Mad Painter - Interviews

Lelahelmetal interviews Mad Painter on the upcoming album, Island Poetry

Mad Painter returns with Island Poetry, a rich and ambitious journey through classic rock influences, Hammond-driven melodies, and imaginative storytelling. We spoke with the band about the album’s inspirations, creative process, and enduring passion for timeless rock music.

1. Island Poetry is described as your most varied and ambitious release to date. What was the original vision behind the album, and how did that vision evolve during the writing and recording process?

The original vision was to make the next full Mad Painter album after Splashed, but in a way that felt more focused and more like a true group statement. Splashed had a lot of different material on it, including songs from various periods. With Island Poetry, even though the album is still varied, it feels more cohesive, heavier and more representative of where the band is now.

The title and atmosphere came from the idea of people gathered on a small tropical island, sitting around a campfire under the full moon, chanting, meditating or perhaps praying to the stars. It is a communal image, but also a spiritual and mystical one. That is where the “poetry” of the album comes from.

The vision evolved naturally as the songs took shape. Some were written fresh for the album, while a few had earlier origins, such as “Stand Your Ground” from 2017 and “Empty Bottles” from 2021. But unlike Splashed, this was not a case of emptying the vaults. The songs had to belong to this particular record.

2. The album draws inspiration from a wide range of classic acts, from Deep Purple and Rainbow to Queen, Motörhead, and Status Quo. How did you balance honoring those influences while maintaining Mad Painter’s own identity?

The balance comes from the fact that these influences are part of our natural musical vocabulary. We are not trying to hide them, but we are also not setting out to imitate anybody. A song may begin with a certain energy or reference point—Deep Purple, Rainbow, Status Quo, Queen, Motörhead—but once Mad Painter plays it, it becomes something else.

The identity comes from the same musicians, the same Hammond-driven approach, the same vocal character, the same rhythm section, and the same sense of arrangement. The influences may provide the doorway, but the band determines what happens inside the room.

I also think there is honesty in being transparent about influences. Rock music has always been a conversation between musicians and eras. What matters is whether the song ultimately has its own character. We are not trying to erase the past; we are trying to carry forward the spirit of the music that shaped us.

3. The Hammond organ plays a central role in your sound. What is it about that instrument that continues to inspire you, and how does it shape the character of your songs?

The Hammond organ has a huge personality. It can be warm, ghostly, aggressive, mournful, majestic or completely wild, sometimes within the same song. It is not just an accompaniment instrument for us. It can carry the riff, the harmony, the atmosphere and the lead voice.

Because many of my songs begin from the keyboard, the architecture is different from a standard guitar-based rock song. The guitar does not have to do all the heavy lifting. It can answer the organ, compete with it, or add a different color on top of it.

That Hammond-and-guitar relationship is central to bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, and it is also central to Mad Painter. The organ gives the music grandeur, drama and a certain vintage physicality. Even when we move into different styles, the Hammond helps keep the sound unmistakably ours.

4. Each track seems to have its own musical starting point. Was it a deliberate goal to make every song explore a different corner of 1970s rock, or did those influences emerge naturally during songwriting?

It emerged naturally. We would never set out to be different or eclectic just for the sake of it. Every piece of music I write reflects what I have absorbed over the years and what I happen to be listening to at the time. There are no rules about that. If I listen to Ganymed, Dee D. Jackson or Sheila and B. Devotion for a while, that may eventually come out in a song. If I am immersed in early 1970s British rock, blues jams or Canterbury-style keyboard playing, that may come out too.

That is why “Nektarized” could become a strange homage to Nektar with space-disco colors, while “Two Horsemen” could develop into a free-roaming Wishbone Ash-type piece with touches of British blues and progressive rock. “I Am the King” has something of the Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest about it. None of that feels forced because it all belongs to the same personal musical palette.

So the album travels widely, but the journey comes from genuine listening habits and long-term influences rather than a calculated attempt to cover every style.

5. Six songs feature lyrics by writer and music journalist Dmitry M. Epstein. How did that collaboration come about, and what did Dmitry bring to the album that might have been different from your usual approach?

The collaboration began with “Illusion,” which appeared on Splashed. I already had the melody and recorded it as an instrumental demo. I gave Dmitry the lyrical idea, and he wrote the words. The same process happened with the ballad “I’ve Been a Fool,” also on Splashed.

After that, the collaboration changed. Dmitry started sending me his own poems, beginning with “Rock’n’Roll Samurai.” That opened up a different process because I was no longer simply asking him to write lyrics for a melody or concept I already had. Instead, I was receiving a poem and having to find the music hidden inside it.

Six of his poems became songs on Island Poetry, and there are more waiting for me to work on in the future. Dmitry brings imagery, phrasing and perspectives that I might not have arrived at on my own. It gives me a different kind of challenge as a songwriter, while still requiring me to make the finished song sound naturally like Mad Painter.

6. Songs like “Debt Collector,” “Suit of Worries,” and “Shadow of the Words” have intriguing titles. Are there any recurring lyrical themes or stories that connect the songs across the album?

The album is not a concept record in the sense of telling one continuous story from beginning to end, but there are recurring emotional threads: tension, anxiety, absurdity, disaster, longing, escape and the possibility of release. The songs often place characters in heightened situations, sometimes serious, sometimes grotesque or darkly funny.

“Debt Collector” is a deliberate pun on male-female relationships. It is written from the point of view of a slightly chauvinistic and rather dim male character who thinks he is practicing his “door opening technique” on a woman’s heart. He says things like “here’s some rules for you so read ’em,” and I have always found that type of fantasy both unsettling and hilarious. The song plays with that discomfort.

“Suit of Worries” is much more direct. It is about a person who cannot stop worrying about anything and everything, somebody living in a constant state of anxiety. “Shadow of the Words” is harder to categorize. It is more abstract, almost an apocalypse or disaster-type song, but the chorus brings in hope: “when in love don’t waste your time, open up your soul and let it fly.” So even there, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

That mixture of unease, humor, drama and hope fits the broader atmosphere of Island Poetry. The songs are separate visions, but they feel like they come from the same strange island night.

7. You emphasize full-band performances and warm analog-style production rather than modern digital perfection. What advantages does that approach offer, and what challenges come with recording that way in 2026?

The advantage is that the music keeps its personality. We wanted warmth, movement and human character rather than a perfectly polished digital surface. The album was recorded track by track by Tom Hamilton at Lowell Street Sound in Peabody, Massachusetts. Tom also produced and mixed it.

He works in Pro Tools, but he has a wide range of plug-ins that allow him to bring the sound back into a twentieth-century rock environment, down to very small nuances. That kind of analog-style warmth would have been much harder to achieve digitally even twenty years ago. Actual analog equipment might have created more practical problems than benefits, so the goal was not to be purist. The goal was to make the record feel alive.

The challenge is knowing how far to go. Modern tools can correct everything, but if you correct too much, you risk removing the very thing that makes a rock band interesting. We wanted the record to sound produced, but not sterilized.

8. “Circle of Hands” is your interpretation of the Uriah Heep classic. What inspired you to include that particular song, and how did you approach making it your own while respecting the original?

Uriah Heep is the place where all of us in the band converge. We had already recorded “Stealin’” on Splashed, and live we have performed “Circle of Hands,” “July Morning,” “Sunrise” and one or two others. So including “Circle of Hands” felt completely natural.

It is one of Heep’s pivotal classics, and we approached it with respect. We were not trying to reinvent the song or turn it into something unrecognizable. The grandeur, spirituality, vocal layering and Hammond-driven power of the original are exactly what make it important.

At the same time, any band that plays a song honestly will inevitably leave its own fingerprint on it. Our version is faithful, but it also comes through the sound and personality of Mad Painter. Ending the album with it allows the record to conclude in the world that has inspired us so deeply.

9. Many modern rock releases focus on singles, yet Island Poetry was conceived as a complete album experience. Why is the album format still important to Mad Painter, and how do you hope listeners will engage with it?

The album format matters because it allows a band to create a world. A single can introduce a song, but an album can move through moods, styles and emotional changes. That is especially important for a band like Mad Painter, where the songs may draw from hard rock, progressive rock, glam, boogie, balladry and space-disco influences.

The sequence of Island Poetry was important. It begins with zany rock and roll, moves into hard rock, then space rock and art rock, then progressive and bluesy roaming, then dramatic balladry, then heavy metal, and finally the classic grandeur of “Circle of Hands.” That order helps the variety feel like a journey rather than a random collection.

I hope listeners give the album the chance to unfold. It does not have to be understood all at once, but it was made to be experienced as a complete record.

10. With Island Poetry bringing together hard rock, progressive rock, glam, boogie, and even space-disco influences, what do you hope longtime fans and first-time listeners will take away from this musical journey?

I hope longtime fans hear a band that has taken a real step forward. Island Poetry is still recognizably Mad Painter, but it is more cohesive, heavier and more of a group effort than Splashed. It shows the band growing without abandoning the qualities that defined us in the first place.

For first-time listeners, I hope the album makes clear what world they are entering: Hammond-driven rock with roots in the 1970s, but not simply nostalgia. The influences are there, but the songs are ours.

Most of all, I hope people hear personality. The sound of musicians playing with conviction, the drama of the Hammond and guitar, the layered voices, the shifts in mood, the humor, the heaviness and the mystical atmosphere of the album all belong together. Island Poetry is meant to feel like a journey to a place slightly outside ordinary life, and I hope listeners are willing to spend some time there.

The Interviewist interviews Mad Painter on their new album, Island Poetry

Mad Painter’s latest album Island Poetry is a vibrant celebration of classic rock’s adventurous spirit, blending Hammond-driven hard rock, progressive influences, and imaginative storytelling into a rich and captivating musical journey.

1. “Island Poetry” draws inspiration from a wide range of classic rock influences, from Deep Purple and Uriah Heep to Queen, Motörhead, and even space-disco pioneers Ganymed. How did you balance these diverse inspirations while maintaining a cohesive Mad Painter identity throughout the album?

The cohesion comes from the fact that these influences are not artificially imposed on the songs. They are all part of what I have listened to for most of my life, so they naturally enter the music through my own writing and through the way the band plays.

We never begin by deciding that we need one Deep Purple song, one Motörhead song and one space-disco song. A musical idea appears, and its character may remind us of something within that broad spectrum. The finished piece still passes through the same musicians, the same Hammond-and-guitar relationship, the same vocal approach and the same production process. That gives the album a consistent personality even when the individual tracks occupy very different stylistic areas.

The sequencing also helps. The album moves through those changes deliberately rather than presenting them in a random order. It begins with energetic rock and roll, grows heavier, moves into space rock and art rock, opens into more progressive and blues-oriented material, and then returns to dramatic balladry and heavy metal before ending with the grandeur of “Circle of Hands.”

The references are visible, but the underlying identity remains Mad Painter. The influences provide the vocabulary; the arrangements, performances and personalities of the band determine the final language.

2. The Hammond organ plays a central role in your music, often taking the spotlight rather than serving as a background instrument. What is it about the Hammond’s sound and character that continues to inspire you as songwriters and performers?

The Hammond has an enormous emotional and physical range. It can whisper, sustain, growl, roar or completely fill a room, and it can move between those states within a few seconds. It is capable of providing rhythm, harmony, atmosphere and a lead voice simultaneously, which makes it much more than a background instrument.

In Mad Painter, the organ is often present from the earliest stage of the composition. The song is not written as a guitar piece with keyboards added afterward. The Hammond may establish the riff, the chord movement or the entire emotional character of the arrangement. That immediately changes the architecture of the song.

It also creates a natural dialogue with the guitar. The two instruments can reinforce one another, answer each other or compete for the foreground. Deep Purple and Uriah Heep showed how dramatic that relationship could become, but once you begin working with it yourself, you discover many other possibilities.

The Hammond also gives our music a strong sense of continuity. Even when a track moves toward space disco, heavy metal, progressive rock or a piano-led ballad, the sound and personality of the organ help keep it within the Mad Painter world.

3. Each track on “Island Poetry” seems to explore a different musical landscape. Were there any songs that challenged you creatively or pushed the band into new territory during the writing and recording process?

We would never voluntarily enter uncharted stylistic waters merely for the sake of being “different” or “eclectic.” Every piece of music I write reflects my own influences and whatever I happen to be listening to at the time. That can lead us into almost any style or genre, but it does not feel forced because there are no rules governing what I choose to play on my stereo, whether I am at home or on the go.

Progressive rock naturally plays a major role. We had songs such as “Gone Gone Gone” in the past, and on this album there is “Nektarized,” which is an unusual homage to Nektar. All of its lyrics are made up of Nektar album and song titles.

There is a break in the middle featuring an odd, almost alien-like chant: “Automaton Horoscope, please cast your fate.” That phrase simply appeared in my head from nowhere. It was not an attempt to imitate anybody. The same applies to the space-disco element. If I listen to Ganymed for weeks, as I did when I was a child, or spend time with Dee D. Jackson or Sheila and B. Devotion, that influence will eventually emerge somewhere in a song.

“Two Horsemen” developed in a very different direction. The lyrics originated as a Russian poem by Soviet dissident poet Joseph Brodsky, translated into English by Natalia Belenkaya. They seemed perfectly suited to a free-roaming Wishbone Ash-type piece, something that could have come from the world of ‘Argus’ or ‘Pilgrimage’. The early-1970s British rock and blues-jam influence was already part of my musical palette, as was the Canterbury touch. On that track I like to approach the keyboard solos in a way that owes something to Caravan.

“I Am the King” followed a similar process and became something like an amalgamation of the Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest. None of this was especially difficult because these sounds are all part of the same personal landscape. The band may enter different territories, but they are territories I already know and love.

4. Six songs on the album feature lyrics by writer and music journalist Dmitry M. Epstein. How did that collaboration come about, and what did Dmitry’s lyrical approach bring to the album that might have been different from your usual songwriting process?

The collaboration originally began with “Illusion,” which appeared on “Splashed”. I already had the melody and recorded it as an instrumental demo. I then gave Dmitry the general lyrical idea, and he wrote the words. The same process was repeated with the ballad “I’ve Been a Fool,” which is also on “Splashed”.

After that, the nature of the collaboration changed. Dmitry began sending me his own poems rather than waiting for me to provide a subject or concept. “Rock’n’Roll Samurai,” also from *Splashed*, was one of the first songs to emerge from that new approach.

Six of his poems have now become songs on “Island Poetry”, and there are more waiting for me to work on in the near future. When he sends me a completed poem, I have to discover the music already hiding inside it. That is quite different from beginning with my own melody and lyrical premise.

His writing can bring in imagery, characters, phrases and perspectives that I would not necessarily have invented myself. It gives me a different kind of stimulus and sometimes leads the music into a more dramatic, theatrical or unexpected direction. At the same time, I still have to make the words live naturally within the Mad Painter sound.

5. In an era dominated by singles and playlists, “Island Poetry” was conceived as a complete album experience. Why was it important for you to create a record that encourages listeners to engage with it as a full journey rather than a collection of individual tracks?

The album has always been the form that means the most to us. Singles can introduce individual songs, but a complete record allows a band to build a world, move through contrasting moods and reveal different parts of its identity.

The twelve songs on “Island Poetry” do not tell one continuous story, but they were arranged to create a progression. The album begins with eccentric and energetic rock and roll, becomes heavier, moves into space rock and art rock, and then opens into progressive, bluesy and free-roaming material. From there it reaches dramatic balladry, returns to heavy metal with “Stand Your Ground,” and finally concludes with the classic Uriah Heep grandeur of “Circle of Hands.”

That sequence matters. A stylistically varied record can feel arbitrary unless the order gives each change a purpose. The quieter or more expansive songs affect how the heavier ones are heard, and the final track feels more monumental because of everything that has led up to it.

The central image of the album also encourages that kind of listening: people gathered around a fire on a small tropical island, beneath a full moon, chanting, reflecting, meditating and perhaps praying to the stars. Each track is like another voice or vision arising from that same gathering.

6. Mad Painter embraces the spirit of classic 1970s rock without simply recreating the past. What do you hope modern listeners discover in “Island Poetry”, and how do you see the band carrying this musical tradition forward into the future?

I hope listeners discover that the language of 1970s rock is still capable of producing new music rather than simply functioning as nostalgia. We are not attempting to recreate an old record note for note or pretend that the decades since then never happened. We are using the musical vocabulary that feels most natural to us and writing our own songs within it.

That period allowed rock bands to be heavy, melodic, theatrical, progressive, humorous and emotionally direct without constantly worrying about whether those qualities belonged together. A Hammond organ could lead the arrangement, a song could develop over several sections, and an album could move from hard rock to balladry or something much stranger without apologizing for it.

Modern listeners may also discover the value of recognizable musical personalities. The guitar, organ, rhythm section and voices are not intended to disappear into a perfectly standardized production sound. Tom Hamilton recorded, produced and mixed the album digitally in Pro Tools, but the technology was used to recover warmth, depth and the smallest nuances associated with twentieth-century records rather than to remove the human character from the performances.

Carrying the tradition forward means remaining faithful to its sense of freedom rather than merely copying its surfaces. The future of Mad Painter is not about limiting ourselves to one approved version of classic rock. It is about continuing to write whatever emerges from our listening, our personalities and our interaction as a band, while making sure that the result remains recognizably our own.

Pigeon Opinion Interview

https://www.pigeonopinion.com/post/2025-singles

(•)> Are you still into rock n' roll dispite mainstream rock being almost dead?

Are we still into rock and roll in 2024, almost 2025? That's an easy question to answer. Our heads are in 1974, although some of the band members go back as far as 1968 with their MC5, Blue Cheer, Vanilla Fudge, and The Small Faces fixation. We're mostly a 70s-inspired retro rock band, but we are all original. So in our minds, we're not competing with anyone contemporary.. We are competing with the greats of yesteryear, such as Rory Gallagher, Uriah Heep, Nazareth, Deep Purple, Spooky Tooth, Grand Funk, Iron Butterfly, and Mountain. So there's your answer. We are still into classic rock because classic rock is alive and well as long as we are around. I know it is a bold statement, but it's also a system of belief.

(•)> A little bird told me your music journey started with a bunch of mistakes in the Baltic. Do you remember those mixtapes? If yes, what music was inside of them when you hit play?

Now, about the Baltic adventure, I would hardly call it a mistake, more like a series of happy accidents. Yes, it's true, my dad bought me a mono tape recorder back in 1980 when we were vacationing in the Baltics. Estonia, to be more precise. And yes, it did come with two wonderful, stupendous, fabulous mixtapes filled to the brim with hits of the day by the likes of David Bowie, Amanda Lear, Dschinghis Khan, Baccara, ABBA, Boney M, and ELO. Those were probably my earliest influences, musically speaking, and still my brightest memories of rock and pop of the era.

(•)> What awesome CDs did you acquire lately? Do you have a CD tower in prder to expose those beauties to the world? If not, where do you keep your CD collection?

As far as my latest procurement, it's actually a Kevin Ayers 8 CD box set. It's called All This Crazy Gift of Time, a chock full of treasures, not just his period albums starting with A Joy of a Toy, but also rarities, BBC recordings, and so forth. A true delight. I do have countless CDs, it's true. Lavish, comprehensive box sets are the way to go. Individual CDs are still stacked on my wall racks. And box sets are aptly stored in boxes. There are some truly mammoth ones that are worth mentioning. By Camel, Caravan, Family, Streetwalkers, Ian Hunter, Steve Hillage, Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, Wishbone Ash, and Nazareth. There's also the new one by John Mayall. Documenting everything he did with the Blues Breakers and solo, from the very beginning in 1964 up through 1974. It's called The First Generation. And the second volume is coming. This is quite an expensive hobby, but for a collector like myself, it's so totally worth it.

