BY RON EVANS
Local ministers of the gospel of Floyd, Artemidorus, are prepping for their follow up to their intergalactic Dark Side of the Moon premiere earlier this year. The group will now be taking on the 1975 Wish You Were Here LP in its entirety (in addition to a full performance of Dark Side) this September 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the Snowy Owl theater. I talked with Artemidorus founder/singer/guitarist Kris Lahd about this passion project and how the whole thing came together.
Tell us about the catalyst for forming the band - when and how it came together (were there auditions or was it hand assembled?)
Let me start by saying I’ve dreamed about performing Pink Floyd’s music since the live album Pulse came out in 1995. Well, in May of 2021 mid-pandemic, I played a live-stream show at the Snowy Owl theater in Leavenworth. After I packed up my gear, I was sitting on the stage looking around at the beautiful theater and I realized the time had come to perform Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and this was the place to do that. I started mentioning it to various musicians and got turned down initially and a couple even laughed at me saying, “ya right.” I chuckle to myself whenever I think about that now. I asked a long time friend Travis Grable about drumming and he took a week or so to think about it and came back with a “yes” and we started hand-picking the core ensemble. A friend invited me to watch Elaine Eagle perform in Leavenworth suggesting she might be able to tackle the epic piece “Great Gig in the Sky.” I was blown away watching her vocal performance and piano skills. I pitched the idea to her at the end of her set and she was interested. I sent her the song Great Gig and gave her 2 weeks to practice before coming in to audition. Needless to say she came in and completely nailed it.
Who all is involved with the group?
Randy Methard - guitar
Elaine Eagle - vocals & piano
Travis Grable Drums & vocals
Kevin Ohme - Bass guitar
Brad Petit - keyboard, synthesizer,
acoustic guitar
Mark Doelman - saxophone
& Hammond Organ
I sing and play guitar
Backing vocals
-Rachel Powers
-Erin McNamee
-Rhia Foster
I pinch myself daily and am most grateful to get the opportunity to make music with such a multitalented group of musicians. Other than typical rehearsal squabbles, we all get along swimmingly. I regularly take a moment to think about how lucky we all are to have 10 people getting along with a common goal because it is something that doesn’t happen very often. I mean Mark drives from the Spokane area weekly for rehearsals. This is a very special thing we’ve assembled here.
Are you solely performing entire LPs at the live shows or are there other songs on the setlist as well?
The core of the shows so far have been the performance of LPs in their entirety. We are really trying to represent what it is like to sit down and listen to an entire record versus a playlist, you know, like in the “olden days!”
All kidding aside it seems to have become a lost joy in recent times. Pink Floyd albums work as a complete piece of music and the songs act as different movements of the whole. So we are purposefully not pausing or making small talk between songs. I’ll tell you it’s a challenge and is quite exhausting to do, but no matter how many times we play through these albums even in rehearsal, we all agree that it still feels like quite the accomplishment.
Having said that, we are learning and performing some stand-alone songs as well.
I’m curious how it works for tribute bands. Do you have to get the rights to perform these songs and/or use any imagery relating to the source material?
We are able to perform these songs because they are still cover songs and venues pay licensing fees through ASCAP and BMI so any band can perform cover songs for an audience. Imagery or logos have to have a certain percentage of measurable differentiators to remain out of lawsuit territory. As we continue on we will shoot and edit our own stage films for the shows.
Tell us about the name of the band, and how often do people say it correctly?
“Art-Uh-Meedrus” is the correct pronunciation
Interesting story, I always keep a journal for “creative ideas” handy for anything from ideas for films, books, songs, titles etc… about two years ago I was watching some docu-show on TV and I heard the name “Artemidorus.” I liked it so I scribbled it down in my ideas journal. Jump to March 2022 we needed a name so I started flipping through my journal pages and saw that page and it said:
“Artemidorus, first studier of dreams - possible song title”
In that moment I thought, now that’s the name of a band!
Artemidorus was the first documented studier of dreams in Ancient Greece. This project had been a longtime personal dream of mine, so it really stuck for me. The rest of the band was “not opposed,” which is high-marks when it comes to naming a band. I think Brad Petit has finally stopped giving me shit about how to pronounce our own name, but I’m sure he will again after reading this.
Shakespeare also used the name Artemidorus in Julius Caesar. He’s the character that warns Caesar “beware the ides of March.”
It’s become quite the unintentional talking point when I meet people. They ask how to say it and “what does it mean?” So I guess it’s doing its job since people are spending a little more time thinking and wondering about it and I don’t mind that one bit.
You performed Dark Side of the Moon in your inaugural set of shows. Working with music that’s sacred at a damn near religious level for many, how do you find ways to make the songs work for you as a band, as well as for the die hard fans?
You bring up a couple great points here. Dark Side of the Moon IS sacred material to the true Pink Floyd fans out there and you can include me in that category along with Travis, Randy, and Kevin. I’m pretty sure this project has made a big fan out of Elaine as well.
Fun fact: Travis and Randy actually both attended Pink Floyd’s Division Bell Show in Vancouver BC during their 1994 tour in which they were performing the complete DSOTM.
