GHOST LAND
Release Date: January 17, 2025

Venture into the Mystic: John Beckmann and The Mortal Prophets Release 'Ghost Land.'

New York, NY — John Beckmann and The Mortal Prophets have done it again with their latest release, "Ghost Land." This ambient-alternative soundtrack transcends the conventional boundaries of music, offering a profound auditory experience that feels otherworldly and deeply introspective.

"Ghost Land" is aptly described by Beckmann as "Imaginary Cinema," and indeed, each track feels like the score to an unmade film set in a cosmic Western Martian landscape. The influence of Cormac McCarthy is palpable throughout the album, with Beckmann channeling the novelist’s penchant for exploring the mystical and the macabre.

The album is a sensory journey through strange terrains, with ethereal melodies, haunting voices, and rhythms that linger long after the music stops. Following the narrative thread of "The Twang Gang (Live In Berlin)," "Ghost Land" continues to push the envelope, blending ambient and alternative music in a way that is both innovative, haunting, and deeply moving.

Whether you're using it as a backdrop for meditation, seeking a moment of relaxation, or simply want to lose yourself in an expansive world of sound, "Ghost Land" delivers on all fronts. Beckmann and The Mortal Prophets have crafted an album that is not just heard, but felt, making it a standout release in the ambient genre.

"Ghost Land" will be available on all major streaming platforms starting January 17, 2025. Don't miss the chance to immerse yourself in this ethereal soundscape – it’s an experience not to be missed.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals, arrangements, electronics and production
Parker Bryant: guitars
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: keyboards and organ
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York, and
Hana Road Studios, Montreux, Switzerland

TRACKLISTING:
01. No Mercy
02. Outlaw Idol
03. New Dawn
04. Idiot Savant
05. Kin Folk
06. Lay Down
07. Scalped
08. Ghost Land
09. Gunslinger
10. Gather Around The Fire
11. Hanged Man
12. Black Sun Eclipse
13. Hustler
14. Double Crossed
15. Drifter
16. Hold On
17. The Kid
18. Stranger
19. The Last Horse
20. Hidden Hand
21. We Came In Peace
22. Seven Heavenly Messengers
23. Blood Red Sunset

THE LAUREL CANYON - Lost Sessions (1966-69) Remastered in stereo
Release Date: November 29, 2024

John Beckmann and The Mortal Prophets Unleash Laurel Canyon: The Lost Sessions (1966-69) —A Psychedelic Freakout for the Ages 

New York, NY — Imagine this: it’s 1969, the air is thick with incense, the acid is just starting to kick in, and somewhere in the smog-choked hills of Laurel Canyon, the last great rock ‘n’ roll sound is being born. 

Fast forward to now. John Beckmann, the madman behind The Mortal Prophets, has cracked open a time capsule no one knew existed and unleashed Laurel Canyon: The Lost Sessions—10 tracks of mind-bending, instrumental psychedelia that’ll melt your brain faster than a handful of tabs at a Grateful Dead show. 

Beckmann and his crew recorded this fever dream at Sunset Sound, ground zero for the ghosts of rock legends, in a whirlwind week of cosmic madness. No modern gear, no digital crap. We’re talking pure vintage instruments: Moog synthesizers that sound like they’re being played by aliens, wah-wah pedals crying out like banshees, fuzz distortion thick enough to drown in, and amps that could’ve powered Hendrix himself. The result? A sound so raw, so authentic, it feels like the lost soundtrack to an acid trip that never ended. 

Holed up in Laurel Canyon—where rock gods once roamed—Beckmann and his band inhaled the vibes, soaked up the history, and let the madness flow. This isn’t some sanitized nostalgia act. No, Laurel Canyon: The Lost Sessions is the real deal: a vision of a music that should have existed but never did—until now. It’s the sound of a world gone beautifully off the rails.  

Beckmann, always the rogue, isn’t content to let The Mortal Prophets stick to their usual dark gospel and blues, and experimental alternative music. This time, he’s lit the fuse on a sonic explosion that blows through the boundaries of time and space. The result is an album that feels like a long-lost freakout from a place where the counterculture didn’t just break, it shattered into a thousand kaleidoscopic fragments. 

Forget what you think you know about Beckmann and The Mortal Prophets—Laurel Canyon: The Lost Sessions is a different beast altogether. It’s a strange, swirling trip back to an era that never really ended.

