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	Kino: Short And Sweet! The members of Arena are always busy. Always in search for a new challenge. We, of course, want to know what keeps the men busy outside Arena, outside the cage. SoI emailed John Mitchell about his new project. You can read the result of our email conversation below. Short and sweet, enjoy! What’s the name of the project? It’s called ‘Kino’. Short and sweet! How did you come up with that name? Did you come up with that name, or one of the others? No, I’m afraid I can’t take credit for it. It was a name that Pete Trewavas came up with. We had been discussing names for ages and we were sitting round my house with a dictionary desperately trying to come up with a name, and Pete all of a sudden suggested it. It ended an endless dilemma. Making the music was easy, coming up with the name and agreeing on it was a nightmare! :-) Does the name have a special meaning? Yeah, it means cinema in various languages, and I’ve always known it to be a German word. I like the fact that it suggests little of the type of music that we have made. It’s a blank canvas. Who came up with the idea to do this project, how did it go? Well, I was approached by Thomas Waber from Inside Out and he asked me if I wanted to do a prog album, initially with no-one else involved. I agreed, and then I had to think about who I wanted to play on it. John Beck was the first person who sprung to mind as I’ve always been a massive fan of his playing in his old band, It Bites. Then Pete Trewavas wanted to get involved as he’s always wanted to work with John as well. And finally we had to find a drummer, and Pete suggested Chris Maitland (formerly of Porcupine Tree) so we invited him down and he played on a couple of songs, and we got on well, so that was that. It should be pointed out that originally I wanted Ray Wilson to sing on the album, and initially he agreed but then decided he wanted to concentrate on his solo career which is a shame as he has a great voice, but there you go. I ended up singing instead. Can you introduce the members of the band? (tell a bit about them, funny habits are welcome as well as serious details) Me… well nothing you don’t already know. Pete Trewavas… erm… always singing or playing something. His head is always buzzing with musical ideas. A very inspired fellow. John Beck… very laid back… very hard to get hold of… very good at disappearing… musically he will spend a day coming up with a part after playing about a thousand different ones all of which sounded cool. An odd chap. Chris Maitland… prog rock’s answer to Keith Moon (not in terms of excess, but in playing style!). A drummers drummer, very technically accomplished. Loves Queen more than me and Clive put together. Does an amazing Freddie Mercury impersonation. Why this group? Why these artists? Why not? They are all good players and all are English and have that weird eccentricity about them. It’s a good start. Can you tell us about the recording process? Where does it take place? Who’s producing, etc.. Well, it happens at my studio. We get a song arrangement together (either me and Pete or me and John B or sometimes all three of us) and we put guide parts down onto the computer to a click track. Then Chris comes along and records his drums. And then we overdub all out different parts in my little studio in my front room. Then Simon Hanhart gets a cd with all the files and goes away and mixes them. No one is producing it as such, but various people have hit the record button over the last few months’ What kind of album can we expect? A very melodic and diverse proggy album. When’s the release? Dunno, there have been a few setbacks, so probably sometime early in the new year. Are you planning to go on stage together? Hopefully, that’s the plan. That’s my favourite bit. Is this a one time thing, or can we expect to hear more from you? Who knows. I’d like to. I’ve given up planning ahead. One thing at a time. And finally; do you have some final thoughts? Is there anything I forgot to ask that needs to be mentioned? Not really. It’s been a long time in the making and we’ve had some serious technical setbacks along the way, but I hope it was worth it. I’ve enjoyed working with these chaps. Johny out... By: Hanneke Beers