| Mandrake Project | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genre: | Post-rock, progressive rock, ambient |
| Years Active: | 2002–present |
| Label: | Overneath, Blistering |
| Current Members: | Kirk Salopek Rick Nelson David Jamison Ryan Meals Anthony Pecora Ben Zerbe Denny Karl |
| Past Members: | Doug Korekach Kevin Charney Jon Bechtol Jake Colvin David Fresch Justin Greenwald |
Mandrake Project was an American band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Primarily an instrumental band, they have been referred to as crossover progressive, ambient, jam-band and even jazz-rock. Mandrake Project's music is accented by its shared membership with groups like The Polyphonic Spree, The Twilight Singers, New Invisible Joy, Outside Royalty, and The Afghan Whigs.
The band unofficially began in late 2001 as the by-product of a nameless experiment involving key members of Pittsburgh-based groups of the time. The experiment was short-lived with the first proper group forming around bandleader Kirk Salopek in late summer of 2002. Lacking a vocalist or conventional lineup, the band created an instrumental act with members revolving on each other's roles and instruments. Songs were built from rhythms and repetitive motifs, based on the core instrumentation of two guitars, two drummers, and a Chapman Stick. The result was jagged, heavily rhythmic and sometimes complicated compositions, evoking echoes of bands like King Crimson, Slint, and Led Zeppelin.
The band recorded three unreleased demos between 2002 and 2005. In 2005, just prior to the recording of the last demo (dubbed the Grand Theatre Session) A significant lineup change occurred as drummer/bassist Anthony Pecora joined the full-time roster. This addition eliminated the need for the Chapman Stick to be the only melodic bass instrument and also added the possibility of a third drummer. Violinist Justin Greenwald also joined during its production, ushering a dramatic change in writing style for the band. This final demo recording exhibited a new-found penchant for juxtaposing electro/ambient soundscapes with aggressive rock numbers and long-winded free form improvisation, which would become the band's primary modus operandi.
A Favor to the Muse was self-produced and independently released on the band's own Overneath Records in October 2006. The album contained influences from minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass to neo-Arabic ragas to sci-fi themes and noir jazz in the style of Angelo Badalamenti. The album featured a guest list of 16 musicians beyond the core members, in addition to a 40-piece girl's choir included on the "indie-symphonic" track "An Ode to the Spaceman".
In November 2007, Mandrake Project began the recording of their second album and first "official" label release, "A Miraculous Container." The collection of songs for the album was recorded over a period of about 10 months and was released on March 24, 2009. Through a turn of events, the band ended up signing a contract with Swedish label Blistering Records,[1] who deal primarily with hard rock and metal acts.[2] [3]
Like A Favor to the Muse, A Miraculous Container would also host a number of guests including a vocalist, former New Invisible Joy singer John Schisler, which broke prior tradition of the band's normal repertoire. He assisted with lyrics on two vocal tracks, "Movement" and "Through Lights," and arranged the Salopek-penned lyrics to the album's title track.
Despite the often confusing representation between the band and label, the album garnered critical praise in the months after its release in both press and AAA radio.[4] In February 2009, a pre-release copy of "A Miraculous Container" caught the ear of John Diliberto, host of the nationally syndicated radio program Echoes.[5] The album appeared on the show's Top 25 in June 2009[6] with artists such as Moby, Bill Frisell, Robin Guthrie and Leo Abrahams, peaking at #2 in August[7] and earning a spot on the overall Top 25 for 2009.[8]
This eventually led to an invitation to perform live for an installment of the show's acclaimed Livingroom Concert Series. One of the live tracks recorded during the concert, "Beauxsong" was included on the 15th Anniversary Echoes Livingroom Concert Series CD, Still Echoes, alongside artists as diverse as Yo-Yo Ma, Pat Metheny, Air, Al Di Meola and Brian Eno.[9] In addition, Mandrake Project was added to both John Diliberto's Top 10 CD's and Songs lists for 2009, ranking #9 for Best Album with A Miraculous Container and #7 for Best Song with "And Five Makes Twenty."[10]
Jean-Phillipe Haas, French webzine critic at Chromatique.net listed A Miraculous Container as his pick for the #1 album in 2009.[11] Several other US & European music webzines and press offered positive reviews of the record as well in the months after its release.[12] [13] [14]
Throughout 2010 Mandrake Project worked on a number of songs for a follow-up EP to "A Miraculous Container", but a chance meeting with Porcupine Tree's, Steven Wilson led the band to Rob Palmen and his fledgling label Glassville Records. The label hosts other acts like Paatos, Riverside & Sun Domingo. At the suggestion of Palmen, the band continued work past 6 songs and released their third full-length record, "Transitions" in July 2011.
Mandrake Project all but disappeared from live performance within a year after the release of Transitions. Kirk Salopek split off to form the David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti tribute act Silencio with drummer David Jamison. Rick Nelson joined The Afghan Whigs for their 2012-13 reunion tour and started Marigny Recording Studio in New Orleans. Bassist Pecora started the experimental collective When The Planets.