1. Please introduce the members of Temujin to our audience.
For songwriting and studio work Temujin consists of myself (Karl) on guitars, bass and drums, and Kelly on Vocals and keyboards. For live work Sham (drums) and Stu (guitars) join the line up.
2. The new album 1000 Tears is out now.
How long did yourself and Kelly work on this before it was released? It's actually been quite a long time. We wrote a lot of songs, did a preliminary recording of many of them, then reworked the best tracks a number of times until we were happy with it all. The final recording sessions were 15 songs, and then we cut it down to the 13 tracks that make up the CD. Some of the songs actually go back to late 2004 for the first writing sessions. The last song written was "All Of You", which we wrote and recorded during the early mixing sessions for some of the other tracks.
3. The cover art is very striking. Tell me a bit about it.
The artwork is by Sham ( www.sham.com.au ), the drummer from my previous band Nothing Sacred. He also plays the guitar solo on "So Near". Yes, he's a drummer,a guitarist, and an artist. He's unique, amazingly talented, and an all-round top bloke! The cover art is a piece called 'Alien Male'. And yes, there is a matching piece called 'Alien Female'. I have no idea where he draws his ideas from ... you'll need to ask him I guess.
4. The songs from Temujin have a great passion.
I particularly enjoy the songs "Find Me", and "So Near", tell me about the inspiration behind these two songs. Well, lyrically I guess it's Kelly who needs to explain them really. She writes from both personal experience and personal observation - I think that's why there is so much passion waiting to be discovered in Temujin songs. I find her lyrics to be both subtle and intense - I'm always trying to figure out just what exactly she might be trying to say. And yes, that means she doesn't always tell me what it all means either! If you want my 'best guess' : "Find Me" - Solitude, and the need to keep your inner self guarded from those that don't care for you. "So Near" - Knowing what you want, but fearing it will never come.
5. You are a former member of the band Nothing Sacred.
How does Temujin differ as far as your creative style from the work you did with Nothing Sacred? There are huge differences between the two bands. Sacred were a 5 member band (occasionally a 4 piece) with a style that was pure Metal.
Fast, loud, full on assault. We were at our best live, and the band's recordings were never able to capture the intensity we had live. Temujin is deeper, we focus a lot on layering, and sliding things into tracks that aren't immediately obvious. For example, we have 4 different guitar riffs layered on top of each other in the final section of "Heart And Soul".
I think there's a definite Rammstein influence in our song arrangements (although not much similarity in our sound). I love the way Rammstein build their sound up from small pieces, and we have used a similar technique in many of our songs.
6. Tell us how your 1st experience working with Kelly went?
Did you know she was the one right away? Instantly. You can often work with musicians, even just a quick jam session, and realise that although they are great players, there's something missing. Kelly was exactly the opposite - it worked immediately. Our first session was actually a recording session - I had given her a backing track (not from the album) a week earlier to listen to and then asked her to come into the studio and record a vocal track.
She spent the week writing a quick melody and some lyrics, then came in and just went for it. Straight down, a beautiful little melody. It was so obvious this was a good thing! We still have that first recording, but it's not likely to ever see the light of day ! It still amazes me that way she can breathe so much life into a basic song arrangement with nothing more than a few syllables.
7. Will there be any live shows for Temujin coming up?
We have no gigs lined up in the next few months. The local live scene isn't big enough to sustain too much live work, and touring in a place as vast as Australia is an expensive and time consuming activity. We certainly want to do more live work, but for now it's been pushed into the background.
Our focus for the near future is to work on a video clip, and to complete some recording work on a few new tracks. Part of this is also a reflection of the reality of female fronted metal - it's far more popular outside Australia than in. So we are very much interested in keeping in touch with our supporters from overseas.
8. What does this band mean to you?
Temujin is the band we have both wanted to create. We both feel that this is an opportunity like no other, a chance to write and perform at a level that we can be proud of. We're here, and we're here to stay - refuse to be denied!
9. What is most important to you about being in a band?
Song writing is our passion. Live work is great, and can produce amazing 'moments' that stay in the memory. But it's writing that brings the greatest long term satisfaction. The opportunity to write and record is what has brought us here, and what will keep us moving.
10. Where can fans purchase Temujin merchandise and albums?
We plan to launch an 'official' website soon, but in the meantime we are using our myspace site as the primary public webspace ( www.myspace.com/temujin1 ). The album is available direct from us via the myspace site - and we're happy to sign any copy bought from us if people wish. The album is also available for download through most online stores (iTune, Sony Connect, Rhapsody, MusicFreedom, etc). It's also available through CDBaby ( www.CDBaby.com ), and in Germany it can be ordered in most retail stores.