Interview with Anton Roolaart  - The Anton Roolaart Band

By Jill Hughes 

USAProgMusic: Your musical influences ranges quite a bit since you are an avid progressive music listener and consumer, but what were the main non-music influences (personal experiences, people, etc.) for your album Dreamer?

Anton Roolaart: I admire individuals that have the passion and patience to work hard and long towards their dreams.   I also get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing well-executed live performances in many styles of music, dance, theater where it is obvious there is talent, special effort, passion, and devotion that went into the work. 

USAProgMusic: How long had Dreamer been in the making?

Anton: I decided to create my own album a few years ago and I actually started the project Dreamer in the summer of 2004. It was time to do a serious recording project.  I had been getting more involved with progressive rock since 5 years ago or so [via ProgRockRadio.com] after many years of being a fan of the bigger prog names that most people know. Shortly after starting work on the recordings (end of 2004) I was laid off of my job at ATT after 15 years as an IT engineer which gave me more time to devote to my music. At the same time I was working from home and started my own web design business, you know… to pay the bills.  Anyway, I finished the album by November of 2006 after spending a lot of time refining the production aspects and doing and redoing the arrangements until I was satisfied.  Over the course of the project there were a lot of recording/mixing sessions and sessions working with professional musicians.  So, I guess that puts it at about 2 and half years for this project.  The record contract with Umbrello Records was signed in January of 2007 and the album was released on April 24th, 2007.

USAProgMusic: Will you be putting together a permanent band or just pull together talented musicians when you have to record or play live?

Anton: I am currently working on putting together a permanent band. Vinnie Puryear, whom I have know for 20 years and is a great bass player, continues playing bass with me. As you know, he also played bass on the album. This past summer, Vinnie introduced me to Kendall Scott who plays keys in the live band. They've known each other for many years.  While Kendall did not play on the album, he has a broad knowledge of progressive rock in general and I feel he and I can communicate well musically.  In addition, I hope to work again with Rave Tesar when we play in larger venues or gigs.  He helped me a lot when I was working on Dreamer and he plays on the album as well.   To complete the band, I hope to have a couple of drummers that I can work with. Finally, I would like to make the band grow with another person and I am currently looking for a second guitarist (perhaps multi-instrumentalist) who can help with the guitar duties and, also very important to me, provide backup vocals for live performances. 

USAProgMusic: Why did you decide to add a female vocalist to your live line-up?

Anton: Well, I have been looking for someone to do backup vocals and some harmonies. None of the guys in the band really sing. Vinnie's girlfriend, Jenn, is a singer and has been singing for a long time. For some reason, we never thought about asking her to sing until recently... a couple of weeks before the gig at the NJ Proghouse, a friend of mine heard us rehearse and said, "Hey, why don't you get Jenn to sing backup?” She did one or so rehearsal with us and that was it. We went for it and she was kind enough to help out.   She's got a great voice.

USAProgMusic: How do you think that putting together this album has changed your life?

Anton: Well, I feel blessed and it hits me deep inside.   It [the record deal] also help to launch my music on a different level and brought forth more interesting possibilities presented by working with professional musicians and more closely with the prog community. I have been playing, composing, and writing music for a long time on my own in my studio. I have now found myself getting more and more comfortable working with professional musicians as well.   I quickly started to see great potential to take my music and live performances to places that I could not do on my own. The positive reception of the album drives me (all of us actually) to do more and more. I now consider music a major part of my life.   It's very important to me.  Putting together the album also made me grow both musically and technically (record production).   Creating music (and music that is accepted publicly) is a wonderful thing to do in one’s life.

USAProgMusic: The reviews have been very positive since your album debut. What is your reaction to these reviews?

Anton: I have been very pleased with the positive reviews. It's like the icing on the cake. I have, for the most part, always believed in my music.  In a way, I knew I was taking a chance at doing it myself (recording, arrangements and production), but it is something that I have studied and researched for a long time.  The reviews helped me gain more confidence in something that I love to do and have been doing for a long time on my own - create and record music.   I enjoyed being reviewed publicly for the first time by established music reviewers. Reading their takes on the album was very interesting for me.

USAProgMusic: You came over to the U.S. from the Netherlands when you were a small kid, and then you also lived in Europe for a year later in your life. Being that the prog genre of music is so much more popular in Europe, will you consider going back to Europe to promote your music more?