(•)> What are your favorite records from the 70s and what's the 70s magnum opus?

My all-time top favorites from the 70s include Sutherland Brothers - Beat of the Street, Smokie- Midnight Cafe, The Sweet - Desolation Boulevard, Status Quo - Blue for You, Uriah Heep - Look at Yourself, Montrose - Jump on It, Queen - A Night At The Opera, Rory Gallagher - Blueprint, Nazareth - Malice in Wonderland, Wishbone Ash - Pilgrimage, Gilbert O'Sullivan - Stranger in My Own Backyard, Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation, Golden Earring - Switch, UFO - Phenomenon... And so on and so forth. If I had to think long and hard, and I really didn't, the Definitive Magnum Opus from the 1970s - The Electric Light Orchestra's Out of the Blue - a Double Album.

(•)> What was the best horror flick you' ve seen lately and why?

And finally... Horror Flicks. I don't really watch them because the news these days are full of horror. I do have a favorite from 1976, called Blue Sunshine.

An Interview with Mad Painter
Lelahel Metal

https://www.lelahelmetal.net/2024/12/interview-mad-painter.html

Mad Painter seamlessly blends classic 70s rock nostalgia with a unique modern twist. With their upcoming single Debt Collector and their third album Island Poetry, the band continues to captivate fans of vintage heavy rock.

1. Your upcoming single, Debt Collector, captures a distinct 1970s vibe. What inspired you to embrace this nostalgic sound, and how do you infuse it with a modern edge?

The single’s already out on all streaming platforms, and on YouTube you can also find the “live in the studio” version, as part of the “Music Alive North Shore” TV show. I don’t really know what a ”modern edge” is these days. I had a pretty good idea, say, between 1990 and 2010, before the music industry changed beyond all recognition. And I tried my best to avoid it by all means possible. But Mad Painter have been around since late 2015, and our look, sound and the stage show have always been “retro”. It’s all original melodic heavy rock, classic rock style. When you mentally compete with the greats of yesteryear, you wind up with the sound similar to ours. Our bass player likes to say “My head’s in 1974”, but he goes back as far as 1967 on his influences. The band’s comprised of six unique individuals with own personal tastes in music, but I think where we all overlap is Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, which explains the patented Mad Painter sound. I am proud to say, we do have our own sound that’s impossible to mistake for anyone else, past or present.

2. Mad Painter has been active since 2015. How has the band evolved musically since its formation, and what milestones have shaped your journey so far?

When I first started the project, it was a trio (keyboards, bass, drums), and over the years the line-up has changed a few times. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, growing it from scratch, without a label, a manager or any other system of support. For instance, our live debut was in October 2016 at MIT, and it was just awful, even after months of guitarist auditions and regular practices. I simply didn’t know what I was in for, and the lack of experience having my own band definitely showed. There were a few times when I had to scrap the whole thing and rebuild it from scratch, with a brand new team.

In 2016, we released our first album, self-titled, and it had great songs but very rudimentary, almost garage-like, production. It was a digital-only release, not on physical media. It wasn’t until seven years later that we released Splashed, a long-player of 17 tracks and a mixture of heavy rock and pop, all melodic, well arranged and expertly produced. This one came out on CD, twice, in fact. First on CD Baby and then on the Italian label Epictronic. Along with it we had two singles and promo videos, which you can also find easily on YouTube, “Rock and Roll Samurai” and “Illusion”. The line-up’s been stable since early 2021, and that is when I felt things started to really get off the ground. There’s great camaraderie within the band, as well as musical chemistry. We are six unique individuals with our own preferences, but if we didn’t have music or ethos in common it wouldn’t have worked.

Over the years we’ve played at various summer festivals, which is always fun, starting with the Winter Tangle in the Poconos in January 2017, then Echo and another Winter Tangle in Kingston in 2022. We do have a small “cult” following in Boston, more like an extended family or circle of friends who dig each other’s music, but when we play these open air fests, the atmosphere is totally different. In Kingston, for instance, we got a rip-roaring reception, our bass player instantly called it “Paintermania”.

3. The lyrics for Debt Collector were written by poet Dmitry M. Epstein. How did this collaboration come about, and what does Dmitry bring to the table as a lyricist?

Dmitry writes unusual and abstract lyrics, which I’ve not actually seen anyone else out there capable of writing. His art is unique. When I read some of his poems, I feel an instant connection and the melody in my mind is born instantly.

I believe it all started with “I’ve Been A Fool” and “Illusion” (both on the Splashed album). On these two, I came up with the melody first, as well as the general “motif”.

Next came “Samurai”, which was intended for someone else; it’s about a road-weary rock veteran, a “warrior of yesteryear”, pondering his life’s path and current posture. I just snagged it and wrote the music instantly.

And now six more pieces of his have been put to music and you’ll hear them on our upcoming album, Island Poetry.

4. The Hammond organ straight through a Marshall amp is an unconventional choice. Can you tell us about the decision to use this setup and the impact it has on the song's character?

I once heard that this is what Deep Purple’s Jon Lord did for the early albums like In Rock and Fireball, and I decided to give it a go. A Hammond B3 can of course sound distorted and menacing through a Leslie, but the Marshall amp gives it that extra growling edge. It’s like Leslie’s evil twin. For an organist it’s also a mental shift, albeit a temporary one. With Leslie you’re always tempted to try switching from no spin to low speed and then to high speed rotation, which gives your sound that classic “whirl” and shimmer. With the Marshall, it’s just straight up grit and anger. I mean, listen to the solo on “Fireball”, it sounds extremely pissed off!

Yet, Debt Collector is not that kind of track (perhaps in the “anger” stakes, Stand Your Ground wins hands down, just wait for the new album to hear it!) It’s more bluesy and laid back, as I modeled it after another Purple classic, “Place In The Line”. But with more “showbiz” pizzazz, courtesy of Julie and Sharon’s artistic backing vocals. And as the lyrics are clearly tongue in cheek, it’s always reminded me of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. So it’s a mixture, which in a way makes it unique.

5. You recorded Debt Collector at Tom Hamilton's studio in Peabody. What is it about this studio and your relationship with Tom that keeps you coming back?

For one thing, we’re both virgos, having been born on the same day in September, only 12 years apart. Which means we’re both perfectionists obsessed with minute details. Ever since Kenne, our bassist, introduced us back in late 2020, we just clicked and have been working together ever since. He knows exactly what needs to be done when it comes to Painter, and I wouldn’t ever trust our songs to anyone else. His production style, in our case at least (I can’t speak for other bands he’s working with) is a throwback and a time capsule. He knows exactly how to keep that “modern edge” off our records and give them an authentic vintage sound. “Debt Collector”, for instance, really does sound like Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper) and Martin Birch (Deep Purple).

6. Your influences include bands like Deep Purple, Nazareth, and Alice Cooper. What elements of their music resonate most with Mad Painter, and how do you incorporate them into your own sound?

In the case of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep (and we’ve done quite a few Heep covers over the years) it’s the pivotal interplay between the guitar and the Hammond organ. There’s always that “competition” in the mix. It’s right there, up front. With bands like Nazareth, Slade, Sweet and Status Quo, it’s the dynamics, the atmosphere, and the “zeitgeist”, of “you had to be there” variety. If you think back to the albums they released between 1973 and 1975, to me that’s like the “Mount Rushmore” of classic rock. And the singles, too. I mean “Ballroom Blitz” I first heard at the age of 11, and I still think it’s the best rock’n’roll song ever written or recorded.

7. The single has a tongue-in-cheek lyrical approach, reminiscent of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. How important is humor or satire in your songwriting?

Very. To date, we’ve only written one political song, “Never Mind”, and it sounds almost transatlantic, with the US and UK references peppered throughout in equal measure. But the even more challenging aspect is to try and write lyrics which would apply and be relevant and relatable 50 years ago. I believe we’ve achieved that. On “Never Mind” I was just making fun of the type that goes with the flow and believes all the usual mainstream media sources. And winds up being fooled. “You may read the Guardian or Daily Mail, but either way all facts are for sale, etc.” No, I don’t like self-quoting.

Something like Debt Collector you can’t possibly take seriously. It’s like a deliberate parody of a pimple faced teenager who wants to “try your heart on my door opening technique”. I mean, the awkwardness is so to the fore, it’s comical.

8. Your performances often feature a dynamic lineup, including vocals, keyboards, backing vocals, and flute. How do these elements enhance the live experience for your audience?

We have quite a few what I’d call “jam tunes”. That’s when we all spread our wings and stretch our musical muscles. On “Nektarized”, “Two Horsemen” and “I Am The King” (all part of the upcoming album) there’s plenty of room for everyone to play solos, guitar, Hammond, synths, piano, and yes, flute. Sharon’s our flute player.

9. Your third album, Island Poetry, is set for release under the Italian label Epictronic. How does signing with this label change the game for Mad Painter, and what should fans expect from the album?

We used to use digital distribution outlets and release our music “on the cheap”. What this does is it buries our product beneath the endless wall of “white noise”. No matter how unique we may think we are, there’s everyone else and their grandma literally working on portable home studios and releasing “albums” on Spotify straight from their bedrooms.

Epictronic has been a game changer simply because there’s the extra promotional push involved (Wormholedeath, its parent label, is reputable worldwide) and the much needed distribution in markets like the EU and Japan. And it’s a CD release, so we actually go through the process of conceptualizing and designing the front and back covers as well as inserts, the old fashioned way.

10. Your music primarily appeals to fans of classic blues-rock. How do you plan to reach and engage a wider audience while staying true to your roots?

We really straddle several directions, so classic blues rock is only one of our facets, there’s a few more. Psychedelic rock, vintage prog, etc. I’ve not really thought about attracting a wider audience, it may be a futile pursuit if someone’s into Sleaford Mods and never heard of Status Quo or T.Rex, right? We’re universes apart. But I’ve noticed a strange, yet inevitable phenomenon in the last decade or two – people flocking to see tribute bands playing the music of Queen, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, AC/DC, you name it. And I’d love for us to get noticed by that crowd, cause I know that’s our ideal audience. We’re 99% original (1% covers), but that’s what gives us that edge over straight up tributers and copyists. We are influenced by a lot of different classic bands, but we’re not trying to copy anyone in particular.

11. With Debt Collector serving as the second single from Island Poetry, what themes or stories connect the tracks on the upcoming album?

Our previous single and video, “Empty Bottles”, is about hopelessness and isolation, yet it has a message of optimism, sort of pointing at that light at the end of the tunnel. It’s there, but only if you care to notice. “Nektarized” is a quasi-nonsensical stream of consciousness on the surface, but the lyrics are stitched together from various song and album titles by the German-British prog legends Nektar. The aforementioned “Stand Your Ground” is a leftover from the band’s early years, 2017, when I tried my best to write a metal song in the vein of the late Lemmy Kilmister, only imagining what he would sound like if he were really mad. Treading carefully on that edge between tongue in cheek humour and wrath! “I Am The King” is an existential and almost biblical tale, influenced by the Italian troubadour Angelo Branduardi. It’s that dichotomy of “I am eternal” vs. “I am nothing”. Sort of like the creator and His creation rolled into one being. “Spin Your Ventilator” is one of Dmitry’s poems, which just came together as a seemingly mindless AC/DC type headbanger. I won’t cover the full album, want to leave some surprises intact for next year, which is when it’s coming out.

12. Finally, what do you hope listeners take away from Debt Collector and Mad Painter's music as a whole? Are there particular emotions or experiences you aim to evoke?

Yes, we’re looking for our audiences to enjoy themselves and have a good time, whether they’re listening in their living room or live at a club. Unlike any other original band out there, safe for a few exceptions like The Lemon Twigs or Magic Potion, we’re sort of sending a message into the universe, saying, hey, if you’re head’s still in 1974, it’s OK, relax, we’ve got you covered. It wasn’t OK back in the 80s or 90s, when the music industry had very stringent rules and you HAD TO conform. But now it’s OK to be yourself again. If you want to go back in time, grow your hair really long and don a pair of bell bottoms, who’s stopping you? If you crave original rock in that same spirit – you’ve come to the right place.

Mad Painter interview - Empty Bottles

What can you say about this new release?

- The new release is our first single from the new upcoming album, Island Poetry. The single is called Empty Bottles. It’s a riveting rock’n’roll with a penchant for nostalgia for the golden days of rock’n’roll, i.e. the 1970s. Echoes of British glam – Mott the Hoople, Sweet, married to an uplifting organ swirl and a new wave style synth line in the intro and the outro. So it is a bit of a mix of genres, but if there’s one thing Empty Bottles isn’t it’s “modern”. It’s just not meant to be. Lyrically it takes you back to the sorrowful and sordid times of the pandemic lockdowns, when there was ostensibly nothing else to do but sit at home and drink. The song does, however, have a message of optimism, if you persevere, you will overcome your current obstacles, no matter how insurmountable they may seem or feel, and will triumph in the end. Life is still worth living and is meant to be enjoyed to the fullest. After all, that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?

How was the recording process of the single?

- It was very similar to any other number on our prior or our next album. Al Hendry, the drummer, usually goes in, patiently waits for the producer to set up all the necessary and critical bells and whistles. Then nails it with one take. We sit back and listen, and he says, no, I’d like another take. Although the one he just did was perfect! And then he knocks another brilliant one out. Two or three takes, and the drums are done. No fuss. Then the bass. Kenne Highland is an emotive and spontaneous player and is usually a guitarist, but in our band he plays bass. It usually takes a bit longer to do the bass tracks, but with some “Pro Tools surgery”, it’s still possible to complete them within a reasonable period of time. At the same time, we record my “scratch” vocals and keyboards. Once I get the rough mix of a song, I take it home, in order to add the real keyboards in my studio. The producer, Tom Hamilton, and I work using Dropbox and One Drive for uploading and downloading work-in-progress files. Following this, I return to do the real lead vocals and sometimes I invite Sharon and Julie to add their backups. It may happen in the same session or a different one. Once that’s completed and there’s a new mix, we invite Al Naha to record the guitar tracks. He usually prepares in advance and comes in knowing what to do, just like Al. And, following all that, the mixing begins. Tom’s usually on his own coming up with the mix, shares it and asks for our opinion. We usually weigh in, asking to change this or that – for instance, increase echo and reverb on the vocals, change the guitar/keyboard ratio or something along those lines. Tom knows our sound and what we want, so it’s a very efficient mode of operation. After about a third attempt, the mix is finally ready and if it’s a single we can’t wait to release, the final stage is mastering. It’s become a comfortable routine and one we’re now quite familiar with and fond of.

Can you shortly describe the track for us?

- I am not a guitarist, but I wanted an intro resembling Status Quo’s “Caroline”, so I did it on a synth. The chorus is a singalong that is quite catchy, “You can do anything that you want if you really want to…” It originally came to me as a “country rock” song in the vein of Smokie. But the way it’s turned out it’s anything but mellow or laid back. Especially the high octane rhythm guitar throughout! The drum break in the chorus is from “Saturday Night”, Bay City Rollers, although the Ramones may have had something very similar.

Who or what inspires you to write songs?

- Each songwriter, whether they will admit it or not, is a total sum of the music they hear, enjoy and consume. Sometimes a song just comes to your head when you least expect it. Just like that, out of thin air. And it’s hummable, so you reach for a pen and a piece of paper and get it down before it escapes. Other times, it’s the composers, players or performers you enjoy. To be inspired is not the same as to be motivated. I often feel inspired by the people I look up to, whether still among the living or not. So one day it could be Ritchie Blackmore or Ken Hensley or Rory Gallagher, the next – Brian Connolly of the Sweet. Also, there’s a difference between inspiration and influence. You may be influenced by certain bands, draw a certain amount of inspiration from another set of bands, and feel motivated by the career span and trajectory of yet another set of bands.

Which bands inspires the sound of Mad Painter?

- That is a loaded question. We are an amalgamation of influences, each player has a unique taste palette, but somewhere in the middle we all intersect. We overlap on the heavy, bluesy epic rock of the 1960s and 70s. Vanilla Fudge, the MC5s, Blue Cheer, Mountain, Iron Butterfly, Grand Funk Railroad, Steppenwolf, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Nazareth, Quo, Sweet, Slade, Procol Harum, Spooky Tooth. But we have a unique and patented Painter sound, which is now hard to confuse with anyone else.

Whom would you like to feature with? Like your dream collaboration?

- Never thought about inviting a “name” muso to make a cameo on one of our songs, that would be fantastic of course. But have to think more about it. But as far as sharing a bill, open for a legendary band, thinking about the bands that have played in our neck of the woods in the last decade, then either Michael Schenker Group or Wishbone Ash. These guys play at venues like the Narrows Centre for the Arts and the Bull Run, and it would be lovely to get a gig, opening for them.

How is the independent and underground scene in your country?

- To tell you the truth, we’ve not really kept tabs on our competition. It makes very little sense, as we’re not really competing with what’s out there now, today, we’re competing with the acts we all look up to, who were big and happening 50 years ago. Someone like Argent, for instance. If we were around back in 1974, we could be sharing a bill with Argent, and that would’ve been a dream come true. Just to provide one example. The competition today is very stiff, gigs aren’t too easy to come by at all. Especially in the Boston area. I keep hearing band names treading the same circuit as us, people like Muck & The Mires, but we’ve not really checked anybody out. Everyone’s doing their own thing, but a lot of today’s local bands sound very much alike. We’re mining our own seam and have our own unique and dedicated fans. And it’s cool like that.

What are your plans for the future?

- Hopefully branch out into other territories beyond just the greater Boston area, play festivals, record more albums, singles, videos, cause we know somewhere out there people are wondering, what are Mad Painter up to next?

Mad Painter - Jan 2024
Interviewed by: Laura Williams, Vinyl Lollipops

https://vinyllollipops.com

Al Nahabedian (Al Naha) – Guitars
Kenne Highland – Bass
Alan Hendry – Drums
Alex Gitlin – Vocals, Keyboards
Sharon Crumrine – Vocals, Tambourine, Flute
Julie Gee - Vocals

Laura: What genre of music do you consider Mad Painter to be?

MP: Is there such a genre as 70s rock? That would be ideal. But then, if you say that, you get tagged as a tribute band. We're not copying anyone in particular, just absorbing the vibes of the best era in the history of rock. A lot of people call us "psychedelic". There's a strong 60s and 70s garage/punk influence on one end of the spectrum (Nazz/Stooges/MC5/Blue Cheer/Ramones/The New York Dolls) and classic melodic/heroic/dramatic rock on the other. The influences really run a wild gamut from Grand Funk, Spooky Tooth, Mountain, Small Faces, Mott the Hoople, Cactus and Iron Butterfly to Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Argent, Wishbone Ash and Rainbow. So you can draw your own conclusion – it is a mix. But we do have our own unique sound, although I wouldn't be so bold as to state that we've created our own genre! No. It's screaming, distorted guitars and epic Hammond organ and harmony vocals to match. Our live set is always rambunctious, we like to shake things up and try our best to whip our audiences into a euphoric frenzy.

Laura: What’s the ultimate direction for your band?

MP: Musically, as well as stage show-wise, if we can fool the audience into thinking they've been transported 50 years back in a time machine, we've done our job. As for the future, who knows. The "Splashed" album is a hybrid, half-hard rock (and some even say progressive), and half – orchestrated ballads, blues, pop. This latter half was a detour. Last year we released two singles, "Illusion" and "Rock and Roll Samurai", as well as promotional / staged videos. That kind of set the direction for the forseeable future.

Laura: How would you describe your music-making process?

