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Coming full circle with Machines of Grace
Interview with Zak Stevens
By Andy Laudano
Most hard rock/heavy metal fans will recognize vocalist Zak Stevens from his
time with Savatage and, more recently, Circle II Circle. But before that, Zak
was in a band called Wickedwitch with fellow Savatage member drummer Jeff Plate
(Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Metal Church) and underrated Boston area guitarist
Matt Leff. All three musicians have now come full circle and rejoined forces
in a new band, Machines of Grace.
“It’s actually kind of an old band,” Stevens explains. “This
was the band I was in before Savatage. Back in the early 90’s when we
played Boston for three and a half years, we were called Wickedwitch. Now that
whole thing, the original dream, has reformed into Machines of Grace.”
Most fans outside of New England have never had a chance to hear Wickedwitch. “We’re
doing material we did back then, when we used to beat that club circuit up
in New England. We’ve combined that with new stuff we’ve put together,” Stevens
notes. “Five or six songs off the new album are stuff that we played
for years up there. There are little changes because I wanted to bring this
into 2009, but the riffs held their own. You can kinda tell that they’re
from that time but they hold up really well and stand the test of time.”
This is something Stevens always wanted to go back and do. “It was hard
for the rest of band when I got the Savatage gig,” Zak relates. “It’s
tough when you lose a lead singer. That’s why it’s good to be able
to come full circle, give this thing another shot and take care of some unfinished
business.”
Speaking of “full circle,” Stevens has no plans of leaving Circle
II Circle. “I plan to be in both bands full time,” he states. “Circle
II Circle is still supporting the Delusions of Grandeur album. We just got
back from a European tour, and we’ll be going to Brazil in September.
One of my guitarists, Bill Hudson, is really looking forward to having his
debut with us on his own turf.”
In closing, Stevens had this message for fans in the Metroplex. “The
Dallas area has been big for me for 17 years now. I know a lot of our great
friends there are still following what I’m doing now. Thank you for keeping
the faith and listening to the music. Even if everyone else is scared away,
you can always depend on Zak Stevens to be keeping the faith for the hard rock,
metal, progressive rock and metal genre.”
Originally seen here:
http://www.harderbeat.com/html/feature003.html |
