You just have to read the band biography, as it is one of the best that I have come across in years. “41POINT9 came about in a dark, cobweb filled corner of Bob Madsen’s mind. One day whilst navel gazing, he thought to himself, “My, there’s a lot of lint in there.” Err..... umm.... scratch that..... what I meant to say is..... he thought to himself, “If its unlikely I’ll ever make money making music, then I’m just gonna make music that I want to hear and that I enjoy making” With that decided, he went back to wondering why the lint was blue when he was wearing a red sweatshirt.......
A few months later Bob (who plays bass by the way) tried to put together a band that would just be about having fun and writing the type of music that got the blood pumping, with songs that told stories and didn’t skimp on the musical ideas and musicianship. At first he tried using local players to form the band, but that didn’t quite work out so well. Then he remembered his old friend and former vocalist and founding member of Enchant- Brian Cline. Brian had done some great work on a Jazz album of Bob’s and the two had had such a good time, it seemed like a no-brainer to work together again. He called Brian, begged, whined and cajoled until Brian finally acquiesced and agreed to become part of the band. Reportedly there are some photographs in a safety deposit box somewhere, that when Brian was reminded of their existence, tipped the odds in favor of his joining the band.
Next up, Kenny Steel joined the band. Fresh out of a recovery program for addicted metal heads, Kenny added the missing ingredient that Brian and Bob so clearly needed. Namely, he knew what the heck he was doing musically while Bob (and to a lesser extent Brian) were pretty clueless in this department. Kenny is the man with the fingers,... no, I mean it...... he actually has ten of the little things and they seem to know what to do most of the time. He routinely convinces them to do amazing things on guitar and keyboard and in the process helps out immensely when Bob and Brian paint themselves into a musical corner. So there you have it, the core of 41POINT9 was formed. This group of misfit musicians started writing music and having a blast doing it. Along the way somehow they convinced Nick D’Virgilio and Jimmy Keegan of Spock’s Beard Fame to lend their prowess at smacking things to the album project. The world is just lucky they usually smack drums rather than random strangers. (however when they read this bio, Bob may get smacked a bit!)
After completing 7 of 9 songs for their debut album entitled “Still Looking For the Answers”- the project was picked up by Prog Rock Records and the album was released in early 2011. Unfortunately it is unclear whether Prog Rock Records really know what they have gotten into yet, however, the ink is dry on the contracts and all concerned are excited to see where this new collaboration of band and record company will lead. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead! and by the way, Bob is still confused about that blue lint........”
The album? Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. I really enjoyed the mix of Jadis with some more poppy elements, so much so that I have been playing it quite a lot. It doesn’t really fit in with what most people believe progressive rock should be, as it is often too laid back and mainstream, but also too progressive to fit in with the radio crowd. In an ideal world this will be accepted with open arms as I really liked it, but it may fall between different camps of musical thought which could cause it issues. I know that the band had already been rejected for inclusion on ProgArchives (because I checked, and then asked if they could be), which is a shame as to me this is crossover that works really well indeed.
www.41point9.com
