Interview with REALM's Steve Vail and Darrell Studna

by Greg Walker

GREG: How long did it take to complete this project? And could you give us some insight into these songs?

Well, we started in January of 1991 and it took about ten months to put the basic ideas together and then improve on them for two demo tapes. We went into the studio and it took us three months to schedule enough digital time to complete just the recording.

It turned out that there was no automated boards locally (K.C.) - so we had to go to Los Angeles to mix this, so all in all about a year and a half to get it out. We got lucky and got a great engineer (Jim Champagne) who resides at Recording Plant West, also some wonderful people at Scream Studios.

I describe "The Path" as Art Rock whereas the music is painting a picture of the song's idealism.

This started as individual songs but turned out to be a conceptual project. That is to say all songs refer to nature and life. "REALM - The Path" song titles are:

1. ECHO LAKE - First stop on The Path, landscapes of emotion, sound across the waves form.
2. MOTHER EARTH, FATHER SKY - The essence of creation, nature and spirit
3. CYCLES - Constellations' movements in the heavens, seasons, cycles of life.
4. WATERFALL - Halfway point down The Path we stop and reflect on a waterfall high as the sky.
5. LITTLE BOTTLE - The struggle of all spirits to be free.
6. AIRGLOW - Colorized aerial displays.
7. THE PATH - The Path of life from beginning to end.

GREG: Tell us some musical things about The Path.

I wanted to play a lot of accoustical guitar to accompany Steve's accoustic samples in the Kurzweil and use electric guitars to work with the Moog lines. The vocals came out really magical. All the songs seem to take you to a different dimension of sound with some of our best efforts to date.

I enjoyed using analog and digital sounds together on this - for example, violin with Moog, old and new, and the way I could back up Darrell's vocals with a flute or sitar. More defined solos this time around. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as we did putting it together.

GREG: Anything else?

I am living off the support of people's dedication to this form of music where we can pursue this for many years to come in the tradition of past great composers.

I hope this effort and others help to open the mind to uncommon and unconventional works.

GREG: Thanks so much, you wild men! I think that this is just a super project. 'Till next time . . . Happy Trails.

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