Norman K. Anderson is an Alaskan guitarist, whose eponymous band has put out 4 albums of neoclassical shred on his personal label Shadow Veil Records since 1994. His newest album, Seasons Of Fire, is scheduled to come out soon, along with the debut from the new addition to the SVR roster, Masquerade Of Shadows, led by a masked shredder by the name of Cyrus. I recently had a chance to talk with Norman (and Cyrus where noted) about the past and future of Shadow Veil.

 
Hello Norman! Or do you prefer Norm? Or Ken? Though I've only once seen the mysterious K. extrapolated on...
It doesn't really matter to me. I grew up being called Ken. Kenneth is my middle name. I like them both.

Well, greetings to you and everyone else at Shadow Veil. Might as well start at the beginning - you've always said Yngwie inspired you, and it obviously shows. What was your first exposure to him, and how did you start to play?
I walked to a local store headphones blaring and I saw this cassette - yeah cassette - and It had this strange looking name on the label and the cover had this cool looking guitar coming out of the fire and I thought WOW! This is cool! I was 11 or 12. I bought it - put it in my Walkman for my trip back home and fell in love with what I heard. I could picture myself playing the songs and everything. For years to come that was all that mattered to me. I did make an effort to play like Yngwie at first. I also loved the clothes he wore - still do. After a couple of years I got heavily into shred masters and tried to add their styles and ideas into my own. They were Tony Macalpine, Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe, Vinnie Moore, George Lynch, Steve Vai and the list goes on. Oh, I also thought Jens was the total master on the keyboards. Several years later I damaged the nerve that travels through my left elbow and I quit playing for a little while. Urged on by my band mates I started singing. I studied opera for a while and applied some of those techniques to my singing. Not that I sing in that style. After a year the guitar player in the band I was in loaned me one of his guitars. He told me that I could still write music even if I might not be able to perform it. The guitar he loaned me had 9 gauge strings on it. I used to play 10s. I found that I could play a little on it. Long story short - too late - I put 8s on and learned that I could play even better. since then it has been a long process of working my way back to the level I was happy with. Sometimes I have more trouble than others playing guitar or keys. I am just glad I can still play.

When did you officially form the Norman K. Anderson project & Shadow Veil label, and did you have any specific aims or goals for it (the general direction of the band)?
The NKA project came about in 1994 when Norman was given a unique opportunity to record an album. It was funded by Pete Bucinsky and NKA's parents. So, needless to say it was done in 2 days of recording and had only 2 - 1 hour rehearsals. It was pretty amazing actually, given the time to put it together. The label came about in the same way. He needed a label to release the record and we were friends so we put it together. Very underground indie. The goal originally was to release NKA stuff but has turned into a larger entity. As always it is about releasing as much music as we can with Norman. However we all have day jobs. So with that and family - which Norman holds very dear - it takes more time than we would like.

Did you tour at all for the first album, or any future ones? I imagine it'd be difficult as you're the only consistent member
I didn't tour at all for the first record. I was only able to put on one show. It was fun and I would have loved to have done more. For years it was just me so...

On a similar note, does Alaska have a healthy metal scene? Or music scene in general? Given the sparseness over there it's doubtful, but do bigger places like Anchorage have a good variety of heaviness?
The metal scene - oh my - it is okay. There is not much support for any one genre here. There are some talented musicians in all genres here. On the whole the scene for music is too subdued. I think it could be great - but it's not. It was hip in the 80s but, there you have it. As far as heaviness - it can get pretty heavy up here.

Next album, Victory And Valor. Now I really liked the songs here, but the production is just abysmal. What happened?! Many songs here are flawless, and could've been so much better...
The production for V&V in my opinion isn't that bad - [laughs] - but I definitely would have like a more raw and live kind of sound. I really like the songs. I am proud of the record from a songwriting aspect. I think I just might rerecord some of the tracks to put as bonus cuts on Seasons.

There was a 4 year pause between the debut and V&V. Was this because the songwriting took so much time, or you're simply very busy with real life? You've also only put out full-lengths, with no singles, EPs or anything else inbetween. Do you only want to focus on complete albums, or do you not have the extra material or funds to put out smaller releases inbetween albums?
Wow - it was four years! I think mostly it was a time and money constraint issue. When you fund everything yourself it is very difficult to stay on a really good time schedule. I was constantly writing - writing - writing and unfortunately or fortunately - depending on how you look at it - working - working - working. I think it is time to do some singles and EPs. I love so many different types of music that I'd like to do a lot of side projects. As far as funding - that's our biggest challenge. I have tons of material. Whether it's all good or not is another thing [laughs].

