Heavy Planet Interview - Rock and Roll Artist Extraordinaire Alex von Wieding

At the end of 2012 when making my list of Top 20 albums there was a characteristic of the list that stood out for me. Granted, as an amateur artist myself, in every sense of the word, I have always admired the great art on album covers and live show posters from such awesome ink slingers as Brian Mercer and Chris Hitchman, among others. One artist, though, who seemed to stand alone with his approach to technique, style, and imaginative storytelling has been Alex von Wieding. He has been incredibly prolific as well, which when combined with the quality of work he creates is quite impressive. Alex has painted album covers for a large number of stoner and doom albums and other genres of rock over the past several years. In 2012 he was as prolific as ever. Of my Top 20 albums no fewer than 5 of them had covers by Mr. von Wieding. Between my own artistic yearnings and appreciation, the prolific output by Alex, and his incredible creations I decided to name him artist of the year in my year end article as a small tribute.

As it turns out Alex does a lot of work for the artists aligned with a number of the record labels who focus on delivering quality stoner / doom / retro / psychedelic / retro rock to the yearning, fuzz loving masses. One of those record labels is Stargun Music who have just begun to get started in this underground rock and roll world, celebrating their first anniversary this week with Heavy Planet as you surely have noticed with the interview posted yesterday on this site. Since Alex does so much work for them, is an artistic force in this low tuned and heavy world, and is an interesting person of note full of passion for his work and for the music it represents, we are presenting an interview of him below, as conducted by Jeremy of Stargun Records.

Cover art for "Sonic Titans"

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Jeremy: Hey Alex thanks for sparing the time to talk today on behalf of Heavy Planet as part of Stargun Music's one year anniversary.

Alex: Hey there.

Jeremy: I know you are very busy finishing album artwork for SADA and tons of other projects so lets cut to the chase - when you're not doing work for awesome bands like Karma To Burn, Enos, Wo Fat and the aforementioned SADA - what music do you normally listen to?

Alex:  Oh, that would most currently be the new Clutch record - "Earth Rocker", and I also just bought the new BRMC and Free Fall... apart from that, I've been listening to a bunch of electronika and soundtracks again as of late. Stuff like Tangerine Dream, Harald Grosskopf, Zombi, Majeure, Steve Moore... but also Endless Boogie (Long Island is awesome!), Camera, Barn Owl, Electric Orange, Imaad Wasif, It's Not Night- It's Space... oh, and while I'm at it: Organic Is Orgasmic. You guys should really check them out. Great stuff. As for the soundtracks, the current heavy rotation includes "The Hitcher" soundtrack (the original one, can never go wrong with that), "Tron Legacy", "Darksiders 2", and others.

 Jeremy: Any favourite or stand out albums from last year?:

 Alex:  Hm, hard to say. Apart from those I did the art for (I love each of them equally), let's see... I really listened the hell out of Camera's self titled debut, Majeure's "Solar Maximum", Steve Moore's "Light Echoes" and the latest Rival Sons album, "Head Down", which I also forgot above, since it's spinning in the car every few days... haha.

 Jeremy:  How did you get your start in doing album artwork? Were you approached or did you offer your services to a band or label?

 Alex:  Apart from the fact that I'd been toying with doing album artwork for a while, but never did it for any real bands up to that point, it in fact was the re-releases of Monster Magnet's "Spine Of God" and "25... TAB" around 2005, 2006. And it was also funny, because by that time, Monster Magnet were one of my favorite bands, and when I read somewhere that there would be re-issues coming out, and then never saw any artwork for them anywhere, I kept asking myself, "Well, what would my personal interpretation look like?". And I just simply started doing them. By the time I was done, and there was still no re-issue artwork showing up anywhere, I thought, why not publish them on the MM forum? And so I did. Not only did the folks there love them, a few days later, I got a call from SPV, the label that was doing the re-issues, and they were asking me if I would be into making them the official ones. It really was like a dream come true. Haha. After that, it's all of the above. I hit up bands I dig and find inspiring, and I would love to do art for, and the other way around.

 Jeremy:  As if creating awesome artwork wasn't enough, your own band Larman Clamor also has an album out on Small Stone Records. What's the story there?

