Avtor: Peter Podbrežnik
Nastop norveške neo-prog rock skupine Gazpacho je potrjen na naslednjem vsakoletnem festivalu Marillion imenovanem Marillion Convention Weekend. Gazapcho se tako po letu 2003 znova vračajo kot otvoritvena skupina konvencije. Medtem pa so že dejavni s snemanjem njihovega četrtega albuma. Ta album naj bi bil konceptualen in naj bi vseboval kar 45-minut dolgo kompozicijo, katere trenuten naslov je “Legion”. Klaviaturist in producent skupine Thomas Andersen je imel ob tem povedati sledeče:
I hope we manage to pull off playing our new album which is a loooong song, 45 mins at the moment to the unsuspecting crowd and getting away with it
Last night we completed another section of the song which sounds like the soundtrack from a French film. We really should quit drinking red wine while we write.
O and Mikael havent heard it yet so we will see if it gets through the censors.
In September we will be recording the drums and bass for the new album and I really look forward to those sessions.
We still havent come up with a title for the new song but “night” is the filename I use in Cubase for it so thats the working title at the moment.
The first working title for it was “groove” so its improving.
For anyone interested in recording I can report that at 45 mins we have used over 200 tracks in Cubase and my computer has trouble even opening the song. This is before bass and drums have been recorded!
So far over a thousand sound files have been recorded most of which are discarded vocal ideas. The file is about three gigs in size.
The song is heavily inspired by the moods of albums like Tangerine Dreams Rubycon and Tools 10,000 days but there is a lot of classical music in there as well. Bits of Norwegian folk is used, in fact Mikael plays a piece called Brides battle from Bjerkestrand which is the same piece in played in the church at Jons wedding. Aaaah how sweet.
The song is a musical description of a dream where we follow a stream of consciousness and various images and memories in a dreaming mind.
It is very hypnotic, do not listen to this in a moving vehicle or if you are operating heavy machinery – Actually it sounds like the soundtrack to a French porno film from the seventies, not that I have ever seen one.
I hope that we will be able to put previews of the track out on the site but usually this tends to be something that we say we are going to do only to disappoint everyone so I wont make any promises. The reason we really never get this done is because we always end up working on stuff up to the very last moment and we are never completely happy with anything as we discuss the final mix and the production of the song. I am famous for my “loud vocals” sound and finding the right level for the vocals is very difficult as just a change of one or two db’s can change the way the song performs for the listener dramatically. Its like cooking.
I know that bands always say, about their newest album, how great it is and how its their favourite work from the group as of course they have to, if they want to create excitement about new stuff but I think most of us believe this to be a dramatic upgrade of the Gazpacho music. I would rather have written this album than any of our other ones, I have never heard anything sound quite like this. Its a journey. It has a dreamlike surreal and… well ….trippy feel and I love it.
As for the live thing, I am working on the mastering of a few live tracks from our gig in Paris at the end of last year that we will put out for your listening (dis)pleasure within next week so I hope you enjoy them and I hope they will warm you up for the next gig which is to my knowledge the Marillionweekend. We may do a warm up gig or three here in Norway before we go, and if we do we’ll let you know in case anyone wants to come…
I hope we can all meet for a few drinks at the Marillionwekend. I love everything about Holland and know those of you you havent been there yet will too!
Hope you all had a fabulous and fluffy summer and may happiness and excitement fill the autumn and winter season.
With deep love
Tom
