Jimmie Hong of Wheel of Time – Building a Global Metal Vision from Beijing Interview Gino Alache

We had the chance to speak with Jimmie Hong, the mastermind behind Wheel of Time, a progressive power metal project born in Beijing. Blending the technical precision of progressive metal with the melodic strength of power metal and symphonic elements, Wheel of Time delivers expansive, narrative-driven music that crosses genres and borders. With an impressive lineup of collaborators including Derek Sherinian, Tony MacAlpine, Michele Luppi, and Timo Tolkki, the project brings a truly international spirit while weaving in subtle Eastern influences. Their upcoming debut full-length album, Asymmetry, is set for release on November 12, 2025 — and here at Rockum, we bring you this exclusive interview.

1. Let’s begin with the vision: Wheel of Time started during your mentorship with Kiko Loureiro. What sparked the idea of building such an ambitious international metal project from Beijing?
Thank you Gino for the great questions! Yes, just as you mentioned, Wheel Of Time started during Kiko’s mentorship programme. I think it was the year of 2021, around December, I had some songs on my hands but had no idea which direction I should head to: Should I move one further step, to make a decent release on the songs, are the musical works good enough? How should I make all these happen? I was standing before a crossroad. Around that time, I received Kiko’s Mentorship Programme promo email. So I just decided to apply with my musical works and see how it goes. After a few days, I got a reply from Kiko. He seems to like the songs and wants to see me onboard. So that’s where the story started.

During the mentorship, I kept working on the songs and discussing my thoughts on the project with Kiko, and got feedback from him every 2 weeks. And because I don’t have a band locally, also it was still the pandemic period. So eventually I came up with a bigger idea of doing something like Trans-Seberian Orchestration or Avantasia (by Tobias Sammet), which invites musicians who are interested in participating in the project. The project was born to be internationalized as I believe music has no boundary. I just try to be as open as I can.

Kiko is very supportive to this idea and he referred some musicians to me for kicking off the project, such as 2 times Latin Grammy winner Alexandre Aposan and the King of the keyboards - Derek Sherinian who we’ll discuss very soon. Since then, it feels a door has opened for the project. Later I invited more musicians, even someone who has no connection with me, Kiko or my producer Tom at all. As for the majority of the invited musicians, they all agreed to join, which eventually formed such a powerful lineup for this album.

2. Your album Asymmetry is a deeply narrative-driven work. Why did you choose that title, and how does the concept of ‘asymmetry’ relate to your view of music and life?
The name of Asymmetry was actually picked up relatively early, maybe around 2022. I already had all the songs that were planned or written back then and was thinking about an appropriate title. If you look into the songs, you’ll find although it is 8 songs, it seems we can evenly divide it as 4 tracks vs 4 tracks on A/B sides of LP or tape, but it’s in fact “7” songs because Addicted!.. and .. To the Awakening is actually a whole musical work.

I mentioned this idea to the cover art designer Aleh, as you may have seen, he did such a wonderful work to bring the concept of Asymmetry and even it comes with a sense of Zen. Extensively, if we are talking about music and life, the concept is all over the place. Some songs in the album, like The Night of Eternity or Freedom Day, are not following the traditional structure. Instead, they come with the “asymmetric” tag and some odd beats in order to sound differently.

Everyone has the nature to search for a perfect life, a perfect piece of fine art, or anything like that, which doesn’t have to be artistic at all. I think it is human nature. While sometimes, maybe we should admit, Asymmetry looks “imperfect”, but this “imperfection” sometimes maybe is another formation of “perfection”, like the Earth, is not a perfect round planet; our polar, is actually not straight. Even the guitars, like the Les Paul, Stratocaster, Telecaster, EVH Woflgang, they all have their own asymmetric designs. But nothing would affect them being a “perfect” choice of musical instruments. So do our lives. It’s all the same :)

3. The album features legendary musicians like Derek Sherinian, Michele Luppi, Tony MacAlpine, and Timo Tolkki. How did these collaborations come together, and what was it like working with them remotely across continents?
As we just talked about, Derek Sherinian was introduced by Kiko previously. One of my songs, The Night of Eternity, was going to be in production soon, so I was seeking a keyboard player - But I didn’t think about Derek until Kiko suggested it. Later it proves that Derek is absolutely a perfect fit for that song.

