A recent interview you find here (9 mb)!
Panic Room was formed following the break-up of UK rock group, Karnataka, and features 4 members of the original award winning line-up. The band's music ranges from intimate acoustic songs to full-on multi-layered symphonic prog rock, while retaining a contemporary edge.
With this line-up the quality of the songwriting and musicianship will be familiar to fans of the original Karnataka, but Panic Room also experiments with new directions to create an original multi-faceted sound.
"For our debut album we really wanted to explore all the different kinds of music that turn us on and make something fresh and original. Because of the common background in Karnataka that Anne, Paul, Gavin and myself shared it was inevitable that some elements of our musical past would resurface in Panic Room's music, but there are so many other influences and elements coming through as well. I'm really excited with the way that it's all turning out - I think the sound that we have created is something that is uniquely ours and we can't wait to share this music with you. At the end of the day the reason we're doing this is because we feel that we have to... we're driven to create these songs and for us it's all about making connections; musicians and audience connecting through the music. So we're looking forward to making the connection with all of you ... it just can't happen too soon." (Jon)
*** The debut album will also feature some fantastic performances on violin from special guest, Liz Prendergast, of folk-rock legends, The Blue Horses ***
Jonathan Edwards and Paul Davies joined ProgAID, just like Rachel.
Anne Marie Helder; see this page.
This is what Jon wrote about the splitt up and the new band:
"The break-up of the award winning UK rock band, Karnataka, in the summer of 2004 (yes, it really was that long ago!) was a disappointing time for all of us. Not least because it seemed that musically the band were getting better all the time. The live performances were tighter, there was a real feeling that the best was yet to come and the audience was growing with the band. When the end came it was therefore frustrating for both band and audience and an atmosphere of unfinished business was left hanging in the air.
All the ex-members of the band felt that they still had tales to tell and musical journeys to make. Ian moved on to develop Chasing The Monsoon (see Karnataka) along with Delicate Flame producer Steve Evans, guitarist Ian Simmons and latterly, singer Lisa Fury. Rachel temporarily left music to return to college and Anne-Marie continued with her solo career, which was already blossoming in parallel with her role in Karnataka, and recorded her first, and widely praised, solo CD "The Contact".
I had a number of song ideas, which were originally prepared for consideration by the rest of Karnataka for what would have been the original band's 4th studio album. Following the dissolution of the band some of these ideas were developed and I also started writing new material for an as yet unnamed project. The initial concept was to form a musical collective with Anne, Paul, Gavin and myself as the core, drawing in other musicians and singers for various projects as needed. However, as the writing and recording progressed we found bass player, Alun Vaughan, and guitarist, Peter Charlton, whose studio we also recorded much of the album in, and it started to feel like a real band.
The name Panic Room came initially as a response to the post-split situation – it just seemed to describe how I felt going from being part of a band that was very satisfying musically and on the verge of actually being able to make a living through doing the thing I love the most – music, to suddenly there being no band and a very uncertain future. So I like to think of the name as a positive response to the panic I felt at the time – a safe place to escape to – to start making music again.
As one of Karnataka's main songwriters, composition and arrangement had been a huge part of my contribution to the sound of the band. Although that was obviously going to continue with Panic Room there was something of a conscious decision to take a new approach to the music. I definitely wanted to retain the epic sweep of "Heart Of Stone" or "Delicate Flame" on some of the new songs and, because of the common background that Anne-Marie, Paul, Gavin and myself shared, it was inevitable that some elements of our musical past would resurface in Panic Room, but I also thought it was important that this band had a different kind of sound to Karnataka.
Perhaps the most obvious difference sonically between Panic Room and Karnataka is vocally. Anne-Marie Helder and Rachel Jones are both wonderful singers but have very different voices. Karnataka concert-goers will have had a taste of Anne-Marie's talent and anyone who has caught her solo gigs will know what's she's capable of. Now with Panic Room she is able to show the power and versatility of her voice in a rock band setting. One of Anne-Marie's strengths is her ability to change and adapt her voice to the requirements of a particular song, almost like an actor playing a part, which in a sense is what singing a song is like. As a songwriter Anne-Marie writes very personal songs, but can also be a storyteller and on this album she inhabits the worlds of different characters as well as speaking with her own voice.
With two guitarists now in the band, guitars are also more prominent in the mix than in our previous band and acoustic guitar is now an integral part of the band's sound. We were also pleased to have Liz Prendergast of Blue Horses play some wonderful violin on several of the songs, and that's really added a whole new dimension to the sound.
We've definitely tried to experiment with our debut and the music is a vibrant mix of rock, prog, folk, jazz, etc. all filtered through the band's imagination to produce an album of contrasts and variation all drawn together by Anne-Marie's wonderful soulful voice. It's really difficult to pigeonhole what kind of music we make as there are so many different elements in the music. One of the things I miss is the way that a lot of music used to surprise me when I was younger, the way that bands and musicians used to take chances and try different things and it wasn't just restricted to rock bands. A time when hearing the new album by artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Yes, Joni Mitchell or Stevie Wonder seemed like an adventure where you didn't know what the next song would sound like or where the music would take you next. That's something that we wanted to capture the spirit of in our music.
