Wizards of Winter are in a festive mood — all of the time! The project is basically a Christmas rock opera and it started out as Trans-Siberian Orchestra tribute act with a charity element. If you aren’t familiar with TSO, it’s a Christmas-themed rock band that does major touring business every holiday season. Eventually, original TSO members Tommy Farese, Guy LeMonnier, Michael Lanning, and Tony Gaynor joined Wizards of Winter, who are no longer a tribute act. They are their own entity with their own festive tunes. Out of 24 songs in the Wizards of Winter live set, 20 are originals.
Wizards of Winter do perform four TSO songs, since there are original members of TSO in the ranks.
The progressive rock ensemble has released its majestic full-length album The Magic of Winter, so ARTISTdirect’s Amy Sciarretto spoke to lead guitarist and songwriter Fred Gorhau about what it’s like always being in the Christmas spirit, what makes Wizards of Winter special, and his favorite holiday traditions.
Amy Sciarretto: For the uninitiated, how would you describe Wizards of Winter? And would you ever doing something out-of-season, beyond holiday tunes?
Fred Gorhau: Yes, we are tossing around an idea of doing something out of season. We are a holiday touring band. We do six or seven weeks on the road around Thanksgiving up until New Year’s. It is a Christmas rock opera and it’s more ‘show’ oriented than a regular concert. The original TSO narrator is out with us and he narrates. It’s a metaphysical trip into Christmas past and present, and the songs coincide with the story. We tie it in conceptually, instead of being like, ‘The next song is…’ The holidays are our window but we think of doing stuff out-of-season.
AS: Tell us about the band’s humble origins.
FG: We were a TSO tribute when I joined the band. It seemed like a cool opportunity, playing TSO songs and doing benefits for the food pantry. We played churches and schools at first. People were asking, ‘Where can I get your CD?,’ which did not exist. [Laughs] So we thought, ‘We better write something.’ Now, we are on our second CD. We were contacted by original TSO members, who wanted to be a part of what we were doing. It is a lot of fun and I’d like to figure out a way to expand.
AS: Yuletide rock is so specific. How far in advance do you personally have to start getting into the Christmas and holiday spirit? Are you rocking candy canes in July? Is it always Christmas in Wizards of Winter’s world?
FG: Pretty much! We recorded our video in August. It was 100 degrees that day. But we had to be in the spirit. I try not to kill my family with it. But it is Christmas all year round in my house. If I am not writing songs, they hear the songs we already wrote all the time. We spent seven months writing and recording the album, too.
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