Dejan Ilijić: Wide Musical Horizons for the Future of EYOT

Nick: Hello Dejan. Thank you for making this interview possible. How are you doing?

Dejan: Thank you for approaching me (us). I am like the weather these days, up, down, left right and then in the center.

Nick: Let’s start from an obvious spot, which is introducing your band, EYOT. How did it all start? What is your musical background?

Dejan: We all have different musical backgrounds but it would take me a lot of time to say everything. So I will start the story about EYOT from 2006 when I released my first solo-piano album for Ninety and Nine Records, New York independent label. And from then on I and later the band had the great support in everyday from the label president and owner Dr. Kent Gustavson. After one more solo piano album and one more in collaboration with Kent, It was the time to move forward and to start a band which will be a continuation of my solo-piano story. (The first album is called EYOT). And we started somewhere in 2008. Marko Stojiljković (bass) Sladjan Milenović (guitar) Miloš Vojvodić (Drums) Dejan Ilijić (Piano). The Band. In these two years the main things that we did are winning in the final (selected among 3 winners) of Umbria Jazz Balkanic Windows contest, Performance at Nisville Jazz Festival, (this performance was daily featured video at All About Jazz web site) World of Jazz, Manifestation as a part of Dubai International Jazz Festival and the fact that we recorded our debut album.

Nick: EYOT is surely one of the most quality and promising young bands out there right now. You blend jazz with a bit of fusion and a lot of other influences. What can you say about your musical direction?

Dejan: Well, we declare as an ambiental – world – jazz band, something like that, but I am not sure how to describe the music. To be honest, I am not thinking a lot about it, I just need that description for websites like myspace e.t.c. But it is important to say that we are not exactly a jazz band. We keep the jazz word for the end of the description. I see our roots in classical background more then jazz. But I like the both directions.

Nick: Your debut album is about to be released and I know how much of sweat and blood you’ve put into its creation, so please tell us something more about it. Also feel free to tell us where it was recorded.

Dejan: Sweat, blood, time and money. We started working on it from the first day, so it was a year and a half process when we decided it was a time to draw a line on the material. It was recorded in F.A.M.E.S. Projects studio in Skopje, Macedonia in two days and basically the album is almost live recording in the studio with very few double tracks and edited parts. And that was the only way to record our music, sound, energy and I can say after all that I am very happy how the things worked out at the end. I know people don’t care, when they listen to the music what you had to do to give them that last product, it is only important what they hear, but if I take all the aspects this is the best that we could do in this period of our lives. It was recorded great by Georgi Hristovski, mixed by me and then we had a final touch from Nathan James in Vault Mastering Studio in New York. I hope we will work with this team in the future again.

Nick: “Horizon” has been put up for free download, and it’s also the first single of the upcoming album. This particular track blew my mind when I first heard it. I have to say here to our readers that this song is going to be presented on our second volume of the Progstravaganza compilation and it is my personal opinion that this track describes the music EYOT creates very well. Would you like to tell us anything about this piece in particular?

Dejan: I am not sure I could say anything in particular about it, but I agree, in some way it contains all the parts that build EYOT sound. There are some private stories around it but we’ll keep that for some Autobiography books in the future. ) I am glad to see/hear it on your compilation.

Nick: I could see some of your live videos on your MySpace profile and the fact that’s really astonishing is the energy you guys transmit through your performances. Is it hard to capture that energy from the concerts for a studio recording?

Dejan: It is hard, but we had a great team in the studio and nice atmosphere, without any pressure so I think we have managed to catch that energy that we transpose on our live performances.

Nick: It’s interesting that the guitar in EYOT sounds pretty atmospheric, which is a bit weird for a band with jazz roots. Where do you get those atmospheric elements from?

Dejan: All the instruments have their own parts in melodic, rhythm, harmony parts in the songs, it depends on the orchestration e.t.c. but generaly we all produce that atmosphere. Is it from emotions or something else,I don’t know.

Nick: Which artists and bands have mostly influenced your work with EYOT? Would you share with us some of your favorites? I can easily conclude that you’re a huge fan of Coldplay and the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, but give us some names from deeper down.

Dejan: Hmm…Traditional music, Stravinsky, Bartok – Rhythm, Orchestration, Deepness. / Nirvana – Unstopable energy / Miles Davis – atittude / Esbjorn Svennson – The way they brought out the jazz, let’ say it jazz, to the wider audience. Coldplay, U2, Radiohead, Bjork – That kind of the emotion / Zealot – All of it. Maybe I could say more, but this is enough to describe the main influences.

Nick: Music in general is probably the most living “thing”, if I may say like that, but somehow jazz music remains as a “genre” which has rights to carry that epithet much more than some others. Do you agree? Jazz has always lived on, while at the same time there have been subgenres like grunge or different forms of new-waves that have been coming and going. If you see it this way too, why, if not, why not?

Dejan: In some way I agree but… Jazz is alive all these years but it has changed in so many forms taking the parts of all other genres so today you have jazz, grunge, punk, pop, rock, new waves, everything mixed up. So, let’s just say…if it is a good music I just don’t care about the genre.

Nick: How do you see the current Serbian jazz scene? Many people ask me to recommend some Serbian artists and bands, and I almost always stay frozen without a real answer. There are several great names, but it’s not like it used to be, if you ask me.

Dejan: I like the bands like Tripcycle and Ana Never, if you can call them jazz just like us. But there are few very interesting bands with new energy for sure.

Nick: How is the reaction of the audience to your music? How active is the band when it comes to concerts? Are you satisfied with the response you get from people, other musicians and media?

Dejan: Until now, we had a great reaction where ever we played, we’ll see in the future. After the release of the album I expect all of this things to stuck in forward. But we are satisfied how thins worked out for us in these two years.

Nick: As you are the main composer of EYOT music, I must ask why you chose to give yourself a “band name” instead of calling it, for example, The Dejan Ilijić Quartet or The Dejan Ilijić Band? Was it because you would prefer to work in a band atmosphere and you don’t like the feeling of being in charge?

Dejan: You can’t gain the same kind of the energy when you put the band and one person project. It is not about the feeling being in charge, I am the leader like every team and ship has it own captain but the most important thing is that we understand each other and we enjoy playing together and going trough life together. They trust me and I trust them. All for one and one for all. I often say, these songs were born by Dejan raised by Eyot.

Nick: So what are your plans for the future?

Dejan: The future is bright. After we release the album for Serbian market, we will release it in USA, and, probably, in Japan. We will play a promo tour in region, and then we plan to play all over the world and I am working on all of this to happen. There are more things to tell but for now I will keep it for myself. The next few months will be interesting in our lives.

Nick: Is there anything you would like to add now that I’m out of questions?

Dejan: May the force be with you.

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Dejan. Hope to see you guys live in concert soon!

Dejan: Thank you once again for approaching us, people will have a chance to see us soon on Petrovac Jazz Festival in Montenegro 02.09.2010. and Nisomnia festival, Niš, Serbia – 04.09.2010. We’ll keep you updated for more!

Sinestesia – The Day After Flower

What we’ve got here is the second album of these Italian prog metallers, and it happens to be the one that introduced me to their music. The thing that pops into my mind is the obvious influence of Dream Theater.  What’s mostly expressed through is, I have to say, remarkable musicianship. This album brings the virtuosity which is probably at the base of every progressive metal record, and the only complaint (and probably the biggest) is actually the originality. Experienced listeners will probably say that the work presented on “The Day After Flower” has been heard many times before, but at the other side all those people who think that the godfathers of prog metal (speaking of DT, of course) have been doing badly with their last few albums might consider this a breath of fresh air.

The biggest highlight of the album and my favorite track is actually the opening, “Hero”, with one of the best prog metal intro sections that I’ve heard in a long, time and vocal lines that range from almost whispers to loud falsettos. The singer reminds of Roy Khan in the lower registers and as mixture of Tony Kakko/Blackie Lawless in the high registers. I have to make special mention of an especially great keyboard solo that was certainly heavily influenced by Jordan Rudess.

The next song, “Feast” starts as one of those summer dance hits, and it’s probably the most mainstream song on the album.

“The Birth, The Death, Trance by the River”, shows, through its structure, the band’s heavy Dream Theater influence, especially in the beginning when it sounds like “As I am”. But then it continues to develop with balanced vocals, usage of effects, atmospheric, calm keyboards and excellent guitar solos.

“Burning Times (Never Forget)” brings a little change in the album’s flow, and I would say that it mostly sounds like a mixture of Therion-ish choirs, Nocturnal Rites’ riffing work and vocal lines, and strong keyboard work. Speaking of keyboards, Alberto Bravin plays another amazing solo, then of course, a guitar solo as a response.

In “Violet”, the singer somehow manages to be a cross between Roine Stolt and Roy Khan. The track is a pretty relaxing and “easy” piece that fills album very well. There is very nice acoustic guitar and keyboard work in the second part of the song.

“C.W.A. Prelude” is the only instrumental piece on the album, and here keyboards have the leading role in the first section, and guitar overtakes during the second half.

“Cold War Apocalypse”, follows, which is the heaviest piece, It is filled with heavy arrangements and excellent guitar solos, as per the band’s usual.

“Twilight” doesn’t bring anything special, but it has interesting effects. It might not be amazing, but it makes for decent filler.

The last song on the album, “Memento” is a ballad with lyrics in Italian, symphonic keyboards and one of those tracks that you can listen to while you dance with your partner and whisper in his/her ear.

