The Windmill

The prog rock band The Windmill was started in autumn 2001. Initiator Jean Robert Viita had already done some work with Morten Clason and Arnfinn Isaksen, and later, Bent Jensen, Vidar Kleivane and Erik Borgen joined in. The band name was then Windmill, and the early years consisted of sporadic rehearsals around the Asker and Røyken area. The music was (and still is) self-composed, with significant contributions from “Jeanni”. In autumn 2005 it was decided to record a CD, and when it became necessary for both studio and a permanent rehearsal venue, both were to be found at Bent’s home in Fredrikstad, and the first recordings were made late autumn of 2005. “Bulle” had by then replaced Vidar behind the drums and finished the drum recordings during a couple of weeks. 2006-2007 was the subject of much trial and error in the studio. Recordings after recordings followed, but the disposal rate was high! The fact that we had only Monday afternoons available for recording contributed to a fair amount of delay in the process. In parallel to that there were rehearsals with regard to our first live gig, which was held at Maiden in Oslo in April 2007, as a support act for the Norwegian progband Panzerpappa. This gig turned out to be quite a success! 2008 came and went without seeing the album finished. Much good work was laid down in the studio, but technical problems sat the project back. September 27th the second live gig took place in the venue “Sekkefabrikken” in Slemmestad Norway. Tremendous lightening, but unfortunately some sound problems. However, it turned out to be a reasonably good act. “Bulle” the drummer decided to resign from the band this year. New rehearsal rooms in Åros this fall. 2009 started off with a new drummer, Sam Arne Nøland. Studio work continued, and things were finally falling into place. A good gig took place at Old Slemmestad Pub June 19. Good rehearsals and consistency in the studio. Mixing process begins, and the goal seems closer than ever. 2010 started with a considerable loss for the band, when Bent chose to resign. The mixing of the album continued, however, and in mid-March the tracks were sent off for mastering at Sterling Sound in New York, and TBC is finally finished. Release gig in Slemmestad 7. may-2010. First gig without our lead guitarist Bent. We were all very excited to how this would turn out. There was no need for fear. Morten and Erik handled the guitars to fill in the blanks after Bent in an extraordinary way. Fantastic audience and our best gig so far. The next gig was on 31 July, 2010 "Up On The Farm BBQ", a festival with food and music. Here we were joined for the first time by Stig Andrè who has taken over the guitar for Bent. His performence exceeded all expectations and he is now a permanent member of the band. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.