THEY’RE ANEW multinational prog-metal project driven by the principles of electronic music, who boast established names within their ranks, but if it wasn’t for Mike Portnoy, they simply wouldn’t exist. While touring with The Shattered Fortress in 2017, keyboardist Diego Tejeida (ex-Haken, Devin Townsend) and Neal Morse Band guitarist Eric Gillette struck up a friendship that would form the nucleus of Temic.
“Eric and I spent those tours geeking out, talking about synthesisers, compressors and DAWs [digital audio workstations],” Tejeida remembers.“We share a similar, nonsensical sense of humour, too. So in 2020, when I knew I was going to part ways with Haken, I spoke to Eric about writing music together. He immediately jumped in. We had a long chat, discussing the musical vision, and agreed that our bandmates would have to be exceptional musicians, equally exceptional people, and bring additional skills to the table.
“I’ve learned from experience,” he adds, “that having a defined vision of how you want an album to sound from the get-go is a powerful tool. I think a lot of bands try to use too many different bells and whistles on their first albums. We knew what we were going for: memorable vocal melodies, vivid harmonies and a constant pulse.”