Angels of Libra!

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_05 (00:00):
Before we start today's episode of the 40
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(00:21):
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Thanks.

(00:54):
Today's guests represent aHamburg, Germany-based cinematic
soul collective, fresh on theheels of an all-new studio album
for early 2026 that teams themup once again with an Irish
singer-songwriter with whomthey've had success before.
This new album is a 12-trackanalog soul odyssey that bridges

(01:16):
the classic and thecontemporary.
Musically, the new record sitssomewhere between Curtis
Mayfield and Ineo Morricone,with modern echoes of Jungle and
Duran Jones and the indications.
And though today's show willveer into a more soulful side,
there's still plenty of funkystuff to hear and talk about.

(01:37):
Joining us today to give us theskinny on this new shared
project and more are Dennis Ruxfrom Angels of Libra,
singer-songwriter NathanJohnston.
Welcome to 40 Minutes of Funk,guys.
Yo, yo, yeah.
So where are each of you guyscalling in from today?

SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
Well, I'm in Hamburg at uh our mixing studio.

SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
Okay, and that's Dennis.
And um I am in Dublin in myapartment, fresh off the plane
from Hamburg.
I was with Dennis just two daysago.
So uh I do a lot of travel inbetween uh Hamburg and Dublin.
It's kind of like a second homefor me.
But now I'm back in my back inmy real home, back to the rain.
I imagine.

SPEAKER_05 (02:19):
So what what's the uh travel time for uh like for
you going back and forth?

SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
It's a it's an hour 50 minute flight, so it's pretty
pretty quick.
Uh airports always pretty easy.
I try and avoid the Ryanairplanes.
For those of you who don't knowRyanair, but it's actually an
Irish company that hasbudget-friendly flights and they
leave at 5 a.m., 6 a.m.
the red eye flights.
Wow.
So they're very cheap, it's easyfor me to get there, but um

(02:44):
yeah, it's not the mostcomfortable, and it it's
generally a very long day if youget in a plane and end up in the
studio three hours later, andyou have you know, we're there
recording music until late intothe night.
It's it it can be tiring.
So this time I flew with the uha more traditional uh airline,
and it was very comfortable.

SPEAKER_05 (03:04):
Yeah, well, we're glad to get you on the show.
I hope that uh it's a relaxinguh interview for you considering
all of that.
Yeah.
Well, I'd like to start thingsoff by thanking Jada Peralini
from Will Work for Funk andespecially Alexander Domish from
Waterfall Records forcoordinating with me to get you
guys on the show today.

(03:25):
Over the past several years,Jada has sent me numerous new
recordings by the Angels ofLibra, which I've been happy to
play on my radio show, Tonic theFunky Group Show.
Uh so when she shared the thenews about this new album of
yours, I knew the time was rightto reach out and talk with you
and get you on the podcast.
And of course, Alex fromWaterfall Records has been great

(03:46):
for coordinating all the detailswith you guys.
Thank you both for being myguests today on 40 Minutes of
Funk.

SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
Yeah, thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_05 (03:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, to get things started, um,why don't you guys each
introduce yourselves and tell usabout your roles in Angels of
Libra?
You want to take it, Dennis?

SPEAKER_01 (04:06):
Um, yeah, I can I can start.
So um I'm Dennis and I'mcoordinating the whole
production process.
This is also where the wholeidea came from.
Was uh my studio, which is ananalog studio.
Um, I was trying to work in akind of way like uh the old funk

(04:30):
brothers did or the wreckingcrew.
So I thought it would be very,very handy to try to get
together a nice studio bandthat's available for different
projects.
Okay, and um so the ideaactually was to hit the record
button just with these studiomusicians, and uh we caught

(04:53):
something and then sent it outto different singers.
So the whole thing started likeit's a studio project.
Okay, and uh we've done somecollaborations and then um we
started working with Nate, andum with Nate it was um like very
very tight and worked very well,and it's also he came up with

(05:16):
the song Angel of Libra, which Ithought I could make a good band
name if we make a band out ofit.
So uh then actually we startedtouring, and um now we have uh
Nate and Zarifa as our likesteady main vocals, so on

(05:38):
touring is al always both ofthem, and um yeah, it feels more
like a band now.

SPEAKER_05 (05:45):
Yeah.
Well, so what roles do you playspecifically in the band,
Dennis?

SPEAKER_01 (05:51):
Well, yeah, but apart from being the music
producer, so I do we therecordings and I also try to
organize especially umeverything related to recording,
which means like uh askingaround in the collective.
The Angels is actually a bigcollective of musicians.

(06:14):
So I always check out this songmight fit uh David on bus very
well, but the next one couldalso fit uh Laurent and um
trying to coordinate this and umand uh yes, of course, I'm also
the guitarist.
Okay, so um I'm also uh ofcourse joining on tour and play

(06:37):
the guitar.

SPEAKER_05 (06:38):
Okay, and Nathan, what about you?
Uh I mean, and clearly you're asinger-songwriter, but uh how
what are your roles with theband?

SPEAKER_00 (06:47):
Yeah, so I mean I mean Dennis kind of brought me
into this uh project just as heexplained it pretty well in a
very short time because youcould write a probably a book
about this band.
Um but uh at the beginning I wasjust kind of coming in as a a
once-off, you know,collaborating on one song.

(07:07):
I I signed with a Hamburg bassrecord label when I was 19 years
old, okay, and um went andrecorded an album there with a
bunch of amazing musicians in uhin this studio.
Myself and Dennis bumped intoeach other in this studio.
Uh so we you know we we talkedabout working together and
having this, you know,collaborating on something.

(07:29):
Uh so it started out.
I I was just a collaborator,like singing on one song.
As Dennis pointed out, we youknow ended up naming the band
after this this one song.
Um, and then I flew out toHamburg again and went to the
studio, and we ended up, I thinkwe recorded three or four tracks
that day.
No real idea of what was gonnahappen there.

(07:49):
Um, and you know, I think a fewweeks later, Dennis came back to
me and said, I I love it.
And I've you know been talkingwith some guys and we just
recorded some strings and uhwhat do you think about it?
And he sent me the songs and Iwas blown away.
And I he said, You want to doyou want to do an album?
So we ended up recording a wholealbum.
And uh at that time for me itwas like a side project.

(08:12):
I also have my own solo uhprojects.
I'm working on various differentprojects all the time, and uh
you know it we started going ontour, was never really the plan
was to do any of this.
As Dennis pointed out, it wasmeant to be a studio band,
actually.
Um, so then we started playingsome shows, and it just felt
really good, and the vibe onstage is always amazing.

(08:35):
Our last Hamburg show, we had Ithink 17 people on stage, uh so
towards the end of the concert,and it was this big soul review
concept.
So lots of different singerscoming on, different bass
players joining.
You know, the drummer will hopoff and onto the percussion, and
then a different drummer comeson the stage.
We had four keys players, um,and everything is uh all of

(08:57):
these musicians are all intofunk soul, jazz, analog uh
recording techniques, and um itfelt really right for me.
That's the music I've grown upwith, and uh yeah, you know, now
I've kind of joined, as Dennissaid, as uh one of the two lead
singers of the band, and uh westarted writing uh songs

(09:18):
together over the last fewyears.
At the beginning, it was more ofa studio band that came to me
with instrumentals, and I addeduh vocals and uh lyrics and
vocal melodies.
Um, but now it's it's turnedinto something else where we're
actually gone into the studioand wrote all together in the
one room.
So I've very much become part ofthe band and now we work all

(09:39):
together.
Dennis omitted many other thingsthat he does in this band
because without him it itwouldn't uh be continuing.
Uh uh he's like the main drivingforce from not just the music
producer and the guitar player,but we also work uh closely
together on booking all theshows, organizing the tours,
driving the van, uh everything,all the all the videos.

(10:01):
So there's there's a lot thateveryone out there who does
music or uh is in a band knowshow much goes into uh you know
being a successful touring band,at least selling tickets for a
show, it takes a lot of work.
Yeah.
Um, so now I've become part ofof the band, and and this new
album we decided to uh you knowthe first record it was Nathan

(10:23):
Johnston and the Angels ofLibra, and it was clearly a
collaborative album.
And this new one is now Angelsof Libra.
So it's kind of okay.
I I suppose we're kind ofstanding on our own two feet in
a way, and uh going forward as aunit, and it really feels like
that.
Although the collective is stillvery much there, um, yeah, it's
like a it's like a real bandnow, and it feels really good.

