Prog Sphere

Gerben Klazinga, Knight In A Sphere

2010-06-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Prog Sphere's collaborator Nemanja had a short chitchat with Knigh Area mainman, Gerben Klazinga. Check out this FAQ interview.

Nemanja: Hello Gerben! You're the main composer of Knight Area. Can you tell us when you wrote your first song?

Gerben: Hello Nemanja, I wrote my first song when I was 12 years old, it was in 1980.

Nemanja: Tell us about your musical influences. Who has inspired you the most?

Gerben: Definitely Genesis, especially the 1975-1980 period, of course Tony Banks is my favorite keyboard player.

Nemanja: Your first album was a solo project. On the second, Knight Area became a band. Are you still the main composer or is do all of the members participate with song creation?

Gerben: I'm still the main composer but the last few years the demo songs get more mature in the rehearsal room with the influence of the other bandmembers.

Nemanja: Who came up with the name Knight Area?

Gerben: It was my brother. He said: “Gerben, you're living in the "Ridderbuurt" which means area of knights street or something ha, ha”. I live above my own recording studio in the Ridderbuurt.

Nemanja: Can you tell us something about the concept of the latest album? Why do you prefer to write concept albums?

Gerben: It's cool to reflect some parts of music in other songs on the same album, for me It's like there is a story not only in the lyrics but also in the music.

Nemanja: All of your albums have great reviews. How does it feel to be so highly respected in the Prog scene?

Gerben: Well of course we are very happy with this reactions and it keeps our spirits fresh and optimistic to go on.

Nemanja: What do you think of the current Dutch Prog scene?

Gerben: It used to be very good, but nowadays it's a little bit poor I think. Bands like 'Aurora Project', 'Mangrove' and 'Leap Day' are doing well.

Nemanja: What are your top five prog albums of all time?

Gerben:

Genesis - Seconds Out
Steve Hacket - Voyage of the Acolyte
Camel – Breathless
IQ - The Wake

Knight Area - Realm of Shadows ;-)

Nemanja: What are your plans for the future? Are you working on something?

Gerben: At this time I have written 5 demo songs, they are in sound a bit more popular, but it's a merge of Neo Prog and Prog again.

Nemanja: Thank you for your time Gerben. Do you have a message for our readers? Perhaps something I forgot to ask?

Gerben: You're welcome Nemanja. Thanks to all our fans and of course to you!

Hans Lundin in the Wake of Evolution

2010-06-14T08:00:00.006-05:00

Nick: Hello, Hans! First of all I want to say that I’m very glad you’ve agreed to do this interview for Prog Sphere.

Hans: Hi Nick! Thanks for the invitation, I’m glad that you want to share my thoughts and history.

Nick: Would you tell us something about your musical beginnings? How did you get into composing music? Which bands/artists influenced you back in the 60’s/70’s?

Hans: Before Kaipa started 1973 I played in my first band S:t Michael Sect 1964-1969 and in the later version of the same band San Michael’s 1970-1972.

I think the first 7 years were, except having a lot of fun, like an education learning the basic rules of playing in a band. 1970 I had grown as a musician and I started to write own songs. I think San Michael’s in a way are the basic roots of Kaipa. San Michael’s disbanded early 1972 and for one year I worked as a backing musician behind other artists. During this year I realized that I wanted to form a new band where I could develop my musical ideas.

In the 60’s I was of course impressed by Beatles but also bands like Steppenwolf and Spencer Davies Group with Steve Winwood. They were using Hammond organ with a dirty and distorted sound that I really liked. In 1967 I bought my own Hammond organ. In the early 70’s I remember I was impressed by the band Ekseption and their heavy versions of classical music on Hammond organ and also Swedish organ player Merit Hemmingsson who showed how to play Swedish folk music on the organ.

Nick: Kaipa formed out of a band called San Michael’s. With this band you had recorded two albums. Please tell us a bit more about San Michael’s as well as these two albums. It’s interesting that San Michael’s second album, “Nattåg” was released last year, after 37 years. Why’s that?

Hans: San Michael’s started as a trio 1970 – Hans Lundin (Hammond organ, Hohner Clavinet & vocal), Tomas Eriksson (bass & vocal) and Gunnar Westbergh (drums & vocal). In 1972 Nane Kvillsäter (guitar & vocal) joined us. We played a lot of own material with Swedish lyrics but like one of our heroes “Vanilla Fudge” we rearranged cover songs to become moodier and heavier. We also jammed a lot on stage.

We recorded two albums with only original material. The first one was recorded and released 1971 and the second one “Nattåg” was recorded 1972 but it was never released. Not until 2009 when Japanese record company Marquee released the album for the first time after 37 years. This album is also released in an European version 2009 by Transubstans records/Record Heaven.

Nick: In 1973, San Michael’s split and later that year you and Tomas Eriksson formed Ura-Kaipa and recorded a single under that name, but later you shortened the name to Kaipa. What does Kaipa mean? It’s a Swedish word, right? Kaipa’s first records, as well as San Michael’s were sung in Swedish, why did you decide to do that?

Hans: The single with Ura Kaipa actually contained two songs from San Michael’s album “Nattåg” but we decided to use the new band name when it was released simply because San Michael’s didn’t exist anymore.

The name of the band was originally URA KAIPA. It referred to a Swedish Stone Age chieftain and came from the book "Svenskarna och deras hövdingar" by Werner von Heidenstam. In 1975 the name was shortened to KAIPA.

At that time we were only playing in Scandinavia and it felt natural to use our own language.

Nick: Would you tell us something more about the original line-up of the band? Beside you, there were also Thomas Sjöberg and Tomas Eriksson. It was the line-up in the very first days of Kaipa.

Hans: In 1973 I wanted to form a new band and I asked Tomas Eriksson and Thomas Sjöberg to join me. Sadly, Thomas Sjöberg was hit by cancer and couldn't rehearse regularly any more. He was forced to leave the band early 1974, and was replaced by Ingemar Bergman. During the spring of 1974 we felt that the trio format was too limited to express all the dimensions in our compositions. So we started to look around for a guitarist and during the summer of 1974 Roine Stolt joined us.

Nick: Kaipa is one of those bands that sees several different line-ups over the years. In 1974, Roine Stolt and Ingemar Bergman joined you and Tomas Eriksson, and these musicians basically beside you formed the core of Kaipa for the next 5 years or so. I’m not sure, but Roine then was 17 years old when joined the band, and slowly you became one of the leading acts coming from Sweden. How was it then to compose music with these guys and how has your approach to creating music changed since then?

Hans: Roine and I were the main composers in Kaipa. There is only one song from that time that we wrote together “Musiken är ljuset”. The arrangements were mostly made together by the whole band.

The basic roots in my compositions are probably the same but today I have a lot of experience and knowledge that I didn’t have at that time. I suppose that my basic identity today is a mix of all my musical impressions since I started to play in my first band. I’ve been on a long musical journey and it seems that some of the places I’ve visited just continue to stay in my memory but they seem to change in size and form and sometimes they come back with a totally different identity. This is probably the seed to the music I’m writing today.

Nick: 1975 brought us your first album, called “Kaipa”, and with this release you became one of the most important progressive rock groups in Sweden. This album exudes with ambition, refreshment, as well as professionalism even now after 35 years. An explorative release. What are your notes on this album? How do you see now?

Hans: I wish it would’ve been recorded with a better sound especially the drums but I think it contains some really great compositions and beautiful melodies.

Nick: After your selftitled album, the band continued to grow and mature, and as a product of this you created “Inget Nytt Under Solen”. This record contains the epic “Skenet bedrar”. Please, tell us about the songs itself, the titles, and give us technical details about this album. What was it like creating it?

Hans: This was the first time we created a really long song. It was a challenge but I think we succeeded. The song “Skenet bedrar” had several different faces and went through many changes before we found the final version that we recorded for the album. The song is almost 22 minutes long, it couldn't be performed properly as a whole so we recorded it in several sections that were later reassembled in its final form. The album was produced by Kaipa together with Leif Mases who also recorded the San Michael’s albums. Leif managed to reproduce the sound we wanted, as close as possible to that of our live gigs with less reverb and more punch to the drum parts.

Nick: “Inget Nytt Under Solen” includes a slightly jazzy atmosphere. What were your influences for it? I have to say that most beautiful keyboard work is done on this record, in my opinion. Would you mind telling us what instruments you used for this album?

Hans: I don’t recognize your description “jazzy atmosphere” but there are many other influences Swedsih folk music, classic music and rock. I play Hammond organ, Grand piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Mellotron, Yamaha & Korg synthesizers, Logan string machine, Hohner Clavinet, vibes, marimba and prepared piano.

Nick: I have an impression that all other songs on this album are under the shadow of “Skenet bedrar”, as this is so great. Would you agree with me?

Hans: Maybe the other songs are overshadowed by “Skenet bedrar” but there are several great songs on this album. The song “Korståg” is considered to be a classic Kaipa song.

Nick: For your next album, Mats Löfgren joined the band to be the lead vocalist and did a very good job. What were some of the influences behind “Solo”? Also, what’s behind the name? It seems like the same as the English word “solo”.

Hans: On the two first album I wrote most of the songs. On this album Roine Stolt was the main composer. I’m not sure we really knew what direction we should choose. But it ended up with shorter and sometimes simpler songs. The artwork for this album is made by a close friend to the band “Lars Holm” I think “Solo” is the name of one of the figures in his painting.

Nick: How much were Roine and the other band members involved in creating the music for Kaipa’s 70’s albums?

Hans: As I mentioned before Roine and I were the main composers in Kaipa. Roine’s involvement increased until he left the band 1979. The arrangements were mostly made the whole band.

Dan: Could you tell us about some of the lyrics on the early Kaipa albums, for all of those people in the world who don’t speak Swedish? I know this is probably a hard one because you guys released quite a few songs that all had lyrics… Just pick something that comes to mind that you think we might enjoy.

Hans: The main message in our lyrics was probably to celebrate the power of love and the beauty of nature.

Dan: Also, who wrote the lyrics for Kaipa in general?

Hans: On the two first albums Roine and I wrote the lyrics but also Ingemar Bergman in some places. When Mats Löfgren joined the band he became the main writer.

Nick: “Händer” introduced many changes to the band’s sound and lineup, and I believe that majority of your fans have been disappointed with this and next album “Nattdjurstid“. Not that I’m trying to blame you or make you feel guilty, but what happened? Did it have anything to do with Roine leaving?

Hans: No I don’t think it had anything to do with Roine leaving. Just listen to what he did with his own group “Fantasia” a few years later. I think it was more a question of what happened in music business generally these years. We wanted to continue our musical journey, not playing the same style over and over again. Many other famous band went in the same direction and symphonic rock was just not in fashion during these years. In a way I think we was progressive anyway, we were looking for new challenges, even if it is the albums from the 70’s that are remembered both regarding Kaipa and other bands.

Nick: And then after “Nattdjurstid” the band disbanded and you continued as a solo artist. In the period of 1984 – 1989 you recorded three solo albums and released them under your label. Tell us something about these records.

Hans: During the 80’s I recorded three solo albums “Tales” 1984, “Visions of circles of sounds” 1985 and “Houses” 1989 (listen at: www.myspce.com/hanslundin). The music on these albums was a melodic progressive music, mostly instrumental and would probably attract prog rock fans. When these albums were recorded many musicians recorded solo albums playing almost everything themselves. So did I, but I had a few guest musicians (Roine Stolt – guitar, Ulf Wallander – saxophone among others) playing on a few tracks. When I listen to theses albums today I wish I had used more real musicians for the recordings but now this is history. The two first albums were released on LP and the last on CD.

Nick: There’s an interesting detail for me. I found recently that you’ve collaborated with former Yugoslavian musician Blagoj Stojanov. I come from Serbia, so that’s why I mention this. How did you get in touch with him? Tell us a bit more about it.

Hans: At that time I collaborated with “Boris Petrovski” who worked with theatre in Uppsala and I wrote music to some of their performances. Blagoj was in Sweden at that time, he was a friend of Boris son Viktor and they asked me to record two songs with Blagoj. I don’t remember all the details but the songs were released as a single.

Nick: Hagen is another project you’ve been involved with, and an album “Corridors of Time” was released in 2001. What about this? I’d say that Swedish folk music has become your sphere of interest. Am I right?

Hans: I’ve always liked the special feeling in Swedish folk music tunes. They often contains both a melancholy and merry feeling at the same time that goes directly into my heart. There were some folk influences already on the first Kaipa album 1975 but today I feel it’s a more integral and natural part of the compositions and the Kaipa landscape.

In the late 90’s I was invited to play in a musical project called Hagen, mixing traditional Swedish folk music and progressive metal. We recorded an album “Corridors of time” that was released 2001. Another member of Hagen was Per Nilsson who is now the guitar player in Kaipa.

I think working with Hagen gave me a lot new inspiration. I had written a lot of songs, I just didn’t know what to do with them but in 2000 I decided to record an album (KAIPA: Notes from the past) which was the beginning of Kaipa part two.

Nick: The new millennium brought us the return of “Kaipa”, but with a different lineup. Who initiated this idea? Also, why was the name “Kaipa” reused?

Hans: The album “Notes from the past” started as solo project. I asked Roine if he would like to play guitar on the album and help me to get back into the recording process again after my long hiatus. I didn’t have any intention to release it under the name Kaipa. Per Nordin who made the artwork for the album told me when he heard the music: “this is exactly how Kaipa should sound today so why don’t you use the old band name?” I asked Roine if he thought it was a good idea. He said yes and suddenly Kaipa was reborn.

Nick: This new turn brought us a different Kaipa. Roine rejoined you and as a product of this collaboration, we were given “Notes from the Past”. From the title, it sounds like this album is very retrospective, would you say so? Also, why did you decide that this album would be done in English, along with all other future Kaipa albums (as far as we know).

Hans: With “Notes from the past” I wanted to record an album with brand new music but with a lot of inspiration in the song writing and sound structures from my own history. If you listen carefully to the last minutes of the album you can hear fragments of several melodies from the old 70’s Kaipa albums.

In the 70’s there was a market for progressive rock in Sweden making it possible to act and tour in our own country and it was most natural to sing in Swedish. Today the situation is totally different, the market for our music is now the whole world so it’s most natural to use the English language.

Nick: New Kaipa kinda brought forth a new sound. Was that natural growth or did you want to start something different? How would you describe your musical status now? The fact is that with this reincarnated Kaipa you’re more closely to the fans of bands like Karmakanic, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, etc. and that’s fine with me, hehe.

Hans: The unique sound of Kaipa is the sum of the original compositions and the personality and high quality of the individual musicians playing in the band.

Nick: Do you think that re-forming with Roine brought a surge of popularity to Kaipa?

Hans: Of course it did. Even though many people maybe had heard about the old band most of them didn’t know how we sounded. Many people discovered Flower Kings because Roine played with Transatlantic. In the same way many people discovered Kaipa because Roine was playing with the band.

Nick: Was that hard to find a vocalist for the new Kaipa? Patrik Lundström did great job, and I have to say that his vocals, especially on “Notes from the Past” remind me of Goran Edman’s vocals of Karmakanic. In fact, when I first heard it I thought that Edman had sung on that record! How did you get in touch with Patrik, as well as Aleena?

Hans: From the beginning I worked with “Mikael Olsson” from Hagen as singer but we soon realized it wasn’t a good idea. Roine mentioned Patrik as a potential singer, I had heard him on a Ritual album and thought it was a good idea. I contacted him and the rest is history.

I had written one song “A road in my mind” for the album “Notes from the past” where I wanted female vocal. I asked Patrik if he knew someone who could perform the song with both energy and passion. Aleena Gibson and Patrik are old friends and he thought Aleena could try to sing this song. She came to my studio and from the first note she sang I immediately knew that this was exactly what I wanted. Today she’s a very important part of the Kaipa sound. Aleena is not only a brilliant singer she is also a famous songwriter. Listen to her music at: www.myspace.com/aleenagibson

Nick: Some critics say that Roine sort of “paved the path” for Kaipa on Notes from the Past, Keyholder and Mindrevolutions, and you were sort of in his shadow, but I (and many other critics) would disagree with them. Aside from the fact that Roine is a great musician and talent, as well as friend of yours, it seems to most that you were the main man behind Kaipa. Am I right?

Hans: Kaipa (part 2) has always been my project but Roine had a lot of influence to the final result especially on the album “Keyholder”.

Nick: Roine departed before the recording of Angling Feelings, but you quickly found a new guitarist in the form of Per Nilsson. Many people know him as a guitarist of Swedish melodic death metal band Scar Symmetry, but I would bet very few fans of that band would imagine he’s a guitarist for a band like Kaipa. How did you find him? No doubt he’s a great guitarist; so how would you compare his style with Roine’s? They both grew up in different times, listening different artists, what is it that Per brought to the band?

Hans: I first met Per Nilsson when we both played in Hagen. I immediately realized that he is a very diverse and gifted musician able to play any styles in his own personal way. I actually asked him already in 2002 if he wanted to be the guitar player in Kaipa some time in the future. I had a feeling that the collaboration with Roine Stolt shouldn’t last forever.

Both Roine and Per are great musicians but they have different styles and starting points. When I formed Kaipa in 1973, Per wasn’t even born. So he grew up in a totally different musical environment. I know that one of his heroes is Alan Holdsworth,

Nick: How is it to work with Jonas Reingold? He’s probably one of the most renowned bass players around today and personally one of my favorite musicians.

Hans: A real pleasure.

Nick: “In the Wake of Evolution” is your newest album, and it is, well… it’s evolution. An emotional record, if I can say like that. What’s your experience on making this album?

Hans: I think “In the wake of evolution” is a logic development and continuation of the previous album “Angling feelings”. I never decide in advance what to do or in what direction I shall take the music. It was like if the inspiration took me on an unpredictable ride when I wrote the songs for this album.

Nick: I personally feel like In the Wake of Evolution is Kaipa’s greatest album since Solo. How would you compare Kaipa’s albums, looking back at all of what has been released under that name?

Hans: Yes I think “In the wake of evolution” is our best album but every album is like a separate story and they all have their highlights.

Nick: The elements which adorn your new album are great guitar solos, originality in the structure of melodies and their imaginative blend with excellent vocals. From the distance of few months since this album has been released, do you consider it a worthy effort? I truly do.

Hans: Yes definitely.

Dan: Speaking of the vocals… how do I say this… some people had problems with Aleena’s voice on Angling Feelings. I will admit she was very “emotional” on that album. She seems to have been toned down a bit on “In the Wake…” What do you think about this?

Hans: I think she’s always been truly emotional and I don’t think she will change her way of singing just because some people have “problems” with her voice.

Nick: What about live shows? Do you have in plan doing them? Maybe a few venues? I have to admit that I’d like to see a live DVD of Kaipa where you would perform two sets, one based on the 70’s albums and the other one based on the post-millenium era. What do you think?

Hans: I’m probably a bit like the bull Ferdinand who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. I’ve always considered this second edition of Kaipa to be strictly a recording project. I’ve spent eighteen years of my life (1964 – 1982) sleeping in a bus, eating cheap food, taking care of all my equipment, doing all the booking and all other things you have to do when you’re poor and play in a band trying to be famous. I don’t regret a single day but that is history and I just don’t want to do it once again under the same conditions. If the conditions were different today and we could just concentrate on playing our instruments and always have the chance to do a proper sound check maybe I could reconsider this decision but the prog market is very small that’s just a fact.

It would also be very difficult to play the Kaipa music live without including several extra musicians. If you listen carefully to our albums you can notice that sometimes there are up to four or more different guitar or keyboard lines playing simultaneously.

Nick: Would you tell us about your favorite bands/albums of all time? What/who are your influences? Also, what gear/equipment you use?

Hans: I don’t like rating music and after all the taste changes from one day to another. Maybe you expect that I spend my time listening to a lot of progressive rock but that’s not the case. I like all types of music (including progressive rock) as long as it contains good melodies and performance.

There was a time when everything was “real” instruments and you could turn real knobs to change the sound. Sometimes I miss that time and I still own some of these instrument like my Hammond organ and Yamaha CS-60 Synthesizer but I seldom use them when I record nowadays.

I use a Studio Logic master keyboard to control a lot of different plugin instruments in my computer. Several different self programmed electric piano and clavinet sounds together with organ and different mellotron sounds are the basic foundations in the recordings. The only real synthesizer I use for solos and melodies is a Nord Lead 3 synthesizer which I mostly connect to a guitar amplifier and wah-wah pedal to produce my typical distorted sounds. I also play Melodion and Grand Piano.

Nick: What plans do you have for the future? Are you planning on releasing any more solo material? Are you perhaps working on a new Kaipa album? Are you planning on collaborating with someone else for to do something?

Hans: My future plans are still written in the stars, but I’m very curious to find out what message they’ll come up with.

Nick: Do you have any messages for the visitors of Prog Sphere?

Hans:

It’s time, we’re closer to the edge than yesterday

We must break this circle find another way

Let our children’s children celebrate this day

When we found our way

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Hans. I hope you enjoyed in answering our questions. All the best!

Nicklas Barker, My Brother the Wind

2010-06-11T08:00:00.005-05:00

Nicklas Barker is a well-known name in Swedish progressive rock circles. He’s been working with the highly appreciated Anekdoten since 1991, but also he’s involved in other projects and bands. The last, but not least of them is My Brother The Wind, a psychedelic rock oriented project that came up as an improvisational journey. Find out what Nicklas says about it, but also do not miss the chance to find out what’s going on with Anekdoten. Enjoy!