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: concept, electronics, arrangements, and production
Parker Bryant: guitars, and sitars
Richmond Davis: keyboards, synthesizers, and organ
Carte Blanche: percussion, and drums
Concertina: bass
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York and
Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California
(Mastered in Stereo)

TRACK LISTING
1. Tune In
2. The Trip
3. Orange Sunshine
4. Lookout Mountain
5. Whiskey A Go Go
6. Sunset Strip
7. Spaced Out
8 Stardust Soul
9. Astral Rays
10. Surf Lodge Psycho

THE AMERICAN JUNKIE SHOW
Release Date: September 27, 2024

TThe Mortal Prophets Unveil a 7-Minute Opus "The American Junkie Show"

New York, NY — The Mortal Prophets, acclaimed for their poignant and provocative sound, are set to release their latest EP, American Junkie, on September 27. The standout feature of this release is “The American Junkie Show,” a seamless 7-minute composition that interweaves two powerful tracks to deliver a comprehensive critique of American society at a pivotal moment in American Politics - the hotly contested Presidential Elections.

This ambitious piece begins with “American Junkie,” a song crafted by the band’s frontman, John Beckmann. It dives deep into the turbulent undercurrents of contemporary American life, using raw emotion and incisive social commentary. Beckmann's reimagining of “The Star-Spangled Banner” turns its patriotic imagery on its head, exposing a landscape pot-marked by conflict and disillusionment. Lyrics such as “I’m an American Junkie, just down on my knees, whistling ‘Sweet Dixie’ in the land of the free” set a tone of both lament and defiance.

The second part of “The American Junkie Show” features “An American Scene,” which offers a scathing critique of American society. With lines like:

“Skrying on our phones
Hey man, nobody's home
Sell them your drugs
Let them overdose, who cares
It's all about the bottom line
Please sign on the dotted line”

“Honorary name
On the wing of a museum
Some call it philanthropy
Let's call it hypocrisy
Manifest destiny”

“There's nothing left to burn
There's nothing left to steal
There's nothing left to feel”

“American Scene” delivers a biting commentary on the façade of the American Dream, dissecting its underbelly with searing lyrics that critique historical narratives, societal addiction and decay, and the commodification of life itself.

Produced by the acclaimed David Sisko, “The American Junkie Show” benefits from his expert touch, providing a polished yet raw sound that amplifies the band’s message. The accompanying music video for the single “American Junkie”, directed by Michele Civetta, visually enriches the composition with striking imagery and a narrative that deepens its thematic impact, which shows Beckmann kneeling in front of institutions of power like the New York Stock Exchange, and the United Nations building.

American Junkie underscores The Mortal Prophets' evolution as artists who blend poetic insight with a sound that is both timeless and urgently relevant. With its seamless integration of two powerful tracks and its provocative content, the EP is poised to resonate deeply with listeners in today’s charged cultural climate

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Gerald Menke: guitars
David Sisko: producer and various instruments
Tom Rogers: mastering
Recorded in NYC, MinMax Studio

TRACK LISTING
1. American Junkie - Extended Version
2. American Junkie
3. An American Scene

ICNCLST/
Release Date: August 20, 2024

New York, NY — After recasting the blues and its rock and roll offspring in the image of the brilliantly wrecked American psyche on the game-changing Dealey Plaza Blues that arrived with a heat shimmer intensity last summer, Mortal Prophets' John Beckmann, ever restless, ever prolific, is back with ICNCLST a 7-song EP of sinuously psychedelic, rock-tinged pop that, while arriving in August, bears all the traits of a late-summer classic.

Produced by David Sisko and mastered by Mike Tucci, with session master Gerald Menke (The Dixons, Dent May) lending his unique guitar talents while Sisko deftly fills in on multiple instruments as needed, ICNCLST's every sound, as on its predecessor, is impeccably in place.

Consider the trippy and tricky "Flowers For You," all reverbed vocal echoes, a crying pedal-steel and sitar-kissed atmospherics resulting in a post-Nuggets classic crafted with the mess of our modern times in mind, it’s a cut that somehow manages to chime and charm as much as it haunts and disturbs around the edge"The Sun Is On Fire" channels the escapist impulses of peak-era Doors and cants them through a best-of-the-80s filter with the same effortless panache that DPB taught us to expect. Propulsive, atmospheric, and not a little fraught, the track rings with a classic rock-n-roll fatalism, no surprise given lines like “the sun is on fire and we live to die.”

The slyly remarkable "Bang Bang," soaked in urban intrigue like the best spy-themed B-movie you've ever heard, slinks into your consciousness like Peter Gunn’s ghostly shadow out on the prowl. For further proof of the track’s dark allure, check out the accompanying video made by Michele Civetta, which is full of noirish menace and jumpy innuendo and presented in deliriously unsettling black and white.

The New York-centric track "Who's That Girl" with its minimalist groove like some sultry take on slow-motion synth-wave, Beckmann's fluid baritone tracing a path right down the center between cynicism and yearning, the two so tightly wound around each other as to be conjoined twins.

The multi-layered, dusky "So Real" and “Like The Night” are as ghostly as they are luxuriant with the kind of bass lines that dreams are made of, Beckmann elucidates the plain pain of missing someone so much the ache is visceral, the vision of them somewhere between a mirage and a velvet fever dream, via Percy Shelley.