 Alex:  Well, Larman Clamor started out as a two-piece with a buddy of mine who hit the road, getting busy with other things, after the first EP was finished. But still having so many ideas on the shelf, I kicked myself in the butt and continued on my own. I never wanted Larman Clamor to be "that band of that artwork guy" from the start though. I thought I had something cool going there, and wanted to have it stand on its own feet. So there soon was "Altars To Turn Blood" as a release via CDBaby, having my name only in tiny, tiny letters on there in the artwork, well hidden. Haha. When I had the second album, "Frogs", all wrapped up, and it sounded pretty legit, I thought, why not ask Scott (Hamilton, Small Stone Records) if he would be into putting it out? The worst thing that could've happened would've been a "Nope", and since Larman Clamor was (and is) a hobby of mine, I also wouldn't have had a problem with that. In fact, I was copping out of asking Scott for quite some time, haha. But when he was like "Sure, let's do it!", man, I was happy. So, that would be the story summed up, I guess.

 Jeremy:  I was thrilled when Heavy Planet named you and your work for the Enos album "All Too Human" as the best artist and best album artwork of 2012 in their year review. Can you explain to a mere mortal like me how the process works and how your mind works from the stages of listening to an album to creating the final artwork?

 Alex:  Haha! Dude, was I speechless when I read that! I even failed to see it when I was reading that news for the first time, ha! The process is pretty easy - though also partly secret for myself, as I don't know what exactly happens at some point, when the images keep hitting me... Basically, when there's no "must have" concept for the art, or even a big "?", I'm just sitting back with the album on headphones in a darkened room, maybe having browsed through the lyrics before that, and then just enjoying the music with my eyes closed, my sketchbook beside me, seeing what happens on surfing the aether. So there's those concept sketches coming out, which can be both design-ideas or stuff for paintings / illustrations. Those I send to the band and the label, seeing if they make their arm hair stand up or not. Usually, I have a pretty nice hitting quota with this kind of method, as a lot of bands were like "Dude! That's perfect! We never even thought of this!" (Wo Fat's "Black Code" and Enos' "All Too Human" are among those, by the way). I guess I'm lucky (Nuclear Dog's note: Or simply damn good!) and thankful for that gift. But it also can be a conceptual idea or even a song from a band that's just 'tickling my tastebuds' so to speak - activating the vision-machine. So, after the sketches have been given a greenlight, I'm doing detailing on those ideas, see what works design-wise and such (do I want to do a wrap-around painting and such? If so, does it fit the subject?), then starting to paint. Sometimes I'm sending work-in-progress previews to the band and/or the label, but usually, once I'm on the right path, the artworks kind of paint themselves. Then, it's a little fine tuning here and there on the design-parts, logos etc., and voilà - done.  

Jeremy:  Do you have any personal favourite album covers from your work over the last few years? Anything that you are particularly proud of or any work that was the most fun to do?

 Alex:  Oh, there were so many, but let's see, Tia Carrera's "Cosmic Priestess" is one of my favorites, because not only did I do it for the band years before the album came out - they also named the album after the painting, which is awesome. ÖfÖ AM's "The Beast Within" is also one I keep fishing out of the shelf, just because I painted that one from scratch to finish on one day, and it's still having that "special feeling" to it. The artwork for Wo Fat's albums are always fun, as well as the ones for Karma To Burn (though those tend to be pretty rushy and stressful at times, due to overlooked deadlines... ahem... I'm looking at you, Rich! ), and though the portal-parts details on the Enos one were a pain in the ass at some point, I just loved the idea of a space portal made out of junk so much that the fun kind of kicked the stress out of the window. Aside from that, the painting for the vinyl edition of "Frogs" was a blast. Outsmarting my own mind, seeing if I could paint the little something that was hiding there beyond the lyrics and between the lines... that was fun. And I guess it turned out pretty well... and daaaark. Haha.

 Jeremy:  Lastly, Alex, you have been very kind in signing a copy of the All Too Human vinyl for Heavy Planet to give away in competition as part of Stargun Music's first year anniversary. Would you like to give a shout out or any thanks to anyone?

 Alex:  I think I'll have to be a little general here, since it's too many bands and people that I'd love to name, so: Thanks to all of you out there who keep doing that badass music that keeps inspiring the hell out of me! And of course, there's one to the labels that keep hitting me up with awesome stuff! By this, thanks to Scott at Small Stone Records, Steffen and Thorsten at High Roller Records and not to forget you, Jeremy, and Ross at Stargun Music! It's a pleasure to work with you! Thanks for digging what I do!

