As a member of Sound Of Contact, Dave Kerzner saw his reputation and profile soar, but after a messy split from the band, his direction was uncertain. Prog talked with him in 2014 as he released his debut solo album New World.
Fancy making an album with Neil Peart, Keith Emerson or Colin Edwin? Dave Kerzner can arrange that for you, and for only a few hundred dollars.
Though he rose to prominence as a member of Sound Of Contact, keyboardist, songwriter and now vocalist Kerzner has kept body and soul together since the mid-90s with Sonic Reality. He runs this software/sound design company with fellow keyboard whizz Erik Norlander, building up a library of instrumental samples from Peart, Emerson, Edwin and many more major names. Their latest comes from Nick Mason, no less.
“Nick’s drums were recorded for us by Alan Parsons,” Kerzner tells Prog from his offices in Miami, Florida. “I reunited them for the first time since the 70s to recreate that classic Pink Floyd drum sound.”
Sonic Reality’s mission is, Kerzner says, “To honour these musicians in a classy way, and make these sounds accessible to all musicians. If you don’t have a major label and tons of money, there are ways of sounding like you do have that budget.”
Money has been no object on Kerzner’s upcoming star-spangled solo album. He looked to crowd-funding site Kickstarter to finance New World, initially setting a target of $17,000. At the time of press, the total stands near a whopping $32,000, with 600 backers eager to hear the fruits of his labour.
“At this point in my life, I’m not going for massive commercial success. I want to make the music I like, but it’s difficult to afford. Go to a label and say, ‘I want to do a 140-minute album,’ they’ll say, ‘Okay! Goodbye!’ But the fans are interested in it. I asked online if they’d prefer a single or double CD and almost everyone said double. So I presented my idea on Kickstarter, played clips, and that’s what made the album possible. It gave me the headroom to do everything without compromise. I’ve kept my backers informed, and the feedback I’ve got is that they love the ride. It’s been an adventure.”
With a guitar solo supplied by Steve Hackett, the 10-minute-plus track Stranded gives a flavour of the album. Kerzner has terraformed a future world that’s atmospheric, conceptual and none-more-prog. Here he casts his lead protagonist out into the desert, and across the record he must trek back to his bio-dome city with seemingly malevolent machines, wise shamans and much soul-searching along the way.
The result is testament to Kerzner’s keen eye for prog glories past, and also his shrewd engineer’s ear for what today’s tech can bring to the template. “My general thing is to be eclectic. You’ll hear all sorts of stuff: Genesis, Queen, King Crimson, Beatles. I like to think in a way that serves the song, having one foot in nostalgia, one in the modern world.”
It’s his first time as lead vocalist. His pleasing tones perhaps evoke Eric Woolfson in parts, David Gilmour in others, and he’s backed by a bona fide who’s who of prog, no samples required. Talk about the sound of contacts – Kerzner’s address book bulges with names: Hackett, Francis Dunnery, Heather Findlay and Nick D’Virgilio, his former bandmate in the late Kevin Gilbert’s unit, Thud. “Sometimes I wonder, ‘What would Kevin think of this?’ I wrote My Old Friend in my version of his style, his wordplay. I always held him in high regard. He crops up here as a person helping the lead character, like a guardian angel as he goes from darkness to light.”
It’s not hard to find the allegory here, nor the significance of the album’s title. New World marks a fresh start for Kerzner, a hopeful, positive end to a year that began on a sour note in January with the news that he’d officially left Sound Of Contact. After the warm reception for Dimensionaut, their 2013 tour had ended shakily with their July date at Lorelei’s Night Of The Prog festival, where their set was plagued by technical gremlins.
“That was the last time I saw Simon,” says Kerzner. His tone implies that it still rankles. “We had to cut our set short because our American-powered gear wasn’t working. I was in Miami when the announcement was made in January that we had decided to go our separate ways. It was a mutual decision.
“They didn’t kick me out and I didn’t bail on them either, but from that July to January, certain attitudes and band politics had changed. I really wanted it to work, but for a band to stick it out takes everyone working toward the same goal, to be able to share and also be willing to give credit where it’s due.”
Purportedly ‘mutual’ and ‘amicable’, the falling out was actually such that Collins and Kerzner haven’t spoken since. “I talk to pretty much everyone else in the band except Simon, and it’s sad. We were good friends and I miss him, and I’m disappointed how it was done. But that’s all water under the bridge now, and I’m doing this. I’m hungry to do it on my own, with this great support cast. I’m proud of Dimensionaut and the validation from that was incredible, but this is my personal next phase, my follow-up.”
You might have thought the album’s star line-up would make it untourable, but there are plans to form a core ‘New World’ band featuring Fernando Perdomo (who contributes most of New World’s guitar and bass), Miami drummer Derek Cintron, and vocalist Durga McBroom, who sings on New World and whose Pink Floyd credits include work on The Endless River. The star turns would appear at shows as and when schedules permit.
“Having Colin, Heather, Francis show up and play with us would be killer,” says Kerzner. “I love playing live and I miss it. I’ve been itching to get out and play some Sound Of Contact songs and some of these new ones.”
As Dunnery himself once memorably sang, there’s a whole new world out there. Dave Kerzner’s finding his way to it.