The first time I heard the album I was probably around 8 years old and had already started playing guitar. My Dad put DSOTM on his record player and put headphones on me. When I heard the alarm clocks going off at the beginning of the song “Time” and the “tick tock tick tock tick tock,” my dad said “Do you hear that? That’s a guitar making that sound.” Then I recall being mesmerized hearing the intro to “Money” with all the cash register sounds cut to the beat. In that moment I realized where rock music could go but it took me until the age of 44 in order to feel confident enough musically to break this stuff down, learn it, and perform it. Travis has referred to this process as a Master Class music education of sorts. I completely agree with him; breaking down each part/note/phrase of each instrument and putting it back together through each other in a performance has made us all better musicians. Kevin is especially analytical and we’ve learned a lot from his attention to detail.
We make it work because of our respect for the material. We worked our asses off to capture the essence of what this album does. We are putting on the show that we, as fans, would want to see and we have set a high bar for ourselves in order to achieve that goal. If we are feeling that essence when we perform, then other Pink Floyd fans will feel it too. I’ve spent a couple decades searching out and listening to various concert performances by Pink Floyd and hearing all the ways in which they have deviated from the recorded versions of their own songs. So we have an idea where to take some creative liberties in “jam sections” of the songs. Overall it works for us because of what an immense undertaking it really is. I think we were all seeking to be challenged musically at the same time. I’m pretty sure Kevin thought this was an insane idea, but just crazy enough to intrigue him and draw him out of musical retirement, which makes him the perfect fit. Getting to perform it on a big stage in front of a crowd who are fans of the material is a huge joy This encourages us even more to present this material in a true and respectful way.
Your next performance will be Floyd’s follow up to Dark Side, Wish You Were Here. These albums have some pretty major differences structurally speaking. Talk about the process of diving into this one.
You are correct that there are major differences, yes. However after tackling Dark Side of the Moon we’ve sort of learned some of the nuances behind Pink Floyd’s writing style and creative process. With that new knowledge it makes WYWH easier to dive into than had we only learned a playlist of Pink Floyd songs or “hits.” That’s the big advantage learning to perform a complete album brings with it. So diving into it we…
A) now had the confidence in our ability to perform an entire album live
B) really only needed to learn 4 songs for WYWH, so we don’t have to change musical themes quite as rapidly as with DSOTM. Granted “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” has 9 movements but they are all variations on a singular theme.
WYWH musically boasts much more patience. The movements are longer, there are more instrumental sections. This is all fun and challenging for us. And in learning this album you can see how much Pink Floyd had grown musically together and that they were taking more musical risks. This album’s theme is more specific being that it’s an homage to the late Syd Barrett, their former founding bandmate who unfortunately suffered from mental illness and had to be replaced by David Gilmour due to his rapid mental decline. This is something we can all identify with so keeping that in mind from the beginning has helped us lock into the material pretty well. We are all performing these songs about people specific to us who are no longer with us and who we wish were still here. It’s that foundation of humanity that makes this album easy to connect with and feel as we play it.
Full disclosure, Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all time. And my whole life I have witnessed people moaning or rolling their eyes when I say that. But 9/10 times if I ask them what they know they’ll say “Money” and maybe “Another Brick In The Wall Part II” (although they just call it We Don’t Need No Education). If you were trying to get someone started on a path of making the (correct) choice to follow the Floyd, what three songs would you start them with?
These are all great questions by the way! However this question feels like it could be the premise for a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. 3 songs. Really?!? This is hard Ron and has kept me restless when trying to sleep at night. I went through not wanting to bias my answer by choosing my 3 personal favorite songs, but then questioned what if one of my favorites also is one that should be in this list? I thought about including one song from each era, Barrett, post-Barrett, then post-Roger Waters to encompass the band’s full lifespan, then I second guessed that approach. Ugh! This is a complex question. I even thought that it would be best to find somebody who was not familiar at all and have them listen and choose the 3 that grabbed them, but that would be cheating. Then I thought to pick the 3 most popular songs because they are popular for a reason, however I didn’t want to sound like I’m just picking popular songs because then am I really a true fan? I consulted Kevin and Travis, who agreed this question was devilish.
Kevin considers DSOTM one long song, so with that philosophy, can I list 3 albums and claim they are just long songs? Probably not. Then I landed right back at the beginning with 3 of my favorite songs. They hooked me and I hope they hook anybody else who gives them a proper listen…
1. “Echoes” off of Meddle
2. “Time” off of Dark Side of the Moon
3. “Comfortably Numb” off of The Wall
Those three songs paint a near perfect picture for me no matter how many times I listen to them.
Done, done and done.
What can the uninitiated expect from your upcoming performances? And do you know what album you’ll be tackling next?
You can expect to experience what it was like to attend a Pink Floyd show from the 70s in a more intimate theater. Excellent sound mixed by Eric Frank, spectacular laser light show by Slick Lasers out of Seattle and a performance by a group of caring and talented musicians who have put their hearts fully into making this a great experience for the audience. The Snowy Owl theater at the Icicle Center for the Arts is a beautiful venue with great acoustics. Phil Lacey, the Executive Director, has been extremely supportive in our efforts to put on a great rock show out there.
As far as what album we are tackling next… in my opinion, it’s their most musically complex and unique album. The masterpiece Animals.
Artemidorus: Wish You Were You &
Dark Side of the Moon
LIVE at The Snowy Owl theater in
Leavenworth Sept 2,3,4
Social media: