{"id":26932,"date":"2015-05-20T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T22:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=26932"},"modified":"2015-05-19T22:57:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T12:57:41","slug":"daniel-estrin-of-voyager-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/05\/daniel-estrin-of-voyager-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Estrin of Voyager"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cSo the nice thing about having an album and having it released for some time already is that you get all the sort of end of year reviews coming up on facebook and all that and you see peoples top ten lists and you see consistently that you\u2019ve made it into their top ten lists and that\u2019s a really nice feeling, it really makes you want to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

From tour release: Australia\u2019s foremost progressive metal act, Voyager are busting out of their home city of Perth for a national tour this May and June to launch their new video of Seasons Of Age taken from their critically acclaimed album, 2014\u2019s V. V is available HERE V landed in the Top Ten of practically every media outlets Years End list for 2014. A powerful and melodic feast for the senses, it is a bold and dramatic statement that has been described as \u2018pure prog goodness at a world-class level.\u2019 by former Triple M Distortion host Higgo.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Danny of Voyager again for a chat about the band\u2019s upcoming Australian tour, their new video for \u2018Seasons of Age\u2019, realizations, changes and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

Touring wise you’re starting your Australian dates this week\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah we\u2019ve been pretty busy touring actually, looking at the last twelve months or so it\u2019s been pretty full on\u2026<\/p>\n

So what can people expect at these upcoming shows?<\/strong>
\nWell the good thing is that it\u2019s a Voyager headline show so we get to dictate what we want to play and have a bit of fun and take what we want to play and take our time and have a bit of fun, maybe play a nice full set of over an hour, sometimes we\u2019re doing supports like when we did the tour with Dead Letter Circus, that was just a snippet, just a taste and we got like 30 \u2013 35 minutes, but I guess this is a nice journey through the back catalogue of Voyager.<\/p>\n

You’re also launching your new video for ‘Seasons of Age’ can you tell us a bit about the video and creating it?<\/strong>
\nYeah so we thought we\u2019d never done a live shot video, our videos have always been themed and had a storyline, the early one a bit of a cheesy story line but the more recent ones more modern, more edgy I guess, and we realised that there was no real live performance that people could see on YouTube and social media, so we decided to get a whole bunch of footage from shows around the country and put that together and that\u2019s what we did, I saw it the other day and it looks really cool. It gives a really good impression of what we\u2019re like live.<\/p>\n

Joining you on this run will be ‘Klone’, have you played with these guys before?<\/strong>
\nNo\u2026 never heard of them to be honest, it\u2019s a bit of a risk, it\u2019s one of those things where you speak to booking agents and they suggest an international and you think \u2018it\u2019s a bit risky and maybe it\u2019s better to take an Aussie band that people know\u2019 but I know we know how hard it is as an Australian band to get a new territory up and running in terms of international exposure. So we had a listen to Klone on the internet, they\u2019re a great band, I think they\u2019ll really suit us stylistically as well, so it\u2019ll be good to have them on the road. Good to have a good international support and of course local supports in every city as well, so I think it\u2019s a strong line up as well.<\/p>\n

‘V’ has been out for pretty close to a year now, how crazy has the last year been since its release? Have you had time to stop and take it in?<\/strong>
\nSort of\u2026 you have to have time to stop and look at the logistics and the bank accounts of the band you know? That sort of stuff\u2026 we\u2019ve done heaps, we did an Australian run just after the album was released, then we did European tour in November, came back and did Dead Letter Circus around Australia, just played with Opeth last Friday and now we\u2019ve got this up and going. So the nice thing about having an album and having it released for some time already is that you get all the sort of end of year reviews coming up on facebook and all that and you see peoples top ten lists and you see consistently that you\u2019ve made it into their top ten lists and that\u2019s a really nice feeling, it really makes you want to keep going.<\/p>\n

I was going to ask about Opeth, how was that experience?<\/strong>
\nYou know, it was good\u2026 I think a lot of people were just sort of surprised, they didn\u2019t know what to make of it, because it was a packed venue, there was probably about 1,200 people there and a lot of people came out to the show not expecting anything else but Opeth, and the sorts of people that come to Opeth are people that really don\u2019t know about the local scene much, so it was a really great opportunity to sort of put the local scene in people\u2019s faces. I think we definitely made a lot of fans, our merch stand was pretty chockers after the show, so it was a really, really good experience and we gained a lot of fans, and Opeth were great.<\/p>\n

Have you had time to start working on anything new?<\/strong>
\nYeah the creative juices are sort of flowing, I guess it\u2019s hard between tours when you\u2019re just rehearsing sets for the next tour and working on promos and interviews and things like that and video clips, to actually sit down and work on stuff and be a musician I guess\u2026 a lot of the time gets taken up the more you do and the bigger and more successful you get with actually being in a band and playing music you know? So you\u2019ve got to constantly get on social media and stuff like that, so when you do get to sit down and actually play music and start bandying around stuff and ideas it really gets you going and really makes you feel like you\u2019re making progress, so that\u2019s definitely happened in the last couple of months.<\/p>\n

