If you’re not familiar with the band Tomorrow’s Outlook so far, the time has come to check them out very soon because they’re good, real good I mean! Actually it’s a project which was devised by two Norwegian lads named Trond Nicolaisen and his soulmate Andreas Stenseth. There is a lot to tell about these guys and the set up of Tomorrow’s Outlook – the man able to answer my questions is Trond himself. He surely knows what good Metal music is all about so let’s find more detailed facts on the project.


Hails Trond, what’s up brother… how things going on at the moment in Norway?

Hi, Stefan! The last few weeks have been somewhat hectic, but at the moment everything is calm. Calm before the storm. :) I am preparing, the other hand, lots of interviews and promotional efforts.

First things first, congrats from the heart with the release of your own studio project named Tomorrow’s Outlook. You’re already doing this for multiple years, finally the album has been released a few weeks ago through Battlegod Productions. How did you get this started?

Thank you for that! At the moment the album is only available in Australia and Norway, but in the next few weeks it will be available worldwide. We, initially, had no ambition to record a full-length album. The process where we went from only recording songs for fun, to eventually bringing the likes of Michael Kiske and Graham Bonnet, I explain simply by rolling a snowball in the wet snow. The project has gradually grown far larger than we had anticipated.

Help was offered to you by Andreas Stenseth. You were both committed to set up a project - where the ambition came from?

The project happened only by sheer coincidence. Andreas had written a song (White Lightning) and wondered if I could write the text and melody lines to it. We eventually worked on even more songs, and when the good responses kept rolling in, our plans of recording songs to a full length album grew. The ambition was not there from the start, but they definitely grew in step with the snowball had started rolling.

To find the right name for the project – how that has gone?

The name I found out of the blue, and after a few quick searches on Google, it turned out that Tomorrow's Outlook was unique in a band context. There are almost as many bad band names as there are bad bands. By that I mean that it is the quality of a product to the greatest extent, that determines what associations you get to the name. We didn’t want to spend a lot of time on the name, and instead on the songs. Currently we have received very little feedback on the name. The record title of the debut album, however, we have received a lot of comments and questions about, whether or not people have heard the music.

Instead of your soulmate Andreas (bass player), you are not a musician at all but you have other qualities to offer. Tell us about Trond.

In relation to Tomorrow's Outlook, I'm probably driving force and the one who pulls the strings of the project. I contribute to the songwriting and also serves as a kind of manager. I have no credit for any of the performance of the debut album. I played drums for approximately a year as far back as 2003, and I still have a fairly ambitious dream to take up playing again. The goal is to do live-work in the future, if not for Tomorrow's Outlook, then maybe for another band or project.

When it comes to music, I started quite early being interested in metal. As a 9-year-old ('91), I got my first Metallica cassette ("The Black Album"). But it was not until late in middle school and especially the beginning of high school (around 97-98) that it took off in earnest. It started with bands like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, etc. Eventually, I developed a tremendous interest in the underground scene. It was through it that I came in contact with U.S. / Traditional Metal and most of the 80's metal. There is no doubt that it is precisely this genre I burn most for today.

Something else that inspires me, and I very much want to talk about, is the old video game music from the mid and late eighties and early nineties. :) I'm talking about the first game machines and consoles, C64, Amiga, NES, SNES and Sega. Video game music is definitely the first thing I remember hearing that really captivated me, as attached to the cerebral cortex and in fact has meant something to me. It is not impossible that it is also video game music that has guided me in the direction of hard rock and metal. In some games you can hear some incredible riffs and fantastic and seductive melodies that even in an 8-bit sound one was mesmerized.

What are the specific roles in Tomorrow’s Outlook of both yourself and Andreas?

Andreas is most active in the songwriting process, and is otherwise also involved in everything musically. He plays bass on the debut album and has a crazy good ear which is good to have in the final production phase with mixing and mastering. When it comes to songwriting, and especially the instrumental part, we have a good working relationship that works in that we either combine ideas, or that we work on and assume each other's ideas. Andreas has largely been responsible for the song structure of 34613, but it also happened that I have made suggestions and changed things. Besides participating in the songwriting, I am the one who is pulling the strings of the project, and work on building our network, either with musicians, media or with fans.

