Lullaby for Heroes

Maze moves on

2011-05-08T01:23:00.002+02:00

Friends,

There is a new album in the making, and you're invited to follow the events and progress on the brand new recording blog:

http://masqueradeshow.blogspot.com/

Keep on rockin'

A.

Release!

2008-12-09T16:43:00.004+01:00

Dear all,

We've now had two release concerts, both with their unique charm. On the second one, on location in Stockholm, ISMAs Marco Occa took some good snapshots of some hard working rockers, here in a slide show on ISMAs homepage.

Enjoy!

A.

Release party Stockholm, Thursday Dec 4

2008-10-27T00:20:00.002+01:00

Dear all,

We've just got word that the Stockholm event is gonna be
at Tantogården, Thursday, first week in December. We open the doors
at 19:30 with a full bar and lots of music.

Venue: http://tantogarden.nu
Location: http://www.hitta.se/LargeMap.aspx?var=ringv%e4gen+24%2c+stockholm

On stage: Maze of Time

welcome!

Lullaby part 2 lyrics

2008-10-24T10:00:00.003+02:00

We've got a number of requests on the lyrics, like what's a madrigal? So, here's a few lines about this: A madrigal is "a polyphonic vocal setting, usually unaccompanied, of various kinds of verse that was extremely popular from the early 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, particularly in Italy. By the middle of the 16th century, the genre was used as fertile ground for musical experimentation."

So, after clearing that out :-), here goes for your reading pleasure:

Lullaby for heroes

Human failure, broken harmonies, words of wisdom from the giant that never sleeps. The distant callers awakening the sleep, it’s been a wild time and nothing is no longer free. I remember the words you once spoke: “Was it real love? I’m drifting on a river of hope”.

A distant journey has begun; fallen angels sing a song - a lullaby for heroes. A long-lost childhood melody, almost madrigal it seems - a lullaby for heroes.

I feel like I’m drifting away (it’s okay now, fall asleep)
Who’s calling? I’ve heard that tune before (a long-lost childhood melody)

Precious little dreamer coming in through the light, driven by emotions amused by the grace of life.
I ran out of words now, maybe I’ve got nothing to say? Does it really matter? It’s poetry anyway.

I can hear the sirens calling. Anyway, I’m not surprised…

A distant journey has begun…

text/lyrics © Robert I Edman

The Lullaby video is on youtube

2008-10-22T09:23:00.006+02:00

Be sure to check it out, we're having a great time with Lullaby for heroes so far!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DUSfkdVRdk

best
/Alex

Preview with correct link

2008-10-21T02:47:00.004+02:00

We got some stuff from Lars Rosin today, and want to share.
This is a radio edit of 'Lullaby for Heroes' that you might like.

Preview with correct link this time around...

Enjoy!

download here (mp3)

best regards

/A

Lullabe video

2008-10-04T00:40:00.002+02:00

Stefan, Anders and Mikael have all helped us with their special skills and in a not too distant future, you'll be able to see a glimse of the goingson in the Maze HQ. We gathered for a fun session, which soon will show up on Youtube - keeping our fingers crossed as usual when it comes to y'all digital stuff.

Johnny has booked a venue in Amsteradam for the press preview of Lullabys, we talked to him on the phone and he was just about as excited as we are. Closing in, as is the relase - we're still looking for a venue and any Stockholm based tips are welcome.

Saturday is rehearsal day, perhaps we'll share a clip or two from thas session as well.

best

A

Back in rehearsal...

2008-09-09T22:59:00.003+02:00

One of the wonderful things about releasing a new album is of course the release party. It's somewhat like a birthday, a 30-year anniversary and a more-than-decent reason to drink beer together with friends and fans.

Another great thing is to come out and play the songs live, for a live audience instead of playing for two, three individuals you already know, with headphones on, who after a few days heard just about enough of any song you might produce.