Nick: Hey Nick, Nick is speaking. Thanks for the interview. So, the newest info coming from you is that there are only a few days left before My Brother The Wind’s album called “Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet” is released. Tell us, please, what can we expect? Who initiated the idea about starting this new band?

Nicklas: The idea was that Me, Mathias, Ronny and Tomas would meet up in a studio and just improvise for a couple of hours. We had never played together before so we didn’t know what to expect. We talked about it for some months and decided to take the train to Ronnys hometown Åmål where his friend Love has a analog studio. We wanted to stay true to our aim and inpirations so we needed a computer free and totally analog studio. We had 3 michropones on the drums three other on our amps. So it’s recorded live on 6 tracks. The sound you get is so natural and homogenic. The tracks on the cd are in the same order as we recorded them. We just started playing and let things happen. The mixing was done in real time the day after and we only used a tape echo, a reverb, a flanger and one compressor. I’m very pleased of the result.

Nick: I had an opportunity to hear the preview of “Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet” on the band’s official MySpace page and I have to admit that this sounds really promising. The sound is pretty raw. It’s evident that in the basis of this band lies psychedelic sounds, so would you tell us where did you get from such influence?

Nicklas: Well we all comes from different backrounds but and we never discussed anything about how it was suppose to sound or anything. I think the first notes on the album set the feeling and we just continued from that.

Nick: The cover art of the album is pretty interesting and I am sure it fits well with the music presented on this piece. Who made it?

Nicklas: Anna Sofi from Anekdoten made the sleeve. She also does all the Anekdoten sleeves.

Nick: Are there any plans for a tour with MBTW? I saw an official announcement on the band’s Facebook profile that you will be “probably opening for U2 or Madonna”, haha.

Nicklas: Well we have some gigs coming up and we are very willing to tour. I hope things will kick of when the album is out.

Nick: How did you come to an idea for the name My Brother The Wind? Pretty interesting name. For some reason it reminds me of a psychedelic band from the 70’s called Socrates Drank The Conium. Have you listened to them?

Nicklas: No I haven’t heard them. I took the name from a Sun Ra record which I love and suggested that. We had many suggestions but we found this suiting us well.

Nick: So what’s going on with Anekdoten? A retrospective-compilation has been released by Kscope in 2009, consisted of 2 discs with completely remastered tracks. Are there any plans for Anekdoten in the near future? I have to say that I would love for you guys to release a new album.

Nicklas: Anekdoten are currently recording demos and writing. We have a lot of material but since we aren’t in any real hurry we want to be well prepared this time before recording. We are going to record analog this time and and try to record as much as possible live in the studio. We will have something out in late 2010 or early 2011.

Nick: You had an interesting experience in 2008 playing on Melloboat together with Opeth, Comus, Bo Hansson, Katatonia, among others. How was it? I envy all the lucky bastards who got to see that.

Nicklas: It was great to finally share the stage with our friends from Opeth and Katatonia. The event was great fun and I was totally blown away by Comus. An amazing trip!

Nick: In less than a month we lost two great musicians who have each influenced many, many musicians. Of course, I am talking about Bo Hansson and Ronnie James Dio. Could you tell us about about how they influenced you? I would imagine Hansson influenced you more than Dio, but I felt it would be nice to mention him.

Nicklas: Well I’m a big fan of both and I guess they have both influenced us in one way or another. When I was a teenager Black Sabbath’s Mob Rules and Live Evil made an big impact on me and still does. I love Dio’s voice. I ususally borrow words from Dio when I working on songs before Jan Erik delivers the real lyrics. For some reason they suit Anekdoten very much.

Bo Hansson was one of the greatest and unique composers of all time. His influence is on me is hugh. He had a this very personal touch that was instantly recognizable. In my world he is up there with Hendrix and Coltrane when it comes orginality. I miss them both.

Nick: Anekdoten’s first album is surely one of the best albums of the genre in 90’s. I would say this album is one of the best in my collection. How did working on this album then?

Nicklas: Well it was traumatic experience. We really did’t get the sound right and was in a hurry. The songs were great but we were unexperienced. I v’e been listening to lately when we remastered the tapes for the exclusive vinyl edition that will be out soon and I kinda enjoyed it. The new vinyl edition will be the best sounding Vemod release so far. It comes with a bonus 12" with Sad Rain.

Nick: I don’t want to disturb your privacy, but on the first releases of Anekdoten you appear as Nicklas Berg, and on “Gravity” it says you’re Nicklas Barker. How come?

Nicklas: Got married.

Nick: I’ve always thought Nucleus has a lot of influence taken from King Crimson’s Red era, with addition of some Starless elements, but in a new, innovative way. How did this blend of old and new occur?

Nicklas: Well actually the idea was to blend Black Sabbath with Univers Zero. It doesn’t really sound like that but the result was good. Of course we where under influence of the current music scene in the 90s like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Portishead and I think that is obvious in some parts

Nick: Is “From Within” an album which got you on the level of musical independence, leaving the past, when you were a cover band playing King Crimson songs?

Nicklas: Well maybe we parted from the obvious KC influence here. Two important influences here was Motorpsycho and Landberk.

Nick: “Hole” is a song which is probably one of the largest band’s trademarks, and I cannot avoid comparing it to King Crimson’s “Epitaph”. Not that I’m trying to ask you for differences or similarities, but can we consider “Hole” as an homage to the KC song I mentioned?

Nicklas: No not really. I have no memories that Hole had something to do with Epitaph. As I said before we were very influenced by Motorpsycho and Sonic Youth at the time. I guess the mellotron makes it similar to Epitaph.

Nick: A song “Seljak” from Gravity in my native language (Serbian) means “a peasant, nomad”. Was that intentional, or does that word mean something in Swedish? What’s the story behind it?

Nicklas: Hmm I think Jan Erik was dating a a woman from Serbia at the time and maybe he got the title from her but I’m not sure.

Nick: “A Time of Day” is so far your latest studio album, released in 2007. And I have to praise the vocals on this release, as in my opinion they sound excellent. The albums is a bit more rocky. Do you think that you’ve made a turn with this album?

Nicklas: Well maybe but we don’t think in terms of doing changes in our direction. The songs just popped up. I think we can hear some Cantebury influences and maybe some Amon Duul and Popol Vuh in some parts.

Nick: Considering you have been releasing Anekdoten albums every four years, maybe we should expect another album in 2011? :)

Nicklas: Yes or late 2010.

Nick: Together with your fellow Swedes Peter Nordins, Stefan Dimle and Reine Fiske, you’ve started a project back in 1998, called Morte Macabre, an homage to horror soundtracks. And so far you have an album called “Symphonic Holocaust”. Whose idea was it to start a project like this? What are your favorite 70’s horror movies? Were you inspired mostly by Popol Vuh or Goblin?

Nicklas: None actually. This was a spontaneous thing and we improvised over the themes. I guess you can hear influences from those bands but at the time I had not heard Popol Vuh or Goblin that much. The recordings were done in a day and much of it was spontaneous. The idea came up when Landberk was asked to do a horror movie soundtrack cover for a italian compilation. Only Stefan and Reine was interested so they asked me and Peter if we were interested.

Nick: Are there plans for recording a new Morte Macabre album?

Nicklas: Not at this point. We had some plans a year ago but I really don’t have eny energy or inspiration for Morte Macabre at the moment. But you never know.

Nick: What are your all-time favorite bands/artists? Could you mention some of the albums that wholesomely influenced on your musical shape? Give us a few names from the deep underground, I think that everybody already know of King Crimson or VDGG, hehe.

Nicklas: Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Magma, Univers Zero, Talk Talk, Trettioåriga Kriget, May Blitz, Roy Harper, Bo Hansson, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Beatles, Amon Duul, Can, Sun Ra...

Hmm that was not so deep underground but I’ll continue. Children Of One, Anne Briggs, Frumious Bandersnatch, Cressida, The Advancement, Flower Travelln Band, Spring, Hairy Chapter, il Baletto Di Bronzo, Gracious...

Nick: What kind of gear do you own? Also, how many instruments do you know to play and which are they?

Nicklas: Guitars: Gibson SG, '61-reissue,Ibanez Artist, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Ibanez Concorde 12 string and a Ibanez 6 string

Amps: Hi-Watt modified by Marcus Resch

Peavey Classic 50

Cabinet: Marshall JCM 900, Lead-1960

Effects: Fuzzface, Line 6 DL4 Delay modeler, Octavia, Wah, Univibe and volume pedal custom made by Marcus Resch, MXR compressor, A/B switch, Big Muff

Mellotron M 400S

Fender Rhodes

Pianet

Theremin

Nick: Do you have any hobbies? Also, do you have a full daytime job or are you completely involved in music?

Nicklas: I work as a record dealer buying and selling vintage vinyls. That is my full time job and hobby. Playing music is my therapy.

Nick: Thank you for the interview, Nicklas. All the best with your new band, hope to hear much more from you.

Martin Horntveth, A Gentle Giant

2010-06-09T08:00:00.006-05:00

No, Martin Hornveth is not a member of Gentle Giant if the title of this interview made you think so. Martin Hornveth is actually the drummer of Jaga Jazzist, a Norwegian jazz band with more than 10 musicians. They have recently released a new album this year called “One-Armed Bandit”. I talked with Martin about new album, other projects, their connection with progressive rock, etc.

Nick: Hello Martin. How have you been?

Martin: I’ve been working like a dog and I miss touring again!

Nick: So, it’s been 5 years since you’ve released What We Must and this year you’re back in the game with a brand new album called One-Armed Bandit. Why that long break? What happened with the band during that break? Some of band members have quit. Tell us a bit more.

Martin: Between 2002-2005 we toured constantly and we thought we should take a break before we started going on each other’s nerves. It was supposed to sbe a few months but it ended up being almost two years before we started to rehearse for a new album.

Many of the members started their own solo carriers or joined other bands. At one point we were all so busy with composing, world tours, producing that we were a bit worried about the future of Jaga.

Many of the members that quit around 2005 were original members that wanted to do other things. Two of them are soon to become doctors, others has totally different jobs. The main thing is that we’re all still close friends and the new members inspires the “old” ones J

Nick: Let’s talk about your new album. One-Armed Bandit received very good reviews. Are you satisfied with how it turned out? How long did you work on this album? Would you compare the way it was made with the process that made the previous one?

Martin: Yes, we’re very satisfied with the album. It’s so much rehearsing, quarrelling, discussing, organizing, arranging etc. with Jaga Jazzist but when the album finally was out it felt extremely good. We started to rehearse with the new members Øystein Moen and Stian Westerhus from the Norwegian noise/jazz band, Puma some time in 2007. The first song we tried was ”Prognissekongen” and people were quite shocked in a positive way of which direction Lars was leading the band into.

On What We Must we wanted to rehearse more like a rock band and we were jamming a lot with the arrangements but this time Lars had written 80% of the music and it was quite complex with written scores for all instruments. There were others that wrote music for the album but we ended up using 99,99% of Lars’ music.

Nick: I wonder have you ever been in a situation that after you had an idea for an album and you start working on that led by that idea, in the end the result turns out to be quite the opposite from what you intended?

Martin: Many times! On the ”A Living Room Hush” album it was like that for at least 50% of the album. But after we learned more about studio technique and possibilities with arranging we know a bit more about what we try to find. But sometimes we play the same song over and over for hours to get somewhere we haven’t been before

Nick: My opinion is that with this new album you made a turnout to more prog rock sound in comparison with previous works. This time there are more electronics and programming, more dynamics, I’d say. Was that just intentional or was it a logical sequence of circumstances?

Martin: Well, it’s absolutely more prog-ish than before, but if you listen to ”The Stix” you might think that it’s way more electronic/programmed than this one. Anyway, we wanted ”the best from both worlds” this time. In the early song writing process I remember Lars experimented with a ”Justice” (French band) type ”House” beat in all the songs. We talked about mixing the “uber-electronic” sounds with a more prog-rock or even jazz-rock sound. Justice meets Mahavishnu Orchestra or The Knife meets Zappa. The process is all though much more interesting than if the result ends up like planned.

Nick: How did you get in touch with John McEntire of Tortoise? I see mixing of Jaga Jazzist album as something really hard and have to praise John for the work he did on One-Armed Bandit. What did he bring to the album?

Martin: We originally wanted Jørgen Træen to both produce and mix the album. For Jaga he’s become a very important person for our sound and development. But a couple of months before we had planned to mix he got ill and couldn’t work for a very long time, so we had to find another person to help us finish the album. Lars and I were discussing different solutions and persons we’d like to work with and one of them was John McEntire, whom we obviously have been inspired by for years. Jørgen hadn’t really got the chance to start his brilliant way of transforming the material into something new so we thought that the rough mixes of the album sounded to vintage or old school and wanted John to help us get a more modern or fresh sound. In addition to have pretty much the same taste in music and sound as us he also bring in a lot of “playing around with effects and synthesizer” that eventually gave the electronic feel that we felt were missing.

Nick: As a successful indicator of the new album’s quality, I would like to point out that the album has entered top 10 of the Norwegian national record sales charts in the first week. Seems like you did a good thing in enabling two of the tracks from the album to be available for free on the Internet. Do you think that Internet should be used in such a way by all bands? Or is it more of a detriment in general?

Martin: A few years ago it felt corny and sometimes wrong to give away songs for free, but the way the whole industry has become it’s much more of a necessity in the whole release plan and way of promoting the album. I personally don’t like how people feel that music should be “for free” and I don’t think they have a clue about how much work and money there is behind an album. This change in the whole music scene made it almost impossible to make our last album and we had to find totally new ways of getting the money for studio, producer, mixer etc. For Jaga it’s always been a non-profit band, but this time it was harder than ever to make it happen. That said, we use Internet and all it’s possibilities for all it’s worth all the time, and have been doing that since 1996.

Nick: JJ is an orchestra band, as your line-up is consisted of approx. ten musicians. Would you tell us how the current line-up of the band looks, besides you, Lars and Line? I have to admit that it seems hard to follow all those changes, so let’s make it clear :)

Martin: The current line-up besides Lars (Guitar, saxes and clarinets), Line (Tuba, glockenspiel and vocals) and me (Drums and drum-machines) consist of Mathias Eick (Trumpet, upright bass, keyboards and vibraphone), Øystein Moen (Keyboards), Erik Johannessen (Trombone), Andreas Mjøs (Vibraphone and guitars), Even Ormestad (Bass and keyboards) and our newest member, Marcus Forsgren (Guitars and FX)

Stian Westerhus (Puma, Nils Petter Molvær, Monolithic) played on the album and a few gigs but he was too busy with other bands and has been replaced by Marcus Forsgren from The Lionheart Brothers.

Nick: During all these years you’ve been involved in other projects beside JJ. Solo work is probably the best way to satisfy your own ego so to speak, do you find it to be helpful for Jaga Jazzist to release your own material on the side? Please introduce us to some of your other projects and contributions.

Martin: In the beginning all the side projects and other bands were struggling with JJ’s busy calendar and plans but after a while we all understood that these bands helped the members to try out other ideas and genres that wouldn’t fit into Jaga’s music. So instead of quarrelling about peoples focus, we started encouraging people to start own projects and solo carriers.

In the early 2000’s I was making a lot of electronic music and were touring a lot with my solo show but after a while I quit because I didn’t like traveling alone. Being part of a huge band with two family members close all the time I often felt lonesome in an empty hotel room or backstage. So besides of a pop group called “The National Bank” I been mostly composing music for TV dramas, radio theatre, short films, dance performances, children’s television etc. It’s too much to go through all of it but it’s all presented on my myspace site: www.myspace.com/martinhorntvethcomposer

Nick: Let’s make a retrospective of your albums, starting from Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz to One-Armed Bandit. How would you describe every of these albums?

Martin: “Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz - 1996” was actually a best of album. Our debut album was supposed to be our last. Ha-ha! It’s full of various styles, genres, humoristic ideas but still a lot of serious music. It’s fun, but still a bit embarrassing.

“Magazine EP - 1998” was just an EP that later was released on Smalltown Supersound as full-length release. Also this one is extremely varied and the only red thread is the melodies and harmonies that always has been our trademark. It’s two songs recorded in two different studios and a third song that’s recorded live. It’s also a really quiet, folky song with vocals and a drum&bass remix..

“A Living Room Hush - 2001” is the album that chanced JJ and has always felt like our “real” debut. It’s our first album with Jørgen Træen and he really opened our eyes but musically and sound/recording wise. We came to Jørgen with a lot of songs and ideas but came out with something completely different and we felt that we’d “seen the light”

“The Stix - 2002” is many of the member’s favorite album; because we think we made something unique with this album. We’d been experimenting with sounds, genres and electronics for a while but on this album we felt that we’d made it into our own style.

“What We Must - 2005” was as the album title describes a must for the band to make. We had to go someplace completely different and get rid of most of the things we’d been doing over the last five years. The album is guitar oriented for the first time, it has a lot of “rock band” feel instead of “jazz band” or “electronica” feel. There’s no programming or drum machines and was very inspired by bands like “My Bloody Valentine” and “Sonic Youth”. It also has some early fooling around with prog-rock and “quasi world“.

“One-Armed Bandit – 2010” was sort of a comeback album for Jaga. On this album we wanted to continue what we’d started on “What We Must” but take it to a new level. We also wanted to bring in the electronic sounds from “The Stix” and the madness from “A Living Room Hush”. You can track some parts from early albums but the most important was to have fun while playing the music. We wanted to play complex, sometimes corny, sometimes beautiful but most of all fun-to-play music.

Nick: Is making music for Jaga a tough task? Where do you find new elements for new tunes? I guess that you and Lars are the most focused members of the band when it comes to creating new songs, but how much are the others in on that process?

Martin: Making music for JJ is extremely difficult, and it’s seldom other than Lars that manages to do it. We all try but it doesn’t go through the needle eye. We don’t want Jaga’s music to sound like anything else and that in addition to writing for 9-10 members makes it very, very hard.

For “One-Armed Bandit” Lars worked really hard and set a goal to write a new song for each rehearsal. It ended up being 99,99% of Lars’ music on the new album and that’s basically because he managed to write enough music and create a “universe” for the whole album.

The other members are very involved in shaping the music into what it becomes but that’s only “done in advance”, meaning that Lars writes music that fits the musicians well. He knows what we all stand for and except for the drum parts the whole new album was composed with written scores. In the rehearsal process we’re all involved in jamming on the riffs with different instruments, rhythm parts, instruments playing the melody, percussion, arrangements, drum programming etc. We’ve never rehearsed as much as for this album and that’s a BIG part of the song writing process as well as the actual composition.

Nick: What does Prognissekongen mean? I’ve tried to translate that using a Google translate tool, and it showed me “Prog elf king”, Is that correct?

Martin: Ha-ha! Yes, for us it’s more like King Of Prog Nerds, but the exact translation would be something like Prog elf king. The title is describing both the music and our love/hate approach to the genre. We like a lot of it very much but something of it is just hilarious and comic, but still we like it because it’s funny… Hard to describe in English, but hopefully the title speaks for itself.

Nick: How much of Jaga’s sound is based around progressive rock? Which bands are your favorites, as well as influences?

Martin: Very little. People have been calling us a prog band for a few years now, but we never understood why. I’m not saying that we weren’t a prog-band, but we didn’t know because we’d never listened to it. We started to check out some Progressive around 2004/2005… Well, over the years we’ve been introduced to some bands but we never liked it, and most of the time we thought the music was really ugly and dull. Around the making of What We Must we heard some bands like “Yes” and “Mahavishnu Orchestra” and for the first time we wanted to dig into this genre. We’re interested in songs and melodies and not so much riffs and jamming so maybe that’s why it took so many years for Jaga to feel the connection with Prog? On the last album we’ve “fooled around” with this genre a bit more and are very happy about being called a prog-band. I guess the influences haven’t been that many prog bands except for the ones already mentioned and a few others like “Robert Wyatt” and “Genesis”. It’s more the way of thinking and the “open mind” that has inspired us. “Over the top” arrangements, sudden key and time changes, corny fanfares, pompous church organ, complex melodies and time signatures etc. Actually, Lars was very inspired by slot machines or One-Armed Bandits when he wrote the songs and that inspired to a lot of the stuff mentioned above plus the title of the album.

Nick: Would you tell us about some funny situations from the tour? Being in a band with so many members probably leads to a lot of interesting situations, such as someone being left behind when the band goes on tour, or something.

Martin: This recent tour has been so far quite calm and under control. Probably because we have some new members, a new crew and just had a fantastic time together. On previous tours we were sharing the same bus for 7-8 weeks and since we’d lived on top of each other for years it became a lot of tension, some aggression, quarreling, leave-behinds etc, but this time it’s been pretty calm. That said, for us the friendship and music is very important, so too much “sex, drugs & rock n’ roll” wouldn’t be acceptable.

Nick: I guess you will probably know why do I ask this, but are you a gentle giant? :D

Martin: I’m a very gentle giant :-) I think the man on the “Gentle Giant” album could be the “Prognissekongen” that Lars thinks of.

Lately I’ve been thinking about that band and the resemblances with our band. We were watching a live concert with Gentle Giant in John McEntire’s studio and I didn’t know that the members were SO good instrumentalist. It was really cool to see them change instruments all the time and play them all so brilliantly. We have a couple of members doing the same thing and it was truly inspiring to see.

Nick: Besides being a musician in an eminent band, you also have a serious role in your life, that of a father. How do you find time to balance between these “two worlds”, if I may?