Anton: Well, hopefully in 2008 there may be an opportunity for us to play in Europe.  And if circumstances lead me to one day move to Europe, I'd do it.  There has been a little talk about doing some gigs in Europe next year with other artists from Umbrello Records as well as a possible cancer benefit concert series that I came to know about.  The logistics for all band members to be able to travel is always an issue but I hope it happens. I'm really looking forward to it, especially playing in London and back home in the Netherlands.

USAProgMusic: What is your take on the U.S. music industry and its lack of reception to innovative non-pop music?

Anton: About the music industry... well I started ProgRockRadio.com because I wanted to expose different artists’ work - what I consider nice melodic progressive rock and psychedelic rock that FM doesn't play. There should be much more variety more readily available to the masses. But it's all so controlled by a few big guys and the big guys don't seem to get it.  I am turned off with what's happening in the music industry.  And I don't like the limited music that my children are being exposed to by traditional radio but then again, neither did my parents like what we were listening to, but it's not what they are listening to for me but the limited choices – that’s the problem.

USAProgMusic: Are you working on new material for a new album? Where would you like to see your music go?

Anton: I haven't actually started recording a new album yet, but recording will probably begin in early spring of next year (2008).  I am already thinking about what will be on the new album.  I can say that I have many tunes that I wrote some time ago, some of which will most likely end up on a new album.  And I'm writing new tunes as well.  Yes, another album is on my mind.  And I don't plan on stopping with a second one.  I have ideas stretching into the future.   But it all takes time. I would like to solidify the band a little more first as well.  I think this album will be different than the last one because we'll be doing it as a band, although I will continue to write and arrange most of the music.   As for where my music will go...I would like to do some larger gigs and venues. It will allow me to do some interesting live shows with creative theatrical elements. Oh my god, I have a lot of ideas in my head!   As far as another kind of album that I would like to do, I would like to keep in touch with the some traditional progressive audience but very important offer something new and unique that appeals to younger audience as well.   Not only for them, but I like it that way as well.   Also, I would like to eventually do a concept album with very long symphonic prog pieces sometime in my life.   

USAProgMusic: Since you become exposed to so much music having your own radio station, when you sat down to write the music for Dreamer, was there anything that you said to yourself, “I am not going to do that, because it is overdone, or artists do that the wrong way, or let’s try to take a different spin on this…”

Anton: Interesting question. I listen to a lot of [prog] artists and I know thoughts similar to what you are asking me have entered my mind before. I'm just having a hard time pin-pointing a specific example for you. I can say that I make mental notes of things in the mixes and production of albums I listen to that I wouldn't do… you know…drums mixed that way… or vocals done that way, etc.  I do think that some things are overdone.  I can say that some albums I listen to have great tracks but tend to start sounding the same.  I like it when each track has some of its own personality.  But of course, an artist's style comes through in all the tracks and that binds it together in a package of the album.  I am constantly learning things and developing my "style" as well. 

USAProgMusic: If you could open for any band in the world, whether together or disbanded, who would you want to open for?

Anton:  There are a lot of bands that I respect a lot and would love to open up for actually.   One of the biggest prog bands ever is YES and it would be cool to open up for them.  Another choice would be BOWIE.

USAProgMusic: So how did you feel about your performance at the NJ Proghouse on November 17, 2007? Since it is quite an intimate experience, is it more intimidating? Or would you rather play for a small group of people than a larger festival-size audience?

Anton: The setting was not intimidating for me.   I also do a lot of solo performances with acoustic guitar in more intimate settings. I've been doing that for years.  However, with this band and music, my goal is to perform in larger venues where one can do things and have more room and introduce interesting lighting and backdrop screens, etc.  But I was very happy at the response from the audience as well as the response from my friends that run NJ Proghouse events.   I had some trouble hearing my guitar during the performance so I wasn't quite sure how it sounded out there but I was told it was ok.    It was our first gig with this mostly prog audience and only our third gig ever as a band.  Based on comments and applause, I really think the audience liked it.  But I must also tell you that the day before I was in bed all day with a nasty stomach virus or maybe it was food poisoning.  I was sick as a dog and I was very concerned about making the gig the next day.  But in the morning on Saturday, I felt better, although not 100%.   Also, earlier that week, my keyboard player (Kendall) was in a car accident on the NJ Turnpike and he had to wear heating pads on his back for the gig since it was causing him a lot of pain.   All in all, things went better than expected.   A good experience!