MP: Sometimes the lyrics come to mind first, not the entire thing, but just snippets, like a catchy chorus idea. Then more lyrics follow, once I've had a chance to sit down and analyze where the message is going. More often than not, the melody appears before everything else, and then I try to come up with suitable lyrics. We're in the middle of recording a follow up to our Splashed album, and our lyricist-in-chief, Dmitry Epstein, has been kind enough to provide the lyrics for a lot of our new numbers, including the ones we're already road-testing live.

Laura: Why call the band “Mad Painter?”

MP: It's just what we do. Sonic painting. Throwing notes, harmonies, choruses, solos and other aural bits onto the canvas that is either our live audience or the studio mixing board. And it takes a madman to create something really special – look at van Gogh! Was he a "normal, average guy"? Not at all. It takes a mindset of a "madman" to create our type of music.

Laura: What should fans expect to experience at a show?

MP: A healthy dose of authentic, old-fashioned rock'n'roll, for one thing. If you like it loud, you've come to the right place. We're not a bone-crunching, skull-crushing, eardrum-splitting metal band. But once upon a time The Who and Deep Purple were known as the loudest bands on the live circuit. I think the same context applies to us. Dynamics is another thing. Rock music is a game of contrasts, light and shade, slow and fast, lull them into a sense of "false security", then boom! A sonic attack. This is what the likes of Black Sabbath and Hawkwind have excelled at. Finally, variety. We don't stick to any one genre, strictly speaking, that would be boring. There are elements of jazz, blues, glam rock, pub rock, pop, space rock, everything and a kitchen sink. What we DO NOT have are modern influences. We are a "70s band", so if you're looking for a more modern sound, you won't be getting it from us. We are a period piece.

Laura: Typical question here. Who has influenced you the most via music?

MP: As a songwriter/composer, I think I can cite Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. As a teen, I was into ABBA and Chris De Burgh, who released a plethora of brilliant albums in the 70s, prior to The Lady In Red. Slade, Sweet, Status Quo, Suzi Quatro, Mud and Wizzard are all in there. As for the rest of the band, the influences are very diverse, but we do intersect somewhere and have fun during rehearsals. Which makes for great chemistry live and in the studio. We do overlap on our musical tastes and all come from the same era, both musically and aesthetically.

Laura: How can fans and future fans locate, listen to and buy your music?

MP: Our first two albums, "Mad Painter" (2016), and "Splashed" (2023) are available on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music. "Splashed" is out on the Italian label Epictronic, and the CD is coming out shortly. On the internet you can find us at

https://madpainter.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/madpainter1/
https://www.instagram.com/madpainterband/
https://twitter.com/painter_mad

Laura: Is there anything else you would like your fans to know?

MP: If you're in the Boston area, please keep an eye on our website and socials above. The Jungle in Somerville has become our "stomping ground", and we're starting to pick up more dates at the Square Root in Roslindale. If you see a show on the calendar, do stop by and say hello! In 2024 we are looking to break beyond the Boston market, possibly into Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

Laura: What is coming up next for Mad painter?

MP: We've made our New York City debut last year at the Parkside Lounge, and are very much looking forward to coming back there. The reception was beyond wonderful. Also, there are possibly Long Island gigs and summer festival dates on the books. Stay tuned. Most importantly, the follow up album to "Splashed" is progressing nicely in the studio. It'll take a while with the mixing and mastering, not to mention finishing the tracks (9 or 10 out of 13 already in the can!), well, that's something to look forward to in the next year!

© Vinyl Lollipops

Breathing The Core interview - September 2023

http://www.breathingthecore.com/2023/09/interviews-mad-painter.html

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

I had this crazy idea of putting together a band circa 1990 and calling it Mad Painter. Why? Because as a musician, singer and songwriter I’ve always viewed myself as a “sonic” painter. I paint with notes. Now that I have a solid band, WE paint with aural palettes and colours, which are rhythms, notes, solos, chords, etc. Nothing came out of it at the time and I put the idea on hold for a very long time. It was just a wacky fantasy of mine. But then, many decades later, I got together with two friends for an impromptu jam after Christmas 2015; things just started to gel and we took it to the next level.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

There was no choice, really. It's who I am. And I think it goes for all current Mad Painter members. We're not classical or jazz players. We're into rock. We all grew up on the 60s British beat and psychedelia, from the Small Faces to The Move and Procol Harum, the American "raw power" in the early 70s, Grand Funk, Dust, Frijid Pink, MC5, Mountain, and mainly the glam, hard and prog rock from the first half of the 70s, from Bowie, Sweet, Mott, Faces and Suzi Q to Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Nazareth. We do wear our influences on our sleeves and they're pretty diverse. For me in the early-mid 90s, as a 20-something it was a very easy route to take, 1970s escapism. Because everything that was happening in music at the time was so repulsive. That was a time of great discovery for me. But my bandmates, who were mostly born in the 1950s, actually LIVED it in the first place. So musically they're the only kind of musicians I feel I could connect with. There were many false starts and misfires prior to this lineup coming together. If I got together with people my age, I'd be hearing all the wrong sounds borrowed from Metallica, Dream Theatre, Malmsteen, whatever, and it bothered me. Those aren't my styles and they're not part of the Painter universe. With this lineup I feel it's important to be friends and musical soul mates, it makes all the difference in the world.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Sort of. The Boston scene is interconnected. One way or another you're bound to run into someone who knows someone else. I met Kenne, veteran of the Boston and Mid Western rock scene, in early 2017 at a Painter gig in Cambridge, at the Out of the Blue gallery. We were a guitar-less trio – just me on vocals and keys, and a rhythm section. And he approached me after the show and compared our sound to Aphrodite's Child, a huge compliment. So one thing led to another and he joined us, first on guitar and then bass, when the previous bassist quit. After the Covid malaise of 2020, we switched drummers too, and it was another friend and bandmate of Kenne's, Alan Hendry. And finally, he brought along another friend and bandmate, guitarist Al Naha, and the "corporate takeover" of Painter was complete. Kenne's got his own Kenne Highland Airforce, and the lineup is very similar, although the sound's totally different.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Alex Gitlin, vocals and keyboards: Status Quo, Uriah Heep
Alan Hendry, drums: King Crimson, Genesis, Jethro Tull
Kenne Highland, bass: Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls, Velvet Underground
Julie Gee, backing vocals: Elton John, Queen
Al Naha, guitar: Laibach, The Fall

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

It's a sonic vision. It's like a muse, it can visit you at any time, anywhere, even in your sleep. I grew up on classic Uriah Heep (Lawton, Byron on vocals) and Mk II and III of Deep Purple (Gillan, Coverdale). And I've always been fascinated by the sound of Hammond organ. Whether distorted or jazzy, with or without percussion and vibrato, different drawbar settings, etc. My late friend Eddie Hardin (Hardin York, Butterfly Ball, Wizards Convention, etc.) was my mentor. And the late Ken Hensley created such sublime dreamy soundscapes, he's really the main melodic influence on me. Our two singles off the forthcoming album, "Illusion" and "Rock and Roll Samurai" speak for themselves.

6. Where was your last gig?

The Jungle in Somerville. We come back there once in a while and the reception is always overwhelming!

7. Where would you like to act?

I'm not an actor and have always had trouble impersonating someone else on stage in a theatrical setting. I've got to be me, to paraphrase Sammy Davis Jr. and the Golden Rainbow musical. This is really why I never fit in with various tribute bands I'd try out for as a keyboardist.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

If you mean who we'd like to open for, I have to be realistic, not many great or worthwhile musicians and bands are left on this Earth, from our favourite era. It would be great if we landed an opening spot for Andy Powell's Wishbone Ash or the modern version of Michael Schenker Group.

9. Whom not?

Anyone current, it would be a mismatch and everyone, including ourselves, would be disappointed. We don’t fit in with the current scene any more than we would 20 or 30 years ago. Nor our ethos.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

I have, and it's normal. Our debut show back in Oct. 2016 was a total disaster. As a performer you grow and over the years acquire more experience, and your self-confidence will keep building up. I used to have terrible anxiety before each show, and I've analyzed it and come to the conclusion that it had several contributing factors. First, if you're not sure in your bandmates' capabilities and desire to do their best on stage, especially if they're not your friends and have their own agenda. They'll let you down. Secondly, the voice. As a vocalist, I know it takes a few years to shape it. Sometimes you're not sure if you can reach that high note, and that feeling can give you serious chills. These days though there's no anxiety, because with this lineup I know my songs are in the best hands possible, and we feel each other's support on and off stage. It's a comfy feeling. No more stagefright when all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

The aforementioned three, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Status Quo. But more than any band, I'm inspired by the whole culture of the 1970s UK pre-punk scene. It was nothing short of magical. One night you could go out and see Rory Gallagher, the next T.Rex or Queen, as their star was just rising, then The Sweet and Nazareth. The list goes on. It was a phenomenon the likes of which are not going to repeat in our lifetime, that is for sure.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

One very nice lady in a club once asked me for an autographed CD of our new album, Splashed. She said, it's for a friend of hers who is deaf. Then she added, hopefully there are lyrics printed inside? So this person wouldn't be able to hear our music but will spend time reading my lyrics. I wasn't sure how to react, but of course I accommodated her.

13. What do you think of your fans?

They're a rowdy, boisterous bunch. Par for the course, cause that's how we are, too. We now see regulars at our shows, those that come to every Painter show in the area. Which is terrific. But then, everyone knows each other and it's hard to draw the line between "other bands" within the Painter circle and just followers, that line is blurred. We're a bit like Hawkwind, there are satellite bands in our orbit, some of them share members with Painter, and vice versa, Painter is in some other bands' orbits.

14. What do you think of our site?

I've just spent a few minutes on your Genres and Subgenres page, and I am fascinated by how many there are out there. It's juts mind blowing. Mathcore? Jazz Metal? Nintendocore? Egyptian Metal? Post shoegaze! Wow. I wonder which subcategory we fit into.

15. Something to add?

Sure. We're about to make our debut in New York City this Saturday, at the Parkside Lounge in lower Manhattan. It's next to Katz's Delicatessen, you know, the place where they filmed Meg Ryan's orgasm in When Harry Met Sally. That was probably some kind of a pre-core. And our album, Splashed, is being released now on a label that has just signed us, Epictronic. The future is bright for Painter, come see us if you're in the area, keep an eye on our website and connect with us on social media.

From The Depths Entertainment interviews Mad Painter

https://www.ftdmusic.com/2023/07/interview-mad-painter-72023.html

1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Mad Painter" and is there any meaning behind it?

I quit classical piano at the tender age of 8, so I’d be inclined to think that I’m self-taught, although I’m sure all those gammas and music theory from those early years did pay off. My earliest musical influences would have to be the Finnish band Hurriganes (their hit, “Get On”, was literally my first rock’n’roll) and The Sweet. When I was 11, I got bitten by the “Ballroom Blitz” bug! Also, at 11, I heard Uriah Heep for the first time, the album was “Look At Yourself”. As a teen, I got into Nazareth, Queen, Paul McCartney and Wings, and Rod Stewart. As a Hammond player of course my strongest influences are Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) and Jon Lord (Deep Purple) – both unfortunately no longer with us. I like the more classically trained and influenced players like Rick Van Der Linden (Ekseption), Keith Emerson (ELP) and Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat). On the jazz side, my biggest Hammond influences are the “three kings”: Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Brother Jack McDuff.

I had the dream of putting together my own band when I was 20 and call it Mad Painter. Even at the time I thought it’d be rooted in the British rock and blues tradition of the 1970s, as I was especially influenced by the likes of Uriah Heep, Status Quo, Rory Gallagher and Deep Purple. It didn’t materialize at the time, but I’ve learned to play the organ proficiently by attending the regular weekly Blues Jam at the Middle East. Throughout the 90s, I’ve spent time in various bands from glam rock (Silver Star) and funk (Uprise) to heavy metal (Mantis) and blues (Shaky Deal). After a long break, I resumed and tried fitting in into two tribute bands, Stormbringer (Deep Purple) and Lights Out (UFO) but it didn’t feel right. I wanted to perform and record my own original compositions. Finally the day came when the first lineup of Mad Painter got together for a jam in late 2015. By then, I’d already written most of the songs that became part of our first album (you can find it on YouTube), such as Gone Gone Gone, Barely Alive and Smile. The lineup kept changing with endless auditions and practices, and even occasional gigs, until one day all pieces of the puzzle fell into place and this current lineup got solidified. Everyone in the band is a pleasure to work with, we have a lot of influences in common, which makes for fun jams and rehearsals, as we all tend to think alike, musically.

Mad Painter is an audio-visual concept, really. We do what artists do, only instead of colors we use sonic palettes, we paint aurally with rhythms, notes, hooks, licks, melodies, etc. It can get conceptual, abstract, and just plain weird sometimes, but other times it’s pretty straightforward – portraits and landscapes, a little bit of everything for every mood. There’s a certain drama associated with certain paintings. Seeing certain ones can cause serious heartache. Others can make you blue. Or happy. It’s the same with music.

2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

Sheer joy and exhilaration. This euphoric feeling of being happy to be alive, a sort of utopia and a temporary escape (or solace) for the soul in today's grim world. Our music's pretty diverse, so fans of different genres will find something to like no matter what they're into, as long as they're prepared for the 70s (and, truth be told, late 60s) nostalgia. It's not psychedelia or hard rock in their purest forms, it's a mixture. With some catchy pop hooks and melodies thrown in for good measure. If it isn't melodic, it's not worth bothering with, in my view. Some people may listen to a certain MP number and go, "hmm, this sounds like Vanilla Fudge… or the Small Faces". Fine. We do that a lot during our rehearsals. But it's actually whatever comes to our minds, in terms of songwriting and arrangements. We know we have our own patented Painter sound, our unique brand. It's now unmistakable.

3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?

It is an authentic trip back to the era when music mattered. When it was genuine and a way of life, whether we're referring to a musician, a fan or a devoted follower and collector. It's almost like a ritual, a religious experience. Those authentic values of musicianship are definitely lost in today's world, and we're here to revive them. I suppose we're also here to bridge this gap – fans of the newer genres from this millennium may not understand us (but we're still hoping to sway some of them with our brand of rock'n'roll!), and older fans who remember all the good bands and times may be stuck on the perpetual tribute circuit. We're unique in that we're bringing them something fresh, new and original, yet it sounds like it was done 50 years ago.

4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

Touring is not on the cards at the moment due to various members' personal circumstances. But, looking at the rosters of bands that visit these locales once in a while, we'd love to open for Andy Powell's Wishbone Ash, Michael Schenker Group or the Zombies. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are heroes of ours.

5. How has Covid affected what you do?

We didn't do much from the start of the lockdown (following a stormer of a show at the Jungle, March 8, 2020) for the next six months. Then coyly got together for an impromptu jam just to see if the old chemistry was still there. Albeit, with a new drummer. And we clicked instantly. We kept working on our numbers, old and new, and eventually wound up in the studio in Peabody in December 2020. This was a time when you had to be very careful not to gather in a group of more than three in a closed space. For the next year, we were working with our new producer, Tom Hamilton, on what eventually became our Splashed album. So most of 2021 was spent in his studio, again, a couple of folks at a time. First, pandemic precautions, and secondly, he didn't need all of us in the room at the same time. But June 2021 marked our return to the live stage, at the Union Tavern in Somerville. Everyone was wearing masks. And there were lots of people in attendance, and the reception was hot. You could tell there were a lot of folks hungry for live music that night, after a long break.

6. What’s your take on the current state of Rock?

I honestly don't know, as I don't follow it. Neither do my bandmates. It's a choice. What's happening now doesn't matter. Who's still alive that I would like to follow? Let's face it. Maybe Uriah Heep. Jethro Tull. Alice Cooper, Hawkwind. Not even Deep Purple, since Ritchie Blackmore's departure in 1993. I was keeping tabs on Motorhead and Dio, but Lemmy and Ronnie James are no longer with us.

I hear bits and pieces about certain musicians complaining about the lack of revenues due to the proliferation of streaming services. I'm not too bothered by all that, personally. I know there's not a lot of money in CD sales. A CD has become a promotional tool for your live concerts. And you get a fraction of a penny from every Spotify stream. All that is noise. What matters is not what's happening now, but what's happening in the Mad Painter camp. In our minds, we're "competing" with the greats back in 1968-75. Which is why the rehearsals are so much fun. There's Mountain, MC5, Grand Funk, Bloodrock, Uriah Heep, Procol Harum, Deep Purple and Spooky Tooth in our sound. It's like soup. If you use the right ingredients and seasonings and in the right proportions, it's tasty.

7. What's the current music scene like there in New York?

We've just lost a friend, Justine Covault, head of the local Red on Red Records, and leader of her own band, Justine & The Unclean. This is a sad loss. Through various indie charts we hear of our "competition", Muck & The Mires, Key Of Caustic, Girl with a Hawk, Chelsea Curve. These are all Boston area bands. Some we're in contact with and reach out to once in a while to potentially share a bill with. Which we've done with the Tsunami of Sound, The Stigmatics and The Thigh Scrapers. But beyond that, I'm not too knowledgeable. I vaguely know there's a lot of post-punk pop and just plain post-punk on the scene now. It's like time has stood still since the late 80s in Boston. Which is actually advantageous for us, cause we stick out like a store thumb! Nobody looks or sounds like us now. Which wouldn't have been the case 5 decades ago.

8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?

It doesn't matter. It's not even an icing on the cake. You're in it for fun these days, and if you can financially back your own venture with the advent of a full-time job, all the better, you'll stay afloat that much longer. Before the deal with Epictronic, we've released our "Splashed" album on CD via CD Baby. It's also streaming on all major platforms. OK, so CD Baby is showing they owe us $17 at the moment. Wow. That's a fortune, isn't it. Their "cut off" amount for payment is $25. We've not reached it yet. It's infinitely more important to bring joy to your audiences live and on record and to draw inspiration from the energy you get from them while on stage than to sweat the small stuff.

9. What's next for Mad Painter?

The recording sessions have already begun for the follow-up to "Splashed". Lots of new songs, courtesy of my songwriting partner and friend Dmitry Epstein. As before, he writes the lyrics and I put them to music. Then we get together as a band and start arranging everything – solos, intros, middle parts, etc. This is what we are working on at the moment. Then we're venturing out to New York for a gig in East Village, Sept. 2nd. And hopefully more gigs on the horizon, but with the rehearsals and upcoming recording sessions, the schedule is heating up. Not to forget, Kenne, Al and Alan are in other bands, too. Kenne Highland's Airforce is touring Upstate NY and Pennsylvania in October.

10. Any shoutouts?

A big shout out to Tom Hamilton, our producer, a trooper, an ardent Painter ally, and the ONLY person we trust our music with.

The soundtrack of my life.

Alex Gitlin, Mad Painter’s songwriter, keyboardist, and lead vocalist, on the recordings, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him.

June 2023

The first music I remember hearing. - It would have to be either “El Bimbo”, the Paul Mauriat Orchestra version, or Mireille Mathieu’s “Pourquoi le monde est sans amour”. For sure the latter is the song I’ve learned phonetically at the age of six. I didn’t know French and didn’t understand the words, but the title stands for “Why is the world without love”.

The first song I performed live. - That would be circa 1991, with my first band, Junky Donkey, later renamed Silver Star. It was a cover of Supermax “World Of Today”. I knew it from my teens, as this was one of my most favorite bands growing up, but the rest of the guys in the band did not. The singer learned it from the cassette I loaned him. It’s catchy, starting with:

Mama's in the kitchen
Making funky bread
Papa's in the living room
The newspaper already read

Does not sound like anything special, but it was very special to me.

