Dead Rhetoric: How did the cover art come about – is it a collaborative process between artist and band and where do you see the importance of cover art to making a solid first impression for bands these days?
McArthur: That’s a good question. The easy part is, for Reunion I designed the album art. I do graphic design as well, and I try my best to create these cool, original pieces – and I had that brainstorm of that piece a long time ago. Sarah and I were hanging out one time and she said we should really use that piece as an album cover. There’s something to be said of the digital age- it used to be that album art was really important. I remember being a kid going to the CD store… that’s how I found out about Children of Bodom, I just saw their album art, hoped they were really good – and they were. Bands like Symphony X with Paradise Lost, another album cover that was cool and provocative. It’s definitely a part of the full package of the album and I still think has some importance, but it’s not about being an eye catcher these days as it is about providing the people who do get it with a full idea of what we want thematically for them to remember about this.
Darkest Days has cool colors, and a theme of someone lost in a raging ocean with the inadequate tools to traverse it – push on even though it looks like you aren’t going to be able to. I think album art does hold an important place in what you are trying to say about the album’s contents.
Dead Rhetoric: You’ve worked with members of Borealis like Matt Marinelli and Sean Dowell in terms of guest spots as well as recording and orchestration duties. What has their work and experience brought to the table to allow Solarus to become even stronger and better as a unit? Have they provided guidance or insight that would have taken you longer to achieve?
McArthur: It would be an understatement to say that Solarus would not be able to exist if it weren’t for the contributions of those guys. Sean in particular- he’s like-minded like me, a project workhorse that once something gets started he wants to bring it to fruition. The only reason why Solarus was able to have him was we met at a Nightwish show – and I have a running history with Borealis that now goes back about ten years. I auditioned to be their guitar player quite a long time ago, stylistically my guitar playing is in sync with them. The stars never aligned with that for a multitude of reasons, most likely location or not quite the right person. There would be someone either closer or a little better fit. Mike Briguglio for an example, he’s a great dude and had the shred skills like no other. And Ken Forbert, being an original member, creatively is so fantastic. They are where they needed to be. By the time I got to writing my own music, I had such a history with them that Sean knew I was supportive, and he just finished learning how to produce albums – and he just started dating Sarah at the time. It was a beautiful little, serendipitous moment that pushed forward at that show.
And Matt, obviously I couldn’t thank that guy enough for being a part of the first album. They played such a musical role in the development of my career, it felt so fitting to have them be a part of it as well. Borealis has played a huge role in helping us out. Admittedly we get this reputation in the Ontario area of being a sister band to Borealis – it’s totally reasonable. We acknowledge that we have to earn our way away from that and forge our own path. It’s what we are starting to do with this album, and the albums going forward.
I owe everything to those guys. We played our first show opening for those guys. They’ve helped us every step along the way.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe Solarus when it comes to your live shows/performances? What do you hope the audience is able to take away from your presentation and energy, and what have been some of your favorite shows to date?
McArthur: Well, to date… we are a very unconventional band in the sense that we’ve been together for four years and we’ve played only one show. We are about quality, not quantity- the opportunity came for us to open for Borealis and Seven Kingdoms and that was an amazing opportunity. We felt very comfortable on stage, there was no jitters or no sense of being unprepared. We loved being up there with each other – and we felt like we killed it. The crowd at the very least walked away saying it was a very emotional performance, a lot of people bought into us. They knew it was emotional content, you could see it in our faces. What I want people to walk away with us performing is to experience the musical joy with us. The desire to make this dream a reality, and the joy that comes with it.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your views on the local metal scene in your area of Canada? Do you think there is healthy support from the venues, followers, and bands themselves – or do certain genres and styles work better than others?
McArthur: The Toronto scene has been so cool, and once you get into it you find how interconnected it is. It doesn’t take a whole lot of networking before you run into someone who has worked with someone ridiculous. There is a bit of a favoritism to the grungier, thrashier styles of metal – which is to be expected as it’s the closest to the traditional form of North American metal. There’s a huge love and resurgence of power and progressive metal coming from Europe- in the forms of bands like At Dawn’s Edge, Astaroth Incarnate is a dark, atmospheric and symphonic band. Even my girlfriend and the stuff she’s done with Chicago bands like Diamorte, that project. Very cinematic and orchestral feeling metal bands, they are all fantastic. The Toronto scene is very passionate, the shows are packed and there is a reason why metal bands make it a point to stop in Toronto.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you see as some of the major challenges or obstacles facing Solarus in order for you to move up to the next level in terms of a career?
McArthur: To start, I’m not really sure where any of us are trying to make it a career, per se. We are all very grounded people, we have big boy jobs as they say. I think the reason we’ve worked so well is that we haven’t pursued that kind of avenue. We just do this because we love this. As a founder and the primary motivator in the financial realms, more money is always good but that’s an obvious answer. The reason we do what we do, we aren’t necessarily trying to make it into a career. We want things to happen organically, and if we remain a session/studio project and get to put out music every couple of years that people get to enjoy and listen to until the end of time, we are very happy with that too.
Dead Rhetoric: Who are some of the bands that you admire or key into that you believe are good role models for the type of professionalism and consistency that you would love to achieve with Solarus? And have you been able to have any personal interactions with musicians from these bands, either in person or online?
McArthur: Right off the bat, Borealis has been real awesome role models for the last ten years. I like their slow and steady approach to do things as best as they can, but not expect the world out of everything. They have that longevity because of that business model, and I’ve always wanted that to. Another one, my primary solo inspiration is guitar player Angel Vivaldi. He is one of my favorite guitar players- I’ve met him on a couple of occasions. Both times I couldn’t believe the ten minutes he dedicated to talking to me, really passionately offering me advice. It really helps that he’s an independent artist as well, that’s what Solarus prides itself on as we’ve done everything independently on our own time and money.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you handle setbacks or failures when it comes to your life or the band in general? Can you think back to a favorite failure that would later set you up for a future outcome that ended up being more positive in the end?
McArthur: Yeah, I can think of one. As a result of getting this album done, we had a bit of a frustrating scheduling blunder that frustrated everyone. We all dealt with as maturely as we could. The ultimate answer was to put our foot on the brakes. That’s our general consensus, the moment Solarus isn’t fun we take one really big step back and reassess. The moment things seemed out of place, we took a collective breath and said to ourselves why is this not fun right now? A job versus a love and passion for the music. Things got resolved real quick. In the two years we’ve been a band there hasn’t been a single issue other than that.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the ever-evolving music industry – do you find that people still appreciate physical mediums like vinyl, CD’s, etc. or have you adapted to the consumption model where digital and streaming platforms reign supreme?
McArthur: I’ve definitely adapted to the digital model. I can’t understate that while other genres are driven towards that end- the pop music scene especially inspired the digital sales era. In the metal scene though, there still is a desire for the physical copies. With Reunion it was a huge investment on my part, and the majority of the support was from local fans. There is something to be said when your project’s primary income that you do make back is from physical album sales. It’s far from dead- I don’t think the music industry has put a lot of emphasis on it because it’s not the cheapest source of distribution.
I’m a fan of the album format. There is something crystal clear about holding a physical vinyl or CD in your hand, that’s irreplaceable.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s in store for Solarus over the next twelve months to support the newest album? Are there any special side-project or activities from other members of Solarus that we should be prepared for?
McArthur: We have quite a few plans – we do have another music video we are planning. We are hoping to have that released shortly. We have two shows coming up in the Ontario area. Beyond that we have a couple of bands interested in setting up some shows in Montreal, so we are excited about that.