“Dreamland,” the concluding song is a kaleidoscopic wonder suspended between Bryan Ferry, The Wizard of Oz, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Beckmann croons “Did you ever wonder where dreams come from.”

An EP that not only upholds limitless repeat listenings but improves with each one, ICNCLST, at the very least, confirms that Mortal Prophets and the guy at its helm continue their reign as one of our current music world's most invaluable sources of straight-up pop classics designed, rather precisely, for our jaded, hope-against-hope hearts. Oh, and, not to tease, but there’s one more little secret to let you in on, the next Album is already wrapped and awaiting release. Mortal Prophets: a relentless creative force that, with astutely chosen assistance, acts with the prowess of a one-man Brill Building that’s come to rescue us from the decades-long doldrums that the well-crafted pop song has been mired in. Hallelujah.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals, lyrics, and electronics
Gerald Menke: guitar and steel string
David Sisko: instrumentals, production + mix
Studio: MinMax, New York
Mike Tucci: mastering

TRACKLISTING:
01. Flowers For You
02. Sun Is On Fire
03. Bang Bang
04. Who’s That Girl
05. So Real
06. Like The Night
07. Dreamland

NEW BREED (Single)
Release Date: July 5, 2024

John Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets Ignite the Summer with "New Breed"

New York, NY — The New York music scene is ablaze this summer, thanks to John Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets. Today marks the release of their electrifying new single, "New Breed," a tantalizing preview of their much-anticipated album, The Confessions of a Sword Swallower, set to drop this fall.

Accompanying the release is a visually stunning, technocolored video directed by filmmaker Michelle Civetta. The video features a futuristic UFO landing amidst ancient Maya ruins, perfectly complementing the track's avant-garde spirit.

True to form, the Mortal Prophets continue to defy stylistic boundaries, blending Post Punk, Indie, and Black Metal into a sonic whirlwind that is as innovative as it is exhilarating. Mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer Joe LaPorta of Sterling Sound—best known for his work on David Bowie's final album, Black Star—"New Breed" is a testament to the band's audacious musical vision.

At a blistering 176 bpm, "New Breed" is a high-energy chant that promises to captivate and energize listeners. Beckmann's fearless approach to music-making shines through in this single, pushing the limits of what can be achieved within the traditional confines of genre.

"I've been working on several EPs and a few full albums in the past six months, shifting between what I call 'Imaginary Cinema,' a forthcoming Alternative-Indie based 7-song EP with New York producer David Sisko, and another 5-song Dream Pop EP with Irish producer William Declan Rubey. It's been a fruitful time right now, so I’m just running as fast as I can," Beckmann shared.

As the release date for The Confessions of a Sword Swallower approaches, fans can expect an unforgettable album that continues to challenge the conventional limits of modern rock. Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets are poised to deliver a series of groundbreaking releases, each more audacious than the last.

Stay tuned for more updates on The Confessions of a Sword Swallower. With John Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets at the helm, one thing is certain: expect the unexpected.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals, arrangements, and electronics
David Sisko: mix
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York
Joe LaPorta: mastering, Sterling Sound
Michele Civetta: video

TRACKLISTING:
01. New Breed

MEINE LIEBE [EP]
Release Date: Jun 14, 2024

John Beckmann AKA Mortal Prophets and NYC producer David Sisko Revive a Lost Musical Gem with New EP "Meine Liebe"

New York, NY — In a Munich record store in 2018, John Beckmann, frontman for the Mortal Prophets, unearthed a mysterious acetate record bearing the name "Meine Liebe." It had no artist, no musician's name, only the haunting strains of German opera mingled with European electronica and new-wave echoes. Entranced by its wild and untamed beauty, Beckmann guessed it hailed from 1977. Yet despite his search, reaching out to historians of German Electronica, the creators of "Meine Liebe" remained shrouded in shadows.

The enigma of the record sparked a fire in Beckmann. He vowed to revive and reimagine this lost musical artifact. He brought his discovery to David Sisko, a producer in New York City, and the project seized Sisko's imagination too. Together, they journeyed to resurrect "Meine Liebe," crafting a bold new EP.

“What is real is what can be imagined, this collection of songs captures the glitter and doom of what was the Weimar Period in Germany” stated Beckmann.

This EP bears six incarnations of the original track. From a meticulous recreation of the mono pressing to a contemporary stereo mix, and four even more spellbinding electronica and trip-hop renditions, each version offers a fresh lens through which to view the enigmatic song. This endeavor breathes life into a forgotten piece of music and delves into the depths of alternative music history.