 Jeremy: Just keep up the good work! Thanks for your time!

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So there you have it straight from the Maestro's lips. One point not touched upon in the interview that I have subsequently discovered in short discussions with Alex is that the medium he uses is a bitmap software such as PhotoShop, PhotoPaint, or GIMP. I don't know which product he uses, but his awesome paintings, that look as though they would smear if you touched one, was created on a computer. To me, an old school wannabe, that is quite impressive. To most of you, though, it may be what you would expect in a digital world. It's proof again that digital tools can enhance the world we live in, for in this case it allows a brilliant imagination such as Alex' to be quite prolific without wasted efforts from more organic mediums. To highlight his process, below is a jpg file of the steps he took when creating "All Too Human". All too cool.

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As a salute to Alex' work and to Heavy Planets' loyal readers we are offering a special giveaway to commemorate this milestone. To the first person who can name the 5 albums in Nuclear Dog's Top 20 Albums of 2012 (here) that were painted by Alex von Wieding we will send to you a signed vinyl copy of Enos' "All Too Human", signed by the cover artist himself. For the next 5 who get the list correctly we will send to you a copy of Stargun Music's awesome compilation CD "Sonic Titans", which has an incredible cover by Alex as well.

Please send your responses along with your name and postal mailing address to the following email:

gunnerkee19@gmail.com

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Please take the time to enjoy Larman Clamor's "Frogs", an incredible romp of stoner psychedelic fun and imagination. Is there anything Alex can't do artistically? And do it exceptionally well?

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Album Review -Mangoo-Nevermind

As evidenced by many of the album reviews and band offerings here on heavyplanet.net, as well as the wonderful podcasts and the newly established heavyplanet radio, a predominant number of stoner, sludge, and doom metal comes from Eastern Europe and the Scandinavian countries. There is such a rich and varied amount of top quality music produced in that part of the world it would likely take several weeks, or months, to get through the vast majority of the best of it all, which is a great thing when you stop and consider it.

Forged in that climate of abounding stoner and sludge of superb quality comes Mangoo, a band hailing out of Turku, Finland, that is rising and could soon take a place near the top of the metal heap. Mangoo is staking their claim to be among the best of the bands from that hoary corner of the globe with their second full length album, “Neverland”, the first from the superb label Small Stone Records.

“Neverland” does an amazing job of both exhibiting the requisite characteristics of stoner, fuzz, and psychadelia while having created an eclectic collection of disparation, songs that differ in tone and melody by a considerable degree, one from another, making up this unique and wonderful whole, an album offering of surprising depth and quality, rich in distortion, varied in melody, slick and powerful in delivery, intelligent in the intricate craft of each song, displaying those qualities throughout the entire compilation.

After a brief intro, Mangoo jumps right into a pschedelic number of incredible quality, a piece that haunts and overwhelms in an ethereal onslaught of trippy, heart pounding music that carries you off into a netherworld where time and space are ruled by the high energy emotion of Mangoo’s vocalist, Pickles, who, with his muscular and skilled vocals takes you on a cool and astonishing journey of grinding, groovy, and intense sound along with his and bandmate Mattarn’s guitars, as well as the hard driving and insistent bass of Igor, the super cool sounds that can only be prescribed to Nikky’s keys, all modulated by the piercing, deliberate rhythms of Teemu’s drums.

The next tune, “Deathmint”, can be more closely associated with so many cool and wonderful rock standards from the 70s or from the more recent resurgence of true rock associated with the stoner rock bands and fuzz monsters of the past couple of decades. But here Mangoo manages to imprint their own unique quality to the music with interesting sounds that dance in and out of their heart pounding, ass kicking riffs and hooks, all tied together with the strong, clear, powerful vocals of their lead singer, and made wonderful by terrific, well played guitar work.

“Diamond in the Rough” is heavy on the keyboard, sounding like some crazy kazoo mutation that perfectly complements the jaunty, fun tempo and full bore guitar work on this tune. Igor gets to stretch out a bit with a faster, more boisterous bass rhythm than what is usually used to temper most down fuzzed songs, while Pickles again reaches a vocal level that is pleasing and fitting, never coming up short when high, or bland when deep.