The greatest album of all time. - All my life it’s been a tossup between Chris de Burgh “Eastern Wind” and Mike Batt’s “Tarot Suite”. The former came out in 1980, the latter 1979. The songs on both are incredible, they penetrate your mind and touch you deeply if you give them a chance. “Tarot” is also special for the inclusion of many artists I’ve looked up to and revered since I was 20 (it was my twentieth birthday present!), Colin Blunstone, Rory Gallagher and Roger Chapman.

The guitar hero. - No secret or surprise here. Ritchie Blackmore, bar none. An influence on my entire life and way of thinking.

The singer. - Freddie Mercury. He possessed a monstrous, otherworldly talent. I remember mourning his passing over thirty years ago. Couldn’t eat, sleep or function normally for quite a few days. It affected me deeply, profoundly, fundamentally.

The songwriter. - Not just a larger-than life presence, not only a master of bass, but also one of the best poets rock’n’roll has ever known. Phil Lynott. No one could touch his songs, his lyrics, his writing, and composition prowess, he was one of a kind.

The best record I made. - Since I’ve done only two with Mad Painter, of course I’ll go with the latest LP, Splashed, released in March this year. It’s uneven stylistically, mixing heavy melodic rock, pop, blues, balladry and more, but it’s like that on purpose. 17 songs, a few covers, but mostly originals. I pretty much emptied the vaults, combining fresh new recordings of my original pop demos from 1997 with fresher material, written between 2011 and 2021. I think there’s something for everyone on this record. Also, the production is something I’m very pleased with. It’s professional, yet nuanced, subtle, warm, and organic. It takes you back in time, just like the music.

The worst record I made. - Ahem… Our first album, simply titled, Mad Painter, was recorded in 2016 in two days in a dungeon! A low-fi affair and done on a shoestring budget. Yet there are some good songs on it, which are still present in our live set. Kenne, our bass player, calls it “Garage Prog”. You can find it on YouTube.

My guilty pleasure. - If I enjoy something, I don’t feel guilty about it if I remember enjoying it as a kid and realize that I still do today. But perhaps Baltimora comes to mind, not just the big hit, Tarzan Boy, but the entire Living In The Background album. The video, which I got to see decades later, is quite dodgy, but it’s the music I remember with great fondness.

The most underrated band ever. - This has got to be a band I love, which no one else (outside of certain anorak circles!) has heard of. And such a band does exist, it is Satin Whale, from Germany.

The best live album. - This one’s easy for me. Of course, there’s Deep Purple “Made in Japan”, Uriah Heep “Live” and UFO “Strangers in the Night”, but for me the absolute pinnacle is Thin Lizzy “Live And Dangerous”. It belongs on the top of Olympus.

The cult hero. - Hands down, it’s Alex Harvey, of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band fame. He was so unique and so incredible, watching vintage footage of the band is mesmerizing, while listening to the records is a palpable experience. On records like “Framed” and “Next” you could cut the tension and the suspense with a knife.

My “in the mood for love” song. - Of course, this sort of thing is driven by memories. My most vivid one is from 1990, and the song is “Now You’re Gone” by Jeff Lynne – freshly off his Armchair Theatre album.

The song that makes me cry. - Beggars Opera “Smiling In A Summer Dress”, from the Sagittary album. Once you hear the lyrics and realize it’s about THAT, you will cry too. No, I’m not going to spell it out.

My Saturday Night Party Song. - Rod Stewart “Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller”, it opens his Smiler album. Puts you in a dancing mood instantly. I was at a party sometime in 1994, and most of the music played on the stereo was boring, then this tune came on and everybody started jumping about. It has that kind of effect.

The song I want played at my funeral. - You know, I hope they don’t play any songs at my funeral, whenever that may be. Just share some memories, exchange funny stories and anecdotes. There is, however, one track I feel proudest of above all else. It’s “Kindness”, I recorded it with Silver Star in 1994 or 95.

Outsider Rock Presents:

https://outsiderrock.ca/2023/04/26/mad-painter-an-interview-with-alex-gitlin

MAD PAINTER – AN INTERVIEW WITH ALEX GITLIN
APRIL 26, 2023

by Kevin Julie

MAD PAINTER have released their 2nd album Splashed. The album (reviewed elsewhere here) features 17 tracks, including the singles/videos “Illusion” and “Rock and Roll Samurai”, as well as a few covers, a diverse mix of classic rock, pop, and ballads. The band’s singer, keyboard player, and songwriter is Alex Gitlin, who I’ve known for many years. Alex is extremely knowledgeable about his ’70s classic rock, glam, and pop acts, And fashions! In this interview, Alex discusses the band’s history, the songs from Splashed, the band’s live show, and future. Enjoy the read. *Check out Splashed, as well as the links below.

Can you tell me a bit about the band (players), just how you connected and mutual influences?

The band’s been around since early 2016, but it was a totally different, and ever changing, line-up. We recorded our first album, which came out only digitally (YouTube, Spotify). For it, I gathered all the songs I’d written most recently and rehearsed with “embryonic” Painter in 2014-15, before Mad Painter Mk I even materialized. There were some ferocious rockers on it like Beware of the Dream, the title track, etc., which are still very much part of our live show. The aforementioned album was done in one weekend, then our producer took the tapes, drove back home and added his own guitar and production and mixing. We had no control over it at all. The result came out charmingly primitive, the sort of low-fi sound that our bassist Kenne Highland affectionately calls Garage Prog.

We went from strength to strength for a couple of years, playing shows as a trio, without a guitar, or hiring a guitar player for one gig. Those weren’t the happiest of times. Sometime before the lockdown of 2020, we got together with Kenne, Alan Hendry on drums and Al Naha on guitar, and jammed, getting a totally different and fresh vibe from it. We all felt enthused and encouraged and decided to continue as a unit. Alan and Al also play in Kenne Highland’s Airforce, an altogether different band, which Painter occasionally shares a bill with. It just felt right, and that’s how the patented Painter sound was born.

Kenne’s a big fan of late ’60s rock and blues, the fuzzier the better. He loves Vanilla Fudge, The Move and Small Faces. Psychedelic stuff. We all have our own influences and musical favorites, but we do converge somewhere in the middle, sort of overlapping on Mountain, Grand Funk, Spooky Tooth, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Procol Harum and Iron Butterfly. In a practice, you’ll often hear him say, “let’s do the Vanilla Fudge version”, that just means long, drawn-out, fuzz-drenched and with screaming organ and guitar.

The guys in my band are ’60s and ’70s punk fans, so anything from The Fugs, Blue Cheer and MC5 to Iggy Pop, you get the picture. Personally, I’m not big on punk, but Kenne started out his musical career in 1976 with the Gizmos in the MidWest. And he’s been rolling ever since. You can look him up on Discogs under Johnny & The Jumper Cables, The Gizmos, Afrika Corps, Hopelessly Obscure, etc.

Where did the songs from the new album come from — ie; time period, circumstances, etc?

The lyrics to our two singles, “Illusion” and “Rock And Roll Samurai”, were written by my friend Dmitry M. Epstein, circa 2017. I rehearsed them with the first lineup but they didn’t make the cut for the album, as we just weren’t ready at the time it was recorded. We did have a second recording session a year later, but it was aborted. Luckily, it produced good quality demos, which this current lineup took as templates. Same can be said for The Moon and San Michel, completely different in style, but same time frame and trajectory. Whereas the two aforementioned singles are heavy rock in the Uriah Heep vein, San Michel is nostalgic ’70s pop with French flavor and The Moon is simply a Queen-lite pastiche. I’m not much of a singer, I have a limited vocal range, but I was thinking of Freddie, Brian, John and Roger when I wrote that number. It’s silly, whimsical and English, much like “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon”. Julie Gee has provided the kind of background vocals that would emulate that style. Another couple of numbers, soft ballads, “I’ve Been A Fool” and “I Live For Love”, are once again leftovers from the prior lineup that were not captured on the first album. “Fool” was written after I watched “Jersey Boys”, a biopic about Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, while “I Live For Love” was me trying to pay homage to my heroes Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne (ELO). Both heavily orchestrated; since I didn’t have the luxury of an actual string orchestra, I had to do it all on my Juno synthesizer. I hated for so many songs, however disparate stylistically, to be languishing in the vaults and gathering dust. So we’ve revived them. Talk about reviving! Three more numbers had been waiting their turn for nigh on 25 years! Back in 1997, while I was in between bands, I recorded demos of “I Don’t Know”, “Lie To Me” and “A Friend In France”. And it wasn’t until the year 2021 that the right opportunity presented itself and we’ve collectively brought them back to life. It was a dream come true. While the original demo of “I Don’t Know” sounded a bit like Gilbert O’Sullivan, who I’ve always liked, the album version has that mid-70s disco feel a-la “I’m On Fire” by 5000 Volts. I’m really proud of this number, it’s the kind of a song I grew up listening to, and the string arrangement really gives it the most authentic of auras.

Both “Lie To Me” and another ballad, “Let Him Go”, despite being almost 25 years apart, are autobiographical. A lot of my lyrics are, actually. On “Let Him Go”, while recording vocals, I was thinking of Freddie Mercury, I could never match his greatness, EVER, but he inspired this number in a huge way. But also Frank Sinatra, especially “That’s Life”. The jazzy organ solo is very much of that “ilk”, although I’ve listened to Jimmy Smith and other Hammond greats before daring to record it.

The album has 17 tracks, so it’s very much a “kitchen sink” project. It’s quite diverse, and some people find the variety to be a good thing – a little bit of something for every taste. Others think it’s incredibly inconsistent (or schizo, as I would call it!) It’s like that by design. It’s a bit of a milestone, a roundup of everything I’d had to hold back prior to the recording sessions, which started in early 2021. There was this period of forced inactivity between the very last gig we played at the Jungle on March 8, 2020 and when we cautiously got back together again for a jam in Sept. 2020, right after my birthday. After sitting home for six months with absolutely nowhere to go, it felt so good to be jamming again, therapeutic even. And towards the end of that year, we landed in Peabody, at producer Tom Hamilton’s home studio, to lay down tracks for the Airforce. That was my introduction to Tom. He’s an ace and knows exactly what feels and sounds right for Painter. He’s the only producer I’d ever trust my music to. So during a break, I got on a zoom call with a few friends including John Lawton, who’s no longer with us. I remember that evening so well. John didn’t look or sound very cheerful, but then this was in the middle of the pandemic, a lot of people were affected emotionally. And on top of it, Ken Hensley had just recently passed. Little did I know this would be the last time I’d speak to John. His widow Iris says he’d have loved our CD. And when I’d quit music and felt uninspired, back in 2009, he encouraged me to get back into it, saying, “You don’t have to be rich to play.” He was so right. But with that said, when you’re doing it all yourself, promotions, recording, working with a producer, paying for the studio time, then mixing and mastering, it certainly adds up. I mean, when no management or record company would have your back. On the other hand, you live and die by your product, and there’s no one in the “biz” to screw you over.

Why the 2 covers? Stealin (IMO) gets done a lot, but the Randy Pie cover (Highway Driver) was an interesting choice.

Stealin’ was Kenne’s choice. We’ve always jammed on Heep covers, “Circle of Hands”, “Easy Livin'”, etc. And he called it Uriah Cheap. He’s been a Heep fan since 1973, when he first heard them. The first single he got may have been “Stealin'”, and I know for certain the following year’s Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert featuring UH made quite an impression on him. Then there’s Randy Pie… a German funk-disco combo from the mid-70s, starring the late Bernd Wippich. It was a hit in Austria and Germany at the time. We’ve jammed on this number with the prior line-up, but it took shape as a melodic hard rock number when the current lineup started running through it. It is still quite retro in sound, but a radical departure from the funky original. People reviewing our album usually don’t know this is a cover, so they think we’ve written a road trip song! But the proper credits are on the back of the CD.

Do you write All the songs, or are there co-credits and input from other band members?

I usually write the originals and, in some cases, co-write with Dmitry. He’s a poet and I’m a composer. We have Dmitry to thank for “Fool”, “Illusion” and “RnR Samurai”, with more to come in the near future! It’s the same dynamic as Elton John – Bernie Taupin or Gary Brooker – Keith Reid. But I usually listen to my guys when it comes to the arrangements – like why won’t we do a bridge here or a drum break there. Intros and outros, softer and harder bits, and so forth. They usually have good suggestions!

There is such a wide variety of tunes, from organ driven rockers, to ballads, to almost theatrical ‘show’ tunes. What gives?

(As previously stated), I’ve taken the kitchen sink approach. Open the vaults – empty the vaults. What have you got? Give me everything. This is what happens when you hold out for a quarter of a century. In my defense, I’m thinking Queen could have astonishingly heavy bits on albums like “A Night At The Opera”, for instance, sitting next to quaint, clever and whimsical little ditties like Seaside Rendezvous. But from the looks of it, judging by the critical and listener reaction, the listeners by far prefer our heavier side, so yes, the next one will be more consistent in terms of style. Let’s just say, I’ve gotten things like “You Nearly Stole My Heart Away” out of my system, time to move on. Speaking of which… this is one song on which I decided to take the “delicate whisper” approach, sort of borrowed from Colin Blunstone of the Zombies. I don’t normally sing like this, but it worked on this tune.

Can you tell me a bit about the John Sloman song (“Parting Line”), and how you ended up using the lyrics and putting them to a new song? (Was John cool with this? Any feedback?)

John… it’s a story onto itself. I came across his lyrics somewhere on the internet, and one song in particular, from his first solo album, ‘Disappearances Can Be Deceptive’, really touched me. It just sort of clicked in my brain. I heard the chugga-chugga Status Quo shuffle in my head to the tune of:

As the sun comes up to announce the day
The lights are coming down
On an allnight show starring you and me
The audience surrounds

And I thought, this could be something. It was a naughty thing to do, but luckily John was totally cool about it. He only asked to be credited on the CD and for a copy of the CD. He even added, “I wish I’d thought of that myself”. But his “Parting Line” is so different from ours – it’s a moody mid- 80s ballad.

What sort of gigs does Mad Painter play, and what does your set generally consist of?

We play locally here in the Boston area, sometimes venturing out of town for a festival. Our set usually contains upbeat rockers like “Barely Alive” and “The Letter” from the first album. Definitely both our current singles which now appear on Splashed. The guys are “gung ho” on going for the jugular, the 1-2-3 punch, wham bam thank you ma’am. I like to mix it up a bit on stage, so once in a while we do “Soldier Boy” (also from the first album), a somber ballad about the tragedy and horrors of the Vietnam war. Then we also play “Empty Bottles” and “Stand Your Ground”, the songs that haven’t yet appeared on record, although you can find “Empty Bottles” on YouTube if you search for it. “SYG” is the heaviest and the angriest song we’ve ever come up with, sort of Motorhead and Deep Purple in one flasket. Motorpurple.

I’ve always known you as a keyboard player, how do You feel doubling as lead singer? Is this natural for you, or something you had to adjust to?

My first love is the Hammond organ. As a kid, I was classically trained, between the ages of 5 and 8, but then I quit, so I never got proper classical piano education. And didn’t go back to playing keyboards until I was 19. But as early as 1994, I was in my first band Silver Star, playing keys and singing lead on some numbers. Sometimes stepping up to the mic with an acoustic guitar also. We did an EP CD back then called Foot Stomping Music, for which I wrote three numbers but only got to sing lead on one, “Kindness”. It’s still a very special track to me, one I’m really proud of. Being out of that band (I will omit the circumstances for now), thereafter, I entered a city studio and demoed the aforementioned three tracks which wound up on Splashed. This was in 1997. Throughout the ’90s, I played keyboards in a variety of bands, blues, heavy metal, funk, but those weren’t my projects and I didn’t feel like I truly belonged in any of them. I did not do much music-wise between 2000 and 2010 and all through that decade, I felt there was something missing in my life, this huge void inside. Then I tried myself out as a keyboard player in two tribute bands, Deep Purple (Stormbringer) and UFO (Lights Out), before finally getting around to create Mad Painter. So, as you can see, I’ve always
wanted to double as a keyboard player and a lead vocalist. My two main heroes are Jon Lord and Ken Hensley, and neither one sang when they played the B3. So this to me was the biggest challenge. It takes a lot of energy to play “the beast”. I had to look to Billy Preston for that kind of inspiration.

Can you tell me a bit about the CD cover art? Is album art, in this day & age, still important (or as important)?

The artwork on Splashed is a thing of beauty. It’s done the “old school” way. It was a real photo session with a real pro photographer, and we used real vinyl records, threw them randomly across the floor and then squeezed acrylic paint of different colors all over them. It was my idea, materialized by Dmitriy Gushchin (the photographer) under my supervision. And it worked wonderfully. Our guitarist Al donated the vinyl records that had been ruined by a flood. They weren’t playable anyway.

In this day and age, album or CD cover art may matter less, but when you set your mind on creating a 1973 or 1975 album instead of 2023, it is of paramount importance. We couldn’t do the vinyl LP format because it’s too expensive. But we have pressed a quantity of CDs housed in a wallet style foldout. Plus the album art is a striking visual online, websites and social media alike. It catches your eye immediately. This is the physical painting component to the Mad Painter experience. Our music is sonic painting. Or, to quote “Return to Fantasy”:

In another place
There’s a newer face
Like an unfinished painting
Your creator is waiting

I know it’s early, but what might be expected on the next Mad Painter album, as far as direction, types of tracks, anything you’ve learned from making?

Firstly, I must take into account what the entire band wants. My guys thrive on the heavy, rambunctious sounds of vintage hard rock. So when it comes to pop and balladry (some writers have called it “traditional songwriting”), I’m kind of on my own and they tend to refer to those numbers as “Alex’s solo material”. We are a unit, and I don’t want the next one to be “Alex’s solo” even in part. So for as long as this lineup sticks together, we’re going to go for the proverbial jugular. There will be some bluesy rock’n’roll numbers for sure, but the next album should be a lot more consistent in style. With “Illusion” and “Samurai”, we’ve sort of introduced and defined ourselves, our own sound. For better or for worse, this is Mad Painter.

Can you (a few) give us a ‘top 10’ of your favorite albums from your younger years?

Alex Gitlin, vocals and keyboards:

Status Quo “Blue For You”
Uriah Heep “Demons and Wizards”
Nazareth “Razamanaz”
Deep Purple “Machine Head”
Rainbow “Rising”
Black Sabbath “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
The Sweet “Give Us A Wink”
Slade “Slayed?”
Smokie ‘Midnight Café’
Queen “A Night At The Opera”

Alan Hendry, drums:

Grand Funk Railroad – Live Album
Yes – Yes
Galactic – Already, Already, Already
Tower of Power – Back to Oakland
Porcupine Tree – Any Album
Blind Faith – Blind Faith
Tool – Lateralis
King Crimson – In The Court of the Crimson King
Genesis- Trick of the Tail
Jethro Tull – Stand Up

Kenne Highland, bass:

Stooges – The Stooges
Stooges – Fun House
Stooges – Raw Power
MC5 – Kick Out the Jams
MC5 – Back in the USA
MC5 – High Time
New York Dolls – Too Much Too Soon
New York Dolls – New York Dolls
Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
The Velvet Underground – Velvet Underground & Nico

A Chat with Mad Painter (21.03.23)
March 22, 2023
Nicole Mendes

https://www.theothersidereviews.com/a-chat-with-mad-painter-21-03-23

Drawing inspiration from iconic bands Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, US-based band Mad Painter is a time machine dragging us back to 70s rock. We speak with frontman Alex Gitlin about their album Splashed, creative processes, future plans and more!

OSR: What inspires you to make music?

