{"id":13806,"date":"2013-06-03T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=13806"},"modified":"2013-08-27T21:54:37","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T21:54:37","slug":"feature-wisdom-of-crowds-06-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-wisdom-of-crowds-06-13\/","title":{"rendered":"WISDOM OF CROWDS – Flowing Through You (June 2013) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

WISDOM OF CROWDS – Flowing Through You<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJune 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

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Progressive outfit Wisdom Of Crowds is the brainchild of Kscope Music staff member Johnny Wilkes. Authoring \u2018pretty rough ideas\u2019, Johnny emailed The Pineapple Thief vocalist \/ guitarist Bruce Soord with the hope of forming a collaboration. The email in question was sent shortly after The Pineapple Thief had inked a record contract with Kscope, the progressive label emerging in May 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohnny said \u2018Hey Bruce… Do you fancy doing some music?,\u2019\u201d Bruce remembers. \u201cI said \u2018Yeah… What the hell.\u2019 He sent me through these sketches that were little riffs, chords, words, and melodies. I took them, and I think the first song that we ever did was \u2018Pleasure\u2019. I re-recorded the whole thing; I played all of the instruments, and turned them into a song. This was about four years ago, but we could never nail the vocals. For four years, it was just gestating as a sort of weird project that I would dip into every couple of months. It\u2019s only recently when Jonas agreed to come aboard that the whole thing came together. It was a weird thing. No thought really went into it \u2013 it just evolved, and happened on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The involvement of Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse wasn\u2019t premeditated, despite press reports to the contrary. \u201cNo, it wasn\u2019t,\u201d the composer concedes. \u201cI know that Kscope had their little marketing spiel where they said that the music was always written with Jonas\u2019 voice in mind. Jonas was definitely number one when we knew that we had to get a vocalist, because it didn\u2019t suit my vocal. I think that when I write for The Pineapple Thief, I do write to suit the style of my singing. For this though it was just really hard, and quite edgy in places. With my voice, it just didn\u2019t sit right. Not that I was ever gonna sing, but even when I was doing back-up vocals it just didn\u2019t sound right. Also, I just thought that anything which resembled the sound of my voice would just make it too similar… Not too similar to The Pineapple Thief, but I wanted it to be totally separate. I quite enjoyed just focusing on especially the guitar to express myself instead of the vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy who I did the music with originally at Kscope, it didn\u2019t suit his voice either. It was always a sticking point, and Kscope weren\u2019t interested in it without a strong vocal. Jonas was always number one for me as the perfect voice to fit, even though a lot of people went \u2018Are you sure? Katatonia are a metal band.\u2019 Jonas doesn\u2019t sing like that, though; he\u2019s not a screamer, or anything like that. It was only 2013 I think when it all came together. I think if Jonas hadn\u2019t had come onboard, the project would never have been finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Approached to supply vocals to Wisdom Of Crowd\u2019s material, Jonas\u2019 reaction was favourable. \u201cJonas is so chilled out that he said \u2018Yeah. This would be great; let\u2019s do it,\u2019 but the trouble is that Jonas and Katatonia are always on the road,\u201d Bruce laments. \u201cI think when we first approached him, Katatonia were in the States with Devin Townsend and Paradise Lost where they played loads of dates. It just so happened that they came back, and Jonas had a window in January 2013 where he could fly over to my studio and sing. It was just luck really that he had the time to come and do it. I don\u2019t think he knew how it would turn out, because we had never met before. It was just one of those \u2018Well, let\u2019s see what happens.\u2019 Luckily, it turned out alright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain metal artists prove unwilling to tread outside of their comfort zone and venture beyond the metal template, though Jonas doesn\u2019t fall into this category. \u201cYeah,\u201d the axeman concurs. \u201cThe funny thing about Jonas is when he stayed in my house for about a week when he was doing the singing, he\u2019s got such eclectic music tastes. The stuff that he was playing me… We would always fight over Spotify, and he was teaching me about all of the great Swedish music. One of his favourite acts is about the softest, folkiest music that you\u2019d ever hear. You look at Jonas with all of the long hair and dark, black clothing \u2013 the goth look \u2013 but then you realise that actually he\u2019s got really varied and wide