ETERNAL RETURN – The Nomads of Prog Rock
14 min read
1. Is Eternal Return a full band or a project and how do you rehearse during the Covid days?
Paul Godwin(piano, vocals, production): I consider it a full band that I hope will get to perform live and record a follow up to “Once Only” called “Once Again”.
We have been collaborating in various combinations during Covid, using internet collaboration techniques such as sending tracks and overdubbing on new works together.
Robert Jürjendal, Electric Guitar: In my opinion it started as a project but it has a great potential to go further. Unfortunately no rehearsing / performing plans during Covid time.
Colin Edwin: I am not quite sure of the distinction between “band” or “project”, but it’s a full band in as much as everyone has found their own role and space in the music quite naturally and with minimal discussion.
No rehearsals at this point, it’s an untested activity with Eternal Return, the bones of the album were mostly recorded live, in the moment and with minimal preparation and few overdubs. Usually I do a lot of preparation before getting to a “live in the studio situation” but this time I let it just happen, as the concept was to try and create around some basic forms as sponatnaeously as possible, at least that’s what I was told!
Miguel Noya: Eternal Return for me is a band result of a proposed project. It is started as a kind of new way of transnational collaboration. It is a new step in the Godwin-Noya-Dogon process, The evolution took a few years to this new point. First step opened up the G-N-D process into Europe and the meeting of Jürjendal in Estonia 2016, with a previous encounter in Berlin, these 2 events on a european tour were for me the first steps on the ladder towards Eternal Return. The project proposed by Godwin in 2019 that for a moment I saw as a solo Godwin Album with guest musicians ended up tied as a Band by means of the Music process at the Berlin Studio. All collaborators were hooked by the enchanting process of free creation within the boundaries of some germs aesthetics ideas.
Miguel Toro: at the moment of the recording we where a full band, that is what that moment needed, a full band. Now the reality is greater than our expectations and we adapt and survive, like Joe Strummer said: “the future is unwritten”
2. Nomads are the main theme of the new work recorded by the band, do you feel a nomad?
PG: I am not a nomad at this time. As an American citizen having lived through the last four years of xenophobic and racist policies, behaviors and propaganda by our government and elements in our country, my family and I are constantly considering the possibility of nomadic choices post-Covid. This would be intentional digital nomadism, not driven by economic reasons, but yes, influenced by political forces.
CE: I’ve always considered travel a very important life activity, to go somewhere quite different and experience diverse cultures
and places and to take in as much as possible. Until recently, my motto was always “have bass will travel” and music offered me a good way to get around, I hope I can get back to it soon.
MN:I am a Nomad. I feel and live like a Nomad these days. Defying the risk of the virus I had to embrace sites and countries according to how projects come along. The generic basic Chords and arpeggios for the song came in Madrid and the final scheme of the piano parts were finished in Berlin just a few days before the recording process. It is hard for me to think about a plaee to establish for now since there is a genocide procees in my original home country, so, I had to embrace my European nationality and reach for the whole planet citizenship (which is cool in a way). I am a foreigner or alien in all places that I reach.
RJ: Mentally, yes..but physically I would like to stay together more and more with my family
Miguel Toro: I have never really felt from somewhere specific, since you don’t get to choose the country you are born, I can say that I feel free being from nowhere while living somewhere. I always felt I didn’t fit in the country where I was born, so yes, being a nomad is greater than a birth certificate.
3. There’s an ongoing trend among countries to attract digital nomads (people working from remote) as a type of new tourism. Have you ever thought of becoming a nomad in other country?
PG: We were excited by Estonia’s announcement of E-Citizen Progra m and the country’s outspoken character in asking peopleto consider a long-term visit as a digital nomad. We are seriously considering this program!
CE: I’ll certainly be the first in the queue to get out and about once the Covid situation subsides, being more mobile and less tied to the UK was becoming a distinct possibilty for me before the lockdowns. I am also not being alarmist to say that the UK has also been hijacked by fanatics, (for anyone unaware just look up “hostile environment” or “Windrush scandal”) so regular escape will be welcome.
RJ: There is certainly a „good” side of the Covid which teached musicians how to collaborate in the distance. I personally have made 4-5 albums in this way and somehow it’s possible. But I still miss the physical contact with other musicians. There is nothing which can replace these relations. Maybe I’m too sentimental, who knows..
MN: I kind of like to be integrated in places I reach. You have to be involved in projects and work to get to see and know each country. I realized many years ago that tourism is ok, but for me it is an incomplete experience. On the other hand if you go to a country with a work purpose you get to contact people and relate to the place more deeply. The online is just another tool. The body experience is always where the real stuff happens specially when interacting with other bodies.
Miguel Toro: I like more the touring life, nomadic and short. Although you never really get to know a place where you play because you are there for a limited amount of time, you get to know people that you click with and maintain contact afterwards. I really enjoy the “touch and go” reality, I like to be there present, even if it is for a short amount of time.
