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Mike Keneally, King Crimson, and the realm of possibility
ProgJect readies for July 10 show at CCAE
Mike Keneally, Michael Sadler, and Ryo Okumoto onstage, courtesy ProgJect.com
“You’re thinking of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ I get them mixed up a lot too,” guitarist Mike Keneally responds when I suggest “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas was written for trust fund hippies who need a reason to stay in bed and smoke pot. We’re discussing the upcoming setlist at California Center for the Arts in Escondido on July 10. “Audiences adore the song. One cannot argue with the response it garners. As far as Kansas goes, I’m more of a ‘Song for America’ guy, but ‘Dust in the Wind’ fulfills a dynamic function in the show. That mellower energy comes at just the right time during the arc of the evening’s entertainment, says me.”
While we may disagree on the relative merits of the tunes under discussion, I fine I can’t argue with the Proggasm setlist the band ProgJect will be playing. Alessandro Del Vecchio (Vanden Plas, Steve Lukather) joins the group, bringing his four-octave-plus range and keyboard, with Keneally (Frank Zappa, Devin Townsend), keyboardist Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard, Chris Squire,) and Pete Griffin (Edgar Winter, Deathklok) providing bass, pedals, guitar, vocals and keys. Together with visionary drummer Jonathan Mover (Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, Marillion), the band will be covering selections from Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Rush, Pink Floyd, and others, running from the familiar comfort of “Dust” and “Money” to songs that might challenge even a technically accomplished player like Keneally.
I'm thinking here of stuff like “Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part One” by King Crimson. Keneally understands. “Robert Fripp, the guitarist, made a choice as composer to put a section in the middle of the tune that was pretty much at the outer edge of his own guitar-picking capability,” notes Keneally. “Unfortunately, Robert Fripp’s guitar-picking capability is outside the realm of possibility for any mere mortal guitarist, so I’ve had to re-imagine the part as a fingerpicking thing, as I can’t convince my guitar pick to do it properly. It ends up sounding like some weird metal/prog/bluegrass hybrid, and I have to hold my breath through the whole thing until it’s safely behind me. It’s an adventure.”
Video:
King Crimson, "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One"
As if the man isn’t taxed enough — with three solo albums in the works, preparing to work with Devin Townsend again and not one but two albums with Marcelo Radulovich (Playground Slap) — I ask if ProgJect is taking requests,and offer him a dollar to play some Porcupine Tree or Opeth. He tells me, “The degree of technical preparation required to add a song to the setlist requires months of tribunals and late-night fistfights in back alleys. I’ll see about a link you can donate the buck to. Also, do you want your Opeth avec-or-sans-growling? I’m cool either way.”
Given the precision required for the material, I wonder if there are any pre-show rituals or quirky requests in their rider. “One of the guys in the band likes to sneak into peoples’ backyards and cook up burgers on their grill, then throw their Frisbee on the roof. Okay, I admit it, it’s me. No, I admit it, none of that is true. We are alarmingly ritual-free, and the only specific meal requirement is something vegetarian for the vegetarians. There’s always pizza after the gig. Right at the moment when a decent God-fearing citizen should be heading to bed is when it’s a freaking Pizza Party Playground all of a sudden.”
I mention that the California Center for the Arts, a venue Keneally is keen on, is where I saw The Monkees, and he assures me the show will be a similar experience. “This will pretty much be exactly like the Monkees, except for all the prog music. I played there quite a bit in the past. Back 20 years or so ago, there was a band called Rockola, real good friends of mine, who used to stage these elaborate Beatles album play-throughs with orchestras and stuff, and they often asked me to play with them. I’m pretty sure the show for The White Album was at that venue, and I have real fond recollections of a psychotic arrangement of ‘Revolution 9.’ Also, the last San Diego-area gig I did prior to Covid lockdown was at that venue, I did a set of my tunes opening up for Spin Doctors. My son Milo sang with me that night, and I recall it fondly as well.”
