Plant, Todd (Cryptic Vision) (June 2005)

Gaining Clarity On Cryptic Vision - An Interview With Todd Plant

Florida's Cryptic Vision were one of the surprises at this year's Rites of Spring Festival (ROSfest), opening day two with a bang. Their debut album, Moments Of Clarity, was released in 2003 through ProgRock Records and the band's music has been compared to such classics as Yes and Kansas, among others. One guest on Moments... is former Kansas member David Ragsdale on violin, and the band have even opened Kansas. Their next release, In A World is due out in December 2005. Josh Turner spoke with vocalist Todd Plant in early May, about ROSFest, Moments..., and more.

Josh Turner: I saw you perform at ROSfest last weekend and I just wanted to say you guys did a great job.

Todd Plant: Thank you.

JT: The singing was excellent. I heard a lot of people talking about it afterwards. [he laughs] It was one of the surprises of the event.

TP: Yeah, nobody knew what to expect. I mean, it was really like our fifth show. It really was our first, well, it was only our second big one. We opened for Kansas and then we did that one. The band is really in its infancy as far as it being a live band, you know. Give us a few months and we'll be really tight. [he laughs]

JT: How did you get involved with ROSfest?

TP: I think that was... actually when we first came out with the album. It's been over a year ago. I guess George [Roldan, organizer of ROSfest] heard it through Shawn Gordon [President of Prog Rock Records] and they invited us last year to do the pre-show and we just didn't have a live band and it wasn't real. We had all kinds of different guys on the album, but just hadn't put it all together, you know, to perform it. So we had to decline and we really didn't get it together till this year, when we actually had a set line-up and started rehearsing it for live.

JT: How did you meet your bandmates? How did you put this particular band together?

TP: Well, they're all local guys. The first piece that Rick [Duncan, multi-instrumentalist] and I added was bassist Sam Conable and he was local, [from] Sarasota, like south of Tampa Bay. He was a local bass player who toured with a few different bands, but nothing, you know, nothing major. And never really had [any] releases, so he was kind of a very hungry bass player that could sing. And I think [he] heard of it through the grapevine, or heard something on the radio, like a local radio show or something like that, and he contacted Rick and said he was interested in the... I think the fact he played a Rickenbacker and picked instead of... You know, he was a singer, [that was] something that we were kind of looking for to give that sort of a Chris Squire, Dave Meros [of Spock's Beard] kind of sound. So one more thing, his energy. I mean, he added so much as far as resources and energy to this project. It's unbelievable, you know.

So at that point we had a trio and we said okay, now we need to... we were really looking for a violin player and just never really could find anybody that would, you know... We've given out a bunch of CDs, and said, hey learn a couple tunes and get back to us and we never heard anybody get back to us. I don't know if we had intimidated them or they just weren't into the music or whatever, but we just figured we would go as a five piece and we got a hold of John Zahner 'cause I've known him for... well, not really known him well, but I have known about him in this area for years. He's been with all the bigger bands in this area and he's always been like the keyboard player and I wasn't sure we could get him. But I gave him a CD and gave Matt La Porte a CD, and Matt and him were very excited about it, but Matt really never worked out. I mean, we had a meeting with him and he seemed to be interested, but he was... both of these guys worked with Circle II Circle and they had toured together, so what we did, we said "John you're are in; we've got to find a guitarist" and he happened to be doing a cover band to make some extra money and had this guitar player Tim [Keese] who we ended up grabbing from that band. It was just a local guitar band and Tim's kind of new too as far as recording and everything, and we were really going to try to get him up to snuff as far as, you know, studio experience and that sort of thing, But we were really happy, especially with John.

We actually recorded the ROSfest performance and Rick just looked into it this morning for the first time and said that he was real happy with it. We're going to release a live album with those tapes and he was especially pleased with John Zahner's playing on that. So, you know, we're excited. I can't wait till we've got the EP In A World that we released. I mean, we recorded that with all the odds against us. We had very little time. The studio wasn't even finished. I mean, there's still doors that are not up in the recording studio that Rick Duncan built. But we threw the equipment in there and hastily recorded this demo with like one day to spare, and the last day after recording it, that whole last day, Rick was mixing it and he had to mix it, [he laughs] he had to mix it manually. There was no automation and it's a 16 minute song with like 15 parts, so if he messed up 15 minutes into the mix, he had to start all over.

