“Strange Land are a three piece who certainly like to make a lot of noise with their cerebral progressive rock/metal ... well, I said noise? Yes, but I meant it in a good way, as the Wisconsin-based band pays a lot of attention also to melody, not only to the complexity of guitar riffs.” - Igor Italiani, progressiveworld.net
Strange Land draws it's primary influences from the progressive rock/metal category, with such bands as Fates Warning, Queensryche, Savatage, Rush, King Crimson, Zero Hour, Pain of Salvation, King's X, and Galactic Cowboys being the biggest early influences. The band, however, prefers not to wear its influences on its sleeve. Rather, the members blend all of their past experiences and outside influences into one unique vision. Each member of Strange Land takes a part in the writing and arranging of its music, and the project continues to evolve through changes in membership, making Strange Land as much a living idea as it is a band. As Robert Fripp once said of King Crimson "King Crimson lives in different bodies at different times and the particular form which the group takes changes. When music appears, which only King Crimson can play then, sooner or later, King Crimson appears to play the music". While Sean and Brad wouldn't presume to be on the level of the might Crimson, they think it's a fine approach to making music, and to maintaining a thread of continuity through their work.
Strange Land was established in November of 1998 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Within the first six months of its existence, the band had written and arranged eleven original songs. Gabor Kleinbloesem of Strutter Magazine said of the Foundation demo: "Some more of these catchy and progressive tunes and this Strange Land may be counted as one of the latest sensations from the USA." The band self-released its first full-length album Anomaly, which included 12 tracks and almost 70 minutes of material. The album was recorded in the fall of 2001. In 2002 the band put the final touches on a 4 song demo of brand new material which was well received by fans at the 2002 Prog Power USA festival. The band finished its second full-length album entitled Blaming Season in late 2004, which has been well received by fans and critics alike since its release. Catharsis was released in the summer of 2009. This is an indie release but has sold well through word of mouth and to the Strange Land faithful. Besides the United States, Strange Land music has been enjoyed by fans in Canada, England, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Brazil and other countries around the world. Strange Land receives regular airplay on stations such as Progulus Radio, WMSE, and to their delight, received airplay on Iron Maiden front man Bruce Dickinson's internet radio show.
Strange Land has opened for national acts like King's X, Tiles, Discipline, Gary Hoey, former Marillion front man Fish, Three, shredder Joe Stump, fusion supergroup McGill/Manring/Stevens, and Event. The band was a finalist in the 2005 Emergenza festival, among the top 14 acts out of a field of 200+ bands drawn from Milwaukee to perform in that year's international competition. Strange Land regularly played progressive music festivals and clubs in the Milwaukee area, as well as Detroit and Chicago from 1998-2010.
In the summer of 2010, member Sean Gill decided a change of pace was needed and moved to Denver, Colorado. The band made plans to continue working long distance. In late 2010 Strange Land founding member Chad Novell left the band to pursue other interests, and Brad and Sean decided to work as a studio duo. Free of the constraints of what could be reproduced live, the now-duo embraced the possibilities of pushing the limits of their musicality. They began releasing singles in late 2012, leading up to a new album, Δ-v in 2014. Continuing the tradition of changing shapes, the band released a 5 song acoustic instrumental EP in 2016, joined by violinist David Burham. A full length concept album Figuration Of Hope was released in 2017, and it's sequel will be released in mid-2018. Both of these feature vocals by Brittney Schultz.