Derek has a VERY sharp musical taste and he is VERY quick, like Fast & Furious. He is definitely the MASTER. I think he brought the exotic, aggressive, and deep keyboard sound and performance to the songs. Since then, my collaboration with Derek started. He appeared on 4 songs of this album: Grand Cosmos, Freedom Day, Addicted!… and The Night of Eternity.

About Michele Luppi, actually I tried to contact him via social media because no one has his number. And I had no idea if he would be interested in it, I was even not sure if he would check my message. Surprisingly, Michele replied very fast and he was very excited! He is such a kind man and agreed to join in a minute. He showed me his audio equipment wall (Tube-Tech CL 1B, MURL B80 Mothership, MANLEY SLAM! etc) for recording and processing vocals and said he will use them to record the vocals on Freedom Day.

Before the recording and during the premix, we had some discussion back and forth, i.e. he wants to bring a little Marillion feel to the singing for the verse etc. I can see he is very detail oriented when talking about and working on the vocals, just like he said, he wants to bring a perfect result. So we still keep in touch from time to time after Freedom Day, and I know there will be a time when we’ll work and make music again. As I mentioned previously, Kiko also referred to Alexandre Aposan as an amazing drummer! Aposan played 3 songs for the album. Similarly, you don’t need to explain too much about the songs, a good musician will always catch the idea in a minute and deliver very high quality musical works soon.

For the mighty Tony MacAlpine, I haven’t contacted him as well before working on the song 2063. My good friend, guitarist Michael Cottrell for Spirit of the Damned, takes Tony’s lessons every month. So I asked help from Michael to send the stems to Tony, and seek his thoughts. Again, I really have no idea how Tony would reply. Honestly speaking, I was pretty nervous for a few days while waiting. Surprisingly, he agreed to be featured in the song 2063! Therefore, the puzzle for the album was finally completed.

It is my great honor to have all the musicians featured in the album.




4. Let’s talk about the production. You worked with Tom MacLean (ex-Haken) as producer and engineer. How did his approach complement your artistic vision?
I feel very lucky because it didn’t take me too long to connect with Tom. Tom is a phenomenal producer and engineer. He is a very smart person, always stays calm, objective and has an English sense of humour (:P).

I contacted him on SoundBetter.com and very quickly received his reply and interest. We started working together since Grand Cosmos, which is the first finished production of this album. Initially it was like a pilot because we never met and knew each other before. But once we kicked off the project, immediately I was thinking: OK, he is the producer and mixing/mastering engineer that I will continue to work with.

Both of us are using Logic Pro X and some Neural DSP plugins in common. So it’s very convenient to share the project files. Usually I will have a full demo of the song (with really crappy programmed drums and bass, sometimes with my horrible singing voice too ;)) and send it to him and we’ll have a discussion based on it. He’ll always provide the most important advice, nothing more, nothing less. He certainly doesn’t own the project management responsibility, but he always reminds me on key time points so that I won’t get lost especially when we have multiple songs in production in parallel.

On the mixing and mastering side, his craftsmanship just gave each track a spacious yet controlled intensity, especially the delay layering and tonal depth. If you notice the 3rd post-chorus riff, you may find it sounds differently compared with the previous two times. It is mystic, exotic and ear catching. That’s the magic from Tom. Overall, I think the guitar tone in the album is just astonishing. I still remember the first time that I listened to the 1st rough mix version of Grand Cosmos and was totally shocked by the huge sound wall he helped to create.

5. There’s a powerful emotional arc throughout the album — from “Grand Cosmos” to “2063.” Was this intentional? How did you structure the tracklist as a journey?
Yes the order is actually intentional. Grand Cosmos is definitely a perfect choice for opening, there is no doubt. Freedom Day, which comes with a magnificent intro, I decided to put it as the 2nd track so the audiences would have a feeling of further level up.