JT: Oh, wow.

TP: He couldn't save any of it, so it was really... he's going to try to get an even better mix for... But we wanted to have something new, you know, at the festival, and that was a great experience for it. I mean, we got to meet so many great people. It was just the vibe there was incredible. I mean all these great bands and everybody paid attention to what we were doing. We've done shows around here. One was BBQ Fest, alright, and it's an outdoor festival, beautiful sunny day, nice production, and it's like nobody really showed up. We had a few fans out there, but I mean, it was like we're playing on the bill with Grand Funk and Night Ranger and War and... there was a bunch. Who else was there? Creedance, the new Creedance band and... Pat Travers... It was a classic rock festival, so they... you know, people didn't really even know what to think of us [he laughs] and we didn't get any kind of response, but there was really... all of these shows had been a warm-up for ROSfest. The band was formed to play that and to get on the map and it was so wonderful to really, you know, meet everybody and we had never even met Shawn Gordon and he signed us two months before... and Tom [Smith, of Philly Prog Rock Connection and ROSfest] was great. George... I mean, they've put on an excellent festival. It's only going to get better I think.

JT: Yeah. I'm wondering, how did you come up with the name Cryptic Vision?

TP: That's a very good question. [I laugh] You're the first person to actually ask that question, I think.

JT: I like to find out what musicians are thinking when they are putting bands together.

TP: What we did is we came up with... a bunch of words. It was really just me and Rick, because this is before the band was formed. It's always been me and Rick since the beginning, you know. But what he did was he came up with a bunch of words, different types of cool words and we, you know, we decided, okay, let's do a two word name and kind of threw different combinations of those words together. And we probably had a dozen ideas to start and it just... I don't really know why we picked that one, but Rick is the leader and he has the final say. [he laughs] He just says, okay, this is what it is and I said, okay, sounds fine with me. It doesn't really mean anything, although I bet if you ask Rick he'll have some convoluted explanation for how we came up with it, and why and what it stands for and, you know, ad nauseum. I said, this sounds good to me and we went with it. I think there is another band that was in existence [with that name]. We had to do, you know, do some searches on the Internet to make sure we could use it, and there was a band in Chicago called Cryptic Vision and they're like a metal band, but they were pretty much a local band, so we figured we could go with it.

[And it seems they're kaput anyway -ed.]

JT: About Moments Of Clarity; what does that mean, Moments Of Clarity? What's the theme of the album?

TP: Well, I think that the Moments Of Clarity title is more or less just a... I think it's a reflection of this fictitious character, this guy who goes through this whole adventure. And it's a concept album, all the songs are pretty much built around this episode and these events that have affected this guy. It'd probably be best to ask Rick about it, because he wrote the whole thing, but I'll give you an in a nutshell version and that is, this guy meets girl and falls in love, and she's just everything. She dies saving someone else, and it's never been revealed how this has happened, but she dies and he goes into a depression. He decides to kill himself to be with her. And as he is... going into the netherworld or whatever and passing through Abaddon is the place where he, in "Moments Of Clarity", where he's like journeying into hell and he... actually he meets with her. Somewhere along the line, she comes to him on the other side and says this is not the way, go back, I'll be with you someday. This isn't the way to do it and he does, he goes back, somehow he returns without... actually dying or whatever, you know. It is one of those bright lights kind of situations, and... but really I would prefer to have you ask Rick. You will get a lot better explanation of how that all went down and...Oh, "Ascension" I guess is the final one where he finds peace and he knows that he is going to be with her someday.

JT: Well, maybe I'll save this for Rick, but I'm wondering, the one song that sort of sticks out in my head is "Shock Value." Can you tell me what you're singing about in that one?