Who were the first guys ready to join the ranks – can I consider them as permanent members? Give some background history of these guys and there present activities.
After all, you’ve recruited a bunch of world class musicians like Michael Harris, Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske, Norman ‘Ski’ Kiersnowki,… man, how did you get in touch with all these legends?

I had never been in contact with SKI (Norman Kiersnowski) before I, through e-mails, asked him to sing lead vocals on White Lightning. I only knew of him through his incredible vocal performance on Deadly Blessing's Ascend From The Cauldron. Fortunately this became the beginning of a great friendship and collaboration. These days SKI sings for a New Jersey area Judas Priest cover band named Metal Godz. He's also about to get the fully re-mastered 1991 Altered State demo released on Death Rider Records. The same applies to the story of the highly skilled guitar-player Sami Saarinen, who we found through the Finnish parody band King'O'waR. SKI and Sami were the first professional musicians to get involved in the project. Sami is now playing guitar in the Finnish progressive metal band Status Minor.

Gate To Freedom was the second song that we recorded for 34613, and is the only song on the album featuring Scott Oliva on lead vocals. We also had never talked to Scott before we invited him to do some session work for our project. We really loved his work on the re-recording of Wind Wraith's The Fortune Teller's Gaze. Scott has recently been involved with quite a few projects. The Nightmare Stage, Oceans of Night and Scott Mosher. He's also singing in Long Island and New York City's Ultimate Iron Maiden tribute band Live After Death.
We didn't have a regular session drummer by the time we recorded Gate To Freedom, and the search for a permanent solution finally led us to Atlanta, GA and the performing/recording artist Mike Haid. I didn't know much about Mike at the time, only that he was a great and versatile drummer, working as a music journalist for Modern Drummer Magazine and playing with guitar virtuosos like Michael Harris and David Chastain. Mike later put us in contact with his friend Michael Harris, and that's how we got to know him and why he's also playing on our debut album.

We later also invited New York City music director, producer and session drummer Charlie Zeleny to play with us. I wasn't very familiar with the guy and I hadn't touched base with him before, but we needed another session drummer. I already knew that he was on a recording with Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower) and Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) so I figured out that if he was good enough for their projects, then he would definitely be good enough for Tomorrow's Outlook. These days Charlie actually performs with famous acts such as Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess and Deep Purple/Rainbow's lead singer Joe Lynn Turner.

When we in late 2007 were asked to contribute with a track for an upcoming Baptized In Blood tribute to Lizzy Borden, we got in contact with the legendary hard rock singer Graham Bonnet. We wanted to create a buzz around the release, and it was a pleasure to announce the guest appearance by one of our all-time favorite vocalists. It was so cool to work with Graham on 34613. He was very down to earth and a great person. We have already been talking about doing some more collaboration in the future. Mike Gorham was the fourth singer to be introduced to our project. Back in the late 80's he sang in a few local bands in the New Jersey area that use to open for Deadly Blessing. He was a friend of SKI who just wanted to get his voice out there once again. Mike was first featured on a great duet with SKI on Red Sharks for the upcoming The Revenge Of Azrael tribute to Crimson Glory, but then he totally blew us away on Doubt with his strong and typical american metal voice and also with his great song-writing talent. Later, on a collaboration with Andreas and I, Mike put all his talents and effort into writing some of the best lyrics and vocal melodies I've ever heard in a song before. We loved the final result so much that we decided to try and get one of our all-time favorite singers to do a reprise of the song for the end of the album. It was beyond our deepest imagination that we could really get Michael Kiske (EX Helloween) to participate on the track. Well, the rest is history!

Were they all immediately agree with your proposals?