Gitlin: My heroes. The musicians I’ve followed my entire life. Virtuosos such as Rory Gallagher, Ritchie Blackmore, and Keith Emerson. Songwriters and poets, Marc Bolan, Phil Lynott, and Ken Hensley. I’ve always had this inner voice telling me: if they could do it, so could you; so you should try at least. – Oh, but I’m living in the wrong decade and century for this sort of thing. It’s not the same as it was back then. – Try anyway, the voice keeps telling me. I always get inspired when I hear a classic rock record, be it Magician’s Birthday, Calling Card, Slider or Jailbreak. And I feel I need an outlet for self-expression, to give something back. I hear a bunch of songs, then inadvertently a melody is born in my head and I follow it.

Recording my songs with Painter is a thrilling experience. You nurse and nurture each one like your own baby, from the very first rough take (which you know will wind up on the cutting room floor) to the finished product, fully mixed, mastered and assigned a number in the track sequence of your new album. As is the case with our latest one, Splashed.

Finally, the huge motivator is our audience. We have uber-fans and diehard Painter followers who show up at every one of our gigs and like all our posts. We love them for it. But it’s also equally thrilling to bring your songs to a “virgin” audience, those who’ve come to see you for the first time and probably never heard your material before. They’re giving you the benefit of a doubt. If you’re able to bring them to ecstasy, to get them up and moving in the room, and applauding like crazy at the end of each song, you know you’ve succeeded. A rapturous reception is addictive. It’s like a drug. So when you’re playing to just a handful of people in the room, it can feel like a downer. As an artist, you always crave more…

OSR: How did Mad Painter come together and why did you choose ‘Mad Painter’ as your band name?

Gitlin: I had this crazy idea of putting together a band circa 1990 and calling it Mad Painter. Why? Because as a musician, singer and songwriter I’ve always viewed myself as a “sonic” painter. I paint with notes. Now that I have a solid band, WE paint with aural palettes and colours, which are rhythms, notes, solos, chords, etc. Nothing came out of it at the time and I put the idea on hold for a very long time. It was just a wacky fantasy of mine. But then, many decades later, I got together with two friends for an impromptu jam after Christmas 2015; things just started to gel and we took it to the next level. 2016 was a very tough year, we kept auditioning guitarists and no one would stick – either they weren’t a good fit or they had no interest and auditioned just for fun. So we wound up playing a bunch of gigs guitar-less, as a trio – rhythm section and me on vocals and keyboards. We also recorded our first album that year, and our producer added his own guitar parts and mixed the whole thing. It just snowballed from there. I’m no longer in touch with anyone involved with that album. The present line-up is the best one Painter’s ever had, and our second album, which has just come out a week ago, called Splashed, is a thing of beauty. We are immensely proud of this release.

OSR: What can you tell us about your album Splashed?

Gitlin: It’s extremely diverse. There are seventeen tracks on it and you have heavy, melodic rock via our two singles, ‘Illusion’ and ‘Rock and Roll Samurai’, orchestrated romantic balladry (‘I Live For Love’, ‘I’ve Been A Fool’), gut-wrenching blues (‘Lie To Me’), vaudeville (‘The Moon’), nostalgic pop (‘A Friend In France’, ‘Love Is Gold’), a little bit of something for everyone. My favourite track is ‘I Don’t Know’. The bass line and the string arrangements are just perfect. Also a couple of covers, ‘Stealin” by Uriah Heep and ‘Highway Driver’ by German band Randy Pie.

Reviewers have called it “a rock opera” and a “smorgasbord”. Some may think this lack of focus on any one style is a weakness, but critics so far tend to call it a strength. All that said, I think in the future there’ll be more heavy rock songs in the classic tradition, that’s just my bandmates’ preference. And it’s alright by me. All five of us are crazy about Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.

OSR: If you could change one thing about Splashed, what would it be?

Gitlin: If we could have it done and released a year earlier, that would be good. But being realistic, although Tom Hamilton’s the best producer for Painter (he knows exactly what we need and knows how to work with our songs), he only does it part-time, which means the recording and mixing sessions took place during weekends. We had to wait a very long time but he did things just right – the effects on vocals, the drum production, the entire thing.

Also, I had to do all the string and horn arrangements on my Juno synth, and if only we could afford a real live orchestra to work with, the end result would’ve been even better!

OSR: What is your creative process?

Gitlin: Writing-wise, if a melody comes to me in my sleep or when I’m in the shower, doesn’t matter, I try not to lose it. Put it together, add some structure and present it to our master lyricist, Dmitry Epstein. So far, he’s the one who’s written the lyrics to our best songs, the two aforementioned singles and ‘I’ve Been A Fool’. He gets back to me a while later with some verses and choruses. Then I bring the whole thing to practice and run it by our band. Of course, there’s a world of difference between the first time trying a song out for size and the finished product. But we do have our own patented Painter sound, I’m proud to say it’s impossible to confuse it with any other band, past or present.

Lately, I’ve been receiving lyrics from Dmitry and putting them onto my own music. So sometimes his lyrics come first and sometimes I just come up with my own text. I’m not a poet though, so it’s a much harder process for me. I try to make it interesting when I write, avoiding banalities and mundane words and expressions. The motto is, if you have nothing to say on a certain day, don’t even bother. It has to have substance, it’s got to excite, thrill, engage or provoke thoughts and emotions. It’s got to be real. But we don’t view ourselves as a contemporary band because in our minds we’re not competing with other bands out there in 2023. We have our favourites and they all were active in the period between 1968 and 1975. Mentally, we’re competing with Mountain and Grand Funk, Vanilla Fudge and the Small Faces, people like that. It just feels right. We’re in our own element when we forget about the realities of today and just plunge into our own music. It’s as if we’re teleporting ourselves (and our audience) back to that era. So our shows and records are, invariably, a time warp experience.

Those are our influences. This is chiefly why I avoid current topics in my lyrics.

OSR: What does music mean to you?

Gitlin: It’s an outlet for creative expression. If you’re an artist, you can’t just go through life working, drinking beer and watching TV, right? You get to hear the music by the bands and artists you revere and feel the urge to express yourself in the same way your favourites did back in the day. They, too, had to start somewhere and build their fan base and discography from scratch. Now some of them are part of the international rock canon, while others remain less well-known and more obscure (so “for connoisseurs only”). Either way, I feel just like they did 45-50 years ago. I want to be part of that scene, and I think this goes for all members of Painter.

OSR: If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

Gitlin: Quit my day job. Organise the best marketing campaign possible for Splashed. Shoot more promo videos. Go on a three-month tour playing in many countries. The possibilities are endless. And of course, finance the recording of the next Painter album which will become reality sooner rather than later anyway. We are planning on visiting Tom’s studio this year and laying down some tracks for the new songs we have up our sleeves.

OSR: What do you think are the pros and cons of releasing music in this digital era?

Gitlin: You have a lot more competition now because it’s become a lot easier to create music at home. There were no Pro Tools and such back in the 70s or 80s. On the other hand, the record industry was so tough to break into – you had to knock on many doors, send out demo cassettes, beg some mogul or impresario to give you the time of day. Now it’s the “DIY” era and you get judged by your own merit, if you’ve got the goods, your music will speak for itself and you’ll gain new fans. Of course, to us, the quality standards of writing, arrangement and production still matter just as much as they would back in our favourite time period. Which you can clearly hear on Splashed.

Now, the fact that you can’t make money selling your records, I don’t even know if it’s a pro or a con, to be honest. Yes, with Spotify and other digital platforms, less and less people want to buy a physical CD (we offer both CD and digital downloads of Splashed on our website). But the CD now becomes a great marketing tool with the help of which you can spread the word, secure the right connections, get to know record labels, DJs, promoters, etc. It’s like your business card, in a way. We’ve toyed with the idea of doing a vinyl release, but the costs are clearly prohibitive. Unlike many established musicians, I don’t begrudge the digital era with all its gadgetry and convenience right at your fingertips. Yes, with Splashed being on Spotify and iTunes, I know we’ll probably never get rich from the song streams, but hopefully, they’ll help popularise the band and introduce it to new audiences around the world.

OSR: What future plans do you have for Mad Painter?

Gitlin: Another album, at the very least. Hopefully, more gigs both locally and around the US, time and schedules permitting. More singles and videos, those are a lot of fun! And definitely festivals. There are so many out there! We’ve played the Winter Tangle Fest twice, most recently in February 2022, in Kingston, NY, and the audience reception was absolutely phenomenal.

OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?

Gitlin: Yes, definitely! Come see us in New York, at the Chelsea Table and Stage on Saturday, May 27th. Details here: https://madpainter.co.uk/shows

And do visit our webshop if you’re interested in buying the CD or the digital download of Splashed. We’re so proud of the way it’s come out, the artwork on all four sides of the wallet-style foldout is a thing of beauty.

Many thanks to Alex Gitlin for speaking with us. For more from Mad Painter, check out their official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.

Interview: Mad Painter - We Get to Know The Band And Also Chat About The Bands Album

https://fanbasemusicmag.co.za/2023/03/18/interview-mad-painter-we-get-to-know-the-band-and-also-chat-about-the-bands-album

March 18 2023

Interviewed By Duzzy Clayton

Intro

Mad Painter is a rock group in the Boston area. Deeply rooted in the rock tradition of the 1970s, the influences range from heavy melodic rock to classy pop and classic British rock and roll. We love Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Mott the Hoople, Mountain, Grand Funk, MC5, Blue Cheer, Procol Harum, Spooky Tooth and Aphrodite’s Child.

The band has just released a pronominal album namely Splashed. We chat to the band and find out about the band existence and their new album

Welcome to Fanbase Music Magazine, can you tell us how long the band has been going for?

The band’s been around, under different guises, since December 2015. That’s when we first got together as a trio, just after Christmas. None of the people who played in Mad Painter then or worked with the band, are involved now, except for me. This present lineup has been around since late 2019. Kenne, the bass player, and I met a couple of years prior, he attended one of our gigs (and compared us to Aphrodite’s Child). Then he just started bringing his friends in and we’ve thus wound up with the best lineup this band’s ever had.

Who is in the band and what does each band member do?

Kenne Highland, bass, Alan Hendry, drums, Al Naha, guitar, Gee Julie, backing vocals, and yours truly on keyboards and vocals.

Kenne works in the mailroom at Mass General Hospital and has been since 1987! Alan is a retired teacher and a Berklee grad; he taught drumming professionally for over 20 years. Al is a former software engineer. Julie’s studying to be a mortician. And I analyze data for living and write and perform music for fun!

How would you describe your sound and genre?

We are definitely in the “heavy melodic rock” realm, especially if you go by our two latest singles, “Illusion” and “Rock’n’roll Samurai”. It’s very much picking up where the likes of Rainbow, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep left off (I am referring to the classic lineups). The heavy guitar-organ interplay is part of our signature sound both live and on record. But the “Splashed” album, which has just come out today, is so diverse, there’s gentle balladry, blues, pop, heavy and psychedelic rock, it’s sure to please the most varied of palettes.

Who are some of the band’s influences?

We share a lot of them in common. Definitely the aforementioned Rainbow, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Also, perhaps inevitably, Procol Harum, Spooky Tooth, Mountain, Grand Funk, The Who, Vanilla Fudge, MC5, Blue Cheer and Cream. On the other hand, we’re into The Sweet, Slade, Suzi Quatro and Status Quo. Also Jethro Tull, Rod Stewart & The Faces, Mott the Hoople. Those are the main ones.

So anything that was happening in music between 1968 and 1975, it’s fair to say, has influenced our writing and playing one way or another. But we have our own signature sound, which is hard to confuse with anything else, I am pleased to say. This is what makes rehearsing with this lineup so much fun. Once we get down to it and start jamming, it’s just… Painter!

What is the story behind the band name Mad Painter?

If you listen to the song on “Splashed” called “Let Him Go” you will know the answer in an instant. So I’d like to leave a little bit of mystery to this question. But it’s also true that we’ve always viewed ourselves as artists, and whereas visual artists express themselves with colors and paint on canvas (for example), we do it with notes, chords and rhythms. It’s sonic painting, but painting nonetheless, and it is just as expressive and emotional. Let’s say the audience is our blank canvas in the beginning of each gig, and by the time we’re done, hopefully we’ve splashed plenty of color on them (hence the album title, incidentally!)

Ok, let’s talk about the new album, what is the name of the album, and what made you come to that album title?

Splashed. We’ve always had this idea, fusing visual and sonic expressions. You may need a few buckets of paint of different colors. Or sometimes fine brushes, it all depends. And on the album cover, we’ve actually brought that vision to materialization. The guitarist brought a bagful of old vinyl records which had been through a flood and were no longer playable. We spread them around on the floor, and, with the help of ace photographer and designer Dmitriy Gushchin, who squeezed acrylic paint of various colors onto them, created this wonderful collage that became our album cover. I’m proud of it beyond words.

How many tracks are on the album?

17, would you believe? It took an entire year to record and one more year to mix and master, but we’re finally there. Today is one of the happiest days for Mad Painter, truly. The release of our second album. There’s a mixture of covers and originals. Uriah Heep’s “Stealin'” needs no introduction. Perhaps significantly more obscure is Randy Pie’s brilliant “Highway Driver”. It was a hit in Germany in 1974 and the original version was more funky disco, ours is hard rock, Painter style. We’ve also half-covered John Sloman’s “Parting Line”. We cheekily took his lyrics and put them to a new melody, but we have his blessing to do this. John was in Uriah Heep for one album and also in Lone Star.

Where was the album recorded and who worked on the album?

We did the entire thing at Tom Hamilton’s home studio in Peabody, MA, and for a while it felt like a full-time job, coming in, singing, playing, different takes, then mixing. Serious business! But he’s such an incredible producer and he’s exactly right for our style and sound, so we wouldn’t ever trust anyone else with our material.

What was the recording process like?

It all starts with rough takes. The first 4-5 are “junk”, the band jamming and warming up, but the producer keeps rolling the tape in case if there are bits he can save or salvage. The drum tracks usually wind up being kept; our drummer’s very professional and has a keen ear (as does Tom), so usually the drum parts are nailed in just a few takes. All the other tracks are scrapped except maybe bass. Kenne plays bass with gusto, fervor and emotion, which means more takes and more what we call “track surgery”. It’s all being done in Pro Tools. Punch-ins, overdubs, retakes. The guitarist would usually pop in separately to lay down his tracks, rhythm and solos, as would I with my vocals. Once the lead vocals are done, we work on the backups, harmonies and so forth. What you hear on the album for backups for the most part is Julie or her and I singing together. Last but not least – the keyboard tracks. I would do those at home and upload them for Tom to mix in. That’s how I did the keys for most of the album, except ‘San Michel’. The polyphony you hear on songs like ‘I Live For Love’, ‘I’ve Been A Fool’ and ‘Love Is Gold’ are faux string arrangements done on my Juno synthesizer. Same with the “sax” on ‘A Friend In France’.

Can you tell us about your writing process, does the lyrics or the music come first when you write songs?

It depends on the occasion. Sometimes I have a solid melody and structure in my head and the lyrics come secondary to that. I try to write them in such a way that they’d fit the mood of the song. But our best lyrics to date are written by our friend in Canada, Dmitry Epstein: ‘I’ve Been A Fool’, ‘Rock and Roll Samurai’, ‘Illusion’. He usually has a poem ready and we just put it to music, so the song kind of writes itself. When I read one of his poems for the first time, the melody already manifests itself in my brain, so I just follow that lead.

Do you play live and if so what is the experience like at one of your gigs?

We’ve played different gigs at clubs around the Boston area in the last few years. It all depends on the audience, how receptive they are, and also how many people are in the room. Just before the lockdown, March 2020, we played a stormer of a gig at the Jungle in Somerville. The place was red hot and the energy and enthusiasm were palpable. The reception – riotous. Then a festival one year ago in Upstate New York called Winter Tangle Fest. This was Painter’s second time playing it but first time with the current lineup. And we debuted our new song there too, ‘Empty Bottles’. Again, a pandemonium broke out, or, as Kenne likes to refer to it affectionately, Paintermania. Those are the gigs we’d like to remember, not the ones where we played to three drunken college girls who hijacked the stage for a 15-minute “American Woman” jam.

No matter what happens, it’s always fun, a party. We have pretty zany numbers which get the audience going, even if they’ve never heard our stuff before. So on the right night, simply put, magic happens, and people walk away with broad smiles on their faces. Then we also have “regulars”, folks that show up for every one of our gigs, the uber-fans. Those are of course friends of the band or members of the extended Painter family, which is much more than any one band. We’re all interrelated, Alan plays drums in Tokyo Tramps, Al plays guitar in The Thigh Scrapers, Kenne’s got his own Airforce and is also reviving his old band, Johnny And The Jumper Cables. Airforce is pretty much Painter with Captain Easychord on keys instead of me, and a sax player. But Captain’s also got his own band, in which Al plays guitar as well. It’s just about as complex as Hawkwind, I suppose.

Can you explain what the band room is like when you rehearse and write music?

It’s the same room Painter’s always been in, give or take, since early 2016, on the second floor of the legendary Regent Theatre in Arlington. No doubt it has some magic vibes. We usually just bring ideas in and try them out for size. If an idea works – great. If not, we’ll move on to something else. We mostly practice our originals for the live show and newer ones for the studio. But sometimes we just like to jam on covers for fun. Kenne’s a huge fan of Cream and The Small Faces. So we do a bit of that. A few Deep Purple and Uriah Heep classics. We’ve even tried The Sweet “Little Willie” and Suzi Quatro “Can The Can”. And South African band Clout – “Save Me”, which is fun to jam on, but hard to pull off live due to the difference in vocal ranges. Sometimes we catch a show downstairs after hours, the venue has hosted many famous bands, like Brand X, Blackmore’s Night and the Yardbirds. Not to mention various and sundry local tribute acts.

Can you give us your social media links?

With pleasure

– Facebook: www.facebook.com/madpainter1

– Instagram: madpainterband

– Twitter: @painter_mad

– YouTube: www.youtube.com/@madpainter4010

– Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1bYzYqzHOMo0VyepaHew5w

Thank you for doing this interview, do you have any last messages for your fans and our readers?

Come see us in Manhattan if you’re in the area the Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 27 @ 9:30PM Chelsea Table & Stage, New York, NY Info and tickets here: madpainter.co.uk/shows

Send Me Your Ears interview with Mad Painter

https://sendmeyourears.com/we-interview-mad-painter/

Who’s the crazy one in the band?!!

Our guitarist. Whacky sense of humour, personality, and quirks, mind you, I’m not that far behind him! His nickname is Schmel (stemming from the made up Facebook name), and when we really get into it, the rest of the band calls it Schmellex. If you were a fly on the wall at our practices, you’d hear the raunchiest stories and jokes this side of purgatory.

We love your Deep Purple-influenced style, but please describe it in your own words for our readers.

The influences we all share are psychedelic and progressive rock of the late 60s and early 70s, from Aphrodite’s Child to Spooky Tooth and Deep Purple Mk I (with Rod Evans). That’s kind of the bedrock. Then you add the English whimsy courtesy of the Zombies and the Small Faces, which is a gateway into the 70s (Humble Pie, Rod Stewart and the Faces). The absolute crux consists of Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, since this is a Hammond organ – guitar band. Other things are incidental, in the way they get mentioned during our practices (oh, I stole that lick from John Entwhistle, etc.) So besides the above-mentioned lot, the names that get the roll call routinely as Grand Funk, Mountain, Cream, Jethro Tull and Procol Harum. Mind you, we’re musicians first, not rock historians. So a lot of this stuff is very spontaneous – “this melody sounds a bit like so-and-so”. But at the root of it lie the 1960s and 70s ethos and musical standards. The only language we speak is that spoken by the bands of that time period, although now it feels like Latin, we’re the only ones, in these locales anyway, carrying this torch.

Who are your biggest influences?