Martin: Being a father has been a fantastic change in my life. I’ve been used to work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week except two-three weeks holidays and it was absolutely about time to prioritize my son and girlfriend. I love touring and living in a bus for weeks, but nowadays I miss my family after two weeks. I think that’s a good thing.

Nick: Is there anything you’d like to add now that I’ve run out of questions?

Martin: I’d like to add that if it was up to the band we would have traveled all over Europe including you country, the states, Australia, Africa and all the other places we haven’t been before. I hope the most eager JJ fans will travel to the nearest cities to see us all though it can be a bit far away. Traveling with this band is very expensive and promoters struggle hard to make it work so it’s not that we don’t want to come to all the places we’re invited.

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Martin. We wish you and your family all the best.

Martin: Thanks and hope to see you some time in the future!

Rikard's Questions (In an Infinite Universe)

2010-06-07T08:00:00.009-05:00

We at ProgSphere are proud to present an interview we made with one of our musical idols, the songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist/lyricist/accordianist/otherstuffist of BEARDFISH! We tried to make the interview comprehensive, so it would be futile to attempt to plumb its depths in this despicable synopsis. Read and enjoy! Be sure to stop by Beardfish's forum, shown here: http://forum.spa-networks.co.uk/punforum/index.php - to discuss Beardfish with fellow fans!

Nick: Hello Rikard! Welcome to Prog Sphere, “don’t forget to bring the fish!” We’re gonna start with some of your side projects, because we want to hear about them and I’m sure you don’t get asked about them as much as you do about Beardfish! We hope that’s ok.

Rikard: Sure!

Dan: Tell us about your old album Cyklonmannen. To me, this album seems to have been made in the style of one of Bo Hansson’s old works. Could you tell us something about the book you based it on? Bo seemed to enjoy using works that were well-known to the English-speaking world, but I’ve never heard of Cyklonmannen.

Rikard: Cyklonmannen (The Cycloneman) is a book written by the Swedish author Sture Dahlström and it’s part of a series he called cyklonsextetten (the cyclone sextet) and although I don’t think he ever got around to actually write six books in the style of Cyklonmannen (I count five) there was this particular period in his career that I appreciate very much. First and foremost, Sture was, and still is, Sweden’s only true beatnik writer to this date (at least that I know of) and his writing is a reflection, I think, on his adventurous life. He lived in Spain for most of the time, he was a jazz musician (double bass and guitar) and I think that shows in his writing, it’s fluent just as good music is when at it’s best. The books in the cyclone sextet and particularly Cyklonmannen are told at a very high speed. The book is about an inventor and ladies man (all of his lead characters are btw) who travels to New York to seek a patent for his new invention, the pest harness, a transparent body condom that shields its user from every sexually transmitive disease there is. On his trip he has many encounters with all sorts of crazy characters and the book is so wild, sexual, psychedelic and free in a sense that only really good literature is! It’s too bad most people don’t speak Swedish coz in my opinion it’s a must read! When I read it (the second time, mind you!) all this music started popping up in my head and I just had to make an interpretation of the book. I like the album and the only regret I had is that I didn’t finish it before Sture passed away. I talked to him on the phone once and he was very interesting to speak to!

Dan: Another one of your projects, Bootcut, was also formed around Bo Hansson in a way, but this time you were inspired by Hansson’s work with Janne Karlsson. Can you tell us more about this? I also read somewhere on the Beardfish forum that you have another album’s worth of material that you might release at some point. Any word on this?

Rikard: Bootcut is a duo that has been around since 2000, so we’re celebrating 10 years this year! We most often make songs with only keyboards (mainly Hammond B3, but also some synthesizers and stuff) and drums. We’ve done a whole lot of fun stuff in these ten years, we’ve been a house band at a jazz club, we’ve accompanied other artists in their live performances (and this works out pretty good since I play the bass on the organ) when they’re singing or playing the guitar or horns or whatever – we’re a pretty solid foundation to layer stuff on! We’ve released two albums; “Hammond VS Drums” in 2002 and “De Fluff” in 2006 and as you mentioned, we do have a third one recorded but we haven’t gotten around to releasing it just yet. It’s mostly an economical question. We may just put out a vinyl with an mp3 code or something, I like that idea…

Dan: Why do you think this “organ and drums” setup is so popular in Sweden? I’ve seen a great deal of bands from your country that arrange themselves exactly like this, or at the very least, around the organ/drums model, even if they use other instruments.

Rikard: I have no idea.. probably because of H&K.. When we started out the only other band that I knew of who were doing it (besides H&K) were Sagor & Swing (or Happy Hammond in Slumberland, as they started out – but back then they had a saxophone player as well) and our style was totally different than theirs, and it was and is very different from H&K as well, apart from the instrumentation!

Dan: Your second album with Bootcut employs the use of a bass, as well as a few other instruments. There are even vocals on some tracks! My question is this: why did you lie to us?! There’s supposed to be only a Hammond and drums!

Rikard: Hey now! The bass was used on one track, and it’s the one track where I don’t even use a Hammond – I play a Wurlitzer piano and we wanted to record it (The Immortal Session) as a sort of jazz trio thing. The same with the vocals, one track! We didn’t want to make the second album with JUST organ and drums because we had been doing these gigs where we had guest musicians coming up on stage to join us in making good music and we simply wanted to translate this onto a record and ergo: De Fluff was made. The guest appearances are just icing on the cake, Petter and I cover up 90% of the album by ourselves…

Dan: YET ANOTHER one of your projects, Gungfly, is going to have its second album released soon. Tell us about this project, and why you have so many projects in general. Too much music in your head?

Rikard: You’ve already answered the question within the question! I make a lot of music and I practically always have something going on, mainly because music is all I do.. All day long! Gungfly is my attempt at a project where I decide completely for myself and record most of the instruments myself (on the new album it’s gonna be a 70/30 split, songwise) simply because I like doing it and there are people encouraging me to do so. The new album will be a diverse range of songs, more so than the last one. It has everything from forrest-smelling 60’s progpop to metal to surfguitar!

Dan: How much has Bo Hansson influenced your work with Beardfish? As we discussed before, he obviously influenced the music of some of your other bands/projects.

Rikard: In general I can’t say that I’ve been very influenced by Bo in my songwriting, but he is one of the main reasons I started playing organ, together with Jon Lord. The only song that comes to mind directly that I feel personally is inspired by Bo (and that’s only in part) is “Coup de Grâce” with Beardfish (the slow part with piano and guitar). There are probably other places in all of my projects where someone could point to the speaker and say “Hey! This reminds me of Bo Hansson” but it’s never intentional and I’ve never seen him as one of my big inspirations for writing music, although I love his music!

Dan: Can you tell us about some of your other influences besides Bo Hansson? I know you like to listen to Gentle Giant and King Crimson. Personally I’m quite partial to Van Der Graaf Generator, as well as those two. Oh, and Beardfish of course. I think hear some Samla Mammas Manna, or perhaps some Flasket Brinner, in Beardfish. Am I correct? Are you a fan?

Rikard: I like all those bands and I’m sure there are influences from all of them, especially Gentle Giant and King Crimson, not Van Der Graaf Generator though – haven’t listened a whole lot to them. Other influences are Frank Zappa (who might even be my biggest influence in the writing of Beardfish material between 2005 and 2008!), Jeff Buckley, Henry Cow, Jimi Hendrix, Opeth, Astor Piazzola, Nirvana, Stravinsky, Soundgarden, Made in Sweden, ZZ Top, Angelo Badalamenti, Baron Bane, Kogo, Foo Fighters and of course Beardfish itself, playing with those guys is the biggest inspiration I can think of… I could go on and on… basically every good artist out there who’s album I’ve listened to more than once would end up on this list!!! And don’t forget books and movies!

Dan: I asked Andy in our interview with him what the chances would be of you two doing a tribute album for Bo Hansson. He said he would love to do something like that. What is your response?

Rikard: I have no comment on that… If we would decide to do something like that… we would! That’s all I can say. I love Andy’s music and we had a great time when we played together, that’s all I’m gonna say for now.

Nick: Where do you get inspiration for your lyrics? I have an opinion that you present a very “normal” life through them, but expressed in mysterious ways.

Rikard: You got me! I don’t particularly enjoy writing about broadswords and fair ladies or stuff like that (and I’m biting my own ass a bit here, because in one of the new Beardfish songs there are some pretty storytelling type lyrics for one song!)… I like writing about stuff that happens in everyday life and I like to twist it around, sort of like; what if this would have happened the other way around, you know… I like writing what I feel about things.

Dan: Let’s switch to Beardfish now, starting with the band’s artwork. Dave’s album covers are getting better and better with each release. Do you have cover art ready for the upcoming album? My favorite so far was definitely Destined Solitaire’s, with the art that linked to the music in some ways, such as by showing Bob Dylan on the cover eating cornflakes, and someone’s head exploding due to the frustration of ALGEBRA!

Rikard: Yeah, David has done some great stuff but he didn’t do “Destined Solitaire”, that was a guy named Spencer Bowden! He’s a very talented young artist living in Hawaii who approached us and said he wanted to do the album art so we checked out some of his stuff and thought it was excellent!

Dan: Where did you think of the name “Beardfish”? Do you like bearded fish? Do they taste good? Do you feel like it fits the band’s image and irreverent sense of humor?

Rikard: We have no reason at all for the name. it came up during a brainstorming for a name and we didn’t even like it at first but once we started playing and noticed that people actually remembered it we decided to keep it. I know they do exist though and they have beards!

Nick: One very interesting thing about Beardfish and its lyrics is how you write dialogues and monologues that somehow manage to fit very very well into the music. This somehow adds an organic feeling to the music, while also somehow managing to keep it very strange. What’s your take on it?

Rikard: I almost always write the music before the lyrics and when there already are melodies you have to fit the vocal phrases with the words which sometimes can be quite tricky, but it’s worked up until now! Maybe that’s the secret.

Dan: An interesting thing about the first Beardfish album, Fran En Plats Du Ej Kan Se, is your usage of Swedish vocals. Why did you decide to do that only on the first album? An equally good question would be: why sing primarily in English in general? I suppose most bands do it nowadays, what with English being the “de facto lingua franca”.

Rikard: Yeah, sure! We never made a decision about it, it’s just based on the fact that I haven’t written anything in Swedish since that album. Those three songs are the best Swedish lyrics I have ever written and when I tried translating them for the booklet on the rerelease of the album in 2007 I had a big problem finding a good rhythmic feel for the English version. It came out as totally different lyrics, which fortunately only the Swedish speaking community will ever know! And then narrow it down to the Swedish Beardfish fans and they’re not that many, so – haha!

Nick: What inspires you to write stories such as those on “The Sane Day”? There are elements from this album that show up on later works, as well.

Rikard: That’s something I appreciate in Zappa’s work that I’ve tried to apply to Beardfish as well – the conceptual continuity (as Frank put it). The stories are there to tie it together and help paint a better picture!

Nick: You’ve been creating stuff pretty much constantly, I’d say, what with the amount of albums you’ve released since you began. Especially from the SiT 1 until the upcoming album, 4 albums in 4 years, and every one better than the one that came before it! What is it that keeps you focused? Especially you, who besides Beardfish, have other projects such as Gungfly and Bootcut. You must be a real workaholic.

Rikard: We work fast when we work, that’s all I can really say about that. There can be periods when we don’t do anything for a while and then we decide to start writing and rehearsing new material and then we basically know that in a couple of months we’re gonna be recording a new album. We just like to make music.. We don’t force it.

Dan: While Beardfish’s style (whatever the hell that is) always seems to remain somewhat consistent, the albums can vary considerably. For example, Sleeping in Traffic Part 1 is pretty mellow compared to the sublime chaos that is Destined Solitaire. I would imagine this reflects the lyrical content, because the content on DS was pretty chaotic, while SiT1 was more about lazy afternoons and that painful feeling of opening your eyes after a good night’s sleep. Am I right?

Rikard: I’m gonna refer to a previous question here and say that the lyrics almost always come to after the music, so in this case we’re rather dealing with the song writing. But we have a certain style and I guess it’s based on my writing and how the guys and I play our instruments. The lyrics reflect the musical content, rather than the other way around as you described.

Dan: Does the opening track of Destined Solitaire, “Awaken the Sleeping”, perhaps allude to the previous two Beardfish albums?

Rikard: Yes, it was a way for us to say that we were done with sleeping in traffic.

Dan: Speaking of the chaos on Destined Solitaire, would you mind revealing, through your infinite grace, what some of these songs are about? Occasionally I am able to tell (such as with the title track, “In Real Life…” and “Abagail’s Questions…”), but “Until You Comply Including Entropy” is simply an enigma to me.

Rikard: But, see – do you really want to know? If you have your own little version on what it could be about, you could leave it at that. Maybe I’ll just destroy it for you? I could tell you that it’s about my life, it reflects me and my view on the world (and it’s usually not a good view, at least not in Beardfish lyrics) that I was seeing that particular day when I wrote it. The “outside my door, everything’s different..” part is about mustering up the courage to go outside and meeting people and stuff and quickly realizing that it’s not fucking worth it because to you they’re all blithering morons.. A pretty pissy attitude, I know! But that part reflects a night at a disco, in the middle of the meat market, where you see the “best” version of people… drunk, egocentric assholes who are there in pursuit of status, not even happiness! And everyone’s just glaring at each other because no one is really happy and no one really wants to be there.. On the other hand, that’s just a part of the lyric – some of it is actually pretty positive!

Dan: Destined Solitaire seems like the most eclectic opus Beardfish has created so far, and that’s saying something! It goes from almost dark symphonic on the intro, to a sort of hard rock/metal epic in the form of Destined Solitaire, the title track, to a few chaotic masterpieces, and then to a jazzy instrumental epic named Coup de Grace. What were some influences in the creation process of this album? Was Opeth in particular responsible for the title track, perhaps?

Rikard: I think I had listened to Opeth quite a lot around that time, yes! Regarding influences for the album they were quite diverse but mostly it came from a state we were all in and none of us were very happy, you know. The verse on “Where the Rain Comes in” is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen though! And Coup de Grâce was inspired by the bandoneon player Astor Piazzola.

Dan: What’s your favorite Beardfish album? Which was the most fun to create, which one was the most difficult?

Rikard: I think “The Sane Day” was our favourite to create, we had a great time. But the recording of the new album was also very funny and creative! We had a great time. Destined Solitaire was the worst recording of them all. We were not in a good state as a band and we were under a lot of stress because we only had five days to record 76 minutes of music! It turned out great though, so maybe we should hate ourselves a bit more and all our albums will be grand!

Dan: Most people seem to name Sleeping in Traffic Part 2 as their favorite BF album. Why do you think that might be? Personally, we both (Nick and I) enjoy Destined Solitaire the most, by far.

Rikard: I think SIT2 is an easy album to like, because it has some very accessible tunes and melodies and it also has a 36 minute song and that makes most progheads cream their pants without having even heard it… Also it was praised by a lot of reviewers.

Dan: I believe Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon said it best: THE HAMMOND ORGAN IS THE GREATEST INSTRUMENT KNOWN TO MAN! I think I might be paraphrasing slightly. Anway, I agree with him completely. Any thoughts?

Rikard: I love the Hammond organ, it’s one of my favorite instruments as well, but lately I’ve been in love with the grand piano and my Gibson SG!

Dan: The Hammond organ is almost a staple instrument in prog and jazz, but there are not many musicians in the genre who use the accordion, and Beardfish has quite a few bits played on that instrument. Do you like playing accordion? I wish there was more of this sound and at the other side I’d like to hear you playing an album full of accordion and that doesn’t have to be Beardfish. Maybe I just gave you an idea, who knows! Perhaps you can be Lars Hollmer’s spiritual successor.

Rikard: The accordion is an instrument that is very dear to me. It was the first instrument I learned how to play as a child, my grandfather taught me. We almost never bring it on concerts though because we have so much gear already (because of me playing both keys and guitar) but if we had a big production I bet we would. I love playing it!

Nick: What other instruments do you own? I know that you possess a Gibson SG guitar which is an amazing and pretty expensive piece. Also, what’s your studio/live equipment like? Amps, pedals, etc. There are for sure a lot of “tech freaks” who want to know more about this.

Rikard: I basically use the same stuff live as in the studio. My amp is a 50 watt Marshall Vintage Modern head going through a Marshall 1960 Lead 412 cabinet. When overdubbing guitars I’ve been using this bad boy’s overdrive and it’s sweeeeet! I’ve also used a Music Man HD150 head in the past and an Ampeg V2 head, also a Peavey Valveking combo but since I bought the Marshall it’s all I use! In terms of pedals I use (in this order): a George Dennis Volume/Fuzz pedal, a modified Cry Baby Wah, a MI Audio NeoFuzz, a T rex Dr Swamp overdrive, a Boss Tremolo, a Line 6 tone core Echo Park, a Boss Tuner and a Boss Reverb rv-5. In the past I’ve used an Ibanez Tube Screamer a lot and a Big Muff, but I don’t use them much these days. I’ve also used a Digitech Whammy pedal quite a lot but right now it won’t fit on my pedal board! In

terms of guitars I’ve mainly been using my Gibson SG for the past couple of years, and it has now grown up and acquired a Vibrola tremolo! I also play a Fender japan Strat quite a lot, especially for solos, but sometimes on whole gigs. I have a Gibson The Paul from the 70’s that I use sometimes as well, it’s a real heavy metal guitar!

When it comes to keyboards I have been using the Hammond B3 in the studio this time around, to everyone’s rejoicing! If I could, I would bring it everywhere but usually we don’t have the space to bring it on tour, unfortunately. I also use a Nord Electro 3 for all the electric pianos and the clavinets and the mellotron sounds. An Arp Pro Soloist is also my weapon of choice when it comes to lead sounds, it’s an awesome synthesizer! The

organ i use live is a Nord C1 Combo Organ and it is (in my opinion) the best organ emulator on the market. On the new album we’ve also recorded some grand piano, a Steinway (don’t know the model).

David uses a Roland Jazz Chorus 412 combo at the moment. He has a lot of fun pedals too! A NeoFuzz just like me (I had mine first, haha!), a cry baby, a blue box fuzz, a satchurator overdrive, a whammy, an Akai head rush delay pedal… and probably some more stuff that I’m forgetting. He plays a Yamaha SG guitar, a Gibson Marauder and a Fender Jazzmaster.

Robert plays a Fender Jazz bass through a HH (guitar) head through a HH 412 (bass) cabinet – it’s that simple!!

And finally Magnus plays a Tama Star Classic kit.

Nick: You use a lot to overdubbing on your albums, how do you cover that sort of stuff when you guys play live?

Rikard: We do the overdubs to fatten up the recorded music to compensate for an energy that comes to life when we do concert, so it’s a bit the other way around!

Dan: So, ProgSphere has interviewed bands from Norway (Pictorial Wand, Jaga Jazzist, and many more) to Peru (Flor de Loto). Would Captain Flurry be proud of us?

Rikard: Haha!! Yeah, he would! HAR HAR!!!

Dan: If you recall, during the recording process of the album that will be released soon, a few people were a bit antsy about news on Beardfish’s forum. We eventually came up with a game where we would add words to a sentence to construct a super silly phrase, in the end. Someone suggested Beardfish include this sentence backwards in one of their songs. Now, we won’t insist something so stupid (more like, stupidly awesome!) but we would like to know. If you had to make a song based around the sentence “Hell yeah, any bloody freakin' news, you wondrously good, piratical, grogdrinking people-cakes?”, what might it be like?

Rikard: Oh, man! I’d probably have to sing something to you to make this work… It sounds like something for Tenacious D to wrap their minds around, haha!

Dan: Speaking of the new album, is there anything you can tell us? Perhaps a name, any more song titles besides those you have mentioned on the forum? Perhaps some song lengths?

Rikard: There isn’t much to tell yet, unfortunately… I’m so in the middle of it all that I feel like I don’t want to spill too much for some reason. It’s a harder album, in a sense that it has a couple of songs with more distorted guitars in them than usual! We’re working on the album title, and I think we have it, but the risk is always there that we might change it, and in that case I don’t want to tell you now, you know! I can tell you there is one song that is 15 minutes and it’s probably the most classic prog song we’ve

ever done and at the same time it has some crazy metal parts to it so we had a guest vocalist who came in and did some growling on it, a friend of mine named Jimmy Jönsson. There is also gonna be some saxophone on a couple of tracks!

Dan: In your eyes, is there a sort of “Swedish music scene”? I have a theory that there is a sort of Swedish subgenre of progressive rock, similar to Italy’s RPI, or England’s Canterbury Scene. It seems to be characterized by keyboard/organ-driven, energetic and cheerful jazz-rock, with elements of Swedish folk music. Some artists/bands with the typical sound are, to me, Bo Hansson, Samla Mammas Manna, Beardfish, Klotet, Sagor & Swing, and many more. Do you have any thoughts on this idea of mine? Is it something that has been thought of before? I call it SvenskProg, by the way!

Rikard: If it’s a common thing with many Swedish bands, I think it can be traced back to our traditional Swedish folk music perhaps… But I’m not sure either. It could just be that bands mimic one another… That’s a tricky question and it’s not one that I will find the answer to here, tonight – sorry!

Dan: Just before we end, I must ask, as I ask everyone I interview: are you a fan of dogs?

Rikard: Yeah, sure! Not a big “hey I gotta get me a dog so I have to walk it and pick up its poo everyday” kind of fan, but my family have had dogs all my life and so I like their company.

