Isildurs Bane
Prog visits Sweden to witness the IB Expo, a special multi-musician performance that’s put together from scratch in just a week by Isildurs Bane and various musical guests, this time including Peter Hammill and Tim Bowness.
Peter Hammill and Tim Bowness join the Swedish chamber rockers at the IB Expo retreat…
Saturday, November 25, 2017: Fifteen musicians plus sound and lighting crew are huddled into the small kitchen and common room meeting space within the Kulturhuset, a publicly-owned arts centre located in the port town of Halmstad on Sweden’s west coast.
In front of the assembly, Isildurs Bane keyboard player and musical director Mats Johansson resembles a friendly schoolmaster cajoling his students into making some decisions. With an ink marker in hand, he points to the suggested songtitles on the A3 sheets on the wall behind him.
Tonight’s performance, the IB Expo, is the culmination of the last few days during which Johansson and the other members of Isildurs Bane, along with guests Peter Hammill, Tim Bowness and Koto player and vocalist, Karin Nakagawa, have spent time rehearsing, writing new material and getting to know each other.
As the ebb and flow of two hour-long sets gradually come into focus, it’s clear that this process is not just about picking a bunch of songs: it’s an expression of triumph and the satisfaction of a job well done. A mere five days ago, nothing on the list, in this form and with these people, existed.
Now, with some well-practiced guidance from Johansson, the concert is finally taking shape. Though fitting everything in, with last minute variations being made, can be a difficult balancing act.“We’d like to add a vocal improvisation,” suggests Tim Bowness, “just Peter and myself.” Hammill
nods emphatically. “We’ve no idea what that will consist of yet,” says the veteran performer, best known for his pioneering work with Van der Graaf Generator. “But we’ll think of something!”
If sorting out the setlist is a tricky affair, it’s nothing compared to the task of getting the entire ensemble into position for the soundcheck and performance. The Kulturhuset’s ample stage seems almost pinched and small by the time two drum kits, a dedicated array of tuned and orchestral percussion, strings, horns, three keyboard stations, a grand piano stage left and a 25-string Koto at stage right, plus the 15 musicians, are in place. The dense clutter and sheer variety of equipment and people reflect the exotic, expansive nature of the IB Expo ethos. Mixing conservatoire-trained players with musicians grounded in rock, jazz, avantgarde and experimental music enables them to have an impressive reach.
That night the sell-out audience are witness to what Peter Hammill refers to between numbers as music that is unique and very firmly in the “now”. After the performance is done and the final cheers have sounded, the singer, who’s just released his 35th solo album, makes the following assessment: “It’s a very special event in which everyone involved, from grizzled veterans like me to those just starting out on their musical journey, had not only to bring their best game to the table but also to remain open to all that was going on around them. Sometimes that meant being silent rather than making a noise.
“In other words, this is an event which places music at the centre of everything and invites the audience inside the temple of music without the curses of Ego and Show falling upon them. I’ve known about, even followed, IB Expo for many years, so I knew that when I accepted the invitation to participate this year I should expect the unexpected. I wasn’t disappointed!”
Bowness is equally enthusiastic about his involvement with the group. “It was fantastic having access to such a gifted collection of musicians and great fun trying out exotic combinations of instruments and playing with arrangement possibilities. This enabled me to create very different versions of familiar No-Man songs, as well as pieces from my recent solo albums. The atmosphere both behind the scenes and at the concert itself was warm and supportive, actively encouraging the unexpected, and it’s something I’d love to do again.”
Bowness and Hammill are the latest in a long line of international artists responding to the call to spend a week in Sweden working with Isildurs Bane towards the special one-off concert. Having started in 2005, the annual event has grown from strength to strength. The late Mick Karn, Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Jakko Jakszyk, Mike Keneally, Janne Schaffer, Tony Levin, Phil Manzanera, Trey Gunn, Terry Bozzio, Adrian Belew, Marco Minnemann, Julie Slick, Richard Barbieri, David Torn, David Rhodes, and Steve Hogarth, to name but a few, have all declared themselves to be enthusiastic supporters of the Expo.
For all the celebratory associations underpinning the concept of the annual Expo, it was born out of a difficult period in the band’s 40-year history. Founded in 1976, with Johansson joining the following year, the group’s 1984 debut album Sagan Om Den Irländska Älgen reflects their symphonic rock roots. However, with changes in personnel and Johansson’s growing influence, subsequent releases evolved to reflect the dramatic shifts in musical thinking that would take in rock, jazz and traditional folk music forms.
In the 90s, with the addition of orchestral percussion, the instrumental writing took on a sharper edge that embraced an almost Zappaesque complexity and density. Yet the adverse economic conditions for making music and keeping a band the size of IB, as they became known, weighed heavily on Johansson.
“There was a period where I felt that it made no sense to work on a new album,” admits Johansson, citing the avalanche of torrent
“The atmosphere both behind the scenes and at the concert itself was warm and supportive, actively encouraging the unexpected.”
Tim Bowness
sites and illegal uploading during the mid2000s, which undermined the prospects of any releases to break even, never mind make a return on the musician’s investment. His solution was to adapt to the changing climate by working as a projects-based unit undertaking unique events, such as workshops and clinics for young musicians, music camps and then, in 2005, the first IB Expo.
While the Expo has certainly helped the group maintain a presence, Johansson was mindful that the last full Isildurs Bane album, MIND Vol.4 Pass was released in 2003. Following his appearance at the 2013 Expo with Richard Barbieri, Marillion’s Steve Hogarth was approached by Johansson, who hoped he would collaborate with the band.
“I wrote songs specifically with Steve in mind, ending up with around 34 minutes of music. When Steve came aboard he had some great ideas that expanded the album, coming up with great combinations of lyrics, vocal lines and ways to express what he had written that are just exceptional.”
Hogarth recalls that the invitation came at an extremely busy time for him, as Marillion toured and finished work on 2016’s F EAR. Intrigued by Johansson’s writing, Hogarth recalls, “These songs came together in hotel rooms. Mats would send me music and I would sit in between getting up in the morning and going to soundcheck and doing shows with Marillion, composing in snatched moments in various parts of the world.” The result was a startling return to the international stage for Isildurs Bane with Colours Not Found In Nature, released in 2017 and premiered in concert at the
2016 IB Expo which saw the band celebrate 40 years of music making.
“The fact that IB is more of a pseudoclassical set-up than a rock’n’roll band is very exciting to be a part of,” says Hogarth. “It’s a beautiful thing. I would jump at the chance to do it again.”
Off The Radar, their second release of
2017, featuring the current core line-up of founder drummer Kjell Severinsson, Katrine Amsler (keyboards, laptop), Klas Assarsson (marimba, vibraphone, percussion) Luca Calabrese (trumpet), Axel Croné (bass, woodwinds), Samuel Hällkvist (guitar) and Liesbeth Lambrecht (strings) suggests that the band are hitting a creative highpoint.
“Luckily, there are digital platforms that work today, and I feel that it’s possible to produce music on CD and vinyl again,” says Johansson. The title of the new record reflects the way Isildurs Bane have quietly got on with the business of moving forward without ever having to keep an eye on what might be fashionable. Keeping a low profile for several years has worked for them, he offers. “To be off or under the radar is a good feeling actually. We have kept our integrity.”
Off The Radar and Colours Not Found In Nature are out now via Ataraxia Productions. See www.facebook.com/ibexpo for more.
“This is an event which places music at the centre of everything and invites the audience inside the temple of music without the curses of Ego and Show falling upon them.”
Peter Hammill