MB: The latest record, Sunlight of the Spirit, I think is a great record. When did you start writing for this album and how long did it take from start to finish?

GT: It was kind of wild, the actual writing process for Spirit. I actually enjoyed writing Spirit more than Chapter 1, just because I really felt like things were coming out quickly and in abundance. Right when Chapter 1 was in the process of being recorded and I was finishing up the recording of Chapter 1, “Dream-Catcher” was actually the first song that I wrote. I liked it so much I would have wanted to put it on Chapter 1 but it was kind of too late. It’s kind of a good thing because it really worked out on Spirit. I wrote “Dream-Catcher” and then some time went by and I would piece a couple of songs together and have some parts done. I had about four or five songs done, and then there was a couple of weeks where I was in between jobs and I had a lot of spare time. I had all the notes made, I had a lot of lyrics done and I had a lot of general notes on how I wanted some songs to be. I actually knocked out close to half the album within a week's time, so all in all, it took probably a process of a year and a half, but not full-time. The way I write, I never make time to write. Inspiration finds me and I capture it at the time. So I could be anywhere, in traffic, in the shower, sleeping, and I always got a notepad and I am always writing stuff down and it just so happened that in that couple-of-week period is the time I took my collection of notes and I actually formed the songs. Another thing about writing Spirit, if I actually sit down and try to write something, and try to think about something and make something happen, it doesn’t work. There are actual times when I’ve either sat down with my guitar or in front of the keyboard and you just get in to this consciousness, you feel there’s this mental and emotional gate that’s open, and this inspiration just kind of flows through you. It’s almost kind of creepy. There have been times where I’ve sat down and I started playing stuff and I get into this zone and I can’t really describe it, but a musician who writes will know what I’m talking about. “I Remember When” for example is a song where I just sat down and within about an hour and a half time I had a four-track recording of the entire song, completely finished, and when I listened to it back I was like, “Where did that come from?" It’s almost as if you’re this medium of a higher being channeling the song through you. It’s almost kind of scary because I’ve had a couple of other instances of that happening. Once was with ‘Dream-Catcher”, another one was with “Brave Horse” and “Stealth” off of Chapter 1, and even parts of “Beyond The Horizon” .

MB: I think the production on Sunlight of the Spirit is really great. Did you have access to Pro-Tools?

GT: Yeah, as a matter of fact, a friend of mine, Dave Lemme and Mike Donoghue from Shadow Recording Studio did the recording. We’re friends with them. Dave was in a band called Cycle Of 3 that we played with so it was cool, it was like fellow musicians and friends. He actually used a 36 tracker, Pro-Tools. Dave Lemme actually started the recording, we did the drums and the guitars over there and due to cost, he actually did the rest of the recording at Illuvatar bass player Dean Morekas’ place. He actually used SONAR, so it’s a mix between Pro-Tools and SONAR, but it was actually fully mixed and mastered in Pro-Tools. We spent a lot of time on it. We had six sets of ears just listening to it and tweaking it out. The experience of the people involved, they just had phenomenal ears and all of us really made that production happen.

MB: Can you give us a brief description of the album and what it’s about?

GT: The one thing about Images Of Eden, and this wasn’t something that I meant to do, it’s just something that kind of started so I’m running with it...each album starts where the last one leaves off. It’s like an ongoing story and progression through life, told in a positive and uplifting way. The first album began as thematic. It’s about putting the past behind and starting brand new, finding this “estranged”, peaceful world...after the “demons” have all gone away. The ending of Chapter 1 is “Autumn’s End” and is actually a transition into this second chapter, if you will, which is called Sunlight of the Spirit. If you listen to “Autumn’s End” it's almost a little bit of a reflection on a new inner peace, knowing that life will go on and the sun will rise again tomorrow. This metaphor of “The End” is actually a transition that leads into the first track on Spirit which is “Ascension” (into “Eden”), which then leads into ‘Kaleidoscope” which is being in this “perfect world”. I’ve always looked at Eden not as a physical place, but more of a metaphor, like an internal peace. “Kaleidoscope” is kind of secluding yourself in your own perfect world, whether it is mental or physical…whatever you want to call it. A perfect world can exist but it definitely isn’t on this earth, it has to be emotional. Sunlight of the Spirit is an actual spiritual phrase. It is basically living your life the best you can, seizing the day, making it happen and you’ll see this reward come in turn. The theme of “Beyond The Horizon”, I look at it as more of a found spirituality, whatever brings you an inner peace, whatever makes your world better, use it that way. If it happens to be Christianity, then so be it. The whole theme of the actual song “Sunlight of the Spirit” is kind of like going through anything that has totally changed your world, and turning something negative into a positive. The first part, “Emerald Rain”, is about any kind of change, whether it’s something bad, whether it’s not there anymore, any kind of loss. It’s about working through that and working into a better place, getting yourself into a better place and just kind of holding on to the memories, and knowing everything bad that’s happening is really making you stronger, which is the whole point of that song. At the end of the album, you’ll notice there’s a lot more in between, but it all takes place in this “Eden”…the very last song “Midnight’s Tide” is a major reflection on life and beating yourself up and having regret, being sorry for the things you have done, the negative things. It’s about redemption, about forgiving yourself for the mistakes you have made in the past and knowing you can’t change the past, but we’re going to go on from here and make it the best we can. The end of “Midnight’s Tide” leaves a wide open door for the beginning of the third CD.