Outside of Australia are there any international touring plans for you this year?<\/strong>
\nYeah so after this we\u2019ll start rehearsing for a U.S. and Canada tour, we\u2019ll be doing twelve shows around the east coast of The U.S. and four shows in Canada as well, that\u2019s around August \/ September and we\u2019ll end up at the ProgPower festival in Atlanta, so a nice little run there and we\u2019re playing with a Swedish band called Evergrey, so it\u2019s a pretty good market for us, and it\u2019s something that unexpectedly really shot up in terms of fan numbers, but we\u2019ve got a really cool cult following over there so we\u2019re really looking forward to going back there.<\/p>\n

So in being in this band for over ten years now, what’s the biggest thing you’ve found to be a part of the music industry that you didn’t think would be a part of it when you started the band?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, hard work *laughs* I think when you start you just want to play in a band, make some tunes and then someone\u2019s going to snap me up and fly me around the world and play me lots of money and do tours\u2026 nup\u2026 you can\u2019t expect the red carpet to be rolled out, you\u2019ve really got to work hard, you\u2019ve got to do your own promo, you\u2019ve got to be present, you\u2019ve got to do your own logistics and it\u2019s one of those things that outside people think \u2018oh wow, this band\u2019s made it so big\u2019 but the reality, and we\u2019ve spoken to really big bands and they say yeah, it\u2019s really tough and I think that sort of smoke and mirrors that you see when you\u2019re starting out about bands being big in all the magazines and stuff then you see the reality of it when you get out on the road it\u2019s just sobering to be honest\u2026 I mean for a band to be making money and doing it sustainably you\u2019ve got to be doing two hundred shows a year, I mean Opeth is a perfect example, it took them seven albums to really get catapulted in that upper echelon of progressive metal and heavy metal and now they\u2019re doing fine, but it took a long time to get there and I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re rich, so\u2026<\/p>\n

Well they\u2019re still doing it\u2026<\/strong>
\nThey\u2019re still doing it and they\u2019re still loving it, that\u2019s the main thing and if you can do what you love and you\u2019re getting paid for it and you\u2019re getting by, that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

Other side of that question, what do you feel has been the biggest and most notable change in the band within your time together?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Probably members\u2026 you go through line-up changes and some of it\u2019s sad because you lose an integral part of the band, but part of it\u2019s really good because you get fresh blood, and I think the biggest change has probably been in the last few years where we developed from what was a very neo-pathical sort of power metal type genre to something that\u2019s a bit more progressive, a bit more sort of groove oriented as well, so heavy riffs and that combined with the overarching pop and chorus mentality, I think that\u2019s been the biggest change. I think we\u2019ve definitely modernised our sound a lot.<\/p>\n

Now I haven’t done this with you yet so let’s throw in some quick fire questions…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last album you bought?<\/strong>
\nScar Symmetry and I can\u2019t for the life of me remember the title, it was something \u2018Part 1\u2019 but it was really good.<\/p>\n

Favourite band to see live?<\/strong>
\nInfected Mushroom\u2026 that is a psychedelic trance band mixed with a bit of metal, mixed with everything, they\u2019re just the best, they\u2019re just the bomb. Check them out for sure.<\/p>\n

What band or artist made you want to be a rockstar?<\/strong>
\nPeter Steele from Type-O-Negative\u2026 what a depressing rock star he was\u2026<\/p>\n

Favourite band besides Voyager with a Keytar player?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* I don\u2019t know any other bands\u2026 I don\u2019t know\u2026 D:Ream that band from the 80\u2019s<\/p>\n

I would\u2019ve also accepted Pseudo Echo\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs*Pseudo Echo, \u00a0yeah and who could forget Alestorm? We toured with them around Australia, they\u2019re a pirate metal band with a keytar and we did a keytar duel at our Melbourne show, probably the only keytar duel in the history of everything\u2026<\/p>\n

So lastly, let’s look ahead and try and predict the future, so finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2015 Voyager will…<\/strong>
\nHave increased its worldwide following and exerted world dominance over the world\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VOYAGER TOUR DATES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, May 21: Adelaide – Jive<\/p>\n

Friday, May 22: Canberra – The Basement<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 23: Sydney – The Factory Floor<\/p>\n

Friday, May 29: Melbourne – The Evelyn<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 30: Brisbane – The Brightside<\/p>\n

Friday, June 5: Perth – Amplifier<\/p>\n

Saturday, June 6: Bunbury – Prince Of Wales<\/p>\n

Official Event Page HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Perth, WA, Australia<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Daniel Estrin, Simone Dow, Alex Canion, Scott Kay, Ashley Doodkorte<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.voyager-australia.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> V
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