Voyager – Danny Estrin

Perth’s Voyager have exceeded the expectations of many and have now established themselves as Australia’s leading force in the progressive metal movement. Starting way back in 1999, Voyager have now established a secure fanbase across the world with four amazing albums. The latest magnum opus being, ‘The Meaning of I’.

Metal Obsession had the opportunity to talk with vocalist and keyboardist, Danny Estrin. To discuss Voyager‘s latest album while on tour with Children of Bodom across Australia. Let the hilarity and personal journey of fulfilment ensue.

Metal Obsession: I take it you and the others are all psyched about the Children of Bodom tour?

Danny Estrin: Yeah man. We had our first date in Perth last night and it went real well. Just real excited to be doing the whole of Australia again and playing to a whole bunch of people that have probably never heard us before and hopefully converting them to the Voyager side.

Metal Obsession: What does the set list look like for the upcoming tour. Will there be much new material played on the Children of Bodom tour?

Danny Estrin: Yeah. I think we’re definitely going to do a couple of new songs. I think will be mainly focusing on a few of our “heavier” songs, but will throw in some classics as well. Because as you know, being a support you only have a 35 – 40 minute set to showcase a cross section of material. Will definitely throw the medley in there as well. I don’t think Voyager can do a show without a medley these days.

Metal Obsession: Voyager also have a side show coming up at the Central Club with Hemina on Friday, 11th November in Melbourne. What can we expect in terms of a setlist from his particular show?

Danny Estrin: We will probably do an hour set for that one. Which is quite good. Depending how we go, maybe an encore as well. Definitely going to include a lot more songs than on the Bodom tour. Will essentially be playing songs from the Bodom tour. As well as some of the classics to appease our Melbourne fans. It should be a good show actually.

Metal Obsession: Are you sporting the keytar or have you gone back to the KORG M50 for this tour?

Danny Estrin: Nah, I can’t go back man! [laughs] The keytar is totally attached to my shoulder. I actually have a keyboard  key strap as well which is amazing. So yeah! The keyboards aren’t coming back. [laughs] The keytars are out and definitely out to stay.

Metal Obsession: Can we expect a similar medley to that of the recent Alestorm tour or will this be something completely new?

Danny Estrin: We are doing a new one. Every tour we try and do a new one to mix it up. The main theme we have is kinda similar, but this time there will be a lot of 80’s classics and a couple of new things as well. A couple of things you may have heard before, but they go down so well live. We can’t not play them.

Metal Obsession: I recently watched that keyboard shred you posted on Youtube. The one that goes F, A, D, E, A…C sharp. Thats how it goes, right?

Danny Estrin: *awkward silence* Ummm? [laughs]

Metal Obsession: It was on Youtube sometime ago. The neo-classical shred?

Danny Estrin: Oh! You mean the tutorial. *Danny hums the tune over the phone*

Metal Obsession: Yes! That’s the one. When I watched that I got the sneaky suspicion that composer Wendy Carlos had some influence over that particular piece. She’s very similar in that regard, as she writes a lot of music with a synthesised neo-classical feel.

Danny Estrin: No. I’ve actually never heard of her to be honest.

Metal Obsession: Well, in regards to influences. I hear quite a lot when it comes to Voyager’s music. From one end of the spectrum I hear influences of 80’s movie score veterans Vince Di’Cola and Vangelis. On the other hand, a more contemporary sound. Similar to that of Bach or Beethoven. Are you more influenced from the classical school of composers, as aforementioned or do you get a broader influence from the new age school of composers?

Danny Estrin: I think a lot of my influences in the very early days in my musical career, because I was classical trained piano and violin and whatnot. That was mainly the romantic classical stuff. So you know, your Beethoven‘s, your Schubert‘s. All that sort of stuff. I think it has just stuck with me. That neo-classical basis. Recently I haven’t been listening to much classical music. I should actually get a bit more into it, shouldn’t I?

Everything and even a bit of jazz I suppose. Even middle eastern styles which I think is pretty cool. Definitely neo-classical though. That’s just how I was raised and that’s me.

Metal Obsession: You mentioned sometime ago that you had a bit of an issue with pirating. Supposedly pirate copies of Voyager albums were doing the rounds on Amazon. Has that little issue been taken care of yet?

Danny Estrin: [laughs] I don’t think you can take care of Russian pirates, unless you go over there and sort it out. Which I’m not in a hurry to do.