The beginning of “You” plays like a ballad, something we’ve all heard a thousand times before, while enjoying the best of what those past rock acts have offered. The start of the song showcases Pickles’ burly and melodious output as the sole instrument of effort before a wonderful wall of fuzz is unleashed, fleshing out the song as a wonderful example of what a power ballad can sound like when ensconced in the primal and proper genre of stoner rock. Mangoo firmly establishes here that they truly know how to make this sound work at the highest, most accomplished level.

Next up we are treated to another standard rock offering with “Lose Yourself”, a song that may have come from the glory years associated with Aerosmith and Zeppelin, or the later eras between QOTSA and Roadsaw, while being imprinted with some super groovy riffs, melodious hooks, and solos combining guitars and keyboards into something exclusive and unrivaled in quality, tone, intent, and power. This song is unique and familiar at the same time, intricate and catchy, fun to listen to, satisfying in its delivery.



Mangoo throws in a quirky little interlude by Nikky and his keyboards before kicking into high gear with the powerful, ass kicking “You, Robot”. Here the fuzz is full and fine, the tempo quick and toothsome, the instrumentation unyielding in its delivery and assault, with Pickles driving it all forward on powerful vocals that lead into the delivery of an all out onslaught from the rest of the these Finnish fiends. This is a tremendous song that delivers a knockout in the early rounds.

The tone set by “You, Robot” continues with “Moom”, where the experience is fast, furious, fun, and fascinating. Mangoo are in full swing here, giving it all and enjoying the process, feeling the power surge forth from the expert manipulation of their metal medium.

“Painted Black” is another power ballad, where Pickles again showcases the raw dexterity of a voice that can deliver at the extremes as well as in the meaty middle where he is rich in ability and pleasing in quality, adept at working his voice around the notes, hitting what he needs to hit with vocal dexterity, meshing it all together until it becomes a beacon lighting the way for his piercing guitar solo at the end of this soaring track.

“Hooks” is a haunting, powerful, melodious offering of huge, distorted, mashing guitars that begin as another ballad of sorts but eventually detonates into a wonderful duel between the two guitars and the bass that has to be heard to be believed. Not that technically any records are broken, or new ground uncovered, which works to the song’s favor in my opinion, instead delivering something deep and full, powerful and unyielding, rich, satisfying, and unexpected if not ground breaking.

The next song is as surprising and out of context as a song can possibly be . . . at least for me and my, what I believe to be, normal expectations for a stoner album that has heretofore delivered nothing but high quality metal music. We are treated to just a second shy of a minute of . . . old country blue grass style music in the track titled “Home”. The fact that it’s out of context and yet still played with skill and enthusiasm, and the fact that I do have a place set aside within my musical preferences for bluegrass from years past and memories long gone, lends itself to actually enjoying this quirky and unexpected interlude, that, just as with all tracks on this album, is rendered with ability, class, enthusiasm, and quality.

The album closes out with “Datzun”, perhaps the epitome of what Mangoo has to offer, belting out those tremendous, delightful vocals, blaring the fuzz to satisfaction, driving hard with the drums and bass, intertwined with the ever present and quiriky keyboards that add to the delight and signature of Mangoo’s superb music, setting an established tone for choice hooks and riffs, powerful and muscular in tone, skilled, unique, and admirable in effort and ability.

Over the past few years Small Stone Records has established itself as THE source for obtaining CDs or vinyl of many of the highest quality metal artists the industry has to offer. They represent many up and coming bands, most of which have not yet been established in the mainstream, so don't necessarily get to be rock bands full time, aren't recognizable by large sections of the paying public, and don't always have their music playing on your local radio station, which typically is accepted as a sign of success, along with the monetary rewards that accompany widespread notoriety. But there is one unique identifier for these groups that establishes them as having 'made it'. If they have been signed by Small Stone Records you can rest assured they are one of the absolute best rock bands you are likely to find cranking out stoner, sludge, doom, or psychedelic tunes of the highest quality. And of the available bands from Small Stone Records comes one of their newest signings, Mangoo, who rises to the absolute top of the heap of great and wonderful stoner rock bands. And with Mangoo’s first Small Stone release, “Neverland”, is delivered an album worthy of purchase, worthy of inclusion in any consideration for upcoming awards, and with any luck, or if it just happens to catch the right ear, maybe worthy of widespread notoriety and all the trappings that come with it.