tastes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Particular metal fanatics can prove to be more closed-minded. \u201cI think you can find that in any genre,\u201d Bruce supplements. \u201cFunnily enough, I was talking to some other people about that. The Metallica fans out there, if they don\u2019t want Metallica then they want Slayer. They\u2019re not gonna like what we\u2019ve done, but I think in every genre there are people who can be closed-minded. There are people who can appreciate this music, though. Like you said mind, there are gonna be some metalheads who just like their metal and nothing else. I grew up in the progressive rock scene, and there are some massive prog rock fans where all they want is just prog rock \u2013 long songs. I\u2019ve always been used to a mixed reaction in my musical career, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Prior to Wisdom Of Crowd\u2019s formation, the duo weren\u2019t acquainted. \u201cFunnily enough, I remember when I first joined Kscope,\u201d the engineer reminisces. \u201cI had nicked a load of stuff. When I heard Katatonia, I was so blown away by the music. I remember emailing Jonas \u2013 it must\u2019ve been back in 2007. I think it was The Great Cold Distance<\/em> (March 2006) back then, and I just told him how much I loved his voice. It has such a distinctive sound. I remember him replying, but since then we\u2019ve never spoken or seen each other. When he came down to stay with me for a week and do the singing, that was the first time really that we had met. I\u2019d probably say that we were both a little bit apprehensive, because no-one knew what it would turn out like \u2013 how we\u2019d get on, or anything like that. Luckily though, it just all fell together really easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair\u2019s musical association has since blossomed into a friendship. \u201cJonas nailed the songs so quickly, but that was the other nervous thing,\u201d Bruce notes. \u201cThe first time you go into a studio, you think \u2018How is this gonna go?\u2019 Half of me was expecting it to be a really long, hard session where you were battling to get the vocals right, but he just nailed it. I think the most we ever did was about five takes, and so a hard day in the studio was like a four-hour session. The rest of the time we\u2019d spend sharing stories, playing music, drinking some beer, and cooking food. I think Jonas said it was like a vacation, but a really creative one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name of Johnny Wilkes remains conspicuously absent from press releases, however. \u201cHe\u2019s very, very low-key, and he wants it to stay that way,\u201d the axe-slinger explains. \u201cObviously he works at the label, so he\u2019s really like a silent partner. I think the best way to describe it is he started the sketches. The little seedlings started with Johnny, and then he gave it to me. I then did the rest, and Jonas did a massive piece of the jigsaw at the end. I think that way, it made the journey go somewhere completely different than what I do with The Pineapple Thief. I think that was the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Wisdom Of Crowds banner, Bruce dons various hats. \u201cI engineered it, mixed it, and played everything on it apart from the singing \u2013 my keyboard player (Steve Kitch) did a few nice synths, as well,\u201d he discloses. \u201cGenerally though, it was almost like I did everything and Jonas sang. That\u2019s almost how it panned out. Luckily, because I\u2019ve developed quite a nice studio and built up a nice library of sounds, I had a big sonic arsenal, basically. That sonic arsenal was untapped, because I couldn\u2019t use those sounds with The Pineapple Thief. It was lots of years of influences ready for me to unleash, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonas\u2019 duties were limited to stepping behind the microphone. \u201cI think Jonas would admit that he came to the party quite late,\u201d the programmer acknowledges. \u201cAll the music was done, and we had some guide vocals so he could get an idea of the melody. What he brought? Again, I just can\u2019t understate how much he finished the record just by virtue of his vocals and the style. He added a lot of little melodic tricks; he put his own stamp on all of the harmonies, and the melodies. I just basically let him get on with however he wanted to sing it, and luckily everything that he did sounded really good. Even though strictly speaking all he did was turn up and sing on the record, his input and influence on the final thing was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisdom Of Crowds\u2019 moniker was adopted at the suggestion of Kscope. \u201cWisdom Of Crowds<\/em> is actually the name of a book (2004, by James Surowiecki), but it\u2019s boring,\u201d Bruce dismisses. \u201cIt\u2019s not very rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. It\u2019s like a business book about the wisdom of crowds. There was me and Jonas as the main architects but there was also Johnny from the label, so really there was three of us involved. The other thing is that Jonas and I are quite similar in how we