Per Jensen - Vocals, guitar
Bjorn Nei - Vocals, bass guitar
(very early demo recording from 1976 - previously unreleased)

1976 was probably the busiest year MagellanMusic ever had. The first album (Voyage of Magellan) was re-recorded, album #2 (The Soundtrack) came out in the Spring, album #3 (Beyond the Visible World) came out in the Fall, and album #4 (Death of a Favorite Cat) was already underway. But in the midst of all that, yet another project had been underway for much of the year.

It started as a meager but hopeful project but soon turned into one of the most adventurous efforts that anyone in our clique would ever attempt. Bjorn and I got this crazy idea of doing a concept album like so many of our Prog Rock heroes because we had somehow come up with an interesting story. It was about a child with so many heightened powers of consciousness that he was rejected by most, including his parents. With so much lyrical content involved it easily grew into a long and involved musical piece not just a song.

It was called Mikada Minn's Interpretation of Derek's Story, and it evolved into a fantastic project. It took more work that anything we had tried, but so adventurous that we truly enjoyed every minute of it. When it was cohesive enough to play for others we knew immediately that we were onto something good. Every time we played it, it caught and held everyone's attention; it was definitely Prog, it was original, it had scope, and it was powerful. However, we could never find others willing to join us. Bjorn and I played bass and guitar (both on vocals), and that was all. If Mikada Minn had been fully outfitted it obviously would have been far more impressive, but still we carried on.

As "Derek's Story" grew we often recorded ourselves. It was nothing elaborate, just a means of hearing it from a listeners' point of view to critique and improve. They were recorded badly too, on a simple household cassette recorder with no intent to keep them for later use, but they were helpful. We would erase the last session or grab another tape and just keep working at it. We had refined "Derek's Story" enough that on the many occasions when we played it, most people didn't miss the lack of drums or keyboards because it was indeed a very impressive, compelling piece of music. However, as time wore on it wore us down. It had grown to nearly 30 minutes in length and there was plenty more ground to cover (lyrically). We were burned out. There were many exciting projects happening around us
so it was time to move on. "Derek's Story" was abandoned.

By sheer magic, in the early 90's, one remaining copy of a Mikada Minn, practice tape was found in one of many storage boxes. It wasn't a surprise, it was a shock. All such tapes were thought lost forever; those storage boxes were handled many times, and I had never seen this tape. It was an unbelievable find. When digital recording came about I immediately thought of restoring it somehow, at least improving the sound quality if only for personal enjoyment, but when the Beatles restored "Free as a Bird." I knew Mikada Minn's work could be a reality. In 2001, work began, and ultimately the results were so surprising that it encouraged work to continue with many other tracks, finally culminating with the release of "Yesterday's Children."

Track: I Am The Walrus*
Length: 3:50

In 1980, while working on a new album called „Way of the Wind‰, we suddenly hit on a couple of Beatle tunes that had always been favorites. They sounded good and felt good to play, which lead us into dedicating an entire
side of the album to Beatle songs. The downside was that many of them were just too hard to handle, especially this one. We tried 2 versions of it in an attempt to make our spare sound appropriate, but it didn't work. This one was the best example of why multi-track recording was absolutely necessary. It was unfortunate too because we'd always felt I Am the Walrus deserved much more attention than it received. It was as good as "Strawberry Fields Forever," a song hailed as one of their best ever, but to be the B-side of the clearly pop style Hello Goodbye was a letdown. In any case, without the technical ability to complete the song it was left alone - until now!

Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
Liij Korg - Drums
(from the album "The Metronome Stops," 1978)

Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
Liij Korg - Drums
(from the album "The Metronome Stops," 1978)

This was on "The Metronome Stops" as well, a love song but with a twist to it. The usual "I love you, you love me" premise was tiring, so this time it was a look at the positive vibes from a good relationship, but not ignoring the dangers it can create. Additional tracks for this were especially good; they gave the song a different ambience, closer to the heart, with a shade of sadness to it. As work continued we couldn't stop imagining this song played to a sparse collection of lonely tavern dwellers at 3 o'clock in the morning. We compared to a modern day Humphrey Bogart as the main character, inebriated, but a fresh drink in hand, a cigarette burning in the ashtray nearby, his face a picture of remorse as he dwells on his romantic but ill-fated love affair.

Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitar, Drums
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitar
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass Guitar
Renee Arnot - Vocals, Flute, Bass Pedals
(from the album "Troik Systems," 1981)

This appeared on "Troik Systems" in 1981 and was an immediate head-turner. More than once we heard comments that it would have fit nicely on Revolver by the Beatles (what better compliment is that!?), partly because of its sound, but also because of the lyrics. It's a bit different because the point of view is toward someone else, not the songwriter. It speaks of a strange character named Kensey who apparently has frequent premonitions. He turns more weird day after day, seemingly transcendent like an Indian guru. Suddenly he screams with his eyes and his last words are, "This is the end!" Moments later a nuclear blast wipes out everything - picture it orange!

Derek Story - Vocals
Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars, Drums
AAA Maarz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
T.C. Cassini - Keyboards, Harmonica
Renee Arnot - Vocals, Flute
(from the album "Way of the Wind," 1980)

Amidst our Beatle addiction on "Way of the Wind" from 1980, we had to give this one a try. We always felt that this song had a quality about it that would have made it welcome on any Beatle album, which a lot of the other Sgt. Pepper songs didn't have. Plus, from a drummers point of view, it's difficult to play because of its befuddling cut-time beat. (A word of advice to rock 'n roll bands: next time you audition a drummer, use this song because it will truly challenge their ability to keep solid time from start to finish!) So, this time we appreciated our joyless drum machine, but a special thanks also goes to Ellis for giving this song an actual drum track. That and adding so many other nice touches with additional recording makes this improved version especially satisfying. We hope you dig it too!

AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitar
Mike Merwin - Vocals, Bass guitar
Liij Korg - Drums
(from the album "Obscurities," 1984)

This was actually a new track featured on "Obscurities" in 1984. That album was sort of an aborted attempt at a new album headed by AAA, so it was filled out with other unusual songs or outtakes which gave it the appropriate title of "Obscuritites" "Crush‰"clearly has a sound so close to 60's or 70's lite-pop that it could be played on an oldies radio station with no problem. It's so good that it could almost be left as is, but we couldn't resist adding all sorts of new tracks to enhance that oldies feel. Here we made it a point to add a rhythm guitar track using a Rickenbacker, an electric piano, syrupy strings - all of which are closely associated with music of that era. We don't mean to sound smug, but this song is nearly a classic.

Derek Story - Vocals
Per Jensen - Bass guitar
Syl O. Syben - Guitar
Cy Kadellick - Keyboards
Ellis Dee - Drums
(demo recording from 1996 - previously unreleased)

It's sad that Art Garfunkel was never given the recognition he deserved - without his voice Simon & Garfunkel would never have happened. Simon is a superb songwriter, but with a voice like his that's exactly what Paul Simon would have been, a songwriter only. Garfunkel has the smoothest, most velvety voice I've ever heard. This song is an oldie (copyrighted in 1933), covered by Al Jolson, was a big 50's hit by the Flamingo's, but Garfunkel's rendition is THE version to hear. I've always had a fantasy that if I could trade voices with anybody it would be Garfunkel, so I humbly decided to give this song a try. It's just a demo recorded in 1996, thought it might fit on the album we were working on at the time, but we're supposed to be Prog Rock (or something like that). It sounded too "sugary" so we let it lay. On this CD it fits just fine. (Word of warning: we think this version is pretty good, but if you don't like it that's fine, just skip it and keep listening to Garfunkel like we do!)

Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
Liij Korg - Drums
(from the album "In the Night," 1978)

The early years of MagellanMusic were acoustic, but in 1978 the electric years arrived. The first album to feature it was "In the Night," and the first track on the album was this one. It too is another love song but with a twist to it: this one talks of a serious love affair that could have happened but didn't because of decision more than feeling. The emptiness and frustration from such a reality is always dreaded, but those feelings are typified in the very first line, "Blind walk - where am I now?" That may sound strange, but a good, off-beat way of saying it. Additions that we liked the most were the simple aspects of drums and bass guitar. On the original recording, that phenomenally boring drum machine was used and there was no bass guitar at all. Also, the bridge originally sounded very "blank" only a bare guitar and 2 voices were heard. So, here we added the flourish of flute and piano, as well as additional vocals, all of which made this straight-forward rock tune finally sound finished.