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Rikardo, I’m glad I’ve found my shogun moustache fish at the bottom of the sea (Note from the editor: I have no idea what that was supposed to mean). Do you have anything to say, as we end the interview?

Rikard: No, not really! Just thanks for reading and keep your ears and eyes open for the new album!

Lalle Larsson, A Man with A Vision

2010-06-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

Lalle Larsson is a pianist/keyboardist, a composer, a workaholic and just a generally great dude. During his career he's been involved in many different projects. Read on and find what Lalle has to say about Weaveworld, his collaborations with Jonas Reingold, Richard Hallebeek, his musical beginnings and so on.

Nick: Hello, Lalle. Thanks for agreeing to this interview, I have to say that it’s been an honor for me to have a chance to speak with one of my favorite pianists/keyboardists- composers. How’s life these days?

Lalle: Wow thanks, I appreciate the support. Life is good at the moment. I am excited about my new material for the next Weaveworld album. We have just finished recording all the drum tracks for that and it sounds really amazing! I will spend this summer finishing everything off. I will also be a part of some other creative projects that will happen later this year, so I´m not complaining.

Nick: 2009 has been very successful year for you I would say, as you have released an album called “Weaveworld”, as well as a DVD called “Seven Deadly Pieces”. And also you’ve had time to participate on another project, this time playing fusion jazz with 3^rd World Electric. But it seems like all that wasn’t enough for you, haha, as you also took part in the Karmakanic & Agents of Mercy collaboration, which recently released “The Power of Two”. How do you feel after all this?

Lalle: Yeah, 2009 was a very creative year for me. It feels good. You know, ever since I quit my day job as a music teacher two years ago a lot of doors have opened. Now that I work fulltime with my music I get more things done and I can really delve deeper into my artform. I also think that the time was right for me to reach a bigger audience with my music and I am very fortunate to be able to share my vision with guys like Jonas Reingold and Reingold Records.

Nick: Is it difficult to create such music presented on Weaveworld? I see that project as a big house which has rooms filled with jazz musicians, a classical orchestra, a heavy metal band and you in the middle of that all, as a conductor.

Lalle: It´s always difficult to create good, authentic music I think. I do write a lot of music that I reject, I am very picky when it comes to my own music, it has to feel right - have a certain atmosphere. I start out hearing the music in my head and I get a vision of the overall feeling and what I want to say with an album. Sometimes the vision comes out the way I want it to and sometimes it becomes something else. Not neccessarily worse, just different. There are a lot of parameters to get right, arrangement, performance, sound, etc...

Nick: What is it that makes a musician authentic? What musicians have the best reputation for authenticity, in your opinion?

Lalle: Everyone has their own interpretation of what authentic is I guess. I don´t know... I think anyone who can communicate who they are and what they are feeling through their music will resonate with other likeminded souls. Music, like emotions, is a very universal thing.

Nick: Let’s talk about your musical beginnings, as well as your musical education. How did it all begin? Why did you choose to play piano? I believe you also played drums for a while, right? What other instruments do you play?

Lalle: My parents were both musicians so I was practically born with a piano in front of me. I don´t really have any memories of not playing. It wasn´t really a choice, music was more like a natural part of the environment and playing with sounds was as natural as anything else. Although I didn´t really get serious about practising and all that until I was about 14 years old.

When I became a teenager I wanted to be a rock star (laughs) so I began learning the drums and not long after that I formed my own band and I also took drum lessons for a couple of years. Apart from piano and drums I have also played the guitar for many years now.

Nick: What’s your opinion on putting labels on music? I guess that we’d both agreed that music doesn’t have any limitations; everything is based on feelings, right? Also, when you play, do you try to establish some kind of connection with your “soul”?

Lalle: Yeah, a label is obviously something you need if you want to sell a product so that the consumer knows what to expect. I´ve read that my music falls somewhere between progressive jazzrock/fusion and symphonic metal. I don´t know... I mean some of my favourite artists like John Coltrane and Allan Holdsworth fall under the jazz and fusion labels, still I think they sound very different from anything else I´ve heard in their suggested genre. But they need to be put in a genre so that us consumers can find them.

I don´t think that you can “try” to establish a connection to your soul when you play, either you are present or you are not. It´s like saying “do you breath when you talk?” Either you do it or you don´t, if you choose not to – it won´t take long before you die... while trying to talk... (laughs)

In my music improvisation is all about expressing myself and the way I feel. If I feel that I have nothing to say then the music will sound dead. Every note you play should feel important, that´s what I like in a musician, you know, if I hear a drummer for instance and I can hear that he is present and that every single hit on the drums is equally important, all played with conviction, then I usually dig it.

Nick: You are both a solo artist and an ensemble player. As a solo artist, I guess that you have many more possibilities while you play, as you can do different things. What does a musician need to have to make them a good solo artist?

Lalle: Well, I can only speak for myself. As a solo artist I am usually also the composer so the music is all my vision and I pretty much have a clear picture of how I want everyone to play that music. If I am playing in a band it is usually someone elses material and someone elses feelings that I have to try to understand and capture. I become an interpreter, that´s the biggest difference to me. As a solo artist I´m just doing my thing, playing that which comes natural to me.

Nick: Your first solo adventure was an album called “State of Mind”, and it’s interesting that this one was actually promo release, never released as a full-length. Why is that? Please tell us something more about this release.

Lalle: This is a recording I did after I had been doing a couple of solo piano gigs playing jazz-standards. I don´t even consider this a release. It´s more of a personal document. It is obviously not a typical “Lalle Larsson” album as I am playing in a more traditional jazz way.

I´m not saying it is bad but I feel that it is not 100% me, it´s a tradition. Even though it has some highlights. My first real official solo album is the teenage recording Ominox – Contemporary Past from 1993 (Liquid Note Records). All original material. So to be correct Weaveworld is actually my second solo album.

Nick: Electrocution 250 comes next, a very nice and successful combination of avant-garde and metal, which was made in the 90’s. What have been inspired you to make this?

Lalle: When I studied at the “American Institute Of Music” in Vienna in 1992 I did some really insane demos together with guitar virtuoso Todd Duane. These demos were passed around all over the world and it became something of a cult item in the underground shred community. We were even offered a record deal by Shrapnel Records but for some reason that never happened. Then many years later Liquid Note Records wanted us to do something in the line of those demos, and that became Electrocution 250. We didn´t quite manage to capture the raw energy of the demos but it became something else. We were influenced by Todd´s early demos but also by cartoon music, Looney Tunes and that kind of thing. We just wanted it to be as insane and funny as possible, play as fast as possible and with a lot of humour. (laughs) It became an underground classic and was fairly successful in Japan etc.

Nick: Next in line was The Richard Hallebeek Project with Sebastiaan Cornelissen, Brett Garsed and great Shawn Lane, who unfortunately passed away soon after that. This was an excellent fusion project, I think.

Lalle: Thanks. Me, Richard and Sebastiaan each wrote three tunes for that album and then we called in the guests. It was a fun album to record. I lived at Sebastiaans place in Holland and we had a lot of fun hanging out. Rich and Bas are both great friends and wonderful musicians.

I dedicated my song Enigma to Shawn Lane who sadly passed away. He was a true original and one of my all time favourite musicians.

Nick: In 2005, you joined forces with Sebastiaan Cornelissen again with addition of Gary Willis, forming Timeline. Why do you think this project stayed almost unnoticed?

Lalle: The record label Munich Records didn´t know who we were and they didn´t care about the album enough to do any promotion at all, so it just got lost unfortunately. It´s probably really difficult to get a hold of that CD now. I think that album deserved more recognition.

Nick: During your career you’ve been collaborating with many musicians, including Philippe Ansari, the already mentioned Sebastiaan Cornelissen, Virgil Donati, Phi Yaan Zek, and latest one, but not the least, Zoltan Øbelisk. Would you tell us something more about these people you’ve worked with? Who was the most fun?

Lalle: I have done a lot of different sessions over the years and every one of them have been a great learning experience for me. Most of the studio work nowadays is done by sending wav-files via the internet. It´s a lot more fun to actually meet the musicians and record together live in the studio. In March I did a great studio-session with Agents Of Mercy - Roine Stolt & Nad Sylvan´s new band. That was a lot of fun, recording the oldfashion way.

Among the guys you mentioned Phi and Sebastiaan are both very close personal friends of mine so we are always having a lot of fun together. They are like brothers to me and we have been doing a lot of hanging out in London and Holland. Unfortunately we don´t get to meet too often since we live in different countries.

Nick: 2008 brought you into Karmakanic (although you joined the band in 2006 as live support, if I’m not wrong), appearing on “Who’s The Boss In The Factory”, an awesome album, which, by the way, I quickly put on my list of “top albums of 2008”. How did you get in touch with them? Also, what’s it like working with Mr. Reingold? Seems that he’s pretty busy these days.

Lalle: Jonas called me in 2006 because he needed a a keyboard player for an upcoming Karmakanic tour and I accepted. I ended up playing on their third album "Who´s The Boss..." and I´ve been a part of the band ever since. We have done several tours and albums together now me and Jonas. He is great to work with, a true professional. Bass-player, composer, producer, record label guy, studio engineer, you name it... Jonas has become a great friend of mine and he is a musical kindred spirit. He is also very funny! We have a lot of fun together. I really can´t say enough good things about him :)

Nick: In the recent interview with Nad Sylvan of Agents of Mercy, he told that Karmakanic is in the process of making a new album. Would you tell us something more about that? What can we expect this time?

Lalle: Yeah, Jonas is in the middle of working on the next album. He is sending me demos of new songs that he is working on and some of the stuff is already my favourite Karmakanic material. It will be released sometime early next year I believe.

Nick: Speaking of Karmakanic, what’s your favorite album? Few days ago, I was talking with my friend concerning the same question and we’ve agreed that every of three albums is way different in comparison to its predecessor and that’s what we like. How difficult is it to create something different, but at the same time to keep all of those basic “Karmakanic” elements?

Lalle: Yeah, all three albums are different. If I had to pick a favourite I would say “Who´s The Boss” and the live album.

Karmakanic is Jonas vision and the first two albums feels to me more like his solo projects done with a lot of studio/guest musicians, “Who´s The Boss” was beginning to sound more like a band I think, and the live album is definitely unique. The new album will also have more of a band feel to it. By now Jonas knows our strengths so when he writes he can for instance write with Göran´s voice and my keyboard playing in mind.

Nick: Why did it take so long for you to release “Seven Deadly Pieces”? I remember I was looking forward to it several times, but it seemed like it was never going to be released! In the end, it was worth waiting for, surely.

Lalle: Mostly because we didn´t have a budget. I paid for it all myself and when people are working for free things take time. Plus we had some technical problems in the end.

But it was amazing that we managed to pull it of after all. It just shows that you can create something like that with hardly no budget. it took me ten years to realize that project.

Nick: What bands/artists do you listen to the most these days?

Lalle: Lately I have actually listened mostly to my own music since I´ve been working several hours every day with the new Weaveworld. When I listen to other music for inspiration I tend to always go back to my old favourite artists and recordings. Now when Ronnie James Dio so sadly passed away I have listened a lot to Rainbow, Sabbath and Dio. I also always come back to the old Shawn Lane demos/bootlegs and Holdsworth live bootlegs. Early Yngwie stuff and some Coltrane live stuff. Apart from that I listen to classical music and filmmusic a lot.

I dig Ennio Morricone, John Barry, that sort of stuff. Now that I think of it I guess the latest "current " album I listened to was Jeff Beck´s latest CD.

Nick: Do you have a clear image/vision of your musical career? Can you see that far or simply you will make album based on your feelings of the moment?

Lalle: Yes I have a pretty clear vision of where I´m going with my music. My plan is to release one solo album every year, this fall the second Weaveworld will come out and the third album will come out next year. I have only planned for a Weaveworld trilogy then I´ll see where the music leads me, but I will continue to build my catalogue with my own sound, I have only just started.

Nick: Do you have any hobbies or are you fully devoted to music?

Lalle: I guess that music is both my work and hobby. I do very little else than practise, compose and record. That´s my life. I do enjoy reading and watching good films for relaxation and I work out sometimes to stay fit, but that´s about it.

Nick: As I think that I’m done with questions, is there anything what you’d like to say to our visitors?

Lalle: Yeah, thanks for your interest and for taking time to read this interview. Don´t forget to check out my solo album Weaveworld and my DVD Seven Deadly Pieces if you haven´t already, ha,ha, promotion, promotion.... I have a second album coming out this fall so look out! Don´t forget to check out the new Agents Of Mercy that will also come out this fall! Some inspired music for you I promise!

Nick: Thank you very much for the interview, Lalle. I hope you enjoyed in giving answers to my pretty standard question. All the best!

Lalle: Thank you! I enjoyed your questions :)

Alan Morse, An Engineer of Arts

2010-06-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

Is there any need for me to introduce one of the men behind one of the most important prog bands in recent years? I suppose it wouldn't hurt: Alan Morse, ladies and gentlemen! I had an opportunity to ask him some questions about SB’s new album, some previous releases, his connection with martial artist Chuck Norris and so on. So, put your favorite Spock’s Beard album in the deck, get comfortable, and read the words of Mr. Morse.

Nick: Hello Alan. Thanks for agreeing to this interview. How are you doing?

Alan: I’m doing well, very busy. It just started raining, very strange for LA! I’m really excited about the new CD, people really seem to be liking it. And I like it too!

Nick: So, Spock’s Beard is back on track, with brand new album “X”, which is by the way your 10^th album. What can we expect from this record? 4 years since your previous selftitled album, what changed since then, and what are the reasons for taking that long to releasing a new album?

Alan: Wow, has it been 4 years?! No particular reason to take so long. It does take a long time to make a record, but not that long! There have been a lot of changes since then, we’re on a different record label. In fact, we didn’t even have a label until this record was done. Our awesome loyal fans preordered enough CDs to finance making it, so off we went!

Nick: How long did the recording process take? Please, tell us something more about the technical side of the new album.

Alan: I guess it was about 6 months or so since we started really recording. We already had pretty good demos of everything. If you count the time demoing everything, it was probably 2-3 years in the making! And if you count writing, 5-10 years, since some bits were written long ago!

It’s a long, and frankly often tedious process making a record these days. There’s a lot of tweaking, getting everything sounding right. One of the most fun parts is recording the strings and horns. It’s so cool to hear the real thing, the sounds you heard in your head actually coming out! But then there’s all the EQing and processing, seems to take forever!

Nick: Did anything change in the process of creating a song/album in Spock’s Beard? Or have you used some formula that has been in place since the early era? How much has Neal’s departure changed the recording process?

Alan: It’s pretty much the same process as we’ve always done, except that the technology is very different now. We used to have to all huddle around the mixing board and tweak knobs as it went along. Now you can do most of it in the computer, so if you don’t like something, you can go back and fix it. This is both good and bad, because now it’s hard to know when to stop! Before you’d just have to live with stuff that was “good enough”.

As far as Neal leaving, the difference is that it’s more democratic, also a blessing and a curse! It’s much more difficult when you have four or five guys with more or less equal say weighing in on something, rather than one guy pretty much having the final say. Now mostly the writers on the particular song have the final say, but we all have much more input in general.

Nick: Have you started to use a pick, haha? By the way, how come you don’t use pick while you play? I suppose that you’re tired of answering this question, but I’m sure people would like to know it. :) Also, isn’t hard for you to play a tour without using the pick, doesn’t it hurt?

Alan: Nope, still pretty much pick free, although sometimes I will use one in the studio – reluctantly – to get a particular sound, especially on acoustic bits. On tour I get an acrylic finger nail put on – I get some interesting looks at nail shops! That makes it a lot easier. I used to bleed on my guitar, it was messy and painful. I started playing fingerstyle because I started out playing upright bass and learned to pluck the strings on that. Then when I learned guitar I learned fingerpicking. So it was just a lot easier to keep going that way than to learn a whole new way of playing.

Nick: Let’s get back to the music. I’d say “Spock’s Beard” was a pretty heavy album that had a lot of hard rock elements. Does the new album follow the direction of the previous one, or there will be more classic stuff, consisted of the elements from your early records? Some kind of retrospect to “The Light” or “The Kindness of Strangers”, maybe? Where would you place “X” in comparison with previous albums?

Alan: I was trying to go for a more “classic Spock’s” thing, like our earlier work. I’m not sure if we did that, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. I think it’s one of our best, I really like it. There’s more stuff that really gives me chills on this record than there has been for a long time. I hope people out there agree, so far it seems to be going that way.

Nick: I guess this would be tough question for you, but what’s your favorite SB album? Also, do you have a favorite song, which you play live with some specific emotion? What’s the most difficult song of Spock’s Beard to play live for you?

Alan: Surprisingly,The Light is still pretty hard to pull off, mostly because of all the sound changes I have to do – switching between loud & clean & really effected stuff on the fly. Also The Doorway has some acoustic stuff that’s just out there on its own, that’s pretty challenging. Especially if the lighting isn’t good, I can’t see what I’m playing!

Nick: There’s a part in “As Far As The Mind Can See” called “Stream Of Unconsciousness”, maybe it will be silly to ask, does this one have anything to do with Dream Theater’s instrumental from “Train of Thought” called “Stream of Consciousness”?

Alan: I don’t think it really has anything to do with that. It’s sort of a pun or play on words. John (Boegehold) likes to do that sort of thing. I don’t think I’ve heard Stream of Consciousness, I should check it out, DT’s awesome!

Nick: I notice “Octane” is probably the album that polarized critics the most. Some consider it to be a weak album, while others think it was a huge hit. Why is that? Seems like “Octane” is a record which is deeply under the shadow of “Feel Euphoria”.

Alan: I liked Octane, but I can see why people might not have liked it so much. Maybe too much straight ahead rock? That’s partly why I wanted to go full Prog on this record, get back to what we’re known for. I guess we were trying to grow beyond the Prog niche a bit, reach some new fans. Plus I personally like straight ahead hard rock. But this time, we went proggier, if that’s a word! I’m really pleased with it.

Nick: Speaking of “Feel Euphoria”, this album was compared by many to Genesis’ “A Trick of the Tail”, as Nick D’Virgilio took all lead vocals after Neal’s departure. How do you see this situation now?

Alan: Well, it just seemed the right thing to do at the time, and actually, I think it was. Nick’s got a great voice & wanted to go for it, so why not? We weren’t trying to “do a Genesis”, it just worked out that way.

Nick: More parallels can be made to Genesis because “Feel Euphoria” is an album which has been welcomed and received very well, similarly to how “A Trick of the Tail” is one of the albums which has reached top positions on chart lists all around the world. Was that hard to continue without Neal on lead vocals, as well without his presence in the process of creating?

Alan: Oh yeah, it was a shock. But I actually really enjoyed making that record, it was kind of new and exciting. But was a big adjustment!

Nick: “Spock’s Beard” contains “As Far As The Mind Can See”, which is a more then 15 minutes. Is there such a long epic on “X” or maybe even longer than “The Great Nothing” from “V”? I am sure a lot of fans will be expecting something big on the new album.

Alan: There are a couple of pretty long ones one the new one, but I don’t really care about that so much. I mean, it’s not a contest who can write the longest piece. For me it’s much more about writing something good, that flows, that makes some sense. That has some structure to it, a beginning, middle and end. If it wants to be long, then cool, but I don’t set out to write any particular length, although it seems to be a very big deal to some people…

Nick: You released your first solo album “Four O'Clock and Hysteria” in 2007, and it seemed like no one expected you to make a jazz fusion album. It showed a side of you that we’ve never heard before and I consider this album as a homage to classic 70’s fusion albums. Tell us something more about this album. Where did you get the idea to make this?

Alan: I decided to make a solo record, and after a while I thought it would be fun to do all instrumentals and not have to worry about vocals. I don’t sing all that great, and my favorite parts are always the guitar solos, so why not? Plus I always loved all those old Jeff Beck records, so I guess I decided to make my own. I really love that record, it’s one of my favorites!

Nick: “Four O'Clock and Hysteria” is an album where you gathers best of DiMeola, Zappa, Vai, Lukather with addition of your own recognizable touch. What musicians influenced you in its creation? Did I get any of the right names?

Alan: Well, you missed the most obvious one, Jeff Beck, but yeah, I like all those guys. Zappa especially. There’s maybe some Satriani influence in there, and a bit of Adrian Belew. So yeah, all of the above!

Nick: Can we expect second solo album from you some time soon?

Alan: I’ve been thinking about it, but it’s a big commitment. I may have to do another one. I went on a lyric writing binge a few years ago & I have notebooks full of stuff. It would have to have vocals on it, which would be fun. Who knows?

Nick: This would be probably interesting for our visitors: It’s known that you have worked with martial artist Chuck Noriss. Would you please tell us more about that? As you probably know there’s a joke told about him somewhere on the internet every two minutes, would you say any of them are based on reality?

Alan: Well, I played on a track for him but I never actually met him. I guess that’s why I’m still alive! It was interesting. He’s better at martial arts than music. But he’s better at music than I am at martial arts!

Nick: You’ve also worked on a couple film-related projects/soundtracks. What was that experience like?

Alan: Mostly really fun. I really enjoyed doing that kind of stuff, it was creative and fun and challenging. I’d love to do it again, but it’s not very likely!

Nick: You are mainly a guitarist, but also you played several more instruments. What are they, which one is hardest to play, and which one is the most fun to play?

