INTERVIEW: Chris Porcianko of Vanishing Point

As reported earlier, Australian melodic metal band Vanishing Point is reissuing their breakthrough 2000 album Tangled in Dream on the AFM label on February 3. I checked in with guitarist/songwriter (and all-around good guy) Chris Porcianko to discuss the album.

Photo Credit: Carl Frederick of Blazing Metal Photography

W&P: OK, let’s start with a bit of trivia that surprised me the most. I didn’t realize you came into the band with this album. I thought you were there from the beginning. Can you tell me how you came to join Vanishing Point?

CP: I joined the band in September 1997 after series of get-togethers. I had my own band Mindscape that split up the year before, and between that time I just played the acoustic guitar and was actually listening to a lot of stuff like The Tea Party and just jamming on the acoustic guitar. When I had a chance to try out for Vanishing Point it was relatively easy to get together with the guys and jam. We rehearsed three times a week in an unused factory, and in that time over a year or so we wrote Tangled in Dream. Twenty years later this year I’m still here heheheh just doing what I do and enjoying it most of the time.

W&P: Do you have a favorite song on Tangled in Dream? Something you’re particularly proud of creating?

CP: That’s a really hard one because they all are special to me but the one that I still enjoy playing after all these years is “Two Minds One Soul.” It’s straight ahead and just kicks in without all the bullshit velvet heheheh.

W&P: Velvet, that’s a good descriptor. So why reissue Tangled in Dream now? Was that the label’s idea? The band’s?

CP:It was a decision made by us and the record label due to the album being long out of print to a degree. We had many people over the years ask about it being re-released and we thought that now is a relatively good time to do it in between recording the new album and keeping focus on that while we are off the live gig runs for the time being .

W&P: Well, I’m really glad it happened, partially because it’s one of my favorite albums and I think way more people need to experience it, and partially because of all the bonus material. How did you decide what to include there?

CP: Ah cheers man. It pretty much came about as a result of playing “Samsara” live that we thought it would be cool to have the redone version on the second disc alongside the bonus tracks that were only released in Japan as well as a couple of cover versions that we did in our career. The whole thought behind it was to give the fans a bit of value for money in terms of hearing some of the tracks that otherwise they wouldn’t have heard otherwise and put it all on the second disc . AFM Records was instrumental in this because they had quite a few requests for these tracks as well so we pretty much went with the flow with that decision as it seemed to be a pretty good idea. Redoing “Samsara” was like a trip down memory lane because until last year we hadn’t played that song live for nearly 14 years and it was a crowd favorite back then so the choice was relatively easy. We had many people also ask if the album was going to be remixed/remastered and honestly we thought that it would be best to leave the album as it is because it is reflective of how we were in our younger years and secondly we honestly don’t have the accessible funds to take all the tracks and remix them as it’s a very expensive exercise for a band like us with limited funds.

Truth be told we don’t do this full time like many bands and the last thing we want to do is ask for funding from the fans because while there could be funding obtained though pledges etc., we are trying our best to do it ourselves. With the next album know knows, it might come to the point that we might start one, we honestly don’t know but we will keep our options open if financially we receive limited funding. We aren’t a big band; we are self-managed and in many degrees perhaps we aren’t a “gotta get on this hype” type of band in this industry which honestly I find quite challenging at times.

I may have opened a can of worms , I don’t know , I just speak from what I feel inside .

W&P: No, it’s good. I was going to ask about remastering, but after listening to the album again it really doesn’t need it. The crowdfunding part is interesting, and I could probably go on about that forever. I do want to change gears a bit and ask about ProgPower USA. How was that experience for you?

CP: Probably one of the highlights of our career thus far , we met many awesome people , had the opportunity to play to many people and in general it felt really nice to be on the bill with the ProgPower USA team who are really behind the music and look after the bands who play there. I have nothing but positive things to say about them and the whole experience. Hopefully one day we will return. We made many new friends and we also had a chance to finally meet friends who we were in contact with for many years, so it was a nice little trip.

W&P: OK, last one. When are we getting a new Vanishing Point album?

CP: In the second half of the year. Maybe fingers crossed one or two of us might be in your neighborhood to promote it then as well.

W&P: Nice. Those five year gaps between albums killed me. And I’m intrigued. It would be great to see you again.

CP: Thank you bro, always a pleasure.

The Tangled in Dream Special Edition is due February 3 on AFM Records. You can read the W&P review here.