Forsaken Innocence, is Drifting Sun’s eighth album. I recently reviewed the album, and since it will probably figure prominently on many progressive rock top ten lists of 2021 albums; I ventured to request an interview with the band to ask some questions regarding this latest release and their volume of work, so far.
https://progressiverockcentral.com/2021/10/23/drifting-sun-forsaken-innocence/
Welcome to the ProgressiveRockCentral.com, Pat Sanders, on keyboards, and Jargon on vocals from Drifting Sun. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for us.
Tell us how Drifting Sun was formed and the accomplishments of the past before we deep dive into your new album, Forsaken Innocence.
Pat Sanders: Drifting Sun was formed in the early 90’s when I moved to the UK from my native France, and our debut album was released in 1996, followed by a sophomore record in 1998. I put the project on hold for about 15 years, before kick starting it again in 2015 with the release of third album ‘Trip the Life Fantastic’.
Forsaken Innocence, is a great choice for an album title. Did you mean for it to become such a dynamic concept album?
Pat Sanders: I had a general idea that I wanted to go with, and so we wrote the lyrics for the songs around that theme.
I hear so many different influences of bands from the “Golden Era” of progressive rock on this album. Who were you influenced by in your young careers and did any of that influence make it onto Forsaken Innocence?
Pat Sanders: My main influences are Jethro Tull, Genesis, Rush and Yes, though I have always been a big fan of Hard Rock bands, mainly Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Quite a lot of varied influences here then!
With “King of the Country”, I immediately imagined the deposed king on the cover of Rush’s A Farewell to Kings. Was that the type of picture you were hoping it would paint?
Pat Sanders: Pretty much, yes! We wanted to portray the image of this king who sadly doesn’t have the ‘clout’ to match his status, as a sort of an ‘underdog’, if you will.
“Insidious”, sets the course from the opening track. The real story begins to unfold. How do you guys choose the instruments to include in a song?
Jargon: “Insidious” is the only song on the album that I wrote the lyrics for. I believe that men are capable of the best and the worst. Good and evil, both exist in all of us at the same time and there is a thin line between these two. So, the song is about revealing our dark side. We have to understand, accept and find ways to tame the “beast” in order to find balance and peace of mind in our life.
On “Dementium”, the spider reference brings back memories of the Cure’s “Lullaby”, and also Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Did either of these images of songs or movies of the past, influence your character, or was it something else entirely?
Pat Sanders: Not really, the idea behind Dementium is more that of someone battling with their demons and struggling inside their head to keep sane when everything around them is going haywire.
Pat Sanders, “New Dawn”, is a showcase of talent for you. Though Jargon’s vocals on this track are very memorable. Would either of you like to discuss the making of this masterpiece?
Jargon: New Dawn was the last song I recorded vocals for and definitely one of my favourites. I remember Pat suggested we go for something in the style of Robert Plant. I was like “you know, this is not really the style that fits my voice but I can try something” Of course the result in my opinion has nothing to do with Plant, though once he heard the vocals, Pat said to me “See? you have Mr. Plant in you”! The vocal lines have a bluesy feeling which is something I am not familiar with but it turned out to be a successful experiment in the end, I think.
On the title track, “Forsaken Innocence – Part I”, is full of some excellent electric guitar soloing and music. Since the guitarists were not available for the interview, what was it like to hear their first and final impressions for this track?
Pat and Jargon: Mathieu really did justice to this track – as he did on the rest of the album of course! – with some fine guitars. I particularly loved the solo at the end of the song, spot on!
On “Forsaken Innocence – Parts I and II”, is an over 25-minute, instrumental extravaganza. Thank you for that. I heard some influence from Supertramp. Was I correct?
Pat Sanders: I’m quite surprised you heard Supertramp influences in this tune, I wouldn’t have seen the connection, but perhaps on a different level there may be some. That’s the beauty of music: it brings out different feelings to different people.
“Time to Go”, is an epic closer on Forsaken Innocence. Tell us about how that masterpiece evolved.
Jargon: Time to go is a beautiful song. So simple and sweet. This and “New Dawn” were going to be bonus tracks instead of “Hand in heart” and I suggested to Pat to change this and add them on the album. I am glad he liked my idea.
“Hand on Heart”, did fit very well on this album. How long ago did you produce the song? (How long did it wait to find its perfect album?
Pat Sanders: As Jargon said, we were initially going to include this song to the main album, and ‘New Dawn’ and ‘Time to Go’ were going to be the 2 bonus tracks. Jargon felt that “Hand on Heart” was more appropriate to release as the bonus track, which I think was a great idea, because the main record turned out to have more unity with these 2 songs on it, whereas “Hand on Heart” really did have a different vibe to the rest of the tracks.
Jargon, I was so grateful to review your solo album last year. Thank you for sending it to me. In the review for Forsaken Innocence, I compared your voice to some very prominent progressive rock vocalists. I am not the only one either. I think you have been very busy since that solo album was released. Who were you influenced by as you developed your unique vocal delivery?
Jargon: I am not sure if I can tell for sure that they influenced the way I sing because I suppose it’s not so obvious (at least for some of them) , but definitely my favourite singers are Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel, Warrel Dane, Chris Corner and Daniel Gildenlow.
Pat Sanders, your keyboard work on this album is off the charts. Which famous keyboardist most influenced your direction or sound?
Pat Sanders: Oh, so many! Of course, Jon Lord because his mastery of the Hammond is second to none! I also love Tony Carey, from Rainbow’s heyday, and the fabulous Don Airey too. Rick Wakeman influenced me to a certain degree during his time with Yes, though I’ve not followed his stuff much after he left the band.
Both of you are unique sounding and have created your own art. Your accomplishments are monumental already. Are there other musicians that either of you would like to collaborate with that you haven’t up to this point? (I think Jargon would be perfect for one of Arjen Lucassen’s space masterpieces).
Jargon: I’d love to work with Chris Corner from IAMX. In my opinion he is a true artist. Not just a singer. He composes music, produces, makes visuals and he does something quite different from what I do. Since I also like electronic music, I’d like to work with him.
Pat Sanders: My dream would be to catch Peter Gabriel’s interest and write some music with him, but that will probably never materialize, unfortunately (Peter, if you are reading this: get in touch with me!)
Will you take Forsaken Innocence out on tour next year? Please come to the USA, if so.
Pat and Jargon: We are definitely looking into taking the music on to live shows, that won’t happen this year but we have a few leads for 2023 already, fingers crossed we can work out the logistics and make it happen. If you have any suggestions for shows, festivals etc that can happen for us in the States, let us know!
What is next for both of you?
Jargon: Right now, I am recording vocals for the fourth Verbal Delirium album and I am writing new songs for my next solo album! After that we are definitely going back to live concerts.
Pat Sanders: I’m currently writing new music for the next DS album, and contemplating those potential concerts with the band… watch this space?
Is there anything I have not covered here that either of you would like to discuss?
Pat and Jargon: I think we’ve covered plenty of ground about the band’s history, the new album and our plans for the near future!
Thank you, Pat Sanders and Jargon, for taking the time to interview with us at ProgressiveRockCentral.com, We wish you both the best in your futures and hope to interview you both again in the future.
Pat and Jargon: Most welcome, thank you for having us in your magazine!
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