Los Angeles – Cleopatra Entertainment has secured the North American and UK distribution rights to the 2018 SXSW Film Festival Official Selection CONNY PLANK: The Potential Of Noise documentary.
The U.S. Theatrical Premier is slated for 6:00 PM on Friday, September 28th at the Arena Cinelounge Theater, 6464 Sunset Blvd. Lobby Level, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (323) 924-1644 and the film will run the entire week for a seven-day engagement. In attendance at the premiere will be the film’s Director and son of the late Conny Plank – Stephan Plank – and the film’s Berlin-based Producer Milena Fessman, who will participate in an exclusive Q&A session following the screening.
One of the greatest studio engineers and record producers of the 20th century, a world without Conny Plank’s influence on music is unfathomable. Instrumental in shaping the early sound of Kraftwerk, Plank would go on to work with legends such as Neu!, Cluster, DAF, and Devo, eventually breaking through to the mainstream with the likes of Ultravox, The Eurythmics, and the legendary Scorpions. Conny’s son Stephan Plank, who co-directed this film with Reto Caduff, set out to discover the side of his father which he did not know, whilst at the same time, through interviews with such luminaries as Michael Rother, Daniel Miller and the late Holger Czukay, providing an appreciation of a man and his craft.
The 95-minute documentary also traces the history of Stephan’s father Conny through the viewpoint of the artists he worked with. It also examines the legacy the West German producer, sound engineer and musician left behind following his death at the age of 47. Ranging across progressive, avant-garde, electronic and krautrock, Plank was also a regular collaborator with Cluster’s Dieter Moebius. Born Konrad Plank in Hütschenhausen in 1940, Conny died of cancer in 1987, leaving behind his wife, the actor Christa Fast, and son Stephan, then aged 13.
“I discovered his work in the early 80s when albums by Eurythmics or Ultravox, Les Ritas Mitsouko, Freur or by German new wave acts such as Ideal, Rheingold or DAF had the Conny Plank credit on the cover,” comments Reto Caduff via email. “Little did I know at that time of his earlier influence: that he brought Kraftwerk to the recording studio for the first time, that he was working with the band up to their “Autobahn” hit, and all his contribution to the krautrock genre and early electronic music. I only discovered really Neu! when the albums were reissued in the early 2000s. He really was a pioneer and his untimely death at 47 in 1987 only added to the legend.
“To me, the idea of co-directing the film made a lot of sense since Stephan could approach the artists whom he met as a kid in the studio (his home) differently than a regular documentary director. My hunch proved correct over and over again. Meeting the artists brought the memories and stories to a completely different level and enabled us to paint a very unique picture of this extraordinary artist behind the mixing desk. I also felt the timing was right since a lot of the people were still active.
“I hope we made a film that appeals to the fans who grew up with his music as much as to a younger generation interested in the genesis of electronic music,” he concludes.
For more information about Conny Plank: The Potential of Noise and other films from Cleopatra Entertainment, please contact Tim Yasui 310-477-4000 or tim@cleorecs.comor visit our website at www.cleopatra-entertainment.com
Tickets go on sale today September 4th, 2018 at Noon
The Platinum Package gives you admittance to three days of the Festival with exclusive access and amenities plus the best seats in the theater! Included are limited preproduction sound checks and exclusive access with the bands, plus VIP Lanyards and a RoSfest t-shirt.
Limited Platinum Package Tickets are $505.00 (+ processing fee) per seat for the weekend.
How to order tickets.
Step 1. Call George at 484.432.7357 to select your seats.
Step 2. Pay by credit card or by check.
The credit card prompt will be available through square on the website.
Checks should be made out to Roldan Entertainment and mailed to the following address.
George Roldan
P.O.Box 35234
Sarasota, Florida
34242
RoSfest is in its 16th year and will be taking place on May 3rd, 4th & 5th, 2019.
RoSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida.
Scheduled bands to play:
Friday, May 3rd – Cryptic Vision and Von Hertzen Brothers.
Saturday, May 4th – Entransient, Mile Marker Zero, Karmamoi, Phideaux and Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour with Martin Barre, Clive Bunker and Jonathan Noyce.
Sunday, May 5th – Edge of Reality, Traverser, Flor de Loto, and Riverside.
The complete schedule with times will be posted shortly on the RoSfest website. http://rosfest.com
We love this 2019 lineup and think that you will too! Hope to see everyone in Sarasota next May!
Platinum package tickets on sale Today September 4th, 2018
Gold seat tickets on sale October 5th, 2018
Regular seat tickets on sale December 7th, 2018
Earthlings! My new album ‘Friendship’ has been officially announced today. Below is the press-release.
Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly are pleased to announce ‘Friendship’, their brand new studio album, due out on 9th November 2018. Following the release of 2017’s ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’, as well as 2018’s retrospective 5CD collection ‘Rumbling Box’, the band masterminded by former Beardfish frontman & current Big Big Train member Rikard Sjöblom, are happy to reveal their fourth full-length release.
