What truly is progressive music? Each month BraveWords will aim to dissect that answer with a thorough overview of the current musical climate that is the prog world. Old and new, borrowed and blue. A musical community without borders. So watch for a steady and spaced-out array of features, current news and a buyer's guide checklist to enhance the forward-thinking musical mind. So, welcome to BraveWords' monthly column appropriately titled, Between A Rock In A Prog Place. 

In this month's column, the singer/guitarist of Finnish proggers Wheel, James Lascelles, discusses his band's new LP, Charismatic Leaders, its single/video “Empire,” and the current state of prog worldwide, among other topics. 

How does Charismatic Leaders differ from previous Wheel albums?

I think we have learned something new with each album cycle and this time has been no different: when we made Moving Backwards, we didn't have a clear production style in mind when we began the process, and we ended up with a really rich, industrial and processed sound. In stark contrast, Resident Human ended up sounding more like we do live - this was after our first extensive tours in 2019, and getting more used to our stage sound. It ended up being rougher round the edges in a way that preserved more of the humanity in the performances, and this was absolutely the right fit for the material. Charismatic Leaders lands somewhere in between these two styles, keeping some of the more dramatic production from Moving Backwards, but keeping the liveliness of Resident Human. It's by far my favorite production we have made so far, and it's a great fit for the heavier material we ended up going with.

What did engineers/co-producers Daniel Bergstrand and Fredrik Thordendal bring to the album?

Daniel and Fredrik were wonderful to work with and had a relentless work ethic - Fredrik owns a company called Toontrack, that make drum sample software, and many of the samples were created in the studio we recorded in - this was the initial appeal for us to head over to Sweden and record an album with them. Watching the guys build up the drum sound and seeing the modern technical approach they used was incredible, particularly with the tom micing techniques they used. The material was headed in a more metal direction than our last album and this was definitely in Daniel and Fredrik's ballpark - whether through changing up snare drums or getting to use Fredrik's favorite modded Marshall, all of their input was a great fit for the sound we were going for. This more metally focused audio was balanced by Forrester Savell's phenomenal album mix - he is more well known for the cleaner production style of bands like Karnivool and combined with the audio we tracked in Sweden, I think we ended up with a slick and unique overall sound that is a perfect fit for Wheel - it has been a privilege to work with all of them.

What was the lyrical inspiration behind “Empire,” and memories of filming the song’s video?

Lyrically, “Empire” was inspired by the nine figure lawsuit against Fox News after they falsely claimed that faulty voting machines had caused the last American election to be stolen. I was stunned that there were no real consequences for the people at the top of the organization and as far as I know, the worst thing they have had to deal with is selling the station. This sent me down the rabbit hole of considering the 'other side' that all of us are so used to being afraid of - we create these political caricatures that rarely exist in the real world and we use these avatars as a point of focus and blame for everything going wrong in the world. I think it's human to conflate our identity with our beliefs to an extent, but after writing “Empire”, I'm far more aware of how political ideology is used to enrage and divide us - all of our focus is on the fringes - the most extreme, vocal, and often, the dumbest among us do not represent nearly any of us, and reducing the complexities of the modern world to a binary doesn't seem to be improving anything. 

It was cathartic to write about my frustration with how global media and political leaders are relentlessly fanning the flames to keep us mad at each other and ignorant of what the most powerful people in the world continue to do in plain sight. To be honest, I have a lot of faith in young people who seem to be smarter and more empathetic than older generations and I am still optimistic that we will figure some of this out before we destroy ourselves, but it is highly frustrating to watch. Regardless, I still think that art is one of the best possible places to discuss issues like this. When we made the video, I had just got back from Portugal enjoying a very mild January, and the temperature really plummeted in Finland the day after we got home. We recorded that video in an unheated building in Tampere that used to be some kind of factory or warehouse, and it was absolutely freezing! I think it was -21°C that day. It was not a fun video to shoot for this reason, but Kie Von Hertzen of the brilliant Finnish band, Von Hertzen Brothers and his team did a phenomenal job. It is my favorite video we have made to date!

Are you comfortable being called ‘prog metal’?

