Formed as recently as October 2005, after Matthew Cohen left prog band Magenta, The Reasoning have wasted little time in making their maek on the UK rock scene. Their debut album, Awakening, was released earlier this year to great reviews and the buzz surrounding this band is already formidable. With a bunch of live shows lined up over the coming months and a new album in the works HRH caught up with bassist Matthew Cohen to find out what all of the fuss is about...



 

The Reasoning

Hi Matthew, to kick things off, would care to introduce your self  and the other members of The Reasoning to the readers of HardRockHouse.com?  

Hi there Dougie, nice to have the opportunity to talk to you and your readers.  Well, let me see, my name is Matthew and I a member of a rather splendid band called “The Reasoning” based here in sunny South Wales.  We’re a six piece rock band that write / play catchy, rocking tunes that make you want to jump up and down to and more importantly, play songs that want to make you sing along to.  We consist of myself on Bass, Dylan Thompson on Guitars / Vocals, Rachel Jones on Vocals / Percussion, Lee Wright on Guitars, Gareth Jones on Keyboards / Vocals and Vinden Wylde on drums.  Is that ok? 

Perfect thanks, as the bassist, who are and were your personnel heroes and influences when you were learning to play, and now?  

I have numerous heroes for many different reasons, so it would probably take me all day to get explain them all but from a musical stance my biggest hero is Steve Harris from Iron Maiden.  That guy not only knows how to play bass and write some killer riffs, but he is driven – has a goal and follows it through with a passion that is so inspiring.  Ever since I first saw him play back in 1983 on the “Piece Of Mind Tour” I wanted to be like Steve Harris.  The guy made it happen, with a few mistakes a long the way, but not many and never let anyone influence his vision of how Iron Maiden should be. 

I know your name from Magenta but what other bands have you been involved with and have you released any albums before forming The Reasoning ? 

There were quite a few bands before this but nothing of any real worth if I am honest.  Back in the 90’s I was in a band called “Unbroken Spirit” with Allan from Magenta that had a few EPs released.  We had some coverage, but ultimately that was doomed to failure.  Then I formed a band called “Erasmus” back in 2001 and released an album called “Voyage” through F2 Music.  The band never gigged, though I desperately tried to make that happen.  Again, it was doomed to failure for the same reasons as “Unbroken Spirit” – ego, back stabbing and lack of commitment! 

So how did The Reasoning come about?  

Ultimately I was very unhappy with my last band and couldn’t wait to get away from it.  I just felt it was time to strike out by myself and create something that I believed in and had some musical input with.  I missed writing and it was never going to happen in the previous band.  Plus I was fed up of playing 20 minute songs.  I wanted to Rock, and the only way of doing it was to do it myself.  The best thing I have ever done! 

How would describe the band’s sound? 

Fresh.  I really believe we bring something to the musical table that not a lot of bands are doing these days.  My mission with this band was to write songs that made you nod your head but more importantly focussed on melody and vocal harmony.  We are lucky as we have 3 very talented and versatile singers that could each front the band by themselves, but as a trio and a unit, they are unbeatable.  I love it when they hit their harmonies, it takes me away and makes me realise why I love music so much.  Just stunning!  This band is everything I love about music and I get to write / play in it – Best Job In The World!!!!

Is there any meaning to the bands name ? 

Yes there is - ha ha ha!  Seriously though, it is always quite difficult to explain a meaning to a bands name.  The Reasoning makes a lot of sense to us, so all I hope is that when people hear the name, it will mean something to them. 

What does each member of the band bring to the table in terms of style and sounds as I got the band mixed up in the original review? 

That is not an easy question to answer as we all have very different roles within the band.  Some of us are writers and some have no writing input at all, not for any other reason that it is their choice, but we all make The Reasoning what it is.  A band has to have a common vision and drive.  There is always a “leader” (though I hate that word), but there has to be.  A band is so much more than one person making the day to day decisions though!  It is a shared experience that takes us on, what will hopefully be a wonderful journey, and to make that happen successfully, the chemistry and ability to play has to be near as damn perfect.  It is a rare beast to find, but The Reasoning has that, and trust me, we all pull each other along to make this band the fun and success it is.

How is the typical Reasoning song written ? 