We're getting there, although no proof of life for some time now. Just say we're preparing to meet the world, and want to fine-tune some stuff. As things look at the moment, we'll have a quick tour down to Amsterdam (where they call the burgers Le BigMac and Royal respectively due to the metric system) after which we're aiming to greet our hometown audience in Sweden in good time before x-mas.

We've heard one track in its final state so far, after which the studio went totally disco on us. The rest is yet to come, and we are back in pole position at the mixing table.

keepin' ya posted

A.

Mike the Mixer makes a move

2008-07-06T17:57:00.002+02:00

The Over the Hill studio is officially on vacation, but nothing that would stop Mike from mixing some drums and bass. Alex was over to pick up the last of his keyboard mound and had a go at listening in. Thomas had lent an ear earlier that morning and was more than pleased. Mike stated once again that the album is gonna be a keeper. And just as he promised, the record company rep has still heard nothing of the recordings - man, that's brave!

Robert is still on vacance in the south but will probably surface again in late July and we'll have a go. Most possibly, a snippet or two can be presented on our MySpace page as soon as we have something presentable - so hang on there and in the meantime, try to catch some sun!

best

Alex

Recording Day: 20-23

2008-06-25T23:25:00.002+02:00

After a pause of like three weeks or so, we're on a roll again. Feels great.
Enter the talented singer Oskar, a good friend of Jesper - singer, keyboardist and
a keen ear for what flies and what does not. With access to four voices, it was
a true pleasure to lay down some backing vocals.

To make a long story short; we nailed it. We're finished with the recording sessions in the Over the Hill studio. And that's a relief for all involved, families, friends, relatives and everyone else who hear us whistling, humming, practicing the same thing over and over, who has to take care of the real world while we spend our energy in Micke's magic house of music.

Next post about the melange of 24 tracks down to two...

best

Alex

Recording Day 19: Backing vocals

2008-05-22T13:01:00.001+02:00

Robert, Jesper and Alex added to the backing vocals today.
We added some stuff, although we're not equally sure on the
amount of choirs necessary, since it adds musical texture on
one hand but with the richness of Jesper's voice just caught
on tape/disk - we need to think this one over.

We're almost, almost done recording all together. Mixing is up,
but there's something in the way. This something is this man:

This individual on one hand makes wonderful food for the rest of us,
but also takes Robert's full attention for the next fortnight or so.
Therefore, recording of "Lullaby for Heroes" will resume sometime around June 15th or so. In the meantime, don't stay indoors reading other peoples' blogs - go out and enjoy the sun instead!

Best
Al

Recording Day 17-18: Six strings finally

2008-05-19T23:03:00.000+02:00

And so, after putting everything with keys into their respective boxes, cases, plastic bags, cartons, everything worth pounding on back to Heby, there was more room left in the studio for Roberts melodic lead, solos and musical garnishing - alone with Micke. Oh, yes, I should mention that Janne came by for some final adjustments to his otherwise excellent performance.

After completing some wild, some crazy, some actually fine-tuned and some a-little-more-like-we-expected musical impressions to whatever it is we do
that takes so godforsakenly long as my daughter puts it, Robert stands tall and
poses for that final shot. Here it is:

What's cooking now then? Well, there are some chores yet for the choir boys the upcoming weekend, after which the musical melange process takes place, eventually
leading into something far beyond our expectations. But, that's what Micke is hired to do right, although he himself claims we caused him less trouble than the last sessions with Tales from the Maze. But then he hasn't heard the choir yet :-)

best

A.

Recording Day 16: Wrappin' up the band, er, almost

2008-05-11T01:02:00.002+02:00

Dear audience, an important milestone has been reached. All the backing strings, keys, guitars and synth pads are in place. Robert is happy, Alex is happy. We are through garnishing the paved freeway, well er... the yellow brick road casting a reflection originating from from the deep innards of Robert's soul.

What I'm saying is that we've had a good time so far (including Micke), and the instrumental efforts have come to a close - save some solos, and some supporting vocals and soon you can all share the enjoyment of the final product.

until soon!

a.

