JIM STUDNICKI INTERVIEW -
August 1997

Anomaly at first may seem a strange name for an accessible technical metal band. However it was a decision of the guitarist Jim Studnicki and the singer Jim Dorian. They wanted to make progressive technical rock/metal music that would be listenable and radio-friendly. In the first half of 1997, the 3-songs pre-release tape "The Second Day" was mailed all around the globe to get the name heard and in order to get a record deal. In July'97, the CD was recorded at the Morrisound Studio with the help of the bass player Sean Malone and the drummer Sean Reinert, who both are former members of Cynic, the technical metal band #1. Tampa is not that influential to the overall metal scene today but there are talented musicians over there that have new ideas and a will and potential to compose interesting music. Anomaly is an example. Jim Studnicki answered my questions about his band, Tampa scene, and technical metal in general.

The 3 song pre-production tape was under your name and the CD is coming out under the name of Anomaly. What is the reason?

"OK. Anomaly really started out as "my solo project", a bunch of instrumental stuff with sequenced drums and Sean Malone playing bass. As the tunes began to evolve, I realized how much better they would sound with real drums, and Malone suggested getting Sean Reinert to do the session. When I wrote "Ensnared", I realized that it had the potential to be so much more. It was a vocal tune. Jim Dorian and I were in another band at the time which wasn't really going that well, and I bounced "Ensnared" off of him and he really dug it. When Reinert put the drums down for it he really blew everyone away, and when we mixed everything with Malone and Dorian's stuff it sounded killer. (I re-did all the guitars and we re-mixed it a few weeks ago and it sounds twice as good now, by the way) It was at that moment I realized I wanted to do what ended up becoming Anomaly instead of a bunch of instrumental stuff. To answer the question about the name of the tape: Jim Dorian and I had just split from our old band and hadn't yet decided on a title for the new project, and we were in a big hurry to get the pre-release stuff out into peoples' hands, and I was basically funding everything out of pocket at that point, so we used my name. The full CD is really a band project, so we're using a band name."

Why such a name as Anomaly? Does it fit to the music?

"Well, an anomaly is something abnormal, something out of the ordinary. I think that sums up our material. Although our stuff is kind of radio-friendly and even commercial in parts, it's offset by some truly amazing and inspired playing and some weird stuff as well. Some of the chord structures we use are rarely seen in popular music. We never try to be different just for the sake of being different, however. We'll only be different if we can be different and better, to refine and improve and emphasize the really cool parts of a section."

All three tracks on the tape are very different. How can you describe the other 6 from the CD?

"Well, the CD has six vocal tunes and two instrumentals. We were going to do a cover of Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song" with a real string quartet but we had to leave it out this time due to budgetary considerations. It'll be on the next CD. Each of the tunes is unique in its own way, but they fit together as an album very well. I can see why the three song pre-release confused a lot of people because it's truly three of the most extreme songs off the record: prog rock/metal, ballad, and hyper-chops instrumental. The CD is more balanced."

Aren't you afraid that people will call the ballad "The Second Day" a cheesy one...?

"The focus is not on the playing in that song. It's on Jim's voice singing a beautiful melody. It's a solid and well-thought out piece of work. The lyrics are not cheesy. It's not about some guy pining over some chick. It's about a soldier willing to die for what he believed in. There's no "oh baby baby" or any other tired cliches at all. My only regret with that one is not having Reinert play full drums on it. It would've been much more dynamic. If anyone thinks we're wusses when they hear that one, they'll be proven wrong by the song right after it, "The Art of War"..."

How long have you been around as a musician? Why did you choose to start a new band?

"Well, I've been playing guitar for about nine or ten years now, and I've been recording for about half of that time, mostly my own stuff that no one but me will ever hear. Jim and I started Anomaly because people stopped making the kind of music we wanted to hear, and we don't think we're the only ones with that opinion. We also had a tremendous chance to work with some amazing players and we couldn't pass that one up."

How did you get along with both Seans, the former members of Cynic? With Ralph Santolla?

