{"id":10303,"date":"2012-10-08T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T11:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=10303"},"modified":"2012-10-04T08:23:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T12:23:36","slug":"blowin-wind-with-kamelots-thomas-youngblood-it-doesnt-matter-who-sings-for-kamelot-well-always-be-kamelot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=10303","title":{"rendered":"Blowin’ Wind with Kamelot’s Thomas Youngblood: “\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who sings for Kamelot. We\u2019ll always be Kamelot.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the last 20+ years, guitarist Thomas Youngblood has been pouring his blood, sweat, and tears into his symphonic, epic metal band Kamelot. Over the years Kamelot has released some highly fan and critically acclaimed albums such as Epica<\/em>, The Black Halo<\/em>, and Ghost Opera<\/em>. After the departure of long time vocalist Roy Khan many wondered what would come to be of Kamelot. Kamelot returned to the top of the hill boasting a new vocalist in Tommy Kaverik while also boasting a new found energy all the while keeping true to the Kamelot legacy. In October, Kamelot with release their 10th album entitled Silverthorn<\/em> and the first to feature Kaverik on vocals. On a recent tour stop I had the opportunity to speak with Thomas on the phone and we talked about the excitement surround the new Kamelot album, his enthusiasm for this new chapter in the Kamelot history, and his love for Queensryche among other things. This was a great interview and I really enjoyed getting to know more about Thomas Youngblood. I hope you will too. Enjoy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas thanks so much for taking the time out to speak with me today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not a problem Don. Thanks for doing this.<\/p>\n

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I caught the 2nd sold out Atlanta show with Nightwish and I was made a fan right away from seeing show.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s really cool to hear. Thank you so much. That was a great show. That was the beginning of the tour and it\u2019s just been going really well. The tour has been great so far.<\/p>\n

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Every time I mention Kamelot around my wife, she always says, \u201cKamelot with a \u2018K\u2019?\u201d That sparks the question why a \u201cK\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] Well, we just wanted to do that to separate it from the whole Camelot tales and what not. For us, we were going for that European market in the beginning and that spelling kind of gives it a German look to it. We just wanted to set it apart from the typical \u201cCamelot.\u201d Also, a long time ago there was a record store called Camelot Music so we wanted to separate it from that so that when it came to internet searches, Kamelot with a \u201ck\u201d was pretty unique.<\/p>\n

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When I first heard Kamelot, I was shocked to find out you all were southern boys.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] Yeah, we hear that a lot.<\/p>\n

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Have you always been inspired by that European style of metal that you guys seem to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. Well our influences are everything from Classical music to European bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and even some of the European influenced American bands like Queensryche. Growing up I was definitely influenced by the European rock and metal stuff more than any of the American stuff. I think that bled into what we were doing. We were also able to bring in some classical elements to take it to another level.<\/p>\n

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As opposed to sounding like a lot of the more modern symphonic metal bands, Kamelot seems to have this old school vibe that really connected with me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks Don. At first, we really didn\u2019t know what we were doing. The first few records were basically just us trying to find our identity. When we got to the album Karma<\/em>, we really found our niche and our own sound. We were blending those classical influences with some new age influences and making the record really melodic yet also dark and melancholy. Those were the key identifiers with the band from that point on and with each record we just wanted to grow and try different things. We have the luxury of having open minded fans who are open to change and that\u2019s important especially with the changes that have happened recently.<\/p>\n

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The change you\u2019re talking about is the changing of lead vocalists from Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik. That\u2019s a huge change for any band to undergo. Has the addition of Tommy to the band opened doors to some new fans that may have been somewhat on the fence before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a band has to change a singer, it\u2019s hard. It is becoming more common now and I think people accept it more than they would have say 15 years ago. From the day we knew we had to make this change, we looked at it as an opportunity to not only continue at the same level but to grow as a band. Bringing in a guy like Tommy is not only going keep a good percentage of the older fans but he\u2019s going to be part of building a new fan base for Kamelot for the future. We didn\u2019t want to just rest on our laurels. We wanted to keep the door open and grow.<\/p>\n

