accessible common denominator. Usually that falls on the shoulders of the singer/frontperson of the band. If that person happens to be a great instrumentalist as well, you have an opportunity to gather even greater attention, ie; Geddy Lee, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc.

Occasionally drummers do get noticed, but usually only in the context of very "in your face" performances (Keith Moon, Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy etc) but the simple answer is MELODY! People respond most emotionally to melody in music. The way you remember music on a very basic level is to be able to hum a simple melody...(twinkle twinkle little star...) A vocalist or guitarist has the advantage of expressing more melodic phrases that a bassist or drummer in a frequency range that cuts through the mix and gets across to the listener. The connection is more emotional and consequently they become more noticed, particularly if they are very skilled at their instrument. Period.

Keyboardists can express themselves even more but they are handicapped by not being able to move around the stage and connect with the audience so they don't count (sorry) unless you are

Keith Emerson and set the keys on fire while pounding on them upside down… that might get you noticed.

What were the inspirations for the songs on this album?

Pretty much everything... Youth, aging, addictions, stress, conflict, both political and personal, death, love, etc. The album is very deep in places and very in your face honest in others. There's little bit of everything on the album.

What is the creative process behind NAIL's music? Who writes the lyrics and music? How much input do the band members have?

I am pretty much responsible for the whole creative process. I am the "Frank Zappa" in our camp although I would never be as presumptuous as to credit myself with a fraction of Frank's talent, the process is much the same. I am just fortunate to be able to surround myself with gifted musicians that make the music as much or more than I set out at the beginning of the process.

I work best together with Dale, bouncing riffs and ideas back and forth, all the while recording the "jams". I will go

through all the ideas and cut them into arrangements where there is some evidence of a song structure, and usually the lyrics come at around the same time. Then I will arrange the bass parts and once the songs are complete we re-study the parts and learn the completed arrangements re-inventing any parts that don't cut the mustard. Then we will usually start recording the songs for real.

Everyone has open input to some degree as far as trying out various fills, patterns etc until we hear something that sounds like it will work better than the rough sketch as it were, but usually the arrangements are my doing, as is the production and overall "sound" of the band. I have to write with Cindy's vocal in mind as well, since it is very important to present her with lyric that makes sense for her to sing well.

What type of response has the album received thus far from fans and critics?

So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive!

Sweden Rock Magazine has placed us in the top 10 albums of 2007. When we were a part of Helix we were fortunate

enough to perform at the Sweden Rock Festival for over 20,000 fans and some of those fans have undoubtedly taken notice of this project. We have been receiving airplay in both the US and European markets but predictably the local response is almost non-existent.

We knew that going into this that our target market would not be Canada and we would actually be surprised if we had received any label interest in our own country! My good friend and Helix bandmate Brian Doerner most recently was the drummer for SAGA, a band which originated in Toronto, but found it necessary to move to Germany where they continue to sell out to concert crowds but in Canada they get no industry support whatsoever.

We knew that marketing this band would be a tough chore simply because we don't readily fit into the mold of the current Canadian industry trends. We started a myspace site several months back and have exceeded 10,000 visitors. I guess that's reasonable for a new unknown group. There are some further reviews pending in the next month or so, so we'll have to wait and see what other critics are saying, but so far all indications are positive.