TP: "Shock Value" is... I don't know if he... Actually it is a very old song, you know, something like... see, maybe late eighties, and we changed some of the words. But "Shock Value" was his anger at the world and his disgust with everything, you know. He's going through a depression and he... I think that's also where he decides to end it all. The very last words of it, "My eyes have seen it all, just want to end it all" is where he decides, screw it, you know, I am just going to take. And if you look on the inner sleeve of the album there is a bottle of pills that's in the background under the lyrics and... each one of those pages represents something to do with that song and that one is where he decides to end it.

JT: With all the line-up changes and the fact that your music is rock-oriented -- but it is definitely progressive, as well... I mean, you do have an original style. I'm wondering, can you explain your songwriting process? How do you put these songs together? How have these songs been formed? Can you just tell me a little bit about that?

TP: Well, to tell you the truth... I mean, this is really the brainchild of Rick Duncan and he brought me on board by sending me CDs of just long rough demos of certain ideas that he had. Not even necessarily full songs, but he would do it using keyboard sequences and a drum machine and so all I would get was like different passages of songs. And with no solos, with no lyrics, and slowly but surely the songs just evolved. Like Rick would send... he would have me come down to his studio and we would, he would just start hammering out ideas as far as how he wanted the lyrics to go over the music. And we would... I would take that demo home and I would work on it and I would learn it.

Then as far as the recording process, when we started to record this song, Rick would have this raw demo of the sequence of the whole song and he would start replacing the parts. Like, he would play bass over it, you know, and he would get a real... you know, he'd get the bass parts down and the drum parts down and then keyboards and then he would even play rhythm guitars and then we would get other players in to replace those parts, so it was sort of like putting a puzzle together. Then we'd get guys to come in to do maybe... the solos and we would take a file over to another studio in Tampa or somewhere else and have them dump it into a computer and then, like the keyboard player did, Howard ? Howard Helm did some of those mini-Moog parts in the B3 solos of the album, and then we would... it really technically could not have been done years ago, being able to take digital files, stick them on a CD, and then basically take the whole thing, load it into a computer... You couldn't do that back in the old days; you'd maybe take a tape to somebody who has the same kind of tape player, but...

As far as the writing process goes, the way we're doing it now, writing for the second [album] is basically the same way we did it before. Rick handed us a sequence with just keyboards and drums and [said] here, listen to this guys. And once he's got it and minds how it sounds, he would have me come down to the studio and I would sing the vocals. We'd just work line-by-line, verse-by-verse, working out the vocal parts, and I would throw on some harmony vocals. Then we would take that basic song, which was just the vocals and a sequence and drums, give it to the other guys and say, okay, here's where the guitar solo is, here's where the keyboard solo is, here's what kind of parts we're looking for. And Sam would come in and do his bass over it... So we're doing it a little more like a band now, but still it's not like we all get in a room and come up with ideas. You know, it's almost a Neal Morse kind of thing where Neal hands Spock's -- well he used to... [I laugh]. He used to hand Spock's Beard... okay, here's what I've written, let's work it out. So that's pretty much how we are doing it now. We've got... obviously In A World demoed. The other new song that we did live [is] called "Cowards Of Men" and that is like another 10, 12 minute epic that we've already demoed out. And a song called "Common Ground," which is a little more straightforward, more of just a rock song, you know; there's a little pop feel to it. It's not real progressive, but it... we'll find a way to make it more prog... And the other one is called "Point Of View." I think I have already done some vocals on that, just to get an idea of how it will sound. And we're also drudging up one old song from way back in the early days, when I used to work with Rick before we ever thought of putting a band together, and that was called... I don't know if I can think of it... Oh man, it's on our web site? [he pauses to ponder the name of the song] It's one of the ones on the web site. Go ahead. We'll go ahead with the next question now.

JT: So are you currently in the process of putting a new album together?

TP: Yeah.

JT: What can fans expect from the next album?