Alan: Oh, I play a bit of a lot of things – cello, saw, theremin, ukulele, whatever! A friend gave me a handmade 4 string banjo I really like playing. It might make an appearance on a record sometime!

The Theremin is probably the hardest to play. Those things are really a bitch to control, very hard to stay on pitch. It took a million takes to get one decent useable track. I like stuff with frets, it’s way easier. I don’t know how violinists do it, very hard to play in tune.

Nick: Aside from being a musician you also happen to be an electrical engineer. Is it hard to manage being part of a decently high-profile band that does a lot of touring as well as a job like this?

Alan: Sometimes it’s tricky, but we don’t really tour that much. There are long periods where we don’t do much of anything, and then flurries of activity, like right now! It’s good having both, because I can make a decent living and still go off and play rock star now & then. A good balance.

Nick: Would you name 5 albums that have influenced you throughout your career?

Alan: Gosh, pick any five Beatles records! Or five Bowies. I guess I’d have to pick Sgt Pepper, Alladin Sane, A Night at the Opera, Blow by Blow, and a Charlie Parker record.

Nick: Do you have anything to say for our visitors?

Alan: Thanks for indulging us all these years, it’s really been a great ride. Couldn’t do it without you all. And please buy the records, it’s a lot of work to just have people pirate them, that’s really uncool.

Nick: Thank you Alan for being part of this interview. All the best with upcoming album and tour, hope to see you some time on the European tour.

Alan: Love to see you, everybody come out & say hello!

Roye Albrighton of Nektar in no man's land

2010-05-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Nick: First of all, I would like to thank you for agreeing to do this interview for our up-and-coming blogzine, it’s a pleasure for us having you, Mr. Albrighton as an interviewee.

Roye: My pleasure entirely, thank you for the invitation.

Nick: So, let’s start from your early music beginnings. How did your musical career begin? When did you start playing? Which groups have been your favorites as a young man? Please tell us something more about your early life.

Roye: My first venture into the world of the guitar came at the age of 10 when my brother who is 10 years older than myself brought home an old Spanish guitar with one remaining string on it. I was fascinated by this instrument and took it from there really. I found out how to re-string it and spent most of my teens in our back kitchen area learning to play it. Back in those days, pop music was much the same as now and I used to look for something different which is when I found the American blues artists. As a teenager I would walk into town and look for anyone who would play together with me… This was pretty easy really as the guitar was making a big breakthrough in the UK thanks to likes of the Shadows, etc etc. My home town was Coventry which was the UK’s motor city and there was an abundance of pubs and clubs that had live music every night, so finding somewhere to play was not difficult. As a learning musician my ears were open to everything and I used to love the guitar bands like “the Ventures” and “Spotniks”.

Nick: How did you go about forming Nektar back in 1969? Who was the most influential when the band started its musical journey?

Roye: I was in Hamburg in the late 60’s playing with my outfit called “The Peeps” in the Top Ten club on the Reeperbahn and during the day there was not a lot to do until the clubs opened at night. It’s then that I walked past the Star club and heard a drummer practicing. On further investigations I got to know Ron Howden who was that drummer and we then jammed together for the next week until my band had to leave for Sweden. I told Ron that if they ever needed a guitarist/singer just give me a call and sure enough 3 months later I got a telex asking to come over… This was then the start of Nektar.

Many bands have influenced Nektar it would be difficult to list them all but I think it’s safe to say that Beatles and Hendrix played a large part.

Nick: Have the fact that Nektar was formed in Hamburg pushed the band as one of the carriers of Krautrock? I know that scene was characteristic of German bands, and you guys played music that was similar to theirs.

Roye: Nektar were in a kind of “no mans land” back in the 70’s. We were all Brits playing our own brand of music living in Germany and when we came up with the name for the band we decided to substitute the “c” for a “k” in the spelling just to make it look a little edgier. Unknowing to us this is the way that it is spelt in German, and so from that moment on we were branded a Krautrock band. If critics found similarities in our music to that of the krautrock movement, it was purely by accident.

Nick: How did it look back in time to create music for Nektar? Did you have some “fixed” tempo in composing songs or everything was a product of jamming, improvising?

Roye: Most of the material that was on the first two albums were taken from extensive hours of jamming and rehearsals… It was really only on “Remember the Future” that we made a conscious effort to put together an album that was to fit the purpose.

Nick: Would you tell us what equipment/gear you guys used back in the 70’s? We are all witnesses of the constant growth of technology, how do you see it now, speaking of instruments/gear/stuff?

Roye: The guitar rig I used for several years at the start of Nektar was really what was left over from other bands. It consisted of a Selmer PA amp, a pair of 4x10 PA columns (which had 2 blown speakers in each) and a echo unit by Schaller that made more noise than sound. “Taff” Freeman had an old Hammond M3 and a Hiwatt amp and 4x12 and Mo Moore had a Triumph bass combo. Ron I believe had a Ludwig kit. Nektar’s equipment evolved into the equivalent of moving house every day and by the time we got our first hit (Remember the Future) we had accumulated a ridiculous amount of gear that we would take on the road. I am a big leslie guitar fan and would carry around two full size leslie 122’s loaded with JBL drivers. By the time we did the (recycled) tour in the USA we were making use of two 40 foot tractor/trailer units. After leaving Nektar in ’76 I went through the whole multi rack scenario including the use of the synth guitar that is until one day just before a show the whole lot broke down. So I gritted my teeth and played straight into the amp. From that day on I never used a rack again and to this day only very few effect pedals. I realized on that night that the true sound of the guitar was hidden from me for years.

Nick: How would you describe Nektar’s music on your own? Some would say that genre labels are ok, but do you agree? If today there’s a debate about progressive rock music, I believe that majority would say it’s about mellotrons, flutes, and time changes, while the other side says it’s too vague to judge.

Roye: It’s difficult to place any kind of tag on Nektar music simply because it’s always evolving into something else from album to album. The term “progressive rock” is a fairly new description and I don’t think that Nektar’s music fits into this category. I can understand the uninitiated wanting to place many bands into this arena but for me the mellotron/timechange/flute thing is nonsense. I was always led to believe the word “progressive… or… progression” meant moving from one to the next which is what music does. It moves onto the next section. Strange that people think otherwise.

Nick: Nektar was on a 20 years long hiatus, since your last album in 1980 “Man in the Moon”. What happened for all those years? You have released your first solo album in 2002, followed by reunion of Nektar. Would you tell us something more about this?

Roye: Since Man in the moon I was involved with several different projects, but mainly my own. I was deep into the synth guitar for a while but as previously explained that came to an abrupt end after the release of The Follies of Rupert Treacle. Between the mid 80’s and the reunion show I just took stock of everything and of course my illness played a great part in the void. The actual reunion show was a blast, after coming together of the original band after such a long period of time and having very little time to rehearse..it was amazing how it all came together.

Nick: “The Prodigal Son” was Nektar’s first album after the aforementioned hiatus. Are you satisfied how this album has been received?

Roye: No offence to the drummer who appeared on that album but I wish that Ron had been with me on the recording. The production was ok but could have been a lot better had we not have been under pressure of a budget. I would love to rerecord that album again with some adjustments to the arrangements and of course with Ron and use of a bass player.

Nick: “A Tab in the Ocean” is probably one of the best releases of Nektar so far, as many critics consider this album being essential for the genre. This album, together with other albums from seventies, has been remastered by Dream Nebula. Why did you decide to remaster these albums?

Roye: It was decided to remaster because of the weak levels on the originals. Since then I have taken one of those originals and boosted the final levels myself to today’s expected levels and found there to be very little difference at all to the Nebula remasters.

Nick: I believe your manager is Mark Powell, who’s is also Caravan’s manager. Sorry if this isn’t true, but as a fan of Caravan, I would like to ask do you have an idea what’s going on with them? I know that you have had it in mind to do a co-headline tour with them in 2004.

Roye: We did actually do a combined tour with Caravan under the wing of Mr. Powell, and you are right he is no longer associated with Nektar since 2004. I believe that Caravan have disbanded.

Nick: I remember a sentence in some review for “Evolution” where reviewer wrote something like “how’s it possible that bunch of oldies make such a good album”. In my country we have a proverb which says “No hit without old man”. My opinion is that this album showed that Nektar has much more to say, what has been proved to be true on Evolution’s follow-up “Book of Days”. How do you see it now?

Roye: I guess it works the other way around too “how can such young guys make such bad music”. I think your countries proverb is about right. There is no substitute for experience. Nektar’s brand of music changes all the time and I think that it is the “no borders” attitude that keeps the writing fresh and sounding actual.

Nick: 2009 brought us the live album “Fortyfied” with which you celebrated the band’s 40th anniversary. So, how does it feel, being involved in something for 40 years? It’s like a lifetime. Do you agree?

Eoye: Several lifetimes I would say, although it only feels like yesterday when we all congregated in that cellar and came up with “Journey to the center of the eye”. 40 years is a milestone in a band’s history and you can count the bands who celebrate this on one hand. And they all seem to be right now.

Nick: What are your next plans for Nektar? Any new albums? Maybe a solo album or another project?

Roye: I am in the process of finishing writing the next Nektar album which has the working title of “Juggernaut”. Hopefully this will see the stores in early 2011. I really do want to make a new solo CD, but this time without synth guitar. In fact without synths at all.

Nick: Do you have any message for the visitors of our website?

Roye: Thanks for taking the time to read this and please keep on supporting live music. It’s what keeps us going.

Nick: Thank you very much for this interview. Best wishes.

Roye: My pleasure.

Epignosis, the ProgArchives Reviewer-Musician.

2010-05-29T14:00:00.001-05:00

Prog Sphere's special collaborator Jorge has contributed this interview with ProgArchives legend Epignosis. E-Pig (as he is amusingly called), is the only PA reviewer that I know of that has also created his own prog music. There may be more, but I am not aware of them. Anyway, Robert was kind enough to agree to this interview. So enjoy!

Jorge: Good day Robert! For those who haven't heard of you, tell us about yourself.

Robert: I was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1983. I share a birthday with Billy Ray Cyrus, Tim Burton, Elvis Costello, Gene Simmons, and Regis Philbin (good thing I don’t sound like all of these people together). I’m a husband and a father of two children, which so far has been one of my most enriching roles. I’ve played music for twelve years now, but I’m relatively new to recording the things I come up with. I’m still a progressive rock neophyte, really, since I’ve only been listening to it for ten years and I’m still exploring some of the “classic” artists of prog. Aside from music, I love to cook, play games, read and write books, and I’ve acted on stage from time to time. I used to be a teacher at an alternative education facility for people (in my case, young men) who made poor choices and were not welcome in public school again until they completed our program. That was the best job I ever had, but unfortunately due to severe budget cuts our school’s contract was not renewed. I now do various work for kgb (the Knowledge Generation Bureau, not the Russian secret police!), including quality control and marketing. That has proven to be a very fun and liberating line of work, and it allows me to concentrate on making music in the morning, as that seems to be the part of the day when I am most creative. Also, I’ve never ridden on a plane before (but I have ridden an elephant, a camel, a train, and a tank).

Jorge: How did you get into the music business? When did you go from being a fan to becoming an artist?

Robert: Girls and Dad. I grew up listening to country and classic rock (Boston and The Eagles were favorites in my home). My dad and my late grandpa played guitar, even playing in a band together for many years. At a very young age I would sit at the bar and sip Shirley Temples and listen to the music and flirt with the women. When I was 12, my dad asked me if I was interested in learning how to play the guitar. I said that I wasn’t, and he told me that girls liked guys who played the guitar. I told my old man that he was out of touch and didn’t know a thing about girls these days. He left it at that. When I was 14, I was bored, and I snuck into my father’s room and took his 1950s Sears Silvertone acoustic, put on a Johnny Cash record, and just tried to see if I could play “Folsom Prison Blues.” I did not play “Folsom Prison Blues” that day. I didn’t play anything that day, nor did I play anything for many days to come. And my fingertips hurt! However, I found some dusty old Mel Bay guitar instruction books, and I began learning the chords. When I was 16, we got the Internet. I met a lot of people through chat rooms and various other virtual avenues. I wound up meeting a young girl who chatted with me for a bit before telling me, “My sister loves guys who play the guitar, and she’s your age. You should talk to her.” When I was 19, this sister and I got hitched. I reckon Dad was right. Since then, I’ve played mostly in country bands. Country music is fun and easy to play. I made some good money having a great time. However, as a teen, I was involved in a 5-or-6-person band called Soulfire, and we played (among many other things) my earliest “complex” songs. We also did plenty of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Collective Soul, Eddie Money, and Pink Floyd covers. Some of us once did “Comfortably Numb” in a church talent show. Now that was interesting.

Jorge: Where did you get the name 'epignosis'? It reminds me of a similar word in Spanish... Do you like the nickname "e-Pig" that people have bestowed upon you?

Robert: My real name is a commonplace one (even in music), so it was important that I chose a moniker to distinguish myself from others. After trying on several in my head, I decided on “Epignosis.” Epignosis is a compound Greek word. “Epi” is a Greek preposition meaning “toward,” and “gnosis” is, of course, knowledge. The concept embodied in this word is moving toward a perfect knowledge of something (or someone) even if perfect knowledge can never be attained. For example, I may know my wife well now, but the more I spend time with her and listen to her, the deeper I know and appreciate her.

e-Pig...”electronic bacon?” Wish that were possible! Let’s just say that I don’t hate that nickname, but I’m not proclaiming it from the rooftops either!

Jorge: What are your top 3 bands/artists motivations/inspirations and why?

Robert: My three favorites are:

1. Kansas - This was the band that made me crave deeper music, both compositionally and lyrically. My first experience with Kansas was listening to my dad play “Dust in the Wind” on his guitar, and I honestly believed for a long time that Kansas was just another country band (I had heard “Carry On Wayward Son” on the radio many times of course, but I never knew it was Kansas- go figure). I wound up buying a Kansas compilation album at a used CD store on the basis of “Dust in the Wind” alone. It had “The Wall” and “Song for America” on it though. The first time I heard “Miracles Out of Nowhere,” I was riding through the great hills of West Virginia. Later on, I would hear “The Pinnacle” for the first time on a snowcapped mountain in that same state. Each of my first listens of their greatest pieces seemed to take place amidst some breathtaking scenery. So many people sadly dismiss Kansas as a pop “AOR” band because of a few FM hits (which, to be honest, are miles better than what the radio typically churns out). They are so busy staring at the “dust,” that they miss the many luminous jewels. Every Kansas album had a few blues or pop songs (most of which I happen to love), but those first six albums were drenched in brilliant songwriting. My second favorite album of all time, however, is the oft-overlooked reunion Somewhere to Elsewhere, which combines a modern production with complex yet heartfelt songs.

2. Yes - While Kansas ushered me into a progressive rock, Yes expanded my consciousness of music. I only knew “Roundabout,” “Your Move / I’ve Seen All Good People,” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart” when I went to Raleigh, North Carolina to see Kansas open for Yes on Yes’s Masterworks Tour. Kansas was, as I expected, amazing, but then Yes took the stage. I had no idea what to expect. These guys played eight songs in two hours. Eight. I was completely irritated and ready to leave, to be honest. “When will these guys quit and go on to the next one?” I huffed. Yet after the show, as we lined up behind all the other cars to go back from whence we came, we couldn’t help talking about both bands, and how interesting Yes was (none of us really knew much about them). We were so involved in our conversation and the music of that evening that my friend, who was driving, made a wrong turn and we wound up almost to Winston Salem. The next morning, I could not shake some lines and melodies from my head: “I get up, I get down,” and “I still remember the talks by the water, the proud sons and daughters that knew the knowledge of the land.” I had to obtain these songs, and I did. And I love them. Tales from Topographic Oceans is the greatest album ever.

3. Echolyn - Echolyn crafts some of the most heartfelt and creative stuff I’ve ever heard. Mei is a mind-blowing masterpiece- I know no other way to describe it. Cowboy Poems Free touches me in many ways, as it is a collection of portraits from 20th century. America - it resonates with me so much, because I see so many young people ignoring the “cowboy poems” of older folks in favor of sugary water, so to speak. Recently I was on a train, and they assigned a man named Joe who was born in 1922 to sit next to me for a while. We rode in silence most of the way, occasionally making small talk, but eventually we got to talking about ourselves, and he told me about how he worked as a young man on a Nebraskan farm, and how he only ever saw snow fall sideways (he laughed as he said that), and also how he was drafted in 1942 and served in the South Pacific during World War I. As he told me his war stories, he became grimmer, and said, becoming distant as though staring into the past, that those are things he can never forget. At any rate, I am awestruck by Echolyn’s vocal arrangements, powerful lyrics, and musical fortitude. And they sound like they have so much fun doing it. If I got my choice of bands to jam with, I’d love picking a few with this crew.

As far as non-musical inspirations are concerned, I write about the Bible and about history mainly. I have written love songs, but those are songs only my wife has heard. This may seem to be a narrow scope, but I find that the Bible and history in general are limitless sources of inspiration, and frankly it is what interests me most when it comes to lyrics (as opposed to space travel and/or sex).

Jorge: As far as I know you write, play all instruments, sing, record, mix, produce and release your own records, is that correct? How hard is to be an independent artist in the prog scene?

Robert: I’m not sure I’d consider myself a part of any “scene,” so to speak. I just make some homegrown music and put it out there for folks’ enjoyment. But if I take what you ask to mean how difficult is it to be an independent progressive rock artist, I don’t see it as hard at all, really. I have absolutely no one to answer to. I write when I feel like it, I record when I feel like it, and I do as I please with all of it (so long as my children cooperate!). I absolutely love being independent and not having the stress that comes with the alternatives.

My situation is not without limitations, however. Having multiple people in a group offers diversity in songwriting and playing styles, which helps keep the music fresh, and this is challenge since I do everything myself. My recording abilities have always been at the mercy of my financial allowances, which are never generous- my “studio” evolved over several years. Also, I am no doubt missing out on some measure of expertise that could polish my music (although, as I’ve said before, I’m not altogether sure I’d want my music “polished”). Still, I am very happy with the way things are, at least for now.

Jorge: Do you or have you ever toured or played live shows?

Robert: At this stage (no pun intended), not really. I have played in churches, but that’s about the extent of it. It isn’t that I’m opposed to it, of course- I would love to play this stuff live with a full band. However, I have two very young children, a wife, and steady work that keeps food on the table. I love dreams, but dreaming about electricity doesn’t make the room any brighter. That said, I have a real itch to find some people interested in (and willing to commit to) doing this material in front of people, so hopefully that will be a reality someday.

Jorge: I guess as a ProgArchives active collaborator/reviewer you often find/listen to obscure stuff, what's the latest great musical discovery you have made?

Robert: I’ll name a few recent discoveries, if that’s all right:

1. Pictorial Wand. Face of Our Fathers is astounding. Every track has something exciting and memorable. I love the tone of the instruments, and I think the vocal department (with both male and female) is especially amazing. People need to check this one out.

2. Children of Nova. Complexity of Light combines the bombast of symphonic rock with the hyperactivity of The Mars Volta, and the singer even sounds similar to Cedric Bixler-Zavala - brilliant work.

3. Osada Vida. Uninvited Dreams is not an album I have reviewed or even own at this time. However, I have heard the music from it many times on the DJ Tony show at www.aiiradio.net (he broadcasts on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 12 EST, playing some great new prog tunes). At any rate, this is fascinating music, and I intend on order and review the album.

4. Shadow Circus. Whispers & Screams is a complex and hard-rocking record that is a musical rendition of Stephen King’s The Stand. There are so many fantastic instrumental moments, as well as catchy vocal melodies.

Jorge: I really like Your first album, 'Still the Waters' it is very calm, ambient, and minimalistic yet technical and progressive. Tell us about the recording, which i know was a long process.

Robert: Long indeed. All five songs were conceived in very different ways. The title song evolved from my tinkering with some new recording software that was geared toward techno music, so I tried actually making up techno. I know that’s pretty impossible to hear given the final product, but I still have the original files somewhere - maybe I can release it as a bonus track on the 25th anniversary edition of Still the Waters!

I wrote “A Pearl in a Field” almost entirely during a weekend while my wife was away at a conference.

“Move” began as my attempt to learn King Crimson’s Fallen Angel by ear. Not long after I started trying to play it, the chords of that “Move” starting taking shape.

One way I write new music is by placing my fingers at random on the fret board or on the keys, playing, and just seeing what it sounds like. If I like it, I start to build around it. “An Everlasting Kingdom” happened that way. I was sitting in my living room, just fooling around, and those initial chords came out. I must have played it a hundred times that evening just so I would not forget it! However, quite a bit of that song (like the entire second half) came from bits and pieces I had written at least a year or more before, and it all worked together well, I felt.

The monster, “No Shadow of Turning,” took forever and a day to write and record. As with the previously mentioned song, it was built from various sections I had written throughout the years. Recording it was hard because for some reason, my program decided it had had enough of my nonsense and for a while it crashed every time I opened the files to this song to work on it. However, it is my favorite of the five pieces, I believe.

I think the two major reasons the album took so long to record are financial limitations and the fact that this was continually a learning experience. I was figuring out how to do it while acquiring the equipment at the same time, and I know the album shows that. I don’t mind. It is what it is supposed to be, and I’m glad about it.

Jorge: Where can we find/buy Still the Waters and the upcoming new album?

Robert: Still the Waters can be downloaded for 10 USD here: http://www.mymusicsite.com/MediaDetails/AlbumMediaList.aspx?albumid=2926

Since the next album will be in CD format, I plan on using a more conventional method (perhaps CDBaby), but I am undecided about that as yet.

