"Let's get one thing straight from the start. The Sea Within is more of an amalgamation ofsome serious talents, than a regular “supergroup”. These musicians have come together tocreate a unique album. Guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, keyboard player/vocalist Tom Brislin, drummer/vocalist Marco Minnemann and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw have a vast reservoir of experience. Look at the portmanteau of artists with who they've worked: The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Jon Anderson, Steven Wilson,The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Yes, Steve Hackett, Renaissance, Pain Of Salvation,Deborah Harry, Meatloaf, Karmakanic ... that of itself tells you this is something veryspecial.“I suppose it all began to take shape in the autumn of 2016,” explains Stolt. “I had a chatwith Thomas Waber, the boss at InsideOut Music, about the idea of putting together a new band. I wanted to move in a fresh direction with new collaborations. So Thomas gave methe ‘go ahead’ to seek musicians for a new project.” First on-board was The Flower Kingsbass player Jonas Reingold. “He is a long time bandmate and friend and we were also verykeen to get keyboardist Tom (Brislin) involved - after seeing his synth pyrotechnics withlegends Yes ‘Symphonic’ and with Camel. Then we have been a fans of ‘Aristocrats’drummer Marco for a long time; I first heard of him 15 years ago and he is a brilliant drummer, unique energy. Then when we discussed ideas for singers, Daniel's name came up, he has such a great range and dynamic voice and we've worked together on and offover the years.” Also added later to the bands line-up for live shows was vocalist andguitarist Casey McPherson of ‘Flying Colors’ and ‘Alpha Rev’, who also sings a couple ofsongs on the album.Initially the band went to Livingston Studios in London last September to begin the processof assembling all the material and recording it for the debut album. “Most of the materialyou'll hear are really band compositions. Of course, ideas were triggered by all of us. Sometimes Jonas would come up with a part, chord sequence or tune and then I or Tom would write melody & lyric and some new riff section and Marco enhancing with further musical metric twists and developments - then Daniel would add or rewrite some of the lyrics, change or add more melodies. Overall, the vast majority of the tracks have beenworked on and developed by all of us in one way or another.” “Why did we decide torecord in London? That was down to simple logistics, because we live all over the world. Jonas is in Austria, Daniel and I are in Sweden, Tom is on the East Coast of America, whileMarco is on the West Coast. So, it made sense for us all to come together in London.” Not all of the record, though, was finished at Livingston, as Stolt outlines. “Some extra toucheswere added later, when all of us were doing things in our home studios. These were things such as guitars, vocals, synth and keyboards, textures. On the vocal side, a few of us have been involved, Daniel, me, Tom and Marco coming to lend our voices; and later Casey. Marco also plays some guitar on the material and I did some bass. So all of the guys did alot more than you might expect.” The album is essentially self-produced, and it was mixedby Stolt/The Sea Within as well. “We did think about bringing in someone from the outside to handle the mixing stage. But as I ended up with all the music files, which we had been sending one another through web or email-links... well, it didn't make sense to have an extra person come in for that part of the process.”The entire recording situation took about six months, and the band also has some veryspecial guests featured on the album. “We have got Jordan Rudess from Dream Theaterplaying piano on one song. The legendary Jon Anderson sings on another track, while 'wind ace' Rob Townsend, who plays saxophone and flute with Steve Hackett, is also on therecord. Each of them brings a different flavour to the music.”“People have asked me how I would describe what we have done, and it is almostimpossible. I would have to say it sounds like...us, ‘The Sea Within’. Our tastes are veryeclectic – from prog to jazz to classical, to heavy rock, folk, punk, electronica and pop. We all come from a different background - so here everything goes. “This has been aboutputting those diverse influences into the music. I feel you will hear all that's good about pop – with great melodies and hooks – plus the rawness of metal, improvisations, symphonic and movie soundtracks. We also left room for each of us to take off on flights of instrumental jamming. That was the basic idea, anyway. But until we all got together, wehad no idea where it would lead or if it would actually work.” The band have ended uprecording close to two hours of music, and will be releasing it all in June on what will be a self-titled album.So, where does that name come from? “It was a long and somewhat painful process to find a fitting name. We all made lists of band names, one of which was ‘The Sea Within’, butthat was first rejected along with many others. So we had to go back to the beginning and think again. We ended up with more than 100 suggestions – some really crazy, funny andridiculous ones. In the end, we put it all to the vote and ‘The Sea Within’ came out on top. “I have to say that I like it, because it could mean many things, but does not give people preconceptions of what to expect from our music. I personally see it as the vast inner oceans of thoughts, dreams, poetry, music, love, fear etc that we all carry with us - within - every day through a lifetime - all that leads to creations like this.” The Sea Within as amusic collective has plans to perform live, and will make their stage debut at 'Night Of The Prog' in Loreley, Germany which happens from July 13-15 and will bring special guests for that evening. “As far as I am concerned, we will try do as much touring as possible. Wehave a great band, great label and our agent Rob Palmen on-board. We have great artwork by Marcela Bolivar, all looks bright. However, Daniel will not be able to join us for touring now, as he has commitments with main band Pain Of Salvation. With Casey taking the vocal spot, now with us live, we can go out on the road and play this album and beyond and grow as a band. We have so much to offer musically, on record and on stage and I am sure we will develop a lot over the next few years. But 'The Sea Within' album is a great start. I am excited for everyone to hear what we have done and am now thrilled to startworking on the songs for the live show.”"By Malcolm Dome, London, March 2018
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