00:00Hi, this is Leslie Mandoki from Mandoki Soulmates, and you're watching Live Minute TV.
00:06Influential producer, musician, and world-renowned Hungarian singer Leslie Mandoki formed his
00:11Mandoki Soulmates band 32 years ago, alongside founding members Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson,
00:18Cream's Jack Bruce, and guitar great Al DiMeola.
00:23Their latest masterpiece, recorded completely in analog vinyl from start to finish, is called
00:28A Memory of Our Future, and it's a handwritten love letter, a call to action, if you will,
00:33against division and for humanity, something we can all use right about now.
00:38We call it A Vinyl Jazzy Prog Rock Love Letter to All Who Appreciate Truly Great Music in
00:44Authentically Beautiful Vinyl Form.
00:47And to make it all the more lovely, it comes complete with an actual 12-page booklet of
00:52liner notes, handwritten by Mandoki himself.
00:56This is a Life Minute with Leslie Mandoki.
01:02Thanks so much for joining us.
01:04Hi, thank you for having me.
01:06Congratulations on this rock album.
01:10It's really beautiful.
01:11Thank you so much.
01:12Tell us about it for those that don't know.
01:15What did it all mean to you, and how did it come together?
01:17How should I start?
01:18I was a little boy growing up strong behind the Iron Curtain.
01:23Russian dictatorship, you're told in school that you're never going to see London or New
01:27York, or you have to hate America.
01:31And then I had a vision with my teenage band to fuse British prog rock like Chapter of
01:36Town with American fusion jazz like Return to Forever.
01:41So, as my father died, and it's that bad, he said, you've got to leave, and you should
01:46live your dreams and don't dream your life.
01:49And that's what became a song on the album.
01:51So it took about until I became 22 that we found the tunnel, and Gabo Chupro and myself,
01:58we just managed to escape.
01:59I was just trying to live my dreams and don't dream my life.
02:02What would you say the concept of this new record is?
02:06It has a lyrical message concept.
02:08That's also the reason why you have this black span as a cover.
02:12Because we all feel that we are living in a divided world, that we're living in a labyrinth
02:17of crisis, and the compass is lost.
02:20We are just in like a dark tunnel, and there is no lighting torch at the end of this tunnel.
02:26And we record an album which is really this guiding light at the end of the tunnel.
02:31Musically, it was a great experience because, first of all, it was an experiment.
02:37It was a huge challenge.
02:39We were out on the road.
02:40At the end of the show, we were singing the last song of Utopia for real.
02:46And I was saying at the end of the show, well, we're passing on the torch to the younger rebels.
02:52But then I kept on saying, wait a minute, wait a minute.
02:54The world turned to be a mess.
02:56We can't pass on the torch.
02:58We have to fix it first.
02:59So I kept on writing songs on the road.
03:01And one of the very special issues is that this album was not planned.
03:05It was not like we had already the advance of the record company, and we have to do it right now.
03:09But we looked at our itinerary, and we could locate only a very short period of time
03:15that everybody could get together.
03:17Here, by the way.
03:18And I said, you know what?
03:19What about to record this analog?
03:22Because the whole art and the whole creativity process is going to take place during the recording
03:29and not in a post-production.
03:30Now I'm asking you as a lady, how would you like to get a love letter?
03:33As a handwritten love letter or a text message?
03:36Handwritten.
03:37Okay, this is a handwritten album.
03:39So we thought, okay, and like in a handwritten letter,
03:41if in the second page you mess up something, then you have to restart the whole process.
03:45So this time I was not programming anything.
03:47So I just took the pencil, I wrote it down, sheet music, and I learned.
03:51And we got together, put up the red light, and played.
03:54Consequently, the whole everything sounds totally different
03:57because we don't have this solo after solo, whatever.
04:00It's all we played together.
04:02You feel this interaction.
04:03We had really a lot of joy to record this way in analog.
04:08How did you come up with the name Mandoki Soulmates?
04:11I was born as Leslie Mandoki.
04:13Actually, my original Hungarian name was Leslie.
04:16One of my bandmates had the same name.
04:18So we thought, okay, one of us is going to change it to English.
04:21So that's how I became Leslie.
04:23But Mandoki is the way I was born.
04:25So this is my original name.
04:26But Soulmates, it was not my idea.
04:28It was a funny situation.
04:30The band always being called just Mandoki, like Santana or Bon Jovi.
04:34But as well about the third album,
04:36I had approximately nine titles for the album on a piece of paper.
04:40And I was visiting my dear friend Aldi Manola.
04:43Which of these eight or nine titles would you prefer?
04:46Because I can't decide. I think I like all of them.
04:49And he said, you know what, I have a better one.
04:51Why don't we call ourselves Soulmates?
04:53Because that's what we are.
04:54We are truly Soulmates.
04:55Actually, we left this Mandoki because everything in our catalog
04:59is running on the Mandoki service.
05:04Most of my songs are not written by me.
05:07I just wrote them down.
05:08Life gave me the privilege to be a songwriter.
05:12I can't believe that Ian Anderson, for example,
05:15he was your idol.
05:17Now you're playing with him.
05:19You did this record.
05:20How did you even get in touch with him?
05:22He loved my songs, my writing, my playing.
05:24And so he just joined the band.
05:27And this happened with all the others.
05:29Actually, when you see on the YouTube bar Frank Prescott,
05:32there is a making of and Ian Anderson is telling the story.
05:34So from his point of view, I only can recommend.
05:37Check that out because it's wonderful to hear.
05:40And then you were a producer too.
05:42Tell us about your producing career too.
05:44You produced for a lot of heavy hit artists.
05:46No Angels, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins.
05:48To become a producer was kind of the most organic,
05:52natural growing thing in life.
05:54Because I think Ian Anderson is perfectly right
05:57that you should be a great musician, as he's saying,
06:00to be a great producer.
06:02To have this understanding for how we work in the studio,
06:04what is the atmosphere.
06:06And I was spending my lifetime in the studios.
06:09Until about four years ago,
06:11I was building one of the biggest studios in mainland Europe.
06:14And I became a father.
06:16I didn't want to move back and forth
06:18between the States and England and Germany.
06:20Actually, in the first year as I established my studio,
06:23here by the lake, I mean, I'll show you.
06:26Wow, it's so beautiful.
06:28You know, we are candling here with all the stars.
06:31I'm very happy about all these wonderful, great artists
06:35giving me the privilege and the honor to trust me.
06:38What I'm trying to give is artistical and technical added values.
06:43So I'm a kind of American type of producer.
06:46Most of the mainland European producers have a certain sound,
06:49especially Swedish producers or German producers.
06:52I'm not that kind.
06:54I'm rather like in the school of my dear friend, Chris Johns,
06:57that I'm trying to create with certain artists
07:00and artistical added values.
07:02And you're touring?
07:03Yeah, of course, touring a lot.
07:05And actually, this time we're going to play
07:07a couple of big, big, big summer festivals in Europe.
07:10And it's always a big fun.
07:12♪
07:25What will fans get when they see you play live?
07:27They get the best concert experience.
07:29No show, no big lighting things.
07:32We just play, and we play four and a half hours.
07:36What does music do for people?
07:38Create peace and understanding and mutual values,
07:41builds bridges.
07:43Music is the greatest human form.
07:45I think it's just time to say again,
07:47let's make music and love more work.
07:50To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast,
07:52Life Minute TV on iTunes and all streaming podcast platforms.
07:57♪
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