Audioholics has an awesome interview with the band members of Sound of Contact, both collectively and individually.

Simon Collins says there: “The band I used to dream about when I was a kid has now arrived and I’m bloody excited about it!”

Oh yes. We are too, Simon!

Check out what Simon (SC) and Dave Kerzner (DK) say when they are asked about why they are doing prog:

SC: This band is exploring new sonic ground but also playing homage to some of our favorite music.  We don’t really look at it as just prog-rock.  There is pop sensibility in the band and it’s on the album, so we don’t look at it that way.

DK: I don’t have a problem being associated with the “prog-rock” label because that’s ultimately a good thing. We’d love nothing more than to do our part in helping to bring that adventurous, experimental and eclectic style back into the fold. I personally miss the excitement of new albums coming out with rich atmosphere, story, dynamics, mood and thought-provoking lyrics. I hope we see more and more of it to be honest. It’s fuel. Fortunately there are some classic albums of this genre to listen to and discover for people who are new to it. But it’s nice to offer new music of that nature to the world. To me it’s a form of giving back. This is what motivated me to want to make music in the first place. The art and beauty of it.

Dave Kerzner also gives the details there on his insanely great keyboard and synth collection:

• Yamaha CP70
• Kawai EP-308
• Hammond C3 Organ with Leslie 122
• Hammond L100 with Leslie 145
• RMI Electra Piano
• Arp Quadra, Solina and Arp 2600
• EMS Synthi AKS
• Oberheim 8 Voice SEMs and OBXa
• EML 200 Modular
• Serge Modular
• Roland System 100
• Sequential Circuits Prophet 10, Prophet 5 Rev 2 and Prophet T8
• Wurlitzer 200A, 270, 140B
• Hohner Electra Piano, Pianet N, Clavinet D6, Cembalet
• Baldwin Electric Harpsichord
• Vox Continental and Farfisa organs
• Roland VP330 Vocoder
• Yamaha EX-1, CS60
• Rhodes Mk1, Mk2, Mk5 and Suitcase 88
• Minimoog Model D
• Moog Taurus I
• Univox MiniKorg
• Arp ProSoloist
• Mellotron M400
• Eigenharp Alpha
• Haken Continuum Fingerboard
• Yamaha Motif XF7
• Nord Stage 2 73 and 88
• Nord Wave
• Prorphet VS rack
• Yamaha FS1r
• Kawai K5000r
• Kurzweil K2600
• Roland V-Synth rack and 5080
• Korg EX 8000
• Oberheim Matrix 1000
• Arturia Origin

Whoa! Built for prog, I must say.

And don’t miss the cool interview over at Gigs and Festivals, where the guys reveal their favorite tracks on the Dimensionaut album:

SC: I really love ‘Cosmic Distance Ladder‘ as it is one of few tracks on the album that came out of pure jamming and chemistry. It captures the sound of our band in the sense it really highlights all of our musicianship and our ability as a band to create a mental atmosphere.

DK: It’s hard to pick one but if I had to then maybe ‘Omega Point’ would be my choice because it was done in only one take and the music just came out of thin air it seemed. We wrote the words around this jam in the studio and that has a raw energy to it that I really like. Plus the lyrics are a mind trip.

As for me, my favorite Prog Song of 2012 was Flying Colors’ “Infinite Fire.”

But for 2013, the track seemingly destined to take the title is “Möbius Slip“!

What more needs to be said? “Salvation found!”