SPEAKER_05 (10:44):
So you finally committed to the band.
You you you can call yourself apart of the band, huh?

SPEAKER_00 (10:50):
Yeah, I'm an angel now.

SPEAKER_05 (10:52):
You're an angel.
Well, Dennis, who who else is inthis band?
Who are the other angels thatmake up Angels of Libra and uh
what are their roles?

SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
Well, there's actually like uh as I said, a
lot of people involved, but uhlet's say there's a core, the
core of the band, uh, which isalso Zarifa, she's um doing the
female lead vocal.
Not many songs released with heryet, but it's a lot in the

(11:24):
pipeline.
Then we've got uh Mark Norton onsaxophone and flute, and um that
was a funny story.
Uh X player from uh debutrecording, he's playing into a
lot of projects, and uh it wasjust a way to I think it was

(11:47):
Columbia for four months in arow or something, so I couldn't
get him for live touring.
And what I did was I was uhputting up a post on Facebook
just saying, like, uh do youguys know a sex player?
I I knew some people sexplayers, but they were all

(12:08):
engaged and um he put up thispost and two minutes, it took me
two minutes, and he got thismessage from uh Mr.
Mark Norton, who uh just movedfrom uh London to Hamburg, okay
and said, Oh, oh well, I'mplaying uh saxophone soul bands

(12:29):
since 40 years or something, andum just came to the Hamburg and
uh saw your host, and uh I hadthe angels on my monitor uh for
a longer time.
So um I said, Oh, that'sperfect.
So we met up in the cafe, and uhI remember I was uh so he came

(12:51):
on his um his vespa, you know,yeah with uh very nice modish
look, and uh completely fell inlove with the idea of having Mr.
Mark Norton in the band.
So he's now like part of the uhcore of the band.
So let's say those uh four of uswe do the most language

(13:16):
together, and there's also umChris on the piano, and he was
one of the founding members,like the the one who was there
on the very first session.
Okay, and um Chris is uh Chrisis like a wizard.
He is a wizard, yeah, he's awizard, he's really into uh at

(13:40):
the same time hammered organsbut also uh synthesizers.
Okay, so um synthesizers play abig role on two of our records,
it doesn't place such a big roleon our live gigs, because on the
live gigs we concentrate more onthe like real six is all kind of
stuff, but uh we made uh tworecords which were more

(14:02):
influenced by some kind of uhscience fiction for futuristic
ideas, yeah.
And um, this was a record whereI met with Chris a lot of times
because I have some oldsynthesizers from the 70s, he's
got some old synthesizers, andwe both share the uh the love

(14:22):
for old tape echoes.
So there was a like a lot ofsynthesis tape echoes going on.
Nice so we we got a nerd a nerdthing going with a nerd thing
going, and yeah, and then I'mI'm always hoping that he has
time for touring.
Sometimes he hasn't, so then ifhe isn't available, uh we used

(14:44):
to work with uh Svenja.
Svenja lived in Hamburg but nowhas moved to Munich, which is
like the opposite side ofGermany.
It's okay 800 kiloviles orsomething, but uh yeah, still
she joined on some uh tours whenChris couldn't do it, and it's
always uh pleasure to have herin the band.

(15:06):
She's like really rock and roll.

SPEAKER_02 (15:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
And uh next, let's say uh drummers.
We've got a lot of drummers,actually.
The whole thing, yeah.
The whole thing started, thewhole thing started with Lucas.
I played together with Lucas inanother project, it's called the
Hamburg Spinners.

SPEAKER_05 (15:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know those.
I've played that on my show aswell.
Uh the the magic, yeah, themagic kraken.
That's a great record, by theway.

SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
The Hamburg Spinners actually is exactly the same
band as the band that startedthe Angels thing, because it was
born at the same at the sametime.
And um but a different keysplayer, a different keys player,
yeah.
Although um Castle worked withon some Angels recordings, uh I
invited him to play as well.

(15:57):
So it's all very messy.
It's all the same kind ofpeople, but it's different
projects.

SPEAKER_05 (16:05):
Got it.

SPEAKER_01 (16:06):
And yeah, I'm a big fan of Lucas.
He is like Mr.
Pocket.
He's got this uh miniaturepocket groove.
You can tell, like like a clockor something.

SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Wow.

SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
And he's always real uh good fun to play with.
So he was in the starting band,and on each record he had some
of the tracks.
So I I keep on working with him.
Although Tru Wing almost neverworks uh time-wise with him
because he's got uh, let's say,bigger projects.

(16:42):
Gotcha, and the bigger projectsalways have two years up won't
have their dates and thecalendar, and we are DRY, so
everything is late.
Um that's a big problem, but uhthat's also the the solving of
this problem is having thiscollective, so you always have a
second or third drummer to ask.

(17:04):
Um yeah, so the second drummerwould be um Henry.
Henry, he played on this recorda lot, and Henry is uh uh a
younger drummer um who has beento New Orleans for uh studying
drums.
Oh wow, playing a lot with thoseplaying a lot with those um New

(17:26):
Orleans musicians.
So he's really into it's reallynice.
Each time I'm I'm looking forsay uh a kind of more American
vibe in the drums, and going forHenry.
Nice and um yeah, that was bigfun, and I worked on a lot a lot

(17:46):
of projects with him.
Also, I'm I'm mixing his organproject, he organ uh trio as
well, and yeah, it's allcombined, you know.
The yeah uh most musicians Iknow from recording with them.
And so each time I think oh, wego together well, and it's an

(18:07):
interesting player.
I surely asked them tocontribute something to
recordings for the angels.

SPEAKER_05 (18:15):
It sounds like there's no shortage of musicians
on the roster.
This this helps me understandbetter because I assumed there
was sort of a set cast ofmusicians who played, and the
word collective that you used isreally uh appropriate because
you've got so many people tocall on for different things.
Right.
So, Nathan, when you're in thestudio or on stage, are you

(18:38):
solely singing or are youplaying an instrument as well?

SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
I also play the guitar and uh I play some keys
on the last couple of songsbecause Chris wasn't free, or I
can't even remember why, but Iended up having to learn all the
like the hardest songs on thekeys like three days before the
show.
Uh so yeah, uh but yeah, mainlyI'm singing actually.

(19:03):
This, you know, I when I play onmy own, if I play solo or with
any other band projects, I'malways playing the guitar as
well.
Um, and when I started with TheAngels, I was just singing.
Um, but we have a lot of uhsongs with a second guitar, and
as you know, when you go on tourwith eight, nine, ten people,

(19:23):
you know, the guitarists.
So we'd love we'd love to have afour-piece horn section there,
but it's not always possible.
So I'm filling in a lot of thoseuh extra guitar parts.
Gotcha.
And uh but mainly mainly uhsinging and and backing vocals,
uh and in the studio, the samething.
The the newest record I playguitar on quite a few songs.
Nice um, but uh yeah, mainlymainly on the vocals, and uh

(19:48):
yeah, that's a real that's anice way of working it's
something I'm not used to.
I started writing songs when Iwas like I don't know, 10, 11
years old or something, and itwas always on a piano or on the
acoustic guitar or whatever waslying around, I would write with
the instrument, and um you know,occasionally you might start
with the lyrics, whatever, butin this project it was here's

(20:11):
some instrumentals, do what youwant.
Oh, nice.
And you know, I didn't play anyinstruments, so I had to kind of
really go deep into story andverse, and um yeah, I was
reading a lot of uh classical umpoetry and old like ancient
Greek stuff, and and was veryinspired by that.

(20:31):
And actually, the first record,I think that a lot of the songs
had these strange titles thatreally related somehow to uh
Greek and and Roman classics.
So I tried to infuse that alittle bit in the writing.
So there's always kind of atheme in each album that we've
done, I suppose.
And uh uh when it comes tobringing it to the stage, it's

(20:54):
such a varied uh catalogue thatwe have, so it's always an
interesting thing.
So I'm on the stage generally,I'm I'm singing, but I you know
I'll I'll play the guitar tofill in those bits, and it's
it's lovely also to play theguitar and some of the you know,
we do a uh a cover of um I'm agood woman, and I uh yeah, this
is so much fun to play to playthe guitar on myself and Dennis

(21:17):
and uh whoever our bass playeris on the day, are always uh
it's a lot of fun, yeah.
So yeah, it gets funky up theresometimes.