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How did you guys actually find Tommy Karevik?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, it was the year before our ProgPower USA performance in 2012. Roy had quit so we brought in Michael Erikson from Circus Maximus to do that show but I wanted to bring in some different singers for the set to make it a unique experience. I found Tommy who was singing for the band Seventh Wonder who was also on the bill. From that point on he was on my radar. We brought him on as a guest vocalist for our European tour and he did backups and did one song a night. Once we started to write the new album, we sent him some tunes and told him we wanted to have him put his own vocal melodies and his own lyrics to the songs and he just knocked it out of the park. That\u2019s when we knew we had our guy.<\/p>\n

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I can totally understand how great this was for you because in addition to being able to sing the songs, you really want to have someone you can rely on in the creative process as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. First and foremost we wanted a guy with a great voice which he has. It\u2019s a superb voice and it\u2019s unique. Second, the fact that he can write is a great asset to have. For me, I always want the vocalist to write the melodies and the lyrics if possible because they can convey the message better. We were really fortunate to find someone with all of those aspects in their toolbox.<\/p>\n

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You actually went through a lengthy audition process to find a vocalist before choosing Tommy Karevik. I\u2019m sure you heard\/saw some pretty interesting submissions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] Oh yeah. Hundreds of YouTube clips, emails with videos attached to them and I listened to every single one of them. You can tell usually in the first five seconds of it\u2019s even someone worth listening to. There were some interesting ones [laughs]. I mean, I don\u2019t want to be disrespectful to anyone but there were some that were really, really good and some that were really terrible [laughs]. There were a lot of really great singers but then it all came down to if they could speak English, where they live, is it logistically possible for them to be in the band? These kinds of things are very important factors on top of just being a great vocalist.<\/p>\n

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Kamelot is based out of Florida. Why go with a European vocalist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, being that our previous vocalist was from Norway, Sweden really wasn\u2019t that much different. Why we decided to have singers from two of the most expensive countries in Europe is a whole other story [laughs]. There\u2019s just something about the Scandinavian approach to vocals. There\u2019s just something about the way that they sing that has this really nice melodic feel to it. I think that\u2019s what attracted me to the Scandinavian vocalists even though we listened to everybody from everywhere in the world. There was even a guy in Greece who sounded identical to Roy (Khan; previous vocalist) but we just felt like that it wasn\u2019t good for him or for us to find someone who was basically a clone.<\/p>\n

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That makes a lot of sense because you don\u2019t really want to back step. You want to progress and go into a different realm with a new vocalist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exactly. We love what we\u2019ve done and it doesn\u2019t make sense to try and change it too much but we also want to make sure we aren\u2019t repeating ourselves and that we are adding new twists to the new lineup. It\u2019s a little bit of a balancing act and I think we were able to really get it perfect with Tommy. The vibe of the music is still 100% Kamelot. We didn\u2019t intend on re-inventing the band. That wasn\u2019t our goal at all. The approach we had from day one was that we looked at it as if any other member of the band had left. It doesn\u2019t matter who sings for Kamelot. We\u2019ll always be Kamelot.<\/p>\n

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Kamelot is about to release its 10th album and first with new vocalist Tommy Karevik. You must be both ecstatic and nervous at the same time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not nervous at all. I\u2019m really happy with the record and reviews so far have been amazing. I know that the songs are killer and there are some amazing choruses on this record. I\u2019m not really nervous about it. I\u2019m excited and looking forward to it finally coming out. I wish it was coming out now instead of October 30th [laughs]. It\u2019s exciting. As long as you do your best with a record and put a lot of hard work into it, you can\u2019t really worry too much about it. If you know you did your best, stressing over the potential reactions isn\u2019t really helpful.<\/p>\n

