Electronic pop is a red rag for many progheads - especially when remixes come into play. Daniel Tompkins, as the singer of TesseracT one of the most important protagonists of the modern prog scene, was not prevented from steering in exactly this direction with his first solo album "Castles".
eclipsed: When did you decide you wanted to record a solo album?
Daniel Tompkins: I started writing "Castles" with my producer Eddie Head almost four years ago. But when the album was finished, I always postponed the release and also had a full tour calendar with TesseracT. It was in a folder on my computer for four years, including artwork. Only recently did I feel ready for this chapter. When I had signed with Kscope, I took it out again and reworked everything again.
eclipsed: "Castles" is stylistically very different from your previous projects. How did you determine the musical route?
Tompkins: We experimented with different sounds for a couple of months to get a palette that felt right. We always returned to this gloomy electronic atmosphere and found that it transported the right weight. At the time of songwriting, I was creatively pretty burned out. Working with a partner helped me get back into a good mood. We talked at length about different ideas and finally decided to focus on relationships - something I had never discussed before in my texts.
eclipsed: Did the content concept originate from the feeling the music conveyed?
Tompkins: We started with a basic idea and developed some short stories on this basis. That and the musical design of the songs went hand in hand.