Yes, as far as I can remember it went like clockwork in bringing in guest musicians for this debut album. As for the prominent guest vocalists, it was important that the introduction of the project was through exciting songs such as The Ethereal Dream. When it comes to Kiske, it was obviously desirable, but we realized early on that the way to go was not via a Helloweenish power metal song. To get him on the hook, our greatest chance was through a not so standard heavy metal song. I feel we put up good strategies along the way to achieve what we wanted. And with good strategies and a good song, there's no limit to what one can do and who you can get.

I suppose there were certain conditions to let the deal be done, right?

Well, ultimately, is all about the money, he he. But there were no set requirements, other than a small fee for the job that is. I think basically everyone just thought it was cool to contribute something on our album.

How and where the songs were recorded? How long did it take to record all the songs?

Recording of 34613 has taken over a 4-year period, mostly in home studios in Norway, Finland, Germany and the United States.

Can I assume that everything was handled by the Internet?

A: Right! It would be too costly to have musicians flown in to Norway. But with today's technology and communication facilities there hasn’t been any problems. The way we have done it otherwise has become more and more common in the music world. Bands can now be located in completely different parts of the world and work independently of each other on the same album, but in completely different studios.

Based on the so called guest musicians, you have world class musicians on board man. I’m fully familiar with the top-notch skills of most of them but still, I can’t remember the name of singer Mike Gorham. Shame on me because this guy has such a great voice to me, did he performed in other bands before?

Back in the late 80's Mike sang in a few local bands in the New Jersey area that used to open for Deadly Blessing. He put out a couple demos with the band Autumn Silence. They had a few offers in the mid 90's but nothing that they wanted to pursue. The drummer from Autumn Silence is now the drummer with King Diamond and Shaolin Death Squad. He also recorded a demo back in 1988 with the band Without Warning. It's called Walk Not With the Wicked.

Perceptive fact is that ex Deadly Blessing / Faith Factor frontman Ski sings on four of the songs. You won’t hear me complain at all because he’s one of my all time favourite vocalists definitely. Why he took four songs for his account while the rest to sing one or maximum two songs?

Basically, the trio SKI, Gorham and Oliva we look at as permanent vocalists for the project, so the question is really why Michael Kiske and Graham Bonnet were only given one and two songs each. Unfortunately, they are only considered guest vocalists, although we are more than happy to also have them on another album. I wish we had spent more tracks than just The Gate to Freedom on Scott Oliva. He did well as far as the vocals to the song The Soul Stealer, but this was unfortunately not on the album. You are sure to hear much more of Scott Oliva in the sequel. In the case of Mike Gorham he already sings four songs on the album. In addition, he sings backup on The Gate to Freedom with Oliva.

Graham Bonnet, Michael Harris or Michael Kiske, do you have a good co-operation with them?

The collaboration with Graham Bonnet and Michael Harris has been very good. When it comes to Kiske, it was mostly through his former manager, Sebastian Vollmer, and now through his new manager, Kosta Zafiriou, he he.

I won’t forget to mention another frontman featuring on the album named Scott Oliva. A bringer of outstanding vocals to me as he proves back in the days with his former band Wind Wraith. I’d like to ask if the band’s still active or not?

Wind Wraith is sadly no longer active. They sort of ended it halfway through putting together their third CD. The second CD wasn't promoted properly by the record company so there was no desire for them to finish up the 3rd one. :(

Are you agree when I say that Tomorrow’s Outlook is a studio recording project that never will stand on a stage doing live performances?

No, I don't agree! :) We actually don’t dismiss the idea to take Tomorrow's Outlook on stage sometime in the future. But it must also be done properly! So, no half-hearted attempts by trying to stack together a crew with only a handful of local musicians. Should there be a question of live performance, it will not happen without several of the respective musicians participating on the album. Otherwise, this is not something we have talked that much about yet. It will probably be a much hotter topic in a few years when hopefully the sequel beats down like a bomb in the metal scene. We have lots of cool ideas and are confident that the next album will make us a household name within the melodic metal music.

I know that Black Metal lives in your homeland Norway in a strong way – it’s a battle between the hordes of Black Metal against the troops of Heavy Metal, right?

