Interview: Sanctuary

The following is taken from an interview with Warrel Dane, singer from Sanctuary. We were lucky enough to catch Warrel before The Speedway show and spent about  30 minutes talking with him.

SLUG: Why don’t we start with a quick discography of the band’s work.

Sanctuary: Well, this is our second album (Into The Mirror Black) Before this was Refuge Denied. Our record company, Epic, is also planning to release a live CD soon.

SLUG: Are you happy with the current album?

Sanctuary: Oh Yeah! Definitely. You know, with Refuge Denied, we really didn’t quite know what to expect. This time we knew what we were doing and what we wanted to do. We are really excited about this final product. We do hope, however, to top this one with our next one.

SLUG: When will you be recording your next?

Sanctuary: Well, we are going to finish up this tour through the end of October and we’ll spend November and most of December headlining through Europe. We’ll be back home for Christmas and we’ll probably not do much for a couple of weeks then we’ll be writing our next CD.

SLUG: How long has the band been together.?

Sanctuary: Five long years.

SLUG: How did the band, as it is now, come together? Did you know any of the band members before you joined?

Sanctuary: Not really. I did know Dave, the drummer, but only as an acquaintance, and he tried to get me to join Sanctuary a number of times. To make a long story longer, the band I was in was advertising in the local music paper for a drummer and they (Sanctuary) kept calling up pretending to be after the skin’s job and asking to talk with the vocalist. They finally talked me into coming to sing with them and they gave me a tune to write some lyrics for. I listened to the tape at home and I really liked it. I wrote the lyrics that evening and then took it back to the band the next day. We ran through the song lyrics and afterward the rest of the band just kind of stood there and looked at me. That song was subsequently dubbed “The Warrel Song.” I was in.

SLUG: Have you had any vocal training? You have a great range.

Sanctuary: Oh yeah. In Junior High, I sang in the choir. I’ve also had professional vocal coaching.

SLUG: Now, where exactly is Sanctuary from?

Sanctuary: Seattle, Washington (Big smile here).

SLUG: We understand that Seattle is a very pretty place to live, but that it rains quite frequently.

Sanctuary: No, actually the rainfall is slightly exaggerated to keep other people from moving there. We’d like to keep it to ourselves.

SLUG: In your opinion, why is it that such great progressive bands like yourselves, Queensryche, Metal Church…all come mostly from a concentrated area in the Pacific Northwest? Is there something in the water?

Sanctuary: Well I really don’t know about that. We were all grinding it out for a few years and it seemed no one in the industry wanted to give it a listen. Metal fans in Seattle knew they had a good thing, but the record companies apparently thought the only good metal bands came from L.A. Eventually things started happening in Europe and bands from the Northwest started getting contracts. Queensryche was the first to land a contract, we were the third and now it seems like everybody has been signed.

SLUG: This may seem like a silly question, but why aren’t you headlining?

Sanctuary: When we finished the last leg of the tour with Fates Warning, we wanted to get back on the road. We were offered this bill, and when Death Angel finishes up in a few weeks, we will be alternating with Forbidden.

SLUG: Does Sanctuary have any plans for a video?

Sanctuary: Why yes, this coming weekend (22nd) we have a video coming out. It’s from the new CD and it’s called “Future Tense.” You can catch it on Headbangers Ball.  

Read more SLUG Archives:
The Metal Scene: Scatterbrain
Interview: Ramones