Awakened was, so far, my favorite that you've done. This was the first recorded in your own studio, right? Strange how a personal studio gets better results than any others... But then you have full control over how it sounds! Anything to say on this one? I personally think every cut is golden.
Yeah, Awakened was done at Drakkar Studios - my own personal studio. I think the songs are strong. The playing is sound and interesting and diverse. As always I wish there were things I could fix or change, but as a whole - I really like this album.

Then an incredible SEVEN year wait. At this point I had thought you were all dead, as the website had gone unchanged and writing to you elicited no response. But then out of nowhere (interjecting in a flame war on YouTube of all places, actually) Shadow Veil returns with news of an entirely new album! I loved Master Of Illusion, and it was also very interesting. Out of all your albums, this is the only one to be a solo project, whereas the band name Norman K. Anderson would insinuate that it's a solo project by nature. My personal impression of it that instead of being riff-based, solo-based, atmosphere-based or conforming to other album standards, it was melody based, where the song itself took precedence.
[laughs] It was a long time between Awakened and Master of Illusion. I had a whole lot of people asking me to do an instrumental album. I grew up on all those Shrapnel guys and always wanted to do one myself. Not that I am comparing myself to them. Those guys are incredible [What, and you're not?! - Ed]. For this album it was SONG - SONG - SONG - SONG for me. I wanted melody, harmony and structure with a whole lot of shred intermixed. You'll probably note that sometimes on the records there are rough sections or notes. I don't like to do a retake of a solo or part if it has the VIBE if you know what I mean. I like raw - LIVE!

You also mentioned that you've an interest in computer animation, and would like to implement it into your music as well, such as creating CGI music videos. How far along are you with this aspiration? Can we expect to see it used in any of the SVR videos currently being uploaded to YouTube?
The computer animation thing is going very slowly. Hopefully we can work it in. I'd love to see some of my friends from MOS release a full length video/movie of their albums. It's a cost thin though.

You also also said you wanted to do work with various orchestras. Do you mean with the actual orchestration, or composition, or simply lending your shredding madness to them in the vein of Concerto Suite? (Although hopefully it won't be as incredibly boring as that, heh...) Have you done any collaborations so far, and if you have or will, will they ever see release on Shadow Veil?
I'd love to work with an Orchestra - cost though you know. To answer the question - I would love to score a film or anything really. My favorite form of music is symphonic movie scores. No collaborations yet.

Way back in 2000 you mentioned your next release would be called Seasons Of Fire, and you were recording for it daily. 8 years later, still no hint of it! But indeed, you are close to releasing it, and as a double album to compensate, no less! You've also for the first time assembled a full and complete (and incredibly diverse!) lineup for this, instead of just you and David Helzer. Did you audition them for just this purpose, or have you known them for some time? I'm also a bit wary as it's almost a complete rehaul; you've ditched long-time drummer David and also relinquished vocal duties to Thor Johansson. Now with his influences including Dio, Halford & Dickinson, not to mention with a name like THOR, I can't expect anything less than complete asskickery, although I really did love your voice. Are you going to be sharing vocal duties, something like 50/50, 60/40, or what?
There weren't any auditions per se for the new line-up. They were in my studio working on the MOS stuff and I was like Holy Cow! These guys ROCK! So, I asked if they would guest on a couple of track and they all offered to do the entire album! It was very cool. I haven't nailed Cyrus down on a guest solo though. I think it's only a matter of time! [laughs]. The vocals will be sort of split. Thor has a very similar voice to mine. Its actually kind of spooky! He wails higher notes more than I do. It's also a little more aggressive. They are all really cool guys and I am very proud to work with them. I'll be guest soloing on some of their songs and they on mine. Nik has a really cool style and I can't wait to see what he does on my record.

Before closing on focusing on you, do you have any non-shred/classical influences? Your music definitely has a diverse feel to it, so do you have any other bands or styles you take inspiration from?
Other influences - yeah definitely. John Williams, Danny Elfman and so on - anything symphonic. I like Men at Work, Journey, there are way too many to mention. Oh, and the band Children of Bodom! Oh man those guys are Phenomenal!!!! My new favs for sure. Alexi and Janne!!! WOW!!!!!

