This is incredibly exciting, and it's taken about two years to get to this point. As most of you know, I've been living in Brazil for the last five years and had some interesting experiences here. After leaving Samsara, I thought about quitting and didn't want to play in a band anymore, but life had other plans. At 45, I'm still too young to retire. So, in 2024 I tried my luck with a Brazilian band; we played to 600 people in São Paulo, but Brazil is a tough country.
Since around 2022, I've had the idea of starting a new band project with new songs, but also personal highlights from 25+ years as a musician and songwriter. There are tracks like Southern Sunset, Orchid Annie, Center of the Sun etc. Who else could sing or play these very personal songs? And no, I won't forget them! There wasn't a proper tour for the last Samsara album, and in a way, we re-connect to that with this new group.
It wasn't my plan to continue with other musicians under the name Samsara Blues Experiment, even though - from a business perspective* - all would have been easier and, in some ways, probably the logical next step. Things have become even more difficult in recent years, and I'd rather focus on the positive aspects. I honor my journey and the people I've met along the way, but in my opinion this new band is already playing on a different musical level, literally: A New Dimension!
*Musicians have to pay their bills too ;) Know what I mean?
Many thanks to Matte (Sound of Liberation), Wolf (World In Sound), Jeff (Echodelick Records), Kai (Kozmik Artifactz) + Steffen, Charlie and Raphael for dedicating time and efforts to this project. Thanks also to Holger (Rock Hard), Mike (Eclipsed Magazin) and JJ (The Obelisk) for helping to spread the word!
Poster image by Steven Yoyada.
