Jonas Reingold Transforms Karmakanic
After a long layoff, the accomplished bassist presides over an all-star cast on sixth album "Transmutation."
Thank you for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. It’s been about nine years since we’ve heard from Karmakanic, an outstanding offshoot from progressive rock masters The Flower Kings, spearheaded by bassist Jonas Reingold, who is no longer with that band. It’s not like he has the time, traveling the world with Steve Hackett’s band and playing the legendary guitarist’s solo work and Genesis classics.
Karmakanic returns in more of a project form than as a band on its sixth album, Transmutation, which drops March 7 on Jonas’ own Reingold Records. I caught up with Jonas recently to talk about the new record.
Let’s get to that story.
Transmutation is an apt title for Karmakanic’s sixth studio album. The word means ‘the state of being changed into another form,’ and Karmakanic has gone through some changes.
Lineup changes are nothing new for the “band,” which is now more of a project than ever. Its leader is Jonas Reingold, best known as the former bassist for The Flower Kings and currently serves in that role in Steve Hackett’s touring band, although he plays other instruments as well. Transmutation doesn’t continue the lineup exactly as it was on 2016’s Dot, but there is some crossover. In addition to project leader Reingold, there are contributions by previous Karmakanic musicians such as keyboardists Andy Tillison and Lalle Larsson, guitarist Krister Jonsson, and vocalist Göran Edman — the latter in a much more limited role. The lineup on the new album is filled with a plethora of world-class musicians, including Hackett.
“When I first started the band, 20 years ago — I think the first album was in 2002 — my intention was to create a band, but over the years, it was always considered, for me, a kind of side project that I recorded when I had time and had the songs,” Reingold said. “So, I had to let go of the idea of being a band, kind of, because it would be impossible to keep it together. I only work with the best, and the best are always busy. So, I kind of took that decision. I think it was after Dot or something, that, ‘All right, the next Karmakanic album will not be a band. It's a collective of musicians.’”
The scope of Transmutation could hardly be larger unless it had been a double album. Nearly two dozen musicians are credited on the record, which was recorded in 13 different studios, mixed in another studio, and mastered in still another. Five-time Grammy Award-winner Chris Lord-Alge mixed the album.
“I have a pot of like 20 great musicians. So, I can sit when I’m writing the music and (think), ‘Okay, this guy would fit this part, this guy would fit this song. And if I do it like this, it will fit him.’ So, that's the luxury of being the guy in the middle, having the overview of everything,” Reingold said. “So for me, it's the reason you have so many people. It's for the sake of the music. I don't have to compromise anything. If I need like a jazz guy, I bring in a jazz guy. If I need like a rock player, I bring in a rock player.”
Reingold isn’t bragging when he says he works with the best. Virtually every musician is known and is at the peak of what they’re asked to do on Transmutation.
“Brace for Impact” starts the album in breathtaking, rocking, fast-paced, prog-fusiony fashion, packing a ton of sounds and raw energy into just two and a half minutes. It features some of Reingold’s most explosive bass playing, a hefty Hammond organ contribution from The Tangent’s Tillison, machine-gun drumming from the legendary Simon Phillips, and searing keyboard and guitar soloing from Larson and Jonsson, respectively.
“I just wanted to start the album a little bit differently,” Reingold said. “Normally, like Dot, they start with this piano motif. It's very organized. It's like, okay, here we are in for an epic. Everybody can tell that, like the first four bars, this will be something big. And that's probably the trademark of Karmakanic in general. So this time, I really wanted to get away from that and just start with something very energetic, very straightforward. Like, okay, let's rock out. Just play the shit out of the tune. Go for it. And so, hopefully the listener will like when they hear it.”
The song is an instrumental, which delays the surprise that Karmakanic has a new voice.
Although multiple vocalists have sung lead with Karmakanic over the years, the most common voice heard is that of Edman, who appears as one of the lead singers on Transmutation’s “Lose This Ball and Chain,” but the primary vocal duties on the record fall to John Mitchell (Lonely Robot, It Bites, Kino, Arena, etc.). The music is purely Karmakanic, but having a different voice — especially one as distinctive as Mitchell’s and as different as his are to Edman’s — gives Transmutation a completely different vibe. Reingold had long sought to record with Mitchell, because he liked his voice.
“I really think he has this, like, gritty (voice). We call it the chainsaw,” he said. “It has so many overtones and the whole spectrum. So, I thought this time, with these kinds of songs I had in the hat, that it would be lovely to have something raw and gritty that kind of contrasts my melodic writing.”