SPEAKER_05 (21:27):
I I can imagine, especially with so many talented
musicians uh available.
So this band name Angel orAngels of Libra, you said
earlier this came from a songthat you wrote.
What was the the impetus behindthis uh and the idea that turned

(21:47):
into the band name?
Where is this Angels of Libracome from?

SPEAKER_00 (21:52):
So yeah, I mean that that song uh obviously it
relates to the star sign and theastrological sign the the Libra
it was actually a song about anan an ex-girlfriend and uh
unrequited uh love or kind of athat that you know that sort of

(22:12):
thing um but again you know Iwas uh digging really deep into
this whole uh these song titlessome of the song titles Dennis
had sent me were uh Phaedrus orremember Icarus was in there a
bunch of uh unusual names and II was kind of like reading

(22:33):
Jericho there was a lot of umreference to classical myth and
um you know I I'm veryinterested in that and I studied
uh classical study so I I wastrying to dig into that world
and the angel of Libra there'skind of it represents sort of
hope and uh uh this balance thissymbol of of balance um so there

(22:58):
was kind of that that part of itI I didn't choose it to be you
know I didn't intend it to be aband name actually at all it was
just the name of a song and anduh it at the beginning is like I
I remember watching thisdocumentary about Shep Gordon
this famous music manager hemanaged uh Alice Cooper and
Alice Cooper at the beginning ofhis career was getting booked

(23:20):
for all of these countryfestivals and everyone thought
Alice Cooper was this femalecountry artist and then Alice
Cooper shows up the real AliceCooper and everyone got a big
shock right so when I firstheard this this Angels of Libra
I thought okay could it could itkind of you know is there some
sort of uh does it sound a bitlike a heavy metal band or you

(23:41):
know the angels of death orwhatever um so I I was a little
apprehensive but actually I Ithink it's a really great name
and uh people it catches oh it'spretty catchy and uh also now we
can always refer to ourselves asthe angels so yeah it's always
nice talking about the band ortalking to each other you know
it's very comfortable yeahtalking about ah I'm going tour

(24:04):
with the angels yeah yeah wellactually um I think uh Nate said
it already but uh the thing waslike the first uh Angels backing
track recording sessions we hadno idea who's going to sing so
this was actually like aninstrumental recording session

(24:25):
okay and um all the instrumentalbands I'm in what we used to do
all of the time is find thiskind of a picture a scene like a
movie for your for your that youhave in mind so and we decided
on some Greek mythology it's wewe said ah let's let's put this

(24:47):
into um the recording sessionand um try to imagine this being
the soundtrack of the story ofthe Adalus or whatever like like
that if you don't have anylyrics you need something to
express yeah and I think themore instrumental the band is
the more you need that movie inyour head.

SPEAKER_01 (25:07):
And this is uh when Nate came up with the the very
first lyrics it was Angel ofLibra and I thought wow this uh
suits completely what we had inmind during our first recording
session.
Yeah this is why I I yeah I justjust said like oh let's call the
band like this.
Yeah it's also very I think it'ssketchy but it's nice yeah it is

(25:31):
and it's unique.

SPEAKER_00 (25:32):
There's not any other band I mean I haven't
heard other bands that havenames like that that are so
distinct and specific but alsolike kind of loose to
interpretation as well rightyeah that's true but uh I I also
thought I didn't want a bandname that has a soul in it like
the soul expressions the soulwhatever yeah because uh that to

(25:55):
me you know over here in Germanythere's a like a lot of tribute
bands that have those names okayand I I did never want to get
confused with a tribute band youknow yeah because uh what we
wanted to do is like originalstuff of course on some we
always choose one or two coversfor touring but that's more like

(26:16):
a fun aspect but uh the mainthing is original music yeah um
so I was I was very keen onfinding a name that doesn't
sound like this whole tributeband yeah well so who would you
say is the most angelic memberof the Angels of Libra I don't

(26:37):
know if any of us are in maybemr mr mark norton he's a he's
such a sweet guy the beautifulthing about this band I I think
is it's so international we haveum uh Sarifa is half Spanish
obviously I'm from Ireland uhMark is from London so we have

(26:58):
an English man and an Irish manin the same band and things seem
to be going okay so that's uhthat's always a good sign
fingers crossed right fingerscrossed uh Lauron who's our our
bass player is from France um hewas our original bass player
David is I think David's fromHamburg right I always mix up
where where David's from maybewell he was born in northern

(27:21):
Germany like we'll we'll put itlike that he was the original
bassist uh but he's also in likeseven projects and he's also a
full-time uh doctor so uh so forfor him to come on tour with us
is is tricky so he's alwaysplays on all the records um but
he hasn't been on the lastcouple of tours but um we've had

(27:42):
laurel who is a real pleasureand actually he could be uh one
of the contenders for the mostangelic member of the angels as
well laurel is a very sweet guyum yeah so it's yeah there's
there's a few few uh few headsin there but it's it's super
nice that everyone is you knoweveryone's come from very
different musical backgroundspeople from all over the place

(28:04):
so it's a really internationalalso in terms of age you know
it's like from 25 to 65 yearsold in um so it's it's a real
special thing and I think thatreally shows itself in a live
scenario when we go on the stageour audience is uh is so mixed

(28:24):
we have people of really peopleof all ages and who are ready to
to dance and get down and getdirty you know on the on the
shows every time and that'sthat's really special you don't
see that with every bandactually and there's something
there for everyone and eachalbum has its own flavor its own
special sauce I suppose and uhif maybe some part of the first

(28:45):
record isn't for you try out thesecond one and you never know
what you're gonna get right andthat's really uh yeah it's a
it's a it's a lovely it's alovely thing this combination
and uh of of flavors anddifferent different
personalities.

SPEAKER_05 (29:01):
Yeah but yeah I don't know about the angelic
thing I think we we can we cangive mark the angelic uh name
tag for now but I don't know howhow it's gonna hold up sometimes
on tour we call ourselves thefallen angels of Libra oh that's

(29:21):
great I love that well part ofthe reason you guys are here
today uh is to promote your newcollaborative album Road to
Mandalay uh which dropped inlate January 2026 as mentioned
it's the fifth full-lengthstudio album for the band and
the second record with Nathan uhtaking all or most of the vocals

(29:45):
uh though as you mentioned he'sshowed up in numerous singles uh
and on other albums in the pastas well so how did this new
album specifically come aboutand when did you start working
on it?

SPEAKER_01 (29:57):
Well um this album it has a long story um with
sometimes just a couple of daysago uh Nate and me we met and we
were talking about the longloads to Mandalay absolutely
started actually with Hans Hansis a trumpet player who used to

(30:21):
play on the very firstrecordings we did for the angels
and um at the same time when wejust finished recording our uh
debut album with Nate he came tome and said like ah I've got
some songs with it for thiswhole project like the idea of
uh producing it and workingtogether with the idea that's

(30:43):
good and uh so we started towork on his five songs and uh we
used the same collective ofmusicians yeah so it's again
Lucas on the drums and and so onso starting with that was uh in
2022 I think I think it was 2020when it was when it was recorded

(31:08):
the the first tracks right thethe Hansiatics they were called
hands' Hansiatics that wasbefore it was before pandemic
yes 2020 so it's a longtremendous very long yeah we
actually we did the same thingwe recorded uh and arranged back
in tracks that was supposed tohave vocals on it and no idea

(31:32):
who's going to sing so samething and um yeah we wrote these
five songs and um actually didall the production with uh
heading screwings and stuff likethat and then um I gave it back
to Hans to uh check outvocalists and a couple of years

(31:54):
later I was uh I was I waschecking with my uh my library
you know with the all therecordings and I found it again
what's the matter with this thiswas great recordings um called
Hans and asked him did you findthe singer and he said oh no I
tried so many people and I'malso working in so many projects

(32:18):
I never never could finish thatand I said while it was recorded
approximately at the same timewith the same setup and almost
the same people why shouldn't wetry to make this an angels
recording you know there's fivesongs already and it's it's the

(32:38):
same vibe that suits our band hesaid oh yeah let's give it a try
so I sent the songs to Davidagain and asked him to put on
some vocals we called it somevocals and I sent it back to
Hans and he said he loves itlet's go for it so we've got at
this point we had this fivesongs already but the problem

