A Q&A with Illusions of Grandeur
Theatrical hard rock from York, PA…
What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
Illusions of Grandeur’s latest full-length album is The Siren, Released October 2021 on Revulsion of Spirit Records/Universal Music Group
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
Well, a majority of this album was written and recorded initially during 2020, during the Covid lockdown. It was a challenge mainly because we didn’t know what was next as far as live music, who did? Right? So, we tracked and wrote with our main tour plans cancelled due to the worldwide shutdown and planned to do videos for each song. We feel that “pressure” really brought out another side of the band we really are proud of this album.
Who produced the release – what did they bring to it?
Illusions of Grandeur’s latest album The Siren was recorded mainly in their private studio, Valley Road Recoding in Lancaster, PA. Vocal overdubs and additional tracking were done at multiple studios across the United States such as Sunset Sound and Western Audio in Los Angles and Silk studios in New Orleans, LA. Additionally the tracks ‘Falling’, and ‘Demons’ were Co-produced by David Ivory at Ivory Sound Studios. The final mixing and mastering were done at Valley Road Recording.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
The idea of Illusions of Grandeur is to create a world and tell the story of “The Siren” and her journeys. IOG’s love of both history and Greek/Norse Mythology felt that this was the best medium way to create a world for “The Siren Saga.” IOG feels that when listening to music or seeing a live show you should be able to immerse yourself in that moment and take a journey of your own with the band.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Illusions of Grandeur’s main music writer is Bassist CM Carroll with lyrics and melodies provided by The Siren. The entire band participates in the arranging and recording process and each member, as songs are produced add elements into it to create the overall song and sound. IOG is continuously writing, normally demoing 30-35 songs per album then finding the songs that carry the story and sound of the record. The Archangel (CM) writes an outline of the music as a starting point and basic format for the songs. The Siren will then take it and add lyrics and melody to it. Next Ares and Dimios will put their spin on the outline that was originally made.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
IOG’s influences range from: In This Moment, KORN, Altar Bridge, Evanescence and Avatar to Led Zeppelin and The Who. These bands all influenced us in different way, but mainly as story tells and how they craft songs that carry emotion to the listeners.
What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
Illusions of Grandeur has tour throughout the United States and Europe, but we would really like to expand to Australia, Brazil, and Japan in 2024-25.
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
I would have to say check out’ Upon My Life’ or ‘A Silence’ as these two songs and show different sides of the band
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
We dream of Illusions of Grandeur and work towards doing all we can as far as recording albums and touring, it’s a big world and we would just like to continue to write, record and tour for as long as we can, it’s what we love!
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Thank you for having us for this interview! Please go to our socials and follow us and contact us, we love to speak directly with the friend and fans of the band.
