KAIPA DA CAPO
Dårskapens Monotoni
(Kaipa Music)

 

Going back to the 1970s, guitarist / composer Roine Stolt has time and again come up with a range of musically inventive projects. 2016 found Roine releasing an album of all new material called Invention Of Knowledge with YES co-founder and prog visionary Jon Anderson. As the second half of 2016 unwinds Roine is back in the music news again with a new studio album from his band Kaipa, which is now called Kaipa DaCapo, to differentiate it from the Hans Lundin led Kaipa. Featuring several key members from the original 1970s Kaipa band, Dårskapens Monotoni—which translates to sort of “Perpetual Insanity”—is filled with the trademark Swedish progressive rock sound that has permeated Roine’s works in Kaipa, Flower Kings, Transatlantic and his solo debut from 1979. Even with the Swedish lyrics dominating the center stage, the prog-rock energy pours through making it one of the more dynamic-sounding prog-rock albums of 2016. Commenting on Dårskapens Monotoni, Roine tells mwe3.com, “Kaipa Da Capo features the original Kaipa members - Ingemar Bergman (drums), Tomas Eriksson (bass), Roine Stolt (guitar, vocals) and new members Max Lorentz (keyboards, vocals) and Michael Stolt (vocal, guitars). We all wrote music for this new album. We had had a plan to make it less of a technical affair and to focus more on the songs and the feel of the music. There is a retro vibe going on, no doubt but we did try to be open and put the music in focus, not just to make the retro thing a gimmick.” Between Invention Of Knowledge and Kaipa DaCapo’s Dårskapens Monotoni, 2016 has turned out quite well for Roine Stolt and his evolutionary prog-rock vision.

 





mwe3.com presents an interview with
ROINE STOLT


mwe3
: Do you sometimes look back on your career and shake your head at how amazing it’s all turned out for you? From your early works in Kaipa and Flower Kings and then I remember playing your first solo album Fantasia during that incredible 1979 / 1980 scene.

Roine Stolt: Of course, it is a bit strange to see how things turned out. When I was 13 and first started playing the bass in a band I could not even imagine making one record and now I’ve made over 200 ! I could not imagine touring Sweden and I did many times… not being on radio or TV, not getting awarded numerous times and not ever play a show outside of Sweden. Now, I’ve toured the world many times, including the USA, Canada, Japan, South and Central America and Europe.

Also, it was impossible to imagine I’d play with people like Steve Hackett, Jon Anderson, Adrian Belew, Thijs Van Leer… and, of course, the album I just made with Jon Anderson is like a magic dream. These guys are all people I looked up to for decades and I still do. The Fantasia album came about back in 1979 because I wanted to stretch a bit after being locked into the Kaipa thing of touring and recording for 5 years straight.

mwe3: Tell us about the new Kaipa album, what’s it called and why did you make the decision to include all Swedish lyrics?

Roine Stolt: The new Kaipa Da Capo album is called Dårskapens Monotoni, which translates to sort of “Perpetual Insanity”. We wanted to sing in Swedish because we used to in the old Kaipa days but also to distinguish it from some of my other bands that feature entirely English lyrics…

mwe3: Who is in the current Kaipa band, who wrote the music on the new album and how is the new Kaipa album different from the other Kaipa albums?

Roine Stolt: Kaipa Da Capo features the original Kaipa members - Ingemar Bergman (drums), Tomas Eriksson (bass), Roine Stolt (guitar, vocals) and new members Max Lorentz (keyboards, vocals) and Michael Stolt (vocal, guitars). We all wrote music for this new album. We had had a plan to make it less of a technical affair and to focus more on the songs and the feel of the music. There is a retro vibe going on, no doubt but we did try to be open and put the music in focus, not just to make the retro thing a gimmick. We played the music together in a real studio and also ninety percent on real instruments, including Hammond organ, grand piano, Rhodes piano, pipe organ, sitar, harmonium, flute, dobro, lap steel, accordion, saxophone and of course, all sorts of guitars and bass and drums.

mwe3: How many albums have you made with Kaipa and how has the band’s personnel and sound and vision changed over the years?

Roine Stolt: We made 3 classic albums in the 1970’s and the band made 2 other albums after I left before caving in and then there was a big gap of silence. Then the band’s keyboardist made a few albums again under the name of Kaipa but that’s another band that was just hired using studio musicians and not a real live band. So Kaipa now exist in 2 entirely different versions! But this Kaipa DaCapo is a living band that actually tours and play music together in the studio and functions like a democracy, just like in the 70’s.

mwe3: How different from Kaipa is Invention Of Knowledge, your 2016 album with YES founder Jon Anderson? Do both albums show different sides of your musical personality? I read that you first worked with Jon in Transatlantic, backing a version of “The Revealing Science Of God”. Whose idea was that? Was Jon in California for the whole time making the Invention Of Knowledge album? How do you feel about recording in remote locations?

