Brainticket is the brainchild of Joel Vandroogenbroeck, a Belgian based in Switzerland who grew up studying classical piano before switching to jazz. He received the Art Tatum prize as "youngest jazz pianist" at the tender age of fifteen, and was soon touring around Europe and Africa. By 1967, Joel was still playing jazz but he found new inspiration in the sounds emanating from German Krautrock artists Amon Duul II, Can and Tangerine Dream.Under the influence of these groups, Joel and guitarist Ron Byer recruited drummer Wolfgang Paap and formed the trio that would become Brainticket. The group's 1971 debut album 'Cottonwoodhill' immediately ran into a storm of controversy for its association with psychedelic drugs. The album came with a warning label that insisted you should "Only listen once a day to this record. Your brain might be destroyed," which led to the album being banned in several countries including the USA.
From then on, Brainticket's reputation as a band of experimentalists at the forefront of underground, avant-garde music had been solidified. Following the death of Bryer, Joel began exploring electronic sounds, moved to Italy and met an American woman named Carole Muriel. A pair of Swiss musicians, guitarist Rolf Hug and bassist Martin Sacher, followed and the group released 1972's 'Psychonaut'. A rock opera collaboration with Academy Award winning film composer Bill Conti ('Rocky') followed before Joel began work on a new Brainticket album based on the 'Egyptian Book of the Dead'. The new album, 'Celestial Ocean', told the after-life experience of Egyptian kings traveling through space and time, from the desert land to the pyramids. Released in 1973, the album was hailed as the definitive Brainticket experience and earned the band their greatest acclaim.
Joel has continued to explore new creative avenues over the decades, releasing two more albums under the Brainticket moniker, including 2000's 'Alchemic Universe'. Recently, he teamed with Cleopatra Records to release the first ever Brainticket box set, 'The Vintage Anthology 1971-1980', a 4-disc compilation containing the complete first three albums along with several rare recordings. The box set is a celebration of Brainticket's enormous contributions to electronic and ambient music that would provide inspiration for progressive bands from Emerson Lake & Palmer to Yes as well as modern acts such as Radiohead.
Joel recently discussed Brianticket with writer Dave Thompson, "We were not a group, we were a place where creation was made and this place was Cottonwoodhill, even if it was never mentioned in the later albums. Besides myself trying to keep this together, every recording has different people. In general, it did work to our advantage. There was an encounter, an inspiration, a production and after that everyone went away on his own path. I believe that this concept is what made Brainticket so original as we never were the 'perfect concert band.' We had something different to offer."
They still do. In 2012, Brainticket went out on the road, touring the US with a set that reached all the way back to these magnificent beginnings. And when he was interviewed at tour's end, Joel was still flying high. "At the start I didn't believe that this would be possible, but I can say now that this was one of my best experiences with Brainticket. New blood flew in my veins. I was invited all over the place and the concerts were a huge success. People my age that were still huge fans of Brainticket mixed with young generations that wanted to learn from me, what I knew, and experience what I had done with music. It was like a dream. A space rock invasion!"
And now, with the re-issue of Brainticket's debut album 'Cottonwoodhill', fans can experience where it all began!
Advice... After listening to this disc, your friends won't know you anymore!
To purchase Brainticket's Cottonwood Hill CD: http://www.amazon.com/Cottonwoodhill-Brainticket/dp/B00BSHYWMQ/ref=tmm_acd_title_popover
For more information: http://brainticketband.com
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
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