TP: Well, it's called In A World and the title track will pretty much give you an idea of how the rest of it will sound... It won't be necessarily a concept album or anything, but... By the way, that song is called "Over And Over," that song I was trying to think of earlier. But it ["In A World"] is going to be another giant epic monstrosity. [he laughs] It's got... if you look out on our web site, CypticVision.net, you'll see in the news all of the songs have pretty much been put in their place in how they're going to be on the album, so we're just still learning the songs and demoing them out. But it's going to be a little bit... This will actually be more of a band project, you know. It won't be 15, 25 people like the first album was, doing one little part. It was quite a mess putting the whole thing together with girls singing, you know, and violinists doing certain parts. I don't know how we were able to organize that and keep it together, because there was just so much... so many different people, so many different parts and... this is going to be a little bit simpler. It's going to be the five of us and maybe we'll have some guest soloists, but it will sound slightly different, but more like we sounded live.

JT: You've already mentioned Spock's Beard a couple times. I'm just wondering... well first of all, is Spock's Beard one of your influences and what are some of your other influences as well?

TP: Well, that's... I told one of the guys that [they are] my favorite band in the whole world, and Rick turned me onto them no more than maybe a couple years ago. I had no idea there was another band with like... Well, our influences are obviously Yes and Kansas, but we love Dream Theater. We love... we are influenced by all of the classic prog bands, but not so much by the newer prog bands, and I don't know if that is by design or whatever, but I've always been a progressive fan. I was... I'm an old-timer, so I was around when Close To The Edge came out, and I would feel that... that was the album that changed me, you know. That opened up my mind to the possibilities of music. I mean, I had heard... Hendrix was huge and Zeppelin and everybody, and The Beatles. The Beatles are actually a huge influence on us, too, 'cause Rick mentioned that he thanked them, I think, on the album for inventing songs. ["for inventing prog" 'tis what it says - ed.]. Which is probably true, you know, with Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's... and stuff like that, where that was the first try... anybody had ever tried anything like that. But when Yes hit, it was over. They just became my favorite group and I've been just blown away by everything. One of the biggest thrills was to hang out and eat dinner with Chris Squire last year when they came through. I had a great time. But yeah, those are our main influences and John would mention ELP. And John, John Zahner would also mention probably... Uh, although I've always loved ELP and Saga and... let's see... Well, you know, just the standard fare basically, you know. The old timers that have really made an impact on our lives.

JT: Yeah. I've got a lot of the same choices. I'm also wondering, how did your involvement in music begin?

TP: Wow, you're talking waaay back, [I laugh] My involvement with music, how did I decide to become a musician?

JT: Yeah.

TP: Wow. Well, it's always been... I think it's always been in me, you know, since I was a little kid. I didn't know I was going to be a musician, but I just really loved music and I started out... One of the first things that actually got me actually, physically involved in it was a music teacher, Mrs. Dennis, back in Roosevelt Elementary school, you know. You go to a music class and they teach you to play the little recorder, and then you're just singing in [a] chorus and then you... She taught... I guess she taught me how to love instruments and how to express yourself with it. I learned how to play the autoharp and we did little outdoor festivals for all the parents and I really got off on that. So in a year or two [after that] I began playing clarinet for some odd reason and got in the band, and I was in band and chorus and just slowly it just evolved, you know. I've always loved it and when I got tired of playing clarinet in marching band, I said, you know, I must play guitar. I just decided that that's the instrument. I've got to play guitar. So I started playing guitar and singing, and I still play some, although I put it down for quite awhile because I was getting in bands that they really didn't need a second guitarist or didn't want a second guitarist and... everybody's always wanted me for my voice, so I just went with it. And now I'm starting to be able to play a little more and I might even get on the album actually, performing a little bit. But guitar brought me into rock n' roll and blues and jazz and stuff like that. So that probably happened... I think the epiphany point was... I think I was like 17 and I decided to start playing guitar and I decided, I am going to be a rock musician, so that was it.

JT: You've probably been asked this numerous times, so please forgive me, but I just feel compelled to ask it. I was almost not going to ask it and I felt, well, I've got to ask it out of curiosity. I recently heard that, that you sung the Hulk Hogan theme song, is that true?