Roine Stolt: It is very different. The music alone of course… With Jon, I write music together as a project. It’s very intense and we try build a fantastic and very professional effort that need to be able to be compared with all that Jon has done with Yes and Vangelis. It had a big budget and we were aiming very
high. As with Kaipa Da Capo it is more of a gathering of old friends who try to do our best to re-create the magic of our 70’s albums. Yes, I worked with Jon on that cruise where we backed him on a few YES songs including the Topographic Oceans stuff plus “And You And I”, “Long Distance Runaround” and “Starship Trooper”. It was fun and from that experience we realized we could work together, as suggested by my record label boss Thomas Waber. We started working on Invention Of Knowledge in late 2014 I think. For the recording we worked by sending files and I developed Jon’s ideas over here. He had early versions that he had written with some friends around the world.

mwe3: It seems so odd that so many people still talk about Jon Anderson leaving YES and do you feel Invention Of Knowledge is a much needed shot in the arm for fans for YES fans?

Roine Stolt: Yes, there’s been lots of talk after Jon left Yes, while he was ill. I think many people probably thought that was it and he was finished with singing with a full band. Then we played about an hour of YES music together on a boat in the Caribbean, which was fun and went well. I think the album Invention Of Knowledge came out at a very good time in our lives for both me and Jon. It was the album that actually re-affirmed that Jon is as creative as ever, vital, in good voice and that he was able to help compose and sing to full band backing. Jon recently said Invention Of Knowledge is a cornerstone in his career and I was very happy to hear that something I helped create meant a lot to him.

mwe3: How about your other musical partnerships with Flower Kings and Transatlantic? Is Transatlantic on the back burner considering your latest albums with Jon Anderson and Kaipa and how many albums have you made with Transatlantic?

Roine Stolt: The Flower Kings have been going for a long, long time with many, many albums so I definitely think it’s time for a break. Transatlantic… I really don’t know. Not sure when or if there will be more. I think Mike (Portnoy) probably think it is his band so it’s up to him. We made 4 studio albums. Personally, I think The Whirlwind was a great album, and a happy tour but I’m not sure if it a good idea to just go on unless everyone commits with heart and soul. I like to do different things, new projects so at this moment, doing this Kaipa DaCapo album was right even if it is a low profile project, not aiming at making a lot of money. Also there are small steps starting work on new songs by Jon and myself and the possibility of performing shows with the Invention Of Knowledge material in 2017.

mwe3: How would you describe the current progressive rock music scene in Sweden? Which artists and bands are you listening to at the current time?

Roine Stolt: The music scene is not particularly progressive but yes there are a few proggy bands. I do not listen much to them however. I try instead to listen to other music such as fusion, classical, Indian, pop to inspire me. I just downloaded some David Crosby. I love his latest work. I went to see Anoushka Shankar play Indian music the other week. I love Snarky Puppy, Muse and I saw King Crimson a couple of weeks ago. It was great, U2 likewise.

mwe3: Do you feel musicians are getting the right amount of support they need in the age of the internet?

Roine Stolt: Well, we all got to eat and pay rent. We need money so of course we prefer that people pay for our work. We just hope that enough people are honest enough to buy instead of download for free.

mwe3: How about working with Steve Hackett on his “Wolflight” tour in 2015? That album was so great. What are your thoughts on Hackett’s immense, though sometimes overlooked contributions to progressive rock and also classical guitar? Do you have a period of Hackett that you like best and what did you think of the Squackett album?

Roine Stolt: Working with Hackett was great. Steve and his wife are wonderful people and we had lots of fun. They are always very kind and generous. Also having Nad Sylvan in the band was great, he’s great singer and great and fun friend. Playing the old Genesis songs was great fun. We did 85 shows together. Hackett was a big part of the Genesis sound and now he is the only one carrying on the real progressive style. Also he is a very fine nylon guitar player, his tone is beautiful. I have a few of his classical guitar albums. I have only heard one or two songs from the Squackett—not enough to have an opinion.

mwe3: What plans are you prepared to undertake in 2017 as 2016 winds down to an eerie conclusion? Will you be reactivating other bands and are you prepared to keep the progressive music fires burning
still?

Roine Stolt: I will tour a bit with Kaipa DaCapo at the beginning of next year, 2017. We just released the album, Dårskapens Monotoni and I have already started some small steps towards working on new album together with Jon Anderson. We’ll see where all of this goes. Then I will work together with a couple of guys on a new band project. It's too early to tell now but it is very exciting. The future looks bright as I see it.

Learn more at :
https://twitter.com/kaipadacapo
www.facebook.com/groups/kaipadacapo/?fref=nf
www.facebook.com/AndersonStolt/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/TheFlowerKings
https://twitter.com/#!/TheFlowerKings

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