With the band's 2000 fifth release, entitled "V" Spock's Beard delved into new waters by writing two epic masterpieces, "At The End of the Day" and "The Great Nothing". Both songs captured the vintage Spock's Beard sound of catchy keyboard and guitar melodies, angelic vocal harmonies, and driving bass lines spread over upbeat groove style drumming. Aside from the vintage Beard sound on "V", the band matured as a unit as their musical parts got much more complex and were filled with more intensity and enthusiasm than any other Spock's Beard album in the past.

After an opening slot on the Dream Theater 2000 tour and extensive touring of the states and Europe as a headliner in 2001, Spock's Beard started to gain widespread recognition from progressive fans around the world. With "V" being a major musical success, one can wonder, how will Spock's Beard top that one?

Well, after catching up with Neal Morse, it sounds like Spock's Beard fans are going to be in for a big musical treat as the band takes on its biggest musical test. They are writing a concept musical rock-opera type album which is slated to be released in the summer of 2002. Check out the update Neal gave me.

Josh Petraglia: Is there anything about the new Spocks Beard album that you can tell us at this point?

Neal Morse: No. It's top secret. NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW.... AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I got that out of my system. Yes, the new SB...it's definitely a double....it just kept going on and on....there's LOTS of great bits (if I do say so myself!) and I think it's different from anything we've done before in that it actually tells one story for the whole time. And it's got a song not written by me on it. We've cut a song Nick wrote that's fitting in nicely so....it's got some surprises as well as some familiar things.

JP: I know that Spock's Beard had planned to record their new album on 9/10/01, a day before the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Have things changed since then in terms of material, such as new songs or new lyrics pertaining to the terrorist attacks? NM: No, not really. I wound up driving home (from LA to Nashville) after Sept. 11 and that was such a bizarre time and it gave me so MUCH time to think about the story and what not that I think it made a difference in the record... I wrote the beginning song in morning traffic in Albuqurque... wow, what a trip... but there isn't anything that's really a REACTION to 9/11.

JP: I also heard that the new Beard album is going to have something like a 40 min Epic piece on it. Are you going to be playing that in its entirety on the upcoming tour?

NM: Well, the whole album is a bunch of songs and recurring themes thrown together...like "Lamb Lies Down" or Kevin Gilbert's "Shaming of the True" (which you can get at www.radiantrecords.com hint hint) and I don't have any idea how much of it or what we'll do for the live show. I'm trying to take this one piece at a time. Right now I'm concentrating on the mountain of work in front of me just getting the album done right.

JP: I know that a lot of your songs are concept related. How do you determine if a song or album is going to concept related? Is there a process you go through when writing concept material?

NM: Well, I felt back in September like this record was going to be different. Like it was going to take more time and it might possibly be lyric driven in parts, as opposed to music driven which is pretty much how we've always operated in the past. Not that the music isn't important...just that the lyrics called what music would come rather than the other way around. So, I'd get to a point in the story and think "what needs to happen in the story now?" and that would bring about the next bit. And that kept going on and on and on. It's been pretty crazy, coming in even on the last day of tracking with more changes.

JP: Which style of writing do you prefer when working on a new album? Concept or individual song?

NM: Individual song is much easier. And less risky. I don't know....I like it all as long as it feels right.

JP: I know that your side project "Transatlantic" writes a lot of long epic pieces. With such a short time to record and plan Transatlantic's albums, how does the band manage to come up with a large amount of material in such a short amount of time?

NM: We have a lot of demos to work from to start, and then we've been lucky, I guess you might say. It's just clicked so far. I keep thinking one of these times we'll get stuck, but it hasn't happened yet, thank God.

JP: Do you take different approaches to song writing when working with Spocks Beard, Transatlantic, and your solo material?

NM: Yeah, with SB it's gotta be big and pretty complete with a lot of harmonies. With TA it's gotta be big and incomplete with a lot of changes. And Neal Morse solo gets all the normal stuff that just occurs to me from time to time.

JP: Was any of the material used on Transatlantic's and your solo albums ever intended to be Spocks Beardalbum tracks?

NM: No, not really. "A Whole Nother Trip" off my first solo album was supposed to be for the 1st TA, but it didn't work out.

JP: How does the new album differ from any other Spocks Beard album?

NM: The story thing mainly, and it's got some heavier parts than we've done before. There's also a 70's disco section on the 2nd disc! There's something no one's tried to make cool!

JP: What instruments did you play on the new album?

NM: Me personally? Acoustic guitar, piano, synth and vocals. Maybe some mandolin and Dobro guitar as well.

JP: Has playing with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy influencing you to write heavier material?

NM: I think it has. There's a few DT-esque sections on our new one.

JP: I know that Mike Portnoy has gained a lot from playing with you. What have you learned from playing with Portnoy?

NM: How to put cymbals on the stands. He's excellent at that you know. Actually, it was hilarious...he had to put his own cymbals on the stands here at my house...the cartage company had set everything else up...and it took him like 3 hours to do it. We were quite amused. I've learned from Mike to work harder and play more precisely and that it's possible to go further musically than I'd imagined.

JP: Is Spocks Beard planning to release a DVD any time soon?

NM: We're working on it.

JP: I know that Spock's Beard has quite a following in Europe. How do the European fans differ from the fans in the United States?

NM: There's more of them. That's really the main thing. Our fans in the states are just as enthusiastic, there's just a lot more in Europe.

JP: What is your take on the direction of today's music?

NM: Is there a direction? It seems like there's huge and completely separate genres all over the place. That's cool with me. Everybody can have there own pond to be a big fish in!

JP: I think you are an extremely talented musician. However, I want you to be your own critic. What is that you like most about your playing? And what is it that you feel that you need to improve on?

NM: I think the best thing I do is write. Probably my playing could be more creative. And I should hire someone to work on sounds and tuning and such. I'm almost always just concerned about the actual notes. My sounds could be a lot better I suppose.

JP: I will leave you with one last question. Will you be working on more side projects in the future?

NM: I don't know. I'm a one album at a time guy. When this one's done I'll start thinking about that. One epic at a time.

JP: Thank you for your time Neal. Good luck with the new album.

NM: Thanks.