"I'd known Sean Malone for about two years before Jim and I started Anomaly. Him and I actually used to live in Maryland about a half mile from each other but never met until we moved down to Florida. Strange. He is a great guy and a monstrously talented bass player who "hears" a lot of things differently than most other people. I'd say Sean Reinert is the closest example of a true genius I've ever met. He's got this incredible sense of dynamics coupled with mind-boggling chops. It's ridiculous. He also has a great sense of what his parts will sound like when everything else is done, even if I just give him a skeleton of a song to work with. He never overplays. It has been my utmost privilege to work with those guys, and I'm excited about recording and playing with them in the future. Ralph is a buddy of mine. We lend equipment to each other and party together from time to time. He's another freak. He's the most under-rated guitar player I know. I think of Ralph as a cross between Yngwie and Eric Johnson - great chops with an amazing sense of melody. He's got this Flying V that is the shit."

Can you tell any names of record companies/distributors involved in manufacturing and distributing the Anomaly CD?

"I really don't think I should mention any labels until we finalize our deal(s), but let's just say that there are several medium-sized companies that are pretty interested in us. We're at the point where we're discussing advance money and percentages."

Who will handle the promotion? Do you feel you are able to handle it yourself?

"Hopefully, our label will help us with that, but I want to keep complete control of our web site. It has helped us out a great deal."

What do you think of purely technical music, e.g., Spastic Ink of Ron Jarzombek (ex-Watchtower)? Does it have a demand and an audience? It looks like that mainly musicians listen to technical metal...

"It varies. I can't listen to an hour of it straight. I need melody, first and foremost. From a player's perspective, some of it blows me away. There are things on the Cynic record (the end of "Uroboric Forms", for example) which set new standards in technical proficiency, and which truly amaze me, but won't do anything for your average listener. One of the main things we want to do with Anomaly is bridge that gap - to keep pushing the technical envelope while still keeping it commercially viable. And I think we've got the people to pull it off."

Have you heard the solo album of Sean Malone? If so, give your opinion...

"I have indeed. I'm a big fan of weird fusiony stuff anyway, and it was cool to hear. Sean and I are both Tribal Tech fans and I think you can hear some of that in his playing and writing, even when he did the two bass solos on the Anomaly CD. He's a big Willis fan and I think Scott Henderson has a tremendous sense of melody and the best ear I've ever seen. Sean does a lot of looping stuff on the record, both of percussion and other parts. One of my favorite parts is at the end of one of the songs where he creates this mind-bending texture with his stick and a Lexicon JamMan. It was also cool to hear Reinert doing straight-out jazz stuff. A good disc."

Is it difficult for you to find a balance between technicality and accessability?

"Yes. It is the ultimate challenge to make progressive music sell while still keeping it progressive. That is our main goal with Anomaly."

What, in your opinion, does "radio-friendliness" necessarily imply...sterile and synthetic songs?

"I think that sometimes bands get trapped into always following a formulaic style of writing and re-hashing stuff that's been done to death. It happened in the late '80s/early '90s with rock and roll and it's happening now with alternative stuff, thank God. I think our songs are radio-friendly but I definitely wouldn't call them sterile or synthetic. One of the important keys to writing a commercial song and keeping it interesting is to have a solid understanding of dynamics. Always keep the listener on their toes, but never sacrifice the song for the sake of 'originality'."

What do you think about accusations of 'selling out'? Do you think the bands do actually like their new songs that look 'commercial' to many fans? Can you comment on latest albums of Queensryche and Metallica?

"Metallica sold out. They should have changed their name - they changed their look, their logo, their sound, their audience and everything else, but they kept the name because they knew a Metallica record would be an automatic multi-platinum hit. They simply followed the alternative trend for the big money. It's blatantly obvious and it stinks of Hollywood lawyers and managers and label people. They discarded their old market for a larger, more profitable one. I still think Hetfield is an amazingly talented guy, and underneath the cutesy haircuts and lame piercings the old warmaster is ready to plunder evermore, but the band (in terms of music but not necessarily money) has seen its finest hour. Queensryche is a different story. They haven't made such a drastic change, and a lot of their stuff still sounds like Queensryche. Remember, too, how hard it would be to follow up two records like "Mindcrime" and "Empire". I thought "Promised Land" was a good disc but where the record suffered was with the lack of quality hooks. The new one isn't quite my cup of tea but it's head and shoulders beyond the shit that the "rock" radio stations play here in the USA..."

