Mos Eisley Spaceport return to Crow Hill with their live album “Live on Crow Hill,”capturing a singular night of energy, improvisation, and sonic exploration. With a newly expanded line-up and fresh material, the band continues to push the boundaries of Space Rock and Progressive sounds. We sat down with them to discuss the experience behind this unique performance, the creation of their new track “In Your Mind,” and what lies ahead for the project.
How did the idea of recording a live album at Crow Hill come about?
Sebastian: “We’d been talking to Malte, who organizes the concerts at Crow Hill, for a while, about playing there again. Our bassplayer Jasper and his brother Lennert, who has been mixing almost every Mos Eisley Spaceport concert so far, know the place really well, having played there frequently with their various bands and mixed many concerts as sound engineers. When we finally found a date that worked for everyone, Lennert suggested recording the concert in a big way. Since it’s not a regular club, everything can be prepared and set up in a relaxed atmosphere and with plenty of time. The old barn sounds fantastic, and the vibe is always very pleasant—nice people, everything very chilled out. We already knew we were going to play well that night, so it was quickly decided that we should just go for it.“
What makes Crow Hill a special venue for Mos Eisley Spaceport?
Guido: “When you drive into the Crow Hill farmyard, you’re suddenly in a completely different world. Everything is more pristine, the nearest big city far away. Just a small gravel road, bordered by woods and nature – and a peace and quiet that city dwellers in Mos Eisley can only dream of. Everything has a magical quality. Where better to capture that feeling than here?“
How did it feel returning to this place after your previous performances?
Sebastian: “It’s just absolutely beautiful there. Guido and I played there in 2021, back when we were a duo. Later, when Björn was already in the band, we had planned a concert together with the great band Fuzzerati from Bremen, who we really admire. But then someone else had Covid again, and we had to cancel at the last minute. So it took quite a while, and when we were there again, we were already a “huge” band with four people, which of course creates a completely different band dynamic and feeling.“
Can you describe the atmosphere of the gig from your perspective?
Guido: “Normally, before gigs, everything has to happen quickly, lots of arrangements have to be made with bands and promoters, and in the end there’s barely enough time for a quick soundcheck. In Crow Hill, time stands still. It certainly helped that we arrived early and were the only ones playing that evening, but the atmosphere there also makes you slow down – whether you want to or not. And in the end, all that’s left is the anticipation of the performance.“
How did the audience respond to the new material during the show?
Björn: “The audience was very appreciative, maybe the homebrewed beer helped. They especially loved the brand-new song, In Your Mind. In fact, we had to play that song a second time, as an encore!“
What challenges did you encounter when preparing for this live recording?
Guido: “Honestly, we were in a very comfortable position. As mentioned before, Lennert mixed the sound for us at almost all of our gigs. The biggest challenge was probably Lennert’s high standards. The guy doesn’t do things by halves. He arrived at the gig with a van completely loaded with equipment. Because he was so engrossed in the preparations, all we could do was stand there and watch. We definitely think it was worth it and are happy to have such a cool guy on our team.“
How did you approach selecting which songs from “Further” to include in the setlist?
Björn: “We constrained ourselves to a set of approximately one hour, since we‘re quite loud live. So we had to omit some songs, like Laika I. Other songs, like Laika II and Robot Dancer are really just studio pieces. We have never played those live – although, maybe we should sometime?“
“In Your Mind” is a brand-new composition — can you share the inspiration behind it?