(32:59):
was it was a very cinematicalbum with a lot of over strings
horns percussions microphones uhall kinds of instruments and um
you know in in Hamburg I uh lostmy studio like for three times
because uh two times it waswater damage and the third time

(33:21):
was an explosion in the in thebuilding oh my god and uh that
ended up that ended up the thestudio where we did record the
basic tracks for this first fivesongs so I had to find a way of
uh finishing the album withouthaving my studio set up it was
all back in storage.
Oh wow this is why it took thentook like another two years to

(33:45):
finish it because uh of courseit's easy to vocals of guitar
but uh recording basic tracks itaffords like a real equipped
studio and um same with uhespecially strings and all
sections because they need toplay together to make it sound
good and um so um last year Ifound a room which I could use

(34:10):
as a studio room uh I thoughtfor longer but it was just for a
couple of months but it gave methe opportunity to finish finish
uh the album and in betweenthose two recording sessions
there was a lot of things withthe angels going on we did
several tours we toured anisland for example and after the

(34:31):
Irish tour um Nate Zarita Chrisand me we went into uh Irish
studio in the countryside for acouple of days and did a
songwriting session okay and somost of the songs that weren't
from Hans were written there andalso some songs were just

(34:52):
written in my kitchen with someyou know some drinks and the
coffee machine and the back.
Yeah but this made it like along story I mean that was I'm
pretty I I'm proud of that Imanaged to uh release five
albums within five years orsomething with the band.

SPEAKER_00 (35:12):
Yeah um that of course was possible because I
had studios and if I had studiosand we had those musicians
running in and out all the timeyou always have like um after
one recording session uh askingthe the trumpet player to spend
two more hours to do a littleoverdub for the angels whatever

(35:35):
so then it was pretty quick butthe most it was a long load I
suppose you you gotta you gottabear in mind Dennis is um
recording everything analog andhe has like a crazy amount of
old vintage equipment like fromcompressors to uh all of these

(35:55):
synthesizers he already spoke alittle about a bit about and uh
you know I think a big part ofof the angels sound is because
of that of this uh uh thisstudio that Dennis had and all
of these studios that he hadover the years um and he just
had a lot of bad luck with it sothe the uh you know the the

(36:16):
thing kind of has been recordedin so many different ways I
suppose this even the first tworecords I think were kind of all
recorded around the same time inI don't even know if you had
your studio then Dennis thefirst album most of the songs
were recorded in a house inDenmark where you know you
brought an old task um uh tapemachine and and recorded it it

(36:37):
like in a house you know it'sthis trying to find a studio has
always been the struggle of theangels to record it um but this
this one in in the end we we wefound a sp a space for it so it
was recorded in so manydifferent places actually and
took a long time to get therebut yeah very proud of the
result.

SPEAKER_05 (36:56):
Yeah well I think it's time to hear one of these
songs all of today's music comesfrom this new album Road to
Mandalay and you sent me threesongs uh for the interview today
uh I'd like to check out ourfirst tune Ain't No Lovin' uh
where did this song come fromand uh what should we be
listening for?

SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
Uh well this was one of the ones we wrote in in
Ireland actually okay um so thatwas the first I think the first
track we wrote all together as aas a group well at least four of
us in the in the same room umand we really worked out like
all of the harmonies and thebacking vocals which we hadn't
really done before um and bothmyself and Dennis are big fans

(37:38):
of of backing vocals and songsand how much they can really
shape a whole record.
Yeah um so this was one of thosesongs we recorded we wrote it in
uh transmission room studios inLongford County Longford in the
midlands in Ireland middle ofnowhere and um yeah it started
out really basic I think juststripped down on an acoustic

(37:58):
guitar maybe some piano and it'sturned into this big bold
statement piece and it opens therecord and yeah hopefully you
enjoy it.
Yeah well let's hear it it'sAngels of Libra with Ain't no
lovin' off their new album Roadto Mandalay with today's special

(42:21):
guests Dennis and Nathan fromAngels of Libra well you just
told us the story of how long ittook to get this album together
how does it feel now that therecord is finally dropped a big

(42:43):
sigh sells it says it all yeahit's good it feels good it was a
long way to get that over theline um you you go on tour you
play the songs on tour youshowcase the new music and then
uh afterwards you release thealbum and everyone's heard the
songs live and they want to buyit yeah but everything switched

(43:06):
you know this is like 80s likelate 90s maybe even they this
changed and now it's always yourelease an album and you tour
the album to promote the albumso we actually went on tour in
October November last year andthen released the album two
months three months afterwardsbut we had the the record
already uh pressed so we broughtit with us on tour so people

(43:27):
were able to the hardcore fansreally were able to grab a copy
of the album before it came outoh nice so it kind of feels like
it's been out a while because itwe had it ready but it wasn't
the official release date itwasn't you couldn't really buy
it unless you came to the showsI thought that was a kind of a
nice way of doing it so it doesfeel to me like it's been it's

(43:48):
been out there for a whilebecause people were able to hear
it.
But when you have an actual dateand that's that's the day it's
out it it feels pretty good youknow you wake up the next
morning.
I actually think you You know,we uh nowadays it's all we
released the an an albumdigitally anyway, it's at twelve
o'clock, it's at midnight.
And it's midnight in everydifferent region or whatever

(44:08):
country you're in.
Um and actually I think I was Iwas in Germany that day, I was
in Berlin.
Um but I went to bed beforetwelve, which is very rare for
me.
And uh so I actually missed thethe release time, which is very
strange, yeah.
So I woke up the next morningand it was it was out.

(44:29):
But yeah, it's funny, you know,when you've already when you've
pressed it and you've kind ofalready been like bringing it to
people, it's like it kind offeels like it's been out
already.
Um but there was like kind of arelief and a sigh, I suppose,
just you've like you've justheard.

SPEAKER_05 (44:45):
Well, how's the record been received so far?

SPEAKER_01 (44:48):
Oh, really good, really good.
We got a lot of uh reviews andsome German radio was um
advising us for either uh a liveset or some interviews, and uh
well, it's also very good.
We work together with Jada, wework for funk, and she does a

(45:08):
great job all of the time.
But um this time it felt likeeven better.
There's like a lot of radioplays we get from France and
Italy, and um also we've beenonto the um English Craig
Charles funk show.

SPEAKER_05 (45:26):
That's great, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 (45:28):
A couple of times now, like um actually he played
like at least one or two singlesfrom each album we did, but this
time it was amazing.
He played like all the singles,and then we also had a chunk of
funk where we could uh yeah,where we could uh put on some
music that inspired us.
So um yeah, I we think that uh Imean keep keeping on working,

(45:55):
toing, releasing, and it slowlygrows.
And uh we can we we felt likeokay, it's it's growing, it's
nice.

SPEAKER_00 (46:05):
Yeah.
We actually have a huge amount,sorry to cut across you,
Michael.
We have a huge amount of offootage uh from this process
because like it's been going onfor so long.
So from the very beginning, fromwhen Hans and Dennis were in the
studio together uh until now,there's there's so much footage
and video material.

(46:25):
So over the next uh few months,we're gonna be kind of
showcasing a little bit of howthe recording process was in the
uh we were kind of developing alittle series, The Long Road to
Mandalay, as Dennis has so aptlynamed it.
Oh, that's cool.
So, yeah, if you get go go checkus out, uh check out our page
and on social media, and uh evenif you pop onto our our website,

(46:49):
a little uh teaser and bits andpieces of of the process of
this, because so much went intothis this album, so many amazing
musicians are on this record.
I think it's really interesting.

SPEAKER_05 (46:59):
Yeah.
Well, Dennis, Angels of Libra,as you mentioned earlier, first
of all, there's so manymusicians involved, and you guys
have worked with so manymusicians and singers uh over
the years.
Uh, like you just mentioned theAstromantics and Maya or the
singer uh and several others.
So, how do you approach writing,arranging, and recording music

(47:23):
when you know Nathanspecifically is gonna be
attached to these songs?