What do you think about Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Cynic, Watchtower?

"They're all very good. Call me biased but Cynic is my favorite. It was truly a life-changing album for me. And I hated it at first - the production, the vocals, the writing, everything. It is definitely an acquired taste. But once I listened to it enough and I really started to understand the magnitude of what was happening and what they were doing, it blew me away. If only they would've had real vocals... in terms of songwriting, though, Queensryche blows everyone else away."

What heavy-music genres do people in Tampa like today? Are there many clubs to play? Describe your surroundings.

"The heavy scene here is practically non-existent. It's to the point where I'd call it underground. People want to hear covers of '80s pop tunes, or they want to hear ska or alternative or MTV's shitty flavor-of-the-month band. Pathetic. The few of us rock and roll/metal people that haven't sold out are forced to look overseas to markets where people are actually into what we are doing. Take Iced Earth, for example. They do very well overseas and people hate them here. There's still a large core of death metal bands around here. Most of the big name death bands are based here in Tampa, and they all record at Morrisound. It has been dying out over the past few years, though."

What other bands do you like? Your top-5 favorite records.

"I'm a huge classic rock fan - Zeppelin, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors, you name it. If you want to learn how to write good songs you should listen to any of that stuff. I don't know if I can give you my top five favorite discs of all time, but Cynic's "Focus" is up there, Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy", "Van Halen I" and of course "Fair Warning" and "1984", Pantera's "Vulgar Display of Power", Saigon Kick's "Water", Vai's "Passion and Warfare", Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman", Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland", Steve Morse's "Coast to Coast", Queensryche's "Empire", Alice in Chains' "Dirt" - the only alternative band that I like . . . the list goes on and on..."

How do you think, will Anomaly find a place in the current diverse scene of metal? It seems that there are empty spots for technical metal and, particularly, for technical-accessible metal...

"I think people that like musicians that can play well but also appreciate good songs will be into us. One of the problems I have with bands like Dream Theater is that the songwriting sometimes takes a back seat to the performances. I personally don't care how many minutes of music someone can squeeze onto a single CD or how many guitar/keyboard unison lines there are or how many 20 minute+ opuses we can write. How good are the songs? Do I feel anything when I hear them? That's what's really important, and, not coincidentally, that's what sells records. If I'm not feeling anything I might as well be listening to dance music or No Doubt or some other cheesy shit. If anything, it should be the other way around. Songwriting should always come before performances. That's why people will remember Queensryche long after DT is gone."

Do you have any vision how Anomaly will (or should) sound in the future?

"I think Anomaly will continue to expand on what this debut CD accomplishes. We will emphasize what worked and refine it and continue to be as creative as we can. We've got an amazing base of talent and there's literally no limit to what we can do. I'd like to get to the point where we're a modern-day Led Zeppelin - not in terms of sounding similar to Zeppelin but in terms of the mindset and the way we write. With Zeppelin, they were able to write amazing pieces of music, each a brilliant gem of songwriting (some of which were brutal as hell for their time, by the way) while integrating incredible performances into their recordings. People bitch about Jimmy Page all the time. I think the guy is a genius. Anyone that doubts his playing can listen to the live version of "Stairway to Heaven" on "The Song Remains the Same" and go jump off a cliff. I know he probably re-did that solo in the studio and punched, or whatever, but who gives a shit? Everybody punches today anyway, and anyone who says they don't is either stupid or a liar. The point is that he knew how to write. That's what's important. And until people in the progressive rock/metal arena understand that good songwriting sells, it will always be a niche market by musicians for musicians. We hope to make Anomaly into a project that truly bridges that gap between technicality and accessability."