Mitchell’s first appearance comes on the second track, “End of the Road,” a 10-minute epic that begins with a delicate piano opening by Geri Schuller, before guitar, keyboards, and bass join in to lift the musical intro up. It then settles into a lovely nylon guitar section by Luke Machin that accompanies Mitchell’s vocals. Randy McStine lends some higher lead vocals to the song as well, providing a nice counterpoint with his bits to Mitchell’s lower register.
“‘The End of the Road’ started with the main theme that starts the song, so that was probably the first thing I wrote,” Reingold said, adding that the verses were written using the opening chords from Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them,” only put together quite differently.
Musically, it sounds like something The Flower Kings might have recorded during their best period, but the vocals give it a much different sound than anything that band did. Machin’s lead guitar solo pairs nicely together in the middle section with Reingold’s bass heroics. Mitchell supplies power or delicacy with his vocals as needed. It may be nearly 10 and a half minutes, but “End of the Road” flies past quickly, returning to the delicate piano motif at the end.
“Cosmic Love” sees Reingold channeling his inner Chris Squire, forming a killer rhythm section with drummer Craig Blundell (Frost*, Steve Hackett, Steven Wilson, It Bites). The layered choral vocals — with McStine backing up Mitchell — give it a distinct and pleasing chorus, with some electronic keyboard bits, and guitar from McStine all combining to give the song a fresh spin on the Karmakanic sound.
“The song ‘Cosmic Love’ was recorded in 2016 as a demo,” Reingold said. “I think I even presented the song for The Sea Within or something, when we did that project. It didn’t make the cut, but I always thought that song is great, because I think it reminds me of Yes, 1983 to 1985, like Big Generator era. Trevor Rabin, maybe. That is my music from the 80s. That’s what I was listening to. Didn't think of it as progressive rock, you know, this was just contemporary music, music of the times. And so, I always wanted to do something properly with that tune. So, I put it in the hat and started to work with it. And now it's the single of the album, comes out Feb. 21.”
“We Got the World in Our Hands” starts with gorgeous 12-string guitar duet from Mitchell and McStine (the former on electric, the latter on acoustic), with electric guitars by Reingold and McStine melting together nicely with Reingold’s playful bass parts. There are many textures in the song that reveal themselves over repeated listens. The chorus is an earworm in all the best ways. Reingold adds some keyboard wizardry as well along the way.
“A thing I love by Genesis is this like 12-string guitars, combining with six-string guitars and all these guitar layers,” Reingold said. “I love to have different guitars like that on that track. Randy (McStine) plays the 12-string acoustic, and John (Mitchell) is playing the 12-string electric. So that makes this shimmer, you know. I just love that sound of many guitar layers.”
“All That Glitters is Not Gold” has a little bit of everything — accordion from Lelo Nika, flute from Markus Lukastik, Schuller’s piano, and Rob Townsend on tenor and soprano saxophone. Reingold plays multiple guitars — acoustic, electric, and bass (both fretless and regular) — and keyboards, too! The song has a sinister vibe that makes me wonder if hanging around with Hackett is rubbing off on him, as it echoes some of the darker feel of some of Hackett’s solo work. It’s the most unique song on the album, creating a beautiful, dark maelstrom of proggy goodness.
“I think it rubs off on you somehow, because if I'm spending half of the year in the Hackett universe, of course, I hear the songs, I play the songs, I play Genesis,” Reingold said when asked if the darkness of some of Hackett’s solo works was an influence. “It will come out some way, somehow, you know, in my writing, in my expression, and that is just a natural process.”
The album continues to build toward its grand finale with “Lose This Ball and Chain,” a song with two lead singers — Mitchell and Edman — electric guitar from Jonsson, Reingold, and Sven Cirnkski, and excellent drumming from Phillips. Reingold adds backing vocals and bass. He and his former Flower Kings bandmate, Tomas Bodin, also contribute keyboards. There’s a scorching Jonsson guitar solo about two-thirds of the way through that serves as one of the album’s musical highlights.
Like the previous song, “Ball and Chain” features another thrilling, dark vibe that is reminiscent of much of Hackett’s solo work. Also like “All That Glitters,” the song has a simple, repeated chorus line. When Edman’s vocals kick in about a minute before the end of the song, it’s a wonderful reminder of the classic Karmakanic sound. It feels soothing, comfortable, and yet exciting at the same time.