4. When and how did you record your new album?
PG:The music was composed in Berlin, only weeks before the recording sessions. Most of the musicians had not heard more than a demo or two before coming to the sessions. As producer, I trusted these musician’s instincts to encourage improvisation in the recording process. So in fact, the album was recorded mostly live with very few overdubs. This was done over a three day period for basic tracks in late September 2019. Three more days for overdubs a week later. Drums and bass were in a large room together, guitar and piano in a another room with no visual connection to bass and drums (use those ears!). Synthesizers were played in the control room by Miguel Noya.
RJ: I enjoyed the recording process, the whole team was in charge, very friendly and supportive, creative atmosphere. A good balance between the free improvisation and pre-written form.
I remember the feeling of the free improvisation we made with Colin, there was a lot of music around.
CE: The eccentric atmosphere of Berlin’s Famous Gold Watch Studios, a converted underground space and former munitions factory, September 2019. A great setting for some impromtu Urban Exploration between takes.
We also stayed together in a converted industrial building, which might have been either an electricity substation or water tower repurposed as a guest house, a setting which matched the studio in terms of being both unusual but welcoming.
MN: Paul and I shared some ideas before the recording sessions, specifically for Nomad and The Sky. So those two songs had a kind of map of sections and structure to work around. So the other material grew on the spot, and also with previous references of Godwin Dogon like The Triggering Town that came from a previous work called Smellucinations I. I agree totally with Colin on the subject of the set – setting of the experience, not only on the studio but also on the personnel involved in the whole project. Crazy historical building with so many memories recorded on the walls.
Miguel Toro: I can only add that I went to visit the studio weeks before we got there to record and remember saying, “I really want to get here and record”. Just the atmosphere of the place is so Berlin 1999 mixed with reminiscences of 1920. This city was just like that studio before the hordes of techno tourist came here shouting “ aaahhh Berlin is sooo cououououl”, and then the Russian and British investors came to multiply their gold and didn’t realise (actually never cared) that the reason why this city was so special is because THEY where all somewhere else and not here, destroying New York or London and we could live as we pleased. I guess it would have been näive to think that the capital of Germany would stay like that forever…
5. How did you approach this new album from a musical perspective in terms of orchestration and mixing?
PG: Colin Edwin suggested we consider mixing in London on Pete Townsend’s boat studio “Grand Cru”with Jonathon Hucks engineering. Fortunately they found some time for us within a few weeks and Miguel Noya and I went ahead to mix. It was quite special hanging on Pete’s boat and in fact at one point I was inspired to add some vocals to “The Bottom of the Pond” (track 5) which had a decidedly Who-like inspiration, though masked in a huge wash of guitars and drums in a post rock approach. Orchestration was created as the “muse” pointed us in the direction that each song would take. If a player heard an overdub they wanted to add that was encouraged, though frequently the tracks performed on the basics were the tracks that made it to the end. We added a muted and then mutated trumpet by a Syrian trumpet player living in Berlin, Milad Khawam. In one case on “The Sky,” we decided to add a 12- string guitar which Robert Jürjendal sent over the web, he had already returned to Estonia. No other orchestrations were added after the sessions.
RJ: Love it, it’s done with a good musical taste. It was really interesting to hear the differences between original takes vs final production.
CE: Being a predominantly live in the studio creation, there were a lot of fast decisions made and also a lot of space for the indiviuals to shine through. Definately a “less is more” approach and a sense of direct emotional communication which I feel has come out well. Mixing was handled at Grand Cru, a fantastic facility in the heart of London, I can’t recommend it enough.
MN: I loved the fact of playing live with the band and to the band results on the DAW. I did enjoy for the first time playing a live piano part written (nomad) and performing with a band in a studio situation. After many years of electronic and MIDI music some live action was very refreshing. That applied also to the live synth takes that were mostly 1 take. So this approach of live improvisation and direct playing was an unique experience.
Miguel Toro: I really didn’t approach nothing, the songs approached me and I had to deal with them the best way I could.
6. You have a multicultural line up of musicians, how does it affect the final result of the album?
PG: These musicians were drawn together by their love of certain kind of sounds and genres – and so actually, though we are multi-nationals – the musical result transcends borders and the kind of world music fusions that we have created in other ensembles with those intentions.
RJ: Somehow it’s strange that during these sessions I never thought about this fact. Maybe because the musical relations stayed always higher than our cultural backgrounds.
CE: In any team, which is how I think of a band, coming from such diverse backgrounds is usually a positive in that it will lead to different perspectives coming into the picture, and usually some unexpected results. Although this was our first meeting together, I also knew Robert Jurjendal beforehand, as we’d made an album called “Another World” together in 2018, so I felt there would be some initial chemistry we could build on.
