Gazpacho (band)

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Gazpacho
Origin Norway
Genre(s) Art rock
Progressive Rock
New Prog
Years active 1996 - present
Label(s) Happy Thoughts Production
Associated acts Marillion
Website http://www.gazpachoworld.com/
Members
Jan Henrik Ohme
Jon-Arne Vilbo
Thomas Andersen
Mikael Krømer
Robert R Johansen
Kristian Torp
Former members
Roy Funner
Geir Digernes

Gazpacho are an Art rock band from Oslo, Norway.

The original core band of Jan-Henrik Ohme (vocals, Jon-Arne Vilbo (guitars) and Thomas Andersen (keyboards, programming, producer) started making music together in 1996 and the band has since expanded with Mikael Krømer (violin, co-producer), Robert Risenberg (drums) and Kristian Torp (bass).

Hard to pigeonhole, Gazpacho's music has been described by one critic as being "classical post ambient nocturnal atmospheric neo-progressive folk world rock" [1]. The music has been compared to A-ha, Radiohead, Muse, Marillion and Porcupine Tree.

Without the backing of a major label, Gazpacho is one of many bands now utilizing the resources of the Internet to create word of mouth promotional opportunities, with a reliance on their website and its forum, online shopping, MySpace and other 'net initiatives to spread the word. This allows the band to hold down full time jobs, yet still manage to release an album a year with total artistic control over their compositions and distribution.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] The Early Years (1996-2001)

Childhood friends Jon-Arne Vilbo and Thomas Andersen had played together in a band called Delerium before, which in their own words "whittled away"[2]. After several years of separation the two friends met again and started making music together again. Andersen had met Jan-Henrik Ohme through his work as radio commercial producer and brought him in to the jam sessions, which lay the foundation for Gazpacho as it exists today.

The band name comes from an attempt to describe their music.

Andersen: "We are a very unlikely mixture of people really, not the average types you'd expect to see in the same band… so we thought Gazpacho, which really is the bastard of soups (meshed up vegetables served cold), was the perfect name for our group(...)With Gazpacho you get a surprise, something unexpected, something out of the norm, a 'positive' contradiction. We feel this describes our band very well."[2].

Roy Funner played bass on the finished recordings of the band, though he wasn't part of the writing process. For the drum tracks a computer was used.

For two years the band worked on a concept album Random Access Memory; a piece of work which they discarded altogether when they felt they had not yet reached the level of musical maturity for such an ambitious project.[2]

[edit] Make-a-star and Bravo (2002-2003)

All three members of Gazpacho were involved with the Scandinavian branch of Marillion's The Web fanclub[3]. This led to Ohme being invited to sing the Marillion track Afraid Of Sunlight at the Swap The Band show of the first Marillion Convention Weekend[4][5]. At this convention the band handed out free four-track promos called Get It While It's Cold[6] to anyone interested. These promos also found their way to several internet magazines which gave the band almost unanimous acclaim [7][8][9] with one reviewer calling the music expertly-crafted and truly inventive[7].

In May 2002 the band entered a song contest on Make-A-Star[10][2] with the song Sea Of Tranquility and won. Their second entry, Ghost made it to second position, but was enough to gain them the opportunity to release an album through MP3.com[11]. Get It While It's Cold (37°C)) contained three tracks of the promo EP and three new tracks. One of these new tracks, Nemo saw the band winning the Make-A-Star contest for a second time. The release of the EP continued to garner the band international acclaim[12] [13][14]

In 2003 the band released their first proper album Bravo, which contained five of the six tracks off the MP3.com album, and six new compositions. Utilizing the possibilities of the Internet the band had teamed up with the American singer/songwriter fellow Make-A-Star contestee Esther Valentine and New Zealand producer Peter Kearns. Valentine sang a duet with Ohme on the song Novgorod (which she also co-wrote) and Kearns produced two of the tracks off Bravo. Bravo gained the band more international acclaim[15][16][17], with Dutch leading music magazine Oor stating "their debut album is a rare beauty"

The band was invited to perform at the second Marillion Convention Weekend[18]. For their live band the band was further expanded with drummer Geir Digernes (who had also played drums on some of the tracks on Bravo) and for the performance of the title track they were joined by Mikael Krømer (violin) and Kristian Skedsmo (flute)

[edit] Supporting Marillion (2004-2005)

The performance at the Convention Weekend led to a support slot on Marillion's 31-date European Marbles tour around 11 countries, further raising the profile of the band. For this tour Robert Johansen joined the band as the new drummer, and Mikael Krømer and Kristian Skedsmo also joined the live line-up.

Prior to the tour the band released their second full-length album, When Earth Lets Go, giving them enough material for their live repertoire. On When Earth Lets Go the band collaborated with producer Steve Lyon (Paul McCartney, Depeche Mode, The Cure) who had agreed to produce one track Substitute For Murder to see if he could potentially interest any labels. Despite Lyon's involvement, the increased awareness after the Marillion, and more rave reviews on their album [19][20][21] the band was not able to secure a record deal.

