KAMELOT Members Discuss Upcoming Album, Tour

KAMELOT's official web site recently conducted an interview with frontman Roy Khan and guitarist Thomas Youngblood. The question-and-answer session follows below.

Kamelot.com: So we're getting very excited about the upcoming tour and new album. Can you tell us something about the new CD and maybe some of the song titles?

Thomas: It's going great, and we feel we are continuing to grow musically and also explore new sounds for the band.

Khan: Yes, the topics on this album are diverse and we are curious to see the interpretation of the fans for these songs. Some of the titles include "The Great Pandemonium", "Hunter's Season" and "Thespian Drama", to name a few.

Thomas: Also we are going with Seth Siro Anton for the cover art. We have seen some of the first ideas and they look fantastic. Release is hopeful for late spring early summer.

Kamelot.com: Most of us know that you were on SPV Records with "Ghost Opera" and they have since claimed insolvency. How did that affect KAMELOT and the new album?

Thomas: Our deal with SPV was finalized before they claimed insolvency, there are still some small legal matters to finalize but it hasn't changed the process of this album. We have been very slow in choosing a new partner for the next album and there have been quite some offers from all of the relevant labels in the genre. We hope to have the final agreements in place very soon.

Kamelot.com: So let's discuss the touring coming up. First you will tour European this spring. What can we expect?

Khan: This tour will be the start of the most intense and widespread touring ever. Of course we plan to take the show another notch up in performance, lighting and sound. The new tour will obviously feature songs from the new album and will be themed around the new release. In addition we will play some songs that we have not played in a while and also one or two we have never played.

Thomas: Also we are planning to have a person on the entire tour filming behind the scenes, talking to fans, shots from the stage... everything; well, almost everything we do on tour. This footage will eventually be on our next DVD. So smile if you see our man Pako with a camera in your face!

Kamelot.com: I noticed you have two shows in Oslo. Will they be different from each other?

Khan: Each night will have unique opening acts and the KAMELOT stage set will be different in look and design. The set we play for each night will be altered as well, something we also plan for the shows in Tilburg and Amsterdam.

Kamelot.com: You recently posted that you will have a new singer on the tour, Elize Ryd. Can you tell us more about Elize?

Thomas: I first heard about Elize after checking out our friend Jake E's band AMARANTHE. We liked the band and also liked Elize's voice. We were casually looking for a new singer for the next tour and we thought she would be perfect.

Roy: Yea, AMARANTHE will open for us in Sweden, Finland and Norway. So fans of Elize will get to see her quite a bit on this tour.

Kamelot.com: Great news for North America, you announced a tour there for fall of 2010!

Roy: Yes, we will return to North America and hit some new cities as well as longtime favorites.

Thomas: I am excited about the tour! Playing the Nokia in New York will be a blast! Also returning to Canada, I love Montreal. I also have some longtime friends living in Toronto and have been there many times when not touring.

Kamelot.com: Also your first concert in Orlando. We have gotten emails from all over the Southeast about this show. I guess Orlando is also a huge vacation area, so fans are combining the show with holidays. We have even gotten emails from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean countries as well about the Orlando show.

Thomas: Yeah, that's awesome. It will be a blast and we look forward to that entire tour!