Jorge: Do you sometimes look back at the album and wish you had done a particular detail differently?

Robert: Oh sure. It was never my intent to make a masterpiece, as it were - but after almost four years you have to say, “Okay, enough’s enough- here it is.” This is as much a finished product as it was a learning experience for me. Listening back, I often think, “If only the bass were more prominent here,” or “I could have sang this part better than that.”

In terms of composition, though, no - I would not do a single thing differently. While my execution / production may be questionable in many places (and people are welcome to say so all they want - I won’t argue with them), the composition itself is where my heart is, and I would not have put the album out there if I felt the need to rearrange anything.

Each piece is exactly how I wanted it to be.

Having said that, if I do get the opportunity to perform these songs before a live audience, it would thrill me to rearrange and do something different with some of them.

Jorge: What’s the harder part for you to write, the lyrics or the music?

Robert: The lyrics are much harder than the music for me. The music is easy because I am not bound by connotations and phonemes, syllables and meaning. Making music usually happens naturally and freely, and even when I have to “work” on a composition, there are numerous possibilities. Writing words for me involves forcing them to fit the melody, which isn’t always easy to do gracefully. Then making them say what you want them to say without being obvious or “too literal...” it’s difficult. And I’m a wordy mess anyway, as you can probably tell by now.

I mentioned earlier that I sometimes begin writing music through placing random notes together and seeing what happens. I work that way with my lyrics. I begin singing gibberish over the music until my gibberish takes form and becomes clear words. Those words then get sorted out into phrases, and then sensible lines. Eventually a song is made.

Once in a while though, like the music will sometimes do, the lyrics just fall onto the page, and no silly exercise is necessary. It’s rare, but it does happen.

Jorge: What music were you listening to while you wrote 'Still the waters'?

Robert: Well, because I worked on the album for almost four years, there was plenty. My top three that I mentioned earlier got a lot of plays during that time, as did Genesis, Jethro Tull, Porcupine Tree, Miles Davis, Rush, The Mars Volta, and Spock’s Beard. But I listened to so much stuff, and not just prog of course. I love Peter Frampton, especially his album Now, and I indulged in quite a bit of Alice in Chains as well as this amazing Celtic rock band I’ve listen to since I was eleven called Seven Nations.

Jorge: Does the album have some religious meaning?

The Bible is my primary source of inspiration, and all five songs are rooted in very specific passages.

“Still the Waters” compares Jesus’s calming of the sea in Matthew 8:23-27 with the first words in the Bible (Genesis 1:1-2). This is significant because the Bible uses water throughout to describe salvation (such as Moses leading Israel through the Red Sea, or the ritual of Christian baptism).

“A Pearl in a Field,” with its sparse lyrics (only four lines), quite simply fuses the two parables of Jesus in Matthew 13:44-46.

“Move” is a song that combines several Old Testament typological portraits of Christ and essentially describes salvation.

“An Everlasting Kingdom” has lyrics based on the first chapter of Ezekiel, in which the prophet describes his terrifying vision of God. The chorus, however, is based on Psalm 145:13.

“No Shadow of Turning,” shows God's enduring faithfulness - that He is not like us. God does not waver in His love for us, nor does he forgive sinners begrudgingly. What's more is that God will not lose any He has called to Himself. It is a requirement of God's character that He not lose a single one He has saved. The title comes from James 1:17.

As an aside, I’ve seen a lot of people complain about progressive rock with Christian lyrics as being “preachy,” and I’ve never quite understood that. Plenty of lyricists of various spiritual paths write religious lyrics and are not dismissed as “preachy.” I guess if lyrics have any concrete meaning then people get offended. None of my lyrics tell the listener what to do. My words aren’t meant to convert people - they are meant to celebrate Jesus, lament sin, and pay heed to the Bible.

Jorge: I read reviews at ProgArchives that some reviewers claim that other reviewers are biased toward your album because you are a long time collaborator, what can you tell me about this?

Robert: It’s no question that I have made several wonderful friends - people I would call friends despite having never met them face to face - on Prog Archives during my time as a member. It’s also no question that many of them have listened to my work and have written a review of it. I’m sure I have more reviews because I am a collaborator and an active participant in the forum. I interact with people on Prog Archives on a daily basis, so it should be no surprise that my album received a large quantity of reviews (for a new artist).

The question is, did those who reviewed my album highly do so to spare my feelings, curry favor with me, or perhaps “increase” my chances of “success” (whatever that is)?

Knowing them as well as I do, I can only tell you that these are not the kind of people who bite their tongues or hold back their true feelings. For example, we have varying political and religious views, and many of us have engaged in heated debates about such topics on the forum. No, I can tell you these are genuine people giving their earnest opinions, and I’m grateful for how such a diverse, opinionated people have received my work, and especially thankful for all the critiques.

The accusation should really read like this: “There’s no way in hell these reviewers could actually like Still the Waters as much as they say they do, because Still the Waters is a lousy album.” Which I guess is fine - sometimes I think the same way about albums like Pawn Hearts or ELP’s debut, to be honest. However, I know one extremely important, mysterious truth when it comes to discussing music, and I’ll share it with everyone, so pay attention. Are you ready? Here it is: People have different tastes.

Unfortunately, some people take the charts here extremely seriously, and will rate albums with five stars or one star, as though there’s no in between, doing so just to see their favorite bands “pull out ahead” and “eliminate the competition.” That’s extremely disingenuous and there’s plenty of it going around. But it’s one of the hazards of letting anyone make an account and submit ratings - of course, I feel that the pros far outweigh the cons at Prog Archives, because I love the diversity of opinion and how everyone is welcome to give theirs.

And you know what? I sold the most downloads the week after my album got its first one star review. So there!

The bottom line is this: No one has gained anything by giving my album five stars, and no one has lost anything by giving it one. If some people sleep better at night rating my album one way or another for the sake of manipulating “the score” (silly concept, that), then let them sleep better. Their ratings won’t change one note of the music.

Jorge: We have heard that you have a new album coming up, can you tell us about it?

Robert: My second album is called Refulgence. While it maintains the sound and feel of Still the Waters, it represents two little challenges I have made for myself. The first is to write more concise pieces. The second is to rock harder. I am very comfortable with my acoustic guitar and a long winding road of a song, so to speak - this time around I want to leave that place of comfort, for at least a little while, and let it rip! Of course, the softer side won’t be abandoned either.

Expect more female vocals from Tasha. Her involvement on Still the Waters occurred as a last -minute addition. I love her voice, and she’ll be handling a fair portion of the lead singing (much to the relief of my critics, I daresay!).

Jorge: Was it produced under similar circumstances as 'Still the Waters'?

Robert: Well, it’s not produced yet! Not fully, anyway. I’m about halfway through. As far as recording it goes, I am pretty much using the same equipment and programs that I used for Still the Waters, but during the making of Refulgence, I have the benefit of the criticism and experience I’ve gained.

The album will also be released as a physical CD. I used a downloadable format for my debut, but it’s been a real headache for a lot of reasons and folks seem to prefer a tangible product (I know I do). And I now have the financial wherewithal to make that a reality.

Jorge: Are you into sports? Soccer fan? Any favorite team for the upcoming FIFA world cup 2010? :D

Robert: Whichever team Pele’s playing for these days, that team will definitely win.

Jorge: Something else you'd like to add?

Robert: I’m also currently working on another project, a collaborative effort with two others and I’m really excited about it. Knowing the music I make, imagine me working with an avant-prog drummer and keyboardist in addition to a metalhead, shredder. This will be something amazing or a complete disaster. Or maybe an amazing disaster. I can’t wait to find out!

Jorge: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview :)

Robert: My pleasure.

Flor de Loto - The Kings of Andean Folk Metal

2010-05-26T17:00:00.005-05:00

I recently spoke with Alejandro Jarrin (the bassist) of Peruvian Prog Fusion band Flor de Loto about their music creation process, their influences, and a little bit about Rush. If you haven't heard of Flor de Loto you will be excused for now, because the Peruvian prog scene is pretty out of the way for most people, but you must certainly check them out posthaste! One of the best new bands of the past few years, to be sure.

Dan: Hello Alejandro, would you mind introducing yourself? Please feel free to give an introduction for any members who couldn’t make it to the interview as well.

Alejandro: I´m Alejandro Jarrín, bass player of the progressive rock band from Perú "Flor de Loto". The other members are: Alonso Herrera (guitar and vocals), Jorge Puccini (drums) and Junior Pacora (wind instruments and backing vocals)

Dan: “Flor de Loto” means something like “lotus flower” in English. The lotus is a symbol used by many cultures to represent a lot of different things, but it is generally used to represent beauty. Do you feel this symbol is used to represent the beauty of your music? I find it fitting, personally.

Alejandro: Well, hehe, to be honest, the name Flor de Loto was suggested by the father of a former drummer we have back in the year 2000. We liked the name. Nevertheless, i think the name suits perfect with the tipe of music we make because all the fusion elements we add to it. The artist for the 3 albums is Andrea Lertora. When we first released or first album "Flor de Loto" we wanted the artwork represent the songs in it, so when we contacted Andrea we show her the master of the album and said to her: just feel free to paint all the stuff our music makes you feel. We did not have to watch any preview until all the art was finished. The result, for us, was amazing... So we decided to keep working with her for the albums to come.

Dan: I think you guys made the right choice.

Alejandro: Yeah, she is an amazing artist

Dan: Let’s talk a little bit about each album, starting with the first. “Flor de Loto”, which was released in 2005, is the only one of the three that is entirely instrumental, and it’s also possibly the most experimental of all of them, even if only by a little. Why did you guys make the choices you did?

Alejandro: Alonso and i started to play together back in 1998. We just hang out at a drummer friend of mine´s house and jam for hours. Most of the songs of our first album are a result of those jam sessions. Then in the year 2001 when we recruited Jorge to play drums and Rafael Valenzuela to play wind instruments we decided that it was time to record the songs. We worked with a Peruvian producer called... Lalo Williams who helped us give form to all that jam based songs. At the middle of the recording process, Rafael decided to live the band due to music differences, so we called Johnny Perez to replace him. This was a very important change in the band because Johnny came from a folkloric music background and was very interested in fusing Peruvian folk music with rock. That is when the band... Decided to make that kind of fusion. We liked how the songs were without lyrics so that´s why we decided to make that first album completley instrumental.

Dan: While you always made sure to add a lot of Andean influences to your music, Madre Tierra, especially on tracks such as “El Charango Perdido” seems to have these more overtly presented than the other albums. You also decided to add vocals to this album, but not that many. Same question as before, why was this album made the way it was?

Alejandro: To make the second album we decided to make more "developed" songs instead of jam based songs, so each one of us started to compose songs on their own and then showing them to the rest of the band. Johnny´s folkloric backgrounds were a big influence on us for the making of the songs, that´s why "Madre Tierra" has a lot of fusion. Also, Alonso started to work with his voice and wrote the song "Desapareciendo". We liked the result so we decided to add some singed songs to the second album. Also for the production of "Madre Tierra" we worked again with Lalo Williams.

Dan: Mundos Bizarros, the third album, has more vocals than the one before, but it also has many more “metal” influences than the two previous albums. I hear distinct power metal chords and much more heavy guitar work than on the other albums. It also seems like flute was pushed a little farther back in favor of more guitar compared to the previous albums, which might have to do with the fact that you guys got a new flautist. Same question as the last two, why was this album done this way?

Alejandro: The songs of "Mundos Bizarros" were written by Alonso and I. We both have a lot of Metal influences. Alonso is fan of bands like Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, almost all 80´s hair metal bands :D. I listen a lot to Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Riverside, etc.. Also, for this thrird album we worked with 2 producers, Rodolfo Cáceres, who also listen to a lot of Metal, and Julio Caipo who is... one of the best guitar players in Perú and fan of classic Progressive Rock. That´s why this album is stronger and with less fusion that the previous 2 albums. For this album we have Juniro Pacora playing the wind instruments, who have a totally diferent stile that Johnny.

Dan: Unfortunately the extent of my Spanish is only enough for me to know how to ask to use the bathroom. That said, I would love to know what some of your lyrics are about. Would you mind telling me what a few of your lyrical songs are about?

Alejandro: Yes. The lyrics were written by Alonso. They are very introspective, talking about the inner conflicts all the people have to deal with, the "Bizzare worlds" that we all have inside us.

Dan: You guys create very eclectic music that blends ancient Andean folk with modern heavy metal and various other elements. How would you describe your music? Do you think the ProgArchives tag: “Prog Folk” is adequate? Honestly I find that tag to be very vague and in need of review, as it doesn’t make much sense to me to put bands like Jethro Tull and Flor de Loto in the same label, unless the label is “bands that make awesome music”. Do you guys consider Flor de Loto to be “prog rock”?

Alejandro: Los Jaivas for South America is like Yes or Genesis for England. There are a "Cult" band for the progressive and fusion music lovers. Of course there are a big influences in our music, but i would´t say there are our mayor influence. There is a classic rock fusion band from Peru Called El Polen that is also a Cult band down here. Sadly, their singer died today :(

Dan: I will make sure to check them out. I recently discovered a few bands from down there like Los Jaivas, Flor de Loto, and Supay, so I'm hungering for more.

Alejandro: Cool, you should hear Fragil, is the most known progressive rock band from Peru.

Dan: I'll check them both out :) What other sorts of music do you guys listen? Do guys listen to much “prog rock”? I can hear influences from bands like Rush and Jethro Tull in your music, but that might just be a coincidence (especially Rush). That said, there’s a flute section in Nubes Obscuras that sounds like it could have been played by Ian Anderson.

Alejandro: Junior has a lot of jazz and latin music background, he began playing rock music with us. Jorge and i listen to a lot of progressive music form the 70´s, in fact wen i first met Jorge it was playing Rush with some other musitian friends. Alonso is a huge Metal fan just like me. He also has a lot of Flokloric latinamerican music background because of his father that sings that king of music... I also listen to some world music like Dead can Dance and Kitaro.

Dan: Do you guys have plans for a fourth album yet?

Alejandro: Yes but maybe for 2012. We are planning to record a live album this year although, to be released 2011.

Dan: How about other projects? Do you guys have anything in the works? Solo albums, other bands?

Alejandro: Alonso plays in a Black Sabbath tribute band. Junior, who is a session musitian, plays with several Latin folk music and jazz bands.

Dan: I think we're just about done, so I must ask the question I ask everyone I interview, just for fun: do you like dogs?

Alejandro: Yes.

Dan: Do you have a dog? :D

Alejandro: No, I use to have but i live in an apartment now so it´s kind of difiicult. Jorge has 2 dogs, Homero and ??? i forgot the other dog´s name.

Dan: A shame that you can't :( Just to conclude: is there anything you would like to add that I might have forgotten to ask?

Alejandro: Well, we have played at international progressive rock festivals like Rio Art Rock festival (Brasil), Baja Prog (mexico) and Crescendo (France). This year we are going to play at the Crescendo festival version in the French Guyane. We would love to play at some prog festivals un th US ilke the Nearfest, progday and Prog in the Park, maybe in the future.

Dan: I would love to see Flor de Loto at NearFest someday. I live sort of near where NEARFest does their show, but I've never been to one yet.

Alejandro: shame on you. I would love to have a festival like that near the city i live.

Dan: Well, I had intented to go last year, because Van Der Graaf Generator and Beardfish were playing, and they're two of my favorite bands, but I had already gotten tickets to see BF open for Dream Theater at Prog Nation, and I had tickets to see VDGG separately. So I figured I wouldn't spend the money, since I'm poor :P

Alejandro: He, he. Well, if you were at prog nation you are forgiven.

Dan: Ah, fair enough. Unfortunately Pain of Salvation and Beardfish had to drop out, but the show was excellent anyway.

Alejandro: I was in DT´s concert in Lima last March. Absolutely amazing!!!!

Dan: One of my friends is studying in Santiago, and I tried to get him to see DT as they passed through Chile, but he didn't get the chance. They're so great live. I'm thinking of seeing them again, since they're gonna be near me when they tour with Iron Maiden. Tell Alonso that I saw Iron Maiden twice on their gigantic world tour. I assume that's him wearing the Iron Maiden shirt in a lot of the band's photos. I have the same shirt :P

Alejandro: Yeah. We saw Iron Maiden in Lima last year, and we opened a Paul Dianno concert last year in Lima.

Dan: That's pretty cool. Maybe you guys will be able to open for Iron Maiden themselves soon.

Alejandro: Let´s hope so. We would like to open for Rush if they come to Peru someday.

Dan: Well, they're starting a tour soon, so let's hope they extend it down to South America!

Alejandro: Crossing my fingers.

Argos - The Canterbury Spaceship

2010-05-23T18:00:00.015-05:00

Germans inspired by the Canterbury Scene? Interesting, right? I had an opportunity to talk to (well, exchanging emails is a form of talking, no?) Thomas Klarmann and Robert Gozon, founders of this German progressive rock act. We spoke about their beginnings, other projects, Canterbury... Enjoy!

Nick: Hey Thomas, thanks for the interview. I understand that Argos started as a solo project you began in 2005. Would you tell us where you got the idea to start the band?

Thomas: Five years ago I realized that the music I favored personally was mainly from bands or artists that embraced all kinds of different musical areas to create their own sound. Stackridge, Hatfield and the North, Caravan, Fruupp, Gentle Giant or Bo Hansson are some of my heroes from the past that worked with that formula. With Argos I wanted to create original music like them, that could still surprise the listener by going from jazzy chord voicings to Beatles harmonies or electronic soundscapes in the blink of an eye ;-) So that was the task i set myself right from the start.

Nick: I am not sure, but somehow the name Argos sounds like it has something to do with ancient Greek mythology. Would you tell something more about this? Why did you use this name for your project?

Thomas: Around the time I started to write the first songs for the debut album, I saw an old Italian science fiction B Movie from Mario Bava called "Planet of the Vampires". One of the spaceships in this movie was called Argos. It stuck with me and so by chance I had found the name of our band without delving into Greek mythology but finding it in an Italian B Movie instead ;-). Another movie of Bava was called "Black Sabbath" so... guess what happened ;-) Later I found out that ARGOS is also the name of a big Retailer in the UK. This knowledge inspired me to think up the quirky songtitle "total mess retail" and some lyrics for a little tune I had written for our new album ;-)

Nick: Robert started a project called Superdrama at almost the same time Argos began. Please tell us something more about this project.

Robert: Around 2004 I met Robert, a drummer and lyricist who was willing to play progressive rock music - we started gathering a band and soon met Thomas, who joined us on bass. Finding a guitarist was a little bit more difficult. First we only had covers: Firth of Fifth, Starless (King Crimson) and Dead of Night (UK) - after a few months we began to write our own material. Playing in a band is great fun, but as we all have jobs (and families!), we're sometimes not as involved as we could be! Well, at the moment of this interview we're about to finish an album that should be out before the end of the year.

Nick: Argos’ first self titled album has been published in 2009 and this album is sort of homage to the Canterbury scene, and there is even a suite called “Canterbury Souls”. Would you tell us a bit more about this record?

Thomas: I have to tell you, that I am the only member of ARGOS, who had any knowledge of the Canterbury scene when we did the first album. So I guess the whole Canterbury influence comes exclusively from my side. Robert on the other hand is a big fan of Peter Hammill’s work, both as a solo artist and with Van der Graaf Generator. He also favours the music of XTC, Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan to name just a few. Of course we both like Gabriel era Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes and the Beatles, which served as an inspiration for the other two suites on the first album. Ulf joined us after we had recorded demos of all the songs on ARGOS. He finally made the music we had written come alive with his amazing drumming skills.

Nick: In a recent interview with Andy Tillison of The Tangent we asked him a question that we’d like to ask you as well: Do you see the Canterbury Scene as something of a cult phenomenon? What’s your opinion about it? Also what are your favorite albums of it?

Thomas: In my opinion the British Canterbury scene, much like the German Krautrock scene produced very original music by consciously excluding some of the Anglo-American influences like Blues, Soul or Rock and Roll and found some inspiration in Modern Classic Music, Modal Jazz and Avantgarde Music instead. The big difference between Canterbury and Krautrock for me is the essentially "english" melodic and harmonic playfullness on one hand and the "teutonic" kind of tribal monotony and "spaciness"on the other hand. I personally always had a soft spot for the vocal style of Robert Wyatt, Richard Sinclair and Syd Barrett and loved Dave Stewart’s jazzy voicings combined with his “antifusion" melodiy lines on the keyboards when he played with Hatfield and National Health. You don’t hear to much of that essential english style in today’s charts anymore. Its mostly back to Soul and Rhythm’n’Blues with Amy Whinehouse, Duffy etc. So maybe today the Canterbury style has become a sort of dated cult phenomenon.

Canterbury album favorites are: all Hatfield and National Health albums. The first three Caravan albums. And every album that features Richard Sinclair. He is my favorite singer and a great bass player too :-) I also like to mention the fantastic organ solo of Dave Stewart at the end of "Halfway between heaven and earth”. For me this is the quintessential Canterbury organ solo. Just perfect :-)))

Nick: “Circles” is your second album, released under the label Musea. In my opinion you served much more mature music this time, covering each element, starting from music itself to production. Was it easier to make this album, after your first one which opened the door for Argos? How long did the recording process take? Give us some technical details about this record.

