SOURCE – It’s been three years since Chronos. What have you and the band been up to?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – We played a few live shows but mostly we had been super busy writing and recording for the current album.
SOURCE – Nowadays in every album the person responsible for the sound production is strongly mentioned especially when he is a known one. How important do you think is the producer to the sound of a band?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – It really depends on the producer and also the mix engineer. Luke Cincotta was producer and mix engineer for OIUM (Operating in Unsafe Mode). He did Chroros also but this time we really had a solid vision for this album and Luke really brought that out and did an amazing job. If anyone is looking to do any work with him we highly recommend working with him.
SOURCE – Have you filmed any videos for this new CD – Operating In Unsafe Mode?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – We have currently done two clips. One for Underpaid Machinery and one for Someone Uninvited. We would love to do another single and clip but isolation has put a hold on that so far.
SOURCE – Do you have any specific expectations for the album Operating In Unsafe Mode?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – I think we’d really like this to be a stepping stone for us to get into the festival scene, bigger shows and also a bit of recognition for not just being the “usual” prog band that is in vogue at the moment.
SOURCE – How are you handling things during this pandemic – as you work from home, has that increased the desire to be more creative with your musical endeavors and develop more content for social media platforms?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – I think each one of us is dealing with it differently. I know that it’s been harder on some members as some of us have been working from home and been in isolation for longer than some. I have been writing a lot while being in isolation but it’s hard to get everyone in the same head space due to what’s going on. But one thing we have managed to do is a bunch of isolation videos where we have done some older songs, new songs, “unplugged” versions of songs and we were even lucky enough to be able to perform a live stream show which we will be putting out again very soon.
SOURCE – What worries you most about the world that we live in today, and what do you think the leaders of the world need to instill for the general public to take seriously and improve the world for future generations to accept and treasure?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – I think what has really been obvious lately is how much more people are divided. There are so many ridiculous conspiracy theories and information that is either completely wrong but if you do enough google searches you can back up theories no matter how crazy they might seem. I think there needs to be another political “side” that is more centre… but I doubt that will really happens anytime soon as people really like “political teams”. I think it’d be nice if the world was just a little more socially aware.
SOURCE – What are some of your hobbies and interests away from music when you have the free time to pursue them? And do you have the support from friends and family when it comes to your musical endeavors?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – I have huge support from family and friends and I’m very lucky that I do as music is a hard road. Hobbies for me lately are few and far between as I’m studying at the moment as well as music, work and family. I love getting out and having a hit of tennis but even that has stopped due to COVID.
SOURCE – How do you see the next year in terms of promotion and development of Figures – especially considering how the COVID-19 pandemic essentially shut down touring on a global scale until further notice?
Paul Callow (Guitar) – For us it’s push and promote as much as humanly possibly so that when bans are lifted we can hit the ground running. Unfortunately that’s really all we can see at the moment as the COVID cloud is pretty heavy on the world and it’s even heavier for the music industry. So I think it’s really just going to be up to us trying to find new ways to promote ourselves and when things start to become more “normal” we will be ready to pounce.
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Figures
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