write, in that we both lock ourselves away and do it in a very solitary way. This is the first time that I\u2019ve done a collaboration that\u2019s worked. I think none of us would have come up with a record that sounds like this if we had done it on our own. It\u2019s almost like the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Past collaborations had been unsuccessful. \u201cRight when I started my musical career I was in a band called Vulgar Unicorn with a friend of mine, and I think that\u2019s why I started The Pineapple Thief,\u201d the mixer recalls. \u201cI got so frustrated that I couldn\u2019t do what I wanted to do, and it was always a bit of a compromise. I think after nine albums I had gotten that out of my system though, so I think I was probably more receptive and ready to do a collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisdom Of Crowds\u2019 exact musical style is difficult to pinpoint. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard,\u201d Bruce admits. \u201cI remember when we just had a totally open book of songs. As far as production was concerned I was going to focus a lot more on guitars and things like that, but I also wanted to use all of the influences that I had developed over my career \u2013 the electronica influences, the break-beat, the trip hop stuff, the industrial sort of influences. I remember in the late 90s when trip hop was big down in this neck of the woods \u2013 I live an hour away from Bristol. You then had the Ninja Tune era. Steve my keyboard player was signed to Ninja Tune, so I got quite into all of the sort of breakbeat stuff. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, I remember in the late 90s me and my mates used to be really into the extreme sort of metal. We were into Nine Inch Nails definitely, but even the old Fear Factory records where they were getting a lot of electronica in with the metal as well. I think all through that period influenced the production \u2013 everything from the 90s up until the modern day. It\u2019s difficult to pick one or two artists that were particularly influential, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that is probably the best way to describe it; you\u2019ve got the meeting of acoustic and electric guitar with modern electronica, and the darker side of electronica. Down the road we\u2019ll see by the reaction if the whole thing worked or not, but it really was anything went. If I fancied putting a really horribly distorted beat over the music, then I just did.\u201d<\/p>\n

An industrial influence is audibly apparent, though by no means can the platter be dubbed an industrial affair. \u201cNo, it isn\u2019t,\u201d the guitarist concurs. \u201cIt does get quite hard and it does get quite heavy, but yeah, you\u2019re right. It\u2019s not a metal album, but it\u2019s definitely not a prog rock album. It\u2019s kind of… I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s really hard to pinpoint what it sounds like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labels tend to mail records to specialist media outlets for review consideration, records that neatly fall under a specific genre. Albums difficult to categorise are arguably more difficult to market. \u201cThat is a danger, whether it just doesn\u2019t find anywhere,\u201d Bruce accepts. \u201cIt\u2019s not metal enough to be metal and it\u2019s not prog enough to be prog, but it doesn\u2019t have enough electronica to be just an electronica album either. It\u2019s not break-beat and it\u2019s not an industrial record, so it\u2019s like \u2018What is it?\u2019 I guess it\u2019s got elements of Depeche Mode in there sometimes, the way they mix up dark electronica with guitars and vocal. But no, it\u2019s difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

An abstract demeanour underpins the effort\u2019s lyrical preoccupations. \u201cIt\u2019s mainly about life and relationships, but in a dark\u2019ish way,\u201d the composer critiques. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about desperation, loneliness, separation, death, and all that kind of stuff. I think if you look at the words, it\u2019s pretty dark. That sets it apart from The Pineapple Thief in a way, because even though The Pineapple Thief gets quite dark, there\u2019s always light. There\u2019s always something to grab hold of with The Pineapple Thief, but I think on some of the tracks on this record, it\u2019s almost like \u2018Well, look. We\u2019re gonna die. Let\u2019s deal with it, and sing about it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was because of the way the music developed. The music was dark sounding; it had dark synths, and dark beats. I think it just lead the lyrics in that direction. It\u2019s not all doom and gloom, but it does deal with what millions of other people think about day in and day out. People think about how to deal with your mortality, especially when you\u2019re not in any way religious. It\u2019s something that everyone should be able to relate to, regardless of their beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyrics mainly fell from Bruce\u2019s creative pen. \u201cJohnny would come up with some