MB: I went through an experience like that, and I could share it with you after this interview.

GT: I think it’s relatable for everybody. When I write, it’s not specific enough where you know exactly what’s happened to me, I make it general so that you can relate it to your own life but it’s based on something specific for me.

MB: I think you write some really awesome lyrics. They have that ability to take me away from my troubles. What experiences influence your lyrics?

GT: Nothing influences my lyrics except life experience. Somebody had told me one time that it really feels like I generally live what I’m writing about, and that’s the absolute truth. I think if you don’t live and feel 110 percent what you are writing about, it doesn’t come across as genuine. Anytime something extremely positive or negative happens, I capture the opinion that I have in my lyrics. I let the lyrics kind of form themselves and then I piece the lyrics together to form the album later in a way that kind of tells a story. I don’t know what the next album is going to be about until I write it. I didn’t know what Spirit was going to be about until it pieced itself together.

MB: What singers have influenced you the most? You put me in mind of a few people but you have your own flavor.

GT: I would have to say there are four that are the major ones. First it was Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden, then I found Geoff Tate from Queensryche right when The Warning came out and I was twelve-years-old. I was twelve-years-old and I knew that this is one of the best singers on the face of the earth, so I was fairly smart for my age, at least I think! (laughs) After that, I found what I would say are my two favorite singers now. John Arch, the former singer of Fates Warning. He writes in a way that his albums, specifically Awaken The Guardian, just take me totally out of the world I’m in and place me where I want to be, in that “Eden”. To date, my favorite singer of all time, who I haven’t kind of listened to in a while, I don’t know why, but I just recently picked up their old albums is Ray Gillen from Badlands…

MB: May he rest in peace.

GT: Yes, may he rest in peace. I have the first two Badlands albums. I have just recently acquired Dusk, and I listened to Dusk, and this guy has everything. He’s got the most phenomenal voice and he’s got this soul sound to his voice that nobody else has. As phenomenal as Tate is in a textbook sense, Ray’s just got this emotion that grabs you a little more. He was in my opinion the best vocalist.

MB: You do have great stage presence. Is stage presence an important part of a live performance to you?

GT: It’s about 50 percent of it as far as I’m concerned. As a musician I can stand there and watch people stand there like logs and bang out the most phenomenal music in the world and be fine with it, but not everybody is a musician, and the non-musicians want to see you move, they want to see you get into it. Even the musicians do too. I mean, if the band is awful, but they are just really phenomenal on stage, I still might actually see them again if it was a high energy performance. As far as us, we try to put as much stage presence into everything. Sometimes it’s a little difficult when you’re playing something a little more on the technical side , it’s hard to do back flips. I try to lay into it, I try to make you see and feel that I’m giving 110 percent and I always feel like that If I’m not borderline being carried out on a stretcher at the end of the show, I didn’t put my full into it and I feel almost like I did an injustice and a disservice to everybody.

MB: What in your opinion was your best live gig so far?

GT: I would say our CD release party (at Mac’s The Club in Essex, Maryland) back in November of ‘05, only because there were so many factors to getting Sunlight of the Spirit recorded and released. I think the stars had to line up perfectly in so many ways. I was actually shocked that we got it finished, and I was actually shocked that we had got copies made. There were so many obstacles working against us that my goal was to get to that CD release. We had practiced and rehearsed for that release party and it had been a year and a half since we had played a live show. I was actually fighting off a cold that week, I fought it off long enough to get that show done, and I almost completely lost my voice for the next couple of days and I lost a couple of days of work because that cold finally knocked me on my ass. So, with the full energy and every ounce of spirit, that was my favorite show because of what it stood for and it was like I almost climbed Everest twice for that show to happen.

MB: Your worst show?