SPEAKER_01 (47:28):
Well, that's changed, of course, because uh
the debut album, I most of thesongs I didn't know who's going
to sing it.
And as uh Nate mentioned before,this time we uh at least half of
it was we called it like thehand songs.
Well, we called it the even uhwithout knowing who's going to
sing it.
Uh so this also is explains alittle why these songs go more

(47:52):
into the very cinematic kind ofthing, because each time you
record something and um you youstill don't have a vocal, it
needs uh these landscapes.
I always call it likelandscapes, yeah.
Um but it completely changed forthe second half of the record.
Uh when it was clear this isgoing to be the second record

(48:16):
that uh Nate takes the completelead on, or almost complete
lead.
Right.
We started doing um songwritingsessions and um quite a lot of
them actually, and um so thistime on the second five songs,
no, it's seven songs on on thealbum, um we did it the other

(48:38):
way around.
So we met up with acousticguitars and um votes like very
bare um record uh demos and uhmade it all work for the lyrics
and the vocals.
So this is this was like uh newto the angels.
We didn't do this.

(48:59):
Of course, we always made a newalways uh on records like this.
We always have a chat aboutwhere it's going to go.
And actually, before we started,we caught uh writing the other
half of the album was also anidea to make the the Hansong's B
A side and the B side just a15-minute long cinematic soul

(49:23):
tune.
Monster track the monster, andyeah, yeah, you know, but uh on
the same time, I I just finishedthe astromantics and I thought
uh okay, I've done this nerdstuff, and it felt so good to be
free and doing this, but now I'mI it also would feel very good

(49:45):
to go back to three-minute songsand to to lyrics and hook lines
and stuff like that.
So um actually it it completelychanged after having done the
Astro Semantics album.
Uh, for me, it changed to I Iwant this song audience of the
album.
And the Hans songs were boththey were cinematic, but they
also made up great songs, andmost of them are quite in a in

(50:09):
the normal length of a pop song.
Some of them are a littlelonger, but uh so we we changed
our minds during the process andsaid, Oh, there's um because we
already started um writing somesongs besides tours touring, and
um we had the song um None ofthe one uh just with me in my

(50:32):
kitchen during working on ontouring and stuff like that.
So yeah, and um so yeah, wechanged our mind and we said
okay, let's do it the other wayaround and um make it
song-oriented.
And uh I love the outcome, it'sit's really really nice, and of
course, um now the idea is nextweek, next album to try to maybe

(50:58):
bring in a little bit of theband and also the singers into
the songwriting process.
You know, it never works like aconcept for a complete album
never works.
You always have to do some somestuff different just because it
just comes in like this.
Yeah, it's and also I I thinkthe the best concept albums are

(51:20):
always albums that lose theconcept here and there.
Yeah, and um yeah, it is it isbut um I love the idea of having
the next album being plannedwith bringing some musicians in.
So maybe go to this house inDenmark again, whatever,

(51:41):
something like that, in thewoods, uh every week for
songwriting.
And this time combine the bandsto complete the backing band,
let's say, and the vocalist.
That would be great.
And that would be anotherdifferent approach, and I I I
like changing approaches witheach album to give it a new
color and uh new experience.

SPEAKER_02 (52:02):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (52:03):
Well, Nathan, I'd like to take the same question
and flip it around for youbecause you are an accomplished
singer-songwriter of your ownright.
How do you approach thesongwriting and performing
processes when you know thatit's gonna be with Angels of
Libra specifically?

SPEAKER_00 (52:21):
It's a good question.
Um, I suppose I don't I don'treally plan it in any sort of
way.
It's like you know, when you inmaking any art, if it's bad
music or painting or sculpture,whatever you're doing, um,
especially with writing andpoetry, you can uh you can have

(52:42):
a theme or maybe an idea ofwhere you're going with
something, but you know, it kindof works itself out.
You get into like this state offlow that I mean everyone kind
of who's making any sort of artknows about that.
And when you get into that stateof flow, you never know really
what's gonna happen, and all ofthose things that you wanted it
to be maybe don't happen at all,and it turns into something

(53:04):
completely different.
So I don't really approach it inany particular way of this is an
angels song, or okay, this is aNathan Johnston solo song.
But then sometimes I have anidea and I send send it to
Dennis and I say, Oh, this couldbe an angels track, or maybe I
send him two or three differentsongs or different ideas I have,
and he said he'll say, Oh, thisis great, works really well for

(53:25):
the angels, and maybe anotherone he says, it doesn't really
fit this project, or maybe Ijust know, you know.
Um, but when we sit down andwork together, very often we we
spend a like myself and Dennisare listening to a lot of music
together.
So we we sit in his kitchen andjust talk and and listen to

(53:46):
records from all differentgenres and and bands, old and
new.
And um that's something is justmore like hanging out as mates,
and then all of a sudden, youknow, I don't know, Dennis is
making a cup of coffee and Istart playing something on the
guitar, and he turns around, ohthat's the one, and then you
know the song comes in twominutes, nice, or it could be a

(54:07):
a case of you know, I Ispecifically uh have an idea, or
Dennis has sent me aninstrumental, and then I have an
idea for something, and oh maybethis thing I I was intended to
use for a different project orfor a solo thing.
Actually, maybe that could fitfor the for this song or for
this particular so it always italways varies, you know.

(54:28):
It's like with anything.
Do we have a lot of material nowum that we've recorded that is
not we're we're figuring out isit the next album, is it the
next single, or where is itgoing?
So we're always writing and andrecording new stuff.
We have a huge bank of thingssitting there and uh many new
songs to be written as well.

(54:48):
So you never know what happens,actually.
Yeah, it's always gonna bedifferent.

SPEAKER_05 (54:53):
Yeah.
Oh well, in a bit, I'd like totalk more about the soulful
sound of the album itself.
Uh, but seeing as this is a funkpodcast and you can't have funk
without soul, going back inhistory, soul was the progenitor
to funk.
I'd like to ask you guys aboutsomething that I call funk with

(55:15):
a capital F.
Um, and it's this idea that funkcan be more than just a musical
genre, uh, but it can also be anoverarching uh perspective or a
philosophy.
Um and I wonder if you guyscould each share a funk
philosophy that inspires ormotivates you.

SPEAKER_01 (55:36):
What I love about funk, especially the early funk
from uh Mr.
Sharon's bond, for example.

SPEAKER_02 (55:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (55:43):
It's uh the repetition.
Get on the scene.
Get on the This is really,really good.
That was the new stuff that wasthe pre-suggessive of hip hop
and everything that came later.
And it's very African.
It's also very African.

(56:04):
Um this is like the very first Imean there is no border between
soul and funk.
It was a development.
Especially possible.
You could never say, ah, this isstill soul or this is already
funk, especially in there isthere's songs that are

(56:25):
suggestible, and um these onthese songs what I always make
up as ah funk is around thecorner, it's the repetition of
stuff and the the shoutings andstaying on the groove, like get
into a flow, a meditation uhmanifest of the groove.

(56:47):
I think that's it.
And so has got this already, butuh funk took it to a another
level, like being morerepetitive and being more
staying on the same groove, novariations, nothing, just the
flow.
This is what I love about funk.
Maybe that's uh like a testamentof what is funk is yeah the flow

(57:10):
and the meditation and stayingon the repetition.
I love that.

SPEAKER_00 (57:14):
Uh what about you, Nathan?
Uh I see funk as an attitude ormaybe a way of life.
Yeah.
Because you know, funk, not likeyou said, not just it's not just
a genre of music, but you canhave a funky shirt, or somebody
can be a funky kind of guy, oryou can have a funky haircut, or
you can eat uh you know, ayogurt or something that's gone

(57:36):
a bit bad and all of a sudden ittastes funky, right?
Yeah, so so funk is like thisthis kind of spice, this like uh
little bit of extra pizzazz.
Yeah, so somebody can come intoa room with a bit of funk and it
can change the whole feel of aroom, you know.
There's that idea that thecalmest person in the room is

(57:58):
the one that people gravitatetowards, and the one that kind
of uh uh gains authority in away, because they're people
gravitate towards someone thatwho's very comfortable in their
environment.
But when somebody comes into aroom who's calm enough and
confident enough to wear areally funky shirt and just be
super positive and outgoing, andthey dance like nobody's

(58:20):
watching, that changeseveryone's attitude, everyone
starts to feel more comfortable,and then everyone starts
dancing.
So funk is a way of life, funkis an attitude, funk is about uh
bringing the bizars to theparty.