Derek Story - Vocals
Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars, Drums
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
T.C. Cassini - Keyboards
(from the album "969695," 1979)

This song might be one of MagellanMusic's most underrated of all. It moves along at an upbeat pace and it's an intriguing story of a person who refuses to limit himself to an enclosed well-controlled, mindless society. This is obviously a distinct comparison to Orwell's great novel "1984" a malevolent reality in place today and satirized by endless references to "Big Brother" But, our nameless character rebukes this pathetic attitude and does his best to explore the beauties of his world. He travels the North, South, East, and West to observe the unusual aspects of each environment, to learn, to gain knowledge. Finally, the character finds himself on a gorgeous, never-before-seen beach where we can hear the glorious ocean waves rolling in!... (Item of note: the song title "44" was taken from the album title, "969695." Add those numbers and the total is 44. That was Per's age in 2001, and "2001: A Space Odyssey" is his favorite movie. It's no wonder that years later, when undergoing brain surgery, the doctor discovered that Per didn't have a brain, it was just gray colored scrambled eggs.)

Derek Story - Vocals
Syl O. Syben - Guitar
Cy Kadellick - Keyboards
(recorded for "Yesterday's Children," 2005)

This is a new song for "Yesterday's Children," but it was literally an accident. Cy was working on a song and happened to bump into a phrase that caught Per's attention. It was one of those so rich with flavor and harmony that it was written and recorded in just a few days, one of those lucky breaks when Nature somehow gives you a song that practically writes itself. The lyrics are extremely close to the heart, and very poetic; they speak of moments and memories that have enriched our lives, almost beyond words, with the pain of having to remember it, not live it, but also knowing that soon enough we will re-join those who we miss so much.

Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
Liij Korg - Drums
(from the album "In the Night," 1978)

In the early years MagellanMusic had a unique style of songs we nicknamed "hummers." Those had a repetitive chord sequence that were very solid and easy to tap your toe with, which was good since the band was still acoustic (no drummer). There are several such songs in our catalog because it was an unmistakable style, completely original, peculiar only to MagellanMusic. This song was picked for this album because it happened to be our first hummer after morphing into a real, live rock 'n roll band. It caused a bit of turmoil too. The band lived in the "Bible Belt" unfortunately well-known for religious prejudice, and with this song we were reminded of it yet again. The twist in the lyrics was the concept of prayer - what might happen if God tried to communicate with you instead of the other way around? If He could actually express it in words that we understand, what would he say? What would you expect to hear? So, in this song we really turned on the juice. The space effects are so thick that one wonders if someone or something was heavily influenced by LSD when recording it!

Derek Story - Vocals
Per Jensen - Vocals, Guitars, Drums
AAA Marrz - Vocals, Guitars
Maarsen Von Der Saal - Bass guitar
T.C. Cassini - Keyboards
(from the album "969695," 1979)

This has been a fan favorite since it originally appeared in 1979. It had a strange, unearthly feel to it; it had unusual bridges strewn here and there that gave it a foreboding presence. MagellanMusic always had the unnerving habit of recording vocals in a way that didn't make the lyrics clear, but once a listener did understand it, all were surprised because it was a miniature sci-fi movie! A song with only 4 verses and a bridge can't possibly tell the tale of a movie, but good lyrics with imagination can do the rest. "Derelict" is about ambassadors from an alien planet intent on establishing diplomatic relations with Earth, but it turns out to be a ruse - the aliens turn and attack for conquest. Earth's technology is too primitive to defend itself, so efforts to evacuate as many as possible is the only choice. The Captain's of these space Arks were genetically treated for extremely long life spans to guarantee permanent command of the vessels, but that is essentially their demise. There aren't enough facilities onboard a spacecraft to support an entire race, and over the years they slowly die off, except the captain. He's the only one left. His race is extinct. And he's on a rusted, worn out, derelict spacecraft drifting into the endless void with many, many years to live - he's floating into Hell. Or is he going to let that happen???