“I would say that song in particular is just like a metaphor. Sometimes in life you feel trapped, you know, it's just like you're doing the same thing over and over, and each day is kind of repeating itself,” Reingold said of the song’s titular ball and chain. “And sometimes you’re just fed up with your life and you want to experience something else. And I think many people can can agree on that. You know, you just have to lose this ball and chain, just do something else.”
The album’s epic showstopper is the nearly 23-minute title track. It has all the hallmarks of a great progressive rock epic — interesting twists and turns in tone and tempo, outstanding musicianship, hooks and ear-catching melodies, excellent and emotional vocal performances, a big ending, and it doesn’t feel as long as it is. The song was recorded using an all-star team of musicians, including Hackett on nylon acoustic guitar, Nick D’Virgilio (Big Big Train, ex-Spock’s Beard, D’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings) on drums, Tillison on Hammond organ, Krister Jonsson on guitar, Jan-Olof Jonsson on acoustic guitar, Schuller on piano, Townsend’s saxophone work, and keyboards by both Larsson and Roger King. Dina Höblinger and Amanda Lehmann add their vocals to Mitchell’s.
When asked about his approach to writing epics, Reingold said he never starts out with the intention of writing a long song.
“But when you start with with the theme of ‘Transmutation,’ it like screams for, ‘Okay, we need time now. This is a movie. This is a journey that we started.’ It's just something that you feel when you start to write it, and that's the reason it just became this length,” he said.
If you ever travel to Leipzig, Germany, you can stay in the room where Hackett recorded his nylon acoustic guitar part for “Transmutation.” It was recorded at Leipzig’s Radisson Hotel in room 335.
“It was funny because, you know, room 335, we always call it the guitar room, because Gibson has a model called Gibson 335,” Reingold said. “It's a semi-acoustic guitar, but many, many guitar players are using it. So, you know, if you get room 335, you get the guitar room. And on that particular day (of recording), Steve got that room. So, I thought it was just amazing coincidence.”
Reingold flew to Los Angeles this winter while the wildfires were raging around the area, giving a surreal quality to his visit to the U.S. for final mixing with Lord-Alge. The five-time Grammy winner put the final touches on the Karmakanic songs, which came out sounding magnificent.
“I know (Lord-Alge) now for many years, like six years or something. He always comes to the show when we play America (with Hackett),” Reingold said. “And he's a big fan of Genesis and that kind of music. You know, he’s a collector of old Genesis memorabilia. He has the old Hammond organ from the Foxtrot recordings in his studio. He bought that somehow. I got to know him. And a couple years later, I became friends with him, talking about things and good releases and what to listen to and whatnot. And when I was done with the recording of this album, I said, ‘Hey, Chris, how about you mixing it? Here's the tracks. You know, listen to it. If you like it, you like it.”
Reingold said he didn’t have the budget to afford Lord-Alge, but because he liked the music, he agreed to do it. As a fan of progressive rock, he put the tender loving care into the final mixes that the songs deserved.
The album was mixed during the height of the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area, but Lord-Alge and Reingold managed to get their work done.
Transmutation will likely appeal to fans of Karmakanic, The Flower Kings, latter-day It Bites, and even fans of harder rock and fusion, because there’s a bit of all of that in this record. I personally find it to be my favorite Karmakanic release since 2008’s Who's the Boss in the Factory?, which is probably still my favorite of the six albums — all of which have their own charm. Mitchell’s voice on Reingold’s songs is a new twist, giving it some freshness, but there’s still plenty of the vibe and quality that has made Karmakanic albums special over the last two decades.
The album’s release date is March 7, and it is available for preorder now. Initially, Transmutation will be available digitally and on CD, but Reingold said he is also planning to release it on vinyl some time in the summer.
To learn more about Karmakanic’s music or to order the album, check out jonasreingold.se, or follow Jonas on Facebook.
Tracklist
Brace For Impact (2:33)
End of the road (10:22)
Cosmic Love (4:56)
We Got the World in Our Hands (7:53)
All That Glitters is Not Gold (6:38)
Lose This Ball And Chain (6:23)
Transmutation (The constant change of everything) (22:51)
For my full interview with Jonas Reingold, check out the video below or download/stream Episode 143 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast. In addition to the making of the album, Jonas spoke about his first favorite album (which might surprise you), what instruments he picked up before the bass guitar, joining The Flower Kings, becoming part of Steve Hackett’s band, what it was like being in L.A. during the fires to mix the record, the kinds of basses he used on the album, and more.
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