THE MANDRAKE PROJECT RECIPE

MANDRAKE PROJECT can be very confusing. What is it exactly? Who’s really in this musicians’ collective? What do they sound like? These questions are most frequently asked and least frequently answered.

The body of music created by Mandrake Project concocts an unusual mixture of jazz, classical, world-beat, psychedelic and ambient rock that has best been described as "cinematic rock".   Its thick layers of delay drenched guitars and strings smear complex rhythms and hypnotic soundscapes into an ebb and flow of intense crescendos and sleepy interludes.  How does this all work?  Let us clarify using this time tested recipe:

Since 2002, Mandrake origin resides primarily in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but shares its muse dually in the steep culture of New Orleans, Louisiana.  The sound of the band is not easy to put a finger on because of its uncanny ability to wear many faces.  It can utilize little or no vocals, operates without dead-ringer influences and often functions with a rotating cast of satellite musicians adding transient savvy to the core of the band.   The members of Mandrake Project all come from vastly different musical backgrounds, which creates a situation of constant ego and intention adjustment within their writing.  It's this detail coupled with the band's knack for melding unusual genres into massive, orchestrated compositions that ultimately leads to their unique sound.  In addition, most members of Mandrake Project are associated with other significant musical endeavors outside of the project stretching as far as the jubilant Polyphonic Spree to the soulful downbeat of The Boogie Hustlers.

INGREDIENTS: (and their many uses) 

KIRK SALOPEK Guitarist, Gadgeteer. Initiator of the Mandrake Project.  Nervous. Wreck. Insane. Perfectionist. 

DAVID CHAPMAN JAMISON Drums, Chapman Stick, Percussion, Moog Multi instrumentalist. Technologically Turned-On. 

BENJAMIN ZERBE Drums, Percussion. Original skin-beater of many guises. Typically aloof drummist. 

ANTHONY PECORA Bass Guitarist, Percussion. Will find the LOWER side of the end. Too intense for everyone’s own good. 

RYAN MEALS Guitarist, Saxophone.  The other half of Mandrake guitardom. The scientific one. 

RICK NELSON Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass. The hardest "working" MAN in DRAKE. Official  Mandrake Representative for the city of New Orleans.  

DENNY KARL Keyboards.  Mandrake’s seafaring adventurer.
 

EXTRA INGREDIENTS: (Optional. Apply liberally for added potency.)

JOHN SCHISLER- Vocals
TROY CRAMER- Drums
JOSEPH BISHKOFF- Cello
RICK MATT- Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute
JOSH DUNLEVY- Saxophone

PREPARATION:  

In late September of 2006 after nearly a year of recording, the Mandrake Project independently released “A FAVOR TO THE MUSE”, a sprawling debut that combined 16 guest musicians and 40-piece female choir. The album garnered excellent critical response from both the press and independent radio throughout the US and Europe. The highest praise came from orchestral gems like “An Ode to the Spaceman” and technical space rockers like “Walking Music” and “The Economy of Motion”. A few tracks from the album, including "An Ode to the Spaceman” managed to find their way onto the soundtrack for the independent film release of “Listerine on Sundays” by Brian Paul Higgins.  The song's use in the film exposes the bands' ability to create an anthemic and uplifting soundtrack to stunning visual imagery.
 
A collection of new material written after the “Favor” sessions invaded the console of Pittsburgh’s Mr. Smalls recording facility in late November of 2007.  The second full-length Mandrake album, and first proper label release, “A Miraculous Container” was completed in October of 2008 and was officially released worldwide under the confusing (Due to the label's normal association with metal acts) moniker of Blistering Records on March 24, 2009.   Unlike the first album, vocals have been introduced into the Mandrake repertoire with three songs being beautifully augmented by the angelic vocals of John Schisler from the band New Invisible Joy.  Sticking with tradition, an invited cast of guest musicians brought horns, strings and other various cacophonies to the already heaping table that Mandrake Project prepares. The result is a larger than life exposition in sonic exploration…one that will uncover varying nuance and experience with each listen.

Within a month of the release of "A Miraculous Container", the album was noticed by John Diliberto from the nationally syndicated NPR radio program "ECHOES".  The album went into regular rotation on the show, spent five months on the show's Top 25 list (at best reaching #2 in August 2009), and ultimately earned the band an invitation to perform live for the "Echoes Livingroom Concert Series".   One of the live tracks recorded during the concert, "Beauxsong" was offered inclusion on "Still: Echoes" the 15th Anniversary Echoes Livingroom Concert Series CD.  This great honor places Mandrake into a league that has hosted many prolific past artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Al Di Meola, Pat Methany, Air, and Brian Eno.   AMC continued the band's pursuits with film in short works like "Pluck" by acclaimed British director Dan Jemmings.  The album has also garnered excellent press and AAA radio coverage across North America and Europe since its release, grabbing album of the year in 2009 by French critic Jean-Phillipe Haas (Progressia.net).

After only four months into the release of  "A Miraculous Container", the Mandrake members assembled again in a number of remote studio locations to begin work on their third album tentatively titled, "Wanting To and Having To"(...a line from Hunter S. Thompson's "Kingdom of Fear").  This next album will again feature the vocal talents of John Schisler and be produced by Dave Rosser, who plays alongside alt-rock luminaries Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) in bands the Twilight Singers and Gutter Twins.

USES:

Mandrake Project has shared the stage with other fine acts such as WEST INDIAN GIRL, MY JERUSALEM, LAKE TROUT, BENZOS, THE OUTSIDE ROYALTY, CELLOFOURTE, THE CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO, PROJECT OBJECT, CONSIDER THE SOURCE, AYURVEDA,  SPOCK’S BEARD, THE FLOWER KINGS, & GONGZILLA among others.

The band has  teamed up with filmmaker David Hall to create a number of short films and mixed media presentations.  Current works to be viewed can be seen at the following web addresses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3ZOFm7tQg4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eGQHEowL3Y

The Mandrake Project can be directly reached via email using the directives below. The interests of the project lie in participating in purposeful events, concerts, festivals, film scores and other multimedia presentations that preserve quality and integrity in artistic intention. It is our hope that positive change, dynamism, and spontaneous creation will continue to lead the music into farther reaches. ThankYou. 

WWW.MANDRAKEPROJECT.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/MANDRAKEPROJECT