The Mighty Bard

Band: THE MIGHTY BARD

To: Dave Clarke

1. Hi, Dave, how are you? Thanks for the availability. First of all, can you introduce The Mighty Bard to Portuguese rockers?

Hi Pedro, thanks - it’s a pleasure to talk to you.  The Mighty Bard is a UK band that plays Progressive Rock, although we do like playing a little of everything as long as it’s rich in melody and layers. We all love the sort of music that keeps on growing with each listen. The core of the band has been Neil Cockle, Dave Clarke and Mark Cadman but more recently we’ve been lucky enough to call Benj and Tom members along with Mark on Violin.

1. The band was born in 2004, but Beyond The Gate is only your second release. Why does it happen?

Yes, it’s been a long time between albums, it’s mainly been the complexities of modern life that have got in the way, we’ve had personnel changes, people moving around, injuries, a pandemic, but we’ve all been growing as musicians and composers. The music we create is layered and complex and it takes a lot longer to write, record and produce a multipart piece with interwoven melodies with overlapping frequencies and considered lyrics, than a 3 minute pop song. We are increasing our output now and looking toward touring again, we have the majority of a 20 minute track already recorded for an upcoming EP release and we are planning on releasing in a more iterative format, then collecting those tracks into an album in the future.

1. For this new album you have some line-up changes. Who is new in the band and what input do they bring to The Mighty Bard?

The newest members of the band are Benj and Tom, but both have been with us for about five years!  Mark joined just after Blue God and Other Stories was released as well as adding another dimension to the band he is very accomplished on the design and has been dabbling in AI video creation.  Tom is a tremendous drummer and also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist - he brings a lot more than just a solid beat to the band, often contributing to dynamics and melody. Benj has moved the band forward to a higher level with his amazing multi-layered harmonies and powerful voice, giving us a dynamic we haven’t had in the past, he also contributes to lyrics; Magician and Beyond The Gate/Last Orders are contributions from him, along with structure and addition lyrics on other tracks.

1. When these changes occurred? Was that one of the motives for this delay in the album release?

Yes, it takes a long time to integrate a new member into the band, for them to find their space and changes from existing members to allow them space, especially as we wanted new people who would bring something into the band, we are still all working on that!  The delay was also because we wanted to get it right.  After the release of Blue God and Other Stories, we have learnt a lot, from a writing and dynamics point of view, as musicians and also using the studio. Our partner-in-crime John Watt (mixing and production) has helped shape the music, improving us as recording musicians and as composers. As a very general trend, popular music has simplified over the years, but there are still some people who still want something that can take them on a longer and possibly more complex journey during a song.  That’s what we love doing, if that’s your thing, then our music is for you!  Having said that, we’re not denigrating the simpler creation styles in music, it’s an art in itself and some of our songs lean toward the simpler composition, we love some variety.

1. The songs presented in Beyond The Gate were all recent or have been made throughout the time?

Most of the songs have been honed over a number of years, we record all the little snippets when we are writing and sometimes pieces slot together. The composition and some sections are all brand new - we have about three albums worth of material partially written already.

1. How was your preparation for this new album and what were your main objectives?

Mainly we wanted to write the best album we could, and we wanted to announce the new version of the band and establish ourselves after a long absence, and demonstrate the growth within the band. As far as preparation, in terms of ‘theme’ the whole Beyond The Gate idea has been germinating for a long time and was really brought to life with Duncan Storr’s artwork.

We have been delving into the morass that is social media to try to directly reach the people that will enjoy our music, one of the benefits of the internet and social media is that fans can talk to us directly and we can contact them - we love to hear from you all, drop us a line and let us know what you’re thinking!

Signing our distribution deal with Epictronic has given us a much wider reach than we would have initially had, our next year or two is going to be releasing new material, touring and talking to everyone that’s enjoying our music.

1. I hear that a story is behind the choose of the title Beyond The Gate. Do you want to share it?

I’ve attached a little ‘Making of Beyond The Gate’ document which goes into this in detail!

1. It’s funny because the two longer songs of the album have similar titles, almost like a wordplay: Guarded Secret and Secret Garden. What was your intention with this?

Lol - that was a point of conversation in the band a few times, no - as much as we’d like to say ‘yes’, there isn’t a  connection between the songs.

Neil came up with the Guarded Secret lyrics and we shaped the song around those. Secret Garden was one of those initial riffs that sometimes ‘fall out’ of the guitar, but refused to develop into anything else, until one weekend when it all slotted into place for Dave.  We discussed changing Secret Garden to ‘The Garden’, but that messed with the flow of the song and the lyrics, so it stayed put. Guarded Secret is about someone keeping a secret their entire life and finally being able to tell it.  Secret Garden is about wondrous trysts in the outdoors and fondly looking back on a lifelong relationship.

1. Anyway, are the two songs lyrically or musically connected?

Not really, so they are unlikely to be connected as a suite in the future I’m afraid - you’ll have to wait for future albums for that - sorry!

1. Illusion and Magician were the songs chosen for the video. Why did you take that option?

Magician because it was an impactful, more rocky route for The Mighty Bard, and Illusion for a contrast, we will be releasing more videos from the album, and have recently been delving into AI which allows members of the band to produce video’s ourselves, hence giving us a more coherent connection between song and video - a bit like the 2020 re-release of Bird.

1. What have you scheduled to a tour to promote Beyond The Gate?

We don’t have any definite dates for next year yet, but have a couple organised for 2025, we will let everyone know on social media or if they contact us on contact@themightybard.com, we can subscribe us to our mailing group, where they will get early notice of tours.

1. Thanks a lot, Dave, once again. Do you want to add something else?

Thanks for your time and interest Pedro, we know that everyone has a massive choice of music to listen to these days - we do love recording and playing to an appreciative audience, it’s been great talking to you and answering your questions.

We believe that our music is something of a unique throwback in terms of melody, musicality and the layered depths that keep on giving something with each listen - spread the word, drop us an email (contact@themightybard.com) or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube - hopefully we will see you when we get some tour dates next year!

Thank you!