Spock's Beard keyboard player Ryo Okumoto has released a teaser video for his upcoming solo album The Myth Of The Mostrophus which will be released through InsideOut Music on July 29. You can watch the trailer below.
It's been 20 years since Okumoto released his last solo album, 2002's Coming Through and The Myth Of The Mostrophus seems him hook up with a host of famous guests including Steve Hackett, Okkumoto's Spock's Beard band mates Ted Leonard, Alan Morse and Dave Meros, his fellow ProgJect band mates Michael Sadler (Saga), Jonathan Mover and Mike Keneallly as well as Marc Bonilla (Keith Emerson), Nick D'Virgilio (Big Big Train), Randy McStine and I Am The Manic Whale's Michael Whiteman.
"While participating in a livestream event called The Fusion Christmas Cracker I saw a band called I Am The Manic Whale and was especially impressed by their lead singer/bassist Michael Whteman so I contacted him to see if he’d be interested in being a 'collabowriter' for my next solo album. He enthusiastically said, 'Yes'," explains Okumoto. "I sent 30 ideas to Michael; he got to work and began sending back demos, one by one, and as they say, the rest is history – I had the basis of my album!
"I wanted to produce my own version of Spock's Beard, so I called the members and they all agreed to participate. The first song on the record is called Mirror, Mirror, which happens to be the episode from Star Trek where Mr. Spock has a beard. A perfect match! Another song, The Myth of the Mostrophus, is a 22-minute epic and is also the title song on the album. Who doesn’t like epic songs?! “Myth” felt like it should be the last song on the album, which also led to my decision to go with Spock’s Beard members.
"I called Nick D'Virgilio, who recorded his drums and the wheels were in motion. Dave Meros and Alan Morse then overdubbed their parts at their respective home studios, and lastly, Nick and Ted Leonard sang – “Ryo’s Beard” was complete."
The Myth Of The Mostrophus will be available in a CD digipak from InsideOut, a 2 LP+CD package in black vinyl, a special limited edition 2 LP+CD with transparent red vinyl LPs (limited to 300), plus the Japanese CD edition with 2 bonus tracks. You can see the new album artwork and tracklisting below.
Pre-order The Myth Of The Mostrophus.
Ryo Okumoto: The Myth of the Mostrophus
1. Mirror Mirror [09:27]
2. Turning Point [06:53]
3. The Watchmaker (Time On His Side) [06:25]
4. Maximum Velocity [08:11]
5. Chrysalis [07:35]
6. The Myth of the Mostrophus [22:14]
Additionally, the Japanese Edition of the CD includes the following bonus tracks:
