Says Tony Levin, "I'd say that the album is somewhere between having a unifying concept and just our current compositions. Part way through the recordings, the 'Prog Noir' title, lyrics and idea came up - it sort of shined a dark, noir light on what had come before, and it influenced what came after (including some 'noir' instrumental interludes that will be part of the box set version. For me that's a good way to go - I like a concept involved with an album sometimes, but I don't feel it needs to encompass every piece."
Watch the new Stick Men video:
Stick Men is a progressive rock band created by musicians with extensive experience playing together. Pat Mastelotto and Tony Levin are the rhythm section of the legendary band King Crimson. Mastelotto is in demand all over the world as the premier drummer for progressive rock. Levin plays in Crimson, with Peter Gabriel, and has recorded with John Lennon, David Bowie and others. Markus Reuter is arenowned composer/guitarist who designed and plays his own unique touch style guitar.
Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, the powerhouse bass and drums of the group King Crimson for more than 2 decades, bring that tradition to all their playing. Levin plays the Chapman Stick, from which the band takes it's name. Having bass and guitar strings, the Chapman Stick functions at times like two instruments. Markus Reuter plays his 8-string touch guitar – again covering much more ground than a guitar or a bass. And Mastelotto's drumming encompasses not just the acoustic kit, but a unique electronic setup too, allowing him to add loops, samples, percussion, and more.
The result; audiences are fascinated by watching just three musicians onstage perform their unique compositions as well as wild improvisations and some cover versions of songs by King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, etc.
Before "Prog Noir", Stick Men have released 4 studio CDs (Soup, Absalom, DEEP, Open) as well as a couple of live albums.
Says Markus, "What's unusual about 'Prog Noir' is that we spent years composing it. Usually we get the ideas and quickly turn them into an album or start playing them in on the road. The imperative of a band like ours, that's out on the road touring a lot of the time, is to have new material each year. But this time the idea was to really refine the material, reject all but the best (indeed, there are some very nice pieces that didn't make the cut) and create a really special album that might define our band in terms of where our journey has taken us."
Stick Men is:
Tony Levin - Born in Boston, Tony Levin started out in classical music, playing bass in the Rochester Philharmonic. Then moving into jazz and rock, he has had a notable career, recording with John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Alice Cooper, and many more. He has also released 5 solo CDs and three books. In addition to touring with Stick Men, he is currently a member of King Crimson, of the Peter Gabriel Band, and of the Levin Brothers jazz band. His popular website,
tonylevin.com, featured one of the web's first blogs, and has over 4 million visits.
Pat Mastelotto - Very rarely does a drummer go on to forge the most successful career on the demise of their former hit band. Phil Collins and Dave Grohl have managed it, so too has Pat Mastelotto, a self taught drummer from Northern California, who has also been involved with pushing the envelope of electronic drumming. Pat has spent a lifetime jumping genres from pop, to prog, to electronica to world music with – among others – Mr. Mister, XTC, David Sylvian, The Rembrandts, Kimmo Pohjonen, and for the last 20 years with King Crimson.
Markus Reuter - Markus is a composer, guitarist, and producer. Initially trained as a pianist, he subsequently studied Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft and learned to play the Chapman Stick, later moving onto the U8 Touch Guitar. Reuter has released many solo recordings and worked extensively with other musicians. He is one of the core members of the experimental band Centrozoon, is half of the duo Tuner (with Pat Mastelotto) and was also a member of Europa String Choir. Reuter has collaborated with Ian Boddy, Robert Rich, No-Man singer Tim Bowness, and many others.
In support of "Prog Noir" Stick Men will tour Europe in October 2016, then again in January/February 2017 in the U.S. and Canada. Says Markus"We love covering a lot of territories, so the future after those booked shows will involve our heading to S. America, Japan, and more places. Yes, we'll have some videos to offer of the new material - hard to describe those now because we're in the process of making them."
"Prog Noir" is available in pre-sale in 3 formats:
Signed Limited Edition Combo Package - Deluxe Box Set (2LP/2CD/Poster) with T-Shirt; Regular CD and Download (WAV, FLAC, ALAC and/or MP3-320 formats)
SIGNED LIMITED EDITION COMBO PACKAGE DELUXE BOX SET (2LP/2CD/POSTER) + T-SHIRT
The combo package includes:
• 2LP 180 grams gatefold (the LP has a, 11 minute bonus tracks on the Side B of the second LP, which is not included in the regular CD package)
• 2CD special edition of the new album, Digipack. (Disk One is the regular 10 track album. Disk Two contains 8 bonus tracks.)
• Full color poster of the album artwork (17x22 inches)
• Full color T-Shirt (front only). Available in Navy Blue and Black.
ALL BOX SETS WILL BE SIGNED BY ALL 3 BAND MEMBERS (Tony, Pat & Markus).
All orders will be shipped in the late October.
Pre-orders are $140 USD / 120 EUR plus shipping.
Those who contribute $200 USD / 190 EUR or more, will have their names included in credits inside of the box set.
This special box set includes digital pre-order of "Prog Noir". Fans will get 4 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it's released.
SINGLE CD, REGULAR EDITION of "Prog Noir" (10 tracks) can be pre-ordered for $17 USD / 15 Euros plus shipping
DOWNLOAD of "Prog Noir" (10 tracks in WAV, FLAC, ALAC and/or MP3-320 formats) can be pre-ordered for $10 US / 8 EUR
Exclusively available at:
(orders placed from North, Central and South America, Middle East,
Africa and Asia)
(orders placed from Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia)
Official website:
Facebook:
--
Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
