BEARDFISH call it quits

[Progatron]

This is a shame. I have their whole catalogue and I was hoping for another one in the next year or two that would be a return to form after the last album failed to deliver (IMO).

From their official Facebook page:



After a longer hiatus and some disagreements and various difficulties within the band we have decided to call it quits. This was not an easy choice to make. Beardfish has always been our main musical outlet - a proper garage band - the kind that meet up in the rehearsal studio and try out new material together for long, massive sessions at a time. Some of the best times of our lives have been spent together on the road, in the studio and just hanging out.

Growing up, having families and all that has made that particular way of working very difficult, leading to long periods where we haven't been able to rehearse.. And we LIKE to play.

We've had a very good run though; eight albums in fifteen years, nine if you include "The early years" (ten if you count "The Sane Day" double album as two!). We've toured with some great bands. We've met amazing people and found friends in places we'd never been before.

We want to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the years, you guys are fantastic and the prog community is a very special place to be a part of.

We spent our youth and our early adulthood as Beardfish and we grew up within the band.. Individually we will now venture out into other musical projects. No matter what, Beardfish has been very special and we will all hold it close to our hearts, but right now it's time for new adventures.

"So real, it's surreal"
A Love Story - The Sane Day (2005)
Beardfish
Rikard, David, Robert & Magnus

[progman1975]

Todays bands get hosed. Can make music on a full time basis

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[infandous]

This was sad to hear. Personally, I think the last album was great, though I'd rank it somewhere in the middle of their releases. So not their best, but not their worst by far. Just my opinion, of course.

In any case, I'm glad I got to see them live, but was really hoping for more. This sucks.

[JAMOOL]

I was just getting into them too. Bummer. Hope things work out for them.

[JKL2000]

Right, time to get into them in earnest then. Just ordered that album collection for about $20.

[progeezer]

I have their whole catalogue, as well as several Rikard side-project cds, and this surprises me not at all.

When I saw "Rikard Sjoblom of Beardfish" listed as one of the acts for Chicago's Progtoberfest that was the first thing that popped into my head.

[Poisoned Youth]

Todays bands get hosed. Can make music on a full time basis

I'm not sure how that is how I interpreted the original post. They released a pile of albums over 15 years and had some success within a niche community. They got connected with a label that had some distro power (relatively speaking) and they managed to play some festivals. They had more success (relatively speaking) than the majority of artist driven bands.

[Progatron]

I have their whole catalogue, as well as several Rikard side-project cds, and this surprises me not at all.

When I saw "Rikard Sjoblom of Beardfish" listed as one of the acts for Chicago's Progtoberfest that was the first thing that popped into my head.

Yeah, releasing a solo album a few months back may have been a sign, in retrospect anyway. That album is quite good actually, and I do prefer it to the Comfortzone release... but I do think their first four are the strongest. What are some of the other Rikard side projects?

[rickawakeman]

A shame. Love their studio output and was fortunate enough to see them several times.

[thedunno]

Too bad. Fine band and lotsa fun live. I was not too keen on their latest two studio offerings but 'the sane day' and 'destined solitaire' are great. Retro prog done right: not too pompous and pretentious.

[Plasmatopia]

Sorry to hear this news, but I wondered if this was going to happen since things had gone rather quiet and Rikard was doing so many other projects.

[Gerhard]

Yeah, releasing a solo album a few months back may have been a sign, in retrospect anyway. That album is quite good actually, and I do prefer it to the Comfortzone release... but I do think their first four are the strongest. What are some of the other Rikard side projects?

I have yet to pick up the recent solo album, I'll have to track that down at some point.

I would recommend the two Gungfly albums. They have some similarity to Beardfish, as Rikard sings and plays many of the instruments, but I guess they're more rock/song oriented, less proggy.

I'm sure he has been involved with other side projects, but I'm not familiar with any other than Gungfly.

[aith01]

This is the end of an era for me. Got into Beardfish when Sleeping In Traffic, Pt. 1 came out in 2007, and have never looked back. Some releases I liked more than others, but each one had something interesting to offer and I loved their prevailing sense of fun. This makes me sad, but we can look forward to whatever new music may come from any resulting projects.

Cheers, Beardfish. Thanks for all the great music and memories.

[progeezer]

Yeah, releasing a solo album a few months back may have been a sign, in retrospect anyway. That album is quite good actually, and I do prefer it to the Comfortzone release... but I do think their first four are the strongest. What are some of the other Rikard side projects?

In addition to the Gungfly albums that Gerhard mentioned, there's another RS project called Bootcut. If Bootcut has more than 1 album I don't know about it, but I really dig the one I have.

[Sean]

Sorry to see them call it quits. Good luck to the guys regardless what they do!! Thanks for 15 years of inspired music free of the tacky, modern trappings so many acts favor.

[aith01]

In addition to the Gungfly albums that Gerhard mentioned, there's another RS project called Bootcut. If Bootcut has more than 1 album I don't know about it, but I really dig the one I have.

They do!

There's Hammond vs. Drums (2005), and De Fluff (2006).

[Plasmatopia]

And there is Rikard's Cyklonmannen album that I really like but seems to get mixed reviews around here.

[JKL2000]

Allow me to be the first to say "So long, and thanks for all the Beardfish!"

[JKL2000]

Remember when they were going to merge with The Tangent? That was weird.

[aith01]

Remember when they were going to merge with The Tangent? That was weird.

I was disappointed that it never came to fruition. Would have been interesting to hear what they sounded like together.

[Plasmatopia]

I was disappointed that it never came to fruition. Would have been interesting to hear what they sounded like together.

Absolutely. I thought it would have worked well.

[infandous]

"Merge" with the Tangent might not be quite the right word, since they were basically going to BE The Tangent, along with Andy Tillison. Sort of his backing band, I guess. Anyway, I thought it was a really interesting idea at the time, but it seemed to me that Beardfish at that time was a pretty solid entity all on their own and probably wouldn't want to be just a backing band. Of course, it's possible Tillison wanted it to be more of a collaboration I suppose, though it seems that has been extremely rare in Tangent history.

[Liquid Tension]

This is a shame but we do have a nice list of music to listen too...

Thanks Beardfish!!

[Plasmatopia]

"Merge" with the Tangent might not be quite the right word, since they were basically going to BE The Tangent, along with Andy Tillison. Sort of his backing band, I guess. Anyway, I thought it was a really interesting idea at the time, but it seemed to me that Beardfish at that time was a pretty solid entity all on their own and probably wouldn't want to be just a backing band. Of course, it's possible Tillison wanted it to be more of a collaboration I suppose, though it seems that has been extremely rare in Tangent history.

I had assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it would have been a collaboration. That's part of what I liked about the idea.

[Zalmoxe]

I thought their music got somehow diluted over the years and the band never matched the peaks reached on the first 4 albums. Rikard is a musical genius and I thought he can do no wrong until I heard his latest solo effort. Underwhelmed at best by it. Like some of you said, thanks for the ride. I will always cherish the moments I spent with the band and NEARFest. Even got some photos somewhere on my hard-drives.