Regarding the 3rd track, Blind Sight, I think it might be good to have a medium tempo song after hearing two powerful and rich songs. Addicted!… and … To the Awakening is actually a whole song, or say, a suite. I didn’t want to separate them, so they are the 4th and 5th track respectively.

Because there was an EP released in 2023 Q4. In the EP, The Night of Eternity was the 1st track ranking prior to Addicted!… and …To the Awakening, hence, I just reversed the order to make things somehow differently. And then comes China Moon and 2063. I thought about to put China Moon as the last track, but eventually I changed my idea, because 2063 is the better choice for echoing the beginning at the end of the album due to both 2063 and Grand Cosmos are linked with astronomy related topics and sharing a similar riff - that was kind of “intentional”. In general, this is my thought when structuring the tracklist.

6. You blended progressive metal with Chinese cultural elements, especially on “China Moon,” which includes Guzheng and Song Dynasty lyricism. How important is it for you to reflect your national identity through music?
Initially, I didn’t think about a song with Chinese traditional elements. While during the mentorship programme in 2022, when Kiko and I talked about song writing and his then-latest album “Open Source”, he said it is very important to put some musical elements of your origin nation, simply just because of that’s where you come from and grow up with, no one would understand it better than yourself. Taking himself as an example, from his first personal album “No Gravity” issued in 2004 to “Theory of Mind”, the Brazilian music elements are everywhere. Even the song “Pesadelo” that he worked with Derek Sherinian contains that groove and vibe.

So I fully took his advice, but was facing a different scenario: Traditional Chinese music usually emphasizes melody and expressiveness, typically not quite related with rhythm or grooves. So how should I fit it into a modern music album? Should I just go with the traditional style, or something differently?

I got a couple of sources of inspiration:
I started to compile the Song Lyrics (an old form of Chinese Poetry, which was popular in Song Dynasty around A.D.10th -13th) that I've written over the years. There are about 60 Song Lyrics. So my original idea was to pick up one of them and then I’ll start to write the melody. It is just like back to the nature of the Song Lyrics, because they were written for “singing” in ancient times. That’s why Song Lyrics always come with a fixed structure and pattern, which makes China Moon different from the other songs in the album.

After I finished writing the melody, I approached a singer and sent her the demo. She has a beautiful and solid voice. IMO she is the best choice for the Chinese version. She loves this song and shared with me many thoughts. For some reason, we agreed to do the Chinese version later. So I just thought, OK, maybe I can just try an international version since I already have the melody done. But it must be different compared to what I have discussed with the singer.

Around that time, there was an animation film released in China, which is titled “30,000 Miles from Chang’an”. It basically tells a part of the Tang Dynasty history, based on the stories of the most important poet of that age, Li Bai and his close friend, another poet Gao Shi. I watched the film with my wife and really liked it, especially the soundtrack. When sitting in the theater, I was already thinking about maybe making an orchestration version of China Moon is a good idea.

Then I discussed my idea with Tom and he’s very positive. Since it will be an orchestration version, Marcos Barilari was definitively my first contacted musician as our second time to collaborate since the making of … To the Awakening. And I want to find a powerful female voice with musical background for better handling the song’s emotions, so Eszter became the vocalist for China Moon because of her professional performance experiences in theater.

After the rough mix was ready, after listening to it a couple of times, I felt we probably needed to add Guzheng to give more “dynamic” and “spiritual” feels to the song. And then I got in touch with Ariel from Taiwan. We had a Zoom call to discuss the song. Everything went smoothly. We added the Guzheng track into the mix, and here we go. We finalized the song!



7. “Addicted!...” and its follow-up “...To the Awakening” feel like a conceptual pair. What themes were you exploring through that two-part arc, musically and lyrically?
Thanks for mentioning this “song” that makes the album “asymmetric” :). It is a suite describing a path of self-reflection, self struggling within before the inner peace and a final self-relief.

Addicted!… was the first one finished (of course as part one :) ), which reflects more European power metal or classic rock influences from, say, Stratovarius or Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Hence the 1st half of the structure of the song follows that vibe. The interlude is a classic keyboard/guitar duo solo: Derek on synth and Timo Tolkki on lead guitar, which probably is rare to see because I don’t think they have ever been featured in the same song before.

