Friday, July 22, 2011

James Williams Talks About His Band X Opus with Sea Of Tranquility

With their debut CD The Epiphany out now on Magna Carta Records, progressive metal act X Opus are out to take the world by storm. Band leader, mastermind, and guitar stud James Williams talked to Sea of Tranquility's Simon Bray about the exciting new CD, his career in music, influences, and various other topics.



SoT: Myself and Peter Pardo played "spot the influences," in our reviews. We noted Queensryche and Symphony X amongst others. Were we correct and who are your main influences?

James: Actually as far as prog Metal its Symphony X{Micheal Romeo},Yngwie Malmsteen,Adagio,Nocturnal Rites and a little Pagans Mind.As far as my guitar influences, it was Hendrix first,then Robin Trower,Frank Marino,Al Di Meola,Gary Moore,Yngwie Malmsteen,Jeff Beck,Larry Carlton,Alan Holdsworth,Shaun Lane,Randy Rhoads.There are more but that should be enough (laughs).

SoT: On the album you have two lead vocalists, Brian Dixon and David Crocker. How did that work and how can we tell them apart?

James: It worked well because they sound alike! (laughs) However Brian has a more James LaBrie tone and David can sound closer to Dio at times.Lucky to have one great singer but two is not fair! (laughs) David sang on Ill Find The Truth,I Will Fly, and Angels Of War. Brain sang all the others with Brian and I sing background.I even sang the lead vocal line on the intro of one song,however I didnt credit myself for that on the inside cd jacket (laughs) Its a secret trivia question.I will tell you I sang the screamo vocals on the chorus of On Top Of The World!


Read The Entire Interview: http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=1891


Sound samples and more info: http://magnacarta.net/XOpus

Listen to the entire album on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/magcart#g/c/A42E2317C0550A61