"All About The Album" - If you'd like to feature your band/album, email: urban

WORK OF ART : "Framework"

WORK OF ART-  and their third album release, "Framework", Swedish AOR/Power-Pop/Westcoast music at its best. I'd like to quote myself from the album review (pompous pratt) 'It's one impressive hook after the other and they have steadily built a reputation as one of the most interesting and fun acts on the Frontiers label and roster'. Indeed. Yours truly is right said Fred (stop it!). Find out more about the album, here's the man of the moment, guitarist:  Robert Säll

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

So far they've been fabulous! Great reactions from both fans and press with many saying that this is our best album yet. Which is more than we dared to hope for so it feels really good.

What kind of 'sound', production wise, did you have in the back of your mind prior to recording?

We never set out to achieve a certain sound. We just try to make the songs sound as good as possible. I think the production on this album is a little bit tighter than our last record and also the mix has more dynamics.

You're not afraid of losing the ear and input from an outsider? (since the band produced 'Framework')

Actually the three of us within the band has pretty different views on how the production should sound so we kind of compliment each other and what you hear in the end is a compromise of our different tastes. Also, they way we work is kind of mixing, writing and recording at the same time, all in our owns studios. So I think it would be hard for an outside producer to keep track of the whole process. I guess it would look pretty unorganized from the outside, but we like to think of it as the more organic process.

Any (weird) experimental miking and/or recording techniques that we should be aware of?

Not really but we do take advantage or the benefits of digital recording. The guitars, for example, is never miked up, they always record with a clean signal and then re amped and then we use different speaker cabinet simulations in the computer. That way we have a better of control over the sound. Same goes for the drums which are recorded on a semi digital/acoustic kit.

It's popular to describe your sound as "Westcoast-ish". But, surely there's so much more to Framework?

I think in the world of melodic rock and AOR, our sound might come off as a bit Westcoast-ish but then again, the westcoast fans thinks we're an AOR band. The truth is that we take our influences from a lot of different music and in the end our sound lands somewhere between melodic rock and Westcoast.

Music like yours' get sometimes blamed for being too Poppy and not enough of the Metal? Do you cherish your Power-Pop side?

Absolutely. We have different backgrounds in the band, some of us grew up listening to more heavier stuff and some were more into to pop music. But we all share the love for great melodies and that's what brought us together. A lot of people has asked us if we ever will make an heavier album... but that just wouldn't be true to ourselves. There are plenty of other bands who does that kind of music much better than us.

Do you feel it's (un)fair that people tend to compare your product with the 80's stuff? (considering budget, exposure, marketing, etc).

We created this band to make music that pays tribute to the bands we grew up listening to, and we DID grew up in the 80's so I think that make sense. Having said that, we try to "dress it up" with a more up to date sound.

Any overall theme of mood that you're trying to capture while writing songs?

We try to make songs that are up tempo, positive and with a lot of energy. It kind of reflects who we are as persons, we're not particularly angry or moody guys.

What inspired you to come up with "Shout Till You Wake Up"?

That is one of my favourite tracks on the albums and one of the last I wrote for it. I wanted something that was a little bit heavier and slightly more progressive as contrast to the other songs on the album. It's sure gonna be interesting to try and play it live as it's so multi layered.

In the grand tradition of many AOR/Westcoast bands, it's important to have at least one good song named after a woman? (Natalie)

Hahaha, actually I thought we were done with songs with woman names by now. But, we rewrote the chorus melody for "Natalie" in the very last minute and that new melody just called out for a girl name ;-)

I'll have to ask you about the art-work and CD booklet. It's clearly not meant for reading?

Oh, I got my own copy of the CD three days ago and I agree that it's hard to read so that's a pity. It certainly was readable on the files we were sent from our artwork guy so I don't know why it turned out that way. Anyway, you live, you learn!

How much are you able to play live in Sweden - the land w/o the proper club/live scene?

Actually there been quite a few offers for live gigs here in Sweden so for us, it looks better than ever. We never played any gigs in Sweden before (except for opening up for Toto) so we really look forward to play here in our own country.

Who are your influences and heroes? (music-wise)

Well Toto obviously, but also bands like Journey, Giant, Chicago, Jellyfish, 3rd Matinee, Saga, Kip Winger and some Swedish bands like Big Money & Dive..... I could go on forever.

If there's anything you'd like to add, say, please do

To all the fans of the band, I would like to say a big thank you for patiently waiting for this new album. We know three years is a long time but, we hope it was worth the wait. See you on the road!
ROBERT SÄLL /Work Of Art

Interview by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
Photos from the band's websites  www.woa.se 
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