Instrumentation
Sean T. Gill - Guitar/Bass/Vocals/Keys and Programming
Brad Klotz - Drums/Percussion/Vocals/Winds and Brasses
Past and Guest members:
Chad Novel - Bass/Vocals/Keys
Pete Schwarzebacher - Drums
Esteban Gonzalez - Drums
David Burham - Violin
Brittney Schultz - Vocals
Primary Discography
Anomaly (2001)
Blaming Season (2005)
Catharsis (2009)
∆-v (2014)
Evagation (2016)
Figuration Of Hope: Impact Event Part 1 (2017)
Galactic Drift: Impact Event Part 2 (2018)
Strange Land draws it's primary influences from the progressive rock/metal category, with such bands as Fates Warning, Queensryche, Savatage, Rush, King Crimson, Zero Hour, Pain of Salvation, King's X, and Galactic Cowboys being the biggest early influences. The band, however, prefers not to wear its influences on its sleeve. Rather, the members blend all of their past experiences and outside influences into one unique vision. Each member of Strange Land takes a part in the writing and arranging of its music, and the project continues to evolve through changes in membership, making Strange Land as much a living idea as it is a band. As Robert Fripp once said of King Crimson "King Crimson lives in different bodies at different times and the particular form which the group takes changes. When music appears, which only King Crimson can play then, sooner or later, King Crimson appears to play the music". While Sean and Brad wouldn't presume to be on the level of the might Crimson, they think it's a fine approach to making music, and to maintaining a thread of continuity through their work.
Strange Land was established in November of 1998 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Within the first six months of its existence, the band had written and arranged eleven original songs. Gabor Kleinbloesem of Strutter Magazine said of the Foundation demo: "Some more of these catchy and progressive tunes and this Strange Land may be counted as one of the latest sensations from the USA." The band self-released its first full-length album Anomaly, which included 12 tracks and almost 70 minutes of material. The album was recorded in the fall of 2001. In 2002 the band put the final touches on a 4 song demo of brand new material which was well received by fans at the 2002 Prog Power USA festival. The band finished its second full-length album entitled Blaming Season in late 2004, which has been well received by fans and critics alike since its release. Catharsis was released in the summer of 2009. This is an indie release but has sold well through word of mouth and to the Strange Land faithful. Besides the United States, Strange Land music has been enjoyed by fans in Canada, England, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Brazil and other countries around the world. Strange Land receives regular airplay on stations such as Progulus Radio, WMSE, and to their delight, received airplay on Iron Maiden front man Bruce Dickinson's internet radio show.
Strange Land has opened for national acts like King's X, Tiles, Discipline, Gary Hoey, former Marillion front man Fish, Three, shredder Joe Stump, fusion supergroup McGill/Manring/Stevens, and Event. The band was a finalist in the 2005 Emergenza festival, among the top 14 acts out of a field of 200+ bands drawn from Milwaukee to perform in that year's international competition. Strange Land regularly played progressive music festivals and clubs in the Milwaukee area, as well as Detroit and Chicago from 1998-2010.
In the summer of 2010, member Sean Gill decided a change of pace was needed and moved to Denver, Colorado. The band made plans to continue working long distance. In late 2010 Strange Land founding member Chad Novell left the band to pursue other interests, and Brad and Sean decided to work as a studio duo. Free of the constraints of what could be reproduced live, the now-duo embraced the possibilities of pushing the limits of their musicality. They began releasing singles in late 2012, leading up to a new album, Δ-v in 2014. Continuing the tradition of changing shapes, the band released a 5 song acoustic instrumental EP in 2016, joined by violinist David Burham. A full length concept album Figuration Of Hope was released in 2017, and it's sequel will be released in mid-2018. Both of these feature vocals by Brittney Schultz.
Instrumentation
Sean T. Gill - Guitar/Bass/Vocals/Keys and Programming
Brad Klotz - Drums/Percussion/Vocals/Winds and Brasses
Past and Guest members:
Chad Novel - Bass/Vocals/Keys
Pete Schwarzebacher - Drums
Esteban Gonzalez - Drums
David Burham - Violin
Brittney Schultz - Vocals
Primary Discography
Anomaly (2001)
Blaming Season (2005)
Catharsis (2009)
∆-v (2014)
Evagation (2016)
Figuration Of Hope: Impact Event Part 1 (2017)
Galactic Drift: Impact Event Part 2 (2018)