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Artist News: The Tangent Undergo Lineup Changes

Posted on Saturday, July 05 @ 19:06:17 UTC by nightowl

Andy Tillison issued the following statement to the Tangent e-mail group/website: "It has been some time since I communicated with you and for this I apologise.

"For various personal reasons I once again am on the move, still caught between France and England. There just might be a song in there somewhere. Stay tuned.

"The Tangent is on the move, too, making plans, some of which will come as a bit of a shock to you all. The first piece of good news is that we plan to make another Tangent album later this year and well into next. With that, though ? in true, classic, Tangent and Prog fashion ? will come another round of personnel reshuffles. This one will be a major one. It is not a set of decisions that I have taken lightly. Nonetheless, after long and careful consideration I have decided that we will move forward on this next album without Jaime Salazar, Krister Jonsson and even Jonas Reingold.

"There are a number of reasons for this decision ? some of them that old classic Rock n Roll clich? 'Artistic differences' and some of them far more practical and down to earth than that. They are, however, decisions that had to be made. And yet I must say that I will particularly miss Jonas Reingold who has encouraged and supported both myself and particularly our manager Ian from the very beginning. To Jonas, in particular, many many thanks and let's let our musical and business paths cross again sometime!



"In some important ways, though, these decisions bring matters in line with the reality of things. The most recent album Not As Good As The Book was largely made by myself, Guy, Theo and Jakko ? and Guy really hasn't ever been given enough credit for his role both within and outside the band. It is, at least commercially, the bands most successful album yet, however it was very sad to have to leave someone who is so keen on the band's work at home, (Theo Travis and Jakko too). Both Guy and I would count ourselves as composers and arrangers rather than virtuosos, but in the end, to me, probably to Guy too, having people in the band who are committed mentally and spiritually to the music is more important than the very best musicianship. The dream of turning the Tangent into a real band has been very difficult to achieve. The next move puts us back into the 'project' territory in some ways, but as we came from that beginning, it won't present any of us with a problem.

"One thing that I have learned in life, of course, is that every time a door closes in one place another door opens somewhere else. So.... on a more positive note .... this is what comes next - we hope. I have asked the band Beardfish to collaborate with us en masse: the whole lot of them! After all, we had a sizable chunk of another band on our first two albums, we're just switching bands ;-)

"On tour this past month with Beardfish, I can only say that I was amazed at their abilities, their youthfulness and their vigour - but most of all their belief that Progressive Rock can be an important part of their world,; a world in which they are in their mid 20s. I only missed their set once on an eight day tour, and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them, they played with a gusto that I envied and had a brotherhood which I missed so much within my own band. I became very good friends with them all, and even got invited to guest with them onstage in Belgium, where I really messed up an organ solo on their behalf. However, I left the tour wanting to work with them, and put the question to them just a few weeks ago.

"The good news is this. In reply to my offer, the Beardfish have replied with an enthusiastic 'YES.' As a result, they will form the core of the new band, which will debut at Summer's End (with hopefully and in all probability Guy, Theo and Jakko - thus making an 8 piece band!!, we will keep you posted on this). Several important points:

"1. The Tangent and Beardfish will continue to exist, record and perform in their own right

2. The Tangent's lineup will still be variable at concerts depending on location, budget etc.

3. Rikard from Beardfish will also play keyboards and sing some vocals for the Tangent alongside me... back to 2 keys players as it should be!

4. Theo Travis and Jakko are still in the Tangent, how their roles develop is a matter of time and work, and we cannot predict how these two guys will find the new band who they have not yet met. However from day one both these people have been totally into the music and philosophy of the band and their early response to this change has been positive.

5. In mind of adapting to audience sizes and costs this does give both bands and promoters an opportunity of touring and playing at festivals as part of two band 'package deal'...

"I think people are used to the fact now that The Tangent is and most likely will always be ever evolving. I really see this as a positive experience for both band and audience. To those that doubt, all we can say is 'look what we did since (fill in blank here) left...' and trust that we can continue to create alert and challenging music for some time yet.

"Maybe the anti-Tangent faction will say that it will spoil Beardfish, but be rest assured these guys are far too strong to be spoiled by me.

"Of course, after all that I have said, I will finish by saying an enormous 'thank you' to the three departing guys who in their time were an undoubtedly powerful force in making the Tangent what it was and still is. These were among the very best musicians I have ever had the pleasure to work with, I count myself lucky to have had this opportunity.

Now- here comes the future. It's good to be scared again."

Jonas Reingold posted to his fans: "First of all, (as you already probably know) I'm not a member of the Tangent anymore. This is something that has been evolving during a period of time now. The reasons are many, but the main reason is that I have not been fully into the band lately because I couldn't see a development within the band (musically) or from a business point of view. The last tour was poorly attended and made my mind clear that something had to be done.

"I'm so loyal to the music and the fans that I wouldn't take up space in a band that I'm not fully believe in. So I think it is a wise decision by Andy to put this new line up together. And I have to say that it sounds quite exciting at least on the paper. The Beardfish guys are all very talented and nice people. So I wish the all the guys in theTangent the best of luck in the future and I will always be with them, spiritually at least.

One other positive thing is that I will have more time for my other 2 bands, The Flower Kings and Karmakanic. Speaking of Karmakanic, the new CD Who's The Boss In The Factory is ready. After 4 long years and hard work it's finally ready. It is an exciting release for me because I have put a lot of money and work in to this one. It will hopefully come out this autumn. I have uploaded a couple of snippets for you to listen to at www.myspace.com/jonasreingold and later this day the snippets will also be at www.jonasreingold.com."

And Rikard Sjoblom posted at the Beardfish forum: "We got some news for you and this is sort of a big one, instead of the usual 'write-around' I'll get right to the point:

Beardfish will start a collaboration with The Tangent, or here's another way to put it; the whole of Beardfish will play our part as the new band alongside Andy Tillison and the other guys, Theo and Jakko! Andy asked us about this a couple of weeks ago, we said YES and this Monday [Jun 30] he went official with the news on the Tangent website. We're very excited about this and we think it's going to be a fruitful collaboration. :-)

"I feel obligated to tell you all that this in NO way means that Beardfish will be merged into The Tangent and seize to exist on it's own - on the contrary, Beardfish is more alive and kicking than ever and we're currently working on new material for the next album! We're also planning some gigs (but I have to get back to you on that one...) for the autumn/winter and then some for 2009.

"We basically just feel that this is a fun and interesting thing to do and that's what music is all about for us ... In my humble opinion it feels like we're doing what The Band did with Bob Dylan back in the sixties, haha!"

[Source: Tangent website]

Posted in Band News (tours, comings/goings, etc)