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What role did Tommy play in the creative process behind Silverthorn<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It started with me and Oliver our keyboard player working on songs. He came to Florida for a few weeks and I went to Germany for a couple of weeks and we started working with our producer Sasha and going over arrangements. Then we brought Tommy in to start putting down vocal melodies and lyrics. That was the basic way that it works. In the studio it was mainly Tommy and Sasha working on vocal melodies and they actually worked on some songs together as well. It was a really great and cool kind of collaboration of the creative forces of the band to make this record. This was nice for me to kind of not have to be 100% involved with every single aspect of it. It\u2019s a little bit of a nice luxury to have these people that I can trust to work all these things out.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s got to be great to feel like you can relinquish some control to somebody knowing that they have the best interest of you and the rest of Kamelot in mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, definitely. That\u2019s the cool thing about having people around that are super talented and in some aspects more talented than me. Bringing Oliver in as one of the songwriters now is a really cool thing because now I know the future of the band, in terms of songwriting and bringing in those classical elements, will be secure.<\/p>\n

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Kamelot\u2019s albums in the past have seemed to work around a particular theme of sorts. Will Silverthorn<\/em> be based around a concept or theme as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Silverthorn<\/em> is based in the 19th century and it revolves around this family that has experienced a series of tragic events that are wrapped up in mystery and betrayal. I don\u2019t want to tell too much about the story but it\u2019s a concept record and one of the things we will be offering the fans is a limited edition 44 page book with the full story which is really cool. We always try to make sure that the fans who are buying our records get everything that they can for their money.<\/p>\n

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I was a huge of those thematic and even conceptual albums growing up and I still am. Were you a big fan of those kinds of records growing up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh totally and even so with great album covers. I used get lost in great album artwork like those Iron Maiden covers. I was a huge fan of Operation Mindcrim<\/em>e. Those kinds of records are an escape just as long as you make sure the songs are strong and not too abstract.<\/p>\n

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What do you think is the greatest concept album of all time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man. I don\u2019t think I can say that there is one great one. Of course I like The Wall<\/em> and Operation: Mindcrime<\/em>. I love Kamelot\u2019s Black Halo<\/em> [laughs].<\/p>\n

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For someone who is just discovering Kamelot, where would you say would be the best place to start listening to the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say start with Silverthorn<\/em> since this is going to be the sound of the band for the next many years. Start with that one and then I would say go back to Karma<\/em> or Black Halo<\/em>. We\u2019ll see how Silverthorn<\/em> stacks up. I mean, I think it\u2019ll be cool for the fans to hear it and decide where they want to place it but the record really came out great and I\u2019m super proud of it.<\/p>\n

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Thomas, let\u2019s learn a little about you. What made you want to be a musician in the first place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Um, I kind of needed it at the time. I had lost my father and I didn\u2019t live with my mom so I kind of got lost in music and then I just lost myself in playing the guitar. It became an escape for me and it kept me from taking the wrong path. I started doing it purely for the escape p art of it and at some point I felt that I had a knack for making unique riffs. I formed a band and from the beginning started making original music. I worked a day job and did Kamelot as a hobby but that was the reason I started being a musician.<\/p>\n

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What was the first band you ever had?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man, I had a little band that played some cover songs and I can\u2019t even remember our name. It was just a band with a couple of fans of mine and actually the original drummer for Kamelot was in it. It wasn\u2019t like one of those things where I was in like 10 different bands before I formed Kamelot.<\/p>\n

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What was the first concert you ever attended?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to a Yes concert when I was 12 years old and it blew my mind. They had the round stage in the middle of the arena which was really unique back then. That was my first concert and then my second concert was Styx. I was a little kid listening to some odd stuff [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Did those early shows play any part in inspiring you to do what you are doing with Kamelot now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh sure. Also, my cousin is a Grand Ole Opry guitar player. He\u2019s been playing there for years so he was also an inspiration for me to go into music. He toured with Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed. His name is Kerry Marx. He\u2019s like Mr. Nashville Guitar Player [laughs]. I grew up watching him and being around him playing gigs was a really cool thing.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve heard that you are a jazz fan. Besides jazz, are there any musical acts that we would be surprised to hear you were a fan of?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yeah. I have a lot of diverse interests. I like new age music, film score music, and even some pop music. I don\u2019t really dig too much country and I don\u2019t like rap [laughs]. Other than that I\u2019m pretty open minded to different types of music.<\/p>\n

