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Andrew: Dylan, how are you doing today man?
Dylan: Doing good. Drinking coffee and waking up (laughs).

Andrew: I've been listening to your new album, which is now completed and ready for release. Would you say it's a step further in the band's musical direction? I certainly think it is.
Dylan: Yeah, I hope each album is a progression (laughs). I mean, it's kind of funny because as we progress forward as a band, it seems like the influences we've been drawing are going further back in time. So it's kind of, once again we have the whole oppositional thing going on in terms of song titles and stuff. But yeah I definitely like the new line-up. I always wanted to play with a lot of string instruments like the cello.

Andrew: This is "Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light" Part 1. So, are you already going towards writing for Part 2?
Dylan: Actually, part 2 is already done. We recorded enough for two full albums during our session. I'm not sure when the 2nd part will come out. There was too much material for a double vinyl, so we decided to break it into two records. I don't know when the 2nd part will release but I'm sure it'll see the light of day at some point.

Andrew: The album title is very interesting to me, with so much of contrast within itself with phrases like Angels Of Darkness and Demons Of Light. So, how did you come up with it?
Dylan: I have to actually give credit to Karl Blau for coming up with the title. When we were on tour, he came up with it. I'm not sure how this discussion went but he sure did come up with it and I told him I'm going to steal it (laughs). But I told him I'd give him credit. To me, I've been in sort of an anti-monotheist kind of fit lately, so may be that has something to do with it. And again it has that whole opposite conflicting thing about it. I'm always fascinated by the trap that we sort of set for ourselves in our adherence to Aristotle logic. The either-or, up-down, good-evil, black-white and all of that, the oppositional stuff we trap ourselves in, how we strive for one thing and end up with the opposite of what was intended.

Andrew: You talked about the new line-up. Do you think it has brought almost a female element with it, specially with the new cellist?
Dylan: Yeah, definitely. I think it's good to have more female musicians participating and prospering in what's been a male dominated ball game for a long time (laughs). Some of my favorite musicians are women. My favorite singers are women. I've always been a Joan Jett fan, Janis Joplin, Sandy Denny, and Jacqui McShee from the Pentagle. And also, women seem a little more adult and are easier to tour with than guys (laughs).

Andrew: Is there a song on the album that you hold closest to your heart? For me, it's Old Black.
Dylan: Yeah I like that song. That one was sort of different than the others on the album because it was the oldest material on the album. Me and Adrienne came up with it in 2009 and we played it on Earth's last European tour. That one was a definite attempt to write a traditional song structure. It was an A-B-A-B. Then also, it was the first time I've consciously written something in the minor E. That one I had set out in E minor and E flat minor. It was definitely the most composed song on the album, you could say. And then the last song was spontaneously done in the studio. The ones in the middle were like, the riffs existed and we worked on them. We did a 2-week tour of the West Coast and worked on them in a live setting. So I guess the progression of the album goes from super-composed to completely improvised.

Andrew: Right, and that song Old Black gives me that old western feel, almost like it could have been the soundtrack for a Clint Eastwood movie or something.
Dylan: That would be nice if that happens (laughs).

Andrew: You were referring to a tour you did and how you played that song on that tour already. So, are you planning on touring this year behind this album proper?
Dylan: Yes, we're confirmed in March to play in Mexico City. It should be interesting because we've never played down there, and then April through May we've got a European tour confirmed. And then we're starting to put together U.S dates through June to September probably. So there is going to be a lot of touring.

Andrew: You talked about song structures. I think most of your songs are not of the typical structure. How different is your songwriting to any other band out there?
Dylan: We come up with stuff rather than having it already written. I mean, I'll have a riff or two that I've been working on, and a lot of times Adrienne comes in to work it up and then everyone in the band sort of contributes and jumps in to add their parts to it. Although lately, we've been doing a lot of stuff very spontaneously, like playing and keeping it. It's changed a lot lately, as in we used to write stuff out more, have it more organized. This last album has definitely been more spontaneous.

Andrew: Yeah, I get that feeling too when I listen to it. It sounds like you all just sat together and started playing, and decided upon what sounds good for how long, 8 minutes or 10 minutes, or whatever the case may be.
Dylan: Yeah seriously, this album was definitely recorded more in a live sort of way. We were all set up in the room and playing. We minimized the amount of overdub, whereas with Bees, live the songs used to be very loose and in the recording sessions there was a lot of overdub. It was more heavy and structured. We weren't using any time codes or anything like that, but it was with overdubs so it had to be more structured. I like this new way where it's less "overduby", I guess. Like on "Father Midnight", the solo on there was recorded as it was played live. I didn't overdub it or anything. I am pretty happy with how that came out.

Andrew: These will be two back-to-back albums for people to enjoy. Do you think, at least to some extent it'll make up for the lack of albums in the past, say from 97 to 2005?
Dylan: I hope so! I was doing our discography the other day. We're building a new website so I was writing liner notes and stuff, and I noticed that when we came back in 2002, there have been 16 releases between now and then, compared to only five from the original group of years, so we've definitely been a lot more productive since the return (laughs). And that's kind of why we did so much of recording for this one. It's about three years since Bees came out.

Andrew: You touched upon the song titles a little earlier. Do they mean anything in the context of the music, specially considering the fact that there are no vocals to relate to in this case?
Dylan: It's more of a vague kind of a feeling thing. I mean, Father Midnight for example was written based on this riff by this French guitarist I really like, Fred Chichin, and he had this image. Father Midnight seemed like a good theme for his image and then there's stuff based on this character I really liked from the movie Constantine. Then for Old Black, we were joking around when we were trying to come up with the song and Adrienne said, "Why don't you play something Neil Young-ish?" So that was what the first riff on the guitar was about, plus it had other connotations too. There's more of a vague kind of a feeling that drives the song titles rather than a specific "this is what it's about" kind of thing.

Andrew: Do you think instrumental music is more powerful than music with vocals? I kind of think so, because it makes the instruments stand out more and people feel the impact more.
Dylan: Yeah I like it too, because it allows the audience to participate in the meaning of the songs rather than being told that this is a song about my heart breaking or about fast cars, you know what I mean? I think it opens up the meaning of the songs and it allows people to participate, which is really important in the creation of the meaning rather than it being sort of a hierarchical top-down "this is what it's about" kind of thing. That's why I love playing live so much. I love participating with an audience and everyone's involved rather than sort of privileging one group more than the other.

Andrew: Well Dylan, it was an absolute pleasure talking to you, and I'll see you when you come around here on tour!
Dylan: Ok cool, definitely come up and introduce yourself if you come out to one of our shows.

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Check out Earth's official website.