Interview with Lord

Interview with Lord Tim

How did you come about obtaining the band name?

LORD was taken from our singer / guitarist's stage name of 'Lord Tim' which started as a joke name but became his professional name when he signed as a writer to BMG in the early '90s and he's used it ever since. LT put out a solo album under the name of LORD in 2003 as a side project to his band Dungeon at the time, and when Dungeon was disbanded in 2005, it seemed like the logical choice of names to use for the new project.

How would you describe your music?

Very diverse. We obviously still have elements of traditional and power metal like Dungeon did, but we venture in to areas as diverse as AOR, thrash, death, and even mainstream rock.


What one thing do you feel sets you apart from the rest in this genre?

Definitely our diversity. Anyone expecting to get a LORD album to hear the same song ten times in a row will be sorely disappointed. Sadly many bands work to a formula and you end up with variations of the same song for the entire album, which would bore us all silly if we ever had to do that.

How long did it take to record your latest material?

All up around four months or so but it's taken a lot longer than we expected due to the sheer size of the album (literally hundreds of tracks per song) and the number of guest musicians we had to coordinate from all around the world.


What is the inspiration behind your latest material?

Life experiences, self motivation, twisted love stories... all kinds of stuff, really. I'd like to say swords, castles and mighty dragons but I'm afraid that's not really our thing!

Any plans for a music video?

Currently three are in the works but it's just having to find the time do get them done between touring and recording. Hopefully something will be out before the second half of the year.


When you go into recording mode, do you find it easy or challenging?

Recording is fairly natural for most of us because we're constantly recording ourselves to improve our playing. That said, this new album is some of the most challenging material any of us have ever been involved in, ever.

Is there a particular market or country you are trying to reach?

Europe especially, but Japan is a big market for us also. We're interested in reaching as much of the planet as we can, ultimately.


What kind of message are you trying to relay to your audience?

No real message other than the inherent positivity that's in some of the lyrics, and just to enjoy yourself and have fun. Anyone who sees our shows will realise very quickly that we don't take ourselves too seriously, despite obviously taking our music and our careers very seriously. It's just music, enjoy it and have some damn fun!

Who's responsible for the bands artwork?

Felipe Machado Franco did the last two album covers. He's worked with Iced Earth, Blayze Bailey, Ayreon and a massive list of other well known bands.


How hard has it been to get to this point?

It's been a hell of a lot of work, that's for sure. Australia is such a small market for metal you have to really want to do this because it's often a thankless and money-less job, and that can really take its toll on everyone over the years.


Where does your main fan base / support tend to lie?

Australia primarily, then Europe and Japan.

What is your favourite venue?

With Dungeon, it was Bucharest, Romania, where we played to around 6000 people. Unbelievable! In Australia, probably the Metro Theatre in Sydney.

What would be your most memorable gig / performance to date?

With Lord it was probably at the Tivoli in Brisbane supporting Queensryche in 2006. We had the entire upper floor to ourselves, just metres away from the stage going crazy while the band played and tried not to laugh at us going off. That and maybe Dungeon's first show in 1989 - that was scary as hell!


Have you got a favourite song you like to play? And is there one in particular you've noticed your fans have started asking for?

Probably Tarranno Del Mar. Who doesn't like pirates?!

If you were playing at a metal festival, who would you prefer was playing alongside you and where would that be?

You'd have to say Wacken with Iron Maiden, wouldn't you?! The biggest metal festival in the world with one of the biggest metal bands in the world!


What kind of instruments do you use? And have you done the 'Rock Star' thing yet and smashed any equipment?

All of the guitarists use ESP guitars and basses. We believe they're the best instruments in the world! Drums are Pearl with Zildjian cymbals. As far as the 'rockstar' things goes with trashing things, we did have a rather memorable show at Metal For The Brain in 2006 when things got a bit out of hand and again recently on this current tour. Interestingly enough also in Canberra which managed to get so crazy that it forced our drummer out of the next three shows with a back injury! But really other than that, possibly a smashed computer keyboard while we've been frustrated during recording is as wild as we normally get.


Where can people purchase your music and merchandise from?

You can get albums and merch directly from us at The Lord Store or check most music stores for our albums.


Fame, fun or finance?

All of the above, but you have to love it first and foremost. There's not enough money in this business to get rich off of it any more.


What words of advice can you offer anyone looking to enter the music industry?

Be absolutely sure you want to do this before you begin, and be prepared to take risks. You always hear about bands getting lucky breaks but they only get those breaks by working hard and putting themselves in that situation in the first place where they can get those breaks. Opportunity and success doesn't come to you, you have to chase it, and do so at any cost if you want to succeed. And do it because you love it and want to have fun with it all. That's the whole point of it all, isnt it?!

LINKS

Lord Website

Lord Myspace

Lord Youtube

Lord Facebook

Lord Ultimate Metal Forum

Buy Lord from CD Baby

'Interview with Lord by Dea di Morte © 08 May 2009
Hails! to Lord Tim and the lads from Lord for agreeing to participate and taking the time to complete this interview.
All pictures courtesy of Lord.