To conclude, this album doesn’t bring anything new. It’s not really a groundbreaking release, but it deserves to be heard because of the musicianship. And these guys do have the potential to make something great in the future. Maybe, on the next album, who knows…

Tracklist:

1.Hero
2.Feast
3.The Birth, The Death, Trance by the River
4.Burning Times (Never Forget)
5.Violet
6.C.W.A. Prelude (Instrumental)
7.Cold War Apocalypse
8.Twilight
9.Memento

Line-up:

* Ricky De Vito – vocals
* Alberto Bravin – keyboards, mellotron and kaoss pad
* Roberto De Micheli – electric and acoustic guitars
* Alessandro Sala – 6 string bass
* Paolo Marchesich – drums and percussions

Additional musicians:

* Nicola Ardesi – soundscapes
* Marco Steffe – acoustic strummed guitars on track 5
* Stefania Camiolo – backing vocals on track 3

Links:

Sinestesia official website
Sinestesia @ MySpace

Paul Masvidal of Cynic

Nick: Hello Paul. How are you doing?

Paul: I’m well, thanks.

Nick: How was the European tour you just completed? It’s good that you are back again and I hope there will be another leg of that one, so you might come and play Serbia again. You played here last year for the second time in three years, if I’m not wrong, so what are your memories of the Serbian crowd, Belgrade, etc? I know you’ve had a lot of fun here, right?

Paul: The Euro tour was fun. We love Serbia, had some great shows there with wonderful fans.

Nick: It’s interesting that the upcoming US tour will be your first headlining tour over US, which is really weird, because Cynic is from there, which makes me wonder why you guys didn’t do a headline tour after Traced in Air came out. Would you tell us something more about it?

Paul: We chose to do some support tours and re-establish the band by playing for new and larger audiences with other groups. We knew we’d eventually do a headline run, but were waiting for the right time.

Nick: Let’s talk a bit of your latest musical achievement, an EP called Re-Traced. Why did you decide to re-do some of the original tracks from Traced in Air? Did you just think the songs needed better versions than the originals?

Paul: We had a month off between tours and decided that would be the most productive and creative use of the time. The EP was an experiment and opportunity for us to show Cynic fans another side of the album. Showcasing more the roots of the songs. It also told us we can do lots of different things and still  sound like Cynic.

Nick: If you ask me, I could say that you guys are doing a great job with these “RE” projects the band is working on lately. It’s not common that bands work on retrospectives like this. Have you feared that your final product will bring disappointment to Cynic fans?

Paul: I trust our instincts and know that if we’re meeting our own standards, we shouldn’t disappoint the fans. Ultimately we have to be truthful with our own creative process and then I think everything works out fine.

Nick: I like to compare this EP with the original songs, if you know what I mean, as I have an opinion that you’ve successfully established differences in these remixes, while still keeping them recognizable. And as an example of it, I could add that in Space (which is in its base The Space for This) the fusion rhythmic nature is successfully changed by beautiful harmonic work. How did you see that re-creating process?

Paul: I really enjoyed the process. We had a lot fun making the EP and rediscovering the songs for ourselves. It was going straight into the unknown and yet completely trusting in the work because the songs were intact to begin with.

Nick: Wheels within Wheels is a completely new track, written specially for the EP, so can we consider Re-Traced as a prologue of sorts for something fresh from Cynic, or is it supposed to hold up on its own for a while?

Paul: Wheels was actually written before TIA. We revisited the song when making the EP and decided bring it on when in the process. I think the EP stands on its own as a body of work.

Nick: Integral presents an acoustic version of Integral Birth and it seems to me that this piece might have been used to create the original, but I’m probably wrong. Do you consider that if songs created on acoustic guitar sound good, they will sound even better if they are played electrified – with a full band?

Paul: The EP version of Integral is much like the demo version that was originally written. I think if you can write a convincing tune with just voice and guitar, it will be easier to elaborate on the tune and turn it into a compete arrangement. I like working with bare bones foundations and then build from there.

Nick: The artwork for Re-Traced is also sort of a reinterpretation of the sort of figure that’s been used for other Cynic album art. Could you tell us about the meaning behind this symbol, or whatever you want to call it?

Paul: The cover angel is essentially a human / animal / alien hybrid in transformation. It represents the self between earth and cosmos. The reinterpretation is the core of this painting, kind of like what happened with the EP’s songs. It’s the root of the music, naked and exposed.

Nick: How would you compare Focus and Traced in Air? How was it back in 90’s when you were working on making Focus and how was it 2-3 years ago when you were making Traced in Air? How did your approach change in between the two albums?

Paul: TIA for me is a more mature work since we’re in a different place as artists now. I think there’s more melodic continuity on TIA. Focus has the exuberance of youth and discovery tied into it an a really unabashed free way. TIA has more wisdom and density that’s come from life experience. Both are viable works, just different sonic spaces.

Nick: Focus is one of the best albums from the 90’s certainly and one that basically traced your way, and at the other side Cynic is one of the most influential bands. But, do you think that you do not enjoy all the attention you deserve?

Paul: I’m just doing my best to enjoy the journey of making music. It’s the day to details that make this life interesting, not where it ends, or what it’s supposed to do in the public sense.

Nick: The biggest (or most noticeable) change on Traced in Air in comparison with Focus are the vocals, both growls and cleans. Do you agree? Did that segment come as a consequence of maturing, different approach or something else?

Paul: Maturing is what lead to most of the decisions. We’ve grown a lot in different ways, since the Focus days.

Nick: What message do you try to show off in your lyrics? What do some of them mean? What does this phrase mean: “Om shrim mana, lakshmeyi swama om”?

Paul: No message other than of being in the present moment. The mantra you’re asking about is for lakshmi the goddess of abundance. Not necessarily material abundance, but just abundance as in living a rich and whole life. Abundance is a perspective and that song explores the physical and mental aspects of feeling beat up by the cosmos and trying to survive it with some esoteric wisdom.

Nick: Formerly, Cynic were signed to Roadrunner Records, but Traced in Air, as well as Re-Traced have been released under Season of Mist. Not that it’s big thing, but haven’t you been contacted by Roadrunner after your return?

Paul: Sure, and many other labels, but the deal we got with SOM was really good for us and made the most sense.

Nick: It’s known that you’ve been involved in making several albums for some of the cult bands from the death metal scene back in 90’s, but surely one of the most interesting contributions of yours was with Chuck Schuldiner’s Death and the album Human, which has been followed by a tour where you and Sean Reinert has taken participation as a live musicians. Would you mind telling us something from that period? How was it working with Chuck?

Paul: I knew Chuck since my mid teens, so working with him seemed inevitable. He gave us our foray into the music business and we received quite an education in the process. Working together on the album was fluid and fun. It was a natural and creatively abundant time for Chuck and the rest of us. Touring was quite an adventure and exposed us to a whole other side of the industry and our work together.

Nick: What happens with Æon Spoke? Will there be something new at some point in the future?

Paul: It’s possible. Not sure at this point. Soley focused on Cynic for now.

Nick: A track Emmanuel from Above the Buried Cry appeared in What the Bleep do we Know film in 2005. How did this come about?

Paul: The music supervisor saw us play a show somewhere in LA an contacted us after mentioning that he wanted to use that song for a film.

Nick: I’ve been wondering if the song Pablo at the Park explicitly refers to you, considering your birth name is Pablo and the lyrics say “I’m still Pablo at the park”. Is this true?

Paul: Yes.

Nick: Another of your involvements is writing music for television and motion pictures, you have been working for Smallville, Cry Wolf, Operation Junkyard, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That 70’s Shows, among others. You are my second interviewee, besides Alan Morse who has been or who is involved in such projects. How is it working on these? Do you find it different, funny, and more interesting?

Paul:  I had a lot of fun working on all those projects and still have a foot in that world. As a session musician or composer, I get to play a different role as a musician and that can be really cool because of being exposed to styles I normally wouldn’t approach on my own. It’s always an education.

Nick: Would you tell us something about the artists/musicians/bands that have influenced you? One of my biggest likes concerning Cynic is jazzy approach, especially when it comes to bass playing. Where did you get that from?

Paul: We have always been big fans of jazz. In regard to bass players, Jaco Pastorius has always been a favorite of ours for his melodic sensibilities and massive technique.

Nick: Are you working on some new patents? What could you tell us about your involving a device to assist voice-disabled patients? Are you still concerned with volunteer work?

Paul: I still do volunteer work and see patients when I’m home for longer than a month. I’ll have lots of time now to get back into it after this tour. I came up with the idea while working as a volunteer at a hospital. One thing lead to another and before you knew it, my business partner and I were seeking out a patent. It’s still going strong and growing. The board is now available in 17 different languages.

Nick: Is there anything you would like to add to this interview, as I’m out of questions?

Paul: Thank you. Peace and love to all.

Nick: Thank you very much for the interview, Paul. Hope you have enjoyed answering some questions. Best wishes.

Roger Wootton, Comus

Nick: Hello, Mr. Wooton. Thank you for making this interview possible. What’s the latest news coming from Comus? There has been a 7” vinyl EP limited edition release, featuring a Comus song, besides involvement from Rameses III and Simon Finn. What can you say about this?

Roger: We played the HMV Forum with them in London.

Nick: What was or better to say, who, was the initiator of Comus’ comeback in 2008? You reformed for the Mellotronen Festival the same year, how was the feeling to play live again after so many years of absence?

Roger: The initiator of our reforming was Michael Akerfeldt of Opeth. He is a major Comus fan and was offered the Melloboat Festival in 2008. He said to the promoter, Stefan Dimle, that Opeth would play as long as he could get Comus to reform and do it as well. Both Michael and Stefan came to London to meet us and the contract was signed. We owe a lot to Michael with whom we remain in contact.

Nick: You and Glenn Goring were both very young when you started musical journey back in 1967. What was your guide back then to start creating your own music? Who were your main influences then and did you have a clear image of the music you wanted to create?

