Multi-instrumentalist, poet, novelist and translator: Pedro Carmona-Alvarez is a Norwegian artist who releases his music under the name Moonpedro And The Sinking Ship. Since 2007 he has released three albums: Ed Wood (2007), Homegrown (2013) and Let´s Pig (2018).
His books are translated to several languages, such as English, German, Danish, Turkish and Czech. He is also translator from Spanish and English , and in 2015 he was handpicked by PJ Harvey to translate her book of book of poems The Hollow of The Hand to both Norwegian and Spanish.
In the 90´s Pedro Carmona-Alvarez was the singer of Sister Sonny, and between 1995 and 2007 he released several records with the band.
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For many years I dreamed of making a deconstructed, playful version of The Beatles´ eponymous and iconic album from 1968, generally known as The White Album. But it was first after meeting pianist Einar Sogstad that I realized that the project was something more than just a crazy idea; our mutual interest, love and passion for The Beatles´ music made us start working on these songs in 2011. We had just found a rehearsal space with our good friend and excellent bass player Anders. My buddy Lars used to come in to the studio to hang out and have a good time, and he too became involved in the project on an early stage.
We approached the material as life-long obsessive fans of The Beatles, but also as musicians whose philosophy is that a song can be something quite elastic and bendy; instead of trying to do a straight forward cover-album, we started improvising with groove and chords, trying to re-compose, simplify, obscure and play with tonality, arrangements and harmony. We wanted to experiment with this iconic and well-known material, and manipulate our versions of the songs bearing in mind everything that has happened in music since The White Album first appeared 50 years ago; how far from the original version can one strain without loosing The Beatles out of sight? How small amounts of tonality or rhythm can one musically suggest before everybody recognizes it as a Beatles´s song? We wanted to explore the enormous influence The Beatles work has had on our collective consciousness, have a good time and prove that the material itself has the quality of all truly great art: that it is unbreakable.
I once read and interview with Paul McCartney. He was asked about his work. Work? He replied? We don´t work. We play. And the recording process for this album, I´m proud to say, has been playful, ragged, and indie-like from beginning to end, an approach that obviously is a nod to how The White Album was made in the first place. We love the variety, the different styles, the sounds, the experimenting and the playfulness of the whole thing, we love how it seemed more important for The Beatles to include everything they wanted, to explore and try different things, rather than making a shorter, ”better” album, as people have suggested over the years. We think the beauty of The White Album lies in it´s need for being untidy, unperfect, funny and serious at the same time. The Beatles ´work has taught us that it´s crucial to pursue your inner visions in order to be true to your self as an artist. We have made this album with the deepest love and respect, 50 years after the original record came out. We hope you like it.
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“The Beatles ‘White Album’ Revisited” is scheduled for release on November 22nd through Norwegian label Apollon Records.
Track list:
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road
I Will
Julia
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature’s Son
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for…
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long Long Long
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night