Mangooloid|SmallStone|Facebook|MySpace

Mangoo Signs with 7:45 Records

Hailing from Turku, Finland, Mangoo represents the true essence of stoner rock. There`s enough fuzz in the band`s sound to grind down mountains and the wall of boom just tramples all in its way. But what truly makes them stand out from the crowd is their eye for strong pop esthetiques. When you`re droning on in a herb induced coma, you don`t expect the chorus to catch your ear and make you wanna shake your bottom like it was 1974 all over again. That`s the magic that Mangoo brings to the table, so beware or you`ll get caught twistin`n`shouting in the wrong place!
The basic setup in Mangoo`s case is topped off with the amazing synth works of Nikky. Everything from searing analog leads to heavy organs are added on to the guitar and bass wall of Mattarn, Pickles and Igor. With Pickles handling the lead vocals and both Nikky and Igor taging along here and there, the live sound of Mangoo is also something to experience. On the album, the drums were laid down by Peer Günt -man Sakke Koivula, but his hurries and worries with his main band didn`t permit him to join the clan full time, so Teemu was found to fill the fills and keep up the beat.

The bands debut album, titled Neolithic, will see daylight in Finland through 7:45 Records within a few months and from there, the band is ready to take on the world. Mixed by Mr. Dango of the mighty Truckfighters, Neolithic will surely be one of those albums that sneaks up behind you and just knocks your teeth out. The Mangoo clan will invade your country soon enough, so the question is: Do you want to stand united with them, or feel the wrath of their thundering axes?


www.myspace.com/mangoomusic

New Band To Burn One To-Mangoo (Rock/Psychedelic/Electro-Fuzz)

"THE TALE OF THE CLAN MANGOO. One night, while relaxing in a hammock on my native coast, a three-headed god approached me in my herbal induced dreams and said: “Arise Igor Bull-spawn, Shaman of the water bong, Warrior of the booming sound. You are to leave your pleasant life on this paradise island and travel far north to the land at the end of the earth, there in those frozen wastes you will you join an Ostrobotnian clan and together you will embark on a sacred quest.� His voice was low and it buzzed in my ears, it compelled me to obey; before I could ask anything of him, the god vanished from my mind as fast as he had appeared and I woke confused and distraught. A strange word was working its way from the back of my head to my mouth and many moons would pass before I had any meaning for me, nevertheless I raised my fists to the sky and shouted: PERKELE! Not a full cycle had passed when full of gifts from my tribe and armed only with my thunder axe I left for FINLAND. I also took with me some sacred herb seeds in case they didn’t grow in this cold lands. Upon arriving I wandered lost for many moons, the locals were very strange with pale skin, golden hair and eyes as light as the skies. I could not understand a word of their language, which sounded as harsh as their climate. I despaired in the long winter nights and began to wonder if the course of my quest was wise. But that all changed the night I met Pickles, a red-bearded follower of the path of fire, who acted most friendly towards me. Our cultural differences were quickly drowned in firewater and peace-smoke. I was happy to discover that not only did he possess a sacred axe too, but that it buzzed as low as the voice of God. From then on we were inseparable and together we had many adventures in the name of chaos. Drinking as much firewater and stealing as many maidens as we could find in every inn of this land. But we were not satisfied yet. The voice of God commanded us to find the rest of the chosen ones. In a strange moment of clarity Pickles decided to contact some warriors he had met as young in his native Ostrobotnia. They were both veteran warriors who had joined together during the Dead Flowers battle up north. The first warrior was Mattarn,,also known as Sir Mathias Åkerlund, master of the shrieking axe. His element was Air. The second warrior was Jarno, also known as superbum a.k.a. The mad drummer savant. I needed only to hear his articulated paradoxical eloquence to know he was the man for the job. His element was earth. Now our group was almost complete but four doesn't make a coven. Something was missing. That something came in the form of Nikky, a mysterious goth technomage, who completed our sound by adding a layer of electro fuzz produced with many different magical boxes of obscure precedence. His element was chaos. Now the circle is complete. We are the clan, Warlocks and Warriors, the drunken freedomfigthers, joined together in a mystical quest to bring the creed of the buzzing god to as many ears as possible until chaos reigns supreme. We are MANGOO and we are invading your town soon. So all you WASTED GIRLS and drunken clan-members, prepare for the alkohol infused invasion of the drunken freedomfigthers!!!..."

Check out the band's MySpace page to check out their killer sound!

For fans of Monster Magnet, Kyuss, and Devo.