phrases, like \u2018I really like this word\u2019 or \u2018\u2026 this phrase\u2019 and so on,\u201d he credits. \u201cI\u2019d take that, and let it influence what the song would become about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future subject matter will either be co-written or authored wholesale by Jonas. \u201cI think that\u2019s the plan going forward, because we got on well enough,\u201d the axeman divulges. \u201cIf we do some more stuff together, I think Jonas is quite keen to be more of a collaborator as opposed to what his role really was, which was as a vocalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The possibility of Bruce travelling to Stockholm, Sweden has been discussed, the meeting potentially scheduled to occur as soon as Jonas\u2019 diary has an open window. \u201cWe\u2019d just have a jam, and see what happens,\u201d he tells. \u201cIf we did that, it would probably be something very different. It\u2019s really too early to say under what name that would be, or whether Wisdom Of Crowds will be a one-off, or anything like that. We\u2019ll have to see, I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a feeling we\u2019ll do another one, though. What I\u2019d like to do next is just call it Wisdom Of Crowds \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to have mine and Jonas\u2019 name on the front. We can then do whatever we like with it, and do a true collaboration next time. The only problem is that Jonas and I might get together and do a really soft acoustic record though, and then we\u2019ll probably have to think of a different name. I would certainly be up for doing another experimental sort of electronica… Whatever the hell you call Wisdom Of Crowds. I\u2019d certainly be up for doing another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonas\u2019 commitments are plentiful throughout 2013. \u201cKatatonia are pretty booked up, and then potentially in December Wisdom Of Crowds might be touring as well,\u201d the engineer reveals. \u201cThat takes us up until the end of 2013. It\u2019d be early 2014 at the earliest, I think. It\u2019s definitely something that we would like to do. We\u2019ll try the same formula. Johnny plants the seed, I turn it into a tree, and then Jonas comes and puts all of the fruit and flowers on it. So yeah, I think it\u2019s a good formula. It worked really quick as well. It definitely felt like a winning formula, but whether we can repeat that is anybody\u2019s guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisdom Of Crowds\u2019 material was cut at Bruce\u2019s own recording facilities. \u201cI\u2019ve already seen some reviews where they pick up on the amount of electronica, especially in the beats and the breaks,\u201d he observes. \u201cWithout a big studio, it\u2019s not easy to make live drums sound good. I made a conscious decision to keep this one quite electronic, even though there are still some acoustic drums in there and things like that. But yeah, the whole thing was recorded in my studio, which was good. I could just spend as long as I wanted to, and I think that\u2019s why over four years it didn\u2019t die. I think if we had paid for a recording studio for this, it would\u2019ve died a death a long time ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith a lot of things \u2013 vocals and acoustic guitars, for example \u2013 you just don\u2019t need to pay for a big studio. Drums you do need to pay a bit of money for; you need to pay for a decent drum room and a lot of nice mikes to get a good drum sound. I\u2019m not a big fan of sampling, and triggering drums. It\u2019s nice to crank up your amps, so that\u2019s the other thing. Putting some nice, big, expensive mikes in front of them, that makes a difference. Generally though, you can get away with an awful lot recording at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technological advances have paved the way for musicians to record tracks within the confines of a modest budget. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d the axe-slinger comments. \u201cI haven\u2019t really upgraded the equipment in my studio for a long time, but I think as my skills have gotten better the sounds of the records have just gotten better. You just realise that it\u2019s not the toys you\u2019ve got, but how you use them. I have got decent equipment, but you don\u2019t need much to make a record nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some musicians favour analogue equipment over digital equipment, though Bruce harbours preferences for neither. \u201cI\u2019ve got some analogue,\u201d Bruce shares. \u201cI\u2019ve got good analogue mikes, good analogue pre-amps, and good converters so that it gets into the computer in its best possible state. After that though, the whole thing\u2019s mixed in the box as we say in the trade, which is basically all in a sequencer in a computer. Technology has come on so fast in the last five years. There are a lot of people who advocate tape and things like that, but I think if you listen to the best records that have been mixed in ProTools, they sound just as good as those that\u2019ve been made on