While I was writing “… To the Awakening”, I wanted to create more differences, so I lowered down the tempo of the song, and changed the time signature while still keeping using 1 or 2 riffs from Addicted!.. but used it for a different part. Later I decided to add orchestration elements which makes this song sound further majestic. So I can’t figure out an obvious band influence on it.

For some reasons, when I wrote the melody, it always makes me think of gold, like a camera’s filter, when you recall the childhood, sometimes it’s warm and gold, just like you are sitting in a room of your house, and you watch the sunset, the day was so long and the whole room was coloured as the sun went down …

And the opposite of childhood, is the age of death. I wish to discuss it as it is a broad and deep topic. We were born as babies, then we grew up, probably lost some of our friends during the years, and ourselves are heading to the other side year by year. The fact is, I do not want to write an elegy. I just want to express from my point of view, what is the meaning of life. So all these thoughts should have been reflected in the lyrics of both songs, especially on “…To the Awakening”. So I won’t deny if you say it is more thoughtful of the lyrics on this song. While “Addicted!…” has a wonderful instrumental performance and led the main theme of the whole musical work.

One of my favorite films is “The Last Samurai”. The very last line of the film (Voice-over by English actor Timothy Spall, OBE) was: “…that I like to think, he may have at last found some small measure of peace, that we all seek, and few of us ever find.”

8. In “Blind Sight” you touch on illusion, emotion vs. rationality, and self-discovery. Are these recurring themes throughout the record?
After I finished the writing of Blind Sight. I wrote down the below words: “The phrase "Blind Sight" is inherently paradoxical — a pair of contradictory words. The entire concept of the song began with this contradiction, which immediately reminded me of the kind of dramatic tension often explored in theater.

Lyrically, the song weaves together multiple layers of meaning: conflict, opposition, illusion, and confusion — whether it's the confusion of the self, emotional uncertainty, or the search for ultimate liberation.

For example, in the first verse:
I see a vision
It blinds my sight
It's been so many years
And no one got a fight
I use these lines as a metaphor to suggest that what we perceive as reality might merely be an illusion — and instead of gaining clarity, we are blinded by that illusion, trapped within it and unable to break free.

Or another part of the verse:
She's fine to make tracks /
without looking back /
Perhaps it's a rainy day /
But it was all the same /
The contrast between “make tracks” (meaning moving forward here, and hinting pursuing a path) and “looking back” (meaning hesitating and hinting dwelling on the past) is used once again to construct a sense of opposition and internal conflict.

The verse ends with the line “it was all the same”, which carries a hint of Zen philosophy — the idea that all changes in the natural world are inherently objective and neutral. There is no essential difference; it is only our state of mind that perceives them as such. (This concept is similar to the saying: “The wind moves, the banner moves — but it is the mind of the observer that truly moves.”)”

So yes, there are also some other songs, such as Freedom Day, or the title of the 1st EP “The Enlightenment”, referring to a similar and broad concept. These may be partially reflecting my status at that time.

9. The instrumental closer “2063” imagines humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. Why did you choose to end the album with that vision — and how does it tie back to the opener “Grand Cosmos”?
Each of the songs have been edited a couple of times. There were changes on the riffs, structure and melody, almost everywhere, in different times though. But the concept of the songs have been steadily maintained.

Grand Cosmos were finished fairly quickly and I released it as the first ever song of the band as a single in March 2023. For 2063, which was formally named as Dark Cyber, it took a while because some ideas were added and removed back and forth. On one hand, I want to make it as a heavy blended version of Dream Theater, Jeff Loomis and Michael Romeo. On the other hand… I kept thinking maybe I should do something differently in between. So eventually it comes with the use of a 7 strings guitar (with B flat standard tuning) and the jazzy fusion interlude part. My idea was to use the conflict to make a sense of strange beauty.

And then I feel the bass riff from Grand Cosmos actually fits pretty well between the interlude and the ending part of 2063. I only switched it to a guitar riff.

