Minds Eye
with Daniel on Apr 13, 2006

I’ve been sort of following the progressive rock scene for over ten years now. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Mind’s Eye before. After listening to ‘Walking On H2O’ I could easily describe the band as one of Scandinavia’s best kept secrets.


Is it hard to receive the attention the band deserves?
Thanks for the nice words! Well, I think it’s in fact better that you and ME meet this way, because when you listen to us I know that you will have an open mind regarding our music. Older fans can be really tough to convert into the newly released music. They always have their favourite periods and songs and are almost impossible to satisfy. I think we did a pretty good job in keeping most of our former fans and winning a lot of new ones. The reviews have all been great and the people have spoken. Our band has always been kept in the dark as the media has always preferred bands from both the UK and the USA. In Sweden we have a fair reputation though still not as big as other bands like “The Flower Kings”. It’s great to hear and see that we are winning new ground with this one.

After the 2002 release ‘A Work Of Art’ Mind’s Eye took a break. When was decided to bring the band back together? Did you immediately pick up where you left?
When a band is in a position like we were in, it’s pretty much impossible to bring back the old magic. The problem was that we didn’t know if we where through or if we wanted to make more albums. I took on the task to call the guys and ask them if they still wanted to do more Mind’s Eye albums and all but one said yes. Johan (bass/guitars) and Andreas (Lead vocals) and I have always met each other during gigs or sessions in my studio during the break. We are all good friends especially me and Johan and so we three took on the task and I think we did a pretty decent job. We sure miss Fredrik though, even though if he was kind of a negative guy we really loved him and his playing spoke for it self. Mind’s Eye is a circle of friends and trust and it’s hard for other people to come into to that world of ours. no matter how good they are. We picked up as friends and then as musicians and that worked out just fine.

How did the four year break from the band influence the sound of ‘Walking On H2O’?
We were all pretty hungry and wanted to make something unique that at least none of us had done before. The for years break really made us long for it and I think at the end of “A Work Of Art” we were all pretty tired of each other. We had been together for over 10 years and that time can make you tired of certain things, things you can live with when you are in the band but when you take that break you see them clearly and they don’t look as good. There was certainly a lot of frustration in the band and that I think shows in the music. Now that we are back I think we have a much fresher sound and a new beginning is ahead.


I’m anxious to know how the recording of the album went. Since all of you are very busy as session musicians it must be hard to find the time to get together in the same studio.
The cool thing is that it really didn’t take much time at all. We all live in the centre of Stockholm and we could work out our schedules to make this happen. As I took care of most things in my studio and Johan lives nearby we also had a lot of fun when doing it. I recorded the drums first and then the keyboards. After that Johan came in and we worked out all the guitars for a couple of weeks. Then Andreas came in for 6 days and did all the lead vocals and some overdubs. I took a week off then I started on the backing vocals, which took also about a week. Then the mix started. I took my time and listened in different stereos, cheap ones and extremely expensive ones too. I finally re-mixed it as it lacked vocals when listening in a normal stereo. Johan came down to the studio once and gave me some pointers and then we mastered with Mats “Limpan” Lindfors in MasteRoom and that was just a great experience, as always. As you can see there was literally no problem to create this album we didn’t even rehearse it before recording it. It’s all about timing and devotion and we have both.

Which song caused most problems writing/recording?
No problem what so ever if I remember correctly. Though there where some songs that were harder to create than others. Take Poseidon says (11 minute track). There is so much stuff in there you won’t believe it! Some songs like “A Rabbit In The Hat” and “Sahara In An Hourglass” took a little bit longer to mix but that was it, absolutely no problems, everything just worked smoothly throughout the album.

Could you give a description of the ultimate progressive rock track / album?
If I knew that formula I would be working with the big boys…hahahaha but I guess a good song or a good album is something that you can both relate to as a human being and as a musician.


The new album got raving reviews but still there must be something you’d have liked to see different.
Yeah, there are many little things I dislike on the album, things we couldn’t help but to do. Sometimes the song forces you to make an arrangement that you don’t really like but you still see that it’s best for the song so you do it. A couple of those things are in there. Today they don’t bother me as I am more objective in the matter and listen to it like I was just a listener and not a musician. It took me a while to develop this technique and now that I can separate things I enjoy my music much more. Though I have to mention that’s after not listening to it for months… The brain needs time to heal and usually means 2 months of rest from listening to the actual album. Of all the 60 albums I have played on this is the album I am most pleased with, period, nothing even comes near.