It is true that black metal may have been the biggest cultural export in the last twenty years. There is also no doubt that black metal has also overshadowed the other genres within metal in this country. But that there is an internal struggle between genres here is not true. We should probably all just be happy that this sub-genre of heavy metal has paved the way and put Norway on the map. We must also remember that metal is metal and the genres are always promoted across from each other both at festivals and in magazines. Common impetus within the different metal genres, I think is very important also in the future.

Can you dig Black Metal as well or do you live your live only by the forces of True Heavy Metal?

Well, the first wave of black metal bands such as Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost I know very little about. The second wave occurred in the early 1990s with the Norwegian bands Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone and Immortal, I've never been a big fan of them. They are simply too old school for me. However, I do sometimes listen to symphonic and melodic black and death metal. But there is no doubt that it is traditional heavy metal I'm really passionate about.

“34613” is so damn good to me because this product is mainly inspired by US Classic Metal in the vein of Crimson Glory, Leatherwolf, Deadly Blessing, Sacred Warrior, Mercury Rising, Queensryche, Impellitteri and stuff. How your passion for US Metal has started?

Basically, I choose to believe that the passion has always been there. It was probably started around the time when I was discovering the music. You can pretty much say that everything started in the mid-nineties with bands like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Hammerfall, etc. Eventually, I developed a tremendous interest in the underground scene. It was through it that I came in contact with U.S. / Traditional Metal and most of the 80's metal. And there's no doubt that it is precisely this genre I enjoy most of all today. In my opinion it is precisely the United States, and also Germany and Sweden that have the most to offer in the metal scene.

What is your favourite track(s) of the entire album and why?

Doubt and The Ethereal Dream are my absolute favorite songs from 34613. With these two songs I think we have managed to create character, and they also fits across the genres of metal. The Ethereal Dream may be the song I'm most proud of in the entire album. Otherwise, I like the Gate To Freedom, Glass Mountain, A Song For You, and March Of The Demons very well.

Pretty cool cover art – what’s the story behind and who’s the creator?

Thank you, Stefan! There has, of course, been some attention paid to the cover. I decided also to account for part of the idea for the artwork in the booklet. The picture was painted by the talented Finnish artist, Kirsi-Maarit Salonen. I did some very rough sketches, explained where we wanted with the picture, and she did a bloody good job of giving life to my ideas. The inspiration for the cover came during a drive to the nearby city of Tromsø, which believe it or not is even further north than where we are located. We drove in a really really shitty weather to pick up a drum kit. After a bad feeling some of us had, we chose a very bloody route through a secluded valley, where it is known to have a lot of avalanches. We had several near death experiences on this trip. The monster, polar bears, stone, rock and the ice-covered roads are just humorous references to some of the near-death experiences and the dangers we lived in the White Lightning. W.L is the pseudonym of the car on the cover. Our project really just started as a fun thing where we wrote a song about this particular car. Hence the title of the album that was actually the registration number on White Lightning.

Battlegod Productions released the album a while ago – as I saw on their homepage, it’s a company also able to deliver extreme albums as well, right?

Right! And note the names Subliritum, Harm and Antares Predator. All Norwegian extreme metal bands of exceptionally high quality. Also check out the Swedish Tyrant Wrath, Australian Herratik and German Saxorior. As I see it, I am now very happy that we chose to focus on Battlegod Productions. Not enough with that, Baltak, from the company is an amazingly good guy, one of those who are passionate about what he does and who certainly loses on every release because he is dead honest and sincere, but he also does a wonderfully good job for every band on the label. The guy has since the nineties built up a solid label based on trust and loyalty to their bands. Battlegod is more popular than ever with its five-six last signings, and you will definitely hear a lot about this Australian label in the future.

