MINDWALK BLVD

You Wanna Hear The Next Rush? Take A Little Mindwalk
Filed under: Random Observations, New Talent Administrator @ 1:22 pm
So I m cleaning up a little bit around my kitchen this morning and I have the TV going in the other room tuned to the local Fox channel since I want to hear when the weather report comes on.

They are talking about a band that will be performing as part of the morning news show that is on and they mention that the members of this particular band are 13, 14 and 11 years old.

Oh great, this ought to be really great stuff, I m thinking sarcastically to myself and figuring they are rappers or something.

I then hear the host ask them what kind of music they play. I cannot hear the response in the other room since the kid they are talking to sounds a bit soft-spoken. I then hear the host say something like, Straight-up rock and roll and then asks what artists have influenced them.

This time I just make out what the kid says, and although I don t know who the first band was that he mentioned and can no longer remember the name, the second and third influences I hear the kid mention are Kansas and Rush. Now they ve got my attention.

I go in and see these young dudes getting ready to play. There s the 11-year-old drummer with his double-bass drum Neil Peart kit, the bass player with some keyboards at his disposal (how Geddy Lee!) and the guitarist with what I thought was a Fender of some type but turned out to be a Carvin.

They start playing one of their originals that sounds to me like it has a lot of Rush influence, but the problem is that is sounds like crap. I don t mean the kids performance, which actually sounds pretty damn good really great considering how old these guys are!

The problem is the sound set-up in the TV studio, which obviously was not designed to provide quality sound for visiting rock and roll bands. Even so, I can tell these young guys have some serious talent in their possession.

The band is called Mindwalk and they are based somewhere in Massachusetts. The show s host comes back after the performance and mentions that these guys have done some recording in a studio in Groton, Mass., which is right next to the town I lived in before moving here to New Hampshire.

The host also mentions that their website is www.mindwalkband.com and of course, I have to take a peek and download some of the MP3 files they have.

Listening to the downloaded MP3 s really tells the story since they re nice, clean studio recordings. Of the five song snippets available for download, I was most impressed with their rendition of Rush s YYZ and U.K. s Presto, simply due to the fact that those are two songs I am familiar with, and these kids pull them off fabulously.

These kids are amazing. I don t know how they found each other, but it s a good thing that they did. They have a bright future ahead of them and a damn fine supply of accomplishment already behind them.

I've seen some bold claims from other bands about their being the next Rush, or whatever, but amazingly enough, these young guys called Mindwalk already may be the next Rush. It s a little scary to think about just how good they will be in 10 years. These kids are the future of real rock music.



MORE REVIEWS:

* Holy shit!!! Where did they come from? I've never heard young kids kick ass like that.

*These kids sound great. I visited there web site, and listened to a couple of MP3's. Being a huge Rush fan, I was quite impressed.

I hope to catch some shows if they play some local venues. I can only imagine what they will sound like in 8 years.

- Real rock news

QuickLaunch Song Contest Review Form
Overall Rating ****
Overall impression
“Crimson Sunset”, by MindWalk. You’ve done an amazing job. This is a beautifully moving performance; you make my job easy. Soulful, touching, fantastic vocals and instrumentals to match.

What a vibe you guys generate! Emotionally loaded and wistful.
The melody of the three of you coming together is sending you straight to the charts, no doubt.
I especially loved the guitar lead in; set a great mood for the rest of the song.

Your lyrics are insightful and piercing. It’s hard not to sing along.

The traditional structure you used sweeps this song along, and sweeps your listeners right along with it. Sweet!

The entire performance is a heartfelt, journey; fluid and impassioned. Memorable across the board.

Reviewer Name, Title, Date
Jason Levitt, Talent Scout, 10/06/06

- Jason Levitt

“Boy band” Goes Progressive : How much did music really mean to you at age 12? Chances are you had no clue what “progressive Rock” referred to, and probably could care less. Yet now, in an era when the musical tastes of most Americans are shaped by commercial radio, MTV and the likes of American Idol, a true rarity has emerbed from the greater Boston, area in Mindwalk Blvd. – likely the youngest working prog band on earth.
The sheer novelty of this, of course , is their youth Mindwlak Blvd. has appeared on tevision twice, performing live at the Fox network and featured on cable's Discoery Channel. - Progression Magazine

Mindwalk Blvd has created one of the finest recordings of progressive/melodic heavy metal I've heard in some time. Paint The Seconds is replete with great songs, soaring harmonies and driving guitar built to blow out your speakers. Imagine taking the sounds of early RATT, mixing in Styx or Yes-like harmonies and melodic lyricism, and just a dose of Cinderella-style glam, and you're walking down Mindwalk Blvd. In spite of all the 1980's references, Paint The Seconds comes off as a thoroughly modern album.

The album opens with Beside Me, a straightforward rocker built on a nasty guitar riff. The song evolves into chorus that sounds like something the Tommy Shaw-led Styx might record. The song rocks from beginning to end and is an appropriate bell weather of the sound put forth by Mindwalk Blvd. Sometimes alternates between quite verses and heavy rock choruses. Away is a rocker's delight, with some of the most inspired guitar work you'll hear this year. Patriot is another highlight, and probably the heaviest song on the album.

And just to show Mindwalk Blvd isn't all blood and guts, Crimson Sunset is a classic rocker ballad, featuring acoustic guitar and the distinctive lead vocals of Jordan Ferreira. The harmonies here are absolutely gorgeous. This is the sort of song that in the days of rock singles might have bought the band several mansions. As it is, it is the most radio-ready of the songs on Paint The Seconds, and deserves a proper hearing on popular radio. Paint The Seconds closes with Stop Down, which is another classic guitar-driven melodic hard rock song.

What's most interesting about Mindwalk Blvd is that if you listen closely to the song composition, the music is extremely complex and interesting. Despite all of the amplifier fire here, I would not be surprised to learn that one or more members are classically trained musicians with significant music theory knowledge. This is a musician's album above all things, but is accessible to all. That all said, it is mind boggling that these guys are only between 13 and 16 years old!

Mindwalk Boulevard would have been international superstars in 1980's. Whether today's music market will bring the same ardor is hard to say, but they certainly deserve your undivided attention. Don't be surprised if some day you're getting in line to buy tickets for their 20th anniversary tour.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mindwalk Blvd at www.mindwalkblvd.com, where you can purchase a copy of Paint The Seconds. Also worth noting, Mindwalk Blvd was recently picked by VH1 and Jon Anderson of Yes to be one of the three finalists in the national "Your Move With Yes" contest. Unfortunately the contest itself was cancelled due to Jon Anderson’s recent respiratory illness and the subsequent cancellation of Yes’ 40th Anniversary Tour.
- Wildy's World