The following interview took place on Thursday, April 26th, at the Webster Theater, in Hartford, CT. I would like to thank Mark for his willingness to do the interview, and to Ray, and Jim...for popping in now and then.....here goes...hope you enjoy it...
Steve Jaymz : What's going on with Joey (Vera)? Is he going to be a permanent member or is he going to retain his "Permenent Temporary" status?
Mark Zonder : The band is Jim, Myself and Ray. That's what we've come to. Joey's about as close as you can be to being a member without being a member. The band is the three guys, and that's the way it'll remain.
Steve Jaymz : With all the good reviews for "Disconnected", do you feel that there could be more publicity for it?
Mark Zonder : You always say that. I think the record company does it's best, but you also have to realize that our kind of music is'nt really that popular here in America, so it's a tough sell. They could try to knock themselves out and do as much as they can, but that's not what the popular genre of music is right now, so it's a tough seel. You know the label does it's best job as they can, but of course we'd always hope for more and more, adn that kind of thing, but they do a good job.
Steve Jaymz : You're going to be playing with (former Fates guitarist) Frank (Arresti) and (former bassist) Joe (Dibiase)....how did that come about?
Mark Zonder : We'll be doing two songs with them. I think that was Jim's idea.
Steve Jaymz : That's definately a good way to come back to Connecticut.
Mark Zonder : Yeah, it's the homecoming for Bones and Frank. Jim thought it would be a good idea, so we gave it a shot.
Steve Jaymz : Have you kept in close contact with Joe or Frank?
Mark Zonder : We talk to them both occasionally, everybody sort of does, you know on different things. Especially with e-mail these days, and that kind of thing.
Steve Jaymz : Fates Warning seems to have a long-standing relationship with one-time Dream Theater keyboardest Kevin Moore. How's the relationship between Fates and DT, seeing that you guys sort of compete with in the same genre?
Mark Zonder : Fine. We just know Kevin, because he played on some of our stuff early on, and then he played on some more stuff, I played with him on his solo record, and then for this last record, he played on it again. It's very stable.
Steve Jaymz : What bands are you currently listening to?
Mark Zonder : I don't listen to too much. When on tour, I spend about eight hours playing, and recording and sort of doing my own thing. I've got like three or four different things that I'm doing. My band from the early eighties, Warlord, I'm working with my old guitar player Bill again, and we're going to use the singer from Hammer Fall. And we're just going to do a recording project. We'll do a record, and see where it goes from there. I've got a whole jazz-fusion thing that I'm working on with another keyboard player. I don't really listen to that much music anymore. I'm more involved in doing it myself. If I listen to stuff, I listen to all old stuff. There's nothing that really works for me today. I hav'nt bought a new record in a long time. It sounds funny, but the only thing I got excited about was the new Journey record. I like the bands from the seventies and eighties.
Steve Jaymz : You've been with Fates Warning for 12 years. What would you say your highlights have been so far?
Mark Zonder : The fact that we can keep it together is a pretty good highlight. (laughs) The fact that there is still a demand for us to make records. As much as we could sit around and bitch that we havn't sold a million records, and things havn't gone havn't gone amazingly well, by the same token, there's a million bands out there who would die to be in our position. YOu have to look at the realisticness. So I'm happy about what's going on. I try not to sit and think 'God, too bad did'nt this happen'. You really can't do that. You just have to do the best job you can and move on and do other things and whatever. I'd say the highlight is that it's (Fates Warning) still together and still going. I like the whole process of just recording. I like the whole process of putting it together and hearing it for the first time.
Steve Jaymz : Lately there seems to be a surge of seventies progressive music coming back. Do you see progressive music making a comeback?
Mark Zonder : Nope. There's no comeback going to happen. And the reason I say that is, name one other band, besides Fates Warning and Dream Theater can you name one other band that's popped through?
Steve Jaymz : Good point.
Mark Zonder : A lot of guys saw the progressive thing as cool, so you see all these bands pop up. You take the combination of, no market for it, and I'm not trying to dog any bands, but they're not very good. I'm not saying every band sucks, I'm just saying, there's no Yes, there's no Rush, there's no King Crimson, there's no Emerson, Lake and Palmer. There's just not. When I hear about the resurgence, there's no resurgence. All it is to me is that there's a lot of bands trying to play that music, and there's a few small lables trying to put them out and help them out. I don't see Atlantic Records out looking for progressive rock. And that's the bottom line. IF that was to ever happen, then it's a different story. If you're going to get a major lable involved, that's going to put up a lot of money and really push something, then there's a possibility, but no doors are going to be opened by whoevers band. If Fates Warning and Dream Theater can't knock down those doors, how could a band like Event, (touring keyboardist/guitarist Shaun Michaud's regular band) do it?