Another Norwegian band called Cyclophonia just released their debut album "Impact Is Imminent" through the same label. One of the guitarists in Tomorrow’s Outlook named Øystein Kvile Hanssen is a full member of the band. Meanwhile, I’ve heard the entire CD and to be honest - I am wildly enthusiast. Meanwhile, my review has been posted and shall be followed by an interview very soon ... what are your own expectations on Cyclophonia's debut album Trond?

First and foremost, people can expect a great album, but on a larger scale, I hope that Cyclophonia can help pave the way for heavy metal as a genre in Norway. We need many more bands, and the like of the same caliber as these guys.

Any idea about the sales figure of “34613” so far?

As of this moment, it is still not released worldwide. It is only available in Australia and Norway. During the month of April, 34613 will hopefully be available for sale in most of the world. So far I've sold about 100 copies myself. Mostly to friends and acquaintances here in Norway.

Give up the address where to order the album.

The debut album is distributed by H'ART Music in Europe. In the United Kingdom it is distributed by Plastic Head Distribution. In the U.S. it is distributed by Century Media Distribution and The End Records. In Australia, the United Metal Heads and Modern Invasion Music. The album can also be traded directly from our label Battlegod Productions.

H'art Music - http://www.hart.de/ 

Plastic Head Distribution - http://www.plastichead.com/

Century Media Distribution - http://www.cmdistro.com/Item/Tomorrow%27s_Outlook_-_34613_-digi-/41873

The End Records - http://www.theomegaorder.com/TOMORROWS-OUTLOOK-34613-digi

Modern Invasion Music - http://www.moderninvasionmusic.com/

Battlegod Productions - www.battlegod-productions.com


Will there ever be a sequel on this album, a so called chapter two or so? What are the plans basically?

We hope and believe that we will have the opportunity to record a sequel to "34613". We already have some exciting ideas for both the artwork and songs, and we have already recorded two demo songs. “Fly Away”, with the appropriate production, is reminiscent of Edguy / Avantasia at its best, and “Outlaw”, which is closer to the American eighties metal. We strive for continuity, also plan to use many of the same musicians on the sequel. Trio Oliva, SKI & Gorham on vocals, everyone will participate in the next slice. If there is a possibility that we have some prominent guest vocalists on the block who had been incredibly cool to work with. I can mention names like Bruce Dickinson, Michael Kiske (Yes! - We would love to work with him again!), Kai Hansen, Ralf Scheepers, Tobias Sammet, Tom Malicoat (Lethal) and Todd La Torre (Crimson Glory).

I've already been in contact with a couple of these. In the case of Bruce Dickinson, I do not know how realistic it is to even consider him, but as they say, ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’. Otherwise we are entirely dependent on selling lots of copies of the debut album, and also having sponsors work with us if we are going to be able to reach our goal with a sequel within a reasonable time. We have already made some steps to reduce costs for the next recording. Among other things, we will save a lot of money just by recording the drums here in Norway, as well as record all the bass and most of the guitars in Murphy's Cube Studio, home studio of Øystein Kvile Hanssen (Cyclophonia).

That’s about it for now man! I wish yourself, Andreas and all the rest involved with Tomorrow’s Outlook all the very best and a big THANK YOU for doing this conversation. Like to say something to our readers before breaking up the connection, go for it brother!

I would like to round off the interview by thanking Metal To Infinity, and especially you, Stefan, for all your support both during and after the recording of 34613. I would also like to thank, in advance, anyone who either purchases a physical copy of the album or a digital download. We hope to come back even stronger with a follow up of 34613 within a reasonable time. Tomorrow's Outlook is a non-traditional project, and we have also found a very unconventional way to record. But to record song by song is what works best for us. Already this summer we can hopefully start recording new songs, and then it will appear sampled continuously on our homepage to keep the interest alive among those waiting for a new album from us. Those who have followed us all the way in the making of 34613 will recognize the way we work. I recommend everyone to bookmark our site www.tomorrowsoutlook.com and join our group on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tomorrows-Outlook/204396766264421 ) to keep you updated. Thank you!



Source: http://users.telenet.be/metaltoinfinity/InterviewTOMORROWSOUTLOOK2012.htm