot of songs there have a fresh, vital vibe. That is exactly the vibe I wanted to have on 'Quicksilver'. The swing-part in the middle kind of reflects my weird humor. I wanted the listener to suddenly think, 'Fuck, wrong radio station...!' The bebop-solo in the middle was originally composed by me on the piano, so I had to transcribe it note for note on the guitar. 'Slowgold' 'Slowgold' is basically the answer to 'Quicksilver'. Just like the saying, 'Eloquence is silver, silence is gold.' I wanted to say, 'Technique is silver, feeling is gold.' This song was mainly composed on the piano. Attitude-wise I wanted a tune with a background story. It starts very quiet, becomes bigger and more intensive, just to fall back to the level of the beginning again at the end. Bassist Bernd Fuxa and drummer Thomas Lang did an excellent job dynamic-wise on this one. The guitar is one take. The dynamic I changed solely by turning up the volume knob. 'Joyride' The intro riff of this song I always used to test guitars. I test every guitar (no matter if acoustic or electric) without amp first just playing a few chords. Sometime I started to think that this riff would be good enough to make a song out of it and that is how 'Joyride' came to life. 'Contrapunctus III' One can write whole books on counterpoint or 'Die Kunst der Fuge' but I will try to be brief. I think Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the greatest composers of all time. It seems he was obsessed with writing the perfect composition his whole life. And that he tried (mostly near the end of his life) with fugues. A fugue normally is a composition consisting of 4 voices that (even if they move opposite ways) always work together. One voice starts off introducing a theme and developing it. Then comes a second voice picking up this theme and varying it. Then come a third and a fourth, all taking the theme and varying it. To make all these voices work together is, of course very hard and if the whole thing then also has to sound good it gets almost impossible. Until today nobody knows exactly what instruments Bach had written his fugues for (he died over the last one which consisted of the notes B-A-C-H). First it was believed that they were written for a string quartett but the voice of the Viola sometimes goes lower than the instrument allows you to. Then it was believed that they were written for the piano but due to the anatomy of that instrument the voices would be too identical. My personal theory is that he did not give a f..., he just wanted to create that perfect composition. So I started to arrange the third Contrapunctus for three guitars and bass WITHOUT changing a single note! I sight-read every single voice and from voice to voice the big picture became clearer and I started to get goose bumps. In this moment the air was filled with magic and I was struck with awe. Before I had asked myself several times why no guitarist had ever tried this before me but after this I knew the answer. I also will never do this again...! Lol It was tough... '4 a.m.' Even if not a real influence I still believe that Eric Johnson is one of the greatest guitarists of the world. I like the vibe on some of his songs. One day I was noodling on one of my strats - just with fingers, no pick - and this chord progression came to life. This tune has been kept easy deliberately, no overdubs, etc. Some people suggested that I should play a lead guitar over it but they just did not get it, I'm afraid... Also this song has a live character. It reminds me of the cocktail bar of a luxury hotel, when the last guests are about to leave and the band plays very low in the corner - therefore the title. 'Shadowdance' 'Shadowdance' is a dark tune with an odd-meter heavy riff and a few more complex arrangements that always goes back to a more blues-rock oriented theme in the chorus. I dedicated this song to Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. I once spent a long, intense night with him in a local rock club when 'Pantera' was supporting Annihilator supporting Judas Priest. We jammed and drank until the early hours of morning. The news about his death last December deeply shocked me and I have not gotten over it until this very day. 'Ground Zero' Also to this song there is a very personal, emotional story. Many years ago I spent some time in New York and I also have friends there. Just as everyone else I was deeply shocked when I saw the pictures of September 11th. A few years later this documentation done by those two French film students who wanted to film a day with the N.Y. firefighters and happened to accompany them on that very day was published. When I saw these scenes so close to the action I was devastated and my mind started to compose this piece of music to the scenes in the end where everything was just dark and grey and covered with dust. 'Straight Ahead' The title says all. I wanted to compose a riff, simple but mighty similar to Brian May's riff in 'Hammer To Fall'. I have always liked AC/DC and I also like Bryan Adams. Since I could not decide in what style I should record the riff, I decided to combine both styles and it worked well. The chorus would be perfect for Sammy Hagar but he just was not around at that time and so I had to play the melody with a lead guitar. Lol 'Sometimes I Still Miss You' This tune first appeared on the sampler 'The Alchemists' released by the British label 'Liquid Note Records'. It was not composed for a certain person. I just wanted to write a song that was simply structured with a strong melodic theme that would get more and more intensive during the song - almost as if the guitar was talking or singing. When the song was finished I leaned back, listened to it and gave it this title (I do it that way with most of my instrumentals, btw). I wanted to let the listener fade out of the CD with an intensive but easy to follow theme and felt this song was just perfect for that. |