After the production was finished, Tom talked to me and said, hey, I think maybe you should change the name of the song. I thought about it for a while and started to find inspiration.

The name of “2063” was actually inspired by Star Trek as it is the first year that it was successfully tested. So the Phoenix carried humans to get in touch with Vulcans. I think this is a cool name. Not really a song about Treky but good enough for expressing the vibe of the extraterrestrial life. So there it is.



10. It’s rare to see a Chinese-based artist leading a global progressive metal release. How has the Chinese music scene received your work so far — and are there unique challenges for metal artists in China today?
Thank you for the question Gino. From a globe prospective, indeed we need more exposure to metal music from China. I think Chinese rock and metal music had a very good time back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And then there were several different genres, such as Death Metal, Black Metal, Indie Rock etc. came to front one after one. While I assume metal and rock are still relatively niche genres here compared to mainstream pop music, so is the market and related consumption, we have some steps to climb up and still a long way to go.

But I can see some local festivals held every year and hot discussions on social media. On the other hand, Wacken Metal Battle China has been doing really well in recent years, which reflects the fast development of heavy music. I know there are really good Chinese metal bands out there, some are blended with strong national music elements, such as Nine Treasures who played in Wacken Open Air 2013. Some bands are quite advanced and experimental, such as OU, who signed with InsideOut Music a few years ago. All of these are pretty amazing and prove that we are moving forward quickly.

Speaking about challenges, I assume language could be a challenge, I mean, as a broad context. Maybe Chinese rock and metal bands should issue some more English songs so that it is easier for people from around the globe to better understand the essence of their songs, like the bands from Sweden and Finland, or Germany. Beside this, I guess we still need to work on many aspects, such as the maturity of this niche market, number of audiences, recording/production for metal and rock music, live performance venues, marketing & promotion. So it might not be a challenge of a single point. It is about metal and rock music, how far we need to achieve on the level of the music industry. Hopefully we can catch up with our neighbour Japan as soon as we can. And I can see a huge potential here.

11. Your album will be used as a case study at the University of Liverpool for independent production models. What does that recognition mean to you?
It indeed means a lot to me. Actually I didn’t expect that! I met with my lecturer Dr.Mike Jones in Liverpool, United Kingdom this May. He is the band member of Latin Quarter and became the Director of MA in Music Industry (formerly Music MBA) in the University of Liverpool in 1999.

We had lunch and talked about many things, including the updates on my music. He is very happy to see the progress. After hearing that the album was basically remotely made. He asked if I could share more about the whole process as he wants to use it as a case study material for the next academic year, which is a big surprise to me. When I studied in the Institute of Popular Music, the University of Liverpool, my graduation dissertation was about digital music because around that time, the traditional music industry and the way that people make and issue music have changed significantly due to the emerging of new technologies. It was an advanced topic back in 2007, but nowadays, as the music industry has been continuously evolving, probably another new era is coming out… Especially the pandemic period actually pushed forward this change.

I told Mike, as a guitarist, in the past I needed to book a recording studio, rent or bring my own amps, test the combination of guitar and mic-ed amp sound and then record it. At present, I don’t have to because there are plenty of good sounding options in front of me - Neural DSP plugins, amp profiling hardware like Kemper, or amp modeling equipment like Axe-FX. I can just connect my guitar to MacBook Pro via my audio interface Audient iD44 and get very high quality sound (both amped and DI). So do the keyboards, the Logic Pro has already provided thousands of patches, which is a big advance to people like me by offering more friendly cost while keeping high quality of tone, and most importantly, giving me a huge freedom to create music. And not only me, a number of guitarists, or bassists are doing the same thing.

Mike said he would like to know more about the details of this new age. And I am very happy to provide as much as I can to him.

12. How do you balance technical complexity with emotional depth — especially working with so many talented musicians and layered compositions?
Well, it is a really deep and complex question and seems hard to describe. I’ll try my best! Simply saying, I try to be “honest” when I write and compose songs. It sounds simple but it took me years to figure it out and still I’m working on it. Sometimes it’s easy to put a lot of elements into the song, but they may not fit. During my mentorship with Kiko, after he listened to my songs, he told me: “Try to simplify your work, and put a few ideas on one song and keep the other thoughts for another song, and then you’ll see a difference”.