Rikard comments: “The idea for ‘Friendship’ came to me because of an old photo of me as a child. I found this old photo at my parents’ house, depicting me standing on top of this really tall treehouse in a glade near our house. Although I of course remembered it as being really high up in the tree tops as a child, this picture proved that it really was! As I reminisced about the treehouse I started thinking about my childhood friends with whom I built it. We were the best of friends and we spent so much time together in this little village where I used to live. This of course made me think about all the friends I used to have, these relationships where you hung out all the time, went through childhood together, grew up and knew everything about each other and then all of a sudden, for some reason, disappeared from each other’s lives. This phenomenon of falling out with someone is still a mystery to me, but I’ve learned to accept it, much like the separation of death it’s just a part of life and the nature of our course of life, I guess. So this is a collection of songs about and for all of my friends, dead or alive, past and present. I chose to base the stories around the treehouse in the glade, not because all of my memories are from there, but rather that it’s the place that made me think back on all of this.”
The album will be available as a limited CD Digipak & Gatefold 2LP + CD (both including 3 bonus tracks) as well as digital download. Pre-order now from my own online store (Courtesy of my dear friend and webmaster extraordinarie Joel Barrios) and get an exclusive 100-copies clear red vinyl, only available through this website.
The full track-listing is as follows:
Ghost of Vanity
Friendship
They Fade
A Treehouse in a Glade
Stone Cold
If You Fall, Pt. 2
Crown of Leaves
Slow Dancer (Bonus Track)
Past Generation (Bonus Track)
Friendship (Utopian Radio Edit) (Bonus Track)
Rikard comments of the musical direction: “Musically, what can I say? This is prog rock, but I want to be free to move in whatever direction the music wants to go and I happily go exploring where it wants to take me. Even though there are a few softer songs and sections, most of the album turned out to be a rocker; a collection of hard rock songs with lots of tricky parts, some heavier moments and some downright jazzy elements too!”
Rikard Sjöblom is perhaps best known as the multi-instrumentalist front-man of Beardfish, who established themselves as one of the most consistently brilliant modern-day progressive rock bands over the course of eight studio albums. In recent years, he has also become known for his work with English progressive collective Big Big Train, playing live with them as well as performing on their most recent studio album ‘The Second Brightest Star’ as well as the new live album ‘Merchants of Light’.
HAKEN, one of progressive music’s most exciting bands, recently announced details of their much-anticipated fifth studio album titled ‘Vector’, due for release on the October 26th, 2018. The album was produced by the band themselves, and recorded & mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Devin Townsend Project), with the artwork once again being handled by Blacklake.
Now they are pleased to reveal the video for the album’s first single, titled ‘The Good Doctor’, directed by Stuart White. Watch it now here:
HAKEN, one of progressive music’s most exciting bands, recently announced details of their much-anticipated fifth studio album titled ‘Vector’, due for release on the October 26th, 2018. The album was produced by the band themselves, and recorded & mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Devin Townsend Project), with the artwork once again being handled by Blacklake.
Now they are pleased to reveal the video for the album’s first single, titled ‘The Good Doctor’, directed by Stuart White.
Watch it now here:
They add on the video: “Making this video was a very cool, creative experience for us. Our director Stuart White presented his interpretation of the song in which we follow a man experiencing a manic, psychotic episode. Combined with the band footage, it encapsulates the energy of the song splendidly.”
The band will embark on an epic tour starting this October in North America, with dates in South American & European tour dates for 2019.
Haken & Leprous with Bent Knee:
October 30th – The Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI
October 31st– Opera House, Toronto, ON
November 1st – Astral, Montreal, QC
November 2nd– Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
November 3rd – Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
November 4th – The Sinclair, Boston, MA
November 6th – Soundstage, Baltimore, MD
November 7th – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
November 8th – The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
November – 9th Revolution, Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 10th – The Plaza Live, Orlando, FL
November 11th – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
November 13th – Gas Monkey, Dallas, TX
November 14th – Barracuda, Austin, TX
November 16th – Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ
November 17th – Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
November 18th – August Hall, San Francisco, CA
November 19th – Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
November 20th – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
November 21st – Rickshaw Theater, Vancouver, BC
November 23rd – Metro Music Hall, Salt Lake City, UT
November 24th – Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
November 25th – Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
November 26th – Delmar Hall, St Louis, MO
November 27th – Exit/In, Nashville, TN
November 29th – Rex Theater, Pittsburgh, PA
November 30th – Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
December 1st – Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
‘Vector’ will be available as Limited edition 2CD Mediabook (including instrumental versions), Gatefold vinyl 2LP + CD, Standard CD Jewelcase & as digital download. Pre-order now here: https://haken.lnk.to/Vector
track-listing
1. Clear
2. The Good Doctor
3. Puzzle Box
4. Veil
5. Nil By Mouth
6. Host
7. A Cell Divides
To celebrate the announcement of the new album, the band ran a competition for one lucky fan’s artwork to be etched into the fourth side of the vinyl version of the record. They invited people to submit their own version of the Rorshach test ink-blot which graces the album cover, and the winner was revealed as Shakoor Bukhuth aka SHAUN BEYOND.