Recording day 15: Laed Vocalis

2008-05-04T20:11:00.001+02:00

Yes, after recovering from a major cold, Jesper rose above his standards like the Phoenix bird and delivered.

Here I am, 10am and ready to go!

Jesper's talent didn't stop Robert one bit from telling who is daddy around
the studio. Evidence?, er , well check out this photo suite:

Note especially, the last shot. You could almost guess Jesper thinking "oh, great, I thought he never would stop, I finally can get the mike back....".

So after this day we actually have an hour's worth of vocals on tape. The mazekeepers are thus relatively satisfied with our newcomer and today's ongoings.

Let's say we keep him, he's a cool dude and actually sings quite decent! Rob said a bit later: 'yeah, there's some ingredient of hope here'

Great, I'm game. Lullaby for heroes is gonna be a monster!

Recording Day 13-14: Guitars, Keys, keys and keys

2008-04-28T00:22:00.006+02:00

A good week-end with lots of measures covered, Robert solid as a rock and Alex gave some of the trickiest bits a run for the money. Micke has come down with a cold and is a bit more quiet than usual, but that didn't stop the Dynamic Duo to add some of the coolest stuff to date.

Next week-end is a volcano vocals event with new Maze star Jesper, can't wait to hear him do his thing. Stay tuned!

- "Looking good, Alex" - "feeling good, Robert!"

Robert rocking like he's born with it, serious licks on that supporting guitar!

Did that come out that bad? I like it!

Crazy guys like this, should be kept locked in - right?

Recording Day 12: Tipsy Night

2008-04-24T23:12:00.004+02:00

Luckily it wasn't guitars this evening, since Robert had a fine day of gourmet testing of food and beverages behind him, and was handed wine by the glass by Elisabeth (Analog Mike's better half) on site as well. It started off bad and god worse. At one point, he was taking over the keys altogether, "move over, and give me those headphones, Åke". We'll the final result wasn't all that bad considering the blood alcohol level.

But Alex nonetheless got about three hours worth of solid recording time, and much was accomplished in the pads and strings sections. Most likely another full (half of Saturday, half of Sunday) will do the trick.

Best of all, we have some solid video footage from the event, uploadable to Youtube on request :-)

Alex after a well-accomplished feat in the Over the Hill hot seat, adding some great stuff to the new album!

Alx

Recording day 10-11: Guitar galore

2008-04-19T22:10:00.006+02:00

Dear followers, friends and fans,

Robert I Edman has delivered again, as usual, in a star-studded fashion. His over trained digit doesn't act up as much as previously this spring and it's good enough for rock´n roll. A change of chords during practice has put a foot in the door for the closing of Great Cosmic Dream, and by taking the whole bazooka apart and then together again did the trick, and the guitar second voices now sound like they belong.

Preparation is everything

Sunday was another day in the local paradise of the Over The Hill Studio, and Robert attempted to to set as much as possible of the major strumming. Solos and pull-offs are yet to come with the Hagström 4x12'' that practically goes to eleven just like Shaun's :-). Micke and Robert obviously had more than chords together and perhaps they each had a slight hangover when the day was done. Well, the story doesn't end here, and we still don't know why Analog Mike refers to Robert as being the Kung Tung of the house. Hopefully, it's because of the heaviness of the strumming and not of the wine guzzling...

Robert and the infamous Tobacco Burst...

/a (back from vacation Sunday)

Skiing Day!

2008-04-17T16:44:00.003+02:00

Alex took some time off and went to Who Valley (Vemdalen) with his family, to get some fresh air and clear the mind. Next week, it's some more keys needing pressing and sometimes a recreational timeout is the right medicine!