TP: Yes I did. I've done a lot of session-for-hire kind of things out of different studios that Jimmy Hart... Um, I guess they were looking, he was looking for some musicians and went into Morristown, which is Tampa, and that was right about the time when I was working with Ralph Santolla on Millennium and I witnessed stuff, sure. I think we were already into the Millennium band and, he asked them, hey, have you got any good local musicians that I could work with and do some theme songs? And they recommended Ralph and I and he just, you know, he paid us to... it wasn't just Hulk Hogan, it was several different wrestlers and themes, and we even did monster truck themes and it was just... they would have us come in, [they'd say] hey, listen to this, okay; here is how we want you to sing it. But I didn't realize how big the Hulk Hogan song was going to be and [that] he would use it every single time he fought and [in] every interview, and five times a show across the globe, then millions of people would hear it.

I got paid a couple hundred bucks just to sing this little song that ended up... and it was on this.. they actually put a CD out... American Made or something like that and that was the theme song for it.

JT: Whoa!

TP: Yeah. I had no idea that it was going to be quite this large and it even got included on an album, the WCW Mayhem album that Megadeth and, gosh I think even Metallica... it's just a whole bunch of really big bands [that] are on it and that song was included. In fact, I'm looking at it right now? It took us for a sort of surprise. We're proud of it, I mean, you know. I thought we did a good job on it, but it was definitely more of a bluesy rock sort of a thing. But let me see if I can read this... Yeah, Metallica and Megadeth and Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, Insane Posse, Slayer, [he laughs] all these guys are on this album.

JT: Wow.

TP: Yeah.

JT: This is something else, how you've crossed over from the extreme commercial side to the progressive side as well. That's pretty impressive. Um... I've got a fun question here. Since you've had a long career that goes back a ways, I'm wondering, can you recall any Spinal Tap moments? Just some quirky thing that happened during the production of an album or doing a concert or just something along those lines, just some funny thing that might have happened?

TP: I'm sure there are. [I laugh] Can I email you on that?

JT: Yeah, you can.

TP: I can't think of anything right now, but, uh, I'm sure after we hang up, I will. I will think of some funny anecdote to add.

JT: Yeah, that's how it always works. Just feel free?

TP: I would actually like to do that. I'll email you something that we've done or [has gone] crazy. I love that; you're the first one to ask me about a Spinal Tap moment. I need to... have some of those in mind, in the front of my brain here, so that I can, [he laughs]... yeah, I'll definitely email you something that's gone on.

JT: I also want to find out about your current musical tastes. I just wanted to start by asking you, what's the last CD that you purchased?

TP: Okay, let's see. The last CD I purchased. I just... um, it wasn't that long ago. Well, I know that I bought? let's continue while I'm just looking through these things.

JT: Okay. Just kind of along the same lines, what's the last concert that you attended as a fan?

TP: Well,... some of the more... important ones that I have seen, was... Oh god, what did I do; it wasn't that long ago either. I'm just drawing a blank. I mean, I've been to like 400 shows.

JT: Wow.

TP: What did I go to last? I haven't really seen anything this year that I recall. Okay, let me write this down here. I need a Spinal Tap moment [we laugh] and, ? a Spinal Tap moment, last CD, and the... last concert. I keep lists of everything, see, so here you go. I mean, [he laughs] I make lists of everything. How many times have you -- my wife's making fun of me, too. I make my lists everywhere, but... Okay, let's move on. I'll get to that.

JT: Okay. I've got a few questions that are... they're easy to answer, but they're hard to narrow down. But I'd like to ask you some of your favorites. What would you say is your favorite album of all-time?

TP: Oh boy. Um... prog album of all-time would be? narrow it down to one?

JT: Name a few that just come to the top of your head.

TP: My wife... I'll name you a few. My wife just got me Dream Theater Live At Budokan and... I love Scenes From A Memory.

JT: Yeah, that's a good one.

