Hi there, first of all congratulations for your new album "Walking On H2O": another true masterpiece after the great "A Work of Art"! Are you completely satisfied about it?

Hi there! Thanks for the nice words regarding our music. A true artist is never satisfied with what he does they say... Apparently this is the album of which I am most satisfied with since the Xsavior album which I did with Goran Edman (Ynwie Malmsteen) on vocals. I think the new Mind’s Eye is far better as it has much more to offer than what I have done before. I really leave it up to people to decide it between them if it’s a masterpiece or not. I am blind to my own work… can’t see or hear clearly. What I can tell you though is that I quickly become really bored with my own work after a while… and this one gets one or two spins a month anyway so that’s a good score.

I think in the new work you have maintained the same musical approach of the past, but this latest at the first listening gave me the feeling to be a little more orchestral and less minimalist than "A Work of Art": what's your opinion about? What are the differences between this album and the previous ones?

First off we have good songs on this one. The last efforts where kind of dull when it came to song writing, even if there where certain sparks here and there this is a much more solid release. Also there where certain elements in our music that allot of people seemed to find bothering, that is all gone, I’m talking about the Jazzy decoration we had before. Now is more hard rock / metal kind of band steering the wheel. I think that Mind’s Eye has entered a new era in our development and are goals became much more obvious now that we are three. All the arguments are gone, now it’s just cool music.

Of course your musical roots deepen into the tradition of progressive: but tell us, what have been the bands that influenced you the most?

For this album it’s was mostly Metal bands and progressive rock bands. I love to mix the styles of heavy metal and prog there is no horizon when combining these two. Bands like Queensrÿche, Genesis, Queen and ELO where all big parts of my musical development. I’m glad I listened to these bands first, before going on to fusion and other stuff as Jazz can be fantastic it’s just really impossible to make a living with it.

I think the biggest strenght of Mind's Eye is the songwriting: you all are good musicians, but it seems you simply try to write good pieces of music and don't show your great technical skills at all costs. Do you agree with this opinion?

Cool that you can here that in the album, I agree. We are all musicians working full time on stage or in the studio. Johan (Bass/Guitars) has Therion, Andreas (lead Vocals) has his live band and I have my studio. We all keep busy with other bands and there we show the kind of equilibrium that we can handle when a difficult musical task is facing us. Johan can play everything from Death Metal to Pop and Andreas can sing the telephone book and still sound good. Why show our technique every time? We play what the songs needs first, our own needs come last. Many bands out there today think that the more technique the more proggy it is, that’s completely wrong, it’s an infantile way of making music that only 1% of the worlds population enjoys.

We know that there is a concept behind the lyrics: can you tell us, in short, what are the issue’s you're dealing with this time?

There has been lot’s of debates on the net regarding our new album and all the theories on it. The main theme is Evolution. I see the themes on this album as pictures of life and humankind: they really show you where we stand today. The themes are dealing with drugs, Conspiracies, Death, Alien abduction, unexplained phenomena’s, lost rules, Marriage, The pyramids, The moon, the 9/11, lost arts and death. All of these themes are somehow linked together, of course as we are all living in the planet earth.

It's very curious the title you gave the album ("Walking On H2O"). I read it's someway linked to the last track, "Poseidon Says", and to the whole concept: could you explain us something more about?

Yeah! You are right! It’s great that you got that. The last song is about a priest who has just got the news that he has cancer in his heart… Not a funny thing to hear from the doctor when you have sacrificed all your life in the name of god and he repays you with that. Knowing it’s just a matter of time before he dies he takes his sailboat out to sea to face his death. While in the Ocean he meets with Poseidon who fights the priest, because he doesn’t want him in his waters. He takes the priest as his prisoner and grants him a last whish, the priest wishes to walk on water, and so he does. In the end he reincarnates into water drop coming out of a tap dropping down to a sink. End of story!

I know you recorded the album in your own new built studio ("SOUND vs.SCIENCE") in Stockholm, and the album has got a really awesome updated production! Why did you decide not to get a producer and to record the album by yourselves?

Thanks again. Well, I really love good sound and today as the rates for Cds just keep blowing up I find it very hard to release something that sounds cheap. I had been working for years in another studio and felt that the time was right to start my own business. With over 60 Albums recorded and most, not all being really cool I just felt the urge to show that I have the ability to work in the big league. Regarding the producer thing… I just never felt that there is someone good enough to produce our stuff with Mind’s Eye. Today I have developed my technique in the studio and feel like there is no room for a producer in Mind’s Eye, we all produce our own stuff even if it says that I produce the album, I really give the guys enough space to fly. Also, I think that band who don’t produce themselves will never ever make an album that they will call it their own as in the end there is always someone else pulling the strings on your music. I really feel that a band is not a band before they produce their own stuff and mix it by them selves. No one can get the picture that you have in your mind when starting to create music. Not after that you have become a BAND and all that it’s means to be a band, releasing your own albums making it sound like only U can, that’s when people hear, feel and see the bands true colours.

Also the cover artwork, done by Mattias Norén, is true amazing! How did you get in touch with him and who chose the cover subject?

Mattias is a great friend of the band and has been following us since our second album.”…Waiting For The Tide”. We contacted him back then just when he started his own business. The man is amazing and we will continue to work with him for as long as we can and off course for as long as he wants to. The subject and cover ideas where mine but Mattias really putted it to life. He found a way to wok with it, making it look really realistic and amazing. I wanted something that said “milestone” something that anyone could remember and appreciate in another 10 years… The evolution walking backwards on water, when walking on water is prohibited is just really funny to me. It’s funny but yet it’s really serious in the same time. I think it gives people a hint of what’s to come in the album and for me that’s just perfect!

This is your first studio album in 4 years: why did it take so long time to write and record "Walking On H2O"?

It’s hard to say who fault it is as there are many elements involved in why we didn’t make a new album in 4 years. One being off course that our former guitar player moved to England, leaving us wondering if he ever would return… That took a long time to figure out for us… and for him. Decisions are made and here we are today. I for one am glad that we took this break as we needed it to come back and be creative again. We all did some other stuff in the meanwhile, Andreas recorded a solo album, Johan was touring around the world playing on other albums and I became a fulltime session drummer. We had fun for a while but now we are back! Next album is already in the works and this one will have even more surprises.

What are the future project for your band, apart the promotion and the live activities? Do you think that we should wait again for so long to hear the next Mind's Eye album?

No, of course not. I think next album will maybe be out early next year, depending on what Lion music has in mind. We are, as I told you before, already planning ahead with schedules and other stuff to sync with the involved in the band and other great surprises that I really don’t want to reveal right now, but soon enough. The next album will be something extra not just musically, but also graphically.

Thank you very much, it was a pleasure to have the chance of this interview! Please close it with a final statement to our readers...

Thank you for taking time to talk with us about our new album, it feels great to be back again and to make Mind’s Eye continue the long journey which is ahead of us. With reviews like yours and others our journey certainly feels much better. Please visit us at: www.roundrec.com and listen to Mp3’s and read reviews of our new album. Thanks Dario for this great interview!

Dario Adile