Now as far as I can tell, Shadow Veil used to be simply to release Norman K. Anderson records, but recently there's been the addition of a few new artists, leading the way to a more substantial portfolio. First there the mysterious masked shred crusader Cyrus Saint Leviticus, who can honestly match Norman in skill note for note, as proven by the amazing videos he's uploaded so far. Can he give any background info on himself (or at least to the point where he wouldn't have to kill me for knowing too much)? Has he played with any previous bands before joining Shadow Veil?
Cyrus: - I played in many bands with my brother Tryus. Mostly like Neoclassical stuff, Symphonic metal stuff. We like SVR because they go for the raw sound. Not too polished. We like it to sound as if you were on stage with us. Be part of the show, as it were.

Many of these new arrivals are playing Seasons Of Fire, but also on an entirely new Shadow Veil band with the unfathomably cool name, Masquerade Of Shadows. I've heard some of the keyboard board tracks on YouTube, and I can only imagine how they'd sound with Cyrus's shredding over them. Complete with dark horror themes and epic narration, I'm getting the impression that this might rival Rhapsody in terms scale and execution. Can you describe the overall theme and direction of the band?
Cyrus: - MOS is a foray into Neoclassical Symphonic Heavy Metal Broadway Theater. We want a live feel to it. If everything is too perfect it is like too studio - if you know what I mean. All the albums will be concept records. We have probably 7-10 albums worth of material that includes music and stories. Most are kind of old school horror movies. You know - Boris Karloff type stuff.

Presumably to make up for the 8 year period of silence since the last SVR release, Masquerade Of Shadows has been recording THREE albums, which would make, including the 2 discs of Seasons Of Fire, SIX albums of songs within a span of a year. Why this sudden burst of creativity? Or has the material for these albums been in the working for some time beforehand?
We have been working hard for a long time. The addition to MOS I know of Nik Sharshak was like a shot of energy. Amazing player and writer. It just all flowed from there. Oh, I do share in some of the writing for MOS. They are nice enough to allow me to be a part of their projects.

I'm under the impression (though I might be wrong), that you'll be releasing the 3 MOS albums very closely, if not at the same time. Do you think this is wise? Usually it's better to build interest beforehand, and given the newness (is this a word?) of the band and the excess of material, wouldn't it be better to space them out to give listeners a chance to digest and build interest for the next one?
Cyrus: - As far as the releases go for MOS we're really not sure. We have to balance the financial side as well as the creative side along with the marketing thing. Marketing is important. It is not the most important aspect but, it is important if you want to sell records and continue to sell records. We will keep making the albums the way we want though. SVR is very supportive.

Will this band also plan on touring, as you finally have a complete lineup, or would it be a rather trying task given the excess orchestration for the music? Unfortunately I doubt you'll ever tour outside of Alaska, much less all the way to the east coast for me, but it's always interesting to see live videos. Or do real life requirements such as job, family and the like usually prohibit such endeavors?
Cyrus: - "It will be really difficult to tour for any of the MOS because of the way they are recorded. We will see. Everyone involved would love to see it happen. A live DVD would be fantastic. Would love to do a stage production of at least one of the albums or an animated DVD movie.

As SVR seems to be growing, do you think you'll ever sign additional acts? Will you stay a shred/classical/symphonic oriented collection, or would you branch out into other metal genres, or even other music completely for a more diverse portfolio? Would you be open to all music, or just those with true conviction and underground DIY ethic? I personally think it'd be really cool to see some Throbbing Gristle styled industrial noise or raw black metal on the same roster, and a collaboration would be very interesting indeed. A shredding lead over malfunctioning electronics would definitely sound interesting, hehe...
We are a pretty small company - practically non profit - so we probably won't be adding any new acts for a while. We don't want to ever exclude any style or genre. However, we will be honest and say that most the acts that come from SVR will be similar in genre, because it is what we like to listen to.

Well, that's it, and I'm sure it's more than enough for the lot of you. All the very best to all of you and your future endeavors. I'll definitely be among the first to pick up these new albums!
Thanks so much for this opportunity and from all at SVR, take care and we hope you enjoy the albums from our artists.