TP: Obviously Yes; I've mentioned Close To The Edge and I'd have to say Yessongs. I would say as far as... I'm a big Journey fan, too. Zeppelin was huge, but I'm also a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. So I guess if you could narrow it down, The Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix... Kansas, too. Oh what's my favorite Kansas? Um... gosh.

JT: Song for America?

TP: [he laughs] Village People. [it sounds like his wife made this recommendation] My favorite Kansas album would be... I don't know. Probably Leftoverture, but... some of their earlier stuff is really good, too. So if you can get those in there. I was also in a Doobie Brothers tribute band and I was also in a... well, it wasn't a tribute band actually. Former Doobie Brothers Chet McCracken and Cornelius Bumpus and Dave Shogren formed a band, they had me sing, because I could. I was the only one who could sing Michael Macdonald and... so we went out touring all over the country doing a... like a best of The Doobies set. So that's a whole 'nother type of singing. You know you are a rock singer, running around on the stage, playing the sounds of the people that, you know, are digging the music. And I had a lot of... I had to be the front man for some really legendary guys I thought, and then we ended up getting Chris Pennick who played with Chicago on lead guitar. So, you know, I have my classic rock roots. [Shogren passed away in 1999, Bumpus in 2004 -ed.]

JT: Who would you say is your favorite band?

TP: Well, if I had to go on the desert island thing... I would get as much Spock's Beard as I could and... So, yeah, I would say that's probably my favorite band, because of how... especially like Beware Of Darkness and V, and I even like Snow a lot. Yeah, I think that is my favorite band, I would have to say.

JT: I'd also like to ask you some of your favorites that aren't necessarily related to music just to kind of see where some of your influences are coming from. To start with, what would you say is your favorite movie?

TP: Uh, the first one that came to mind ? the first movie that came to mind when you asked that question was Adaptation.

JT: Oh, okay.

TP: I don't know why, but?

JT: That's a good one.

TP: I love thrillers and spine-twisters. I... Rick just turned me onto this movie that I haven't even watched. I'm about to watch it. It's called... Do We Know? [he's asking his wife] It's blowing my mind, but... that's sort of the first movie that just popped into my head.

[Possibly What The Bleep Do We Know?, which seems to have just come out. -ed.]

JT: Do you have a favorite TV show?

TP: Yes. Favorite TV show would be Scrubs, or I Must See Scrubs. [he laughs]. Every show to me is a little... just a little mini-movie and I just love the characters. There is a little... And I love how they end. There is always some sort of learning experience involved in it, but that's the fastest... I mean, I used to be a big Seinfeld fan... as far as just hammering you jokes one night after another; you have to really pay attention and if you laugh, you miss the next joke. [I laugh] What else do I love?

I like the new show Medium, it's pretty cool. What else? I love watching football. I'm a huge NFL football fan. Buccaneers especially, the local team. [his wife says something]. Yeah, right ? shut up. [he says this in a playful manner to his wife and I laugh]. So, just put Scrubs and we'll be done with that.

JT: Do you have a favorite book?

TP: Let's see, what am I reading now? I'm reading.... favorite book. God, I hardly have any time for reading anymore. Um? we'll just pass over that one. [I laugh] I have a bookshelf going aye yie yie. Nothing pops into my head right now.

JT: That's okay. I have a quirky question I like to ask. Nobody else asks this, it is just something I can identify with. Do you have you have any pets?

TP: Pets? Yes. I'm petting my dog right now and playing ball with him. I have two English Springer Spaniels and... they're Barley and Jasper... and they're just... they're a great breed. They're just lovable dogs. They're very smart and they listen. They behave better than I do sometimes... Go ahead.

JT: That's basically all the questions I have. But before we wrap-up, I'd like to find out if there is anything you'd like to say to your fans at this time?

TP: Just... I'd just like to thank them for believing in us and for giving us a chance to be a part of their listening pleasure. And I hope to see them, you know, at festivals all across the country, because we want to play them all and perform this stuff live, because it, it means so much to us that we just want to be able to share that. Just a great feeling that we get from playing something like that.

