Zopp is the brainchild of composer and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Stevenson, with collaborations from Andy Tillison of prog legends The Tangent, and drummer Andrea Moneta (Leviathan). The band’s Canterbury-scene influenced instrumental progressive rock is an impressive addition to the BEM family.
Ryan is an award-winning composer, with credits for the music to many documentary films. In May 2019 he won Best Score in the IMDb industry-recognized American Tracks Music Awards for his work on The Perfect Gangster.
Zopp came to fruition in around 2010, born out of Ryan’s excursions into the Canterbury progressive rock scene of the 60s and 70s. As the music developed, Zopp has absorbed more influences, such as Stravinsky and Steve Reich as well as dabbling into the realm of ambient music. The sound is based upon vintage fuzz bass and Hammond organ sounds that weave with complex time signature changes, and on catchy melodies with ambient keyboard interludes, to charm and relax the listener with its beguiling fusion.
“It’s a great honour to join Bad Elephant Music”, says Ryan. “‘I’ve been lucky to work with a number of very talented musicians to create a diverse album which fuses Canterbury Scene prog, classical, ambient, jazz and much more. Very proud to be associated with a label that is genuinely passionate about the music they release. I hope you enjoy the album.”
Zopp will be releasing its self-titled album in early 2020. This will be a ‘can’t miss’ album from BEM. Be on the lookout for more information on this inaugural release soon!.
Tracklisting
1.Swedish Love
2.Before The Light 06:05
3.Eternal Return
4.Sanger
5.Sellanrå
6.V
7.Being And Time
8.Zero
9.The Noble Shirker
Ryan Stevenson: Keyboards, Mellotron M4000D, Hammond organ, Arturia analogue synthesizer, Korg CX-3 organ, piano, Hohner Pianet T, Nord Electro 5d, bass and electric guitars, voice, field recordings, percussion. Andrea Moneta: Drums and percussion.
with: Andy Tillison: Additional piano (6), additional Hammond organ (3), Leslie processing (2, 5, 6), synth (4), effects (3, 9). Theo Travis: Flute (6). Caroline Joy Clarke: Voice (1, 7, 8). Mike Benson: Tenor saxophone (9).
Drum recording engineering: Andrea Moneta. Engineered, co-produced and mastered by Andy Tillison. Mixed, written and produced by Ryan Stevenson.
Release Date April 10, 2020