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If you could play guitar for any band, of any era who would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man. I wouldn\u2019t mind playing with Queen when Freddie Mercury was alive. Queen was one of my favorite bands growing up and Freddie Mercury is like my all time favorite vocalist.<\/p>\n

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Mercury was so amazing and Brian May never ceases to amaze me. It\u2019s amazing how much of his influence I can hear in some metal guitarists.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. He\u2019s so understated which I really dig. I like that approach where he wasn\u2019t so flashy but he was so unique. To me, that\u2019s more important than anything.<\/p>\n

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If you had to be remembered for ONE body of work, what would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably is The Elizabeth Trilogy<\/em>. Being able to blend all of the elements that are essential to the band, I just feel that it encompasses everything that is Kamelot.<\/p>\n

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In your opinion, what is the ultimate heavy metal album? One that, in your opinion, best defines the genre?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s not just one [laughs]. For me, I think it was Piece of Mind<\/em> by Iron Maiden, Operation: Mindcrime<\/em>, Yngwie Malmsteen\u2019s Rising Force<\/em>. Those were the kind of albums that were groundbreaking albums.<\/p>\n

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So obviously you\u2019re a big Queensryche fan. I\u2019m curious to hear another fan\u2019s opinion on the whole split up between the band and Geoff Tate and now having two Queensryches.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure man. I\u2019ll have to see how that whole thing plays out [laughs]. It\u2019s a weird situation for me because Kamelot has gone through a similar thing. I know Todd and he\u2019s a super passionate guy and I know he\u2019s going to give 100%. I want to hear what the new record will sound like. I mean, I still miss Chris DeGarmo. Stuff happens and sometimes people just don\u2019t get along anymore. It\u2019s part of the business where people are accepting change more. I was more surprised at how accepting the Queensryche fans were regarding their change. I think people just understand more that it\u2019s not just about the singer but about the whole band.<\/p>\n

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If Kamelot could tour with any band, who would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably Iron Maiden. We did some shows with Maiden and I think a full Maiden tour would be a blast.<\/p>\n

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A buddy of mine and I were joking earlier that it would be funny to see Kamelot and Holy Grail tour together and we could bring a bunch of killer bunnies to the shows.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yeah [laughs]. That\u2019s pretty funny.<\/p>\n

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When on the road, what is your favorite food to indulge in both here and in Europe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man, here in the US I try to eat healthy because there\u2019s so much fast food here. In Europe, you can never get a good burger so if we always try to find a Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 in the major cities and have a good old American style burger.<\/p>\n

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Do you have any words of advice to anyone out there with dreams of pursuing music as a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say to make sure you don\u2019t put all your eggs into one basket. Try to be as original as possible and learn your craft. Learn how to write songs. It\u2019s a tough business so make sure you have a \u201cPlan B.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Finish this sentence: If I wasn\u2019t a musician I would be….<\/strong><\/p>\n

An architect. I was actually going to school for architectural engineering so I would probably do that if I wasn\u2019t playing music and doing what I do now.<\/p>\n

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So speaking of, are we going to see another Kamelot tour in the near future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2013, I think in May, we\u2019ll be coming back for a North American headlining tour so we\u2019ll be coming back to Atlanta and all the major US cities.<\/p>\n

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Thomas, that sounds awesome so when you\u2019re back here in Atlanta, I\u2019ll buy you a beer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ll definitely take a beer [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Thomas, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today and best of luck to you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for doing this interview. I appreciate your support and I\u2019ll look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

For more on Kamelot, check out http:\/\/www.kamelot.com<\/a> and https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kamelotofficial<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last 20+ years, guitarist Thomas Youngblood has been pouring his blood, sweat, and tears into his symphonic, epic metal band Kamelot. Over the years Kamelot has released some highly fan and critically acclaimed albums such as Epica, The Black Halo, and Ghost Opera. After the departure of long time vocalist Roy Khan many wondered what would come to be of Kamelot. Kamelot returned to the top of the hill boasting a new vocalist in Tommy Kaverik while also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[851,843,850],"class_list":["post-10303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-interview","tag-kamelot","tag-thomas-youngblood"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}