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Fates Warning History

In 1983, John Arch(vocals), Jim Matheos(guitar), Victor Arduini(guitar), Joe DiBiase(bass), and Steve Zimmerman (drums) got together to form Fates Warning, but for the time being where called the Misfits. Originally they were in cover bands in the Connecticut. They also released Soldier Boy on Metal Massacre 5.

In 1984, they released Night On Bröcken after having been signed to Metal Blade. In 1985, they released The Spectre Within. In 1986, Victor Arduini leaves, and is replaced by Frank Aresti joins. Also Awaken the Guardian is released.

In 1987, John Arch leaves to become a family man and is replaced by Ray Alder. Ray's first audition song was the Quietus from The Ivory Gates of Dreams.

In 1988, No Exit is released and reaches #111 on the US Billboard. They also made their first video Silent Cries. They also had their first full American tour in this year. Steve Zimmerman leaves and is replaced by Mark Zonder.

In 1989, Perfect Symmetry is released. The video for Through Different eyes is made, too. They also got their first European tour. In 1990, the second leg of the Perfect Symmetry tour begins along with the European tour's second leg. In 1991, Parallels is released and the video for Point of View is made.

In 1992, the American tour for Parallels begins. Also, the video for Eye to Eye is made. In 1993, First Impressions, Jim Matheos' solo debut is released. Fates Warning headlines the Wacken festival in Germany.

In 1994, John Arch makes a special appearance at a Fates Warning show in Connecticut. Inside Out is released and the video for Monument is made. In 1995, Chasing Time, a greatest hits album is released.

In 1996, Joe DiBiase leaves to become a family man and is replaced by Joey Vera. Frank Aresti departs also. In 1997, A Pleasant Shade of Gray is released. Kevin Moore of Dream Theater fame does the keys on the album. The tour for A Pleasant Shade of Grey begins. Currently Fates Warning is planning their third leg of the tour. There will also be a second guitarist this time around. It has been confirmed that it will be Bernie Versailles former guitarist for Agent Steel. There are also rumors that John Arch may perform with the band on one night. Also, there will be a live video and album out soon. The release date for the video is March 24, 1998. The album should be out by the end of the year and it will be a double CD!

Questions About Concerning The Members of Fates Warning

Q: What are past members doing now?
A: Steve Zimmerman is in a new band called Eleventh Hour. Frank Aresti is rumored to be a teacher somewhere but probably in Connecticut. John Arch is working in Connecticut as a carpenter. Joe DiBiase is also working in Connecticut, too. Jim Matheos has made it clear that Joe will always have a spot in FW, though. Anyone know what Victor Arduini is doing now?

Q: What were the former/present members of FW doing before joining FW?
A: Mark Zonder was in a band called Warlord. Joey Vera was in Armored Saint. Frank Aresti was in a band called Demonaxe which had a demo out. Joe DiBiase was never in a major band, but he was in some high school bands. Ray Alder was in a band called Syrus.

Q: What bands/musicians do the members of FW listen to?
A: Matheos and Zonder were both into "classic" metal when they were young. Now they listened to Marillion, King's X, Dream Theater, Tribe After Tribe, Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, and Melissa. Ray Alder says that he used listen to Rob Halford(Judas Priest) and Steve Perry(Journey). But he now listens to Sarah McLachlan and Edie Brickell.

Q: What other bands has FW played with?
A: Dream Theater, Joey Vera, Planet Hate, Omen, Scanner, Sanctuary, Dead On, Hallow's Eve, Powermad, Divine Regale and others.

Q: Will the band ever get together to do a whole album in one location?
A: The members of FW have made it clear that they argue about little things too much if they're all together. So, no they won't.

Q: Are FW on the Internet at all?
A: Jim Matheos has given two IRC chats, so he might. Ray Alder has said that he doesn't own a computer, but he knows that they have a following on here. While John Arch has made an appearance a couple of times on the Dream Theater mailing list. Also, it's rumored that FW is on Parallels, the Offical Fates Warning mailing list.

Q: Are any of the members doing any side projects?
A: Yes, Mark Zonder and Joey Vera are in Kevin Moore's project called ChromaKey which has been signed to Massacre Records. 'Dead Air For Radios' will be released on June 8th, 1998. There are chances of a possible tour with Kevin Moore.

Q: What song did Ray Alder audition with, and how many other singers did they consider before deciding on Ray Alder?
A: Ray Alder stated in the Chasing Time liner notes that he auditioned with Quietus for The Ivory Gates of Dreams. FW only auditioned one other singer before selecting Ray.

Q: Why did Frank Aresti leave?
A: The band seems to see this in two ways...

Ray has said that he doesn't know for sure. But that Frank called up one night out of the blue, and he didn't want to tour. Ray has also stated that Frank wants "to do his own thing."

While, Mark Zonder has stated that Frank didn't want to tour. The band, as a whole, had to fired him. It had nothing to do with personal tastes, but rather with the fact that FW needs to support itself.

Q: What is Frank Aresti doing now?
A: His new band is called "All That Is", they are not signed yet so there is no CD available. They put together three demos and have them out to all of the major labels. The band is very picky and actually doesn't want offers from non-major labels. Frank is the lead vocalist.

Q: What was the difference without Joe DiBiase and Frank Aresti helping with APSoG?
A: Ray has stated that since it was just the three of them, that they were tighter and that made a world of difference.

Q: How come FW hired a keyboardist instead of a second guitarist?
A: They thought that Jim Matheos would play all the guitars on the album. But they needed someone to play the keyboards. They were going to hire Andre Corbin(ex-Helstar) to be the second guitarist on tour but they decided that they didn't need him at the moment.