SPEAKER_05 (58:33):
Yeah, that's what I would say.
That's great.
Thank you guys.
Those are both great answers.
I appreciate that very much.
I'd like to check out our secondsong for the day, and uh, this
is a tune called Lie to Me.
Uh, what's this song about anduh how did it come together?

SPEAKER_00 (58:50):
That's one of the Hansiatics.
That's one of Hans uh the Hanstunes.

SPEAKER_05 (58:55):
So pre-recorded, and you added the lyrical content.

SPEAKER_00 (58:59):
Yes, and uh the original song was called I I
think it was called Gambling Manor I Can't Stand It.
There was something about theHans had named these songs, they
were all kind of uh had sort ofa Western theme to them.

(59:20):
Um so there was play to win.
There was I think that was liedto me, it was play to win.
Um and I I I really this songhas such a beautiful arc, the
the ending is so gorgeous, andit has this amazing outro part
that I wish would come again,and it's just at the end.
So uh that that song seems to bereally uh well received.

(59:42):
It's one of those things whereyou listen to it and you have to
wait to the cli for the climax,and people don't do that enough
anymore.
I think people are really uhswitching songs if they don't
like it in the first minute.
But this is one of those onesthat you gotta get to the end.
But the story is really um aboutbeing frustrated with your
situation in life.
And for me, I'd uh just movedback from London.

(01:00:05):
Uh I lived there for five years.
I moved back to Ireland, I'dgone through a big breakup, and
I was at a big turning point inmy life, and I actually had to
move back into my parents'place, which is uh you know, you
gotta swallow your pride.
Humbling, um humbling to say theleast.
Uh, although I love them,they're great, and it was a
really great thing to be backhome for a while.

(01:00:27):
Um, and uh, you know, at thattime that was you know when I
first received some of theseinstrumentals, and that
particular song uh sort ofencapsulates that encapsulates
this idea of uh you know beingfrustrated with your situation
and wishing somebody would justlie to you and tell you that
everything is fine when reallyit's not, because actually

(01:00:49):
really we have to believe forthings to work out.
I I really do believe in in uhand I know it's been overused in
recent years, but this idea ofmanifestation and it really you
know if you really believe orreally want something that it
you know you can make it happen.
Yeah, and uh I really believe inin that we can have uh peace on

(01:01:09):
earth if we want it, yeah.
Um, or peace of mind if we wantit.
So uh asking somebody to lie toyou to tell you that it's gonna
be okay is is one way of lookingat it, but it's really uh
saying, please lie to me, tellme it's gonna be okay, because I
can't see a way out of the mess.
But in the end, actually, I knowthat it's me that's gonna change
it deep down.

(01:01:30):
Nice.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:31):
Well, let's hear it.
It's Nathan Johnston and Angelsof Libra with Lie to Me from
their 2026 album Road toMandalay.

(01:05:26):
Did you know that I also hostand produce an original music
program?
That's right, Tonic the FunkyGroove Show is a two-hour radio
program focused on instrumentalfunk, groove, soul, disco, jazz,
and hip hop tunes from the 1960sto the 2020s and from all over
the globe.
You can hear it free, online,anytime on the PRX website using

(01:05:49):
this shortcut bit.ly slash funkygroove show.
Each season I create the showfor KGO U F M, Oklahoma City's
NPR stores, and Numerous otherstations play it as well.
You can get more info online atfunky groove show.com or follow
us on Facebook and Instagram atFunky Groove Show.

(01:06:09):
Again, you can hear it for freeevery week on numerous stations
or online.
Just visit funky grooveshow.comfor more info and links.
I think you'll love Tonic theFunky Groove Show.
Back to the podcast.
We're back with my specialguests, Nathan Johnston, Dennis
Rux from Angels of Libra.
This new album, Road toMandalay, is a decidedly soulful

(01:06:34):
recording that successfully tapsinto the familiar sounds of the
1960s while keeping an original,authentic, contemporary feel.
And you alluded to this a littlewhile ago with regards to some
of the analog equipment that theDennis has in his studio, but
how did you go about tappinginto these soulful sounds for

(01:06:58):
the record?

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:59):
Well, it's uh it all starts with a drum sound.
Okay.
Um I think uh the sound of thedrums is always the first thing
you do to make the overall soundof an album.
So you could go for dirty drumsound or clean drum sound, but
most important, of course, insoul with that to take a natural

(01:07:20):
drum sound.
So um most of the time I'mrecording uh especially with
Lucas, I'm using two or threemics on the drums.
Total.
In total.
And if I go for a more precisedrum sound, I'm still using only
two mics, but then it's gonna beonly two no mice.

SPEAKER_02 (01:07:42):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:07:43):
And if I if I'd rather go for uh more dirty
sound and I'm using somedynamics or uh ribbon mics.
Okay, but this is like the uhand the room is very, very
important.
This is uh also especially forthe for the Motor Mendeley
album, it's uh it's all recordedin decent studios.

(01:08:03):
Um some of the older recordingsuh we recorded some stuff in the
rehearsal room, which I tweetedacoustically acoustically, but
it wasn't super expensive uhrecording pseudo space or
something.
And this is cool if you go for adirtier sound, but if you want
like a very precise dry drumsound, you need a good room.

(01:08:25):
And yeah, I had the fortune ofrecording all the tracks in
these and studios, so this isalways the start.
And of course, um with all theinstruments on this record, it's
it's not only all analog, it'sold equipment.
It's um I'm using uh the oldHammond, it's uh C3, it's it's

(01:08:48):
like a D3 but the church, churchversion.
It's a monster of uh a lot oftubes and uh really nice one.
Uh you have to tweet it a white.
It gives you all the sounds youalways plead for.
And uh same with um I'm I'm areal node on guitar.
I'm the guitar player also, butI only use um my Hofner, which

(01:09:13):
is an old German guitar, likethe the Beatles used Hofner
bases.
Okay, yeah.
This is uh a very special onefrom uh 1965.
And uh it's a Hofner very thin,and the name is Pogan, it's it's
really very thin.
Um which gives it someadvantages and some
disadvantages.

(01:09:34):
It's a beast you always have totry to get the right tones out
of it, but you manage, and it'sreally really nice, a very, very
different sound to uh all theother guitars I have.
And uh more than into guitars,I'm into amps.
Okay, so um I always tend to useuh very very nice amps on on the

(01:09:58):
recordings.
And um on this record, it wasall my um my smallest app that I
have.
It's a six watt uh only 10-inchspeaker.
It's from 1949, it's also theoldest app I have.
Wow.
So this one, now I'm talkingnuts stuff, it's single-ended,
so it's a very, very theschematic is very easy just to

(01:10:20):
go in, to go out, something likethat.
Uh the the the speaker is madeof uh of paper and it's it's a
moving coil system.
They only did this back in the40s and maybe beginning of the
50s and then change and stufflike that.
So this is all giving like veryvery special sounds, and um I

(01:10:43):
always tend to have a completebackline in the studio.
So I'm um with the drums thesame.
I always have uh 59 solo drumkit, which has very, very thin
wood.
Um which is really really niceto give it like a more jazzy
sound.
And uh the other set I use is a64 uh Luffy drum set.

(01:11:09):
Um this is like the stuff Wingleplays on.
Yes, yeah.
Um also really uh really nice, Ilove this one.
And um and of course then youhave all those strange
instruments for overdose and alot of uh no, it's actually
every every Angel's wicket hereand there has some weird

(01:11:31):
instruments on it as wellbecause uh even if I don't have
it, I have friends who haveweird instruments as well.
Okay, so uh on some albums youhear uh is an old French
instrument that is um very closeto the fartonium.
Fortonium was an old uh I thinkit's German, it's a this very

(01:11:55):
first uh all electricinstruments that were built.
I think it was back in thetwenties or thirties.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:02):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:03):
So it's it's mainly it's mainly a wire, and you
shorten the wire, you get ahigher pitch, and you lengthen
it, you get a lower pitch.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:12):
Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:14):
Yeah.
And actually, and on this onthis album we we used a new toy
I got.
Um it's it's like a Glock andSheel.
But uh you have to play it withkeys.
So there's a little motorunderneath the Glockenskiew that
hits uh the plates, and youyou've got two options hard or

(01:12:36):
soft.
Super nice is uh it sounds waymore balanced than playing it uh
with mallet sticks.
And uh yeah, we had a lot of funusing uh these little toy
instruments and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 (01:12:56):
I'm gonna have to listen again with new ears now
that now that you've told me allthis, so I can listen in for
those little uh specialingredients.
Thank you for that.
That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:08):
Did I play one of those I played one of those?
No, I played some strange thinganyway, some toy thing.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:14):
Yeah, no, you play you played the the uh
Glockenspiel thing.
What was it called?
Tustenspiel, which does.
Yeah, it's the Glockenspiel waskeys.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:28):
Yeah, yeah, that was really fun.
Yeah, it was on this uh what wasit?
It was Never Say Never.
It was this track.
If you're listening to therecord, Never Say Never, I I can
hear my my Tottenspiel skills.