Roger: We were both influenced by Bert Jansch and John Renbourn (later to form Pentangle) and The Incredible String Band. I introduced Glenn to avant garde jazz. We began playing the folk club together in 1967. The band formed gradually. I had the idea of a violin and met Colin Pearson who just happened to be attending the same college – Ravensbourne College of Art. The band assembled from students and friends of students at Ravensbourne. I wrote my first song and the Comus sound and feel gradually evolved rather than having any clear image.

Nick: Would you mind telling us something more about your connection with David Bowie in your early days?

Roger: As the band was evolving, David Bowie was setting up a regular club night at The Three Tuns Beckenham called The Beckenham Arts Lab. He was looking for a resident band.

At this time we were not even called Comus but we began playing the club with David, who was resident singer/ songwriter. We basically cut our teeth playing every week and the material, the name, the manager all slowly came together. David wrote Space Oddity in 1969, performing it at the arts lab. After he had the hit with it he invited us to play support at The Purcell Room with him. This was our first major gig.

Nick: In 1971, First Utterance was released, and it proved to be a groundbreaking release for the band, but I must underline that there’s a bittersweet feeling, just because I think the band didn’t receive the accolades they deserved after it was made. What can you tell us about creating process of this record and how do you see it now, after almost 40 years?

Roger: We had the wrong producer and we were all pretty green with recording. The record company seemed to have no understanding of what we were about. They pressed a limited number of copies and did not distribute it properly. We had little promotion and the album was virtually made into a flop.

Nick: It seems that First Utterance gathers a positive response from critics all around the world after four decades. Why do you think it has taken so long for people to love the music? I suppose that’s one hell of an acquired taste!

Roger: Yes, it is an acquired taste. It does not neatly fall into any prescribed category. The music is almost timeless and has a powerful energy which people find just as easy to relate to today. The critics at the time hated it. It went against the grain of everything that was going on then. Also, because it is acoustic, it doesn’t date the way production sounds of that time have.

Nick: First Utterance present an eclectic album that consists of many different and diverse elements, but the core of it lies upon an obscure psychedelic and folky atmosphere. But I must say that the crown of that record are probably the vocals, which are done in a very interesting way. What do you guys feel about it?

Roger: I found a very intense and angry wild vocal style, a little influenced by Roger Chapman and Bobbie, our second female vocalist, presented a very pure virginal sound that had a complete contrast.

Nick: The album doesn’t include any weak song, which is another indicator of its quality, but as the highlights that are always mentioned are Diana and Drip Drip. Do you think these tracks cast a shadow of the rest of the album perhaps? Without a doubt, it discovers many new interesting details with every further listening and that’s what happens to me exactly every time I listen to it.

Roger: Hard for me to comment. Although I play it as I am now, I rarely listen to First Utterance and I don’t think we make preferences. We recently did a gig, playing some new songs as well, and fans were disappointed that we left out The Bite. Most fans seem to want to hear First Utterance in its entirety.

Nick: Lyrically, this album deals with some really dark and burdening lyrics. How much of them comes from real life and how much of them are fiction? What do you try to talk about through them?

Roger: A lot of LSD in the countryside and reading Lord of the Rings and other texts popular at the time, a hating and reaction against a very repressive middle class background and against the social mentality of the time.

Nick: What has been happening with the Malgaard Suite? It has never seen the light of the day!

Roger: We have one poor quality recording of part of it. This will either be released on our forthcoming cd or on the website.

Nick: A lot of dust has risen with the appearance of your second album “To Keep From Crying”. It is certainly much more commercial. How do you see that situation? To quote you, if I may: “the album was something of a disaster”. Why is that?

Roger: Virgin Records got in touch and asked if Comus would reform to make an album. I could not get the original members back together. The material was never intended for Comus. It was completely unsuitable. It was a rush job and the replacement members were not entirely suitable. Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong for that album.

Nick: In the first half of 70’s, you were hired to make film scores and you did that actually for Lyndsay Shonteff’s Permissive and Big Zapper. What can you tell us about this involvement?

Roger: We auditioned for Lyndsay and he was pleased with the result and continued to ask us to write the music for several more films (me in particular and whoever else I could get). The last one being Spy Story.

Nick: Comus is a typical example of how the internet might help bands, especially older ones. What do you think about this? Would you say that the internet has been a boon to Comus?

Roger: There is no doubt that file sharing has actually been an asset to us. A whole new generation has turned on to Comus and we have a global following, which we never had first time around. The issue with file sharing is, of course loss of earnings for the artists.

Nick: Where does Comus stand today? Do you have any plans for releasing some brand new material at some point in the future or you are mostly focused on playing live?

Roger: We will shortly be recording and releasing a cd of new songs, more in the vain of First Utterance. I cannot at this time give you more details. We are in the process of changing management, which will inevitably make a big difference. We hope to continue playing live globally. We play the Burntwood Festival at The Brentwood Centre Essex in October.

Nick: Do you have anything on your mind what you would like to share with the visitors of Prog Sphere?

Roger: I am embarking on a solo career to run in parallel with Comus. This is new material which is not right for Comus. It is nothing like To keep from crying. I shall be recording a limited edition 7” with Riseabove Records. This is entirelt independent from Comus but is designed to coincide with a new vinyl release of First Utterance by them. I can’t give you a release date yet.

Everything is a bit up in the air until we sign a new management deal. We have 3 interested parties.

Nick: Thank you very much for the interview, Roger. All the best.

Roger: Thanks – we could do with some luck. You’re welcome.

My Brother The Wind – Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet

If someone told me at the beginning of the year that I would consider an album that was recorded  and mixed in four hours to be one of the best of 2010, I would probably laugh to death. But, after listening to this album, I wouldn’t feel ashamed to accept that I was wrong, because My Brother The Wind, a band consisting of Anekdoten’s Nicklas Barker, Makajodama’s Mathias Danielsson, and Magnolia’s Ronny Eriksson and Tomas Eriksson, made and brilliant achievement that would probably make even the worst pessimist believe in the impossible.

Our readers followers might know that we hade two separate interviews with the MBTW duo Nicklas Barker / Mathias Danielsson, where they have been telling us about the band’s background, its influences and other details.

These 4 guys have in succeeded harnessing the raw and wild energy of jamming and turn it into something that is going to be considered one of the high points of the genre in 2010.

Musically, hearing these six songs again and again is truly no passive experience. Certainly you will find in their performance a quality that forces you to listen carefully. At the other side, you can’t know what’s coming next, nothing is ever predictable, and a listener can go from track to track with no danger of fatigue setting in. The songs are in a constant state of transformation, floating energy mixes with melodies, rhythmic transfusions and familiarity with all the tunes. You will be astonished at how comfortable it is having those circling of melodies surround you, but they will take care to break it off unexpectedly and leave you to ask yourself “what just happened?”

It would be ungrateful to compare My Brother The Wind’s music with any of the former or actual representatives of the psychedelic/space/kraut/prog rock genre, due to its members’ wide influences, but let me say that they successfully pull out the best of Gila, Agitation Free, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Can, Hawkwind, and more.

And I’ll cut here any further talking about this album, as I will give you detailed analysis of it, meaning track-by-track, at the end of the year when I discuss my favorite albums of 2010.

It remains to tell that I hope that this album is not going to show up as a oneshot, because I am sure that such a group of musicians has much more to give. Let’s see what the rest of 2010 will bring, but this album certainly sticks in AT THE VERY LEAST, the top 5, in my opinion.

Read more

Danilo Nikodinovski of Consecration

Nick: Hey there, Danilo. How are you these days? You’ve just played the Exit festival, so how was it? Also, what are your impressions of the Faith No More concert? I know you’re a huge fan of them so seeing them live in Serbia must have been pretty special.

Danilo: Hey Nikola! I’m great. Really really great. I’m feeling that way beacuse of that Faith No More show! Maybe it’s too early to tell, but hell, I think it was the best gig in my whole life. I’m into Faith No More since I was 6-7 years old. I remember watching the Epic video clip and next thing I remember is listening to The Real Thing album. Angel Dust was the first bootleg tape I bought at the black market. It was 1992, it was war already over here and it was impossible to find music except bootleging it. I remember that the tape was lousy taped and the sound was really crap. Maybe I wouldn’t noticed if I didn’t tape a clip of Midlife Crisis before I went to buy it, so I went to the market to replace it. The guy was so surprised since I was a kid, a nine year old who could tell if the recording was crap or not! I got King For A Day CD for my 12th birthday from my brother and it was one of the first CD’s I ever got. It was also one of the most beautiful presents I got – being a kid and listening to some long-awaited album for the first time on the original CD, with great sound and looking at the lyrics at the same time… It’s one of those moments. After their 1998 breakup I was in doubt I’d ever had a chance of seeing them live. Last year when they announced the reunion thing, I was so happy! And the moment a friend sent me SMS that they’re booked for this year’s festival… I was over the roof. She was really sweet by telling me that way before the official festival statement was announced. I still keep that message in my phone

Consecration performance was great I think. One could tell by the audience – they were really into it. That can be tough sometimes, especially on festivals with lots of different people down there and lots of other bands on the bill. But I think we nailed it. We even had some pyrotechnics at the end of Đavo Nije Urban, which was neat. Trying to get those video recordings from Exit at the moment.

Nick: Consecration is pretty active, as might be noticed from your performance at the Exit festival, which is the largest festival in Serbia, for those who don’t know. What’s it like to do such gigs and where does it stand in comparison with standard – “venued” concerts? If I’m not wrong it was your second time playing the Exit festival with Consecration.

Danilo: Yup, this was the second time. The first time we played was three years ago, in 2007. Back in 2007 I think Satyricon were the headliners of that day, so the audience was really

funny and not-into-what-we-are-doing. This time the headliners were Cathedral, so that was so much better. I finally met Lee Dorian and he’s a great guy. He watched our show but I didn’t ask him what he thought about it… Cause the moment we were offstage we rushed to the Main Stage to catch Faith No More. After FNM’s outstanding performance we were running back to the Explosive stage to catch Cathedral. It was insane! They pulled out a great show and their bassist destroys.