Robert: I really can't tell you much about the technical aspects, but to me it felt easier and more natural to make this record, because we started to feel like a band for the first time - some songs took quite a while to finish, Thomas and I had some older material which we worked out and arranged for the album and I think we can both say that we're absolutely happy to have both Ulf and Rico playing great stuff on this one! They are exceptional musicians and add a lot the music. I'm especially proud of the longer tracks we made - my influences are more classical prog like Genesis and, not to forget, Van der Graaf Generator and you can hear this on Circles, I think. We put a lot of effort in producing the vocals and working out harmonies, etc. this time which was great fun too!

Thomas: I like to add that Rico our new guitar player was also heavily involved in the mixing and production process of "Circles". He has great "ears" and this forced me to work harder on the details during the final mixing. I personally learned a lot from him and the "mistakes" I made on our debut ;-)

Nick: I consider Argos to be a band influenced strongly by 70’s prog rock, especially the Canterbury Scene, as we could ascertain from above. But what do you guys listen to and where do you draw inspiration for your music from?

Robert: Apart from the obvious influences I do like Steely Dan very much, and other artists from the 70s or 80s like Joni Mitchell or even the Pet Shop Boys - what I find fascinating is their approach to consider music as as Gesamtkunstwerk, more in the realm of classical composers or architects, the way I see it. Pink Floyd worked so, too. German music is not that interesting, I'm afraid. What I'd like to mention is the band Blumfeld, especially for the lyrics.

Thomas: I like to listen to ECM Jazz: Eberhard Weber, Terry Rypdal, Ralph Towner, Bennie Maupin etc. Pekka Pohjola and Bo Hansson, who sadly have passed away far too soon are among my favourite composers of imaginary music. Jaga Jazzist, Motorpsycho, The Decemberists, Paatos, the Flaming Lips, Air and Elephant9 are some of the more contemporary bands I enjoy listening to.

Nick: How do you see today’s progressive rock scene? Do you think the internet has helped make new musicians more available to the public, or do you think new technology has suppressed the charm of old bands? Certainly, I have divided opinions on this.

Robert: It's difficult: what counts in the end is the quality of the music, although that doesn't necessarily translate to the sales figures, obviously! Some older bands are artistically dead; I have to say, whereas others remain very active and are still able to produce great music. Neo-Prog, in general, is not an option, I'm afraid. IQ of course is and exception: beautiful melodies, a very strong singer and a wonderful live band. When it comes to innovation I would say that after 1978 most bands began either to copy the classical styles of Yes, Genesis, etc. or put things together differently (new influences from Jazz, Folk, Heavy Metal) like Motorpsycho or Dream Theater.

Nick: Have you been promoting Argos’ music live? Do you get any offers to play live? If you ask me, it’s bad that a band like yours doesn’t do gigs.

Robert: Two of us live in Mainz, the others up in the far north of Gemany. Playing live? It's possible, but unlikely, I would say. Unless the demand would be overwhelming... (hahaha).

Thomas: We are all used to play music live with our other bands (Superdrama, Mutabor,...) The main problem is the distance of 700 km between Mainz and Greifswald, which obviously makes it hard for us to meet and rehearse. But… (like Robert just mentioned) if we are invited to play on a special prog event and don’t have to pay for playing there (Cheers to Andy Tillison from a 50 year old bass player with two progbands ;-)), it would certainly be much fun to perform the ARGOS songs live.

Nick: You took participation on The Flower Kings tribute album with the song “Cosmic Circus/Babylon”. It’s nice choice, as “Adam & Eve” is one of my favorite TFK albums. Please tell us a bit more about this.

Thomas: Robert had the idea of covering "Cosmic Circus" and to include "Babylon" as an instrumental middle eight. When we worked out the arrangement for the Babylon section, we composed some new parts and thereby added some unexpected musical twist and turns to the original composition of Thomas Bodin which was much fun to do.

Nick: What are your all-time favorite albums?

Thomas: There are a few albums which still manage to unfold a certain magic for me after listening to them for so many times. Here’s an uncompleted list:

Caravan: In the Land of Grey and Pink

Pulsar: Halloween

Hatfield and the North: The Rotters Club

England

: Gardenshed

Fruupp: Modern Masquerades

PFM: Per un Amico

Eberhard Weber: Silent Feet

Bo Hansson: Lord of the Rings, Attic Thoughts

Refugee: Refugee

etc...

Nick: What comes next for Argos?

Robert: A great third album, possibly with a long track (I can reveal this, can't I?). We do have some ideas, but we haven't really started working yet.

Nick: I’m off my questions, so if there’s anything you would like to say, the next few lines are yours.

Thomas: It was a pleasure to answer your questions, Nick. Thank you for giving us this great opportunity to talk about our band, influences, plans and the ARGOS music. I also would like to say a big: THANK YOU to all the dedicated progfans and personal friends, who have helped to promote the two ARGOS albums. You know who you are :-)

Nick: Thank you for the interview, guys. Hope to hear you more from you soon.

Argos Circles Out Now Trailer

ARGOS (new album "circles" out now) | MySpace Music Videos

Dan Britton: The Maestro of Many Projects

2010-05-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

I recently sat down for a live interview with Mr. Dan Britton of Birds and Buildings and Deluge Grander fame. The two of us talked about Italian Prog, Opeth, the five or so albums he is apparently working on at the moment, and much more. Be warned, Mr. Britton and I diverged from the topic at hand a few times to talk about stuff that had very little to do with the actual interview. I still find that stuff interesting, though!

Dan Thaler: Thanks for agreeing to this interview. I’d like to start with you telling us something about yourself. Whatever you want, really.

Dan Britton: I am watching a movie called One False Move and listening to The Enid's 'Anarchy on 45'

Dan Thaler: The Enid are pretty good, unfortunately I can't get into much of what they've done beyond In the Region of Summer Stars besides a few albums from that era. Too ambient for me I suppose.

Dan Britton: Yes.. me too! When I read about the Enid, I think "I'm gonna love this band" and when I listen to them, I think "myeh....".

Dan Thaler: You’ve been in quite a few bands over the years. I’m going to start with the first one that I know of, Cerebus Effect. I’m sure a lot less people have heard of this one than have heard of the others. What would you like to tell us about it? I like the music that CE made, which was sort of dark and heavy jazzy material, but the band didn’t last very long.

Dan Britton: Well, they were a band for 3 or 5 years before I ever joined. Their formula was basically: Odd time signatures that everyone sync's up on, and the guitarist and bassist think of their own notes. So, if you know much about music theory, any *two* notes can sound ok together, but when I joined, eager to play actual chords and melodies, it got sloppy unless we actually talked things out. The guitarist and bassist didn't really like talking things out, and I understand why, because discussing musical composition in detail can be tedious. So we were lucky to make the one album, but after that, I think we all knew that it wasn't going to work. I think the album is ok, but it's definitely not my proudest achievement.

Dan Thaler: Deluge Grander is #2, which formed while you were still in CE, but before it disbanded, from what I understand. DG is very different from CE. This time you’ve got very grand and epic symphonic prog. I hesitate to describe it because I find that, in general, your music is difficult to describe, so I just leave it at “symphonic prog”. How would YOU describe Deluge Grander?

Dan Britton: Symphonic prog is sufficient, IMO. The thing about Deluge Grander is that Patrick the drummer and Dave the guitarist don't have much in common as far as what they like to listen to. Patrick likes mostly heavy and complex stuff, and Dave likes Phish and jam-band stuff, though they're both into other stuff too. So part of the challenge with Deluge Grander is for me to write stuff that they will each enjoy, since people are generally most likely to play well on something they like. So I guess that means if you cross Phish with Spastic Ink, you get symphonic prog!

Dan Thaler: Honestly I feel like "Symphonic prog" is one of those things that's hard to define, yet "you know it when you see it"

Dan Britton: Well, there are some obvious superficial things like mellotrons, lead analog-sounding synthesizers, and an obsession with 7/8 that characterize it. But generally, I think it's attention to composition rather than improvisation that differentiate symphonic prog from prog in general.

Dan Thaler: Are there any plans for a third Deluge Grander album at any point in the future?

Dan Britton: Why yes....but it's complicated. We are tentatively planning on releasing FOUR different albums, but pressed only in VINYL format, and probably in limited editions of 200 or less, possibly with hand-made artwork for each individual copy... And then we'll take some of the material from these four albums, and make TWO CDs, possibly with nice packaging as well. And then we'll take the very best of everything and make ONE super-incredibly-good album, and maybe release it for free (and in CD form too). So it's a ridiculously complicated scheme, and it might not work out at all, but those are the plans. I've got plenty of sketches for the material on those four vinyl albums already.

Dan Thaler: That does seem pretty overwhelming! I definitely wasn't expecting something on such a grand scale.

Dan Britton: Yep, one of the hardest things is deciding what order to release the stuff. I think we'll try the first record, and see how it goes. If only three people in the whole world are willing to pay $50 or whatever we charge for it, we might just drop the whole plan altogether.

Dan Thaler: How do you see the first two albums compared to each other?

Dan Britton: I think the second one is more "classical" than the first, and also a bit more "unified" in that there is an idea or philosophy that unifies the music and the artwork.

Dan Thaler: What would you say that theme is?

Dan Britton: Well, I don't want to give too much away, but it's about ostensibly divergent paradigms (modernity vs. the Luddites, for example) unifying, to everyone's surprise.

Dan Thaler: Sort of like trying to identify what "good" is, in an aesthetic sense, perhaps? "The form of the good"? I dunno, that just came to mind, since it’s the title of the album and all.

Dan Britton: In a way, yes. Of course, there's nothing too specific I'm trying to get across, since there aren't any lyrics or anything. "Art Rock" in a very literal sense I suppose.

Dan Thaler: Birds & Buildings, the final project I know of, is probably my favorite of the three, which might be because I’m a huge fan of jazz. Tell me about this project. The music is similar to that of DG’s, but darker and, as I said before, jazzier.

Dan Britton: Yep. Malcolm the drummer is more of a DC-punk kind of drummer, but he's got an absolutely incredible mind for drumming. Brian the sax player is pretty much "Mr. Jazz" and doesn't really like "prog" very much, and he's never heard David Jackson or Mel Collins or Ian McDonald, which everyone compares him to. So those two guys and their reactions to the stuff I write determine how Birds and Buildings turn out.

Dan Thaler: Make sure to play some VDGG for him immediately! (one of my favorite bands)

Dan Britton: Well, Brian sadly doesn't really like prog all that much. And Malcolm HATES VDGG. (I like them of course)

Dan Thaler: You did an interesting thing with the cover art of this album, that is, taking it from a section of Genesis album’s cover art which had actually taken its artwork from a painting titled The Garden of Earthly Delights. Is there any particular reason you did this? Personally I find the idea of a small section of a painting that had already been taken from a larger painting to be pretty funny.

Dan Britton: Yes, but I really wish I had used a better version of the artwork. The CD cover looks pretty blurry. I really like all the old Hieronymus Bosch art. In fact, a few months after I joined Cerebus Effect, I tried to convince them to change the name of the band to "Hieronmyus." That portion of TGOED has birds in it, and what looks like a building of some kind, so it seemed like a good choice.

Dan Thaler: I read on B&B’s myspace that there’s going to be a new album out soon, but I haven’t seen any more word on that. Would you like to tell us something about “Multipurpose Trap”? How’s it looking so far?

Dan Britton: I have actually been working on it quite a lot over the past week. It does move further in the "jazz" direction, and I think it also sounds a bit more American (and less European) in general. The first album is pretty tough to follow, but I think this one will at least be executed a little better (recording quality, etc.), even though there might not be as much intensity as there was on the first album.

Dan Thaler: Is there a tentative release date in mind?

Dan Britton: Hopefully before the end of 2010.

Dan Thaler: You say you like to create music based on the tastes of the individual members of the band. That seems like an interesting way to go about the creation process that seems to inevitably bring forth something eclectic. Do you see this process as unusual, or do you think other bands work in similar ways?

Dan Britton: Well, I'm the main composer for these bands, and I think most composers in bands know that people play better when they're playing music they like. So I don't think it's too different from bands where one guy does most of the writing. But I'm not sure.

Dan Thaler: I heard somewhere that you were starting another project, but I can’t remember where, and I can’t remember what. Am I crazy, or are you actually starting another project?

Dan Britton: Well, there's a group/project called "All Over Everywhere" that is about to release it's first album in a few months. This stuff is less proggy, but still pretty densely arranged at times. Then there's Elevator Machine Room with Chris Mack of Iluvatar/Oblivion Sun/Puppet Show fame. He and his wife just had their second kid, so we haven't rehearsed in a while, but we have enough material for an album, which I think will be a very good one.

Dan Thaler: I mentioned the artwork of B&B, but I’m also curious about the artwork of Deluge Grander. The covers both look very distinct and surreal. I would imagine they were done in the style of an early Genesis album cover, since I know you’re a fan. Am I right? Also, who painted (I assume they were painted) them?

Dan Britton: Well the first cover we nicked from Thomas Cole, who died many years ago. Unfortunately, just after it was released I found out that a metal band called Candlemass had used the same cover! Kezia Terracciano did the art for the second DG album. She also did the picture for "Inaugural Bash" and "The Solitude of Miranda" on the first DG album, and all the inner art for Bantam to Behemoth. She lives in Italy, and I've never met her. But I suspect that any similarity to Genesis' album covers is purely coincidental. Though I admit I do love those old Whitehead sleeves. Forgot to mention... I actually gave Kezia some very detailed instructions for all this artwork. If you look at the art in BAB BTB and DG TFOTG, you'll see some clues for what are two complicated little puzzles of art.

Dan Thaler: I'll make sure to scrutinize them very carefully later.

Dan Thaler: While your bands all sound very different, I happen to think there’s a common thread that combines elements of Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, and various other “First Wave Prog” bands with touches of Marillion, Porcupine Tree, and other things. Just kidding, I actually read recently that you hate it when reviewers do nothing but compare music to those that are generally “held sacred”. Well, I personally completely agree with you, but I would love to know some of your influences anyway.

Dan Britton: I think my main "influences" are Genesis (the chord sequences), Magma (the intensity of repetition and occasional dissonance), and Gentle Giant (the complexity). Now there's a lot of other music I like, but those three probably did affect how I write music. I am trying to branch out, though, and I think this new All Over Everywhere album will be regarded as a big change. And there is some stuff on the forthcoming second Birds and Buildings album that's almost like rap or techno music. Though not in a bad way, I hope.

Dan Thaler: Would you say that there are any particular prog “movements” you’re a fan of such as the Italian Progressive Rock Scene or the Canterbury Scene? I mention those because I'm a huge fan of both the former a bit moreso than the latter.

Dan Britton: Oh, yes, I am heavily into the Italian prog stuff... And now it's to the point of "completing the collection"... I haven't really liked the last 10 or 20 Italian prog CDs I've bought, yet I keep buying them because I guess I just like the whole vibe. While I like the Canterbury scene in general, the music doesn't have the same impact on me as most 1970's prog.

WARNING: DIGRESSION FROM THE INTERVIEW!

Dan Thaler: Have you listened to Latte e Miele? they're one the bands I've been listening to the most recently. Their third album is definitely my favorite, especially because of "Pavana".

Dan Britton: Yes! I actually like their first and third albums more than Papillon. I'm curious about the new Marco Polo one, but a lot of the 1970's reunion acts don't seem to have the same magic as they did in the 1970's. There are a couple of really nice laid-back poppish tunes on Side One of Aquile E Scoiatelli as well. They almost remind me of a proto-Porcupine Tree in a way. Actually DG almost played an "Italian prog" medley at Progday. But I'm the only one in the band who really likes that stuff, so we didn't do it.

Dan Thaler: I would recommend you try "Marco Polo". It isn't very similar to their other albums, interestingly, but it's still very good. Almost reminds me of Banco with a different singer.

Dan Britton: Unfortunately it's always sold for $19-30 on CD…

Dan Thaler: Yeah, imports... Still, didn't stop me. What was DG going to play in the medley?

Dan Britton: IIRC it was the opening piano bit from LDF, then a couple of Semiramis riffs, a 5/4 bit from BdB's YS (and I was going to actually sing in Italian), then a portion of a track by Modry Efekt (not Italian, but one of my favorite groups), then a bit from the last track on Reale Accademica di Musica's album, then the ending of Zarathustra.

Dan Thaler: Nothing of the "big three", eh?

Dan Britton: That's correct. It just seems more fun to do the less prolific bands, since that's what was so special about Italy.

Dan Thaler: Fair enough, though Banco is still my favorite!

Dan Britton: I actually like their late-1970's work much more than the first three albums.

Dan Thaler: I can't say I like them more, but I do really enjoy Cando Di Primavera, Di Terra, etc. Anyway, we digressed a bit, I hope you don't mind.

Dan Britton: Not at all, still on topic though, right? My influences and all…

Dan Thaler: Of course.

Dan Britton: So is there any Italian prog you find overrated?

Dan Thaler: I would say Chocolate Kings by PFM.

Dan Britton: Because for me there's one big one...

Dan Thaler: But tell me yours.

Dan Britton: For me it's Osanna's Palepoli. Chocolate Kings is ok if you get past the vocals.

Dan Thaler: Honestly I didn't know it was rated incredibly highly. Yes, the vocals are the problem, but the musicality is still top-notch. I agree about Palepoli, but I love the album Osanna released last year with Dave Jackson.

Dan Britton: And isn't it funny that apparently PFM thought Lanzetti would help them break English and American radio with that warbly voice?! I actually think Mussida, Premoli, and di Cioccio are all great singers already.

Dan Thaler: Maybe they figured since he sounds sort of like Peter Gabriel. I agree, I never had a problem with the singing.

Dan Britton: You know, that's one thing I don't hear, though everyone seems to say it. He sounds like Family's Roger Chapman, not PG. To me, at least.

Dan Thaler: I've always thought he sounded like PG to me, but I don't like either of them, personally.

Dan Britton: Really, you don't like PG's singing?

Dan Thaler: I don't like Genesis in general, actually.

Dan Britton: Shock, gasp, disbelief!

Dan Thaler: I have a feeling the blog is going to get a lot of hatemail from ProgArchives now. Well, I'll also say that I dislike Yes and Pink Floyd!

Dan Britton: Well, you know it's actually refreshing to hear that for once.

Dan Thaler: Though I love VDGG, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, and King Crimson.

Dan Britton: I was about to say "Are you sure you like prog at all?" You seem to gravitate towards the more obscure stuff.

Dan Thaler: I get that a lot.

Dan Britton: It does make it more fun to like a band when no one knows about them.

Dan Thaler: I suppose so. I dunno, I used to enjoy Genesis and Yes slightly, but they never did much for me. It's hard to call Jethro Tull obscure anyway, they're probably the most popular band that could be considered "prog".

Dan Britton: Well Pink Floyd is probably more popular, though less prog.

Dan Thaler: Yeah, I didn't think about that. I honestly never even consider them to be a prog band.

AND NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED INTERVIEW:

Dan Thaler: If you could work with any of your contemporaries, who would it be? Andy Tillison? Roine Stolt? My colleague says he’s seen you say that you’d like to work with Mikael Akerfeldt.

Dan Britton: Well, yeah, but I doubt anyone as successful as those guys would want to work with me! I actually met Roine Stolt for a minute or two after DG opened up for Karmakanic/Agents of Mercy at Orion last year. Sometimes, admiring someone else's music doesn't necessarily mean a collaboration would be artistically successful or even enjoyable. The best way to collaborate is to actually compose and arrange something collectively, several hours a day, for at least a few weeks, and that is extremely difficult to organize when the rewards for a job well done are so small.

Dan Thaler: Tell us about the types of keyboards/pianos you use. Do you have a “rig” or just a big bunch of random keyboards? By the way, you had better not say you have a Hammond organ, because if you do, I would like to know why you haven’t based at least one entire album’s worth of material around it. Since it’s the greatest instrument ever made, you know (to paraphrase Arjen Lucassen).

Dan Britton: I just have two 88-key keyboards (a Yamaha T120 and an Alesis Fusion), both manufactured post-2000, so not at all vintage. I do have a Univox analog synth from 1974 that I actually found by the side of the road one day, covered in snow. And it works!

Dan Thaler: Seems strange that someone would throw it away...

Dan Britton: Yes. It was very weird to find that. And it was as I was recording parts for the first Deluge Grander album, so it couldn't have come at a more serendipitous time.

Dan Thaler: You seem to be a fan of these sort of “downtuned”, eerie vocals, as they’re in a lot of your albums. It almost reminds me of the vocals on Camel’s Mirage, how they only pop in for a few lines of quick verse amongst the long instrumental sections. They even sound a bit similar. I think this comparison to “old prog” is justified, by the way.

Dan Britton: Actually, funny you mention that. For the second Birds and Buildings album, I'm planning to have singing on every single song, but not by me, and not for more than about 1 minute per track. I don't know why people seem to think if there are going to be vox on a song; they have to stay around for a few minutes. For this music (the new BAB stuff), there are only a few small portions of each track where vocals would work at all, so it makes sense to just put them in when they work, but not feel obligated to have them when they're not helping.

WARNING: MORE DIGRESSION!

Dan Thaler: My colleague Nick wants me to ask you what your favorite Opeth song/album is.

Dan Britton: The first two tracks on Ghost Reveries knock me out every time I hear them.

Dan Thaler: The Lotus Eater on Watershed does that to me. That keyboard section, it's like "a jazzy Canterburyesque riff in death metal!?"