Mine personally would have to be Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Rory Gallagher, speaking as a musician, although lately, I’ve been listening to Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Brother Jack McDuff. As an organist, there’s no better starting point than these three. All legends. I’ve listened, and collected, a lot of music throughout my lifetime, from glam and pub rock to prog. Melodically, my influences can be quite “francophonic” sometimes, on the new album, Splashed, we have three songs that are influenced by French pop of that era: San Michel, Jacques and A Friend In France. And I always try to keep things very melodic. If there’s no melody, there’s hardly a point to the song. For that, I often source my inspiration from the Paul Mauriat Orchestra.

We love your commitment to the 70s vibe. Where did you get your outfits for your press photos!?

Various places. There used to be a place in Cambridge called the Garment District. According to Google, it’s still around! Speaking for the entire band, various online stores like Rusty Zipper, Poshmark, Etsy, and Amazon of course. A few years ago you could get really fantastic corduroy bell bottoms and platform shoes on Amazon! I love my Run ‘n Fly bells, shipped directly from England.

What can fans expect from your live show?

Joy. A feeling of elation. Belonging. Exhilaration. Euphoria. If we’ve achieved that, our mission is accomplished.

Tell us something about you that we wouldn’t believe!

Perhaps I’m the only person in the universe who has Grave Digger and Brotherhood Of Man in my music collection.

Do you have any pre-gig rituals? Stage fright? Superstitions?

No special rituals. The drummer will just chill out with a beer, once he’s done setting up his kit. I get busy setting up my instruments, connecting the cables and interacting with the soundman. The bass player will retire for a while to grab a bite. And the guitarist will show up with just enough time to set up, plug in and go. Simple.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Of the famous people? You know, the one dream of mine that’s never come true, and I’ve never talked about it before, is playing the organ for an authentic bluesman. Someone like Freddie King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, B.B.King.

What is your favourite song to perform, and why?

At the moment it’s Empty Bottles. It’s simple, and straightforward but catchy as hell and always gets the audience going! We’ve not yet recorded it in the studio, so that’s yet to come.

But here’s the Boston Wave Radio live version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L-bNIPyuj4

Do you have any upcoming shows to tell our readers about?

Yes, absolutely. C Note Hull. The Michael Weddle benefit and celebration of life. He was a Mad Painter fan and enthusiast, and he booked us there many times. Now it’s our turn to thank him. He, unfortunately, passed away last year and his friend Barbara Rhind is organizing this benefit on April 8.

Then there’s the Jungle in Somerville – April 22. This has become our “stamping ground”, and we love returning there every time. Lately, we’ve been putting together our own bills with friends, bands like The Thigh Scrapers, The Stigmatics and Johnny Plankton. It’s like one extended Painter family. We help each other.

Finally, the BIG ONE is The Chelsea Table in New York City. May 27th, it’s Memorial Day weekend. We’re now trying our best to spread the word and publicize this gig to the max to ensure attendance. We’re going to be the only band on the bill (no opening acts). So the race is on and the stakes are high! Let’s do it!!!

Thank you Mad Painter for chatting with us today.

Lost In the Manor interview with Mad Painter

https://www.lostinthemanor.co.uk/blog/interview/january2023/musosoup/madpainter

Hello Mad Painter. Can you tell us about your early career? Where did you get the idea for the music industry?

When you are in your teens, the mere concept of the music industry is very vague and abstract. It’s about record labels, management and recording contracts and touring bands, whose faces you see on posters when you visit a record store. It’s not real life, your life anyway. I was 17 when I came to the US with my parents, carrying with me a coveted dream of becoming “one of them”. In my mind it was pretty loose, too, cause “them” could be anything from AC/DC to Jethro Tull. I came here at the height of glam metal, then the watershed moment was 1991, when grunge took over. I disliked MTV, hair metal and grunge / alternative equally and as early as spring 1990 knew I would have to follow my own path. The music I was listening to, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Nazareth, Rory Gallagher, Sweet and Thin Lizzy, was nothing at all like what was popular both here and in Europe at the time. So there was this conscious discrepancy, a cognitive dissonance, as the world around me and I couldn’t see eye to eye on what rock music is.

My early efforts included getting my chops as a keyboard player at a local blues jam, then graduating to the house band. A couple of years later I joined a band, which, after several name changes, became Silver Star, and it was my dream band. Together we recorded an EP, Foot Stomping Music, and the song Kindness (which you can find on YouTube) is still to this day something I’m immensely proud of. But it didn’t last.
Throughout the 90s, I bounced from group to group, trying out different genres, from metal to funk and blues, but nothing felt right. Jumping a little bit ahead, I’ve tried working with a couple of tribute bands, same thing, I felt out of place. It seems, to be happy and at peace with myself, I had to spearhead my own project, concept, dream, and make that dream a reality on my own terms. That’s how Mad Painter came to be, although the idea of forming my own band and calling it Mad Painter does date back to 1990. A quarter of a century later it came true, albeit not without growing pains.

Here we are in the third decade of the 21st century and I still haven’t come any closer to the proverbial “industry”. What is music industry, anyway? Does it still exist? Can you still make money selling records? I highly doubt it, unless you’re a mega star. Seems like the “industry” is somewhere out there like a mystical constellation, you can gaze at it at night, but you can never get close enough to touch it.

Where do you start when producing songs?

I’m not a producer, but I work with one, a brilliant man, Tom Hamilton, and there’s no one else I would ever trust my music with. He knows exactly what is right for the song and what to do. There’s a lot of trickery involved in the mixing process. I don’t always understand all the filters and effects, but I know I can always cite a couple of examples to convey the desired effects, be it drums, vocal reverb or what have you. Our approach is very organic and natural. We take cues from our favorite period, 1960s and 70s. Whatever we do, a song has to breathe, it must have an orchestral quality to it, the arrangement should consist of just the right instruments, from the rhythm section to flutes, violas, cellos and bassoons (of course the latter is done on a synthesizer) with each one playing a part and clearly audible. It’s like a salad, just the right amount of ingredients and seasonings, and I believe, complex as it may sound, we’ve got it down to a science.

Your latest song is 'Rock and Roll Samurai'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?

My friend Dmitry Epstein, a great lyricist and author of lyrics for several of our numbers, initially wrote it for someone else, but never heard back from that person. Unbeknownst to him, I looked at the lyrics and the melody and the arrangement came to mind instantly. It had to be dark, brooding, but at the same time epic, anthemic, or, as he likes to say, heroic. The middle part and the drum solo sprang to mind just as instantly. Good songs tend to write themselves, without much fuss, labour or suffering. But I am a much better melodist than a lyricist.

What was the most difficult challenge you faced?

Do you mean in life or during the recording of this single? Samurai, just like Illusion, our first single and also featuring Dmitry’s lyrics, was written in 2017 and recorded as a demo by the previous lineup, but it was half baked. It took the current lineup and the current producer to complete these two numbers and do them justice. The jigsaw pieces just fell into place. It felt like a miracle. Then we did promotional videos for both, you can see them on YouTube, and again, the experience was nothing short of miraculous.

What is your goal in artistic activities?

To bring people the feeling of joy and exhilaration, whether they witness our show live or listening to one of our songs.

How do you know when a work is finished?

When you’ve committed what everyone feels are the best takes on each instrument and vocals, and, after a few revisions, the mix is just right. When it’s not, the bad parts will stick out like a sore thumb. Whether the vocals aren’t loud enough or don’t have the right amount of echo and reverb, or if the cymbals sound too abrasive, which is fixed through equalization, and so forth. More complicated of course if we’re dealing with a multi-part orchestral arrangement, so it takes more work to get it right.

What is your trademark? It's about unique sounds or behaviors on stage.

It’s the Hammond organ - guitar interplay, which leads people to compare us to Deep Purple, the organ-dominated heavy melodic numbers similar to Uriah Heep, and of course we dress the part on stage. With every show we create a complete timewarp experience for our audience. It has to be authentic.

What are your biggest achievements so far as an artist, but also personally?

As an artist, to date, my biggest achievement is, without a doubt, the forthcoming album, Splashed. I can’t wait for the release date, which is soon. I never knew I would get this far, Painter’s sophomore album. But it absolutely wouldn’t have been possible without my bandmates, Alan, Al, Julie and Kenne. We’re not just bandmates, we’re friends, and each member knows how to do our songs justice, give it the patented Painter treatment. Although Splashed is a bit of a “schizo” album, stylistically all over the map, I do believe we have developed our own style, created the unique Painter universe, the future being more brave and brazen melodic heavy rock in the best of the 70s traditions.

What memorable responses have you had to your work?

Artisti Online, an Italian fanzine/blog, wrote a humorous piece about Illusion. They compared me to Austin Powers. It is one of my favorite movies, made me laugh.

And a few years ago, when we gigged without guitar, going into Beware Of The Dream, a downright heavy metal number, I noticed the audience started dancing. And it repeated again and again, gig after gig. I was surprised, how do you dance to Heavy Metal? But they did. It was a visceral reaction.

And, last but not least, when we played at the Winter Tanglefest in Kingston, NY last February, it felt like all hell was breaking loose. Easily the biggest audience we’ve ever had. And they were just going nuts! I was overjoyed, Kenne called it Paintermania.

What are your plans for the future?

Write more songs, release more albums, play more and better gigs, but who knows, the future is not written yet. After all these years, there’s still a great divide between the reality of the daily doldrums and the music. It is the same for us as it is for our listeners and followers. The music is a welcome escape route.

RGM INTRODUCING – WE INTERVIEW AMERICAN BAND MAD PAINTER

https://rgm.press/rgm-introducing-we-interview-american-band-mad-painter/interview/

What made you decide that music is a thing for you?

I was classically trained as a kid, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, etc. And I hated it for the most part, so quit when I was 8 and didn’t want to have anything to do with music. Until roughly three years later I heard Uriah Heep “Look At Yourself” and The Sweet “Ballroom Blitz”, and it was a life-changing moment for me. At the age of 14, I wanted to be a guitarist and took a few lessons. By then I had discovered Deep Purple. But other than bashing the hell out of an acoustic, singing lewd rhymes to entertain schoolmates, nothing really happened until I was 19, when I was introduced to the blues via the local weekend blues jams. I had a 4-octave Casio keyboard, which sounded dinky and downright silly, but I needed to get my chops. My idols then were Ritchie Blackmore and Rory Gallagher. I wanted to do on keyboards what they were doing on guitar, so I tried my best to just copy their techniques during my solos. I got rapturous applause after each solo, and thought it was because I was getting good; it felt so encouraging. Turns out, I was awful and they were just cheering me on, cause I was a baby and they were all beer-bellied locals in their fifties, out on a Saturday afternoon to get up and do “Shake Rattle And Roll” just one more time. I have fond memories of that period. Well, that’s how it started.

Introduce us to all to the members and your musical history.

My name is Alex Gitlin, I play keyboards and sing. Our erstwhile backing vocalist is Gee Julie. Kenneth Highland on bass, a veteran of the local (Boston and Mid-West) scenes, starting with the Gizmos, look him up on Discogs! Al Nahabedian on guitar. Alan Hendry on drums. I call him the professor of Mad Painter, cause he taught drums academically for 20 years. When Alan gives you advice, you perk up your ears and listen very carefully.

My musical history is so haphazard. After the blues jam got old, in the early 90s, I joined a band that went through a few name changes and finally became Silver Star. We recorded an EP together, “Foot Stomping Music”, and my only contribution (authorship, vocals) on it was “Kindness”, the song I’m still proud of to this day. Look it up on YouTube! It didn’t last, it was over before I knew it, and I wound up bouncing around between bands without finding my true calling or happiness. In the latter half of the 90s, I was in metal, funk and blues bands, spending a few months with each, gigging and recording occasionally. Then it all came to a screeching halt when my family circumstances changed, and that was it. For 10 years, I did not play a single note – out went my entire 30s.

In late 2015, I got the first, embryonic, lineup of Mad Painter together just to jam and see if there’s any chemistry. With this lineup we recorded our first album, which got released only digitally. (YouTube). Our live debut in October 2016 was a disaster, but soon after we played a triumphant gig at the Winter Tanglefest in the Poconos, and I felt completely vindicated. A lot of things have happened since, members having joined and left, good gigs, awful gigs, and now I’m proud and extremely happy to say the lineup has stabilized. The current lineup is the best one Painter’s ever had. I feel privileged being in the same band with these guys (and gal). We’re all friends, so there’s camaraderie as well as musical chemistry, a great conduit for creativity.

With this lineup we took most of 2021 to record the upcoming album, Splashed, from which we’ve now released two singles, “Illusion” and “Rock And Roll Samurai” (Youtube). And 2022 was spent gigging and mixing the album. With the capable help of our producer, Tom Hamilton, we couldn’t have wished for a better outcome.

Name me your 3 favorite Albums.

It would probably have to be the three favourite albums by my favorite bands. OK.

Status Quo “On The Level”

Uriah Heep “Demons & Wizards”

Deep Purple “Machine Head”

What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?

Hurriganes, a Finnish band. “Get On” was the tune, and it was a quintessential balls-out rocker!

The music industry is the hardest industry in the world to progress in. How do you feel you are doing?

Considering there’s no music industry out there to speak of, I think we’re doing extremely well. There are no record labels, no management contracts, that’s all in the past. It’s DYI (do it yourself) all the way nowadays, and most of it happens on the internet, streaming and social media. I do believe we occupy a certain niche, where we’re not competing with what’s happening out there musically today. We’re competing with our idols and heroes, who were active 45-50 years ago, creating music in the spirit and style of that era, without plagiarizing anyone. That’s the sound that is our blueprint. Stray, Quo, Savoy Brown, Mountain, Rory and Taste, Slade, Grand Funk, Steppenwolf. But it’s not only the retro approach that gets the notice but also the melodies and the arrangements. Each instrument plays a certain role within a mix, in order for the mix to be organic. And without distinct melodies, there’s no point to music. Our music anyway. For a band that’s not touring regularly across the country or the world, consisting of five individuals who have local day jobs, hell yeah, I’d say we’re kicking butt!

I’m seeing a lot of debate about women not feeling safe at music gigs, any thoughts on what we need to do to help?

First I’m hearing about this. No such problems at our gigs, our music clearly brings human beings together in unity, as evidenced from the chorus singalongs and the dancing. We bring them joy and make them feel euphoric. Which is what bands USED to do back in the day.

As you develop as an artist and develop using socials what ways do you get new ears on your music? Any tips?

The main thing is to let a song speak for itself. If the melody is noticeable, it’ll gain attention and attract the right ears. Of course promo short reels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are helpful. The name of the game for “socials” is promote, promote, promote, be present in the public eye with new posts, updates, soundbites, etc. I’m not a fan of “hello, I’m Alex of Mad Painter and today we’re doing this” type videos. It’s very tacky. But if you shoot a promotional video, you can use excerpts of it later as shorts, which is a very effective way to get the word out. (YouTube)

Tell us Two truths and a lie about you.

As a kid, I had a pet snake. It snuck away and I never saw it again.

In the 90s, I met with Francis Rossi in New York and he quipped, “You remind me of someone I saw back in the 70s. But then, you weren’t even born back then.”

I share the same affliction with Francis Rossi – a huge hole in my septum, which means we both are capable of putting a thread up one nostril and pulling it out the other.

Whats your thought on Spotify monopoly on the music industry?

It’s not just Spotify. It’s all streaming platforms, YouTube Music, Apple Music, you name it. The days of making big bucks off your single or album are over. We’ve long come to accept it. It’s not even a question anymore. The new reality is, you use your recorded product as a promotional tool to advertise your live performances and hope for the best. It used to be vice versa. I do not have a Spotify subscription, I’m quite happy with YouTube Music. When I’m on the go, it offers me practically the same choices. But Mad Painter does have a channel on Spotify – where you can find our first album from 2016, our two latest singles, and very soon will be able to find our new album, “Splashed”.

Do you sign up for any conspiracy theories?

Are they theories anymore? Let’s face it…

Did you buy anything you don’t need during the pandemic?

No, I don’t believe so. The scary thought they’ve managed to put in everyone’s head at the time through mass media was, there’s a chance it may never be over, it might not ever go away, and if you’re in a lockdown, your spirit’s completely broken, and there’s literally nowhere to go, how would ordering yet another gadget on Amazon alleviate this situation? Pretty hopeless. I’m proud to say we’ve used most of that time wisely. We took a long break after our last gig on March 8, 2020, and reconvened cautiously for practice in September, right after my 50th birthday. (Yes, folks…) And it just gelled and gave us all hope and a will to live and keep creating music. That is how the Splashed album was born. And the good job I didn’t waste a lot of money on useless purchases that year, cause that was the money I was able to set aside for the recording sessions.

What was the worst experience on stage?

The first gig at MIT. Four individuals each pulling the wagon in a different direction, their hearts just weren’t in it. And I was finding myself in the middle of this disaster in slow motion, having to perform a 1.5 hour set. My voice gave in to me too. Not a fond memory. But I’ve chalked it up to the experience.

Tell us something about you / each member that you think people would be surprised about?

I’m a teetotaler and by far prefer milk to alcohol (a subtle Dr. Feelgood reference here.)

What makes you stand out as a band/artist?

We sound original while wearing our influences on our sleeves. The heavier numbers are dominated by the organ – guitar interplay. We are very retro in the way we play, record, produce, and appear on stage, so the whole performance is like a time warp experience.

I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it.

The new album, “Splashed”, is slated for release next month. We’re excited about that. And the two singles are already out, (YouTube), “Illusion” and “Rock And Roll Samurai”.

Talk me through the thought process of the new tune/s.

Some of the “new” ones are pretty old. I recorded “I Don’t Know”, “A Friend In France” and “Lie To Me” as demos back in 1997, but did not have a band to work on them with, so I had to shelve them. A quarter century later, I’m pleased to say they’ve been finally given a new lease on life. The album’s pretty diverse in sound, from disco-fied pop to melodic hard rock. The lyrics to both new singles have been written by my friend Dmitry Epstein, he is a great lyricist, and we are ever so grateful for his contribution. The covers we’ve chosen for the album are Uriah Heep’s “Stealin'” (Kenne calls our rendition Uriah Cheap) and “Highway Driver” by German band from the 70s, Randy Pie. And a bluesy jam “River” by Dicken (of Mr. Big fame), although we’ve given it more of a gospel flavour.

What was the recording process like?

We’d arrive at Tom’s studio almost every weekend and lay down the “scratch” version, best case, it would take five or six takes. Alan, the drummer, would usually deliver the best performance in the least number of takes. He has a patience of an angel, cause a lot of times he’d have to just sit there and wait for everyone else to complete their tracks after he was long done. Kenne’s bass playing is emotional, spontaneous and sometimes experimental, so more takes and a lot of studio “surgery” for the bass tracks, as Tom calls it. Al would show up with his guitar at a different time, Tom would put his miked amp in a different room to get just the right amount of distortion, volume, reverb, and so forth. He’s very studious and always does his homework, so he’d come prepared with a solo or a part well rehearsed in advance, and it shows. I’d then have to come back on my own for “real” vocal takes, and then record the “real” (as opposed to “scratch”) keyboard tracks at home and upload them. One thing I can say about the whole experience is, it was always a party atmosphere at Tom’s when we were over there, sometimes quite distracting for him as a producer, but luckily, he’s laser-focused and not very easily distracted. Then the mixing would begin. We weren’t sure at first how to go about it, with all of the effects available at our fingertips. Using classic examples did the trick. In the end, Tom knew just the right volume level and reverb amount for my lead and Julie’s backing vocals. The real trick is to make the rockers sound vintage, not bombastic or deafening, so a complete departure from today’s trends.

What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?