We like both venues and big stages actually. Playing on huge stage gives you opportunity to have the best sound there is, plus there are more lights which is nice. The monitor guy is working separately from the guy doing FOH and you can make 100% from both. At the other hand, venues are better for the audience. The stage is lower and people are very near so it’s the intimate thing. We love being near our audience too. The only thing about smaller venues is that we can get very loud sometimes and that doesn’t turn up so great in some venues! We wouldn’t like our fans’ ears to bleed every time we play indoors A lot of people told us our best show ever was on Povetarac last year. It was on a boat so it was outdoors and the sound was flying everywhere literally. The river was carrying the sound so the riffs could be heard miles and miles away! I wish I could be somewhere down the river to experience that, but it was impossible since I had to be onstage haha! The thing about smaller venues is that those are our gigs you know, people have come only for us. Plus we can play for an hour; hour and a half and we’re more relaxed that way. I guess the best of both options would be doing big stages with only our audience, which I hope will happen sometime soon

Nick: Let’s focus on your latest achievement, published in 2010, named .avi. As I’m familiar with the band since (almost) its beginnings (if you recall maybe you’ll remember the interview we did in 2003), so it’s notable that the band has made such impressive achievements for all these years. What can you say about .avi, idealistically, musically, and artistically?

Danilo: Thanks! Of course I remember that interview! It was so long time ago, but surely I remember it! Well, .avi is displaying everything the five of us have been into during the last three or four years. We had those songs finished in 2007-2008 already and one day I just said “We have to book a studio and record all this, otherwise I’d go insane!” It was really frustrating because we were always late; aux was finished back in 2006 and we released it in 2008 for free download cause we couldn’t look for any labels anymore. The day we published aux we already had the whole .avi finished so the frustration thing was up again. We knew we had better songs and better album in our hands but couldn’t move an inch further. That didn’t stop us though. We played live like crazy and after the show with Hesus Attor, Hrvoje (the singer) liked us so much he said he’d talk to his label’s boss to see if is he can do something to help us. And he wasn’t lying – I exchanged some emails with the label and we tried to arrange a gig in Croatia because they wanted to see us live. That’s most important for a band of course, to be great live. The thing is that we got fucked up at the border because of some stupid “laws” for musicians of Croatia and Serbia. We couldn’t cross the border, got back home and the whole frustration thing got even worse. As we entered the studio to record the damn thing nevertheless, I sent the rough mix versions to the label to see if they’d like it. They told us it’s great and from then on we started talking about it being released. It was such a relief, knowing after nine years that your work has finally been recognized as something worthy.

Nick: As I’ve said in the review, .avi is an album which has history, as it was previously released as a live downloadable album, consisting of all songs that are on studio version, except of a brief interlude, Cisterna, and I have to say that it’s pretty interesting, as there are very few bands who do things like this. So, how come the live version came before the studio release? Did you have a clear vision about it since the beginnings or did it just come as a spark of inspiration?

Danilo: When we decided to put aux for free download, we wanted to be the first Serbian band that’d do something like that. I got an information that some band already did it a month before, so we took the live recording we had from the gig held the month before and made it as the first Serbian band that put not one but two albums for free download! We wanted to make a fuss about it and we succeeded in doing so! It was a new thing at that time, especially for Serbia. Even in the global music scene it wasn’t spread so much, only Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails had the balls to do it. The only difference between us and them is that the whole world knows who Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor are, and nobody gives a flyin’ fuck for a band from a country that majority of people didn’t even know existed Anyway, we had those two records out and we wanted the fans have Aligator, Somna and those songs to listen to before we record them properly in studio. We already were playing songs off .avi back then so they weren’t that new to the audience. Like I said, we were late with releasing stuff for the most of the time, so it’s only now it’s finally backing to normal when we aren’t rushing anywhere.

Nick: It’s evident that you guys have invested lots of blood and sweat on .avi, as my total impression about the album is that it’s a picky record, especially when it comes to production and arrangements, considering that the album has been recorded in a “one, two, three” way. Are you satisfied with the ending result?

Danilo: The ending result is great! We created all those songs on rehearsals by jamming and shaping them up on concerts, so the option of recording them together in that good old “one two three” take was the only appropriate way for us. It’s more honest and natural. You let the band breathe that way, especially the rhythm section. The music got so mechanical and dry in the 21st century it’s annoying, at least the studio recordings. We wanted to get way from it. Plus I hate the clicktracks, it’s so unnatural thing to do. The drummer isn’t a machine! He’s a living being, let him play! We have those little tempo changes you know, especially in Aligator after the whammy/wah solo and if we tried to play it on the clicktrack it would be a disaster.

Nick: Compared to the debut album aux, .avi has stepped forward and continued to develop and “progress”, so I might not be wrong if I described Consecration as a band in constant motion (no relation with DT). Would you dare to make any parallels between these two albums?

Danilo: Well, I’d say that .avi is way much superior in many aspects – in songwriting, arrangements, production, playing… aux is a collection of different songs and .avi has that constant

flow through it. The musicianship progressed more and I think one could hear that. As musicians grow older the musicianship becomes better and stronger. Matija and I were listening to King Crimson’s Power To Believe couple of months ago and were thinking “we’re gonna have to make some ugly prog music such as this in 30 years from now on when we are old and fucked up!” So who knows haha! The progression is very important for any band. I know that I liked Radiohead when I heard Kid A. Now that was a real progression, and after Kid A I started to like OK Computer more. In The Woods… is the band that was progressively insane and all of their albums are top notch. I’m so sad they didn’t do more records… I guess we’ll expand our sound more. It is important for an artist to be open-minded and therein lays the key for any progress I think.

Nick: Speaking of that development or progression, could we expect that on your following releases you might add some new elements, instruments or whatever? Or you have traced your way now and it is the direction you strictly follow?

Danilo: We are not strict in any way when writing music. If we should be strict, it’s only in writing good songs!

New elements are always welcome of course. The initial idea of our future progression is to make the third album better than .avi the same way that .avi was better than aux. I hope we’ll make it. We shouldn’t think about it so much because it wouldn’t be so clever to make any kind of pressure before even starting it. But I think we are capable of doing it properly, since now there will be less pressure in studio and we’ll have more time rehearsing the ideas. About the additional instruments, who knows? A friend Dušan, he’s a super guy who plays the guitar in this great band Temple Of The Smoke, and he said he’s gonna buy an electric sitar! If he does it would surely be awesome thing to try. We found some Russian old keyboard really cheap, it’s a copy of Juno and has these great sounds that Plastikman and Autechre used on their old records, really warm and analogue. We’ll surely use that one on some of the songs.

Nick: The only complaint I have about this record is its accessibility, which is not your fault. But it’s a shame that such a quality record is not released, at least, as standard jewel case CD. Why is that? Haven’t you had any proper offers for releasing a physical copy of the album?

Danilo: We didn’t have time to do the physical version before the tour. So we thought about doing it digital only and we were giving away download codes for free with every bought tee shirt or longlseeve. We are still considering the option of doing CD’s, since we are getting enormously many requests for doing them.

Nick: I like to think that the vocals on .avi are like another instrument, as they do not sound like “standard” vocals, they are pretty atmospheric and “cosmic”. Do you share my opinion?

Danilo: Yes. The more cosmic it gets, the better haha! I don’t have fantastic singing abilities as some of my heroes, so I do what I can with my voice. It is important for every singer to learn his/her limits. That’s why I rely on the ambience of the song. The atmosphere is the most important thing to me and I like really grand reverbs and delays. I had ideas of those huge reverbs way before but didn’t know anyone was using them until I discovered Slowdive’s Just For A Day… And some Sigur Rós later. Some jazz records have amazing atmosphere since it’s all down to the atmosphere and the feel the musicians have. My brother played me Miles Davis’ Panthalassa, the Bill Laswell 1998 remix record and I was blown away. The intro is one of the best intros I’ve ever heard. All of them are playing the intro you know, and then there’s John’s guitar and the trumpet… Miles’ trumpet was magical. I often think about bringing that trumpet vibe to a Consecration song. Lazar is playing saxophone but we never recorded anything with it… I often think of my voice as that trumpet. It has to say a story with the tones. If it doesn’t, then it’s better to shut the fuck up

Nick: What’s the secret behind the lyrics? You probably don’t like this question, but it’s always interesting to ask an artist about the meaning of their work, no?

Danilo: Well, there’s lots of secrets in them, at least there could be. There are many ways you can interpret Somna for instance, as a love lyric, or as religious one perhaps. A dear friend of mine that lived through a lot of stuff during the war in Bosnia, told me he took it [the lyrics of Somna] as a dialogue with God. I liked that interpretation! I’m not saying it’s the proper one, or something I was aiming to, but I’d say it’s a good one because it means something to him; he took it personally and deeply. There are no proper or false interpretations of the lyrics really – all of them just might be correct. Aligator is about the reincarnation circles. I’m just obssessed by the damn animals and I don’t know why. Since my early childhood. It wasn’t that I got a toy or seen it in zoo – I can’t even recall the exact moment when it happened. Alligators and crocodiles are really ancient. They’ve seen a lot of stuff on Earth and they are truly divine. They are beautiful creatures and I made a connection with reincarnation circles and karmakosmik elements through them. Đavo Nije Urban on the other hand is about Belgrade. This city is fascinating and there is that nostalgic effect you have when you are away from it for long enough. I have lots of dear friends here and also lots of foreigners do I believe, so the song is dedicated to them. The titletrack .avi is dedicated to a person and her name is hidden inside the lyrics of the song. Idiot Glee has a paganish vibe and I wrote it in a sort of half-trance. I’m working as a soundman on bands’ gigs and there was some boring rock band playing with lots of lousy covers and I just disconnected at one point, trailed off and poured the whole lyric down before one could say “pour some sugar on me”.

