International rock collective Sontaag,
whose conceptually ambitious, eponymous debut album (a sonically
cinematic, cross-generic space opera) arrived into the progressive
firmament to critical acclaim in 2014, are finally set to re-establish
contact with our much-troubled earthly realm.
On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.
On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.
“Silver Machine” is mixed by Youth.
Design and photo montage by Julie Cunnah. Thanks to Kevin Nixon.
“Silver Machine” is available through Cleopatra Records via
all digital platforms and also comes in radically remixed form courtesy
of Sontaag's fellow travellers in outer and inner psychedelic space, The Orb.
Ian Fortnam: “Hawkwind were punk-proof. Even in '77,
Richard and I would jam on 'Silver Machine.' Hawkwind were the UK's
counter-cultural underground incarnate. I discovered them in that narrow
space between Bolan and Bowie, simultaneous to Alice, in the summer of
'72. Astral explorers. Eyes aflame with psychedelic visions. The people
your parents dreaded you becoming. The coolest band alive. 'Silver
Machine' was Hawkwind's magnum opus, a spiralling maelstrom of
riff-driven brilliance. Who wouldn't want to cover it? Four years ago I
found myself spirited to Nik Turner's place in Wales, where we spoke of
the Great Pyramid, orgone accumulators, space rituals, hallucinogenics,
sonic generators, woodwind and Hawkwind. Before we parted, I gave him a
copy of the first Sontaag album and the seeds of the 'Silver Machine'
project were sown. Obviously, the very best material deserves the very
best band, so calls were made to maestro Youth and Dave Barbarossa (the
dream rhythm section) and here we are. And what a rare privilege to work
with The Orb whose 'Imaginarium Translucent JellyFish Dub' remix is a
work of art in and of itself.”
Richard Sontaag: Ian's been pestering me to do a
Hawkwind cover since way back when -- the coolest kid in our school, he
was often seen walking around with the Doremi Faso Latido LP under his
arm between classes. But our Silver Machine came about in an unexpected
way. I was alone in the studio late one night, and noticed that the guys
had strung up a microphone from the ceiling. I put all the amps in a
circle around it -- which is really bad technique - and went round each
one, blasting out Silver Machine on different instruments. That was the
most fun I have ever had in a studio -- and some of it even made it on
to the final track.
For more information: https://twitter.com/Sontaag
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