BW&BK Exclusive: CHRIS CAFFERY - "I Was Brought Up In The Time Of Records Like IRON MAIDEN’s Piece Of Mind, And I Wanted To Make That Kind Of Record"
December 28, 2008, 15 years ago
BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai recently spoke with SAVATAGE / TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA guitarist Chris Caffery about his new solo album, House Of Insanity. An excerpt from the interview is below.
“We went into (last album) Pins And Needles thinking ‘Okay, it’s 2007, we’re going to make the record sound like it’s 2007,’" Caffery reveals, "but the fans and the critics that were fans who had been listening to me since the ‘80s had a rough time with that. So this time and decided to write and record the new album myself. I was brought up in the time of records like Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind where it was just vocals, guitars, drums, bass, and there wasn’t a shitload of background vocals, and I wanted to make that kind of record. The song ‘I Won’t Know’ is that; there’s not a lot of crap holding it up. There are moments on this album where I threw in layers of vocals to get a certain feel, but for the most part it’s just me and my music. That’s what translating with people with House Of Insanity."“I wrote this album completely for myself, and that’s me being the fan. And when I say ‘myself’ I include the fans in that because I know what the fans want to hear. It was a question of ‘What do I want to listen to? I’m a huge fan of Savatage and I always have been, so what do I want to hear me do?’ That’s what I did for House Of Insanity. I didn’t listen to a soul; I locked myself in a room and I wrote the entire album myself, and that made a big difference. If it gets a bad review or somebody doesn’t like it, it’s my fault. I can’t say ‘I was trying to do this’ or ‘I was in a bad headspace’ or ‘I wasn’t focused when I was writing.’”
Watch for the complete interview in BW&BK; #114. Check out BW&BK;'s review of House Of Insanity here.
House Of Insanity is now available at all digital outlets. The physical CD is due for a February 2009 release. More details will be revealed soon.