Nick: The thing that makes me especially glad is that it was announced earlier that .avi is going to be released as a vinyl, which is lovely for all record geeks, including me. Is there any news about this? When is it expected for the LP(s) to be available?

Danilo: The thing is that we spent lots of money on new guitars and some gear we needed in our studio, so at this point the vinyls and their pressing depend only on the download donations on the bandcamp site. The more money we get, the chances of vinyls being done are higher. I hope too it will happen soon, but it’s not depending on us only. Please donate if you like our music, and you’ll have the vinyls soon!

Nick: What elements do other members of the band bring to Consecration? How wide is your influence field? I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical when a live version became available, not because I doubted the quality of the songs, but because the change you made from Opeth/Katatonia/Anathema to Isis/Tool/Autechre made me feel like that, though that’s probably because of my personal preferences.

Danilo: Well, it wasn’t like, “now we’re listening to this and we’ll sound like it”. I still listen to Anathema, Opeth and Isis as much as I did before and lots of other bands too of course. Right now I’m influenced by everything I ever listened to but that doesn’t mean we’ll do a mishmash of all music there is We’re always influenced by everything we’re into. The most of the time it might be a subconscious thing and we like everything that’s good basically. New Tortoise is good, new Health record is interesting, new Danzig is fine too. I love new Anathema, it’s a great record. Really musical and inspiring, plain wonderful. I’m so happy the guys did it. I’m so happy for Faith No More, not only for their great show in Serbia but also for them personally, you know. They are having a great time on stage playing and that means a lot. It’s a musicians thing, something mutual I guess haha.

As for the other members, we all have a big role. Everyone of us. One of the main reasons why aux sounds like it does and .avi being .avi is that the lineup has changed. We just love to play with each other, you know. And you get different chemistry with different people. We feed each others off with the ideas and it’s usually someone’s idea that gets us started about creating a song. Like in jazz music… Somna was done that way and you can hear by its flow that everyone is having their own little part; and then the parts of arrangement where we are all onto it with full force. We love to let the music breathe – that’s why the classic metal bands in thrash and death metal could never fully do it for me. It’s too one-dimensional in my opinion, just to have riffs and riffs blasting all the time. For example, Sepultura’s Arise is a great record, and the first three tracks are just plain awesome but halfway through the album, I’m like “Okaaaay… Anything else?” Don’t get me wrong, I love Sepultura. Chaos AD and Roots have some outstanding, genre-widening songs. But I love the diversity the most. That’s probably why Faith No More’s King For A Day…Fool For A Lifetime is one of my favourite records ever.

Nick: Some new songs have been made and you’ve already presented them to the audience. How’s the reaction been? Are you already working on the new album? Can you say at this point how would your upcoming album sound?

Danilo: The reactions have been really great so far! We played like five new songs already and people really love them. I’d say Vertikala is a fave so far and the heaviness of Debeli Leptir

is pretty much appreciated too. We’ve played two other ones just once yet, on the last gig with The Ocean. The working titles are Gilmour and Vangelis and even raw-ish as they are right now, they got very warm reception. Gilmour is named that way because this is the first time I picked up a Strat for a song. I usually relied only on Les Pauls before, plus the chords and the atmosphere were very Floydy in this one, with delays and Small Stone going you know, so it went from there. The lyric is about something universal, about music and musicians who are masters in their craft and the impact they have on people and other musicians as well. Vangelis is named that way because of the sound also. I was playing a theme and Nemanja was playing something really crazy on the keyboard, and Matija just stood up and yelled “Vangelis, yes!” so it stuck haha! The lyric to it might change; I just got an interesting idea today. A friend of mine became a father today and I’m thinking of dedicating a lyric to him and all other fathers of the world. It’s a really breaking point in everyone’s life, becoming a parent, and we’re all in our late twenties by now, going to turn 30 soon and we’re already getting some bits and pieces of our own midlife crisis, getting a bit grumpy and bitter about small stuff haha. The fifth track is Sheed, older track that didn’t make it on .avi. It’s really a sludgy one. We might re-arrange it a bit and put it on our third album. We also played the track called Rafinerija twice, but weren’t satisfied how it turned out on the gigs. It’s sort or Rinasek part 2 sounding but with some new electronic elements. I think the overall atmosphere of the new stuff should be dangerous and beautiful. Like before but more emphasized.

Nick: How is your collaboration with Geenger Records? Do you have a signed contract with them, which is binding, or you do have free hands?

Danilo: Nobody can bind us in any way haha! You can’t bind music – it has a life of its own They liked us so much they told us to do basically whatever we want! Which is great. Nowadays it’s really hard to run a label and small bands have a hard time getting noticed and labels surely know it, so Geenger doesn’t interfere with our creative side, something which we are very satisfied with and pretty much thankful for. They have very good suggestions for the band as for the marketing stuff etc. We’re emailing each other almost every day and making suggestions about reviews, news, plans for the future gigs… It’s been great so far. They even told us recently they were sorry they couldn’t do more stuff for us at the moment cause they like us so much and think we deserve more… So if any label thinks we are good enough and they are serious enough, they should feel free to contact us! We are open to everything really.

Nick: I saw on Yumetal (www.yumetal.net) that you were mentioning there will be a Live DVD later this year or in 2011. Could you tell us something more about it?

Danilo: The initial idea was that we should record a whole show and release it as a DVD. Then we realized it might be better to have all the gigs recorded and then take all the best songs and pieces and make a compilation out of it. If you record only one show and something goes wrong… You get it. It might be better to record the third album in studio and then to do the DVD cause there will be more songs played and it’d be more interesting for the audience too. We want to make it special so I guess there’ll be lots of clips offstage, just jerking around in the venues we play, our rehearsing place etc. I’m not sure if we could afford the highest-class production there is, so we’d have to make it at least interesting to watch! I liked the idea Oceansize had for their DVD but I think every band is so much better with the audience present at the gig. Cult Of Luna’s DVD is really good, Isis’ Clearing The Eye also. Fantomas’ one was hilarious!

Nick: What happens with Amaranth? Do you have any plans to release something or it is just an “exhaust valve” for you, aside of Consecration?

Danilo: To be honest, I don’t know. I had plans for an album but couldn’t do it at that time. Right now I’m having thoughts of recording songs lo fi at home or hi fi in studio. Had thoughts of getting a band, a real rhythm section you know, doing it stripped off yet acoustic, with some clean electric guitar sounds too perhaps. Yet all this is fictional still, the band didn’t rehearse once. Might work on some ideas when Tomica, the bass player, moves back to the hood this fall. He’s a very talented musician, playing bass, guitar and doing some singing too. He has some singer/songwriter stuff done and I’d like to hear it. He’s a good guy and I’d love to do something with him. Maybe the music we do will have nothing to do with Amaranth, but still I’d like to play with him.

Nick: What gear/equipment you use in studio/live?

Danilo: I didn’t have my own amp during aux sessions so I borrowed a Line 6 XT Pro rack while we were recording it. I tweaked it a lot and found some great options. I think it was some kind of JCM 800 used if I remember correctly. I played the whole album on Epiphone Slash Signature, my first electric guitar. We were tuned to D at that time. When Lazar joined the band, he had a 5-string bass so we thought it was more interesting to tune down lower, to B and drop A. And it stuck to this day In the meantime I was always looking for a great amp, you know, the ultimate one that had both super clean sound and an excellent drive. I tried everything – Marshalls, Mesas, Peaveys, Randalls, Voxes, Rolands… Was never 100% satisfied. Some had great gain but lousy clean and vice versa. It was so frustrating! Wanted to try an old Sunn amp but couldn’t find one at that time. Then I stumbled across Laney, the GH100L model. I fell on my ass the first second I tried it. Honest! I still don’t know what’s so special about that amp that I love so much. I guess every musician has something special that turns him on, and this amp had it all I needed. I remember I also tried a VH100 model, which has more channels and should be superior to this one, but it didn’t work for me. It was too bassy. Just like enormous amounts of bass, especially because of the low tunings I’m into and it was almost unbearable. So I picked a GH model instead. I guess a VH model is more compatible to Fender guitars, cause they have less lows, and for Gibsons GH is top notch. Eversince that day of December 2007 I rely on Laney 100%. For .avi recordings I used both Laney and some Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. The Recto has supernice gain on the crunch channel and vintage mode, with 6L6 tubes on, but I find it too difficult to play. It [the sound] doesn’t break up easily so you have to play really hard with the right hand. Just look at Petrucci’s right hand right now, it’s enormous! It’s also a way too much compressed for my taste, I like it more open and, um, sludgy, so I guess I will stick only to Laney sound for the third album. As for the other gear… I always loved effects. The first pedal I ever got was a delay! You know, usually a guitarist buys some distortion first, but no, I was so much into ambience and stuff  I got a Boss RV-3 first, which had both delay and reverb and was very hard to find at the time. Later on I got the Line 6 DL4 delay. I still remember the first day I tried it, a friend lent it to me, and I toyed with it and tweaked it for six hours! It was truly a revelation for me, one of the happier days of my life at that time. Call me nuts, but that’s really how passionate I feel about creating new sounds and stuff! And you can do so much with delays and loops it’s overwhelming. The other pedals are also loved the same. I’ve got the Crybaby wah for the classic rock soloing stuff, a Boss tremolo for shimmering… I got Digitech Whammy, the XP100 model which is so rare. I got it as a present from a friend, and I still thank him to this day for such a gesture. Two months later I accidentaly bumped into John Scofield’s backstage when he was playing Belgrade and I was so thrilled when discovered he uses it live too! Those pedals are really important in creating specific sounds. Somna or Idiot Glee couldn’t sound as they do without the Whammy pedal for example. We realized the Somna theme, with the harmonics and stuff, resembles Faith No More’s Kindergarten theme. That was unintentional, of course I have a good memory for melodies and interesting sounds so I guess it all remains somewhere in the back of my head haha! Lots of people use pedals just because of the fun element, but to me they are really important for the initial creation of the song. I usually have an idea on my mind, some melody that’s already processed with all the effects, so I don’t tweak much when playing it, just dial in the effect that’s already in my head