SPEAKER_05 (01:13:42):
Well, so Nathan, this album's title, Road to
Mandalay, is also the name ofone of the tracks on the record.
So where did the inspiration andidea for this title and album
title come from?

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:55):
Um it wasn't gonna be the album title, it was
originally just the name of thesong.
Um the actually it's it's quitea special story.
Uh when when Hans sent thoseoriginal instrumentals, uh I was
in my parents' house.
My mom is a big reader, she's uhreading like I don't know, two
books a week or somethingridiculous.

(01:14:17):
Um so I was just looking throughlike what books she had there,
and then I found this poetrybook, and I opened the first
page, and uh there was a poemthere by Rudyard Kipling from
1890 called Mandalay.
Wow.
Um and the same day, or maybe aday before or a day after, I
received these instrumentals,and one of the tracks was titled
Road to Mandalay.

(01:14:38):
And I just that thought that wasvery strange.
So uh yeah, I uh obviously feltlike there had to be some sort
of something explored there, andum yeah, the story of of
Mandalay, of the poem itself, isa story of a man who uh he's
from England, he was in thearmy, he was stationed in Burma

(01:15:00):
Um in Mandalay, and he'sdreaming of the day when he was
there, he had this lover, and hewould lie by lie uh by the
harbour and watch the boatswhere the old pagoda lay on the
road to Mandalay, and a greener,cleaner land.
Uh and now he's walking throughthis English rain and the

(01:15:21):
cobblestones, and uh he hasmoney now, he's left the army,
he's back in England, he's got anice stately home, and I think
he's married and he haseverything he needs, but he's
still remembering the timesthere, and uh, even though he
was a broke soldier, uhstationed out in the middle of
nowhere, he was happy.

(01:15:41):
And uh I like this idea of thismystical place, this thing that
we're all searching for at theend of the road, this this
mandalay, and we're all chasingthis uh success or whatever that
may be at the top of themountain.
Um, and sometimes actually it'salready there within you.
Uh, you just need to take a stepback and look at it.

(01:16:03):
Uh so I suppose that was kind ofthe story of the song itself,
Road to Mandalay, and that verymuch became the story of the
album.
Um, it actually in the end, it'sreally an album about love.
Uh, there's a lot of love songsin there, and uh, you know, that
filters into the the side ofdreaming about the past and

(01:16:24):
having this lover by the beachin in in mandalay and lying in
the sun and all of those uhdreams.
But actually, you know, it's notjust love uh in a romantic
sense, but it's love foryourself and it's love for uh
your neighbour, and it's youknow, there's songs in there
when this song never say neverwhere I played this tatten

(01:16:44):
spiel, it's never say never tolove, it's never, it's not too
late to fall in love.
And that you know, love is is isthe thing that we we brings us
all together, and uh as justlike music does, and I think uh
you know this message at the endis uh rather than always
striving to get to this place atthe end of the road, actually,

(01:17:08):
sometimes you need to enjoy thejourney you're on uh and and
live in the moment and be onthat road.
And if you are on that road, Ithink you will find love or
whatever it is you're lookingfor.
Yeah, hopefully that that makessense.
Uh you can read a lot more aboutit.
I have uh uh actually like ablog I I send out on my mailing
list little anecdotes from uhthe story of writing the song

(01:17:31):
because there was a lot of workthat went into these lyrics and
the whole story.
And um, if you're interested, goread the poem Mandalay by Roger
Kipling, 1890.
It's a fantastic poem, a reallyold school, old school English
style.
And uh some yeah, you have toread it with an old, a very old
English accent as well.

(01:17:51):
The bleeding English drizzle.
That's great.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (01:17:56):
Well, thank you for sharing that.
That's a that's a really coolpers perspective and a cool
story behind it.
And speaking of Road toMandalay, Patreon supporters,
I'm excited to announce thatNathan and Dennis have
generously shared an exclusiveacoustic take of one of the
tracks from that album, the songAin't No Lovin', which we heard

(01:18:18):
earlier in the show.
To hear that bonus tune, justlog into your Patreon account
and it's there along withtoday's ad-free episode.
Patreon members, thank you somuch for your monthly support of
the 40 Minutes of Funk podcast.
And Dennis and Nathan, thanks somuch for sharing that exclusive
track with us.
Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:38):
Yeehow.

SPEAKER_01 (01:18:39):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (01:18:42):
Well, I'd like to check out our final song for
today.
This is a tune called I Fell inLove, uh, which is also from
this new record, Road toMandalay.
How did this song come about anduh what should we be listening
for?

SPEAKER_01 (01:18:56):
Well, that was another we've written in my
kitchen.
And I remember there was somedoings involved into this one.
Um actually I had these um thesechords flying around, and I said
I want to do try like a morenorthern soul approach to the

(01:19:18):
song.
And um yeah, we just had acouple of uh we called it yeah
yes, Roman Coke in the kitchenand um got the acoustic guitar
and uh messed around a littlewith the chord a little bit, and
um that was an easy one becauseum I think the song was written
in one go actually.

(01:19:38):
We had uh we had just uh a pieceof paper and a good acoustic
guitar and um inspired all thisand that and doing finding the
melody who also already uhwritten down the lyrics so that
it was a very quick one if Iremember why.

SPEAKER_00 (01:19:56):
Yeah, and I think there was a lot of that was we
were talking a lot about backingvocals, and I have a great
recording.
Um there's a voice note of ofDennis and myself actually
writing that song and how itkind of came to fruition.
It was over the course of likemaybe 45 minutes to an hour or
something.
We kind of had the song written,and at the beginning it's it's

(01:20:16):
singing a lot of nonsenseactually.
Um, but the one thing thatalways was sticking is I fell in
love with you, baby.
And it's both uh both of us liketrying to figure out the backing
vocals, and I think that playeda big part in the backing vocals
uh as the record went on, andand how the other songs how the
backing vocals play interplaywith the with the lead vocals a

(01:20:37):
lot.
I think it really came from thattrack specifically.
Um, so yeah, and it's super funto do this live and get the
crowd singing along, andeveryone likes dancing to this
one too.
It's nice upbeat diddy.
And it all started in thekitchen.
It all started in the kitchen.
There you go.

SPEAKER_05 (01:20:55):
Well, let's check it out.
It's Angels of Libra with I Fellin Love from their new album,
Road to Mandalay.

(01:24:54):
So now that this new album hasbeen released, are you guys
going to be doing any touring tosupport the new record?
You mentioned you kind of hadpre-gigs getting ready for it
and and you know selling vinylcopies and stuff before it went,
uh before it dropped officially.
So now that it's out, will youall be doing any touring?

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:13):
Well, uh with the Angels, it's still all PIY.
So uh we are booking now.
Okay, which means um that'sgonna be an autumn.
Most of the time that when Ihave to finish mixing an album
or care for like the last stepsof an album, it's the same time
where you actually should bedoing the last process of

(01:25:35):
booking.
And uh it never works out.
So um, yeah, we are starting tobook uh tour in autumn, and uh
we are also checking out if wefind maybe uh some booking
agency or whatever who couldhelp us because booking a show
for an eight-piece band, andeight-piece is like the lowest
we go with, right?