“It’s a super nice room to play, I like it there a lot. I hope that everyone in town who loves this sort of music manages to make it out to see us. We are really not screwing around when it comes to playing and singing this stuff, but we also are obviously having a good time onstage and we love sharing this music with people, which helps audiences dig it as well. It is, for sure, a worthwhile night at the theater.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Mike Keneally, King Crimson, and the realm of possibility
ProgJect readies for July 10 show at CCAE
Mike Keneally, King Crimson, and the realm of possibility
ProgJect readies for July 10 show at CCAE
Mike Keneally, Michael Sadler, and Ryo Okumoto onstage, courtesy ProgJect.com
“You’re thinking of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ I get them mixed up a lot too,” guitarist Mike Keneally responds when I suggest “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas was written for trust fund hippies who need a reason to stay in bed and smoke pot. We’re discussing the upcoming setlist at California Center for the Arts in Escondido on July 10. “Audiences adore the song. One cannot argue with the response it garners. As far as Kansas goes, I’m more of a ‘Song for America’ guy, but ‘Dust in the Wind’ fulfills a dynamic function in the show. That mellower energy comes at just the right time during the arc of the evening’s entertainment, says me.”
While we may disagree on the relative merits of the tunes under discussion, I fine I can’t argue with the Proggasm setlist the band ProgJect will be playing. Alessandro Del Vecchio (Vanden Plas, Steve Lukather) joins the group, bringing his four-octave-plus range and keyboard, with Keneally (Frank Zappa, Devin Townsend), keyboardist Ryo Okumoto (Spock’s Beard, Chris Squire,) and Pete Griffin (Edgar Winter, Deathklok) providing bass, pedals, guitar, vocals and keys. Together with visionary drummer Jonathan Mover (Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, Marillion), the band will be covering selections from Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Rush, Pink Floyd, and others, running from the familiar comfort of “Dust” and “Money” to songs that might challenge even a technically accomplished player like Keneally.
I'm thinking here of stuff like “Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part One” by King Crimson. Keneally understands. “Robert Fripp, the guitarist, made a choice as composer to put a section in the middle of the tune that was pretty much at the outer edge of his own guitar-picking capability,” notes Keneally. “Unfortunately, Robert Fripp’s guitar-picking capability is outside the realm of possibility for any mere mortal guitarist, so I’ve had to re-imagine the part as a fingerpicking thing, as I can’t convince my guitar pick to do it properly. It ends up sounding like some weird metal/prog/bluegrass hybrid, and I have to hold my breath through the whole thing until it’s safely behind me. It’s an adventure.”
Video:
King Crimson, "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One"
As if the man isn’t taxed enough — with three solo albums in the works, preparing to work with Devin Townsend again and not one but two albums with Marcelo Radulovich (Playground Slap) — I ask if ProgJect is taking requests,and offer him a dollar to play some Porcupine Tree or Opeth. He tells me, “The degree of technical preparation required to add a song to the setlist requires months of tribunals and late-night fistfights in back alleys. I’ll see about a link you can donate the buck to. Also, do you want your Opeth avec-or-sans-growling? I’m cool either way.”
Given the precision required for the material, I wonder if there are any pre-show rituals or quirky requests in their rider. “One of the guys in the band likes to sneak into peoples’ backyards and cook up burgers on their grill, then throw their Frisbee on the roof. Okay, I admit it, it’s me. No, I admit it, none of that is true. We are alarmingly ritual-free, and the only specific meal requirement is something vegetarian for the vegetarians. There’s always pizza after the gig. Right at the moment when a decent God-fearing citizen should be heading to bed is when it’s a freaking Pizza Party Playground all of a sudden.”
I mention that the California Center for the Arts, a venue Keneally is keen on, is where I saw The Monkees, and he assures me the show will be a similar experience. “This will pretty much be exactly like the Monkees, except for all the prog music. I played there quite a bit in the past. Back 20 years or so ago, there was a band called Rockola, real good friends of mine, who used to stage these elaborate Beatles album play-throughs with orchestras and stuff, and they often asked me to play with them. I’m pretty sure the show for The White Album was at that venue, and I have real fond recollections of a psychotic arrangement of ‘Revolution 9.’ Also, the last San Diego-area gig I did prior to Covid lockdown was at that venue, I did a set of my tunes opening up for Spin Doctors. My son Milo sang with me that night, and I recall it fondly as well.”
“It’s a super nice room to play, I like it there a lot. I hope that everyone in town who loves this sort of music manages to make it out to see us. We are really not screwing around when it comes to playing and singing this stuff, but we also are obviously having a good time onstage and we love sharing this music with people, which helps audiences dig it as well. It is, for sure, a worthwhile night at the theater.”
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