Sometimes simpler is better. We have proggy pieces like “Gone Gone Gone”, and they’re like mini-symphonies. But then I’d just go back to the roots, so to speak, and come up with “Empty Bottles”, which is a straight-ahead rocker, and a damn catchy one. And a song like this catches on in this band instantly. My lads are rowdy, rambunctious rockers. A loud, noisy bunch!

Would you change anything now it’s finished?

With the upcoming album? Not a thing!

Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?

Yes. I love tortoises. I have seafood allergies. And I am likely the only person in the universe who has Bay City Rollers and Motorhead in a music collection.

FVMusicBlog interview with Mad Painter

https://fvmusicblog.com/music-interview-mad-painter

We were fortunate enough to catch up with Mad Painter following the release of the brilliant single, ‘Rock And Roll Samurai’. Enjoy today!

Hi Mad Painter, How did you get together as a band?

It all started in early 2015 when we were rehearsing at my friend’s place, who’s an amateur producer with a home studio. The other guys that joined us at the time weren’t fitting in well, so we wound up as a duo after a few very frustrating sessions trying to make things gel.

That’s how our first song, ‘Gone Gone Gone’, was recorded. It’s a sombre, moody ballad, fairly progressive in nature. It became part of our subsequent debut album, which you can find on YouTube. The music was written back in 1994, but the lyrics were only added in 2015!

We also rehearsed other songs that became part of the debut album, ‘Letter’ (again, written all the way back in 1994), ‘Soldier Boy’, ‘Never Mind’, and ‘Beware of the Dream’, to name a few. Then I tried gathering a new lineup in late 2015, after Christmas. It became a guitar-less trio with another friend of mine on bass who brought along a friend of his on drums. We gigged and recorded the aforementioned album together in this lineup.

It wasn’t until a certain Kenneth Highland, a veteran of the Mid-Western and Boston rock scenes, attended our gig at the Out of the Blue Gallery (we shared a bill, he was in Club Linehan A Go Go at the time) that things began in earnest for Mad Painter. That is also the moment he likes to call a “corporate takeover”.

The current lineup’s guitarist and drummer, Al Naha and Alan Hendry, are also part of Kenne’s Airforce. Occasionally, I sit in on keys in Airforce as well. So really, Airforce is Painter, only with Kenne’s lead vocals instead of mine, plus an additional keyboard player, Captain Easychord, and a sax player, John Keegan. The two bands have shared many a bill in recent years.

Who influenced your brilliant latest release, ‘Rock And Roll Samurai’?

One play and it becomes painfully obvious, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple.

‘Rock And Roll Samurai’ is taken from your forthcoming album ‘Splashed’. Can you tell us any more?

It’s very diverse, to the point of being “schizo”! You might call it our “identity crisis” album, although we’re extremely proud of it and can’t wait for the finished product. Not long to go at this point. Everything is mixed and mastered and ready for the CD plant to start pressing copies and printing the digipaks. It is indeed an eclectic mixture of old and new, covers and originals, 17 tracks in all.

The “heavy” side is obviously represented by our two singles, ‘Illusion’ and ‘Rock’n’Roll Samurai’. The lyrics to both were written by my friend in Canada, Dmitry Epstein. That is likely our direction in the foreseeable future – melodic heavy rock with an authentic flavour. Like aged wine, it can only get better with years.

Let’s start with the covers. ‘River’ was written by Dicken (aka Jeff Pain of Mr. Big fame, the British band), a brooding bluesy number, but we’ve given it a gospel treatment. Then there’s Uriah Heep’s ‘Stealin’ bookending the disc; Kenne likes to call our version ‘Uriah Cheap’.

And, last but not least, ‘Highway Driver’ by German band Randy Pie, a minor hit in 1974. The original was disco-funk; ours is heavy rock. I can also mention “Parting Line”, but it’s a hybrid: John Sloman (Uriah Heep, Lone Star) wrote the lyrics, and the song came out on his late 80s solo album, ‘Disappearances Can Be Deceptive’, but we’ve written the music anew, and it became a boogie shuffle.

There are a few numbers on it that were first written and recorded by me as demos in 1997: ‘I Don’t Know’, ‘A Friend In France’ and ‘Lie To Me’. But we’ve completely overhauled and breathed new life into them. It was therapeutic to bring them back to life, actually, after almost a quarter of a century.

The newer numbers, ‘San Michel’, ‘You Nearly Stole My Heart Away’, ‘I’ve Been A Fool’, ‘I Live For Love’, and ‘The Moon’, aren’t entirely new, having been written between 2011 and 2017. There’s lushly orchestrated balladry, sophisticated pop and plenty of melancholic romanticism, not something you would immediately expect from the same band that’s making waves now with ‘Illusion’ and ‘Samurai’.

The truly new ones are ‘Jacques’ (an R&B number reminiscent of the 1960s Paris Yé-Yé scene), the aforementioned ‘Parting Line’ and ‘River’, ‘Let Him Go’ (a bluesy ballad inspired by Freddie Mercury and Frank Sinatra), and ‘Love Is Gold’, which starts with an ABBA-Esque piano intro and does ‘four on the floor’ a-la Elton John & Kiki Dee’s ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’.

Produced by Tom Hamilton (the only man we will ever trust our music with), photo credits – group shots and album cover art – Dmitriy Gushchin. He is also a doctor of homoeopathy and a licensed massage therapist. And obviously, a professional photographer.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Everyone I’m already collaborating with. Dmitry Epstein, the lyricist, is like Keith Reid (Procol Harum). And this current lineup is the best one Mad Painter’s ever had. I’m blessed to have Kenne, Alan, Al and Julie in my band. Superb musicians and friends.

What’s your dream venue to play?

The hallowed ground, the Hammersmith Odeon in London, although now I hear it’s called Eventim Apollo.

What’s the live music scene like in Arlington post covid?

There’s only the Regent Theatre, which hosts veteran British bands like Brand X and the Yardbirds on occasion, and mostly tribute acts. We practice on the second floor of that building, by the way.

But the rest of the “scene” is really in the next two towns over, Cambridge and Somerville. These days, if it’s happening in the Boston area, club-wise, it’s happening in Somerville. Too many clubs to mention here, but The Jungle has become our regular “stomping ground” in the last few years.

Other than music, what are you passionate about?

1970s fashion. Bell bottoms, colourful shirts and jackets with huge collars, platform shoes, and stuff like that.

What changes would you like to see in the music business?

Or what’s left of it, right? I’d love to see venues take more responsibility in terms of marketing the gigs they host and not shift that burden entirely onto the bands. Sadly, very few of them agree to participate in the promotion of upcoming gigs.

How do you feel about how the internet plays a role in today’s music business?

It’s a positive change. Nothing is the way it was in the last century/millennium. The internet’s become a total game changer. It’s a good thing because now you have a chance to become known instantly in any corner of the world at a click of a button. If your music is strong enough, it’ll speak for itself. Also, the rules of marketing and promotion, with the advent of streaming media and social media, are 100% different. It’s a brave new world.

To me, as a music collector, it’s also become a blessing because obtaining even the most obscure band’s recorded output is as easy as a Google search. And it was a struggle back in the 90s.

To give you one example, have you ever heard of The Fourmyula from New Zealand? They were around between 1967 and 71 and released three albums. I wouldn’t have been aware of them had it not been for the internet.

What would it be if you could choose one thing for fans to take away from your music?

Joy. The feeling of euphoria, elation, and spiritual elevation. Our music should ideally serve as a temporary escape route from reality, the grimness of daily routine and doldrums.

What is your favourite song to play live?

‘Empty Bottles’. It’s so new it’s not even been recorded in the studio. But we do have a live version recorded at Boston Wave Radio. It’s simple, catchy, upbeat, and has a memorable synth intro; we’re hoping to get it recorded in a studio for the eventual follow-up to ‘Splashed’.

FVMusicBlog January 2023

Mad Painter interview with Illustrate Magazine.

https://illustratemagazine.com/exclusive-interview-with-mad-painter/

1. How did the band come about and what are your main influences?

MAD PAINTER: I’ve had the dream of putting together my own band when I was 20 and call it Mad Painter. Even at the time I thought it’d be rooted in the British rock and blues tradition of the 1970s, as I was especially influenced by the likes of Uriah Heep, Status Quo, Rory Gallagher and Deep Purple. It didn’t materialize at the time, but I’ve learned to play the organ proficiently by attending the regular weekly Blues Jam at the Middle East. Throughout the 90s, I’ve spent time in various bands from glam rock (Silver Star) and funk (Uprise) to heavy metal (Mantis) and blues (Shaky Deal). After a long break, I resumed and tried fitting in into two tribute bands, Stormbringer (Deep Purple) and Lights Out (UFO) but it didn’t feel right. I wanted to perform and record my own original compositions. Finally the day came when the first lineup of Mad Painter got together for a jam in late 2015. By then, I’d already written most of the songs that became part of our first album (you can find it on YouTube), such as Gone Gone Gone, Barely Alive and Smile. The lineup kept changing with endless auditions and practices, and even occasional gigs, until one day all pieces of the puzzle fell into place and this current lineup got solidified. Everyone in the band is a pleasure to work with, there’s incredible chemistry and camaraderie. Bassist Kenneth Highland is a veteran of the Boston rock scene, having played with the Gizmos back in the 70s, Johnny & The Jumper Cables and Hopelessly Obscure. So are drummer Alan Hendry and guitarist Schmel Herbie Hind. Finally, we have Gee Julie on backing vocals, her contributions are particularly important on our upcoming, second album, Splashed. We have a lot of influences in common, which makes for fun jams and rehearsals, as we all tend to think alike, musically.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

MAD PAINTER: I quit classical piano at the tender age of 8, so I’d be inclined to think that I’m self-taught, although I’m sure all those gammas and music theory from those early years did pay off. The entire band is self-taught, except for the drummer, a graduate of Berklee, he’s also taught drumming for over 20 years.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘MAD PAINTER’?

MAD PAINTER: My earliest musical influences would have to be the Finnish band Hurriganes (their hit, “Get On”, was literally my first rock’n’roll) and The Sweet. When I was 11, I got bitten by the “Ballroom Blitz” bug! Also, at 11, I heard Uriah Heep for the first time, the album was “Look At Yourself”. As a teen, I got into Nazareth, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Quo, Rory, Queen, Paul McCartney and Wings, and Rod Stewart. As a Hammond player of course my strongest influences are Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) and Jon Lord (Deep Purple) – both unfortunately no longer with us. I like the more classically trained and influenced players like Rick Van Der Linden (Ekseption), Keith Emerson (ELP) and Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat). On the jazz side, my biggest Hammond influences are the “three kings”: Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Brother Jack McDuff.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

MAD PAINTER: Our sound is fiercely original; we’re not copying anyone in particular. When a song is first brought to the table, it’s but a seed of an idea. But by the time we’re done arranging it, it becomes a distinctly Painter number. I’m very proud to say that today we have an established and patented Painter sound. You can’t mistake us for anyone else. The key elements are the distorted Hammond organ counterpointed by the guitar, which can be either rhythm or solo licks, we swap back and forth depending on the number. Some of the more complex (layered) numbers have other sounds, like Moog synths. And on the new album, there’s plenty of numbers with intricate string arrangements. But when you think Painter, you think Hammond, just like Bloodrock and bands of that ilk. Then – due to the bassist and guitarist influences – it titillates closer to the Grand Funk, MC5 and Vanilla Fudge territory. Our sound is a game of balance – between an all-out sonic attack (similar to Kenne’s other band, Airforce) and subtlety & nuance. They like to “bludgeon” with sound, I prefer the contrast, light and shade. We usually happily meet somewhere in the middle.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as ROCK?

MAD PAINTER: Originally, just learning to play keyboards, I consciously took the unorthodox approach of trying to make my solos sound like guitar. I mean, the scales, the way I would sequence the notes. All I was listening to at the time were people like Ritchie Blackmore and Rory Gallagher. Also Gary Moore, Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy. I wanted to sound like them. I got into exploring the keyboard players a little later, except for Jon Lord. I used to love emulating what he does on “Lazy”. Especially the Made In Japan version, that is classic. Then later learned the Hammond part for “Highway Star”, and from there – Heep numbers such as “July Morning” and “Easy Livin’”. So yes, no matter which band I was in during the 90s, I tried to imitate those guys in my playing. I guess I’ve developed as a player through a couple of decades of participating in the aforementioned projects and then gigging with my own band, Mad Painter. But it wasn’t until this lineup came about that I could say, finally! We have our own original sound. It has arrived! And it is here to stay!

The Splashed album is very diverse, it’s got balladry, blues, pop, heavy melodic rock. And there’s plenty of psychedelic rock’n’roll on our debut. But the “heavy melodic rock” vein is what the band now favors, so we’re bound to create more numbers a-la “Illusion” and “Rock and Roll Samurai”. But listening to a very wide palette of music from the 60s and 70s has contributed to my growth as a composer, songwriter, player and performer tremendously. The wider and more diverse the palette, the more original your own sound will become.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

MAD PAINTER: When I got really pissed off once, I wrote a political number, Never Mind, it’s still a huge crowd pleaser to this day. And it made our first album. But I don’t like to weave politics into our lyrics. Nor do I like to write about anything happening in the world currently – too depressing and nasty. And too predictable and ubiquitous, all those social media sites and gadgets. No. Since in our minds we’re still playing and writing like it’s 1970-1974, we’re mentally competing with the likes of Mott the Hoople and the Faces, Procol Harum and Spooky Tooth, and what did they write about? It was the era of zany, unapologetic, rambunctious rock’n’roll. Although if you want to tread a heavier and nastier ground, lyrically speaking, go no further than Van Der Graaf Generator and King Crimson. We’re in it for the fun, so what we do is a lot closer to the Faces and Mott. Occasionally, we play covers of our favorite numbers by the Sweet and Suzi Quatro. They never ever wrote about politics, that I’m aware of. Although there are many ways to read “Teenage Rampage”!

Cultural and spiritual messaging is different, cause there are ways to do it subtly and abstractly, almost on the innate, subliminal level. You could be repeating just a single word throughout the entire number like a mantra, and it’ll feel like a spiritual message penetrating the listeners soul.

As far as the technical artistry is concerned, well, there’s no one-upmanship going on in this band. We don’t show each other up or try to upstage one another. We’re in it together, it’s a team, and it’s us against the world. In the studio we try to be as elaborate as possible, but still playing for the song with very minimal self-indulgence. We don’t flex our egos when we solo, honestly. We just try our best to make it sound “whole”. Listen to the keyboard – guitar tradeoff at the end of Illusion (our first single). It speaks for itself.

And finally, our shows and our records are all about entertaining the listener and our audience. It’s about making them forget their problems for a little while and feel good. If good becomes “euphoric”, we know we’ve done our job!

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

MAD PAINTER: I think we’ve stricken just the right balance. Of course if you mean something more in the future, it would mean a larger and wider audience for our material worldwide, more people from New Zealand to Canada discovering Painter, and us playing bigger shows at larger venues. Yes, I think those days are coming!

There’s nothing more disappointing than playing a room full of empty chairs. Been there, done that. We feed off the energy of our audience. So if we have fifty or a hundred screaming fans going nuts, we come off the stage at the end totally satisfied. This has already happened, by the way, last February in Kingston, NY, at the Winter Tanglefest. Kenne called it Paintermania!

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

MAD PAINTER: Dmitry M. Epstein has written the lyrics for our two singles, “Illusion” and “Rock and Roll Samurai”. If he already has a lyric sheet, I take it and come up with a melody. Sometimes I send him an instrumental demo and he comes up with his lyrics, so it goes both ways. When I write on my own, I usually start from a melody or a refrain in my head. The words to a projected chorus come next. Then I think about how the verses should go, some clever twists and turns, mid-sections, instrumental breaks. When the basic structure is there, I go back to the lyrical idea in the chorus and try to expand it by writing a full set of lyrics. Each verse yields the next one, it can be like telling a consistent story, so the verses are like cars in a train. There’s no 2 without 1, no 3 without 2, etc.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

MAD PAINTER: Finding the right players, team players, musical soul mates. You could spend an eternity if you’re looking for something very particular and no one you know or get to meet thru ads cares to share your vision. Luckily, I’ve found just the right players and couldn’t wish for a better lineup. I never take it for granted and always mention it live when we’re on stage, introducing each player by name. The second most difficult thing is generating a sufficient amount of buzz in the area (and we’re based in Boston), so as to expand the fan base and get bigger crowds to attend our shows. But with the help of Bsquared Mgmt, whose services we’re now employing, I think help is well on the way.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

MAD PAINTER: After all the naysayers were convinced the band was no good and I shouldn’t sing at all, performing at our first Tanglefest in early 2017 was a sweet vindication. We were nothing like what the audience had expected. It was Mad Painter’s second show and a very successful one. And when we returned back to the Tanglefest this year, playing in front of a large hall full of crazy, dancing lunatics, blam! That was an out of this world experience. Then of course I’m extremely proud of the album we’re about to release in early 2023, “Splashed”!

11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

MAD PAINTER: I used to take it very hard, but now I have learned to just keep the eye on the ball and keep moving on. My bandmates are extremely supportive and helpful in this regard, finding just the right words of encouragement, if that’s what the moment requires.

12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

MAD PAINTER: Both. Playing in front of a live audience, especially when the sound is good, and the sound engineer knows what he or she is doing, is the best, most exhilarating experience in the world. We feed off the energy of our fans and send the energy back their way when we play live. If the show is a successful one, at the end of it, there’s a lot of love in the room, it’s palpable, you can almost touch it.

But in the studio a different kind of magic takes place. I love participating in the process of building a number from scratch, starting with the basic rhythm section, then adding in guitars, keyboards, lead and backup vocals. And then the mixing. Everything from soup to nuts. There’s not been a time when I left the studio unsatisfied, I always feel like I’ve just witnessed a miracle, every single time. Maybe that’s because we have an incredible producer, Tom Hamilton, and couldn’t have wished for a better one.

13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

MAD PAINTER: As a “painter”, I prefer to leave everything up to everyone’s interpretation, obviously. No two persons will interpret the same work of art exactly the same. But there are some songs that tell stories, like “Let Him Go”, for example. That’s a little bit different – you still don’t know who the main protagonist is, you’ve never met him, he could be real or fictional. They don’t know what he looks like. But you get to know his story throughout the song. So obviously, in this scenario, there’s less room for interpretation.

MORE WRITING & MORE MUSIC WITH MAD PAINTER

https://www.loveinthelyrics.com/post/more-writing-more-music-with-mad-painter

Please describe to our audience how you came about on the music scene and what is the biggest difference between your first piece of music to your latest!

- Mad Painter first came on the scene in late 2016, with the embryonic lineup debuting at MIT in October. We did a two-hour show, minus the half-hour break, and got a rousing response, but I just knew the chemistry wasn't there and things had to change. We were very "loose" and experimental at the time. The next two gigs were better, Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge (which we had to do as a trio, sans guitar) and the Winter Tanglefest in the Poconos in Feb. 2017. And that show was a vindication to all the nay-sayers – we packed a powerful punch and blew them all away!!

- The band continued to go from strength to strength, recording our first album (now you can hear it in its entirety on YouTube). The production budget was very "shoestring". The producer and I aren't in touch anymore. He just did what he wanted, resulting in this charming and basic-sounding lo-fi long player, which our current bass player Kenne (or one of his friends maybe) christened "garage prog".

- Kenne and I met at the Out of the Blue Gallery, and he immediately compared our trio to Aphrodite's Child, a late 60s Greek threesome consisting of Vocals/Bass, Organ and Drums, which is almost unknown here but scored a plethora of hits in France. He said, "you're like Boston's answer to Aphrodite's Child"! Next thing I knew, he was on bass! And the "corporate takeover" started to happen, as he brought his friends, the two Alans, along for the ride – Hendry on drums and Naha on guitar. As well as Gee Julie on backing vocals.