In the end their friends of Marillion came to the rescue offering Gazpacho the chance to release their next album on the band's own Racket Records label[22]. Racket released the band's third album Firebird and re-released Bravo and When Earth Lets Go. The support of Marillion also led to the collaboration with guitarist Steve Rothery who plays a solo on the track Do You Know What You Are Saying. Other guest appearances on the album came in the form of fans who had been encouraged to send in sound samples which the band would use. Among the unusual instruments featured on the album are maracas, a comb and a Leopard II battle tank[23].

Roy Funner had left the band after the 2004 tour to focus more on his family and he was replaced by Kristian Torp. With the new line-up the band supported Marillion once more on 4 gigs during the Not Quite Christmas Tour. After this tour Kristian Skedsmo announced he no longer wanted to go on prolongued tours away from home and the live line-up was reduced to a six-piece band.

[edit] Night and Beyond (2006-2008)

After a year of silence Night was released in February 2007. For this occasion the band was once more invited to appear at the Marillion's Convention Weekend, this time in The Netherlands[24] The band also played their first international headlining gig at the Boerderij in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands on February 1, 2007[25][26].

Night shows a departure of the short song format of the previous albums, but instead consists of one long 50-minute conceptual piece, divided into five parts. In the words of the band it is a

musical description of a dream or a stream of consciousness. It explores the question of where dreams end and reality begins and the mind as the tool that has to decide what to believe. The character goes through various memories real and imagined and sees the world from the angles of different people. He travels through time and visits places across the world including old New Orleans and Ancient woods with Pagan rituals being performed. Night is about life and the various ways of interpreting existence. Pretentious? Oh yes but delicious as well... very delicious[22].

Mikael Krømer, who had played violin on all previous albums and live shows, was welcomed as a full-time band-member on Night, also earning a co-producer credit. Night also saw the return of Kristian "The Duke" Skedsmo, playing six different instruments on the album. Skedsmo rejoined the band for a one-off live appearance in Oslo on January 19th, 2008.

The album was almost instantly well-received in prog-circles, topping the Just For Kicks Music sales chart for two weeks after its release[27][28]. The (prog related) international press was almost unanimously positive, calling the album "very, very grand art" [29], "nothing short of a masterpiece" [30] and "an incredible album" [31]. The album charted in the reader's top 20 at Progwereld for more than a year[32].

Night also did very well in several readers' polls at the end of 2007. The album was voted 9th best album of 2007 by listeners of Polish radio station MLWZ[33] and 8th best album in the Dutch Progressive Rock Page Poll[34]. The album is also in the top 10 of 2007 at Progarchives[35].

The band is currently working on a follow-up for Night which is tentatively titled Frankenstein.

[edit] Lineup

Current Lineup:

Guest Members:

Former Members:

Collaborations:

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Get It While It's Cold (37°C) (2002)
  • Bravo (2003)
  • When Earth Lets Go (2004)
  • Firebird (2005)
  • Night (2007)
  • Frankenstein (working title) (2008)

[edit] Appearances

  • Makeastar.com Compilation Vol. 2 (2002) (Sea Of Tranquility)
  • Marillion - Wish You Were Here DVD (2005) (Sea Of Tranquility, Ghost and Afraid Of Sunlight)

[edit] References

  1. ^ PBS 106.7 FM. Night Review. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
  2. ^ a b c d DPRP Interview. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  3. ^ The Web Scandinavia. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  4. ^ Review of Marillion Convention 2002. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  5. ^ Marillion Convention Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  6. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold EP. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  7. ^ a b Review of Get It While It's Cold EP. Splendid Ezine. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  8. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold EP. Demo Universe. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  9. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold EP. Progressive Ears. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  10. ^ Make A Star Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  11. ^ MP3.com Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  12. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold (37°C). Proggnosis. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  13. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold (37°C). Progressive Word. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  14. ^ Review of Get It While It's Cold (37°C). AOR Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  15. ^ Review of Bravo. Progwereld. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  16. ^ Review of Bravo. Groove. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  17. ^ Review of Bravo. Jærbladet. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  18. ^ Review of 2nd Marillion Convention. Jærbladet. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  19. ^ Review of When Earth Lets Go. CD Baby / Backstage Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  20. ^ Review of When Earth Lets Go. Music Street Journal. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  21. ^ Review of When Earth Lets Go. Axiom Of Choice. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  22. ^ a b Racket Records Gazpacho page. Marillion.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  23. ^ Review of Firebird. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  24. ^ Review of 4th Marillion Convention. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  25. ^ Review of Gazpacho in Zoetermeer. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  26. ^ Review of Gazpacho in Zoetermeer. Progwereld. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  27. ^ Just For Kicks Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  28. ^ News of week 08, 2007. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  29. ^ Night Review. Rock Hard. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  30. ^ Night Review. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  31. ^ Night Review. Forces Parallels. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  32. ^ Wereldse Tien. Progwereld. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  33. ^ MLWZ Website. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  34. ^ DPRPoll 2007 Results. Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  35. ^ Top 2007 Albums. Progarchives. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.

[edit] External links