Q) You play keyboards and drums. what was/is your first and [in your opinion] main instrument and why?
DN: Drums are my main instrument. I've been playing drums professionally since I was 18 although I started on piano back when I was eight years old. Fortunately my Dad insisted I have a solid foundation in music and as a result I took piano lessons for several years prior to getting my first set of drums.

Q) Can you give me a list of a few of your following favorite [top 3 to 5 of each!?] > bands, singers, drummers, keyboardists, etc...] ??
DN: Oh man I hate this because I'll read it and go Damn! I forgot... Bands: Yes, Deep Purple, Queensryche, Jethro Tull... Singers: David Byron, Ian Gillan, Geoff Tate, Todd Rundgren, Amanda Marshall, Lee Aaron... Drummers: Bill Bruford, Phil Collins, Barrimore Barlow, Buddy Rich...(me) ;-) Keyboardists: Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, John Lord, David Sancious...

Q) David Sancious [!?]...sorry...who's he?
DN: A keyboardist who had a couple of solo albums...played with Billy Cobham and I last saw playing with Sting "Blue Turtles Tour" I believe

Q) Can you give me a Top 10 [or more] list of all-time favorite albums?
DN: What immediately comes to mind are: Queensryche - Empire
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Yes - The Yes Album or The Ladder
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
Max Webster - Universal Juveniles
King Crinson - Discipline
Gentle Giant - Interview
The Who - Quadrophenia
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
...that'll do for today because it happens to be the frame of mind I'm in...tomorrow who knows

Q) Who was your main influence[s] that lead you into music professionally ?
DN: The Beatles got me started (hooked) on music and once I finally got my first set of drums there was no looking back. As far a drummers who influenced me: Bill Ward of Black Sabbath and Lee Kerslake of Uriah Heep, both of whom dragged me kicking and screaming into the "real" world of rock drumming. Phil Collins with his early Genesis work and his stuff with Brand X...I could relate to what he was doing and that made the jump to my next level of playing that much easier. 

Buddy Rich, who I had the pleasure of seeing two or three times in my life and after each show I left totally humbled... Band's that left an impression: Seeing Yes for the first time doing the Yes Album (they opened with Alice Cooper for Black Sabbath) and Jethro Tull doing "Thick as a Brick" left a HUGE impression on me as far as the possibilities of rock music go Seeing Genesis doing "The Lamb" in Montreal just blew me away as far as the "Theatre of Rock" is concerned. I could go on but those are the defining people and moments that shaped me as a musician.

Q) Where abouts are you guys located, and what type of gigs and venues do you play, and how is the reception or fanbase for your brand of prog/Hard rock? And what sort of stuff do you play live [mainly originals? few covers?]
DN: Chapter 23 is located in Ottawa Ontario, Canada. We rarely gig, the exception being an annual outdoor festival that myself and three friends put together in July and 23 plays our own material exclusively.

 As everyone in the band has at least one other band they play in as well as other recording projects not to mention their regular day jobs you see why 23 is definitely full time/part time recording project. Add to all this the fact that our fan base is in Europe and that Canada and the US have totally ignored us and you can understand our lack of gigging.

Q) Progressive / Hard rock bands in your style are rare in Canada these days. What do you think of the scene in general? And how much of a market do you see for Chapter 23 [and similar styled bands] out there [in Canada] ?
DN: You're right, we are a rare breed and in reality its definitely a word of mouth thing and the internet has a big mouth. Fortunately we were able to get our music in the hands of people who appreciated our effort, who then passed along a good word or two which resulted in our CD being reviewed in over 25 magazine/webzines worldwide. Granted not all the reviews were glowing, there are a couple of reviews I would prefer had never seen the light of day, but that being said you have to take the good with the bad. As far as marketing 23, we are an internet presence and over the last eighteen months have compiled a huge database from which to work with when our new CD is released.

 Hopefully the labels in Europe will finally take notice and help out but if they don't "C'est la vie" We do this because we like each other and we like the music. Money was never the driving factor here. Sure we'd love to sell a million albums (on our terms) but we're all pretty realistic here and our priorities are a little different now that we've aged a little. We'll leave the 7 day a week / 24 hour a day - non-stop touring to support the cd to the younger musicians thank you very much. Been there, done that (for seven years straight I might add)

Q) What sort of bands do you [or would you] like to see Chapter 23 compared to? DN: Well we have been compared to Yes, Kansas, Uriah Heep, Journey, Deep Purple, Queensryche and a couple others I can't remember right now. I take them as a compliment but I personally don't hear the similarities. But if the comparisons get someone to check out the band and buy a CD they're fine with me.

Q) Can you give me a line or 2 about each of the guys in the band, as far as any previous Major achievements, musos they've been compared to, sound like, etc.... ?
.

DN: Mike Hemish our guitarist...I couldn't have asked for a better guitarist for 23, he has a way of stepping outside the envelope and bringing wonderful little gems to our music. Pierre Lauzon, our lead singer...Without a doubt the most enthusiastic guy in the band, he always gives me 110% even when I don't ask for it

Q) IS there anyone you'd compare him to? or do you know of his fave singers?
DN: Oh he's a Tate fan for sure but I can't really compare him to anyone, that's the main reason we went with him, so we wouldn't sound like anyone else. ...Barry Meredith our bass player...Barry and I go back a long way and playing with him is like putting on your most comfortable pair of pants...they just fit! It was well worth the wait. Al Wilmore our keyboardist...Al is the rock, he comes through when I need it most and it's his little left turns which have made our songs so much better.