Come June 14, "Meine Liebe" will emerge from the shadows. Beckmann and Sisko’s collaboration promises to enthrall listeners with its blend of historical mystery and innovative sound. Their work is a testament to the timeless nature of music, where past and present converge in a symphony of endless possibilities.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals, lyrics, and artwork
David Sisko: various instruments, production + mix
Studio: MinMax, new york
Tom Rogers: mastering, los angeles

TRACKLISTING:
01. Meine Liebe - Weimar Tango (Mono)
02. Meine Liebe - Weimar Tango (Stereo)
03. Meine Liebe - Cologne 77
04. Meine Liebe - Belgian Club Mix
05. Meine Liebe - Trip-Hop
06. Meine Liebe - Titanic Last Dance

BRIAN ENO IN HEAVEN [EP]
Release Date: May 17, 2024

New York, NY — In the words of sculptor David Smith, "My reality... is not one thing; it is a chain of interlocking visions." This sentiment resonates deeply with John Beckmann, a quintessential downtown New York artist whose boundless creativity has manifested in a chameleon-like array of solo projects and collaborations with his band, the Mortal Prophets.

Beckmann's artistic journey is as mercurial as it is expansive, spanning from early blues-infused electronic experiments to what he terms "Imaginary Cinema" in his cosmic cowboy-themed venture, "The Twang Gang [Live in Berlin]" Most recently, he delved into the realm of haunting orchestration with "Hanussen: The Enigmatic Clairvoyant," a work that pays homage to the composer György Ligeti while carving its path of enigmatic allure.

In the spirit of Francis Picabia's call to constantly renew ideas, Beckmann's latest EP, "Brian Eno In Heaven," mixed with Dolby Atmos, reaffirms his enduring presence in the musical landscape. Each track is a journey, beginning with the haunting opener "Drowned Lands," where dark drones and synthesized textures set a foreboding tone. "Mesmer on Holiday" lures listeners further into an eerie, magical presence with its mesmerizing melodies, while "Swimming with Witches" pulsates with rhythmic intensity, conjuring images of mystical realms and occult rituals.

As the EP unfolds, "Fraulein Anna Sprengel" is a wink and a nod to the mysterious origins of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, weaving a tale shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Yet, the titular track, "Brian Eno in Heaven” stands as the crowning jewel. This cinematic masterpiece transports listeners to celestial heights with its sweeping orchestration and ethereal vocals, inviting them to lose themselves in its haunting beauty. In this mesmerizing collection, John Beckmann and the Mortal Prophets once again prove themselves as restless innovators, guiding listeners through a labyrinth of sonic explorations, that cast a chilling spell.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: all music, production, and cover art
Dämmerungschor: vocals
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York
Andres Mayo: mixed and mastered by Martín Muscatello in Dolby Atmos.
Buenos Aires, Argentina

TRACKLISTING:
01. Drowned Lands
02. Mesmer On Holiday
03. Swimming with Witches
04. Fraulein Anna Sprengel
05. Brian Eno In Heaven

HANUSSEN: The Enigmatic Clairvoyant | An Opera
Release Date: April 15, 2024

New York, NY — The word opera comes from the Italian meaning “a work, labor, composition.” John Beckmann’s latest contribution to the genre, HANUSSEN: The Enigmatic Clairvoyant, encompasses all three aspects, especially the nuance of labor, which places the body at the center of the human experience. As both the giver and receiver of energies, the body is a conduit between the seen and the unseen. Like this album’s namesake, Erik Jan Hanussen (1889-1933), the Vienna-born Jewish mystic who became a psychic advisor of sorts to Adolf Hitler, the music puts its finger on the pulse of something always within in plain sight yet rarely articulated.

Over the course of eight acts, and weaving a thick tapestry of voices, synthesizers, and other electronic paraphernalia, the opera strikes a morose yet strangely inviting charge that reverberates in the darkest recesses of our empathy. The overwhelming feeling is one of lightning slowed to a snail’s pace. Despite these evocations, we must constantly remind ourselves that the clairvoyance with which Hanussen was supposedly blessed was nothing more than a parlor trick made possible by an informant. Every prediction that left his lips, most notably of the destruction of the Reichstag by arson in February of 1933, was fed to his hungry ear, and the (oc)cultic following that ensued was but a foretaste of the regime that would soon bring him down in kind.

Despite being produced on modern equipment, much of what we hear wears a patina of time. Whenever a piano makes its presence known, as in Act III and the midway Interlude, it feels out of sync, a memory struggling for the comfort of recall, trapped in a loop of its own making. Passages of solace (e.g., the ambient guitar of Act V) shimmer in the distance, where they are bound always to be.