It’s really spun out because we had people coming up to our signing booth while we were in the States on tour. Giving us copies of ‘I am the Revolution’ to sign which had really weird booklets. It didn’t really have a booklet. Just a cover and a back image of the booklet and this sort of red thing in the middle. And we were all like “We’ve never seen this before” and most of the people who come up to us with this particular album said “Oh! I bought it off Amazon”. Later we found out they were Russian pirate copies. In a way its really flattering because people are pirating out stuff and manufacturing it somewhere else. In other ways you kind think “Hey!…We aren’t getting paid for this!” and its going through a legitimate website like Amazon.

Metal Obsession: But of all places, Russia? You’d most likely think piracy would be a bigger issue in Asia or perhaps some parts of the Americas?

Danny Estrin: Nah! Russia has been huge on the pirate CD market for years and years. I remember going  to Russia some ten years ago and went to a market in Moscow called the Gorbushka market which has pirated CDs everywhere. Like you could get absolutely anything, but with this kind of shoddy quality booklet. But now that technology has gotten so good. The booklets look as good as what you’d buy from a legitimate CD outlet. Except without the actual booklet inside. They have a 3 or 4 page booklet rather than a 12 page booklet with all the lyrics and so forth.

Metal Obsession: Aside from this minor setback. I take it Voyager were well received at the recent ProgPower USA in Atlanta. How was the reaction towards Voyager in the States?

Danny Estrin: It was beyond my wildest expectations. We did a New York show which was kinda small and underground and we had some people come from Boston to come to see us, you know? Which was really nice and ProgPower exceeded my expectations. I mean we had a relatively early slot. But I think to be honest. With all the fan feedback we had, we essentially stole the show. The feedback was so overwhelming. We sold over 200 CDs at the festival. We just did extremely well. We signed autographs for like an hour and a half and I couldn’t believe there were so many loyal and die-hard fans there and we’d made so many new fans as well.

Metal Obsession: That seems to be the general consensus from nearly everyone who went to the festival. They all say that Voyager were hands down the best performers of the entire festival.

Danny Estrin: Which is amazing to hear when your playing with the likes of Ihsahn and Therion. Your like “How the hell did this happen?”. It’s really pleasing to hear that. What band wouldn’t. I think we have definitely felt our highest from that.

Metal Obsession: In terms of Euro distribution. Voyager originally went through Dockyard no. 6 million or whatever their up to now. [laughs] Will your new label Sensory Records distribute across Europe or are you still looking for a Euro distributor?

Danny Estrin: No, Sensory Records has basically got the worldwide license for the album. It will be available in Germany. In fact it is available in Germany at the moment. We actually got a really good review in the Germany Metal Hammer magazine which is really pleasing because printed media is always so hard to get into in terms of solid reviews. But the promotion side of things has been really good and both the praise from Europe and the States has been really good. Dockyard 1 and 2, honestly! You can forget about them. [laughs] It’s just a big fat debacle with them.

Metal Obsession: Human emotion, observation and perhaps the true meaning of our existence seems to be the key to ‘The Meaning of I’. Would that be correct?

Danny Estrin: Absolutely! It’s also a personal journey for my own personal turmoil at times. Its certainly an exploration of the various human cycles, I guess the emotional cycles that one goes through. I guess in search of meaning in this world. I think I attached on a few of those issues and expanded on them, up to another level of exploration on ‘The Meaning of I’.

Metal Obsession: I’ve noticed an odd occurrence with words “we”, “I”, “me” and “my” within the lyrics. Is this just pure coincidence or is this a more personal narrative?

Danny Estrin: A lot of it is a personal narrative, I guess. I find it much easier to write things from an emotional or the first person perspective. Then say, unicorns flying across the sky. [laughs] That’s definitely what I do. The lyrics kind of flow with the kind of theme to the music as well. A lot of it tends to be in the first person and feeling certain things towards certain emotions. Whether that be in a single first person or plural collective. I think that is definitely an underlying theme to the most recent Voyager releases.

Metal Obsession: Does it worry you sometimes that people may take advantage of you in this regard. Since you are expressing a lot of personal and emotional views about yourself?

Danny Estrin: That idea had occurred to me, but I can’t see how they would take advantage of that. Apart from…I don’t know. Perhaps giving me a hard time on stage or whatever. I don’t think a lot of people would give me a hard time because of the emotional lyrical content. Those aren’t really the kind of people I want to be attracting to our music any way. I’d much rather have people who could relate to it and understand it. I mean I’ve received e-mails from all around the world from people saying thank you to me. Saying “Your album really helped me through this or that”. That really offsets any of the negative stuff that you might expect from opening your own emotional vault, I guess.

