Rhys Marsh’s Mandala have released a live video of them performing their track Sun, exclusively via Prog.
The song is taken from the band’s debut album Midnight Twilight. Made up of songs written between 1997 and 2005, the record is due for release on May 4.
Mandala was the first group Marsh was involved in – formed in 1997 before the birth of The Autumn Ghost. After a break, Mandala are back together.
The live video of Sun was filmed in the studio where the band were recording the album.
Marsh tells Prog: “Sun is actually the first song I ever wrote. I was meant to be heading to college, but I picked up my acoustic guitar, put it into an Eastern tuning and about five minutes later the song was born. We rehearsed it that evening, and it became our trademark song.”
As proud as he is of the track, Sun is something of an unlucky number for Marsh. He adds: “Quite often when we played Sun, something would break. The first time we recorded it, in 1998, the power went out during playback.
“At the last London concert we had, in 2006, I managed to break my low string. I didn’t realise until the end of the song because I was wildly thrashing about, but I looked down at my maple guitar neck and saw blood all over it. Turns out the broken string had cut my thumb. It was the last song we played, and it was a very rock ’n’ roll way to go out.”
Recorded in front of an invited audience, the new live version of Sun went without incident, Marsh says.
Mandala play London’s 93 Feet East on June 18._ Midnight Twilight_ is available for pre-order at Burning Shed.
Marsh issued his debut solo album Sentiment last year.