Although one might be tempted to read these transmissions as coming from outer space, if anything, they indicate an inner space where our collective conscience unspools until only light remains. But it is not the light of hope. Rather, it is the light of a building burning to the ground, signaling a political sea change that would forever alter the course of 20th-century history. And so, in the Epilogue, we reckon with the past as a warning for the future, as if to say: tread not where other boots have left their prints, lest the blood they trail be forgotten.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: all music, production, and cover art
Dämmerungschor: vocals
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

TRACK LISTING:
01. Prologue
02. Act I
03. Act II
04. Act III
05. Act IV
06. Interlude
07. Act V
08. Act VI
09. Act VII
10. Act VIII
11. Epilogue

SLEEPING IN MY BED [EP]
Release Date: March 15, 2024

New York, NY — Having already taken the groups ethos to almost unimaginable heights with last summer’s Dealey Plaza Blues, John Beckmann, doing daring and dauntless business as Mortal Prophets, returns with the 6-song Sleeping in My Bed EP to assure us that that remarkable piece of work was no fluke. 

Proving beyond doubt his placement on the list of this country’s canonical songwriters, Mr. Beckmann has gotten his house so much in order that, upon any release but this one especially, it’s fair to expect a string of classics resounding through its hallways no matter from which stylistic room any particular track may originate. To wit:

With its initial swirl of dusty acoustic and dark effects and the drone of a uniquely American dread hanging over it, the atmospheric, cinematic and wholly evocative opener “Bury Them Deep” has one imagining Morricone lost in a new bad dream of sad American heroism even as the track is as head-nodding addictive as anything Beckmann has produced. “Sleeping in My Bed,” with its sultry, soulful blues vamp soaked in saxophone and menace creating a vibe that places it midway between a bar on Bourbon St at 6AM and a tent revival, simply drips with an incantatory fever, Beckmann’s vocal, against an arrangement of horn and lowing organ, leaving no doubt as to the narrator’s intention. “Tom Waits in Drag” not only speaks for itself but, coming on the (likely high) heels of that title track, proves the perfect segue as it actually takes place on Bourbon Street before “Hell or High Water” continues down this EP’s sublimely dissipated path, yearning and obsession laid bare for all to hear and then there’s three more past that but let’s leave those for your discovery as you surely have the idea.

As a piece of work, Sleeping in My Bed, as is true of any and all Mortal Prophets work, suggests a reimagining of Tin Pan Alley after years of neglect and abuse, brought back to stunning life with all its wounds and scars and shattered glass right out there in the open yet no less inspiring and swoon-worthy for all that. This is a modern pop music that on the one hand is fearless in its conjuring of a broken world while on the other clinging with great faith to the precepts of classic American songwriting. No one else is attempting this with quite the verve and fearlessness as the Mortal Prophets nor is anyone succeeding to a level heard here on the new EP. A great artist doing great work is usually more than enough, but when that work also speaks to the national psyche and the wounded human heart beating inside it, that’s everything that could possibly be asked for from any songwriter. John Beckmann delivers just that.

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Aoibheann Carey-Philpott: backing vocals
Jon Cobert, pianist on TWID
Danny Flam, saxophones, and horns
Gordon Ashe: Drums on BTD
Matthew Carter: Drum programming on HOHW
Will Wilde : Harmonica on HOHW
William D. Lucey: bass,  keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D.  Lucey
High Water written by John Beckman and William D Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Cat Chow: photography

TRACK LISTING:
01. Bury Them Deep
02. Gun and a Prayer
03. Sleeping in My Bed
04. Tom Waits in Drag
05. High Water
06. Cut You Down

PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Tell All Your Friends,
Kip Kouri: kip@tellallyourfriendspr.com

GUITARWORKS
Release Date: December 22, 2023


New York, NY — GUITARWORKS presents a decalogue of soundscapes molded in the hands of John Beckmann, a consummate artist whose love of the visual bleeds through every note and texture. Like the ambient treks of Aarktica (Jon DeRosa), Beckmann turns the spaces between us into songs of vibrant connectivity. What sets these journeys apart is their circularity: destinations and points of departure are one and the same.

If the desolation of “Ascension” tells us anything about what we are about to experience, it is that stillness is an illusion of a restless mind. The human body is constantly in motion, the heart buried within it even more so, beating at the center of things with the insistence of communication. Along the canvas, it stretches toward the concluding “Numinous,” painting one transcendent image after another as melodies take resolutely physical form.

Shades of Americana (“Topanga Canyon”) slide across deserts as if made of glass, picking up dreams and other bits of imagination along the way, while distorted hymns of the night (“Constellations”) reveal an orthography in the stars. In the latter vein, “Martian Daydreams” epitomizes the album’s wonders, combining radio waves and linguistic impulses in a slow-motion mayday signal from somewhere deeper than all of us could comprehend.

And while the occasional presence of voices in tracks like “Luminescent” and “Volk Folk” keep us earthbound, there’s something undeniably extraterrestrial about the encounter. Then again, perhaps the purpose of all this is to remind us of where we came from. Either way, GUITARWORKS is a live wire with just enough electricity to hum without harm, tempering the threat of death with a warmth we’ve been missing for years.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: music, production + cover art
Twilight Choir: backing vocals
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, Finland

TRACK LISTING:
01. Ascension
02. Topanga Canyon
03. All Around Us
04. Constellations
05. Trepidation
06. Martian Daydreams
07. Luminescent
08. Aurora
09. Volk Folk
10. Numinous

THE TWANG GANG [Live in Berlin]
Release Date: September 15, 2023

New York, NY — As if 2023 wasn’t a prolific enough year for Mortal Prophets, John Beckmann is already back with another branch of his experimental music project. And boy oh boy, is it a curveball.