GT: I’m glad you brought this up because this is a fun story to tell. We had a “Spinal Tap” moment a couple of years back when we had our old drummer Bobby Minter. We had played a great gig this one weekend at a place called The Vault, had a ton of people show up, really cleaned house financially and did a great show. The very next week we had a gig at the now defunct Eight By Ten in Baltimore, although I think it’s back now. We were the headlining band and everybody came out the week before, so…we got there that night and the first band was a five-piece ska/funk/jazz/pseudo something or other from Boston.

MB: Like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones?

GT: A bit like the Bosstones but put a little more funk in it. They all had three-piece suits on and they came out and played. It was almost like a comedy routine. After that, the second band was a hip-hop band. We had brass and funk and hip-hop, and here we go…I was like, “We are going to scare these people to death!” So we get out on stage and it’s midnight. We already had beer spilled down a big stack of our equipment because there was only a couple of feet to get in. We started playing, and in the middle of the second song the place was completely empty except for Dennis’s brother, and the bartender. We played five songs and then they cut us off, then they gave us five bucks and said, “Have a nice day." The drummer was all pissed off, and I was like, “You know, this is a Spinal Tap moment."

MB: Do you have any upcoming plans for shows and places you want to play?

GT: London, Berlin, Rome…

MB: New York, London, Paris, Munich?

GT: Exactly. That would be the long-term goal, yes. Whatever it takes to get there, it’s not going to happen tomorrow. The first thing is to stir up enough buzz and what not. We have no problem with touring but we have to tour within our means. We’d definitely like to branch out,. Since I just moved to Pennsylvania, we’d definitely like to do York, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Baltimore, which is what we know. Maybe even get out to Delaware, down to Virginia…start out regionally.

MB: You just picked up a distribution deal in France and Germany! How do you feel about that?

GT: God, I’m loving this. It actually feels like things are starting to happen. First thing we secured was Hellion Records in Germany, who’s going to do some promos and get the word out and sell our CD. Then just recently Brennis Music in France who are actually going to put it in all the retail stores across France, so you could go into Paris and go into a music store and find Spirit. I had been sending out a lot of press kits to a lot of prog labels all over the world, I’ve been doing a lot of networking, radio, promo, the whole nine yards, just throwing it out there. They say the more shit you keep throwing at the wall, the better the chances of having it stick. Now we are talking to Perris Records in Texas, we're actually going to be on a compilation that’s going to be distributed nationwide and in some case worldwide. I’ve looked at InsideOut, sent them something, Magna Carta…it takes time.

MB: Have you written any new material yet, and when can we expect a new Images Of Eden record?

GT: I wish I had the next one in my hand right now! This clown gave me advice years ago and I’m so glad that he did because I so didn’t take his advice. This guy gave me bad advice when he said, “When you write your albums, write it but don’t shoot your load on each album. Save some for the next album." I said that’s the worst advice, man, because the only way you are going to improve is if you totally outdo yourself on an album and be like, “What the hell am I going to do now?” , because there is nothing left in the vault. That’s what I did with Chapter 1, and I said, “Oh my God, how am I going to do another album, I don’t have anything left,” and then I started writing and inspiration came through and I started writing Spirit, and then after Spirit I was like, “You know, I’m tapped out but at least I know it’s not over,” because I know more stuff will come. What’s happening now is I’ve got about 90 percent of the lyrics done for the next album and I’ve got the whole concept, and it picks up in the exact place where Spirit leaves off. On both Chapter 1 and Spirit, each album had kind of a finale at the end of the album that really summed it up, then the next one will pick up from there. That’s how I like it. At the end of an album, I want the last thing you hear to be kind of mind-blowing. This next album is a major progression, lyrically, from Spirit, and it has the ultimate finale that actually sums up all three albums, not just itself. I can’t wait to unleash that, as far as when it will be, I don’t know. I don’t even want to project a date. The one thing I know is it’s definitely a departure from Spirit almost in an opposite direction but turns around and does a full 180 in the end. There are several surprises that take everything to the next level, even higher.

MB: Do you have any closing thoughts?

GT: Definitely check us out at http://www.imagesofeden.com. I appreciate you doing this, Matt. My whole thought is that it’s give and take in this business. It’s great to have people who will spread the word of your band, so I appreciate you doing this and we will definitely help you guys out anyway we can, it’s great. To everybody who is reading this definitely check us out, probably unlike any other band you’ll really hear today especially from a local standpoint. We hope you like what you hear, and stay tuned. There’s always more coming.

Thank you, Gordon! You are definitely a class act all the way. The progressive metal world needs to be prepared for Images Of Eden, as they have re-written the rulebook with their latest record Sunlight of the Spirit. Be sure to go to their official website at http://www.imagesofeden.com and pick up a copy of both Chapter 1 and Sunlight of the Spirit today!