Metal Obsession: Would you say there is a spiritual connection in your music as well. I notice you’re quite the connoisseur of Mahatma Gandhi. Would you say his teachings have some what influenced the lyrics?

Danny Estrin: I don’t think there is any one specifically who has influenced me lyrically in that regard. I mean obviously, Mahatma Gandhi is a spiritual figure who has achieved a lot through peace and dialogue. Which I find are two very important things. Which is kind of the opposite for most metal bands. But….I can’t remember what the original question was? [laughs]

Metal Obsession: [laughs] Is Voyager’s music influenced by Mahatma Gandhi or perhaps another spiritual leader?

Danny Estrin: I’m not really a spiritual person to be honest. I think I’m definitely a person who feels deeply and observes, and tries to understand peoples emotions. But I don’t think there is a spiritually theme. I mean, I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. It definitely doesn’t have any spiritual undertones of any metaphysical or any higher beings. I think its more spiritual in a personal sense, but not a metaphysical sense.

Metal Obsession: I genuinely see it from a personal sense. When I listen to songs like ‘I am the ReVolution’ or ‘The Meaning of I’ I always think of someone like Jiddu Krishnamurti. He said many problems in the world such as poverty and war and other unfortunate circumstances, have their roots deeply seeded in our way of thinking. In his view, as we live and behave according to our thinking. I essentially see it as a revolution of our minds and consciousness, rather than a revolution of superficial needs or certain libertarian views.

Danny Estrin: Yes, that’s very true. But I don’t think I actually have a purpose to get a certain message across. Except for people to be aware of their up and downs and be ok with that. Understanding that human beings are who they are and the brain does funny things sometimes. In certain states of mind we aren’t use too. We can’t really identify, but that’s ok. You shouldn’t punish yourself for being in that state of mind.

Metal Obsession: I read an article in the Herald Sun a few weeks ago which stated that heavy music was the catalyst for depression, anxiety,  self harm and suicide…. (Click here to read the article)

Danny Estrin: I actually read that as well and thought it was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. It’s so outrageously stupid.

Metal Obsession: I look at something like that and think to myself. What about all the musicians who encourage love, self empowerment and the understanding of perhaps our true nature. I mean as an example, I look at Gamma Ray as a band who encourage all of those aspects and more. However,  you also have musicians like Peter Steele who I know is a major influence towards you and Voyager. He perhaps didn’t evoke some of the aspects I mentioned before, but he did sing about a lot things that people could relate to.

Danny Estirn: Yeah! I mean Peter Steele did have some dark moments in his life where you think “Is he glorify those things?”. I mean heavy metal does sometimes tend to glorify the dark and emotional. But to say that leads specifically to depression or suicide is a very simplistic view of what metal is to some people. Heavy metal to a lot of people is a way of finding solace or perhaps finding that bit of peace and identifying it through music.

Rather than bringing themselves down, they bring themselves up. They can identify through all this doom and gloom and it helps them through a rough patch. I think the views expressed in that article are very stupid and very old in terms of looking at heavy metal in general. Saying there is a direct link towards heavy metal and anxiety and depression. It’s just ludicrous.

Metal Obsession: Any famous last words?

Danny Estrin: I hope people come to our Melbourne show this weekend at the Central Club and see us on the Children of Bodom tour as well. Hopefully you will enjoy our music and watch a very fun and entertaining band. We hope to be a worthy support for the mighty Children of Bodom.

Oh! One more thing. People should download ‘The Meaning of I’ from us directly, because that will help us a lot. It’s $12 US which is like 1 Australian dollar at the moment. [laughs] Nah its $12 US which is pretty damn good. You get the full artwork and its available in .mp3 format and .flac for all those music purists.

Make sure to catch Voyager on their current tour with Childern of Bodom across Australia. Tickets are still available through respected outlets.

Melbourne folk can also get a double dose of Voyager on Friday, 11th November at their side show with Sydney’s Hemina at the Central Club in Melbourne. Check out the Metal Central Facebook event page for further details. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=233923019995060

To purchase your copy of Voyager’s new magnum opus, ‘The Meaning of I’. Head on over to their official website. www.voyager-australia.com