While Twang Gang [Live in Berlin] was recorded right after his debut EP Stomp the Devil, though its 11 original tunes sound like they were torn from an entirely different script. It’s as cinematic as a Saturday night movie, complete with its name in neon lights and the following disclaimer: “All names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred.”

Beckmann’s tagline is telling; after all, Twang Gang [Live in Berlin] has more in common with acid-drenched Westerns like El Topo and Dead Man than a run-of-the-mill concert recording. In fact, it’s unclear whether it’s a real live record or simply meant to mimic one on such tongue-in-cheek takes as “Dog Face Joe,” a surreal, guitar-led sequence that leaves a trail of smoke behind its softspoken rhythm section and Beckmann’s moon-lit reminder to follow his five-piece “band” on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.

That term’s in quotes because the designer by day (principal of the architectural design firm Axis Mundi), musician by night, is acting more like a mad conductor than a mic-toting frontman this time around. Take the title track, for instance. A slippery jam session with a whiff of hand-rolled cigarettes and whiskey, it finds Beckmann calling out cues (“Let’s hit the bridge”) and encouragement (“you are good on those keyboards, man — sweet Jesus”) to guitarist Parker Bryant, bassist Concertina, organist/harmonica player Richmond Davis and percussionist/programmer Beckett Laurent. Similar in spirit and headed straight for the sun is “Pagan Driving School,” a square dance spliced with leathery guitar licks and jet-powered synths.

Other songs (“Psychotronic Guitar Lullaby,” “Alamo Aloha,” “Waltz Across New Jersey”) are far more subdued; as if Mortal Prophets set out to make the ultimate ambient country album — a cosmic soundtrack for stargazing as space cowboys hover overhead and tumbleweeds blow across alien contrails below.

Rather than revisit any of the territory Mortal Prophets have explored so far, Beckmann has cracked open the cliches of Americana itself and let the ghosts slip out. To the point where the cowboy in “Ride Em High” isn’t being celebrated so much as mourned — a storybook figure bound to fade off into the distance, hand on his holster and head held high, as he rides.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals, harmonica, and treatments
Parker Bryant: guitars
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: organ and harmonica
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
John Beckmann: producer
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, Finland

TRACK LISTING:
01. Waltz Across New Jersey
02. 3 Dolla Holla
03. Mesmerized Stargazers
04. The Twang Gang [Live in Berlin]
05. Pagan Driving School (Square Dance)
06. Can You Feel It
07. Ride Em High
08. Alamo Aloha
09. Dog Face Joe
10. Psychotronic Guitar Lullaby
11. The Bones Go Last

DEALEY PLAZA BLUES
Release Date: July 28, 2023

New York, NY — As listeners, we dream of albums like this. Albums that take a well-worn, tradition-based template or two, blow them wide open then put the pieces back together in a way that isn’t just satisfying but leaves one gasping a bit at both the startling results and the daring it took to create them. It’s those records - think Horses, Contort Yourself, Marquee Moon - that we end up acknowledging as legends at birth, records that manage to confirm our preconceptions while shattering them in pretty much the same instant and Mortal Prophets’ second record Dealey Plaza Blues, construed via the incomparable talents of John Beckmann, is here to join their ranks. Like those, DPB is a fresh, exciting, even startling record because it’s like nothing you’ve heard before and because you’re deeply familiar with most of what it offers. 

Of Dealey Plaza Blues’ tracks, seven are covers, and three are original but all are of such a transfixing piece it can at times be a challenge to tell one from the other. Going from the fever-dreamed audio mirage of instrumental opener “Mississippi Saxophones” that arrives like some eerie wind tripping through your headphones to the bold moody take on “Born Under A Bad Sign” that virtually glistens with despair, Beckmann’s lurking, almost disembodied baritone casting a steady if lone presence against a hallucinatory background, is to find yourself enveloped in a trance of sorts, one that doesn’t concern itself with provenance and one you won’t be quit of until album’s end. In those seven covers, “Hey Joe,” “Baby Please Don’t Go,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Down On Me” among them, Beckmann has taken original blues and timeless rock standards and, with the help of musicians Joe Filisko, Dylan Day, Tommy Bohlen and co-producer/musician (and seven-year Daniel Lanois protege) Alexander Krispin, reanimated them in such a persuasive way that they bring fresh fuel to one’s view of reincarnation. In a luminous way, the songs have been reborn in him, he in them. And, to be clear: this isn’t revivalism, it’s not dilettantism, it isn’t any -ism at all. Rather, a sui generis construct does that little Latin phrase proud. And anyway, upon listening, one realizes those covers aren’t really covers but something more akin to repossessions, stripped back to their essences then morphologically reconfigured for the 21st c. Heard that way it becomes difficult if not impossible to imagine them being any more alive than they are right here, right now on Dealey Plaza Blues. 