Alex and Clara being silly on the Nose Slope (Nääsbacken)

Recording Day 8-9: Metal meltdown and rockers galore

2008-04-12T18:02:00.005+02:00

This weekend it was time for the guitars to enter the studio and contribute to the album! Mike tried out a new (old style) microphone to capture the soaring sound of the mesa/boogie, and it was even better than expected!

Thomas sais something along the lines of: "I sure told that Magnus Uggla guy that this here is my music, with real guitars man, and whatever he gets off to is not my fancy!"

You see, Thomas came in for a quality check and smiled as Robert started to record the heavy guitars on Lullaby for Heroes (Thomas is a true "connoisseur" in heavy guitar sound). Now since can be only one guitarist (softly, with the voice of S Connery) on this album, Robert took his chance to use both his les paul and strats to beef up the sound, and together with his new mesa/boogie amp it really sounds heavier this time. Actually you could almost see his hair and beard grow as he played through the tracklist. Mike, hand me the Jack Daniels…

A rumor is out that a drum solo has been recorded and sent to some owl!!?? Strange things happens here :-)

/ Rocking Rob.

Recording Day 7: Sneak Bass

2008-04-09T12:26:00.001+02:00

A rumour is stiring that the axe-man entered the studio to polish the line on one of the tracks. As nobody was around (save Micke) he typically took this opportunity to lay down one mother of a solo in the intro of the track as well. Allegedly, he uttered something like: "Well, I kind of reckoned nobody would mind, and since I didn't have anyone to ask, I kind of went right ahead...."

This could possibly raise some attention from the other band members, and we look forward with great excitement to what this will bring. Will this bring the production to new heights? Will the base player be assigned a chaperon from now on?

Is anything of this true, or is it in fact just a rumour? Only Micke knows for sure...

/Bassebus

Recording Day 6: Need some padding

2008-04-03T23:38:00.000+02:00

Since Alex just came back from a trip to York, he was all wound up in the studio, couldn't sit down and all he went about was their friendly atmosphere, great beer and horrid food. Once in a while, he managed to sit down and play some while Micke and Robert were talking loudly in the control room about miscellaneous things, pretty much everything from spoon feeding to gory trash metal. Anyway, we had a fine evening together, Thomas came by and once we kicked him out we actually got some things done :-)

Quite some beautiful pads, one last Clavia CP70 overlay and an eerie background theme for the Chemical Sleep song.

Picture: Robert's secret book with annotations about the songs, the musicians and who knows what else. After this shot was taken, the book slipped into hiding and the photographer was never seen again..

Recording Day 5: Sounding my Organ

2008-03-30T23:26:00.000+02:00

Second day of ebony and ivory,

Finishing up the pianos, the organs, most of the Nord Electro piano stuff and all of the muffins. Micke was in a good mood today and Janne & Sebastian paid us a visit in the studio. Perhaps I (alex) was far too focused on the task at hand to chat to remember much of what we talked about earlier this evening, but at least I got a good picture of them in Micke's designated Vocalist's nap couch.

Lastly, another fine study of Alex hammering away on his contribution to a very promising album.

Recording Day 4: Black n´White galore

2008-03-29T23:12:00.000+01:00

Friends and fans,

Keyboard jockey Alex Jonsson enters the arena for a session in the Over the Hill studio. Micke is up early and makes that great coffee of his and while we wait for Robert (as usual) we decide to crack open the Moog and see what's inside because it's starting to sound funny. After a while we find the culprit being a couple of not-quite-correct-solderings who now had given way for the wear and tear of time.

Notice especially Micke's captivating smile, the lemon flavored muffins and the three VHS tapes taken secretly of the previous sessions from a hidden camera stashed up a bookshelf (exhibits "maze1", "maze2" and "maze3").

Alex had just got his Roland stage piano back from the shop (Thanks Putte for lending me that other one), and could show what many hours of practice can result in without having to fight with a bad case of inconsistent key velocity reading - another way of saying he previously played well but it sounded near awful :-). But now it sounded great and most of the piano sections were dealt with, in harmony with feeling.