Sebastian: “The song is musically heavily influenced by all those British mid-sixties psychedelic stuff, you know, the waning days of the beat era where you can still hear the garage rock, but the guys definitely already knew what LSD was. Things like “See Emily Play,” “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” by the Electric Prunes, or “Talkin’ About the Good Times” by the Pretty Things. When I was a teenager, we used to drive around in this old car, and there was a mixtape with all those songs. It fascinated me from a young age and had a lasting impact on me. I originally really wanted the whole song to be sung in at least three-part harmony, but the sound is always so difficult in our rehearsal room, so we haven’t really been able to do that yet. Anyway, lyrically, the song went through several stages. That’s rather unusual for me; normally, I mulle over ideas for a bit, and then the lyrics just flow out of me in one go. But in this case, I revised it several times. Also because several songs with rather serious lyrics were written at that time, with, let’s say, topical and socially critical content and themes. We initially tried to avoid that. How do you formulate a coherent critique of capitalism in the two verses of a rock song? We preferred to sing about Russian street dogs in space or alien praying mantises destroying the world. But well, with all the crap going on in the world, you increasingly start thinking about other things, and so fewer escapist and more earthly themes appeared in the songwriting. “In Your Mind” represents a kind of transition point. At first, it was a song about a vague feeling of madness. In the end, it became a song about this constant barrage of noise from all kinds of media, which practically bombard us with advertising and nonsense, and which we not only have difficulty escaping, but which we also voluntarily expose ourselves to constantly with smartphones and social media, despite brain rot and the obviously negative consequences for our psyche and our cognitive abilities. The song turned out to be significantly faster and angrier than initially planned.“
How did the band’s dynamic change with the addition of Jasper on bass?
Guido: “First of all, it was a huge relief. Björn’s fingers on the organ were free again for experimental sounds and wild melodies, I dismantled the sample pad next to my drum kit, and Sebastian could fully immerse himself in the role of lead guitarist. Up until then, we’d all been busy in different places “imitating” the bass or underpinning low sounds to prevent the whole thing from collapsing. And then someone like Jasper comes along, who can actually play bass but isn’t limited to minimal accompaniment. From day one, so many new impulses and ideas flowed directly into the songs with him that they were able to evolve even further. Anyone who listens closely will quickly recognize where we’ve made adjustments.“
What role did Björn’s organ work play in shaping the live sound of the band?
Sebastian: “We started out as a pretty classic power trio, which you can still hear on Bandcamp on our EP “Best of their early Year.” I was playing bass back then. When things didn’t work out with our guitarist and singer at the time, it was just Guido and me for a while. That was pretty cool, too; Guido’s a Black Keys fan, so it was a good fit. I then took over
vocals, worked more with the synth, and played the Bass VI, which is basically a guitar an octave lower, a hybrid instrument that can play both guitar parts and bass lines. But all of that had its limitations. We experimented with loopers, sample pads on the drums and stuff and tried all sorts of things, but something was always missing. We just didn’t want to go back to a guitar at all, and when Björn came into our lives, everything just fell into place perfectly. The organ and the Bass VI are both instruments with a very wide tonal range; if one plays high, the other can play low, and vice versa. And so it became quite an unusual band sound by today’s standards. There aren’t that many organists around anymore, unfortunately. That’s how we ended up recording “Further.” Björn not only has an excellent style and a great sound, he’s also incredibly virtuosic, possesses a vast musical knowledge, and meticulously refines his parts. My guitar playing, by comparison, is rather shabby. Sure, the organ gives the band an even stronger retro feel, but Björn also makes it sound much more interesting, virtuosic, less static and a whole lot richer.“
Björn: “I am originally everything else, but an organ player. I have played drums, bass, guitar in bands, got a bit tired of it, so, when I saw the ad reading ‚psychedelic rock band looking for keyboard player‘, I immediately responded. The chemistry among the (then) three of us was great and after testing out a few sounds, like mellotron, rhodes and stuff like that, we quickly settled on Hammond Organ. I‘m a big fan of Deep Purple and have always loved the sound of the Hammond Organ. So I took on the challenge and learned how to play the beast. I guess being new to the instrument helps to keep things fresh, since everything you play is a discovery and not just the same old chords. I use an organ from 1971, but also an iPad for soundscapes and spacey stuff. I find this combination of retro and modern sounds quite fascinating.“
Were there any unexpected moments during the performance that stood out?
Björn: “The instrumental parts tend to take on a life of their own and that‘s a good thing. As soon as Jasper joined the band, we regularly embarked on long, wild, hyptnotic jams during rehearsals. I think, this shows particularly in the longer instrumental parts. It was only later that we discovered, that Jasper sometimes is also singing during those parts, albeit quite far away from the microphone. You can hear that in the heavy doom-part of Mantis for example. And what a voice he‘s got, pure goosebumps!“
How closely did you work with your sound engineer Lennert and mixer Nicolai in capturing the live energy?