Since their inception in 2007, Haken have shown over four previous studio albums, one EP and a live release that they never stand still, merely satisfied to rely on past triumphs. Rather, Haken always look for ways to challenge themselves as musicians and artists, and also to keep the listeners on their collective toes. “We don’t like to make simple music,” laughs vocalist Ross Jennings. “We always aim to defy expectations, and I believe we’ve surpassed what we aimed to achieve with our new album.”
Their fifth studio record sees the band going in a heavier direction with the music. “We’ve always had a heavy influence”, explains guitarist Charlie Griffiths, “but it was obvious from the riffs that were naturally coming out of us early in the writing process that this would be a more metal album. These are some of the most riff driven songs we’ve ever written.” As is usual, Haken produced the album themselves, but for the first time they have enlisted Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood during the recording and mixing stages. Formerly bassist with Periphery, in the last couple of years he has built a reputation as a fine producer. “We produced the album ourselves, as we always do,” insists Jennings. “But we’re fans of what Adam has done with Periphery, Sikth and Devin Townsend. He has a great reputation for the heavier end of our genre”.
But if this album is musically heavy, then there’s an underlying theme running through the seven songs which is certainly esoteric and fascinating. “The scene is set with the track The Good Doctor, which was a really fun song. Musically it feels like a logical step from ‘Affinity’, but lyrically it’s a bit more theatrical and about as ‘rock opera’ as Haken has ever got”, explains Griffiths. “It’s about a Doctor with an intriguing, perhaps sinister interest in a particular patient. From there the story enters the point-of-view of the patient – who appears to be catatonic, but his mind is sparking with what could be memories, or delusions brought on by the treatment he’s receiving – we leave this up to the listeners to decide. Although we don’t want to give too much away, people who are familiar with our back catalogue will have fun discovering further clues we’ve planted throughout the album. And that’s the challenge for the fans – to find out for themselves their own meaning for ‘Vector’ as an album”.
Photo by Will Ireland
HAKEN are:
Ross Jennings
Richard Henshall
Charlie Griffiths
Diego Tejeida
Conner Green
Ray Hearne
BREAKING NEWS: Frontiers Music Srl is thrilled to announce the signing of Alan Parsons!
Alan and Frontiers‘ relationship began in 2010 when the label released “Eye 2 Eye – Live in Madrid”. They have kept in close contact since, with the ultimate goal to release another album together. Alan wanted it to be a really special album and only recently have the right plans and ideas fallen into place where Alan felt ready to enter the studio to record what he had in mind.
“The writing and recording sessions are going incredibly well,” says Alan. “The album already has a working title, which is THE SECRET, and it will include musical and lyrical themes that are very close to my heart and my own interests and passions. I do not really want to reveal a lot about it, except that for the moment everything that surrounds THE SECRET is going to be just that….a secret!”
The overall musical approach of the album is expected to be in keeping with the symphonic rock that Alan explored on his earlier solo records and the “Project” albums. But, of course, there will be new twists and turns and robust new creative inspiration behind the album. Some special guests will be on the album, but those will be revealed later….again, in keeping with the working title of the album, “The Secret“.
Frontiers President Serafino Perugino commented, “This is pretty much a dream come true for me. For Frontiers being able to represent the artistry and the talent of such a huge artist is a magnificent opportunity. We look forward to this release as much as Alan’s fans and it will see the light of day in multiple exciting formats. Stay tuned!”.
Alan Parsons said, “I wish to thank Serafino and the team for the commitment and the patience to make this happen. To the fans…We’ll see you soon on a world tour!”
Alan Parsons‘ music career started at 19 when he earned one of his his first credits as assistant engineer on The Beatles “Abbey Road”, an album recorded in the legendary London studios of the same name. He soon become a well respected studio engineer, working for Paul McCartney,The Hollies, and many others. He is particularly renowned for his work as recording engineer on the Pink Floyd masterpiece, “The Dark Side of The Moon“. This classic album was recorded in 1972 and Parsons experimented with many of the most advanced recording techniques of the time. As a producer, he enjoyed many successes with Pilot, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, John Miles, and Al Stewart, including the masterwork, “Year Of The Cat”.
In 1975, Alan Parsons formed The Alan Parsons Project along with principal songwriter (and occasional singer) Eric Woolfson. The Project consisted of a group of studio musicians and vocalists, often involving the members of three bands Alan produced: Pilot (Ian Bairnson, Stuart Tosh and David Paton), Cockney Rebel’s Stuart Elliott on drums, and (on the first album) American progressive pop/rock band, Ambrosia.
The Alan Parsons Project released ten acclaimed studio albums, but never performed live during the heyday of the albums, even after several US and European Top 20 hits. The Project made its final album at the end of the 80’s with the album “Gaudi“. Since then, Alan has released a number of recordings under his own name using several musicians that also appeared on the “Project” releases.
As well as receiving gold and platinum awards from countless countries, Parsons has received eleven Grammy Award nominations for his engineering and production work. In 2007, he was nominated for Best Surround Sound Album for his studio album, “A Valid Path“.
In 1994, Alan Parsons started touring regularly as The Alan Parsons Live Project and has released a number of live releases in audio and video. His live concerts continue to this day, to audiences worldwide.
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