I didn’t like choruses, flangers and phasers before, but I fell in love with Small Stone Nano when tried one a friend had. I also knew nothing about fuzz pedals but just had to get me one

after seeing Mogwai in Zagreb. I got Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi without even trying it! A friend of mine brought it the day before we entered the studio for recording .avi. I plugged it in studio and what can I say… It blew me balls off and made me grin the rest of the day. Couple of days later I remembered that HIM debut, Greatest Lovesongs Vol.666. I loved that album at the time it went out, and the crazy distortion sounds it got and then I realized the guitarist was using fuzz, Big Muff or something similar [maybe a Zvex]. Funny thing is that he was using Laney too and I knew nothing about it but the affection for the sound remained to this day. You know what, every pedal I got has a history of its own, so I might just do a blog on it. It’s just too long to write about them all here

As for the guitars, I have Gibson Les Paul Studio Special and an Epiphone Slash Signature. They are tuned to B and drop A. The Gibson SG Special Faded that I got last year was tuned to B also but I tuned it back to E yesterday. I started to miss the old days of standard E and now that I set it back up I feel so much better haha! Plus it works better in E, the B tune was a bit too much for it. SG is a great guitar. I’ll use it for playing live with E-Play for sure, but I’d might use the E tune for some new Consecration stuff too. It might sound good! Different tunings create different feel of the song, so the intertwined tunings of B and E might sound interesting. The Fender Stratocaster I got is really something. It’s 1978 Standard. USA of course, there weren’t Mexicans back then I didn’t like Fenders before getting this one, probably because I tried all the wrong pieces. This one is ace. Two chords played and I totally get why Gilmour, Hendrix, Clapton or Knopfler loved them so much. Danny Cavanagh also got one recently, which is interesting cause he played Les Paul for years, like me I also got a Jean & Jean guitar. This Serbian guy named Jean makes it. He’s doing excellent guitars for really laughable prices and many musicians from Serbia are playing his guitars. This one is called Jean & Jean Dr. Project The Guitar Pro. It’s wine red, the body is semi-hollow and it has wonderful clean sounds. Reminds of PRS, Fender & Gibson together in one. I used it once for Consecration live but it didn’t work so well, cause it isn’t built for low tunings. I’ll tune it up to E again and might be using it for some Amaranth live… Nikola has a Fender Telecaster tuned to B. He had some Ibanez at the time we were recording .avi but he discovered the real stuff with Tele hehe. Ivan has some old bass he got, but I’m trying to convince him to get Epiphone Thunderbird cause they are awesome for the price and sound great. We’ll see…

Nick: Do you dream of buying a nice new guitar someday?

Danilo: Oh man, I don’t know. Six months ago I thought I finally got every guitar I ever wanted, but right now I just don’t know. It’s the neverending process, buying equipment It might be interesting to try a 12-string guitar, but having the odd tunings on it. Tuning it to sevens and nines instead of just octaves, you know. I’d love to have a Martin acoustic someday. I just tried the Gibson Dark Fire in the shop where I already bought two Gibsons before and I have to say this new one is beautifully crafted. Lots of different tunings in a second, plus it has the P90 coil I started to like eversince I started to dig the dead old blues. Plus it’s wine red, my favorite colour for a guitar. But I can’t afford it, no way. I also tried some handmade Firebird that Jean & Jean made for a friend and that piece is just awesome. The neck is so long it’s insane. I might borrow it for some recordings, who knows! As for the amps, I also discovered Hiwatt 50 Custom Head when I was playing in Paris with E-Play last month. Wow, what a clean sound! I love my Laney more than everything, but I just thought of having Hiwatt for clean sounds and Laney for distortions, it would totally destroy everything. Out of this planet! But it’s too heavy to carry two amps of that size plus boxes all the time… But might try it in studio! I also think a lot about microphones. Now that’s neverending. I finally found out what mic was Mike Patton using live. It’s a Shure KSM9 and it’s a condenser with very little feedback or no feedback at all. That’s why he can easily jump to the audiences without causing any feedbacks haha! I also heard that Peter Steele (RIP) was using it when he was playing Belgrade couple of years ago. Might try it myself to see how hard it is to use live, though it’s rather expensive. I’m also dreaming of Neumann u87 for studio recordings, but man, those mics are expensive as hell. It’s about 2k euros and that’s like six Serbian salaries! It’s a bit underwhelming knowing you’d have to work half a year for a single microphone! Life’s a bitch sometimes.

Nick: What would be perfect line-up in your opinion? Made of the best vocalist/guitarist/bassist/drummer/keyboardist in history… I’m guessing you’ll mention Mike Patton or Mike Akerfeldt or David Gilmour, but let’s see.

Danilo: Hmmmm… Well you got me, Mike Patton would be an obvious choice yeah! The thing is that all the guys you mentioned are ace but very strong individuals, and who knows if they could manage to do something together you know. Akerfeldt is a good choice, Danny Cavanagh too. Danny’s been my guitar hero for ages. He led me to Gilmour, not the other way round! Though I don’t think Gilmour would be a good combination with Patton, since Dave is a “chill” type of guy and Patton is so lucid. It’s interesting question but I never thought about it really. You know what, I think Mike Patton, Tom Waits and Aphex Twin would be great together! It would be rather sick but in a good way hehehe. With some Robert Fripp appearances. Trey Spruance is so talented guitarist, I think he and Akerfeldt might be interesting together. But that’s another band…

Nick: What bands/artists have influenced you since you were kid and later? I guess that we have a lot in common about that, but I would mention Bajaga especially, as I’ve been listening to his music since I was 5 years old, haha.

Danilo: Bajaga & Instruktori, definitely! I think I was 3 or 4 years old when I heard him and I became a fan instantly. He was so charming and the music was both rocking and beautiful. Jahači Magle is my favorite record of his, it’s so rich arrangement-wise. One of Bajaga’s strongest weapons are his ballads, the colorful lyrics and the atmosphere in those songs he relies on so much. I was just thinking the other day it’s such a shame that Serbia and Yugoslavia in general, never had such a great pop/rock record eversince S Druge Strane Jastuka came out. And it was made in 1985! S Druge Strane had a rock opener, then a bluesy-rockabilly song, reggae one, a French kind of song, jazz one and a strong ballad… Serbian bands are so one-dimensial these days it’s really a pity.
I really enjoyed Black’s Wonderful Life in my early ages. It’s one of my favourite records. Colin’s voice was just amazing. Lots of people only know the titletrack single, but I like all of the songs, especially Everything Is Coming Up Roses, Sweetest Smile, Just Making Memories and Paradise.

W.A.S.P. were my first metal band. It was 1989 or 1990; my brother and I were taping a metal chart on domestic TV channel cause we were too young to stay up late to watch it. So by taping the charts we watched all the songs over and over again and that’s how we got into almost all of the bands that were there! Jadranka Janković hosted the chart and she’s really a legendary journalist, like a domestic metal icon of some kind. After the second W.A.S.P. gig here in Belgrade last year I found her on Facebook and said thanks and how much he helped me becoming a metalhead, deciding to form a band myself later on etc. She replied and was really nice. That meaned a lot to me. I might thank her again for the Faith No More show, cause I know she’s been friends with the band for years.

My brother was into GN’R and I was into W.A.S.P. and that’s how it started. Then we discovered Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Skid Row, Def Leppard, Sepultura… My bro soon got into faster stuff such as Suicidal Tendencies and Napalm Death and so on and 1991-1992 was great time for metal and rock. You got Faith No More, Metallica did their breakthrough with self-titled album, grunge was becoming big with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam… Alternative scene was going stronger too. In the mid-90’s I got more into underground, European doom & goth scene like Tiamat, Amorphis, My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Samael etc.

Nick: So, to conclude: what happens next?

Danilo: Rehearsals. New songs. New ideas. Gigs, new album, more gigs. Ideas for DVD in between.

Nick: Do you have anything you would like to add/ask? I’m out of questions.

Danilo: I’d like to apologize to the Prog Sphere HQ for such long answers I gave. It’s wasting internet space, not the pages in the magazine haha, but then again I know that Consecration is a small band and that my opinions perhaps weren’t of any relevant importance. This band is ten years out there and I’ve been through a lot of stuff already so I’d like to share it with other people and other musicians. I have no secrets and I’d like to help others with everything I know that might help. I know lots of bands are reading this, lots of bands that just started or the ones that have one album released, or don’t have it released, or those who would love to make one but have difficulties in doing it. I’d like to encourage bands not to stop creating music and doing what they love. Consecration might not do a lot for the global music scene after this first ten years, but we might in the next ten This interview is really something for a start and I’m so happy I have the opportunity to share my views with the world.

Billy Gould is one of my heroes and and he did one interview with Jadranka Janković just before the show on the Exit festival in which he advised young bands not to give up! I was really moved by that because it means that nowadays, in these weird times for good music, our heroes still care for that. They didn’t forget the times they were at during their beginnings and that hope for better times is overwhelming. Thank you Nikola and all staff at Prog Spheres for inspirational questions and for giving me this opportunity to speak up. Prog music is one of the most underrated genres there are but with bands such as Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Cynic, Mastodon or King Crimson, the future of prog is in good hands!

