Talisman and The World's Best Kept Secret
Bruce E.J. Atkinson takes some time to explore the longevity of Talisman, their humour and “The World's Best Kept Secret” with founding member Marcel Jacob...
Marcel, could you, please, introduce the members of the band to our readers?
Marcel Jacob: Yes. Here they are: Jeff Scott Soto is the singer, songwriter, third oldest, generously productive, father of one; Jamie Borger is the drummer, second oldest, living jukebox, father of three; Howie Simon is the guitar-player, almost youngest, knows how to irritate people, constantly looking for love; Fredrik Åkesson is the 2nd guitar-player, youngest, likes his food bubble, knows how to get lost, father of one. Finally, me, Marcel Jacob, bass-player, songwriter, oldest and visionary. |
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MJ: It was started in 1989 by recording the first album, although that wasn't released until early 1990, so let's say that's when we started.
MJ: I recommend a visit to TALISMAN World, Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob for some enlightenment about this issue.
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MJ: It's actually our 3rd live album! It's an opportunity to show off the capabilities of the band as presently constituted, basically. |
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Can you tell us the story of how you were contacted by Frontiers records to release the current live Cd/DVD? |
MJ: One sunny morning Serafino and Mario rang my doorbell bringing breakfast, we sat down with our coffee and let's just say they gave me an offer I couldn't refuse...
Is “Five Men Live” a point of arrival or a point of departure to you, guys? |
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| MJ: I would have to go with both! | ||
| The “mood” of this live-release is quite rough; was the album recorded in direct? | ||
MJ: Yep. There are no guitars overdubs, just a few vocal and bass overdubs. And no overdubs whatsoever for the “Sweden Rock Festival” show! |
Would you comment on the feedback of the audience?
MJ: For the show from the “Club Mondo”, the audience was about 250, they couldn't make as much noise as 25.000 but, when you see the DVD, you see they were quite enthusiastic. At “Sweden Rock Festival” they were fantastic but we didn't have any audience microphones so what you hear of them is the bleed into the stage microphones. So you can imagine... we also did a show at “Lokeren”, a festival with almost 20.000 people and many of them hadn't heard much Talisman but we generated great response there, as you can see from the DVD!
Do you consider Talisman a live-band?
What does this new Live DVD/CD represent to the band?
MJ: It represents a snapshot in time of what the band is and was about; it's some sort of promotion for touring, in case anyone is interested!
What type of message do you want to communicate with your music?