Mandragora (band)
Encyclopedia
Mandragora are a space-rock/world dance-music band from Brighton
, England
, whose formative output can be described as psychedelic rock
with ethnic sounds and tribal rhythms. Formed in 1983, the band have released 5 albums of their own, and a collaborative album with Phil Thornton. They built up a loyal following on the free festival
circuit of the 1980s and '90s, and were signed to Delerium Records
. In recent years Mandragora have evolved into a world music
/electronic dance act featuring singers and musicians from all corners of the globe.
Phil Thornton - keyboards, samples, e-bow, guitar
Dalinda - vocals
Simon Cowburn - percussion
Alan Jenkins - bass
Steve Elliott - bass
Angus Ross - keyboards, vocals
Andy Stokes - drums, percussion
David C. Hëwitt - keyboards
Niall Hone - bass, feedback, samples
Pete Newman - drums, percussion
Mick Reed - drums
Geoff Holroyde - drums, percussion
Nikelby Hunt - drums
Nick Colegrave - synthesizer
Tim Burton - Vocals and synth
Guy Pearson - Drums
Stuart Ranger - Bass
influenced psychedelic rock band formed by Simon Williams in 1983. They played gigs and festivals around the UK including the Stonehenge Free Festival
of 1984. Their first album was a self-financed cassette only release called Something Missing. In 1983 Simon Williams saw a performance by innovative New Age
synthesizer pioneer, Phil Thornton at a festival in Sussex
and after the show the two met. So in 1988 when Mandragora had were asked to open for Hawkwind on their UK tour, Phil Thornton was invited to play synths with the band. With improvisation a key component of Mandragora's live concerts, Phil, with his Moog synthesizer
and samplers, gave them a much more sophisticated sound.
While the bands early material, due to its guitar and synth driven nature, was always compared favourably to other similar acts such as Ozric Tentacles
, the band always experimented with different musical styles. It is this interest and experimentation that led to the bands' style and integration of many different musical genres, with Simon Williams stating that the impact Phil Thornton's studio experience and production skills had on the second album, 1991's Head First (Resonance Records), was immense, the band started to receive airplay on BBC radio with John Peel
and Mark Radcliffe
playing their track "Zarg".
Two studio albums (Head First and Earthdance), a live album (Temple Ball) and a collaboration with Phil Thornton on his solo album While The Green Man Sleeps followed to critical acclaim.
Mandragora have toured extensively throughout their career and played in many European countries, including Israel, Germany, Russia, Italy, Denmark, France, Éire, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Hungary and the UK. To this end, Mandragora started to gain a large following around the UK free festival
scene, including three appearances at the Glastonbury Festival
. They were also invited to open for many varied artists such as The Wailers
, Gil Scott-Heron
, Transglobal Underground
, Gong
, The Orb
and The Shamen
. Niall Hone has since gone on to join Hawkwind
and Nik Hunt has joined Here & Now
.
, psy-trance and Celtic music
. They drew on both traditional world musical styles and the mechanisms of the psychedelic dance scene.
Also on this album were notable guest appearances from Howard Marks
and Arthur Brown
.
After the release of Pollen the band took a hiatus. Multi-instrumentalists Simon Williams and Phil Thornton went on to form Earthdance
a group of musicians, film makers and producers specialising in world/dance and chillout music.
Original members Simon Williams and Phil Thornton are back performing live again as Mandragora after several years concentrating on studio projects , producing other artists and performing live with other acts as well as recording musicians all over the globe!"
With Phil Thornton
Also, the track Conspiracy appears on the Delerium compilation A Psychedelic Psauna (In Four Parts)
.
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, whose formative output can be described as psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
with ethnic sounds and tribal rhythms. Formed in 1983, the band have released 5 albums of their own, and a collaborative album with Phil Thornton. They built up a loyal following on the free festival
Free party
A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home. A free party can be composed of just one...
circuit of the 1980s and '90s, and were signed to Delerium Records
Delerium Records
Delerium Records was a UK record label, that specialised in psychedelic music which ran from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina and Moom and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten...
. In recent years Mandragora have evolved into a world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
/electronic dance act featuring singers and musicians from all corners of the globe.
Band Members (past and present)
Simon Williams - guitar, synths, vocalsPhil Thornton - keyboards, samples, e-bow, guitar
Dalinda - vocals
Simon Cowburn - percussion
Alan Jenkins - bass
Steve Elliott - bass
Angus Ross - keyboards, vocals
Andy Stokes - drums, percussion
David C. Hëwitt - keyboards
Niall Hone - bass, feedback, samples
Pete Newman - drums, percussion
Mick Reed - drums
Geoff Holroyde - drums, percussion
Nikelby Hunt - drums
Nick Colegrave - synthesizer
Tim Burton - Vocals and synth
Guy Pearson - Drums
Stuart Ranger - Bass
Early years
Mandragora began life as a HawkwindHawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
influenced psychedelic rock band formed by Simon Williams in 1983. They played gigs and festivals around the UK including the Stonehenge Free Festival
Stonehenge Free Festival
The Stonehenge Free Festival was a British free festival from 1972 to 1984 held at Stonehenge in England during the month of June, and culminating on the summer solstice on June 21. The festival was a celebration of various alternative cultures...
of 1984. Their first album was a self-financed cassette only release called Something Missing. In 1983 Simon Williams saw a performance by innovative New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
synthesizer pioneer, Phil Thornton at a festival in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and after the show the two met. So in 1988 when Mandragora had were asked to open for Hawkwind on their UK tour, Phil Thornton was invited to play synths with the band. With improvisation a key component of Mandragora's live concerts, Phil, with his Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
and samplers, gave them a much more sophisticated sound.