Nick: Thank you for the interview, Danilo. Best wishes.

Danilo: Cheers!

Hawkwind – Blood of the Earth

Great return of this legendary band!

It is very common to link the term of “space rock” with Hawkwind, a band whose first album was released back in 1970, that’s a lot of time. Anyway, the band is still composing and creating very good songs and albums. Their last one had been released in 2006, but now after four years they returned with “Blood of the Earth”, and believe me, it is nice to see a veteran band creating stuff like this.

The album is composed by ten tracks, with a total time of almost one hour, so fasten your seatbelts and prepare to this musical journey.
“Seahawks” has since the very first moments those spacey effects that create a fascinating atmosphere. This is actually a great introduction to the album, it is like a movie trailer or at least I though that since the first time I listened to it. Vocals are just nice, but the music in general is pretty cool. I like both the guitars and synthesizer.
“Blood of the Earth” is a short track in which just a spacey atmosphere sounds, if you close your eyes, you will find yourself floating in a galaxy, waiting for the next episode.

After that calm passage, “Wraith” begins all of a sudden with a faster and heavier sound, this reminds me totally to this same band, but in their seventies, so their style and quality remains despite forty years of difference. This is a cool song; the best are the keyboards and its effects, really good.

Now a contrast, after that fast Hawkwind song, here we have “Green Machine” which is an instrumental track that really moves me. It has a calm and peaceful atmosphere that sounds very emotive thanks to the guitar solos. The ambient is gentle all the time, a moment of tranquility where one can take a deep breath and think. Though this may not be a song that clearly defines the band’s sound, I can say that it is one of my favorite tracks here (if not my fave).

“Inner Visions” is a pretty catchy song that suggests movement, I mean I cannot help but moving my head and body while listening to this. I like the bass and of course as usual, the synth effects. “Sweet Obsession” is another fast time that reminds me to some of their 70s moments, and the vocals actually, remind me to some krautrock passages, it is odd I know, nice song. “Comfy Chair” calms down the rhythm, after those rockier moments here I found a thoughtful one, with great musical elements created by all the instruments, I like the bass and of course, the keyboards.

“Prometheus” is a nice track with an eastern flavor. It has some kind of sitar at the beginning, but sadly that does not sound again until the last part. The rhythm is the same all the song, but it is quite enjoyable to my ears. “You’d Better Believe it” , I’ll be terribly honest, this song at first reminded me to a certain U2 song, I know you’ll kill me but I can’t omit this part. The song is actually another example of that space rock ala Hawkwind, but there are much better songs than this one.

“Sentinel” seems to be alike to Green Machine due to its softness and peace created, but later with the addition of vocals and some guitar notes, that road changes and that beauty is shown only in passages, not in the whole song. Anyway, this is actually one of my preferred moments on this album. And it finishes with “Starshine” which is an instrumental song. A track that suggests tranquility and peace, seven minutes of soft and calm sounds, a nice way to end this album.

Well, I listened the album several times before writing this review, sure thing is that I really liked it, but in moments I felt it a bit uneven, I mean it is not as strong as I thought in my first listen. But in the end, it is fascinating to see a band like Hawkwind still alive and sharing their quality.

Enjoy it!

Read more

Gösta Berlings Saga

Nick: Gösta Berlings Saga started its musical journey back in 2000, if I’m not wrong, so this year is your 10th anniversary! Please tell us something more about your first days with GBS. How did it all begin?

Alex: You are absolutely right about the 10th anniversary, but personally I believe I will wait until 2014 before I celebrate it full-scale. However, what happened in 2000 was the first seed of what later became GBS. Me (Alex) and David shared rehearsal space at that time, with no real connection to each other apart from knowing each other from school, but we had no idea of our shared musical influences until we started talking at a meeting in our rehearsal space. I had been listening to progressive rock for a few years and David was playing in a cover band playing songs by The Doors, as well as playing other organ driven 60’s songs. Both of us were heavily into Hansson & Karlsson so we basically decided to stay after the meeting and it did not take many minutes for us to realize that we were onto something fun. And “fun” is probably the keyword for what has been our biggest influence ever since.

We recorded a 4 track demo the same summer that also set the recording standards in some aspects; the no-holds-barred-approach. To us it wasn’t important that we could play all of it live – probably because live gigs felt very distant at the time – but to feel free during the process and do whatever we wanted. Therefore the demo, that initially started out as a H&K-clone-but-less-jazzy-thing, ended up being our shot at progressive/symphonic music. It definitely had its moments.

Nick: As far as I know, you and David Lundberg, have been strongly influenced by Bo Hansson, who sadly passed away a month ago or so. You have been especially influenced by Hansson & Karlsson. Have you and he ever considered doing a duo homage to H&K? Also, how much are you actually influenced by Bo Hansson?

Alex: Well, after having started playing together we noticed that we drew towards written compositions instead of improvisational jazzy jams and personally I believe that our musical limitations were the reason. We were simply not able to pull off what we heard H&K do and we realized that other people were better at this, such as the now disbanded Sagor & Swing as well as Trummor & Orgel. Bo Hansson was on the other side doing something completely different on his solo albums and that overall feeling was something we were even more inspired by. We listened a lot to those albums during our first years together, so much that I couldn’t listen to them for years, and it wasn’t really until after him passing away that I dug into that treasure pile again. Regarding a possible tribute, I still believe that other people would be better at interpreting their music but at the same time I would rather keep it the way it is. Frankly, too many bad or semi-decent covers has been made and I’m not sure that everything should be made in new versions.

Nick: In 2004 you decided to become a full time band by joining Gabriel Hermansson on bass and Mathias Danielsson on guitar. This has opened many doors for the band, as soon after that you started to work on your own songs. Would you tell us about that time period? What was happening around when the first demo was recorded?

Alex: Oh, this time was when everything started to fall in place. Me and David came to a point were we felt extremely limited rehearsing on organ and drums so we asked a somewhat distant friend of mine, Gabriel, to give it a try playing bass guitar with us. He had previously been playing in a kraut-ish band named Pharadox and I knew he had a similar approach to music as me, coming from the hardcore and punk scene. Obviously, it turned out great and after an additional ad on some Internet forums we added guitar to our line-up thanks to Mathias Danielsson. THIS was actually the birth of Gösta Berlings Saga. We tried out some songs during the following months, took the band name, got our first gigs and started to get a vague feeling of what was actually GBS. Basically we tried to blend in all kind of influences we had at that time while still trying to keep it fresh in some aspects and traditional in others.

Nick: That aforementioned demo later became your first full-length album, called “Tid är ljud”” which helped propel you to become one of Sweden’s premier progressive rock bands. What was it like to make this album? Are you satisfied with it in general?

Alex: The making and the release of “Tid är ljud” was special in so many ways. First, we didn’t have very much experience of this whole thing. The basics were scheduled to be recorded in a weekend and due to technical problems with a broken soundcard, we started the recording on late Saturday. So basically all songs were recorded in two days. After that, we spent some nights and days doing overdubs with help from people we knew – all very relaxed and low-key. The mellotrons that in my opinion play a pretty big role on some of the songs was actually recorded four days before we wrapped the whole thing up, so it all was hectic to say the least. I dare to say that we had almost no idea that this album later was to get reviews from all corners of the world, so in addition it was more than a surprise to see it getting excellent ones. Overall we are satisfied with it but it lacks a little composition wise and I believe it is also clearly audible that we were trying to find our identity at the time we recorded it.

Nick: What do the titles of the songs mean? I have to say that I like the fact that you’ve chosen to name your songs in Swedish, it makes them more interesting, as there is some kind of strange feeling your music indulges.

Alex: Just like with the recording process, the naming part wasn’t solved until pretty late. We had ideas of what the music sounded like in pictures and I remember that I came up with the idea to connect them by making a loosely based concept album to give the listeners some kind of framework to rely on while still having enough room to come up with own ideas and imaginary scenes. So we had this little creature, dreaming of and longing to the city and therefore most of the songs describes nature sceneries, such as lilacs, mute swans and illuminated skitracks. As some years have passed by, I must however admit that the connection between the songs are somewhat forced but I still believe it is a good debut album, especially in relation with the conditions we had.

Nick: I love to think that you succeeded to connect old and new, conservative and modern in your music. At least, it’s your music that makes me think like that. Do you agree? Also, what’s your secret?

Alex: Thank you, this is actually very important to us. I hate to break it, but we do not want to be another 70’s retro clone band for the two simple reasons that it has already been done and that we do not have that kind of music in common, the four of us. The conservative part comes from the fact that we simply cannot keep our hands off vintage instruments such as the mellotron and the Fender Rhodes etc. And the modern part probably comes from the song writing and some of the soundscapes.

I’m not sure if we have a secret but I know what has become successful ways of working when writing music: keep it as simple as possible, don’t force riffs and pieces together, have fun, try out every idea that comes up instead of judging it in advance and be open and honest towards each other.

Nick: After releasing “Tid är Ljud” Mathias left the band. How much did it change your approach to the creation process for your second album called “Detta har hänt”?

Alex: Difficult question, but I believe that Mathias’s departure made us think about what was good in our relation to him and what could be better with the new person. Being creative, especially in a group of people, can be very demanding and we felt that the most important thing was to be able to have an honest and open communication where everyone could express their views freely. Also, we wanted to put emphasis on the fact that we are a group of people working together, not a group of individuals. Therefore we try to involve everyone in the creation process, which often leads to a very slow speed and other reasons for frustration, so I guess there is almost always some kind of friction present… But hey, I guess that is how art should be, assuming that is what we are doing.

Nick: If there were any suspicions after your first album, then your second one resolved all dilemmas about your great potential and quality. With this one you broke all the limits and probably set yourself in a unenviable position, as you will now have to surpass yourselves for your next record. What can you say about the creation process of “Detta har hänt”?