JT: Well, I just want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me and I just wanted to let you know that again that you did a great job at ROSfest and I look forward to seeing you guys live again at some point. I'm also looking forward to that album you are working on as well.

TP: And, we just got invited to do the party, the Prog In The Park in Rochester. I don't know how far that is, where are you located?

JT: I'm in the Midwest; Madison, Wisconsin.

TP: Madison, okay. Is there any prog festivals up in that way?

JT: I don't think that we have festivals here[*]. I think you pretty much have to go to the East Coast for a festival, but every now and then, we do get some progressive rock bands. There is this place called Shank Hall in Milwaukee that has a few bands. I actually did get a chance to see Flower Kings and Spock's Beard at that venue.

TP: Wow!

JT: And I think Porcupine Tree is going there next month. So it's starting up here. I mean, for awhile there wasn't any progressive rock and now it's starting to happen.

TP: Well, if you get to know any of the people that bring bands there -- you know, promoters -- or if you talk to any of the bands like... I mean, I think us and Porcupine Tree would be a cool bill.

JT: Yeah.

TP: But yeah, if there is any way to get us up that way, I'd love to. I played there with the former Doobies guys and we played... not Madison, but, um ?

JT: Milwaukee?

TP: No, it wasn't a big city. It was out in an Indian... casino. It was near?

JT: Wisconsin Dells or something?

TP: What?

JT: Like Wisconsin Dells?

TP: It was in Wisconsin, but it wasn't... it was a couple of miles, a couple of hours from Minneapolis, so it was just over the border there, the state line... out in the middle of nowhere. But, I mean, driving through Wisconsin, it was just so gorgeous and it was like late in the Fall, I think. Just seeing all of the lakes and the trees and it is just like, you know, beautiful winding roads through the country and I loved it. I'd love to get back there.

JT: Okay, I'll see what I can do.

TP: Okay. Well, you did a good job, too. Thanks. I mean, you really put me on the spot a few times that I wasn't really prepared for. That shows a good interview and I will... I'm looking at your email right now. I'll send you a little bit more info to the questions you asked.

Here was Todd's response in email:

JT: Do you recall any Spinal Tap moments?

TP: Experiencing the traditional end-of-tour "roadie's revenge" for the first time in Munich, Germany complete with baby powder on the drum heads, de-tuned guitars, hilarious doctored setlists and squirt guns from backstage. Splitting my pants at an outdoor gig in Florida and releasing the anaconda! Having a Blair Witch moment, getting lost and all alone in downtown San Antonio after going to the Alamo right before the gig and not knowing the name of our hotel. After finally getting to the show, the PA caught fire 3 songs into it - Goodnight Texas! Nearly having a "Great White" moment in Rota Spain on Halloween when a jack-o-lantern caught a curtain on fire (we sprayed beer on it). After four nights in a Long Beach, Mississippi club, the manager's check bounced, and after we left for Puerto Rico, the club mysteriously burned to the ground in the middle of the night - coincidence? We'll never know.

JT: What's the last CD that you purchased?

TP: Both were DVDs: Dream Theater - Live At Budokan and Steve Vai - Live At The Astoria London.

JT: What's the last concert you attended as a fan?

TP: Chicago with Earth, Wind, & Fire.

JT: What's your favorite book?

TP: All You Need to Know About The Music Business - Donald Passman.

Prog In The Park will be held September 10, 2005 in Rochester, NY. Though at press-time the PITP website was not updated with this info, you can learn about the festival there. Other bands on the bill include Frogg Caf?, Helmet Of Gnats, Nathan Mahl, Navigator, Red Sand, and Genesis Tribute: The Waiting Room

[*There are, of course, rock festivals in Wisconsin... though I'm sure Josh was thinking a progressive rock festival on the scale of ROSfest or NEARfest, etc.... (outside of prog, there's the Milwaukee Metalfest and Rock Fest 2005) -ed.]

Discography:
Moments Of Clarity (2003)
'In A World' (single demo)
Live At RoSFest 2005 (2005)
In A World (2006)