Sebastian: “Nicolai is my brother. We know each other very well, both musically and in terms of what we’re into. Besides, Nicolai is also a fantastic rock organist. So, as a band, we had complete trust in him and simply let him do his thing. We used The Who’s Live At Leeds and Made in Japan by Deep Purple as a reference. We made a few versions, which we used to clarify some details, and then Nicolai delivered the final mix, which was then mastered by Björn. Lennert and Jasper are brothers, too, and they have a similar relationship. I think we’re all music nerds in the best sense, we’re all on the same wavelength and Lennert knows exactly what he’s doing from a technical point of view as well. So we all basically
shared the same vision from the get-go.“
Are there any particular moments on the live album you are especially proud of?
Guido: “For me, it’s always the halftime parts where you realize whether you’re in form or not. When Sebastian and I started out, we quickly realized that playing slowly together is harder than playing fast. When Björn joined, we were already busy trying to get into the same groove again. And with Jasper, who joined at the last minute, I panicked for a bit because the gig in Crow Hill was just around the corner. Completely unnecessary, though, because with Jasper in the band, everything clicked immediately. If I don’t have to mentally struggle to keep up with the band’s tempo, then I know those doom parts have been nailed! And honestly, I’m pretty proud of that!“
How does performing live influence your approach to songwriting?
Sebastian: “When we write and arrange songs, that happens in the rehearsal room with loud amps and in our live setup. We’re not a band that first records incredibly complex arrangements with a thousand tracks and super specific sounds in the studio and then figures out how to play them live. It’s exactly the opposite: We record the way we play live and then maybe add a few overdubs. Every now and then, a song like “Robot Dancer” comes along, which we recorded as a kind of country song, but we never play that live, though. Basically, we just write for the stage.“
Can you give us hints about the upcoming EP you mentioned?
Sebastian: “As I said, the songs we’re currently working on are all rather serious. “In Your Mind” is a reflection on fake news, disinformation campaigns, and social media. Another song deals with the fear of war, and more specifically, the fear of having to actively participate in war, which our children feel. The question “Would I fight or would I flee?” is
what preoccupies the younger generation, but also the new militarism in our society. The fact that Germany, of all places, suddenly has to be “war-ready” again, is simply disgusting. Another song is about how people in postmodern societies increasingly create only illusions of happiness through empty, hollow substitute activities, such as rampant consumerism. It’s quite strange: we are definitely political people, but we didn’t necessarily expect that this would be reflected so intensely in the lyrics and themes of the band. On the other hand, the crises in the world are also escalating. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the erosion of Western democracies by authoritarian forces worldwide… The climate movement has long since been defeated, and instead of young people putting pressure on politicians, societal power structures have been reinforced, and the older generation is once again sending the young into the military. All of this is reflected in our new songs. The songs are practically finished; we basically just need to record them.“
How do you see Mos Eisley Spaceport evolving musically in the next year?
Björn: “In the past few months we have seen a few shifts in the songwriting process. While earlier it was mainly Sebastian who brought in new songs, this is beginning to diversify with all members of the band contributing ideas and using the synergy of the rehearsal space to put things together. That way the songwriting is becoming more and more refined. Also,
we‘re using the jams, which we usually record, as source-material for new songs. To me this is especially exciting, because it captures that magical spirit of what it means to play in a band: spontaneous, raw energy, sheer joy and a whole lot of noise and vibes. Those jams tend to go into a more experimental, spacey, hypnotic, krauty direction, which I think will
definitely show in the new songs.“
With “Live on Crow Hill,” Mos Eisley Spaceport offers a vivid snapshot of their evolving sound and live prowess. The album, alongside the promise of new compositions and forthcoming releases, reinforces their place as a forward-thinking project within the contemporary Progressive Rock and Space Rock scenes. Fans and newcomers alike can look forward to more adventures from this imaginative ensemble.
Purchase “Live On Crow Hill” on Bandcamp: https://moseisleyspaceport.bandcamp.com/album/live-on-crow-hill