Alex: What started out as a trembling and slow process ended as a warp-speed thing just like the first time and that made us believe in and understand that there was actually some kind of potential present. We had loads of material to choose from but once we sat down and tried to imagine what we wanted the final piece to sound like, it all went pretty fast discarding and keeping ideas. And it wasn’t really until we started recording we decided exactly how we wanted them. One might think that we had learned a few vital things from the Tid är ljud sessions regarding time planning, but let me assure you that we hadn’t learned a single thing. Once again we had planned on recording the basics during one (1!) weekend and of course we got technical problems this time as well so all songs but one were recorded in one day and one night. Somehow we also managed to cancel the studio booking three days before we were about to record so we had to seek refuge in our studio Pelikaan again.

Everything else such as overdubbing, choosing artwork etc. was done in the next months and apart from a delay with the release it all went good. For this album we really wanted to take our music further to avoid getting the retro prog label but it seems to be difficult as long as you use those vintage instruments. I believe that we will try to take this idea further in the future, hopefully without losing our fans

Nick: This album is less keyboard-driven in comparison with your debut, I find it darker and more psychedelic, your musicianship is tight, the instrumentation couldn’t be better. You think I am praising you too much? Joking aside, these are the facts, so would you tell us about your inspiration for this work? Who or what has influenced you?

Alex: The darker vibes was something we decided instantly when we hooked up with Einar and his way of playing the guitar made the rest of us realize that we wanted to explore this further. We all have pretty different taste when it comes to music and I believe that this is one of our biggest strengths as we are pretty much able to focus on what we want to do as a band. I don’t think we have had any common inspirations except for Miles Davis’ electric period even though the fact that 75% of us likes Magma probably can be heard pretty easily.

Nick: “Detta har hänt” means something like “this has happened”, which I think fits very well with the music itself. Every time I listen to the album I have such an impression, this has happened, but it still happens. Why did you pick that name?

Alex: We had several ideas for the album title but every time we thought about that specific one it just felt right because of its honesty. Music wise we think a lot happened between our two albums and DHH shows this in a clear manner. Also, the name serves as an introduction to the second phase of GBS – we believe that this album in some aspects is more or less a step towards our next album which probably will have more integrity and hopefully show an even more progressive side of us in the word’s right sense.

Nick: What’s the art cover for “Detta har hänt” supposed to mean?

Alex: Just like with the album name we had many ideas and since the theme for the album moves focus from the nature to the city and from what we did on our first album to what we had recorded for DHH, we needed something suiting. Together with our good friends Daniel Fagerström (graphic design) and Johan Kindbom (photography) we came up with the idea to try showing a human side of the urban and modern, being somewhat inspired by the photos of Lars Tunbjörk Our alternate title was for quite some time Kontrast and together with the actual title, I believe the photos and design shows the contrast very well.

Nick: Maybe I should have asked this question at the beginning of this interview, but I wanted to talk about your albums first. I guess that you named the band

after Selma Lagerlöf’s novel of the same name. There’s also a 1924’s movie, starring Greta Garbo. Have you been under the influence of it, or you just named the band because you liked the name?

Alex: A combination of the two. When we started playing we wanted to define ourselves in some way, to give our music some kind of context. To us the name stood for something very Swedish and something that made people think of romantic and moving descriptions of nature sceneries. And of course, the name was already established since generations. So we did what we knew from our days in the punk scene – we stole the name. Hopefully no one is upset by this, at least we have not met anyone that is.

Nick: The latest news coming from the GBS camp is that you are working on a new album. When that planned to be released and what can we expect from it?

Alex: Well, we are used to working extremely slow but when we got an email from the Nearfest camp saying that they wanted us for the 2011 festival we felt that we perhaps should try to act a little faster than usual. So the plan is basically to have the album ready a few months before our US debut. We hope to be able to get out of our own studio for this one as we have started recording it in Roth-Händle studios already. Based on previous experiences it can take any turns possible, but my overall feeling is that it will be more or less based on what we did on our latest album but with even more energy, experimentalism and our shot at true progressive music which basically could mean anything such as more darkness and more major chords at the same time. The only thing I do know is that we usually don’t approve a song unless it has the potential to be one of those songs you can’t get out of your head i.e. with killer harmonies.

Nick: I’m out of questions, so if there’s anything you would like to add, now’s a good time.

Alex: And I’m pretty much out of answers myself! I hope I haven’t bored you to death with all these lengthy ones. I hope to meet some of your readers on any of our shows, it’s really fun to hear what people think, especially when you reach people who usually don’t consider themselves being fans of ”progressive” rock/music/whatever.

Nick: Thanks for the interview, Alex. Hope to hear more from you soon!

Alex: Thank you!

La Maschera Di Cera – Petali Di Fuoco

The last album by this group of Italian Prog rockers was a real hit, And now it’s time for another  miraculous achievement by  La Maschera di Cera, this time named Petali di Fuoco. If the previous one illuminated itself with pomp, this one will surely make you blind with its amazing shining beauty.

The thing I dig mostly about this band is that they have managed since their debut album to tribute the best of the genre from 70’s, when RPI passed through its golden era, as well as progressive rock in generall. If you recognized something from the best of this era, you will probably conclude that Petali di Fuoco is an absolutely “must hear” record and you will surely be right about that.

The major difference in comparison with LuxAde is the appearance of electric guitars played by Matteo Nahum, as we had a fully acoustic album with LuxAde. But it shows off once again that keyboards and flutes constitute the core of the sound of La Machera di Cera, where Agostino Macor and Andrea Monetti, respectively, show once again their skills to create beautiful music on an enviable level. And with addition the of electric guitars, plus with Alessandro Corvaglia’s vocals, which are brilliant, I can only assure you that this album is one of the best that has appeared in the subgenre in the last few years. Even though Rock Progressivo Italiano is not as it used to be, with La Maschera di Cera and comebacks from Latte e Miele and Osanna, together with Il Bacio Della Medusa and a few other established such Premiata Forneria Marconi, it proves that this subgenre is not dead.

The flashback waves La Machera di Cera creates on this album through excellent dynamic instrumental work, with strong melodies and vocals, make Petali di Fuoco the finest work of these Italians. It’s hard to pick any particular song from this record, as it should be considered as an entity that combines the finest from a rich RPI legacy. Certainly, this album could be comprised together with other classic gems of the subgenre.

Tracklist:

01. Fino all’aurora

02. D-sigma

03. 4.18

04. Discesa

05. Tra due petali di fuoco

06. L’inganno

07. Agli uomini che sanno già volare

08. Il declino

09. Phoenix

10. La notte transparente

Line-up:

* Alessandro Corvaglia – vocals

* Maurizio Di Tollo – drums, percussion, guitars on 4.18

* Agostino Macor – keyboards

* Andrea Monetti – flute

* Matteo Nahum – guitars

* Fabio Zuffanti – bass, bass pedals

Links:

http://www.mascheradicera.com

http://www.myspace.com/mascheradicera

http://www.facebook.com/pages/LA-MASCHERA-DI-CERA/33849900795?ref=ts

ProgSphere’s Progstravaganza Compilation of Awesomeness – Part 1

ProgSphere’s Progstravaganza Compilation of Awesomeness – Part 1 started out as an idea that I had when I was on a vacation in July, surrounded by nature.

The idea was to create a sampler CD, but as that would mean investing additional money we didn’t have at the time, Dan suggested doing it as a downloadable compilation. I liked his suggestion, and as soon as I returned home, the two of us started asking bands if they were willing to participate and the responses I received were quite positive.

Here is the tracklist that Dan and I created along with some links to articles on the blog that relate to the bands/artists listed if you desire more information.

1. Flor De Loto – Madre Tierra (8:08) –  (read an interview with Alejandro Jarin)
2. Uneven – The Climb (2:34) – (We will try to have an interview/review in the future)
3. Birds & Buildings – Birds Flying Into Buildings (9:08) – (read an interview with Dan Britton)
4. Lunar Dunes – When I was on Horseback (7:23) - (read a review of Lunar Dunes’ From Above)
5. Novus Rex – Belteshazzer’s Dream (8:09) – (read an interview with J.R. Fernandez or the review of the album, Plowshares Into Swords)
6. My Brother The Wind – The Mournful Howl Of Dawn (13:07) – (read the interviews with Nicklas Barker and Mathias Danielsson. We have a review of the album forthcoming)
7. Klotet – Tulpandrakula (4:17) – (read the interview with Påhl Sundström and Mikal Styrke)
8. Deluge Grander – The Solitude of Miranda (7:10) – (read an interview with Dan Britton)
9. Fromuz – Influence of Time (11:50) – (read an interview with Vitaly Popeloff)
10. Gösta Berlings Saga – Fem Trappor (6:32) – (We have an interview of GBS scheduled to be posted)

The super awesome artwork for the album (the cover of which is posted up above) was designed by the wonderful Påhl Sundström, the guitarist of Klotet, who are actually included in this compilation as they are one of Dan’s favorite bands. This image will soon be available for sale as a T-shirt, so keep your eyes peeled for that post if you want one

I will not prolong this any longer. Some of this info is reiterated in the notes that come along with the album. There’s also some info written by the artists themselves in there. Enjoy please, and keep on progging!

DOWNLOAD PROGSPHERE’S PROGSTRAVAGANZA COMPILATION OF AWESOMENESS – PART 1

Actually, one more thing… You’ll notice that this is only Part One, right? That’s correct, Dan and I are planning more and more of these. There are a ton of unknown bands out there, and I’m sure a lot of you guys know of some of them, or could even BE some of them! If you do (or are), feel free to send one of us an email. Our emails are listed in the “About ProgSphere” tab on the top left of the site. We look forward to hearing from people!

Next Page »