Well, it starts like this – Dylan turns up at my studio at about 10am (3 times a week), we have a cup of tea, a cigarette, another cup of tea and then head into the control room with our guitars.  After finishing our tea, we set up a drum loop in Logic and see what comes out from us jamming together.  Once we have a firm idea as to how the song might go, we down tools, have another cup of tea, another cigarette then head back to the studio, where we pick up where we left off. 

Each song on this new album has actually taken us about 2-3 days to write.  We then look at the vocals and the structure of the song.  Rachel enters at this point and suggests logical moves in sense of structure and what she sees to be the best approach for the harmonies etc and who should take what role i.e. lead on a verse or chorus and who should sing what harmony.  Once that is all done, we give the songs to the guys to learn. This process is the same if one of the other guys brings in a song idea.  For example, Rachel and Gareth came in with the idea for a song called “Breaking The Fourth Wall”.  Dylan and myself then added our ideas and took it to the other guys to learn, where it was re-structured in rehearsals. 

Sometimes songs need something extra for the live shows, so we learn the album versions and then go about adapting for the stage.  This could mean extra breaks or extended sections or even taking things out and making then segue into other songs.  The process is never formulaic as each song needs something different to the last. 

I mentioned in my review of the album that the band has three lead vocalist, was this a deliberate plan or more a happy coincidence and what impact do  you think having three lead vocalist has on the bands sound? 

Firstly, thank you for the review, I / we are so pleased you enjoyed it.  To the 3 singers – I touched on this earlier in this interview.  My vision for this band was to be a strong song based outfit with the emphasis on vocals and melody.  We all go away from listening to bands with different memories but the underlying key to a band sticking in the psyche of a band, is / are the vocals.  Without a strong vocal and an equally strong melody, a tune is not complete.  You can be the best musicians in the world and know every chord inversion ever created but without the right melodies and hooks, a band, from my point of view, lacks something.  I really believe we have that ability and feel extremely lucky to be in this position.  A lot of bands, and many have said this to me, wish they could have that versatility in the vocal department.  It doesn’t happen very often and it will be the main focus of this band in whatever direction the music takes us. 

The album itself sounds like a million dollars, who produced and mixed it, and how long did it take to record ? 

Thank you so much for that.  The album was produced by me and it was the first time I had ever done it, so I am very happy with the result.  The mix was carried out by Dave Meegan (Marillion, U2 etc).  Dave was just wonderful to work with and a bit of a dream come true.  Like Steve Rothery, he was someone that I had admired for a long time and when it came to seeking someone to mix the album, Dave was always someone I wanted to work with.  He is just so laid back and boy does he know his stuff.  He hears things that wouldn’t have occurred to me and has this knack of bringing something new and exciting to the table. 

The album was actually recorded in 4 weeks at my studio and the mix took a month as well.  It was a very intense period as our drummer, Vinden, had only been in the band for 3 weeks by the time we came to record “Awakening”.  I literally threw him in the studio to lay the tracks down and he did in 4 days, what a trooper ha ha ha. 

Talking of recording, how’s work progressing on album number two and do you have a release date in mind ? 

We are now ¾ of the way through the 2^nd album.  The songs are sounding amazing.  They are much darker and a lot heavier but never losing the melodic content that is the main stay of the bands music.  The album is called “Dark Angel” and I hope it will be released around May 2008.  We start recording in January 2008 and finish in February 2008.  At this point in time, we are on schedule, but that could change, but I hope not. 

How did you get Steve Rothery to play on the album ? 

Mr Rothery’s guest appearance came about after a series of coincidences! Rach initially met Steve several years ago at a Karnataka gig in Aylesbury, and chatted to him briefly before and after the show. At the beginning of 2006, Steve emailed her to express commiserations about the split of the band, offering to assist with any musical projects she might currently be involved with. Although Rach wasn’t a full member of The Reasoning at the time, she had worked with us on the song writing, and had already agreed to sing lead vocals on one track. We sent the song to Steve, he wrote the gorgeous guitar solo for Within Cold Glass…and the rest is history! 

Is there any significant to the album' artwork and if so what is it?  

The artwork is all done by Dylan.  I come up with an idea and he translates that into what you see today.  My main objective with artwork is to make it a little journey in itself. I get fed up of seeing bands these days that have all this very clinical take on their artwork.  When I was a kid and bought an album, the artwork was all part of the experience for me and that is what I wanted for this band.  I hope we have achieved that? 