Steve Jaymz : Are there any possibilities of Fates Warning and Dream Theater touring together?
Mark Zonder : I don't know. We've done that before in the past. A lot of it just has to do with the business workings behind what tour support costs, the label and what they think. One of the big ideas of playing with Savatage, is that we have different audiences. You have to really think, if you're going to go out with Dream Theater, how many people in the audience are going to be new Fates Warning fans. So that's the thinking behind it. Playing in front of a different crowd. Anything's possible, you never know.
Steve Jaymz : A lot of bands attempting to play progressive music have named Fates Warning as a major influence. What are your thoughts on that?
Mark Zonder : It's a great compliment. That's great, it's awesome. Part of it is, it'd be great to sell a million records, and yeah, it'd be great to make a million bucks, and blah blah blah, but taking that into account, it's just as great to have people recognize you for what you do and have people cite you as an influence, and that means a lot too. Granted, it does'nt make the bank account any bigger, but it'd better than not seeling records and people saying you suck. (laughs)
Steve Jaymz : In the past eight, nine months, fans have been able to see a lot of the bands that were bigger back ten, twelve years ago, on big tour pakages. With Fates Warning on tour with Savatage, it brings back a flavor from the eighties. Do you see people 'returning' to eighties styled music? Back when the music was made for the music, not so much as for financial gain?
Mark Zonder : Unfortunately no, because, you have to remember, you're talking about the math, and, as long as you're going to have the boy bands, as long as you're going to have the female solo artists, and that kind of thing. That is so masive in comparison to what we're talking about, it's not even funny. Metal always was an underground thing, it had a hey-day in the eighties, where it got to be main-stream, and you heard Whitesnake in the background of an episode of General Hospital. And that was great, it did wonderful things for it, but then it went right back underground again. Granted, hopefully today, people come to the show, granted, maybe this that and the other. But I don't see a great big resurgence. Because you have to remember, the people leading the way are getting older, the new thing is'nt coming in. I really think, and it sounds funny, but, you take a band like Dream Theater, and you take away their big hit "Pull Me Under", that had big video and radio play, and what does that career really consist of? In a commercialized, knock-down doors market, it does'nt. I mean, when was the last time you heard another one of their songs on the radio? And I'm not talking about three o'clock in the morning on some goofy radio station. They were lucky in the respect that they were in the right place at the right time, the song hit, everything opened up for them, and it sort of went from there, and they've been building on that fan-base. But I don't think that there's anything else that's come out that would rattle the doors, and there's a million other bands out there, but I'm not really sure that there's an audience for it, to be honest with you.
Steve Jaymz : Do you feel any sort of bitterness in the fact that Fates Warning has never gotten any push or support from radio?
Mark Zonder : No, 'cause I'm realistic about it, and at the end of the night, I know what's what. I know who can play, I know who can't. I tell people, you've got to do it because you love doing it, you can't do it for the money, girls, and this and that.
Steve Jaymz : What do you think about the new crop of 'music', a.k.a Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, etc..?
Mark Zonder : That whole thing there, I mean, what IS that? I take my hat off to anyone who can make a buck in this business, and anyone who can sell anything, but there's a difference between music and business. And when you mix the two together, that's great, but, what does Limp Bizkit have ANYTHING to do with music? It's a commercial venture, I mean, great. I hope he makes six million dollars. Some accountant is going to be very happy. But the bottom line to it is, I can't listen to it. A serious music listener can't listen to it. If it get's you out of working a day job, helps you support your kids and your wife, that is great, as long as your doing it legally, without hurting anybody. When it comes to, can you play, are you creative, that does'nt mean a hell of alot.
Steve Jaymz : How do you feel about Napster, and the whole shtick?
Mark Zonder : I'm a big Lars supporter on that. Without a doubt. I think the whole thing would change if there was a way you could download movies off the internet, and not have to go to theaters, see how the movie business, how they would feel about it. The same thing with an artist, if you could download a painting and print it, and not have to pay for it, see how he feels about it. It's a total rip-off. Any artist that says it's great and I'm glad they're promoting it, is either one of two things. Either they're dead-ass broke, and they're thinking, maybe it'll catch on and sell, or they're so wealthy, and they've done so well that they don't care. Because believe me, it's like taking money out of your pocket. If I was not a player in a band and I was just Joe Fan, I'd be downloading twenty-four hours a day.
Steve Jaymz : Who would be on your dream tour?
Mark Zonder : Two bands. Kansas and Marillion. I would watch both those bands every night. I hav'nt watched a band that we've played with in forever. Nothing works for me.