What we hear seems familiar but at the same time enigmatic and fresh. This is an ethereal, yet ominous piece of music that demands your time and attention and for those who have the patience the reward will be a beautiful musical experience.
Initially, Kashmir was a bunch of art obsessed manikins; playing around in Copenhagen with different media, such as graphics, street art, absurd poetry and of course music; then they found their means of communication, forming a rock 'n' roll band. “The easiest way to get heard was to plug whatever instrument into a guitar amplifier and turn it up ‘till somebody either listened or left. You couldn’t quite get the same attention from painting a picture or reciting a poem”, Kasper recalls.
The four musicians – Mads Tunebjerg (bass), Asger Techau (drums), Henrik Lindstrand (keyboards, guitar) and Kasper Eistrup (vocals, guitar) – have always sought a sound that didn’t match the material they’d recorded previously; the result has been five very different albums.
”Our working process in the studio has become more and more chaotic as time has gone by and for the new album we didn’t make too many conscious decisions on which musical path to follow”. “Kasper threw his unfinished songs onto the studio floor and we all started working as a unit, it was an exhilarating experience”, Mads explains. “The good thing is that it turned out to be a rock album which is a whole lot more fun to play live than for example a bunch of acoustic folk songs.”

Recording and mixing

By the summer of ´04 the band had heaps of new material. Kasper had written a bunch of dark, low-key songs which kick-started the demo recordings in the band’s own studio, Petite Machine – the same studio where the band’s self-produced previous album, Zitilites, came to life. As the process moved forward, a more raw and improvisational method developed, which set a new direction for the material to come. Some of the great influences were bands such as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. “It took some time to find our way into it”, Kasper recalls, “…but once we did, the rest of the songs came really easy.” For the new album, Kashmir wanted to share production tasks with somebody. A prime candidate was Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Iggy Pop, T-Rex, Sparks and many other legends). “He listened to Zitilites and it lit up his dials. He got back to us right away, because for some time he had been looking for a band like us to work with”, says Kasper. Visconti gave them free rein during the recording sessions in Copenhagen, but stepped in at moments when things would stall. “He understood our ideas, and helped us to realize them. We’ve never worked with a more humane, technically skillful and creative person. He uses the instruments with the precision of a surgeon”, Kasper declares.

David Bowie and Lou Reed joins Kashmir

During the mixing session in New York, Kashmir and Visconti played around with an instrumental track, and then decided it would be intriguing to add a spoken role to complete it. Kasper had written a poem, “Black Building”, but the dark, atmospheric track asked for a special kind of voice. They came up with the idea of asking Lou Reed if he would do the part, and he soon returned having decided to join in. His voice truly completes the track “Black Building”. Another track, “The Cynic”, is a duet featuring David Bowie.
While recording in Copenhagen, Kashmir had a vision of having David Bowie singing part of the track.
Mr. Bowie already knew of the band, and was delighted to participate.

Nights at No Balance Palace

Lyrically, the songs have a stream-of-consciousness styling that stems from Kasper’s putting his conscious mind on stand-by and letting the idea’s flow. The band developed the music in the same way. “We wanted to get the wild energy out of our systems. We became inspired after observing how 20- and 30-somethings pull out all the stops when they’re out at night. The hedonistic night life is a kind of No Balance Palace. So, the album was made with very aggressive energy, on a kind of self-destructive note,” Kasper says, and concludes: “It’s all about debauchery, turpitude, depravity, hedonism.” No Balance Palace was recorded in Copenhagen, mixed at Tony Visconti’s Looking Glass Studios in New York City and mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in NYC. The lead single, “The Curse Of Being A Girl,” was sent to radio in August 2005. No Balance Palace will be released on October 10th 2005.

The band:
Kasper Eistrup, vocal & guitar
Mads Tunebjerg, bass
Asger Techau, drums
Henrik Lindstrand, keyboards & guitar

(source: www.kashmir.dk)