What’s the best thing you’ve read about ‘Walking On H2O’ and what’s the biggest bullocks?
As I told before today I am much calmer guy than I was before and enjoy both good reviews and bad as the last makes me laugh out loud. The best: 100/100 never got that before! And the review it self was so beautifully written that it was just a huge honour to read it. The worst: 2/5 Some 18 year old kid on the net wrote about it and it really felt like he completely missed the point… I actually wondered if he listened to the correct album! Stuff like: “these guys play way too much” and “the singer is soft and sounds like pet shop boys”. That’s not us anyway…

After a deal with a label to go bankrupt and the independent release of the last album, you signed with Lion Records. Are you feeling comfortable with this label and are you pleased with the way this label promotes the band?
We are indeed! Lion Music really gave us the push we needed and Lasse (Vice president of Lion Music) and his wife are just great persons to work with. The promotion is stellar and couldn’t have been better, for us at least. The fact that we have free hands when it comes to create an album is just amazing and the most important issue to me as I can’t work with labels who think that they control the music. The only small problem I think is that there are way too many weak bands signed to the label, holding them back from being what they could be, in my opinion at least.

  I’m still trying to find the answer to the question why the best progressive rock bands all seem to come from Scandinavia. Any thoughts on that?
I don’t agree on that but sure I can answer. It’s because of the economy in the country. I will explain. A drum set is not cheap but it’s not expensive either. Instruments are not expensive at all here so anyone with a normal salary can start playing an instrument, that’s if they wanted to. I think there is equally as much talent in India but the only thing holding them back is the costs of an instrument, as their salaries are way smaller comparing to us in Scandinavia. Still we have a good and long history of making good music in this country and lots of bands from Sweden have made it big outside of Sweden. That triggers a lot of musicians to try to do the same and as we have good economy, voilá! we can create good music with great instruments. In the symphonic business the differences are much more obvious as the quality of the instruments is so important. If you listen to a symphony orchestra from Czech Republic and compare it to one from the UK, their is no difference in the playing but the sound of the instruments is another thing… In poor countries the instruments are badly tuned and they sound weaker… Still you enjoy the one from the UK as it sounds better not thinking why it is so. So there a political reason why they sound better. A sad fact! There are a couple of bands doing great music here I can give you that but are we best at it? No I would point my finger to the UK as these guys are the grand fathers of what we do.


Then there is the obvious question for everyone that likes the new album (actually it’s a question for everyone with an interest in progressive rock music): Where can I see the band perform live on stage?
We are at a crossroad here. We are trying to see if there is any interest on festivals and if other bands want to bring us along on tour. Many promises but still nothing confirmed. So we are wondering should we record our next album or go on the road? Let’s see if we can do both but it would be way too much work. Keep checking our website for information and answers to both these questions.

One final - personal - question: what is the most embarrassing album you own and why did you buy it?
That would be “The Best Of Movie Scores”. A triple CD box which says they have collected all the greatest original film score music, everything from Starwars to Miami Vice and so on. When I opened it and listened to it I was chocked to find out that it was created in Poland and was made by a guy with a cheap Casio keyboard. The playing is awful and the sound is horrible but it’s one of those CDs I still bring out of my closet when we need to have fun and laugh our butts off. I would also like to mention Akira Takasaki’s solo album “Tusk Of Jaguar” which has maybe the worst English ever recorded on a CD… just take a look a these lyrics: ”Lover remember me as an ebony eyes, your spider web is making me wet trough the empty skies” It’s my funniest CD of all time, buy it and enjoy hahahahaha.

Thanks for your time, good luck with Mind’s Eye.
Thank you! It was great doing this interview. Please visit the official Mind’s Eye website for more info on what we do besides and with Mind’s Eye. WWW.ROUNDREC.COM

(Geert Oldenmenger)

© Rockezine.com Apr 13, 2006, viewed 2397 times since 666
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