Dan Britton: I'm actually not a big fan of the first 3 or 4 Opeth albums. It amazes me when some people say they like those albums more than the recent stuff.

Dan Thaler: Honestly I like most of them equally except for Damnation and Blackwater Park. I find both of those to be boring. Well, Watershed is my favorite, but after that the rest are mostly equal to me.

Dan Britton: Really, Blackwater Park boring?

Dan Thaler: I don't know what it is either, something about it seems... off... The Damnation thing is weird too, because I usually can't stand death metal. So it's weird that their least heavy album is my least favorite.

Dan Britton: I wonder if you're just a subconscious contrarian. Because I'm like that sometimes.

Dan Thaler: Oh, I think I am.

Dan Britton: I'm telling you, you'd like old Genesis... But just pretend no one else has ever heard them :-)

Dan Thaler: I've listened to old Genesis :P Quite a lot. I can't stand any album but Selling England by the Pound, and even on that album, I can't stand the vocals.

Dan Britton: That's amazing. So are there any vocalists you like? Banco's guy, I suppose?

Dan Thaler: Banco's guy is ok, but I prefer the keyboard sections in that band. I really love Hammill, Ian Anderson, Rikard of Beardfish, Andy Tillison. Akerfeldt is pretty good too. But I listen to a lot of jazz, which is instrumental of course.

Dan Britton: I guess you just prefer instrumental music in general.

Dan Thaler: Al Di Meola, Bo Hansson (listening to him right now), all that good stuff…

Dan Britton: Do you know Kenso?

Dan Thaler: I've heard of them. Japanese jazz fusion?

Dan Britton: Sort of... you might really like their second album, called "II". Most of the rest of their stuff is a bit safe, but that album, especially the first song "Sora na Hikaru" (or something like that) is incredible. That track is probably my favorite instrumental piece ever.

Dan Thaler: I'll definitely check them out. They're actually on my list of bands to check out. I'll bump them up now that you've mentioned them.

Dan Britton: Have you ever heard Woody Herman's version of "Freedom Jazz Dance"? (Don't laugh)

Dan Thaler: I can't say I have.

Dan Britton: It's actually unbelievably good. People laugh at the mention of Woody Herman's name, but he actually did some fun and intense stuff in the early 1970's.

Dan Thaler: His name sort of rings a bell, though I'm not sure who he is. I'm listening to it on Youtube, it's very good. I actually have Miles Smiles by Miles Davis, which has this track.

Dan Britton: He's a clarinet player who was big in the 1940's, then one of his managers committed tax fraud, and poor old Woody spent most of the rest of his life playing and recording to pay off the money he owed the IRS.

Dan Thaler: This track sounds like it could have been made by Weather Report in the 70's.

Dan Britton: IMO Miles Davis' music was good mostly because of the other people on it.

Dan Thaler: You could say his talent was picking good musicians then :P IMO what he inspired was more important than what he recorded. The era of jazz fusion, for example, there would probably be no Return to Forever or Mahavishnu Orchestra if not for him or Weather Report, for that matter.

Dan Britton: Sort of a visionary kind of guy....but a bit overrated and overrevered in general.

Dan Thaler: Yes, Davis is a good example of one who is both over and underrated simultaneously.

Dan Britton: Well, I think McLaughlin and Shorter and Jaco would have still made good music, more or less similar to what they did, regardless of Miles Davis.

END OF DIGRESSION PART TWO!

Dan Thaler: What are your plans for your record label, Emkog? Do you think you’ll use it to release albums by other bands?

Dan Britton: It will probably just be a label for stuff I'm involved with.

Dan Thaler: Last serious question. I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten to ask that I will remember tomorrow, but for now I think I’m done! Is there anything you’d like to add?

Dan Britton: No, I guess that's it. If you think of anything else, I'd be happy to respond by email. Thanks for the interview!

Dan Thaler: Of course! I have one last question though, but it has nothing to do with anything.

Dan Britton: Ok, let's hear it.

Dan Thaler: I ask this to everyone I interview because I love dogs. Do you have a dog?

Dan Britton: Nope, sorry. But I'm not anti-dog.

Mattis Sørum - The Man with the Wand

2010-05-18T13:34:00.004-05:00

Mattis Sørum is the man behind Norwegian symphonic rock project Pictorial Wand. We spoke with Mattis about his involvement in other projects, the vision he has for Pictorial Wand, as well as his main influences. Find out what Mattis had to say for Prog Sphere.

Nick: Hello Mattis. How’s life these days?

Mattis: Hi. Life is good, can’t complain. These days are used to work with promotion and new music for the next album.

Nick: Can you please tell us how did Pictorial Wand begin? Have you been involved in any other projects/bands before PW came to surface?

Mattis: Pictorial Wand was my first serious project (and only), and it grew out of one song. That song is “The king and his land pt 1” on the debut album. I was very fascinated with rock-operas at that time, had just heard “Journey to the centre of the earth” by Wakeman and wanted to do something like that myself. The King-song I had written the year before without any purpose really, but it became the first brick in a story for the double concept-album, A Sleeper’s Awakening. With that album developing, so did the idea of making a project which only released rock-operas or concept-albums, namely Pictorial Wand.

Nick: You compose music and write lyrics for PW, in other words you’re the main man in true meaning of the word. Is it hard to be behind the creation process?

Mattis: I am a little egoistic with this particular project, and have a very fixed idea about how I’d like the music to be. I mean, every album and song I don’t know how it will turn out, but still I could not share the creative process with anyone. I have another band where everyone work on everything and I love it, but not with Pictorial Wand. It’s either my way or no way, hehe.

Nick: Pictorial Wand has got two albums so far, so let’s talk about them. First one, named “A Sleeper’s Awakening” has been published in 2006 by Unicorn Digital. Please tell us more about this album, such as the story behind it, the composing process, as well as recording process. Are you satisfied with how this album has been received?

Mattis: As I mentioned, the album grew out of that one song. I just started to write the songs, and I realised after a while that most of them ended up very long. That’s when I started to think about releasing a double album. I didn’t think economy, haha! Well, I just continued to write songs, until I had about two hours of music. In the meanwhile I also decided to make the seven deadly sins as a sort of frame for the story. The recording process was a loooong way, done in several different locations during three years. I ended up with using 16 or 17 musicians. I was also studying at that time and moved between different places. My equipment was in constant changing for the better, and that resulted in many retakes. I remember I changed the orchestra sounds three or four times! So these things took time. But the album got finished and released with great responds from the prog-media in Europe and US. As a pleasant surprise it got nominated in all categories in the newly started ProgAwards in Italy that year.

Nick: The second album “Face of Our Fathers” was released again under Unicorn Digital etiquette. How did you get in touch with this Canadian label? Were there any other labels interested in releasing Pictorial Wand?

Mattis: Unicorn was one of many labels I sent my album to. They were the only label interested in releasing it, or crazy enough to release a double album from a totally unknown artist, hehe. But they believed in my music and I’m grateful for that.

Nick: What’s the story behind “Face of Our Fathers”? I have to say that there’s a noticeable difference in production in comparison with “A Sleeper’s Awakening. I also feel like this album is more “mature”. What do you say?

Mattis: I feel that I learned a lot from the process with the first album, when it comes to the production, arrangement, choice of vocalists and so on. I matured a lot musically, and the story is also a little more serious and down to earth, hehe. The story follows four characters, whose lives are woven into eachother in different ways. It’s about inheritance, and what burdens the generations leave behind them for the next.

Nick: Who did the art work for the albums? I especially enjoy how the art looks on the second album. How important is it for you to have good artwork for PW?

Mattis: The artwork is important of course, and for the two first albums it was important for me that the artwork was done specifically to fit the story of the concept. Both front covers are paintings which now decorates nicely my home. The artworks were done by Hans Einar Beddari, a friend of mine from the studies.

Nick: Does the band perform live often?

Mattis: Never. Because this is a one man-project, it becomes too expensive to play live. But I hope to realise it in the future.

Nick: Which bands/artists have influenced you in the creation of Pictorial Wand’s music?

Mattis: King Crimson, Rick Wakeman, Ayreon, Flower Kings and more.

Nick: How do you see the Norwegian progressive rock scene? Would you give us some of your all time favorites as well some of the bands we should pay attention to? There are a lot of good bands from there like Gazpacho, Magic Pie and Wobbler.

Mattis: The Norwegian prog-scene is developing big time these days. Although I’m far from any expert on Norwegian prog, I enjoy listen to bands such as White Willow, Wobbler and Circle’s End.

Nick: What have you been listening to recently?

Mattis: Aural Moon radio.

Nick: “Scenes From a Memory” or “Images and Words”?

Mattis: Scenes from a Memory.

Nick: “Thick as a Brick” or “A Passion Play”?

Mattis: A Passion Play

Nick: What are your plans for the future?

Mattis: I have made plans for the next album and well into the songwriting. I am planning something much bigger than I have done so far, but don’t want to say much before I know more about how it will turn out.

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Mattis.

Mattis: My pleasure.

Prog Klot: Our Meeting With The Sphere

2010-05-15T18:00:00.001-05:00

Nick and I recently sat down with (well, not exactly, but it was live!) Swedish band Klotet for a really fun interview. They punched us in the head as we talked of crows and dogs (I must always mention dogs!) and a little bit of music I suppose.

Dan: Hello Klotet! Why don’t you all introduce yourselves! Can each of you tell me something about yourselves? If you like, you can tell me something about another band member. Or you can lie, no one will ever know!

Påhl: Ok, my name is Påhl - I'm 28 years old and currently a student of Graphic Production. I play the guitar in Klotet and also play in a band called Villebråd. I have a dog.

Mikal: Hi guys! Mikal is my name and I’m a stone cold socialist. I like coffee and to play drums in Klotet. I live in Stockholm and work with moneyproduktion. Im very shallow when it comes to my hair.

Klotet: And the others: David play the bass, he's a sweet gentle man, very kind. Almost too kind. He likes astronomy, his cat Nutti and Ytron (swedish chocolate pudding). Milvesofia is very smart, almost too smart. She likes biology and animals but not insects. She plays the organ in Klotet and also in a band called Häxhammaren. She listens too psychmusic but also to OMD when no one is around.

Dan: So, as I am an ignorant American who only speaks one language, I was wondering what “Klotet” means. For that matter, what do your album titles mean? And how about some of the more interestingly-titled songs? Speaking of the songs, (in lieu of lyrics) who comes up with the song titles?

Påhl: We try to come up with the titles together. Basically Mikal comes along with a hundred titles that he thinks sounds funny and then the rest of us throws away 99 of them. Klotet means "the sphere"... "En rak höger" means "A hard punch to the head" but can also mean "a punch from the right side" - with a political meaning. "Det har aldrig hänt och kommer aldrig hända igen" means "It has never happened and will never happen again" and the whole album is related to the global financial crisis of the last year. Any specific titles you wanna know?

Nick: And our blogzine is called Prog Sphere, so we are basically Prog Klotet :)

Påhl: He, he. You're a part of us now.

Dan: Honestly I wouldn't know about any specific titles, but are there any that are particularly funny? Or interesting? Perhaps political?

Klotet: We had a song on the "Rak höger"-album that's called "En vanlig dag på jobbet, snutjävel" - that means something like "an ordinary day at work, fucking cop", that one is hard to introduce at some liveshows :-)

Dan: Haha.

Klotet: We also have a song called "Dödad av döden" that is directly translated from the Motorheadsong "Killed by death".

Dan: I must say I approve of the left-leaning titles, being incredibly liberal myself.

Klotet: Great!

Dan: What sort of music do you all listen to? What inspires you guys? As I mentioned when I gave my little plug to Klotet in my recent article, I can definitely hear Bo Hansson in your music, and possibly some Beardfish.

Klotet: Yeah, it hard not to like Bo Hansson, he was a great musicians and he was one of our main influences when we started. And concerning Beardfish we like them them a lot. We have played with them in the past. They are fantastic musicians, more skilled than we can ever hope to be. But we are also heavily influenced by music like Devo, Killing Joke, Goblin and some punk and hardcore music. We actually played some Bo Hansson songs on a gig last week as a tribute to the man.

Dan: Speaking of Bo Hansson tributes, did you guys like what I said about him and Klotet in my article? Would you have said anything differently?

Klotet: Well, we definately like to think that we carry some of his legacy in the meaning that we focus on simplicity and harmony in our music instead of technical skill. That can not be said about most of the polished stuff that is called prog these days. But, there are many more bands that deserve that credit more than we do.

Dan: Tell me about your music writing process, do you guys just jam, or does someone introduce a general idea and you work around it? Or is everything rigidly planned to the MUNUTIST DETAIL!?

Påhl: Yes, like you said it. Someone, usually Mikal or David, introduce a general idea and we work around it together. No magic formula. It often takes a long while to get a song finished...

Dan: So you guys released a new album this year (one of my favorite releases of 2010 so far, by the way!), which was in a similar style to your last release, if perhaps a little more chaotic. What was it like recording this one compared with recording the last one?

Påhl: Thanks for the kind words!!! It was a little bit more chaotic than the last one actually. We jammed some of the stuff together in the last minute. But the songwriting on this one was a lot quicker, we tried not to overwork the songs.

Mikal: During the last recording (En rak höger) we only had the studio for recording drums one extremely early morning between 3.00 and 7.00 so he's very happy that he got more time behind the drums this time...

Dan: So your myspace says Påhl is the one who draws the crows and skulls and stuff. I love these crows and skulls and stuff, and I think the drawings make fitting album artwork for such a chaotic (I keep using that word) and energetic band. I don’t really have a question to go with this, I just wanted to say I like the artwork. I suppose you could tell me about the artwork if you like, though. What does it symbolize? How do you come up with it?

Klotet: Thanks a lot. We like the word chaotic, keep using it. The artwork is referring to the financial global crisis (as I mentioned before). The backsleeve is also quite obviously inspired by the Napalm Death album "Scum".

Dan: What’s it like being such a little-known band right now? Andy Tillison says that even slightly more well-known bands like The Tangent are struggling to get exposure in this over-saturated climate.

Klotet: We try not to be too concerned about those things. We would not be playing this kind of music if the only thing we wanted was exposure. But we're really happy that we can play in our close community and the record deal with Musea makes it pretty much possible for people like yourself (in freakin' AMERICA!) to get hold of our albums. So we can't really complain, considering...

Dan: Do you guys consider yourselves a part of any specific cultural movement, however peripheral? Personally, I like to categorize things, and it seems to me like Klotet is clearly a part of the Swedish “Third Wave of Prog”, a term I like to throw around. Does “prog” matter to Klotet, or do you guys prefer to just make music and screw the labels?

Klotet: The term "prog" meant more to us when we started the band. At this moment we want to be free to explore whatever we feel like without caring about specific scenes and genres. It really doesn't feel like we belong to any movement other than grass root music. In our perspective most musical movements tend to be very elitist and the prog scene is no exception. Progressive music in these days is sometimes quite regressive if you ask us.

Dan: I would say prog tends to be even more elitist than some other groups.

Klotet: Yeah!

Dan: And yet somehow, the more regressive the band, the more elitist they are, hehe.

Klotet: :-)

Dan: Your myspace says you guys have a demo in addition to your two studio albums. My question is this: where can I (and the other readers of the blog, I suppose…) purchase this demo? As a follow-up question in case you say “it is unavailable for sale” or something like that: Please?

Klotet: There are sadly no copies of that demo left, BUT is you listen to the last three songs of the "En rak höger"-album you won't miss a thing. Those tracks are taken directly from the demo.

Dan: Påhl, you mentioned Villebråd before. It just so happens that Nick stumbled across a webpage about it a few hours before this interview. Can you tell us something more about it?

Påhl: Mikal might get angry with me if I use this opportunity to promote that band :-)

Mikal: *giving pahl the angry eye*

Dan: Don't worry, I was going to ask Mikal about any of his projects next.

Påhl: Ha, ha!

Dan: We'd love to hear about it.

Nick: More projects - more questions.

Påhl: Ok, we're currently working with our third album. It will be more pop-oriented than the last two albums. Don't know what to say really. Villebråd is actually one of Mikal’s favourite bands.

Dan: I had actually never heard of it till Nick stumbled upon the site today and showed me that you were in it.

Nick: Kudos for me!

Påhl: Yeah, thanks Nick!

Dan: Mikal, are you working on any side projects?

Mikal: Me and Sofia had a psykadelic proggband when we where younger, drums and organ. You can listen to some of our music here: www.myspace.com/haxhammaren

Dan: Ah, I was going to ask about that next, since you had mentioned it before.

Nick: Hm, that might be interesting.

Dan: Is that another one of what I like to call the "HK setup" (HK meaning Hansson/Karlsson)?

Mikal: Yeah, that’s true, lot of the inspiration came from them, but we also tried to broaden our music using fender Rhodes (through a leslie) instead of an organ.

Dan: Listening to samples now.

Mikal: Sweet.

Dan: Reminds me of Sagor & Swing, but with a spookier air.

Mikal: It’s poorly produced, sorry for that.

Dan: It's very nice, did you guys release any albums?

Mikal: One cassette that is extremly rare, 15-20 copies where given out, and one cd-demo of 10 copies. We never found someone to release them.

Dan: That’s a shame!

Dan: I know this will sound impatient because you guys just released an album recently, but what are you guys thinking about doing for your next release?

Klotet: We worked on a new song today, actually. It will probably be less melodic and more primitive than before. But with more rythmical complexity... But it's too early to say anything with confidence. Just testing some new ideas really. What do you recommend us to do? What do u want to hear?

Nick: Some jazzy fusion.

Klotet: We ask the questions from now on :-)

Dan: Honestly I love what you guys are doing, but it might be interesting to hear some more instruments.

Klotet: Ok, that's cool. Like what?

Nick: Yeah, maybe accordion?

Dan: Flutes, accordions… As far as I'm concerned there can never be too much flute or organ.

Nick: Saxes would be interesting.

Klotet: Ok. We'll have to take lessons, but we'll try. Flutes are a no go, though... Sax is cool.

Dan: Well, it's up to you after all. I wasn't expecting to be asked, hehe.

Klotet: Well, we want to please y'all.

Dan: Creating music is not my forte, I wouldn't know where to start.

Nick: Ask me to play accordion, though.

Klotet: Nick, would you like to play the accordion?

Nick: Probably :D

Klotet: You can stay at Mikal's house.

Dan: You guys could have Rikard guest star :P

Klotet: From Beardfish?

Dan: Right!

Klotet: Rikard and Nick could start up a accordion/organ duo.

Dan: I like the sound of this.

Klotet: You could call yourself Rick and Nick.

Dan: And I can... watch.

Nick: It's fine with me, dunno about Rick, haha.

Dan: How about touring, what’s it like for Klotet to tour? Is there a possibility you guys can come to the U.S? Ha, we all can dream… Maybe if a festival invites you, eh?

Nick: Or Serbia?

Klotet: We have never been on a real tour, actually. We're not playing music for a living, and there are no big promoters for our kind of music. But if someone asked us we'd do anything in our might to make it happen. But it's hard to go abroad since we're all poor suckers. We pretty much only play for food/beer everytime so we only do gigs that we feel like and that are reasonably comfortable for us. But we would absolutely love to come to the US, and Serbia of course!

Dan: Come to NYC! There's more people here than all of Sweden.

Klotet: Sounds frightening.

Dan: To paraphrase Mr. Tillison.

Klotet: Who?

Nick: Andy, The Tangent.

Klotet: Ah, sorry.

Dan: His song Lost in London. "There's more people here than Sweden, and it's the lonliest place on Earth."

Nick: We are both obssessed with him, haha.

Klotet: He, he, he…

Dan: As a city-slicker, I can't sympathize, unfortunately, hehe. I love gigantic crowds.

Klotet: We like gigantic crows.

Dan: Japan has both gigantic crows and gigantic crowds!

Klotet: Yeah, nice. Ha, ha, ha!

Dan: Maybe we would both feel right at home in Tokyo.

Klotet: Ok, when do we leave?

Dan: Not yet.

Klotet: Oh sorry.

Dan: So Påhl , you mentioned before that you have a dog! Please tell me about your dog, I love dogs. My old dog was a Norwegian Elkhound, and she was the sweetest dog ever (she died of cancer last year). My current dog is also the sweetest dog ever (I guess we have good luck with dogs). He’s a German Shorthaired Pointer that looks like a Dalmatian.

Nick: Here we go again... with dogs.

Påhl: Shut up, Nick.

Dan: Thank you, Påhl :D

Påhl: Now it's really interesting...

Dan: He's always making fun of me for asking our interviewees about dogs.

Påhl: Both me and Mikal love dogs, especially my dog. He's a Swedish Vallhund, and a really great guy. He's three years old and is currently sitting and staring at me 'cause he's eager to take a dump. I'm really sad that you lost that Elkhound of yours, but its the way it goes I guess. It's so disturbing that dogs only live for a tenth of a normal life span. You should really wait until you're like 80 before you get one, cause then you wouldn't have to be around when it dies.

Dan: Yeah, she lived a good long life though. She had a lot of health problems for some reason. Cancer, an adrenal gland problem, and two cataracts, but she was very happy until the end.

Påhl: :-(

Dan: Anyway, we should wrap up so your dog can take a dump!

Påhl: He'll be very happy.

Dan: Ok, so we're done with questions. Is there anything you two want to add?

Klotet: Thank you both for this. It was very fun and you did very well. Thank you so much for showing interest in our music and for supporting the small bands! We would also like to say thank you to the followers of your blog for reading this far. Have a nice night!