This unique work is a reflection of Beckmann’s multifarious pasts, both recent and distant. From his days amidst the template-breaking cultural scrum of NYC in the early 80s that were in turn set in place by his odd kid teenage years when the record store in the nearby mall would set aside all that weird German shit for him - Can, NEU!, Cluster et al - as well as records from challenging noiseniks like Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, Beckmann has long displayed that quality all visionary artists and composers must possess: a hunger for the new and, quite often, groundbreaking. Nurtured for decades, then, it’s no surprise that come 2021 when he’s introduced to Captain Beefheart alumnus Gary Lucas the path toward Mortal Prophets’ current sound found its guide, an influence on his process heard most clearly on the “Dealey Plaza Blues” itself, a hypnotic, dub-infused original that anchors the album like a Metal Box version of fractured Americana (an essence captured by the track’s avant-garde montage video shot by Michele Civetta and chock full of Zapruder, paranoia, grief, and conspiracy). In that context, Beckmann’s take on the not-so-new art forms here can perhaps seem at first an almost shocking development but, once heard, is better understood as something of a natural progression. From there it’s an almost inescapable conclusion that if Beckmann can do this to the blues and Otis Blackwell-penned rock’n’roll, there are really no limits to his talent. 

The bottom line, however, is simply this: every track here, cover or not, is addictive to its core and there’s no escaping its spell. Throughout this record, that elusive ‘juju’ we so often speak of echoes in the shadows, so alive it could scare you half to death in the most dream-like way imaginable. Though it’s quite early yet, it’s nonetheless a pretty stark guarantee that 2023 will not see born in its midst a more memorable, inimitable record than Dealey Plaza Blues.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals
Dylan Day: guitar - Hey Joe and Dealey Plaza Blues
Joe Filisko: harmonica - Mississippi Saxophones and I'll Get A Break
Tommy Bohlen: steel pedal - Don't Be Cruel
Alexander Krispin: co-producer, mix engineer, and various instruments
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

TRACKLISTING:
01. Mississippi Saxophones
02. Born Under a Bad Sign (Single)
03. I'll Get a Break
04. Hey Joe
05. Baby Please Don't Go
06. Dealey Plaza Blues (Single)
07. Down On Me (Single)
08. God's Going Away
09. Mean Things On My Mind (Ramblin)
10. Don't Be Cruel (Single)

PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Tell All Your Friends,
Kip Kouri: kip@tellallyourfriendspr.com

ME AND THE DEVIL
Release Date: December 9, 2022

New York, NY — Midway through making his first Mortal Prophets EP, John Beckmann had an idea: why not treat his newest rough tracks like a piece of sonic paper and invite Irish producer/multi-instrumentalist William Declan Lucey (Rubyhorse, Leftbank) to collaborate in a playful surrealist game of Exquisite Corpse?

In Beckmann's case, his songs a few steps away from the finish line — were shared with Lucey and he was given a simple set of rules. Lucey could add or subtract two or three tracks from Beckmann's original files in his Cork studio. “It was a fluid process — an unusual way of assembling an album."

Lucey also knows quite a few talented musicians who were invited to participate in this open-ended artistic experiment. Take Beckmann's synth-laced cover of "Baby, Please Don't Go," for instance. Thanks to the spry percussion of Nate Barnes and the easygoing sax lines of Morphine co-founder Dana Colley, it feels alive — a robust, red-blooded strut toward a blinding sunset.

Elsewhere, "Pretty Girl in the Pines" (a.k.a. the seminal folk song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" which was famously covered by the blues musician Lead Belly, bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe, and Nirvana) takes on a new, slightly terrifying life alongside Lucey's head-rush hooks, Joe Carey's rip-roaring harmonica, and Joe Philpott's sinewy pedal steel.

And then there's Me and the Devil's final duet, "Lord I'm the True Vine." One of two wild collaborations with singer Aoibheann Carey-Philpott, it finds Beckmann bobbing and weaving through her vocals, as humbled and haunted by her soulful voice as the rest of us. "The songs on Me and the Devil are especially poignant and timeless in so many ways," says Beckmann when asked why he decided to cut a collection of covers in the spirit of his debut EP, Stomp the Devil. He continues, "I had to get these songs out of my system because they touched me so much. The lyrics are a form of incantation."