While the bands early material, due to its guitar and synth driven nature, was always compared favourably to other similar acts such as Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles are an instrumental rock band from Somerset, England, whose music can loosely be described as psychedelic or space rock. Formed in 1983, the band has released 28 albums as of 2011, and become a cottage industry selling over a million albums worldwide despite never having major...
, the band always experimented with different musical styles. It is this interest and experimentation that led to the bands' style and integration of many different musical genres, with Simon Williams stating that the impact Phil Thornton's studio experience and production skills had on the second album, 1991's Head First (Resonance Records), was immense, the band started to receive airplay on BBC radio with John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
and Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...
playing their track "Zarg".
Two studio albums (Head First and Earthdance), a live album (Temple Ball) and a collaboration with Phil Thornton on his solo album While The Green Man Sleeps followed to critical acclaim.
Mandragora have toured extensively throughout their career and played in many European countries, including Israel, Germany, Russia, Italy, Denmark, France, Éire, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Hungary and the UK. To this end, Mandragora started to gain a large following around the UK free festival
Free festival
Free festivals are a combination of music, arts and cultural activities for which, often, no admission is charged, but involvement is preferred. They are identifiable by being multi-day events connected by a camping community without centralised control. The Free festival movement being the...
scene, including three appearances at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
. They were also invited to open for many varied artists such as The Wailers
Wailers Band
The Wailers Band are a reggae band formed by the remaining members of Bob Marley & The Wailers, following the death of Bob Marley in 1981.-Previous Wailers' incarnations:The Wailers started as Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh...
, Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
, Transglobal Underground
Transglobal underground
Transglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
, Gong
Gong (band)
Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
, The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
and The Shamen
The Shamen
The Shamen were an experimental electronic music band, from 1985–1999, initially formed in Aberdeen, Scotland, as a psychedelic-influenced indie rock act. The founding members are Colin Angus , Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie...
. Niall Hone has since gone on to join Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
and Nik Hunt has joined Here & Now
Here & Now (band)
Here & Now are an English psychedelic/space rock band formed in early 1974. They have close connections with the band Gong and in 1977/1978 worked with Gong's Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth under the name Planet Gong...
.
Later years
The release of the bands most recent album, Pollen, in 1998 saw them shift into a more dance orientated direction, encompassing elements of dubDub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, psy-trance and Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
. They drew on both traditional world musical styles and the mechanisms of the psychedelic dance scene.
Also on this album were notable guest appearances from Howard Marks
Howard Marks
Dennis Howard Marks is a Welsh author and former drug smuggler who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug...
and Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...
.
After the release of Pollen the band took a hiatus. Multi-instrumentalists Simon Williams and Phil Thornton went on to form Earthdance
Earthdance
Earthdance is the world's largest synchronized music and dance festival for peace. Taking place annually in over 300 locations and 60 countries, Earthdance joins participants worldwide in a synchronized Prayer for Peace...
a group of musicians, film makers and producers specialising in world/dance and chillout music.
Resurgence
According to the bands official website a new album is scheduled for release in 2010. The article states: "World dance music pioneers and firm festival favorites’ Mandragora’ are back doing live shows and have a new album/film scheduled for release in 2010. The current line up features the amazing Bosnian singer Dalinda, who grew up in Libya and has released albums for ARC records. Dalinda is well known all over the Middle East and North Africa from her MTV appearances in Egypt and live performances throughout the world.Original members Simon Williams and Phil Thornton are back performing live again as Mandragora after several years concentrating on studio projects , producing other artists and performing live with other acts as well as recording musicians all over the globe!"
Albums
- 1988 Over the Moon - LP/CD (Babbleon Records) (CD re-released on Delerium RecordsDelerium RecordsDelerium Records was a UK record label, that specialised in psychedelic music which ran from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina and Moom and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten...
has 3 extra tracks) - 1991 Head First - LP/CD (Resonance RecordsResonance RecordsResonance Records is an independent Jazz Record Label established in 2008 as the centerpiece of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to preserving the art and legacy of Jazz. The label is based in Los Angeles, California and is devoted to preserving Jazz and...
) (CD re-released on Delerium Records has 3 extra tracks) - 1993 Earthdance - LP/CD (Mystic Stones)
- 1994 Temple Ball - LP/CD (Mystic Stones)
- 1998 Pollen - CD (Delerium RecordsDelerium RecordsDelerium Records was a UK record label, that specialised in psychedelic music which ran from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina and Moom and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten...
)
With Phil Thornton
- 1993 While the Green Man Sleeps - LP/CD (Mystic Stones)
Cassette only albums
- 1985 Something Missing
- 1990 Under the Sun Live
- 1992 Mandrake Madness (outtakes and Live)
Also, the track Conspiracy appears on the Delerium compilation A Psychedelic Psauna (In Four Parts)
A Psychedelic Psauna
A Psychedelic Psauna is the name of a compilation album released by record label Delerium in 1991.The album was intended to celebrate the birth of the label and to promote the first artists who were signed, mainly psychedelic bands...
.
External links
- Official website
- Mandragora at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Interview with Simon Williams and Simon Cowburn from 1999
- Mandragora on the official Phil Thornton website
- Mandragora's Delerium Records page
- Earthdance at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Mandragora on psychedelicmusic.net
- Mandragora at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Earthdance website