tape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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ProTools is sometimes exploited by musicians, musicians who produce sounds courtesy of ProTools that they cannot replicate live. \u201cThat is true, and it makes you lazy as well,\u201d the programmer discerns. \u201cIt\u2019s too easy to cut and paste, and fix stuff in the computer. That\u2019s true, yeah. What you can do with vocal tuning now is ridiculous. It\u2019s so often you hear that story about how the live show is ropy, because they just can\u2019t do what they do in the studio. That\u2019s why we as The Pineapple Thief play it live. The live show is so important that it would just be embarrassing if people turned up and heard a shoddy rendition of a recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cover artwork duties were handled by Scott Robinson, resident graphic designer at Kscope. \u201cWe went through some concepts for the cover, but eventually because of the track \u2018Frozen North\u2019 there were those blocks of ice,\u201d Bruce imparts. \u201cLuckily for us, Kscope had the money to pay for some nice mirror foil for the deluxe edition. The deluxe edition looks really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helmed by Pele Newell, a music video was created for \u2018Frozen North\u2019. \u201cHe did his own interpretation, which is some crazy sci-fi thing,\u201d the mixer judges. \u201cYou\u2019ve got spaceships flying around, and all kinds of weird things going on. However people interpret it, I don\u2019t mind. How he\u2019s done it for the budget that he was given is absolutely remarkable. Jonas and I you\u2019re never gonna get in the same room that often, so we have to give directors songs and say \u2018Interpret it however you want, and make a video.\u2019 Kscope want to do as many videos as possible, but it\u2019s a case of budget. At the moment, I think nobody really knows what this project\u2019s gonna do \u2013 how many units it\u2019s gonna sell \u2013 so it\u2019s very hard. It\u2019s looking good; they\u2019ve already sold out of the special deluxe editions, so I think the label are very pleased. Fingers crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early reactions towards Wisdom Of Crowds\u2019 debut full-length have been complimentary. \u201cIt\u2019s early days, but we\u2019re definitely getting some really good press from what I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Bruce recognises. \u201cI must confess, I don\u2019t like to go online because it\u2019s a free for all. You do get a lot of nasty, vitriolic people out there who just wanna write hateful things. Kscope are always up for putting teasers out there, and I think we\u2019ve got some tracks out on YouTube. The thing with YouTube is it\u2019s really easy to write stuff. People have been going \u2018Wow, this is great,\u2019 and are really surprised about the collaboration. I don\u2019t think anyone expected me and Jonas to get together, but it seems that people are really excited about it. So, fingers crossed. It might find a little niche.\u201d<\/p>\n

At The Garage in London on July 24th and 25th, Kscope will mark its fifth anniversary. The first evening will include Wisdom Of Crowds\u2019 inaugural live performance. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a real ball-ache to get the live band together,\u201d the guitarist complains. \u201cWe\u2019ll be a four-piece, and there are three of us who will prepare in the rehearsal studio. It\u2019s me, Jonas obviously, and then we\u2019ve got a drummer from Brighton called Dan who no-one will know. He\u2019s a very good drummer though, and then there\u2019s Steve my keyboard player from The Pineapple Thief. He\u2019s got the rig, he\u2019s got all of the big, fat sounds, and he\u2019s cheap (laughs). It\u2019s gonna be quite a challenge to get Wisdom Of Crowds on the road without it being just a horrible backing track, so I\u2019m hoping we\u2019ll be touring again in December \u2013 a European tour.\u201d <\/p>\n

Whether the ensemble\u2019s debut live outing will be recorded has yet to be decided. \u201cI\u2019ll have to speak to Kscope,\u201d Bruce muses. \u201cI think they\u2019ll probably get some people to video it. I hope so, because it will be a real one-off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing sessions in aid of The Pineapple Thief\u2019s tenth studio full-length are underway. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re focusing on for the rest of 2013, rehearsing and recording that,\u201d the lyricist informs. \u201cI\u2019ve been writing since January, actually. At the moment we haven\u2019t actually played any of the new stuff, so I\u2019m locking myself in my studio as much as I can to write. It does take me a long time; I do find that for every decent song, I have probably about four or five rubbish ones that have to be binned. It\u2019s funny, because you always learn something from these rubbish songs. You think it\u2019s a waste of time, but it\u2019s not. There\u2019s always maybe a melody or a chorus, so you\u2019ll take it and completely rework it. All of a sudden, it\u2019ll then just work. I can\u2019t put my finger on it, but it\u2019s definitely a case of a lot of hard work is required. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Jonas is talking about another Bloodbath album, so he\u2019s gonna be busy. So yeah, that\u2019s really it. I think that\u2019s the focus for both of us really, Katatonia for Jonas and for me The Pineapple Thief. It\u2019s still gonna be really interesting to see how this project turns out, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, roughly half an album\u2019s worth of material has been penned. \u201cI\u2019ve certainly written probably enough to do a double-album to be honest, but it wouldn\u2019t be a very good one,\u201d Bruce confesses. \u201cYeah though, I\u2019ve got about five songs that have turned out really well. The band have got a veto and they\u2019ve all put their thumbs up to them, so we\u2019re halfway there. At least I know that I\u2019ve got half a good album. It\u2019s gonna come out in 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The aforementioned new tunes convey \u201cmore of a band feel. It\u2019s definitely a step forward. At the moment, I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m… The last album was quite big sounding, and we had a big string section. I think this next one will be a lot less of the big sounds. If there are strings on it, it\u2019ll be more of a close-sounding string section \u2013 I\u2019ve learnt a lot from working with an orchestra. I think next time it\u2019ll be a lot more organic sounding. I hate to use that word, but it\u2019ll be where you can hear the orchestra or the string section working. Generally though, because we\u2019ve developed so much as a live band, I\u2019m really writing with the band in mind. We can then take the songs and just play them as a four-piece, and without needing to worry about too much production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce\u2019s vocal prowess has strengthened throughout the years. \u201cI can do a lot more with my voice,\u201d he reckons. \u201cIt\u2019s just something that has developed over the years. In the early days I was more of a guitarist and a producer in my studio who had to sing, but now the vocals have developed into becoming just as important an instrument as the guitar. So yeah, I don\u2019t know. I think it\u2019s definitely different, but what it sounds like I don\u2019t know. It still sounds like The Pineapple Thief, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spring 2014 issue date is scheduled. \u201cYes, spring. At the moment I think it\u2019s scheduled for April, but whether we meet that is another matter,\u201d the axeman warns. If everything goes to plan and we keep on schedule though, then it\u2019ll be out in April 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

On April 19th, 2013, record cover designer Storm Thorgerson succumbed to cancer at the age of 69. Artists which the man designed for include Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Muse, Dream Theater and a plethora of others, not to mention The Pineapple Thief. \u201cWhen Storm did our Someone Here Is Missing<\/em> cover (May 2010), I knew then that he was ill,\u201d Bruce relates. \u201cWhen I went up to meet him to talk about what the cover should be, my father-in-law had cancer at the time. It got onto a lengthy discussion about treatment, so I knew that he wasn\u2019t well. It was evident then that he had cancer. It was really sad. I\u2019m just really, really chuffed that I had the chance to work with him. It was an amazing experience, having Storm\u2019s vision on one of my album covers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Storm\u2019s name will forever be associated with Pink Floyd. \u201cThe number of people who cite The Dark Side Of The Moon<\/em> (March 1973) as being the greatest album cover of all time is…,\u201d the engineer ponders. \u201cI think it was that, and maybe Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/em> (The Beatles, June 1967) \u2013 they\u2019re always up there. I think he was also a real pioneer of the abstract photography style that dominated the 70s, and even now there are all the Muse and Biffy Clyro covers where he was still taking photos of strange objects in strange places. He owns that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisdom Of Crowds was released on June 3rd, 2013 via Kscope.<\/p>\n

Interview published in June 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WISDOM OF CROWDS – Flowing Through You Anthony Morgan June 2013 Bruce Soord and Jonas Renkse Progressive outfit Wisdom Of Crowds is the brainchild of Kscope Music staff member Johnny Wilkes. Authoring \u2018pretty rough ideas\u2019, Johnny emailed The Pineapple Thief vocalist \/ guitarist Bruce Soord with the hope of forming a collaboration. The email in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,708],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-wisdom-of-crowds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13806"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13944,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806\/revisions\/13944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}