Now that Beckmann has cleared this conceptual deck, he has one more record in mind for the coming year: another experimental album tentatively called Dealey Plaza Blues.  A co-production with longtime Daniel Lanois collaborator Alexander Krispin, it's set to feature a fearless, experimental sound and original material that brings Mortal Prophets’ opening trilogy of trippy blues tracks to a close with a deft left hook. "Life is about unknowing yourself," explains Beckmann, "and so it is with making music. It's about the journey, and I know that will be discernible in the music as new songs and new albums are released over the next few years."

For now, listeners can look forward to Me and the Devil's bold, shape-shifting songbook.  It's a softer, more poetic record reflecting Beckmann's love of everything from primitive blues to the raucous punk of Suicide to the ethereal ambient sequences of German electronica. Whether you're wading through the swamp rock of "Death Letter" or watching the final curtain go down on "Cross Road Blues," it's as much a mantra for Mortal Prophets as it is a whirlwind jaunt of songs that span a century — a crash course in the music that moves us on a molecular level.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals
Aoibheann Carey-Philpott: backing vocals
Nate Barnes: percussion
Yuval Lion: percussion
Joe Carey: harmonica
Joe Philpott: pedal steel
Dana Colley: saxophone
William D. Lucey: guitar, banjo, bass, and keyboards
William D. Lucey: production + mix
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Andres Mayo: mastering, Buenos Aires, Argentina

TRACKLISTING:
01. Me And The Devil (single)
02. Cross Road Blues (single)
03. Baby Please Don’t Go (ft. Dana Colley)
04. Soul Of A Man (single)
05. Prayer Of Death (single)
06. Pretty Girl In The Pines (single)
07. Death Letter
08. Jesus Is Coming
09. Grinning In Your Face (single)
10. Lord I’m The True Vine (ft. Aoibheann Carey-Philpott)

PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Tell All Your Friends,
Kip Kouri: kip@tellallyourfriendspr.com

STOMP THE DEVIL [EP]
Release Date: July 8, 2022

New York, NY — John Beckmann doesn’t waste any time setting the scene in the opening salvo of his Mortal Prophets debut, Stomp the Devil. As the sky turns black, a sinister rainstorm slides across the horizon, and lightning cuts through its inky canvas like Death’s scythe — a not-so-subtle warning to step away from your speakers or succumb to Beckmann’s raw, ominous sound.

Hammering that point home is a haunting character that may or may not be rooted in reality: a “born again carnival barker or repentant preacher” that starts by delivering a warning to “all the demons in hell,” as if he alone can drive away the darkness. Or at the very least, all the apocalyptic thunder rattles the windows around us and makes this whole thing feel like a tent revival that’s gone straight off the rails.

“I’m interested in building up a deep sonic atmosphere,” explains Beckmann. “There’s a certain uncanny quality to the music,” he continues. “One that reflects my love of German cinema from the ‘20s, Werner Herzog, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Kenneth Anger… films that possess magic.”

Like any true magician, Beckmann isn’t about to reveal all his tricks just yet. This fall, the multi-medium artist (Axis Mundi Design) unveils a widescreen LP that fleshes Mortal Prophets’ mission statement out even further and points back to his past as a club-hopping kid from New Jersey.

“I was the weird teenager who bought strange music at the local mall,” says Beckmann. “The salespeople would put aside all of the German and French electronica for me — groups like CAN, NEU!, and Cluster & Eno. Not to mention Throbbing Gristle, Conrad Schnitzler, Richard Pinhas, and Cabaret Voltaire.”

Living in downtown New York City in the early ‘80s and studying design at Parsons also meant being “part of the New Wave fraternity,” a fluid and fearless bunch of Joseph Beuys fans that cut their teeth at the Mudd Club, Danceteria, and Area. In a lot of ways, Stomp the Devil is the record Beckmann was born to make, a way of threading the needle through various points in his life.

In 2021, Beckmann started working with producer David Sisko, who introduced him to the legendary guitarist Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart, Gods, and Monsters, and Jeff Buckley). Lucas was instrumental in realizing the Mortal Prophets’ sound: a strange but fitting blend of raw, pre-war blues, inspired by the John Fahey compilation American Primitive, Volume I: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-36). “It has some of the most amazing obscure, early blues music on it,” says Beckmann. “It’s almost alien-sounding. I was fascinated by it, especially the lyrics. It was America’s primal scream.”

Mortal Prophets takes that template into an alternate universe ruled by fractured riffs, laser-guided synth lines, and the sort of songs you want to hear when it’s the last call and the night refuses to end. Judging by the songs that Beckmann already has waiting in the wings, it’s just beginning.

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics for Stomp the Devil
Gary Lucas: guitar
Yuval Lion: percussion
David Sisko: production + mix
Studio: MinMax, New York

TRACKLISTING:
01. Stomp The Devill (single and video)
02. Nobody Knows
03. John The Revelator
04. Good Old Way
05. Swing Low

PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Tell All Your Friends,
Kip Kouri: kip@tellallyourfriendspr.com