As far as the web site, that was built by a rather clever gentleman called Richard Pocock.  He has this knack on translating your ideas into a finished product.  He really listens and tries to understand what I am trying to achieve.  Again, the web site needs to be a little adventure and should want to make people come back and visit it again and again.  The new artwork is stunning and I can’t wait to get that incorporated into the web site.  It is going to be fun. 

I see you were down to support Wetton/Downes at the Classic Rock Society in November but, with John Wetton’s heart surgery, that gig has been rearranged for next year. The Reasoning however, have taken over the headline slot, what can fans expect at this show and in fact any Reasoning show ? 

We were really looking forward to playing those shows but as you said, unfortunately, John had to have heart surgery and I am just so pleased he came through it OK and will be back, fighting fit, next year.  When the band had to reschedule, the CRS asked us if we wanted to headline it and there was no way we were going to turn that down.  I love those guys at The Classic Rock Society - they do much for the rock scene and deserve everyone’s support and respect.  Anyway, we are going to be on stage for about 105 minutes and it is going to rock!  “Awakening” will be played in all its glory plus 3 songs from Rachel’s back catalogue and 2 new tunes from “Dark Angel” plus a favourite cover song.  We will also be performing a song that myself, Dylan and Rachel wrote for a young guy going by the name of Chris Hudson.  It is a pop tune called “I’ll Be Waiting” and as he will be there on the night, we though it would be fun to learn and perform that song with him as a band.  May I also say, on the 24^th November, this will be the last time in a very long time that we will be playing “Awakening” in its complete state, so come along and send them off with a bang! 

What’s next for The Reasoning ? 

Our main intention is to gig as much as we can on the back of "Dark Angel". I think we have decided on the person to mix the album for us and he will be introduced to you very soon. Anyway, back to the gig situation. 

The Reasoning are going to be playing 3 tours through 2008. The first has been publicised for a while now and that will be in January, which is just 4 dates to get us out the studio and try some of the new material on stage. The second tour will be a 9 date tour and that will concentrate on Europe. We have tentatively booked in the 17th May - 25th May 2008 with the first country on our little jaunt, being Germany. We hope to take in The Netherlands, France, Belgium and possibly Switzerland / Denmark or Sweden. This will be the first time that the bulk of the 2nd album will be played live 

After that we will be concentrating on festivals and hopefully be heading to the USA as well. While all that is going on, we will be looking at recording a live album to be released later in 2008, so a lot of the shows we do through 2008 will be recorded. Finally, we have just been taken on a great promoter in the UK. We are very happy and honoured to be associated with them. In conjunction with them, The Reasoning are planning an Autumn Tour of the UK. Again this will be a 9 date tour where we hope to be playing places we haven't visited yet, such as Scotland and Ireland, plus the usual haunts we love to play. 

It is unlikely that we will be playing one off gigs in 2008, but never say never. Our approach is now to become a "Touring" unit and therefore allowing us to find our feet / flow as musicians and as a band. The Reasoning is a long term situation and we intend to make sure that things are done on a higher / more professional basis. We need to know what we have planned for the year as it will allow us to write more and cater for other markets that want us to play. 

And finally, the standard HRH question. Is there anything further you would like to mention that we haven't covered so far? 

If you want to catch up all the latest news and happenings within The Reasoning camp then come pay us a visit at www.thereasoning.com or www.myspace.com/thereasoninguk and join our ever expanding community.  It would be amazing to see you there.  Also, we have a Forum set up at - http://thereasoning.forumup.co.uk/ where you can talk to like minded people about many things aside from just The Reasoning.  The band also stop by from time to time, so again, it would be great to see you there. 

Finally, I / we would just like to thank everyone that has supported this band from the word go.  It means so much to us and I hope you continue to enjoy what we do for a long time to come.  We will be around for a long time to come and promise to get out there as much as we can to play for you all.  Also, thank you Dougie for this great interview.  It has been a lot of fun and keep up the great work at Hard Rock House.  Take care and be good. 

To find out more about The Reasoning, as Matthew mentioned you can visit their website @ www.thereasoning.com  and you can check out the HRH review of Awakening via this link