ALL CHANGE YET STILL THE SAME
Prog|Issue 147
Now a band in their own right, the Spock's Beard alumni are back with Pattern-Seeking Animals and their fourth album, Spooky Action At A Distance. This provides the perfect opportunity to catch up with multi-instrumentalist and founder John Boegehold, to discuss changing things up, bonus tracks, and what the future might hold for P-SA.
Gary Mackenzie
ALL CHANGE YET STILL THE SAME

It's 11am in a very sunny Los Angeles when Prog catches up with PatternSeeking Animals keyboard player/ multi-instrumentalist, main writer and producer John Boegehold, and he's already been up for more than five hours. It's an almost daily routine that allows time to boot up his studio to write and demo material before tackling his 'proper job' in property management, and he'll keep toying with ideas throughout the day. This cycle of writing partly explains the vast pool of music (more than 200 songs, he estimates) Boegehold has amassed for a number of collaborations, film soundtrack work, contributions to Spock's Beard over the last 20 years and the already enviable back catalogue assembled by Pattern-Seeking Animals since 2018.

"When it gets to the point where I think, 'Oh, that would be a cool song' then I go full-speed ahead, I'll put all the tracks together and send them to the guys to do their parts, although with drums we always do everything live in the studio," he explains.

However, new P-SA album, Spooky Action At A Distance, has seen a shift from business as usual.

"The past three albums we've recorded with Rich Mouser at the Mouse House and it's been great Rich is so good. You'll have heard his work a zillion times recording and mixing the who's who' of prog. Because our albums are so close together, the challenge with starting a new one right after the previous one is to make it sound different, not just a bunch of more tracks from the same sessions.

But you're kind of trapped though, because Rich is so good you don't want to risk making any changes." Ultimately, fate stepped in with simple scheduling when Boegehold wanted to start recording drums for the current album.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 147 من Prog.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 147 من Prog.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من PROG مشاهدة الكل
JAKKO M JAKSZYK
Prog

JAKKO M JAKSZYK

King Crimson's vocalist and guitarist shares anecdotes from his revealing new autobiography, discusses his lost career as a footballer and reveals what he said when he met the former king of pop.

time-read
4 mins  |
Issue 154
A Part & Yet Apart
Prog

A Part & Yet Apart

Sheffield-based 80s proggers Haze have returned with a new studio album, The Water's Edge - their third since their 2013 comeback record, The Last Battle. Prog catches up with threequarters of the band to discuss Haze's DIY ethos, the curse of prog and playing to Cumbrian sheep farmers.

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 154
CONTROLLED AIRSPACE
Prog

CONTROLLED AIRSPACE

He's about to embark on Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour, but keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess has taken time out to discuss his soaring new solo album, Permission To Fly.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 154
On The Wing
Prog

On The Wing

Birds, break-ups, big choruses and the Charlie Chaplin effect can all be found on In Murmuration, the ninth album from Finland's Von Hertzen Brothers. But as they embrace their power pop influences, have the Finns cast off their prog wizard cloaks once and for all? Mikko von Hertzen talks about the Seattle influence, songwriting secrets and sax solos.

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 154
Fourth Dimension
Prog

Fourth Dimension

The stock of melodic Northumberland-based proggers Stuckfish has been rising since they formed six years ago. Their fourth studio album, Stuckfish IV, represents an important watershed in the band's musical evolution. Co-founders Adrian Fisher and Phil Stuckey tell Prog about the diverse influences that have helped to shape it.

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 154
Symphly The Best
Prog

Symphly The Best

In the 70s, Barclay James Harvest almost bankrupted themselves by performing with an orchestra, but, several decades on, they’re celebrating last year’s performance with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic, captured on their latest live record, Philharmonic! The Orchestral Concert. John Lees reminisces over the band’s ambitious early years and bassist Craig Fletcher fills Prog in on JLBJH’s upcoming “progtastic” double album.

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 154
We've Not Been Expecting You
Prog

We've Not Been Expecting You

The unpredictable Frost* are back with Life In The Wires, a bold double concept album that revisits the mood of Milliontown. Bandleader Jem Godfrey tells Prog why he rolled out the solos on a record he describes as the most fun since their dazzling debut.

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 154
FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS
Prog

FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS

Dutch five-piece Lesoir have been steadily gathering momentum over the last 15 years, and they hope to build on that with their latest release, Push Back The Horizon. Vocalist/ instrumentalist Maartje Meessen and guitarist Ingo Dassen discuss the creation of their sixth album, working with Muse's production team, and their dream of bringing their intricate music to new audiences.

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 154
'I mean, what is classical nowadays?'
Prog

'I mean, what is classical nowadays?'

Tony Banks reflects on his role as a 21st-century classical composer.

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 154
There Can Be Only One!
Prog

There Can Be Only One!

Never meet your heroes, or so the saying goes, but Opeth have had a blast working with Ian Anderson on their latest, The Last Will And Testament. Bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discuss the band's proggiest album to date, the return of the growl and why blood isn't always thicker than water.

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 154