I realized, if I put too many ideas, the truth of the song may just be like a sinking rock under the ocean. I need to lift this rock and let it emerge from the surface. Later when I started working with all the musicians, usually I’ll just send the stems, the demo, lyrics, and with some words/description about the main theme of the song for sure, that’s it. I typically tried to “not” control, rather to have a talk on the song and then just let it go. Because I believe since they like this song and being part of it, they will resonate with it. And that is the key of music. We reached a common expanse together in the world of music. It’s not about the location, it’s about comprehension.

I also believe Tom played an essential role as a producer. He has a deep understanding and sensitivity both on a musical-emotional level and from a production standpoint, and he blends the two seamlessly. From shaping the tone and using distortion tastefully, to making careful EQ adjustments and ensuring a strong presence in the mix—his contributions were crucial. Without him, it would have been very difficult for me to fully express myself through the music.

13. Wheel of Time seems rooted in deep philosophical and personal exploration. Is songwriting a cathartic or spiritual process for you?
Thanks for the observation. I would say both, and it depends. We all live in an imperfect world. And as humans, we have our emotions which may be impacted by everything happening in our lives: work, family, friends, strangers, or even the natural environment.

All of these, IMO, maybe formed the foundation of a personal exploration, as I always want to find a way to balance. And the exit of this exploration, or the way of the balance, is the creation of music. By carrying these thoughts, sometimes you’re able to perceive the change of seasons, the change of sentiment, the change of spirit, whenever you are driving a car, walking by the river, or just lying down and watching the sky.

I love to read poems, because it inspires people with the shortest form in literature. One of my favorite poets, Rumi, who wrote:
“I am a sky where spirits live. Stare into this deepening blue, while the breeze says a secret.”
I am neither a philosopher, nor a writer, but those philosophers, writers and poets motivate me from time to time…

14. Finally, what would you like to say to new listeners discovering Asymmetry for the first time through Rockum and beyond?
Hey guys. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to Asymmetry! This album was crafted during days and nights, shaped by conversations with brilliant minds around the world. It is an emotional, sincere and beautifully “imperfect” musical work sent from my heart.

Furthermore, I hope Asymmetry becomes not just an album you listen to, but a journey you return to — whenever you need to feel both grounded and free. With Asymmetry, I think I fulfilled one of my dreams over the years. And I am grateful for all the musicians that made it come true, it is my greatest honour to work with such a premium lineup of artists!

If this is your first time discovering Wheel Of Time, welcome. It’s just the beginning. Feel free to find us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. From time to time I hope that I can bring you surprises! Thank you again. Wherever you are, have a nice day. Big hug from Beijing!!! Thanks a lot for Gino’s interview and excellent questions. See you next time!

Asymmetry Track List:
"Grand Cosmos" (ft. Derek Sherinian) – 06:40
"Freedom Day" (ft. Derek Sherinian & Michele Luppi) – 05:40
"Blind Sight" (ft. Alexandre Aposan) – 06:52
"Addicted!... " (ft. Derek Sherinian & Timo Tolkki) – 04:45
"... To the Awakening" (ft. Tom MacLean) – 07:12
"The Night of Eternity" (ft. Derek Sherinian) – 07:38
"China Moon" – 05:03
"2063" (ft. Tony MacAlpine) – 06:44

Asymmetry Credits:
Executive Producer: Jimmie Hong
Producer: Tom MacLean
Recording Studio: Twelve-tone Studio
Engineer: Tom MacLean
Mixing: Tom MacLean
Mastering: Tom MacLean
Album Cover Artist: Aleh
Orchestration Composer: Marcos Barilari

Connect with WHEEL OF TIME:
Bandcamp: Click Here
Facebook: Click Here
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Spotify: Click Here
Apple Music: Click Here

Interview by Gino Alache – Music Journalist