Q) Can you give me a few antedotes and stories behind some of your favorite tunes off of the "Flying in the face...." CD ?
DN: That's a tough one and I think I'll refer people to our web site because all the song anecdotes are there but suffice it to say Cold Steel and Neon started the whole thing off. I do remember Shoot the Moon being the song that didn't want to be recorded, mixed or mastered, also the blunders of modern technology that plagued us and the fact the CD was for all intents and purposes recorded twice. All of these are on explained in greater detail on our web site...definitely an interesting read if you've got some time to kill.

Q) Where did the band name and CD title come from ?
DN: Well that's a long story but the Reader's Digest version is: the number 23 is an odd number to say the least and when I needed a temporary working name for the project I thought about it for a few seconds (2.3 to be exact) and came up with Chapter 23, unfortunately it stuck. The CD title...well we had pretty well finished recording the CD and several titles and ideas had come and gone when out of the blue I thought of the phrase "flying in the face of conventional wisdom"...it fit like a glove.

Q) The CD has been out since '98 [?]. How has the response been to it? and are there any pockets of fans out there [foreign or otherwise] that have been especially receptive to it ?
DN: Actually the CD was released April Fools Day 1999 to be exact. The response has been surprisingly good considering the fact that I hear a flawed CD. You've have to remember that as the principal songwriter / drummer / engineer and producer of the CD, I hear every mistake, so when we started getting good reviews I wondered when the bubble was going to burst. I mean I thought are these guys deaf? In hindsight I realized they were right because they were hearing what I couldn't...a good CD. Germany has without a doubt been our biggest supporter...for whatever reason we hit a nerve with the reviewers and CD buying public and if we could, we would be touring over there. Hell we'd love to spend the summer touring Europe...any takers?

Q) What highlights have been there as far as any big live gigs, reviews or write-ups on the band in recent years?
DN: Getting the CD finished and pressed was numero uno, next would be the email I got from Gabor at Strutter-zine asking for a CD to review and that first "international" review. Getting the playlists from several radio stations from around the world and finding Chapter 23 on them. Our first slagging by the British press. Reading the reviewers comparisons of 23 to the likes of Uriah Heep, Yes etc. All these stand out in my mind as highlights. No big shows or TV spots yet but who knows

Q) What other recording acts have you been involved with?
DN: I have a group of friends in Ottawa that are all involved in different recording projects and from time to time I get asked to or to play on them or lend a hand engineering-wise. It's a nice change of pace from 23.

Q) What is Chapter 23 [and/or] yourself up to at present? Any new album project[s] in the works? Or promo plans, touring gigs, etc... ??
DN: 23 is presently demo-ing our new CD...and with a little luck (financially speaking) we should be recording in September. It's a little more straight forward musically and the songs are shorter but I think overall it is going to be a much stronger CD. I personally have just resurrected a 20 year old project who's life was cut short back in 1981...the band was called Ylem (eye-lem) and we were a progressive rock band with a hint of jazz fusion that for reasons of stupidity (on my part) broke up before the album was released. I just had all the 2" tapes transferred to the digital domain and I'll spend the rest of the summer editing / mixing & mastering them on my computer and I plan to surprise all the band members with a CD for Christmas.

Q) How will the new Chapter 23 CD differ in sound and approach to the first?
DN: Much more straight forward...sort of Mr.C meets Shakedown...and with the exception of one song (to date) all the songs are shorter (unintentional).

Q) What are you currently listening to these days? Do you listen to mainly new or old stuff?
DN: In all honesty I don't really "listen" to that much music anymore...I mean I'll put a bunch of cds in my machine and hit shuffle and they'll provide background music for whatever I'm doing. This is not to say there isn't good music out there, unfortunately you have to wade through a lot of filler to get the one or two good songs that you want. And being opposed (in principle) to Napster I can't just pick and choose what I want to hear, download it, convert it & then burn it on to a CD. I did that for one group of songs and believe it or not I felt as though I was stealing their music. Funny thing though, I heard they are putting together a CD of the exact same songs for release later this year...I'll buy it. But in answer to your question most of the music I listen to is older stuff...now if I had an unlimited budget to buy CD's, it would be a different story.

Q) Being from Canada, do you have any favorite Canuck bands and / or albums? [any classic stuff like April Wine, Guess Who, Foot In Coldwater.... ?]
DN: Max Webster. Any album is fine with me. Rush from Hemisphere / Subdivisions on. Amanda Marshall and of course the Guess Who and my wife is an April Wine fan so we have a CD or two of their's.

Q) You are a Uriah Heep fan I take it!? Got any favorite Heep albums, tunes, etc...? [Ever see them live?]
DN: Favorite Album: Demons and Wizards Favourite Song: Salisbury Live: Twice - the Look at Yourself tour and the Magician's Birthday Tour, both were extremely enjoyable.

Q) Cool! Any stories from these gigs?
DN: 1970-72 (it's a big blur so don't quote me) they played the Ottawa Civic Center...the second time I remember leaving a wedding reception to go to the gig and having a heck of a time finding my friends who were already there...missed the opening act. KEVIN J. JULIE