The 11th Hour - November 2009

Interview with

Ed Warby  (master mind, vocalist, musician)  of The 11th Hour

After having the chance to review ' Burden of Grief', the excellent new album by 11th hour, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ed Warby, the man behind it all. Whilst we may know him from a variety of select bands ( AYREON, GOREFEST, HAIL OF BULLETS etc), The 11th Hour is his first foray into Doom Metal proper and we certainly learned a thing or two from the man with twenty albums to his name and lots more, we are sure, to come.

RoD: You've had a relationship via DEMIURG (Swedish death metal band)  for a while now with Rogga Johanson. Who provides the other vocals on 'Burden of Grief' début cd from THE 11TH HOUR. What prompted the change of direction from Death Metal over to what is essentially a very unique and interesting fusion of Doom and Modern Doom/Death. Was this an album that was screaming to be born for a while?

Ed Warby: "I think so, yes. I’ve always been into doom, starting with the first Trouble album and intensifying when Candlemass released Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (still one of my all time favourite albums), but playing drums in a doom band never seemed too appealing to me. A few years ago I started playing guitar and from this position it became much more interesting to make some crushing doom. Rogga actually came with the idea first. This is basically how our musical relationship started. He wanted to do some material in the style of Winter, but those ideas ended up on the Demiurg album I played on. However, the seeds of doom were sown and I started writing material on my own until I had enough for a whole album. I asked Rogga if he wanted to be involved and the rest is, as they say, history."

RoD: You've played pretty much every instrument on this album (plus of course some great drumming). Was this somewhat cathartic to be involved in the whole process in such a minute way, and is this, do you think, why the album has such a sense of synergy about it?
Ed Warby: "It’s the only way this album could’ve come into being. I have written for HAIL OF BULLETS and GOREFEST before (his other bands - MI). But in that situation I am prepared to let go of the song, and have it transformed into something else. THE 11TH HOUR material was so personal and so completely 'me' that I didn’t want to compromise even the slightest bit.
For better or worse, everything is exactly as I intended it to be. Within my capabilities of course. I also did all the engineering and editing myself, so it went way beyond 'just' playing all the instruments. It was very strenuous but also extremely rewarding. I can’t even begin to say how proud I am of this record and the great reception it’s been
getting."

RoD: The album has a really huge, crushing sound, but was this something with flowed naturally and easily? Or was production ever a problem? Especially since, I understand, it was a long distance affair and working on your own much of the time you didn't have other band members to bounce ideas off?
Ed Warby: "The sound was never a problem, Ronnie Björnström was already involved with the promo I did last year so he had a good idea where things were going. He’s easy to work with and nowadays distance isn’t really an issue any more. I have a very strong sense of what I want to hear, and luckily Ronnie knows just how to achieve it. What is difficult about working on your own is judging the quality of your takes. I’m extremely critical of my own work, and this was amplified tenfold by the solitude. I must’ve recorded the album 3 times in its entirety before I was satisfied, and the vocals also took much longer than I expected."

RoD: I feel that this album is a step further in terms of concept than perhaps any other Doom album I've listened to recently. It's a very intense subject matter that you've chosen and one which I think will touch many people. Can you explain how that came about?
Ed Warby: "There are certain parts that I can barely listen to myself without choking up. The emotions in it are all real even if the story is fictional. The main inspiration for it was the death of my parents, they both died from lung emphysema caused by smoking and my sister also suffers from this brutal disease. Originally I hadn’t planned to get this personal, but once we started writing the lyrics it felt natural to tap into this huge well of pain inside. And turn it into something creative. I think it gives the album an emotional power that you can’t fake and people feel this, especially if they have had similar experiences."

RoD: With regards to the creative process, do you wait for inspiration to come and knock on your door? Or are you someone who has an almost permanant muse and can set aside time like a 'normal' job?  And think 'okay I'm ging to work on the new album lyrics today' for example? I ask this since you're so prolific as an artist, it's interesting to see how that comes about.
Ed Warby: "I always hear music in my head, and inspiration comes at the most inappropriate times: when I’m in the shower, or riding my bike… I sometimes have to stop what I’m doing and grab my phone to hum a melody or riff before it’s gone. Most of it turns out to be crap, but some of it is gold. Like the 'Estrangement theme' in Origins Of Mourning. The best ones comes easy. I can always write a tune if I have to,  but the really good ones almost write themselves. I do have to be in a certain mindset to write songs this black though! So almost everything was written at night.

 I love how everything feels slightly unreal after midnight, it really inspires me. What I can’t do is say: I’m going to write a song today at 12.00 hours. There has to be a strong inspiration first. The lyrics were a joint effort where we ended up inspiring each other. I’d decide on the theme for each song and after that we’d bounce words and lines back and forth until we had an actual lyric going. Vocal lines come first, and I usually make up some babble to see how many words and lines we need. Rogga’s great to work with in this area, he really has a way with words."

RoD: Are there any plans for an 11th hour second album as yet?
Ed Warby: "Yes, I already have four complete songs ready and I am working on another two, three song ideas. It won’t be as painfully personal as this one, but the inspiration is still the same: death, loss, grief, sorrow. Musically it’ll be slightly more majestic but still bleak and heavy. We have to see how this album does first, but in my mind there’s no doubt there will be a follow-up."

RoD: Since this must have been a huge project to be involved with, how are things going with your other projects? I know you have a lot of irons in the fire.
Ed Warby: "Huge doesn’t even begin to describe it! I’ve been totally immersed in this project for the past four, five months and almost 24/7 for the last weeks of mixing. Right now I am just glad it’s done, but the battery’s slowly recharging itself to start working on the next HAIL OF BULLETS album. Rogga is hard at work on the third DEMIURG and Arjen Lucassen (AYREON) tells me he is working on something new as well, so it looks like 2010 will be just as busy as 2009. And that’s fine by me, I love this surge of creativity I’m experiencing and I sincerely hope it lasts for a long time!"

RoD: You seem to have established very much your own unique style with this album, and I have to say that it's beautiful. You've somewhat pushed the envelope style wise. Do you feel that you can go even further with the next work in terms of pushing boundaries?
Ed Warby: "It’s funny, some reviews praise me for having my own style. Others berate me for not having one. On 'Burden Of Grief' most songs are still quite conservative (although some of the more specialist labels turned me down because the material wasn’t “traditional” enough), and I never purposely tried to create a new hybrid style. The new songs are more adventurous though, I am really pleased with the stuff I have done so far. Also I have more confidence as a guitarist and vocalist to try different things. It'll remain heavy and dark, but also beautiful and sad."

RoD: What have been your major influences musically throughout your life and how have those changed since you began working on 'Burden of Grief'?
Ed Warby: "It all started with KISS and this band still holds a very special place in my heart, they made me want to be a musician myself and everything about them was just so magical. As laughable as they are now, MANOWAR has been my favourite band for a long time and I still consider their first four albums the best metal ever made. For 'Burden Of Grief' I was influenced by Leif Edling’s riff writing (which I adore) but also by bands like VIRGIN BLACK (their orchestral arrangements are stunning, and I really love Samantha’s weeping lead guitar, heartbreakingly beautiful), Funeral (From These Wounds is one of the most gorgeous things I’ve heard in ages) and Isole (one of the reasons I’m glad to be on Napalm Records) as well as the soundtrack work of people like Basil Poledouris, Christopher Young, Cladio Simonetti/Goblin, Fabio Frizzi etc.  My influences haven’t changed per se, but they have deepened in certain aspects. I pay even more attention to good riffs and harmonies, and I try to learn as much from those as I can. Oh, I also have to mention two other bands I simply worship: TYPE O NEGATIVE and PARADISE LOST."

RoD: And finally, tell us something interesting about yourself, that we're not likely to know!
Ed Warby: "Hmmm… How about the fact that I can play drums with my teeth? This always freaks Arjen Lucassen (mind behind Ayreon- MI) out, he is totally fascinated by it. I use it to work out arrangements when I’m travelling. I can do kick, snare, hi-hat and toms and it’s a great tool. It looks funny as hell though, haha!"

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