(01:25:56):
Um it's not easy, it's not easy,it's like you always need a lot
of hotel rooms and uh epic barsand and everything, yeah.
And coordinating all thecalendars of those musicians is
uh job on its own.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26:12):
Wow.
Yeah.
I guess the tour, the touritself was we were supposed we
wanted to release the albumactually last year, so we
planned that tour around thealbum release.
So we that was meant to be thetour for the album, and we
decided we would wait until thefollowing year for it to come
out.
So we had the record and we kindof made that the unofficial tour

(01:26:33):
of of the album.
But we're starting to book nowfor uh later this year.
So Dennis Autumn, as you wouldsay in the UK.
I think in in the US it's fall.
Yeah, uh either way.
So so in the you say autumn aswell.
So in in the autumn slash thefall, we'll be back back on
tour.
Um we're doing we have someshows already booked, uh, mainly
in Germany, but we're hoping toget over to France, uh to the

(01:26:56):
Netherlands, um, hoping to getback to Ireland again, uh also
to London.
And I don't know when the USwill be on the cards, but uh
hopefully at some stage uh wewe'll get across the pond.
Um but we we're also playing ata couple of festivals.
We're playing at an old timer,which is uh old timer festival,
which is like a big car, a hugecar show.

(01:27:17):
So there'll be a lot of uh theselike old timer cars and they
have funk bands and soul bandsthere and things like that.
A big stage.
It's a big one, there's like50,000 odd people there.
So uh that's a nice one for thesummer, and uh until then, yeah,
we're we're uh we'll be you knowdropping some maybe some
surprise tracks over the nextwhile to keep people uh ready

(01:27:38):
for the next shows.
So stay tuned.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:27:41):
Yeah, and start working on the next album.
Yes, there's an old there's anold football saying that is
after the game is before thegame.
And same thing here, it's likeafter dropping an album, the
alarm clocks wing, saying, Oh,should start working on the next
one.

SPEAKER_00 (01:28:00):
No rest for the wicked.

SPEAKER_05 (01:28:02):
That's right.
Well, listeners, Angels ofLibra's new album, Road to
Mandalay.
It's now streaming on allplatforms, and it's a fun,
soulful record that takes you ona journey through lost love,
peace, and renewal.
Please do yourself and the banda favor, and at the very least,
please go pay to download thisfantastic new record, or even

(01:28:25):
better, pay for a vinyl copy ifyou're so inclined.
So, guys, what have we notcovered today that you wanted to
talk about?

SPEAKER_00 (01:28:35):
We we went through a lot, I think.
We've uh um I mean there's youknow, there's a lot of material
we have that we're working on inthe new record, but there's
nothing really to announce justyet.
Okay.
Um I know that uh Sarifa, ourother singer, is releasing some

(01:28:55):
solo music in the next like in afew weeks.
And uh one of those tracks weactually uh I think are doing a
collaboration um with the angelsuh and her solo project, so
there will be some uh somethinghappening there.
So um, but yeah, in terms ofwhat's in the immediate now,

(01:29:18):
we're we're in the bookingprocess, so that's kind of
taking a bit of time.

SPEAKER_05 (01:29:23):
Alright.
Well, where are the best placesfor listeners to go online to
learn more about you?

SPEAKER_00 (01:29:29):
Angelsoflibra.com.
When you hop on toangelsoflibre.com, you got
everything.
If you want to buy a copy of therecord, uh you can get it on the
website.
But uh Dennis mentioned he's gota store, yay, uh studio store.
Um, there's a link there on ourwebsite, angelsoflibra.com.
Um, like we've said, you know,we we're doing everything here
is handmade, we're a DIY band,and uh it's all recorded

(01:29:51):
independently.
We have a very small recordlabel we work with based in
Berlin.
Alex, uh shout out to Alex uhAlexander Domish from Waterfall
Records.
Yeah, he's a one-man show, he'sdoing everything really by
himself, and he's reallysmashing it.
So hats off to him.
And uh, yeah, if you want tosupport the band, the best way
is always you know go and grab acopy of the vinyl.

(01:30:12):
Um, and we have five records outthere.
Like we mentioned, theAstromantics album is uh a
standalone vinyl-only album, andthere's only a few copies left
up on the store, but it's uh uhit's a space odyssey adventure.
Um, so every album has reallygone down its own journey from
the first uh releases where youknow there were some singles at

(01:30:34):
the beginning with Sean Lee, uminstrumental, an instrumental
drop, uh Kung Fu Noir, which wasuh sort of visiting a very
different uh feeling for theband, and then we did the first
record uh that I was a part of,uh, which was quite dark and and
moody um with elements of sixtysoul, also has this ennu marconi

(01:30:57):
cinematic feel.
The second album, Revelations,it goes into we went to space
basically.
There was there's all these oldschool synthesizers in there,
uh, a lot of features, a lot ofinteresting instrumental tracks
in there.
Third album was with Maya fromuh Croatia, so uh has a little
bit of a Balkan feel to it, butalso really old school uh 60s uh

(01:31:21):
very raw and and rough and readyrecord, very different sound
again.
And then Astromantics brought usback into space, but into the
deepest, darkest realms ofspace, um, where we visited
alien planets.
Um, and then we've kind ofbrought it back full circle with
the newest record.
It's uh, you know, the what is asong, and it's about love and

(01:31:44):
dancing and and soul music.
So the next album, who knowswhat's gonna happen.
So stay tuned for that.
And uh yeah, hopefully you getsome enjoyable listening over
the next while if you want to gocheck out our catalogue.

SPEAKER_05 (01:31:56):
Yeah, it sounds like a good deal.
Anything that you want to add tothat, Dennis, before we sign
off?

SPEAKER_01 (01:32:02):
No, I don't think so.
It was really nicely spoken,Nate.

SPEAKER_00 (01:32:07):
Trying to get it all across in a few minutes.
Yeah, good.
Go go give us a follow our ourInstagram, Angels of Libra.
I'm on uh Nathan Johnston,you'll find me.
My my actual tag is Cyan HillMusic.
It's a bit complicated, but ifyou put Nathan Johnston into uh
Instagram or Facebook orwhatever, you'll find me there.

(01:32:28):
Um and yeah, go check out ourwebsite, keep on uh following
our journey.
And uh, if you're interested inthe making of the album, we're
gonna be posting some videosabout that.
So um, yeah, hopefully there'ssomething in there for any other
analog nerds out there.
Hopefully that tickles yourfancy.

SPEAKER_05 (01:32:44):
Very good.
Well, Nathan and Dennis, thanksso much for coming on the show
today.
Uh, as I mentioned, I've been afan for uh several years now,
and I've played numerous tunesof yours on my radio show.
So when Jada originally reachedout with news about this new
album, I just knew it was theperfect opportunity to get you
guys on the show and talk withyou in person.

(01:33:05):
Thanks so much for being myguests on the 40 Minutes of Funk
today, guys, and best of luckwith this new record.
Thanks, man.
Yeah.
Well, please give my best to therest of the Angels of Libra and
safe travels.
Peace and love.
Yeah.
Hey friends, it's Michael B hereto wrap up the show with a few
quick closing thoughts.

(01:33:26):
Thanks for joining me fortoday's episode.
Thanks so much to today'sguests, Dennis and Nathan from
Angels of Libra.
I truly enjoyed getting to knowthem and their music a bit
better, and I hope you enjoyedthe talk as much as I did.
Patreon members, don't forget tolog into your account today to
hear that exclusive bonus trackprovided by Angels of Libra that

(01:33:50):
isn't available to the public.
Thanks again for your support ofthe 40 Minutes of Funk podcast,
and thanks to Nathan and Dennisfor sharing it as well.
If you enjoy 40 Minutes of Funk,will you please consider
supporting the show?
This podcast is a one-personpassion project of mine, and
your monthly financial supporthelps me pay my bills and

(01:34:11):
ensures I can keep bringing youtop guests in music.
I'm looking for more supportersto join my Patreon network this
year, and you can give as littleas$5 a month.
Patreon supporters get specialperks like interacting with
future guests on the show,behind the scenes info, merch
discounts, shout outs, and more.

(01:34:32):
They also get exclusive bonuscontent with lots of episodes.
Just visit www.patreon.com slash40 MinutesofFunk to sign up
today.
That's patreon.com slash 40MinutesofFunk using the numbers
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Thanks.
There's lots more ways tosupport the show for free.

(01:34:53):
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Look for me at 40 Minutesof Funkusing the numbers 4 and 0.
That's also a great place tosend me DMs with feedback about
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(01:35:18):
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Be sure to subscribe to thispodcast and leave reviews
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I also host a weekly radio showcalled Tonic the Funky Groove

(01:35:39):
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It's two hours of instrumentalfunk, groove, soul, disco, jazz,
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(01:36:00):
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(01:36:21):
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