Arjen Lucassen

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Timo Kotipelto

Arjen explains: I heard Stratovarius on a metal compilation and thought the singer Timo had a very pleasant voice. I got in touch with him through email and he was immediately interested in participating. We immediately hit it off, and because we have the same sense of humor, we laughed so hard and had funny pictures made of the both of us. I used Timo’s voice very differently from…

Thijs van Leer

Arjen explains: I’ve always been a fan of the band Focus, especially Thijs’ flute playing. When I was looking for a flutist for ‘Into the Electric Castle’ I had my sights set on him. It wasn’t easy to get a hold of him, but once he had heard my music he could be persuaded. Thijs, in comparison to other classically trained musicians, is not only able to play from sheet music but is also quite able to improvise. A day after the recording I received a fax from him in which he told me how wonderful he felt…

Stephen van Haestregt

Arjen explains: “Stephen helped me install my new computer program Protools and taught me how to use it. He and I started the Ambeon project together by putting Ayreon song fragments into the computer, editing them, dressing them up so new songs were created. I then decided to record a real drummer to add more of a human feel to the songs, and Stephen turned out to be an excellent drummer…

Sharon den Adel

Arjen explains: Back in about 1997 I read in a music magazine that the new band ‘Within Temptation’ named Ayreon as one of their sources of inspiration. Of course I was honoured so I went to their concert and met with Sharon afterwards. She told me that she would love to sing on an Ayreon CD. Sharon has a beautiful, fragile voice and great charisma. At the time we recorded her part of the Indian she wasn’t very

Ruud Houweling

Arjen explains: I heard a demo recording of Ruud’s voice, and his warm, calm voice immediately won me over. Although the first CD ‘The Final Experiment’ was already finished, I wrote and recorded ‘Charm of the Seer’ especially for Ruud. I also played and sang on some of his solo tracks under the name ‘Biscuit’. He now plays in a great band called Cloudmachine.