MN: Dogon (band with Paul Godwin and guests) is originally a transnational art and music project. The difference this time is the live contact with a very special group of musicians. I came from doing a distant collaboration with Robert and our encounter was very special at 2016 Kukemuru Festival in Estonia. Miguel Toro I met in Caracas and also is a close friend. Paul and I had been collaborating since 1981 and Colin was a very warm and special surprise that clicked in. I feel lucky to be active and connected with such an amazing group of creative musicians and human beings. A true multiethnic event. Well define by the name “Eternal Return”
Miguel Toro: I think meeting Colin and Robert was the highlight of the situation, Paul I know since a while and Miguel is a friend that I met when I was just a kid learning from working in art galleries in that tiny city called Caracas.
The baggage of experience of all those cultures makes us play in a certain way but being very open and listening extra hard makes us click in a especific moment and that moment was the recording moment. Our common language helped us.
7. By reading the Press Release of the new album, I came across the word “progressive.” Do you feel progressive and if yes which are the elements that define your music as “progressive?
PG: I think that our project adheres to most of the important definitions of “progressive rock.” Ideas such as: eschewing “pop” in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more associated with jazz or classical music. Lyrics that are poetic, rather than direct or intentionally hooky, etc. Technology harnassed for new sounds, music approached as “art” and the studio rather than the stage as the focus of musical activity. Music for listening rather than dancing.
RJ: Considering the word „prog” there is something different going on. You can’t measure this album with any standard tools.. I believe that the music of Eternal Return belongs to our time. Odd meters and sudden tempo changes are not the most important things here. But it’s hard to find another category, so I’m happy with this anyway. In my point of view, this album is not just separate songs, its one strong whole thing. And I’m sure, the lyrics are carrying an important part here…
CE: I’d rather leave any sort of classification to journalists, but I do think the term “progressive” means that the album might appeal to the more immersive and adventurous listeners, rather than the more casual playlist consumers. It’s not a commercial album but it’s accessible and rewards the patient listener’s attention.
MN: I coincide with Colin, also the fact of no boundaries and freedom of choices while playing and performing, along with a refined aesthetics as a goal extending one’s own vocabulary is a progressive approach.
Miguel Toro: yes, I think we definitely made progress after that recording.
8. Do you plan to release the album in both physical/digital formats?
CE: Physical CD version is released at the same time as the digital.
PG: It is released in both, as CD and in all digital formats. In Europe CDs still have currency, in the US less so, but we like them as “calling cards” and many press and radio still request a physical copy.
MN: I would like to see also in the old formats of Vinyl and Cassette.
9. The mid tempo sound and several music elements in your new album, remind me of the Porcupine Tree band. Was there any interest from other Porcupine Tree members to participate?
PG: I don’t think so. But let me know if they do!
CE: I hope that your question is a compliment, perhaps the character of my bass input being such a recognizable element in Eternal Return and therefore a strong link to my past, but I am too close to judge that. Athough there is some shared territory with PTree in the expansive sound scaping and the all enveloping atmosphere, I can’t hear too much myself and, as they say in the movies, “..any resemblance is unintentional”.
10. How do you adjust in the current status of the music industry?
PG: While the transition into purely digital and mostly streaming music created a long period of adjustment, in some ways that time is ending. I say this because as the transition completes and we see the massive output of millions of artists (40,000 new tracks uploaded on Spotify per day!) – what’s left is the desire to make music with other musicians. This is what drove us to create Eternal Return – in the end, real musicians making music in the same space and then seeing where the music takes them and how to find an audience for it. This will never change. I’m very grateful to be making music with these folks in this day and age!
RJ: I hope that the madness with the massive, cheap streaming will change.. There are a lot of young people who don’t know anything about the cd discs any more. The vinyl production is rising but I’m not sure it will replace the cd business, it’s just a different form of art. There is a need for a new and sustainable system which supports both live musicians and writers from different areas.
CE: My own path for sometime now has been a combination of extreme flexibilty and total stubborn resistance, the music industry had lost any semblance of sense it might once have had, and in the live and recorded arena is now an open season of total exploitation by massive corporate entities who care for nothing but their own stock price. Making strong connections with the few supportive labels and business people left, and also to an audience is more important than ever, but increasingly hard to do.
MN: All formats are totally ok. Live music is always the true path. Music always has the last word.
Miguel Toro: I think is positive and moving at the moment, 30 years a go it was unthinkable for a band to be independent and more or less make a living, you had to be under contract with a major label. Nowadays is very easy to have your own label and make distribution deals and tour and promote (like Newdog Records) and all that we thank technology (computers and internet).
Some say that the music industry is in crisis, that the business it’s changing, and since the beginning it has been changing by introducing ways of preserving it in order to sell it, (8 ch. Cartdriges, Vinyl, Cassettes, Minidisk, CD, Mp3) and that’s their problem because to me I hope we get to a point where I can “beam” you my song straight to your brain from my brain “server” (there is so much unused space in our brains). Since up there is where music happens (in our brain), the format is really irrelevant.
The only way to experience real music is still concerts (and will always be) and that will still be another way of beaming you the music.
Good thing is that the MUSIC has never been in crisis.
Information: Eternal Return — NEWdOG (newdogrecords.com)
Music: ▶︎ Once Only | Eternal Return (bandcamp.com)
