Preston Frazier caught up with Mark Anthony K to discuss the end of Projekt Gemineye’s ‘In the Year 3073′ trilogy for this Something Else! Sitdown:
PRESTON FRAZIER: What are two pivotal songs from each of the In the Year 3073 albums?
MARK ANTHONY K: “Let Your Spirit Fly” and “Children of Hope” from Book I. Those two were extremely important to me, as they represented the first time an outside musician was involved in my songs. Joe Bailey did a fantastic job with the vocals on “Let Your Spirit Fly”; it definitely added that needed element to make the overall story easier to follow. As well, his singing on “Children of Hope” is very strong and added the emotion that it needed. I also need to include David Donley in this, as well. He played bass on “Children of Hope.” His bass playing is very melodic, and his choice of notes is excellent. His performance was the inspiration for the bass player guests in Book II.
For Book II, I would choose “Sacred Sons” and “Getaway.” “Sacred Sons” is probably one of my best written songs. The chorus is very strong – once again, helped by Joe Bailey’s excellent singing. But I also feel that my harmony vocals added a lot to that section. Also [former Yes featuring ARW member] Lee Pomeroy’s bass playing is absolutely top shelf! The tone of his Rickenbacker, and the bass lines he plays, he definitely boosted the song to the next level. “Getaway” is a very important song to me, as it represents a definite improvement in my singing. I really felt that I needed to step up my singing on this album, and “Getaway” shows me pushing myself a bit harder to sing some notes I may not have and to be a bit more dynamic. That ending vocal with the sort of softer vocal is something I would not have tried two albums ago.
For Book III, I would pick “The Holy Shield” and “Sorry.” Those two songs I was extremely happy with the end results. I think I stepped up things in all departments, vocals, song writing and production. I’m especially proud of the vocal melodies in “The Holy Shield” and the vocals in “Sorry.” I think I took some more chances vocally for that song.
PRESTON FRAZIER: What were the biggest challenges in completing the trilogy?
MARK ANTHONY K: The song writing for this album [Book III] was the most challenging – mainly because I wanted to have a strong ending. I had three different endings for the album, and decided which to use about half way through recording. The music performance this time was all done by me, with Joe adding some bass and vocals to a few songs. I felt it important that I steer the ship for this album and the result is an album of very melodic progressive metal. Technically, I wanted to step up the production, so I experimented a bit more. That included trying different microphones and placements for the acoustic guitar recordings, and using different reverbs and compressors on the drums and vocals – and also trying a few different sounds for the guitar leads. All of that added to the overall sound of this album.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Do you have any deluxe or special versions of In the Year 3073 Book III planned?
MARK ANTHONY K: Right now, the compact-disc version of the album is in production at the pressing plant. The album is also available on the Projekt Gemineye Bandcamp page. The big question that I get is “when does the vinyl version come out?” I will start the pre-order for the vinyl version soon. It will be a 180-gram colored vinyl release, complete with lyric insert, special poster, download card for bonus tracks and a hype sticker. The vinyl will be placed in anti static inner sleeves, which is something I’m very passionate about. I can’t stand buying new albums and having the record placed in those crappy paper inner sleeves. I respect my supporters too much to cut corners like that.
As for what’s next? More music from Projekt Gemineye. I’m looking forward to just writing songs, without having to worry about a story concept. Also I’m currently working on the new Dark Monarchy album with Joe Bailey, and I hope to do another Mark Anthony K and the Lower Third Collective EP. Busy schedule, but I really enjoy writing music. I would like to end by saying thank you to everyone who had continued to support Projekt Gemineye and all the other musical projects I’m involved with. I appreciate the support.
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