- Our sound has changed tremendously, dare I say matured! This new lineup is the best thing that's ever happened to Mad Painter. We spent most of 2019 gigging in the Boston area, 2021 – recording the new album, Splashed, and 2022 – mixing it and playing live once again. "Splashed", our sophomore LP, due out in Jan 2023, and the two singles lifted from it, "Illusion" and " Rock'n'Roll Samurai", are getting some publicity even ahead of their respective scheduled release dates! The sound's now a lot more refined and sophisticated, both live and on record, than when we first started. The album ranges from heavy melodic rock to pop, balladry, blues and everything in between. But it's still retro in approach. 1970s (and late 60s) rock for us is a benchmark, a springboard, a starting point.

What are you doing to push a positive message as the year comes to an end and there is a new beginning coming up with this new year?

- We're expecting great things to happen in 2023 for us. Hopefully our album will do well. I think we'll be playing some festivals and high profile engagements. That's the plan anyway. Let's make 2023 a Mad Painter year, we're here to show the world how to PAINT MADLY.

Are there any rituals you have developed over the years that are helpful for any upcoming changes happening?

- We've just learned over the years that you have to be prepared for everything. Bad sound on stage, when you can hardly hear your vocals or instruments. Equipment quitting on you. All sorts of unpredictable things happening to your bandmates enroute to a gig. You have to have a backup plan and try to think through as many eventualities as possible. Make sure you have a full tank of gas. A spare keyboard. Spare cables of all kinds. Mics and stands. Bring the surplus, you never know what you might need on stage. And if someone's late and you have to start the show by yourself, uncomfortable as that sounds – improvise and entertain the audience! Also, always think of an element of surprise, something they have not seen or heard yet. A song in a different style, a new joke, or a stage prop.

Could you talk about a success that happened this year that you would attribute to all your hard work?

- Yes, absolutely. Our first single, "Illusion", is getting rave reviews in all kinds of online publications and included in various and sundry Spotify and SoundCloud playlists. We have the same plan for the second single, " Rock'n'Roll Samurai". And also 2022 has been a journey of education – on how to mix and produce. Working with our producer, Tom Hamilton, we'd just keep on remixing over and over until we've reached the point of "perfect". For some songs it was a long and arduous process. For others – an easy one, like the second or the third mix would be the winner, and we'd move right on. The songs also range from straight-ahead rockers, just keys, guitar, vocals and rhythm section – to very complex and lushly orchestrated pieces, the latter obviously demanding a lot more work. Finally, the two promotional videos we have out on YouTube, "Illusion" and " Rock'n'Roll Samurai", I think those have come out especially well!

Could you talk about an obstacle that you persevered through?

- The biggest obstacle was of course the lockdown. We didn't do anything between our last gig on March 8, 2020, just before the whole world shut down, and the fall of that year, when we got back together, albeit in the new lineup, for a quiet and cautious rehearsal, unsure where this would lead. Our live gig after that was in the middle of July 2021 in Somerville, at the Union Tavern, and it was a full house. We could see the excitement in the eyes of our audience, they were starved for live music, it was palpable! And in the earlier months, when it wasn't recommended to gather in a company of more than 3-4 in the same room, we spent the valuable time laying down the tracks for "Splashed". Some songs are fresh, others were written as far back as 1997, but I'm glad I was able to revive them and finally commit them to a professional studio recording. This probably explains the diversity of styles on the album.

How do you think these experiences have helped you shape your career and approach your music?

- It's a learning journey throughout. How to shape your sound with the musicians at hand. How to work with the sound engineer when you are after a particular sound and style of production. How to find the right gigs and, finally, how to please your audience. We almost never do covers, and when you're playing your own originals, you have to have faith in them. They have to be energetic and catchy enough, so they set the crowd alight. And, pleased to say, we think we've aced all of the above!

How do you continue to develop your community of fans over the years?

- It starts with a small following, consisting of friends and relations, then your followers on social media, then word of mouth gets around locally, and they start bringing their friends. Local radio exposure helps a lot, so we're eternally grateful to Brian Young and Joel Simches at WMFO in Medford, MA. They're both Painter fans and have had us over for a live-in-the-studio set three times in as many years. Now we're working hard on getting the word out nationally and internationally. Social media, YouTube, online radio airplay, it all adds up and helps.

Thank you for sharing all your music with us! Can you give us any exclusive on more music coming up?

- "Rock'n'Roll Samurai" is our next single, out on 1/19/23 on all streaming platforms. And we're still shooting for January 2023 as the release date for "Splashed", our second album. The artwork and the booklet design are ready. We'll be selling CDs at our shows and on our website. Hoping to do some writing and recording in the months ahead also.

Q&A WITH THE PIGEON

https://www.pigeonreviews.com/post/interview-mad-painter

1. Cru Cru MAD PAINTER , super nice to have the chance to chat with you! What first got you into music?

My parents tried to give me classical piano training from the age of five, I was also in a choir. By the age of 8, I quit, cause it just wasn't agreeing with me at the time.

I got into Rock'n'Roll at the age of 11 via The Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" and Uriah Heep "Look At Yourself".

2. Can you tell us a holiday memory of yours?

Holidays in the US are the days you get off work, like 4th of July, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Holidays in the UK are vacations. When I was in school, they were known as summer breaks.

When we were in the Baltics in the summer of 1980, my dad bought a mono tape recorder, in hopes that I would learn English, it came with a microphone but also several mix tapes of what I thought at the time was the best music in the world. Still do, in fact. And that, I suppose, is where my musical journey started.

3. What’s your favorite hobby?

My CD collection.

4 Will you tell us something embarassing about you?

Yes. I eat cookies after midnight.

5. What’s the best decade for music?

The 70s, hands down.

6. What’s your favorite movie?

Never Too Young To Rock, starring Mud and Rubettes. But also a horror flick, Blue Sunshine. It's a tossup.

7. What’s the best advice you ever gave?

Don't quit your day job. Well, I stole it from Ken Hensley actually.

8. How is your musosoup experience going?

GREAT! Lots of reviews thru MusoSoup for our first single, Illusion, and we're looking to create new campaigns for the second single and the upcoming album in the new year!

9. What’s your favorite 90’s album?

Can I have more than one?

Queen "Innuendo".

Black Sabbath "Dehumanizer".

Uriah Heep "Sea Of Light".

10. Do You agree with the Pigeon?

As long as the Pigeon doesn't crap on me.

The Pigeon added the new single to his Weekly Gems playlist on Spotify.

STAYING GROUNDED WITH MAD PAINTER

https://www.yourbestlifenashville.com/post/staying-grounded-with-mad-painter

How are you being bold as this year wraps in your music?

We're exploring the new frontiers with more radio stations picking up our latest single, Illusion, which is also live on Spotify. We've just completed the mixing of our second album, Splashed, and very soon it'll be sent to the pressing plant. Initially, we're looking to get 500 CDs pressed in digipaks. The album cover art is very bold and colorful.

How are you leaving off this year and what are your hopes for the future of your music?

We're leaving off this year with a huge grin of satisfaction - thanks to the gigs we've played all over the Boston area and the Kingston, NY "Winter Tanglefest" back in February – our second appearance there. Also because the album's now finished and about to get released, and the 1st single is getting noticed! We've received excellent feedback from the people in the biz, whose opinions we value, like Mike Starrs (Lucifer's Friend) and John Sloman (Uriah Heep, Lone Star). It's flattering!

We're hoping that the future will hold more releases and more (and bigger) gigs for us. We do what we love – creating and recording new songs, arranging them, and bringing them to appreciative audiences. There's no greater satisfaction than that.

Are you planning extensively or are you allowing your music tide to take you on its own?

Everyone in the band has side projects, so the idea is to use the time wisely. We take it one day, week, month at a time, but of course practices, recording sessions and gigs (including radio ones) do take some advance planning and require logistics.

As you get to know yourself better musically, what is your biggest lesson learned this year?

Stay in control and demand perfection! :-) I have to hear myself, my voice and keyboards, really well on stage, else I stumble and the song's ruined. And when Painter plays out, it can get plenty loud. Also, when we're not sure what to do for an encore, precious time gets wasted while the audience is waiting and we're debating! I have to do better on both fronts, think quicker on my feet!

Gaining the success you are seeing, tell us what has been the proudest moment for you so far?

The above-mentioned Tanglefest. It was pandemonium. We've never seen an audience this manic! Our bassist, Kenne Highland, called it Paintermania!

As you beat to your own drum, tell our audience what has helped you the most in finding your own beat for your career?

Paying less attention to our current "competition" and staying grounded in the era we all love and share as our favorite era in music – 1968-76. Somehow along the way we've created our own unique sound – loud, boisterous, rambunctious, dominated by a heavy and bold, distorted rock guitar and Hammond organ. It varies, however, stylistically, from basic rock'n'roll to progressive, ballads, blues, pop, classic rock. The new album, which we're immensely proud of, will reflect this diversity, a little something for everyone.

WE ARE MAD PAINTER

https://www.tastynewmusic.com/post/we-are-mad-painter

Give us the set up of how your latest music came to be?

Some songs were written after the first album was already completed (you can hear our 2016 debut on YouTube) but before this current line-up got together, so between 2017-2018. Others are newer, like "Jacques" and "Let Him Go". Yet some of the poppier numbers date back to 1997, which is when I recorded them first as my solo demos. This line-up of Painter has enabled me to bring them out of mothballs and back to life, "Lie To Me", "A Friend In France", "I Don't Know".

What is setting your music apart from what is being heard in the music industry today?

Everything. We don't look or sound like anyone else on the scene today, that we're aware of. We don't even speak the same musical language as our contemporaries. We have real melodies, song structures, sometimes simple, sometimes complex, elaborate solos. But we also have the warm, "analogue"sound on record. It's a total "TIMEWARP" experience.

How are you multiplying the ways your music is being heard?

Using every contemporary tool available to us, social media and streaming platforms, YouTube, online radio, getting reviewed in as many blogs and 'zines as possible.

Why is it so important for you to continue to make new music that matters?

Maybe because no one else is doing it at the moment. It's truly a forgotten artform. And there's plenty of people out there with a real thirst for what we're doing. 45-50 years ago, we'd be faced with a stiff competition, but today we've got our own market cornered, live anyway. And on record, I'd like to think of Painter as virtual competitors to notable reissues/remasters of classics by Heep, Purple, Nazareth, Quo, Sweet, Mott, Slade, Humble Pie, etc.

What does your latest music say about you?

We are Mad Painter. We're bold and in your face, flash and brazen. Age doesn't matter, so long as we stay young at heart. Our bassist, Kenne Highland, has a song called Be More Flamboyant. I couldn't think of a better motto for us as a group.

What is the message you are trying to convey for your fans?

When you're at our show, you're in for a treat. Life's too short to waste on mediocrity. When it comes to your entertainment, you deserve the best.

Keeping up with you is always fun, where can our audience listen to you NEXT?

Online Radio Stations "Lonely Oak" and "This Is Only Rock" play us non-stop, for which we're eternally grateful. On Spotify the new single is up, called "Illusion", to be followed soon by "Samurai" and the "Splashed" album. On YouTube there are two promotional videos and one lyric video, respectively, the aforementioned "Illusion", "Samurai" and "Let Him Go". And live engagements for next year – to be announced!

Leave us with a meaningful story that connects to your latest music that is the ultimate takeaway for your fans?

In the mid-90s I was in a band of my dreams, or so I thought, called Silver Star. And then it just ended abruptly and my world came crashing down. I was depressed for a while, then I picked up the pieces and went to a studio in Boston, on Newbury St., a tiny place called Le Studio, to record my new songs, just in case, if nothing else, preserving them for posterity. Or maybe to take them to my next band. The demos were basic – just keyboards and vocals, an occasional acoustic guitar, that was it. 24 years later (!!!) I dusted them off and brought them back to life. I guess deep inside I always believed their time would come. And with the help of today's Mad Painter line-up, it did. And what a delight and a joy that feeling is! I guess the moral of the story is, never give up. It may take a while, but eventually it will happen.

KEEPING ON TRACK WITH MAD PAINTER

https://www.hotsoundsinthecity.com/post/keeping-on-track-with-mad-painter

What is the biggest tip you followed when creating your sound?

In the age of loudness and distortion overload, creating a harmonious, organic, warm and balanced mix has become a long- and unfairly forgotten form of art. I believe our sound is unique, influenced by the British rock greats Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, who both thrived on the prominent presence of the Hammond organ (with occasional piano and synths) counterpointed by guitar. However, we do it our own way, just using the above as a blueprint.

How did your sound evolve from the start to the finish?

In the six years the group's been in existence, we've definitely evolved. The first line-up, which debuted Oct. 2016 at MIT, was loose and jazzy. A lot more freeform. The present line-up and the sound are grounded in the tradition of melodic hard rock and heavy metal of the 1970s. Although the tracks on our new album, Splashed, are diverse, ranging from heavy to danceable pop, blues and balladry.

Any tricks up your sleeve when making your latest music?

Stylistically and influence-wise, it's great to be on the same page. This is what gives the band its current musical chemistry. Every week I find out I have a lot of different favorites in common with the guitarist, we both love Hawkwind, Spooky Tooth, Sweet, Suzi Quatro and Mk I Deep Purple with Rod Evans. We get "anoraky" too on occasion, discussing "obscurities" such as Bloodrock, Atomic Rooster, Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond. All of this has a clear influence on our own sound. Then we take it to the producer, Tom Hamilton, the only man I'll ever trust my music with, cause he does such a phenomenal job! He has a great ear for vintage analogue production. Sometimes we have a listening party together, playing old records, and that gives him (and us) a lot of ideas on how to produce Painter. This is how "Splashed" was made. Sounds simple, but it's anything but, there is a ton of nuances. Producing the basic "four on the floor" config (voice, keys, guitar, rhythm section) is quite different from a lushly orchestrated ballad with string arrangements.

Was there a collection of ideas that you had or did you have a really specific idea on the music?

Nothing too specific. It's quite "spur of the moment". And always an amalgamation of our influences. You are what you hear, musically speaking. It's zany rock'n'roll with a melodic twist, solemn and majestic prog-like pieces, heavy and anthemic organ-led rock, whatever the mood is at any given moment is what we create. And then bringing an original to a rehearsal, there's a certain understanding that it's not going to be the same number you've heard "solo" in your head, we give it the collective "Painter" treatment. But the specific idea would be, whatever would fit and be acceptable between the years 1968 and 1979. Whatever would pass the muster back then. And it IS a challenge, because the standards were immeasurably higher then.

How much time do you demand of yourself to focus on your music?

An infinite amount, as much time as it takes. Songs are born all the time, sometimes in one's dreams or in the shower, pretty much anywhere. The trick is to hang on to them and jot down the skeletal idea. Getting the song rehearsed and recorded is only half the trip. Then come different mixes, and each subsequent one is closer to "perfection". So you always chase the proverbial "perfect" and then in the end wind up making some (minor) concessions, when it feels like "alright, we've beaten this one to death, time to move on". But again, this is more about my interaction with the producer.

Do you have any tips or tricks for our audience on how to manage your time when it comes to making sure your music is on track for release?

Spend a certain amount of time on social media, but don't overdo it. Don't stress about the small stuff. If you are confident your music has a merit and a marketable value, hire a good PR company. Shoot a promotional video. I prefer staged music videos to the talkfest where everyone chats about their music. Let your music do the talking. Pay attention to streaming platforms such as Spotify. But don't forget tangible media. A lot of people still love their LPs and CDs. Engage online (and terrestrial) radio stations worldwide. Be sure to stay busy. And, above all, keep the faith and be positive. With the right attitude, anything's possible and sky's the limit.

Producing The Big Picture

https://www.lovemusicsoulbaby.com/post/an-escape-route-with-mad-painter-music

When you look at all the music you have made, what is the big picture for how you want your artistry to be seen?

Our music is an escape route from reality, specifically today's reality. Classic British and American rock with top-notch musicianship and taste seems to be a forgotten artform. We're not copying anybody, although collectively we have plenty of favorites from the years gone by. In the golden era of the Isle of Wight, Glastonbury, Reading and Knebworth, things were so different. So were the quality standards. You had to be really great to make it in the biz. Whether in the studio or playing live at a club, we challenge ourselves with this question: if we were opening up for Humble Pie in '72, would we have cut the mustard? If the answer is no, why bother?

You challenge the status quo, how did you identify your purpose for the music you wanted to put out?

Our music is unique in that it sounds like a time capsule. The older generations of gig goers are only used to hearing what they've known for decades, and since a lot of classic bands aren't around anymore, they go for the "next best thing" – tribute bands. And the youngsters aren't exposed to this type of rock at all – for the most part. So for the 50+ crowd, who may be tired of hearing the same old Bad Co./Aerosmith/C.C.R. covers, we offer something unique, melodic, energetic and original that sounds like it's straight from that era, yet nothing like anyone in particular, except Mad Painter. And for the college crowd we offer a chance to discover rock the way it was meant to be – with hooks, licks, solos, and, above all, fun.

When you create your body of work, are there boxes you must check or does everything evolve as it should be and you allow for the checklist to not be completely checked?

Check lists are so pedantic. It takes the fun and spontaneity out of the whole experience. Sometimes we get together and jam on the covers we like, just for the hell of it. But it's important too, cause that's how you know the chemistry is there, when you're enjoying rockin' out with your bandmates, doing the songs we all love. When it comes to originals – first there's the germ of an idea. It develops gradually and takes shape in my head. When the lyrics and the chord changes are fleshed out and the basic structure is complete, I bring it to the group practice, and we take it from there. We run through the new number a few times and learn it together. But we also give it the Painter treatment. So the end product can sound very different to what was originally brought to the table. Tempos can change, for instance. A modulation may get introduced. Solos swapped (keyboard vs. guitar). Harmony vocals added, stuff like that. At the end of the day, the only checkbox that matters is "quality". If it passes the Mad Painter quality check, it's ready to roll.

Could you give us some insight of what your checklist does look like if you have one?

If I were to really think about it… Have I expressed everything I wanted to in the song? Is the thought complete logically? Is the message meaningful and informative? Is it able to move the listener, engage the audience? Is there enough space in the song for each instrument? On the flipside, is there enough breathing room? And, above all, it can't be boring. Mentally I put myself in the shoes of someone in the imaginary audience and ask myself, would I have fun if the band launched into this number? Would it at least get my feet tapping? Would I feel like letting loose and singing along?

Who are you paying homage to for your vision as an artist?

A bunch of groups and individuals. Above all, and the name that gets mentioned the most is Uriah Heep. On the second album that's about to be released, we cover "Stealin'". Sometimes our bass player will mention Trevor Bolder (of David Bowie fame) or Grand Funk. Deep Purple also comes up a lot, not just in the internal conversations but now in the reviews for our first single, "Illusion". Sometimes I think of Rod & The Faces, Mott the Hoople, Sweet and Status Quo when I write. And we have a few "French" flavored numbers like "Jacques" and "San Michel", so the French beat and chanson tradition is important.

You are a visionary, please keep us in the loop of what your plans are for more music and WHERE you are headed next for your fans to connect with you?

Since engaging BSquared Mgmt, we're awaiting some cool gigs to come our way in 2023. We’re also keeping an eye on the upcoming festivals. We're based in the Boston area but would like to branch out and expand to all of New England and possibly New York (city and state). The one thing that's definitely on the books for next year is the "Celebration of Michael Weddle" at the C Note in Hull. That's scheduled for the Spring.