Q: Who were the other people who could have gotten the keyboard spot on APSoG?
A: Hugh Syme was one of their choices. He has done some artwork for the past couple FW albums, and some Rush albums. He has even guested some Rush albums! Their other choice was Kevin Gilbert but he pasted away shortly before the album.

Q: Did Kevin Moore write the keyboard parts for APSoG?
A: No, Jim Matheos wrote all of the keyboard music.

Q: Any chance that Kevin Moore might join FW?
A: No, Jim Matheos has said that he will probably never get Kevin Moore to join FW.

Q: Who was the keyboardist for the tour?
A: Ed Roth, who is a "really good player and a super nice guy," is the new keyboardist.

Q: Who will be the keyboardist for the second leg of the tour?
A: Jason Keazer of Divine Regale will have the honor of playing with FW on every night of the tour.

Questions about the Music and Behind the Scenes

Q: What is the theme of Parallels?
A: It's about the relationship of the band members to each other and to the audience.

Q: How many units did Parallels sell?
A: Parallels sold about 150,000 copies.

Q: What's special about the album Parallels' lyrics?
A: The lines that begin the album are very similar to the lines that end the album.

Beginning--
"and here we are again
the door is closed behind us
and the long road lies ahead
where do we go from here"
Ending--
"and here we are again
the doors close behind us
and the road goes on and on..."

Q: Are there any unreleased/unrecorded songs?
A: There are no real unreleased or unrecorded songs.

Q: What is FWs opinion about MTV?
A: Well, Jim Matheos doesn't watch MTV, he boycotts it. Even though he'll do an interview with them every once in a while.

Q: What's up with the title Gay Head from First Impressions(Jim Matheos' solo album)?
A: Gay Head is a section of Martha's Vineyard that Jim Matheos goes to on vacations.

Q: I've read an interview with Jim Matheos, he thought FW had made a mistake by recording Parallels and Inside Out.
A: That's leave this one to Ray, shall we...

Parallels:
"That was...I don't know. Parallels had a lot of singles. That was a lot of fun. We all worked together in Toronto for five months writing and recording that album. It ended up being the biggest selling record we've ever had. It was very well put together. We worked every day. I still think it's one of our best."

And on Inside Out:
"We were a bit confused. We had some label problems and situations that I can't really get into. The band disbanded after Parallels, because we were so frustrated with all the bullshit and politics that you have to put up with in this industry. When we met up for Inside Out, it was a weird point in our career where we weren't gung-ho about the whole thing like we were on Parallels. I think it hurt the record, the vibe hurt the record."

Q: How much time did it take to make APSoG?
A: It took about a year to write the song. And it took about six weeks to record and mix the album.

Q: Why did it take so long to write it?
A: The members of FW live in various parts of the US, and they send tapes back and forth. So you can blame it on the US postal system.

Q: What's the concept behind APSoG?
A: Here's what Ray didn't sing on APSoG...

"It's more a common thread than a concept, really. There's really no concept that the entire album is built on. The lyrics all deal with different things, although there is a reoccurring main theme throughout the songs. Basically it's about the emotion we've all laid in bed at night and wondered, "What the hell is going on? Where am I going?" That's what it deals with."

Q: Why is it that I had a hard time finding APSoG?
A: Here's what Ray Alder had to say about this...
"The biggest problem we're having right now is with RED Distribution. They're supposed to be a division of Sony, I don't know. We've had battles with the record company about this whole thing. We were actually on Billboard's "Heat Seeker" with an entry at #37 which is the first time we've ever been in Billboard Magazine in our nine years. The week this album came out we sold so many units that it was a big surprise to everyone. What the RED folks had distributed was a mediocre amount of records. They were gone and sold out. No records were available for shipment until two weeks later."

Q: If APSoG is supposed to be one song, why it is broken into 12 parts?
A: Here's what Ray Alder had to say about this...

"It really is just one song. The reason that it's in 12 parts is for the sake of our listeners. We had made it in demo form before and I listened to it in my car. The whole time I had to sit and fast forward to try to get to a part I wanted to re-listen to the CD. I came up with suggestion to put some edit points in there. Now everyone thinks that it's 12 sections. It runs seamlessly."

Q: I heard that the band has started making up nicknames for different parts of APSoG. What are the nicknames for the different sections?
A: Tracks 5 and 6 are the Marillion Section.

Q: I've heard that there's going to be a live video from the APSoG tour. Is this true?
A: Yes it is true. A film crew was with FW in Europe for three weeks. The crew filmed and recorded every show. They also filmed on the bus, backstage and on the sight-seeing trips. Ray has said that it might be a movie with a soundtrack with old and new material.

Q: How come FW doesn't tour [insert where you live here]?
A: FW doesn't sell well enough over there.

Q: Who's singing harmony with Ray Alder on APSoG?
A: No one, that's all Ray. In the background, the voices are Terry, Mark and Bill Metoyer.

Q: How did FW get the idea to do one big song?
A: After Joe DiBiase and Frank Aresti left the band, Ray Alder, Mark Zonder, and Jim Matheos were just thinking about what to do next. Since they had already gained some success from airplay on their last couple of records, they thought they should write a song for themselves. Jim Matheos thought up the idea to do one album-long song. So, that they wouldn't have to worry about MTV or radio success. Or as Ray Alder puts it, "it would be for true progressive rock fans and for ourselves."

Q: On which albums have FW done this mail-the-music system?
A: Perfect Symmetry, Inside Out, and APSoG.

Q: How does this mail-the-music system work?
A: Jim Matheos writes the music, and then he sends it out to Mark Zonder and Ray Alder. Mark gets a drum beat. Then Ray gets that tape and writes a vocal melody, and then Ray sends it back to Jim. Next Jim writes the lyrics to the melody and they work everything out over the phone and through the mail and eventually they have enough music written so that they can actually get together.