Sure, why not?! No matter what we think or what we want, we will be labelled and compared to other artists and this is totally fine by us. Prog metal feels like the right home for Wheel, but frankly, even if it wasn't, it's not like we could do anything about it! Prog metal is a weird genre definition as it is incredibly broad - on one side, it has its own stylistic tropes just like any other genre, but at the same time, it includes wildly different bands - grouping Meshuggah, Dream Theater, Tool, Opeth, and Leprous under one umbrella - despite them all sounding so different. To me, prog has always meant that there are no hard rules and we are free to experiment with anything we find interesting, and this is why I love writing for Wheel - it's an experiment that never feels old or stale as there is always something cool or new to try.

Who are some of your favorite modern prog bands and why?

My favorites tend to be bands with a focus on interesting rhythms at the backbone of what they do, but to be honest, I am into lots of different types of music and I change up what I am listening to fairly often. At least right now, I am super in to Meshuggah, Karnivool, Jinjer, the Intersphere, and I have been digging this Chinese band called Ou, who are making some bizarre but very interesting stuff right now. Outside of prog metal, I love Radiohead, and got really into Kendrick Lamar's latest album - I also enjoy some Chopin and Rachmaninoff, so anything interesting goes, really!

What is the music scene like in Helsinki?

In a word - small. Everyone knows everyone, which is great if you need to connect with someone specific. Finland has some of the best trained musicians on the planet and there are lots of them - the sadder part is there are so few venues for them to play in, as they keep closing down. There is a relatively large freelance scene, but there are very few bands making original music. That being said, those who are doing so tend to be really damn good at it. Finland is the kind of place where you can walk into a bar with a covers band playing for four people on a Monday night and they will be insanely good - the standard is extremely high, and has to be seen to be believed.

What is the trickiest Wheel tune to perform live?

Every album gets a bit more ambitious than the last, so we have lots of tricky songs - on Resident Human, we were rehearsing 'Movement' for nearly a year before the standard got to where we wanted it to be, and this time around, 'Porcelain' has been extremely challenging to learn. I think it's the hardest thing to play I have written to date!

Between A Rock And A Prog Place News Blast

Both late '90s/early '00s solo efforts by Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, My Favourite Headache and Victor, respectively, will be reissued in various configurations on August 9, and are indeed available for pre-order. Although he is best known for his work with such straight-ahead rockers as The Firm and AC/DC, it turns out that drummer Chris Slade has a decidedly prog side, as well – as evidenced by the just-released album by the Chris Slade Timeline, entitled Timescape.

Big Big Train recently recorded an alternate version of the tune “Last Eleven” in Indiana's Sweetwater Studios, and issued a video, which can be viewed below. UK-based proggers Returned To Earth recently returned to earth with a brand new album, Stalagmite Steeple which can be purchased right on over here.

Progressive alternative rockers Pure Reason Revolution will return with their sixth studio album Coming Up To Consciousness on the September 6, and its first single/video, “Dig Till You Die,” can be enjoyed below. The complete line-up for next year's Cruise To The Edge (April 4-9, 2025) has been announced, and you are guaranteed to be impressed – study the list of all the participants via its official site.

Virginia-based prog rockers Shumaun recently issued their fourth album, Opposing Mirrors, for which a music video for the instrumental single “Anxiety And Daydreams” has been released for a href="https://youtu.be/SeAtUPBjHqQ?si=sgmQuE7YNzvsCpYS" target="_blank">your viewing pleasure. Norwegian prog metallists Rendezvous Point recently issued their third full-length, Dream Chaser, as well as an official music video for the tune 'Presence'.

July 2024 New Albums

July 1:
Haze: The Water's Edge
The Windmill: Mindscapes

July 5:
Kaos Moon: The Goldfish
Long Earth: An Ordinary Day

July 11:
Nine Stones Close: Diurnal

July 12:
Thom Yorke: Confidenza - Music From the Film By Daniele Luchetti

July 19:
Chris Slade Timeline: Timescape
Mr. Bungle: Quote Unquote 1991-1999 [6LP Box Set]

Classic Clip

Is Radiohead an alt-rock band? An experimental band? A prog band? I guess it all depends on what era of the popular British group we're talking about. But certainly one of their proggier pieces was the tune "Pyramid Song" off their 2001 offering, Amnesiac. And a stellar live version has been located from back around when the tune first reared its head…

(Photo: Anastasaya Korol)