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Eric Clayton - vocals
Studio Report - The Human Equation
Saviour Machine's main man Eric Clayton flew in from Los Angeles just a few weeks ago to record his vocals for Ayreon: The Human Equation. Read all about how Arjen enjoyed the experience and check out the pictures!
- What made you choose Eric Clayton for this Ayreon project?
Arjen: Some years ago a German journalist introduced me to the music of Saviour Machine, and needless to say I was really impressed by their singer Eric Clayton. His voice kinda reminded me of David Bowie, but he definitely has his own distinctive style. Then my manager Yvette played me some of their stuff and I was convinced that I wanted to have that big characteristic voice on Ayreon. I love the theatrical style of their performance but I wasn't sure who the man behind this scary white mask waving the bloody flags was! We bought their live DVD (Live in Germany). There was also an interview with Eric on it and he seemed like a really nice guy.
- How did you get in touch with Eric?
Arjen: We found an email address on his site and I contacted his manager who forwarded my email to Eric. Eric didn't know my music so he contacted some of his friends who happened to know Ayreon and they encouraged him to do it. So within days I got an email from Eric telling me that he was very interested. I sent him some of my albums and he was impressed. Astonishingly he had never guested on anyone else's album before, which made it even more interesting for me.
- Describe the recording session in three words.
Impressive, emotional, relaxed.
- How would you describe Eric's voice?
Big, dramatic and operatic, a lot of "bottom end" but also a lot of "top edge", and with a beautiful deep vibrato.
- What was the most memorable moment?
Too many to mention. I had goosebumps on various occasions.
- What was something you absolutely didn't expect?
I was preparing to record him during the nighttime, because of his jet lag (a nine hour time difference). When he arrived he hadn't slept in 24 hours, but nevertheless he insisted on recording 'at least a couple of songs' before he would go to sleep. We went on to record more than half of his parts that day, even after a 10+ hour flight from Los Angeles!
- What was something Eric did not expect?
He never expected to record a David Bowie song! When he arrived I asked him to sing it (maybe for a bonus track), and he agreed. To my surprise he had never covered a Bowie song before.
- Eric has the unique ability to...
sound completely different than the other singers, but nevertheless blend in perfectly.
- Describe the endresult of the session.
It was very important for me to have Eric's voice on this album, because it is so different from the others and because it's so dramatic. He sang quite differently than on his own Saviour Machine albums, although he did sing some songs in this style. He really enjoyed doing something very different than what he's used to, it enabled him to showcase his versatile voice in another musical setting. I used his voice in many different ways, and they are all equally impressive.
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