Swiss progressive rock group The Crazy Juggler’s Prog Orchestra, besides having a great name, also makes great music what is probably best documented on their latest opus, a studio album titled “Planet Euphoria – Part I.”

The band is already working on the follow-up to the mentioned album, and here is what they had to tell us about their work.

Define the mission of The Crazy Juggler’s Prog Orchestra.

Our mission is to combine the two generations of progressive rock music (70’s prog and the modern one) in a very various and experimental way. The Crazy Juggler, a character from our story behind, conducts the Prog Orchestra – ourselves, the band – to tell the story of Utopia from album to album.

Tell me about the creative process that informed your album “Planet Euphoria – Part I” and the themes it captures.

It was clear for us very early to create a story about a paradise-like Planet, the first album our characters find together and experience adventures on the search of paradise. It was an interesting challenge to find the suitable melodies and themes to this beautiful landscapes. As the music itself the fantasy of the lyrics don’t have any limitations, and that’s the best motivation for us to write music.

What is the message you are trying to give with “Planet Euphoria”?

It’s the message of an amazing planet, a paradise-like place called Euphoria, on which people and other creatures can live together in peace and freedom and in harmony with the nature and its beautiful landscapes: The classical utopian story.

How did you document the music while it was being formulated?

After writing the lyrics, we create and record the demo-tracks in our own studio, part by part, ‘til the song’s completed. We don’t work by sheet music, we only document the songs by recording it directly.

Is the dynamic flow of the pieces carefully architected?

Yes it is. It’s very important for us, especially in writing concept albums, to create the pieces very exactly. The flow must be dynamic and constant, but it’s difficult sometimes, because we always have to follow the conceptional story line by writing music. It’s kind of a positive challenge.

Describe the approach to recording the album.

We first have to advance the story behind the music and then we can create the suitable music to that story. Sometimes we’ve already written some musical parts which we have to integrate to the suitable story background. It’s like a big puzzle that we have to complete finally by recording it.

How long “Planet Euphoria” was in the making? 

This time, we’ve been working on that album for over two years. It was a long, but very pleasurable time in the studio. And we’re very motivating to record the second part of “Planet Euphoria” next year.

Which bands or artists influenced your work on the release?

We always are influenced by 70’s prog giants (Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, etc.) and by the modern prog heroes (Dream Theater, The Flower Kings, Ayreon etc.) It’s our mission to always find a way to combine these two different generations of prog music.

What is your view on technology in music?

There are positive and negative sides. You can do everything today, for example recording your own songs by yourself, release videos or music by social medias, etc. It’s a lot easier today to present your music worldwide. But on the otherside, we don’t like the commercial side of music industry, because the most music of today is being programmed and not played live. People just don’t have the time for writing or listening to music anymore, especially in the Pop, Electronic, Hip Hop business…

Do you see your music as serving a purpose beyond music?

In the foreground there will always be the music itself, but of course we also spread unconscious utopian messages in our Utopia-Story. The main message is to live in peace and freedom, and when I look at the world’s peace and freedom at the moment, it would be maybe helpful for some people to take our messages behind the lyrics to heart.

What are your plans for the future?

We’ve started to re-record “The Utopia EP”, which is sold out and needed to be re-arranged. We also plan to make a little regional tour in the middle of the year.

And we’ve already recorded the demo-tracks for “Planet Euphoria – Part Two” to release it early next year.

For more informations: Please visit www.facebook.com/utopiaprog