"Keeping the Maze clean since 2004"

Recording Day 3: Placeholder lyrics

2008-03-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

This Tuesday evening, Jan, Robert and Jesper ended up in the Over the Hill studio for some touch-up on the bass and laying down some guiding lyrics for Jesper's coming contributions. Robert had a stuffy nose and it sounded partially excellent and partly kind o' muffled one could say.

Robert is pondering on the meaning of it all, question for the rest of us is whether or not we should be happy that he can transform only a small fraction of these thoughts into lyrics, whereas others lay untouched inside that winding brain of his :-)

Recording Day 2: Foundation wrap-up

2008-03-16T20:55:00.000+01:00

Today Thomas and Janne proved themselves by delivering consistent, high-quality stuff right at us! Robert, Jesper and myself were really, really pleased with what we heard and find it appropriate to send some cred their way. Therefore, today's pics are dedicated to them, even though the rest of us think we are quite photogenic as well :-)

Thomas relaxing after a job well done!

Janne listening in to one of the tracks, pleased with the results.

Disussing with Robert about that count-in, was there eight or only seven beats?

Now we're gonna go easter-hibernation for a couple of days, next recording day is on Saturday, March 29th. Thomas and Janne can be very pleased with the events, but guys, don't eat to many eggs!

Recording Day 1: Drum & Bass

2008-03-15T21:11:00.000+01:00

AY! The unvirginalization of the new album is a fact.

A splendid day in the studio where Tomas ”100%” Nordh, well almost anyway, delivered superb beats. Five tracks drums and bass in a day is nothing less than extraordinary.

Thomas had his Yamaha 9000 Recording set up already when the rest of us arrived this morning. Everyone brought their best to this first day of recording. Janne finally brought his 5-string Fender Jazz Bass Special instead of his much lighter Yamaha Bass.

Alex only brought 3(!) of his synthesizers; a Nord Lead 3, Nord Electro 2 and a substitute mother keyboard since his own still isn't returned from the repair shop.

Robert heard a rumor that he was supposed to play through a Line 6 POD, making him frown and brought his VOX - instant success.

To-do list of the day, according to Thomas. Doen't he look a bit like Chuck Norris?

Everyone needs a comforting shoulder...

2008-03-09T21:36:00.000+01:00

..and we have Micke, who assisted Thomas with authority (and Jesper) in setting up drums today. The white 'Recording' set is once again prepped with overheads and the SM57 as snare mike. Now, we're very close to entering the event horizon, where Saturday, March 15th means showtime. Another milestone for the mazekeepers and the beginning of a new recording blog!

Three cheers, and let's see some f-n hands!

/axl

"Red five standing by" (encore)

2008-02-11T02:02:00.000+01:00

Almost there....almost there...boom.....

This week-end is general rehearsal enfin, six tracks there and one to go. Follow the events to come towards the final preparations as we head-butt our way into the Over The Hill studio once again for the safe delivery of yet another album, anguish, frustration, bliss and happiness.

But first Heby, where Thomas the Drummer lives and prospers with his fine family and ever-so-nice BMW M5. Robert is gonna cook for us, and I'll do the tech stuff, stand-by soldering and other spontaneous tasks required.

A.

Back at HCR - aftermath yet prelude

2007-08-16T21:07:00.000+02:00

Little did we know, five years ago, that it was the beginning of a wonderful journey. Back the Hard Rock Café in the rockholm of Stockholm, we brandish our pitchers and join hands yet again for another go in the studio.

Comforting the small, the innocent, the cuddly, the weak-hearted is a well-traveled household path covered by all and many. Soothing the troubled mind of the dragon-slayer, the warlord or others brave at heart is less common but as important - although regretfully a forgotten skill that is passed on from generation to generation, often tacit and without document.

These songs take us further into the wilderness, through less-traveled paths. We invite you to join us and enjoy the ride in music, lyrics and words.

Best Regards

Keepers of the Maze