Mangrove are representatives of Dutch scene. Their melodic and
spacious style should be fun for neoprogressive fans. Their latest album
– „Beyond Reality” has already been available for some time. Althougth
it’s hard to purchace it in Poland, you shoultd try to find it. Joost
Hagemeijer , band’s drummer agreed to this interview
So, we’ve got a new album by Mangrove. In my opinion it’s probably your best album.
Well thank you, we fully agree with you ; )
Beyond Reality is the essence of neo prog rock. Beautiful solo parts,
passages on keyboard. Don’t take it as a cheap complement but this year
your album has a chance to appear on top of the yearly album rankings.
That’s wonderfull, thank you!
What did the recording of this album look like?
The recordings took place in studio Lobbes in the north of the
Netherlands. It took us about 4 weeks to record all the material. We
started off playing the tracks as a band without clicktracks, but only
recording drums and bass. Then the guitars, vocals and keyboard parts
were recorded seperately using the bandsessions as a guidetrack. We knew
before we started it would work out all right with the songs. The sound
and production however, were more of an issue to us. But when hearing
back the first takes we were very satisfied with the power and the
sound. We were very anxious to achieve a better sound and more power
than on our previous albums. The reviews so far seem to confirm that
we’ve made a major step forward in production.
Do you have any favorite songs? I’m impressed by Reality Fades. I’ve listened to it about hundreds of times.
Each member of the band has it’s own favourite song. Pieter loves to
hear and play Reality Fades. Chris would vote for Voyager. Roland likes
Time will Tell most. Joost would go for Daydreamers’ Nightmare. But we
are all very satisfied with the album as a whole.
Guitar solos on Beyond Realisty are absolutely fantastic. You can
hear the atmosphere of early Marillion and Steve Rothery’s style. I
suspect that this band had an influence on what you’ve been doing.
Roland is a very talented guitar player, we think he has a style on his
own, but we read a lot about references with players that he barely
listens to. Nevertheless these references are not that surprising since
we have chosen for a melodic approach of music and not for the
mathematical or technical approach. The players he is usually compared
with are mostly melodic players as well.
Instrumental parts play an important role in your music. Have you ever thought of making soundtracks?
No, that never came to our minds, but it would surely be a great
challenge. A lot of soundtracks contain fantastic music. If we would be
invited to do such a job, we would go for it for sure!
You have been to Poland. Are you planning to come back here? What memories do you have from your visit to Poland?
Yes, we have been in Poland in april 2008. It has been a fantastic
experience for the band. We will never forget that. The Polish people
responded very enthusiastic on our music. It gave the band a tremendous
drive during the concerts. We think the Polish people are very into
melodic and dramatic music, so we were playing our music in the right
place for the right people. So if you ask us if we have plans to come
back, I can say to you: YES!
You are from Holland, but are you popular in your country? Where do you get the most positive feedback from?
Well in Holland there is not a very broad interest in the music we are
playing. Nevertheless we are reckoned to the top of Dutch progressive
rockbands. But so far the reviews we get on our latest album give very
positive feedback from all over the world.
How do you rate all of your albums today? Could you comment on them?
We still are proud of and satisfied with all the songs we’ve composed in
the past, even though we notice we’ve improved our arrangements and
melodic solutions. However, as the band developes a certain style you
notice that some old songs don’t fit any longer the range of most
popular songs you like to play for audiences. That’s why we don’t play
any longer songs like Help Me or Penelope from the album Touch Wood.
From a productional point of view we think Beyond Reality is our best
album so far. But there is enough to improve ourselves on our next
album. The previous albums would all score a little less. Massive
Hollowness for too much diversity in styles of music. Touch Wood for
inferior drum sounds and vocals. Facing the Sunset for the weak overall
production.
If you had a chance to organize a festival starring rock legends of all times. Which bands would you like to invite and why?
Genesis 1971-1975. Simply the best symfonic/art-rock band in those years.
Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon. Simply the best album of all times.
Yes performing songs from Yessongs. Simply the best rocking symfonic rock band.
King Crimson. Simply the most progressive rockband ever.
Thanx for this interview and see you soon
You’re most welcome and all the best !
Piotr Michalski
