THE MANDRAKE PROJECT RECIPE
MANDRAKE PROJECT can be very confusing. What is it exactly? Who’s really in this musicians’ collective? What do they sound like? These questions are most frequently asked, and least frequently answered. Mandrake origin lies in Pittsburgh, Pa. and shares its muse and home dually in New Orleans, La. The sound of the band is not easy to put a finger on because the band lies perpetually subject to change. This is an unintentional way that things have always been conducted. Up to this point there has been no constant style to be adhered to, little or no vocals, no dead-ringer influences and a rotating cast of satellite musicians adding random ideas to the core of the band. The members of Mandrake Project all come from vastly different musical backgrounds, which creates a situation of constant ego and intention adjustment. In addition, each member is associated with other significant musical endeavors outside of the project that bear little or no resemblance to what exactly Mandrake does, stretching as far as the jubilant Polyphonic Spree to the soulful downbeat of The Boogie Hustlers. The body of music created by Mandrake Project concocts an unusual mixture characterized by unpredictable and eccentric investigations into jazz, classical, world-beat, psychedelic and ambient rock. The music is highly self-reliant with occasional guest vocal augmentation. Dense layers of sound and rhythm smear into complex, hypnotic soundscapes, that ebb and flow through massive crescendos and sleepy interludes. How does this all work? Let us clarify using this time tested recipe:
INGREDIENTS: (and their many uses)
KIRK SALOPEK
Guitarist, Gadgeteer.
Initiator of the Mandrake Project.
Nervous. Wreck. Insane. Perfectionist.
DAVID CHAPMAN JAMISON
Drums, Chapman Stick, Percussion, Moog
Multi instrumentalist.
Technologically Turned-On.
BENJAMIN ZERBE
Drums, Percussion.
Original skin-beater of many guises.
Typically aloof drummist.
ANTHONY PECORA
Bass Guitarist, Percussion.
Will find the LOWER side of the end.
Too intense for everyone’s own good.
RYAN MEALS
Guitarist, Saxophone.
The other half of Mandrake guitardom.
The scientific one.
RICK NELSON
Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass.
The hardest "working" MAN in DRAKE.
Official Mandrake Representative for the city of New Orleans.
DENNY KARL
Keyboards
Mandrake’s seafaring adventurer.
EXTRA INGREDIENTS: (Optional. Apply liberally for added potency.)
TROY CRAMER Drums
JOE BISHKOFF Cello
JOSH DUNLEAVY Saxophone
RICK MATT Saxophone
PREPARATION:
In late September of 2006 after nearly a year of recording, the Mandrake Project independently released “A FAVOR TO THE MUSE”, a sprawling debut that combined 16 guest musicians and 40-piece female choir. The album garnered excellent critical response from both the press and independent radio throughout the US and Europe. The highest praise came from orchestral gems like “An Ode to the Spaceman” and technical space rockers like “Walking Music” and “The Economy of Motion”. A few tracks from the album, including the hallucinogenic “Tteraj” managed to find their way onto the soundtrack for the independent film release of “Listerine on Sundays” by Brian Paul Higgins.
A collection of new material written after the “Favor” sessions invaded the console of Pittsburgh’s Mr. Smalls recording facility in late November of 2007. The second full-length Mandrake album, and first official label release, “A Miraculous Container” was completed in October of 2008 and will be officially released under Blistering Records on March 24, 2009. Unlike the first album, vocals have been introduced into the Mandrake repertoire with three songs being beautifully augmented by the angelic vocals of John Schisler from the band New Invisible Joy. Sticking with tradition, an invited cast of guest musicians brought horns, strings and other various cacophonies to the already heaping table that Mandrake Project prepares. The result is a larger than life exposition in sonic exploration…one that will uncover varying nuance and experience with each listen.
USES:
Mandrake Project has shared the stage with other fine acts such as WEST INDIAN GIRL, LAKE TROUT, BENZOS, THE OUTSIDE ROYALTY, CELLOFOURTE, THE CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO, SPOCK’S BEARD, THE FLOWER KINGS, GONGZILLA, NEAL MORSE, among others.
The Mandrake Project can be directly reached via email using the directives below. The interests of the project lie in participating in purposeful events, concerts, festivals, film scores and other multimedia presentations that preserve quality and integrity in artistic intention. It is our hope that positive change, dynamism, and spontaneous creation will continue to lead the music into farther reaches. Thank You.
WWW.MANDRAKE PROJECT.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/MANDRAKEPROJECT
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