We've always enjoyed listening to the kind of albums that are constantly surprising and perhaps the closest reference points in terms of musical variation for this album are Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" or "The Dreaming" by Kate Bush. We've tried to take the best elements from the music that we enjoy and make something new and vital out of it. Whereas I had previously included celtic elements in my songwriting, on this album we've gone the whole hog and recorded a Panic Room version of a folk song which, while starting off with a very traditional arrangement, ends up in what could perhaps best be described as prog-folk territory! (think Sandy Denny fronting "And Then There Were Three"-era Genesis with Gordon Giltrap on guitar!). Similarly one of the new songs is a guitar-driven futuristic fable of artificial intelligence rendering humanity redundant, but ends up with a piano, bass and drums trio in some kind of smoky jazz club world (sci-fi noir a la Blade Runner!) – (try saying that after a couple of pints!). Other songs travel from filmic Hans Zimmer-like soundscapes through Doors/Zero 7 territory to end up not a million miles from Heart Of Stone or Talk To Me. There again we also have some very simple songs where we've just let the voice and the melody carry the listener along. At the end of the day we're just making music that interests us and we hope that like-minded people will get what we're trying to do and connect with it.
The album was mixed by Tim Hammill at Sonic One studio in Llangennech and was a really pleasurable experience for us. The studio is probably the only one of it's kind in South Wales, with a live room large enough to take a small orchestra, but it was Tim's breadth of experience in recording and mixing all kinds of music from Welsh choral to thrash metal that was the most important factor in our choice of studio. We felt that we wanted someone who had worked in many different musical genres to capture the varied musical moods that we wanted to create and Tim's ear was invaluable in helping to shape the sound of the album and we're looking forward to working with him again on future Panic Room projects.
Mastering was completed at Close to the Edge Studio, overlooking Eel Pie Island in Twickenham with Jon Astley. Jon is a veteran of the music scene and has mastering/remastering credits ranging from "Abba Gold" to "Who's Next" and the "BBC Led Zeppelin Sessions", as well as being the mastering engineer of choice for Tori Amos, whose last 7 albums he has mastered. Jon was also a pleasure to work with and had an immediate feel for what sounded right, bringing out the subtleties of the music while retaining the punch and edge of the recordings leaving us with a finished album of which we are all truly proud.
We're really satisfied with the way the album has turned out – sequencing songs is always something that takes a lot of time and careful consideration, but I'm really pleased with the final order. I think we've managed to make every song a departure from the last, while still achieving a flow to the music. So if you're the kind of person who likes to be taken on a musical journey and enjoys unexpected detours along the way then this could be the album for you. If you can entertain the possibility that music can be something that makes a difference, that it can be a feast for the senses, something that you can immerse yourself in and that, even if only in some small way, it can help make life special then we're on the same wavelength.
Since starting this project, which incidentally seems to have taken forever to complete (unfortunately, real life has a habit of popping it's head up at regular intervals!), lots of changes have taken place. It has been really gratifying to see Rachel re-enter the musical arena with Matt and the others in The Reasoning - the band are very different to Karnataka, and really have achieved their own sound and no small measure of success in a relatively short space of time. The last year has also seen Ian returning to live performance with a new band (albeit using the old Karnataka name) and a new album to follow. Gavin seems to have become drummer of choice for every man and his dog (well Fish and Mostly Autumn anyway!). So it's good to see that nobody's creativity is going to waste and that we're all moving forward to make something new. I'm sure that all of us hope that you'll move forward with us, because, after all, you're the reason why we're doing this. Yes, we feel that the music is something that calls out to us and is a part of who we are, but it's really a two way thing - if we can't touch people with it, then there's really no point. So we need you and we'll keep doing this as long as you want to hear us (you can either take that as a promise or a warning!).
The debut Panic Room album is called Visionary Position and the track listing is as follows;
Elektra CitySorry it's been so long, but the next one will be a lot quicker coming and that's a promise!
Cheers
Jon"
Satellite(’09)
The follow up to last year's well received Visionary Postion.
Recording sessions have now been completed for ‘Satellite’, the 2nd Panic Room album. The songs were recorded and are currently being mixed by Tim Hamill at Sonic One Studio (where the band’s debut album, ‘Visionary Position’ was mixed) and the new album will be mastered by Tori Amos’ engineer of choice, Jon Astley, at Close To The Edge in Twickenham. The band were so pleased with the excellent results produced by both Tim and Jon on Panic Room’s debut album that they were delighted to be able to work with them again on the new release.
'Satellite' will be available from all good retailers and on-line stores as a single 11-track album later in the year, but pre-orders of the Special Edition are now being taken from http://www.panicroom.org.uk/satellite.htm, where you can also hear and download a teaser compilation of snippets from the ‘mixes in progress’ of ‘SATELLITE’. This Special Edition is a deluxe version with expanded lyric booklet and also includes a bonus disc featuring 4 new songs recorded at the ‘Satellite’ sessions, but not included on the standard edition of the album. This edition will only be available from the band’s website and at live gigs.
Symfo-Index.