Mutiny in Jonestown - 1987 to Present

[WytchCrypt]

Hi all,

I've been releasing albums from my one-man prog band Mutiny in Jonestown since 1987. While I've been a member of Progressive Ears since 2014, I don't believe I ever mentioned the band here before so decided now was as good a time as any!

The band was added to the Prog Archives database back in 2017 and listed as "Neo-Prog", though there was previously much discussion over whether it should be included in the "Psychedelic Space Rock" subgenre instead. There were also suggestions it should be included as "Eclectic Prog". After releasing 42 albums (so far) which evolved to explore many directions you could likely make a case for each subgenre; and probably others, depending on which album(s) you heard. I think it was inevitably approved in Neo-Prog because it best fit the spirit of that subgenre definition: the band was formed in the 80's and influenced by 70's symphonic prog yet incorporates a harder edge guitar sound and sampled rather than actual Mellotron/Hammond/Moog/Clavinet/etc. Here's the Prog Archives band link for anyone curious: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=10248. The band also has a website that offers more info at: https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown

Most songs include vocals, guitars, bass, drums & keyboards. I mention vocals to make the distinction from bands that are mostly instrumental as Mutiny in Jonestown is definitely lyric heavy, albeit with some extended instrumental sections. Some albums also include songs that set the fiction of HP Lovecraft as well as his poems and those of 20th century American writer ee cummings to music. The most recent album, "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep" is exclusively based on HP Lovecraft stories/poems and was released in 2017 on the bands 30th anniversary.

Mutiny in Jonestown's Bandcamp page features links to 24 albums, all of which include song lyrics (https://mutinyinjonestown.bandcamp.com/). If you're curious to hear a historical overview of the bands longer compositions, I'd recommend "The Witching Hour" compilation. Otherwise, I'd recommend beginning with 2017's "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep" and moving through the other albums appearing on the top row of the Bandcamp page (1993's "Lost in an Absinthe Dream", 2003's "Providence" & 2005's "No China Doll for You").

Thanks for listening!
Dennis

[JKL2000]

Hi all,

I've been releasing albums from my one-man prog band Mutiny in Jonestown since 1987. While I've been a member of Progressive Ears since 2014, I don't believe I ever mentioned the band here before so decided now was as good a time as any!

The band was added to the Prog Archives database back in 2017 and listed as "Neo-Prog", though there was previously much discussion over whether it should be included in the "Psychedelic Space Rock" subgenre instead. There were also suggestions it should be included as "Eclectic Prog". After releasing 42 albums (so far) which evolved to explore many directions you could likely make a case for each subgenre; and probably others, depending on which album(s) you heard. I think it was inevitably approved in Neo-Prog because it best fit the spirit of that subgenre definition: the band was formed in the 80's and influenced by 70's symphonic prog yet incorporates a harder edge guitar sound and sampled rather than actual Mellotron/Hammond/Moog/Clavinet/etc. Here's the Prog Archives band link for anyone curious: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=10248. The band also has a website that offers more info at: https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown

Most songs include vocals, guitars, bass, drums & keyboards. I mention vocals to make the distinction from bands that are mostly instrumental as Mutiny in Jonestown is definitely lyric heavy, albeit with some extended instrumental sections. Some albums also include songs that set the fiction of HP Lovecraft as well as his poems and those of 20th century American writer ee cummings to music. The most recent album, "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep" is exclusively based on HP Lovecraft stories/poems and was released in 2017 on the bands 30th anniversary.

Mutiny in Jonestown's Bandcamp page features links to 24 albums, all of which include song lyrics (https://mutinyinjonestown.bandcamp.com/). If you're curious to hear a historical overview of the bands longer compositions, I'd recommend "The Witching Hour" compilation. Otherwise, I'd recommend beginning with 2017's "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep" and moving through the other albums appearing on the top row of the Bandcamp page (1993's "Lost in an Absinthe Dream", 2003's "Providence" & 2005's "No China Doll for You").

Thanks for listening!
Dennis

I'll check some out - glad you decided to let us know! Two questions: 1) Why that band name? Definitely unusual for a band that might be neo-prog! 2) I'll follow your reccommendations above, but what's the most "typically" neo-prog album? That's a lot of albums!

[WytchCrypt]

I'll check some out - glad you decided to let us know! Two questions: 1) Why that band name? Definitely unusual for a band that might be neo-prog! 2) I'll follow your reccommendations above, but what's the most "typically" neo-prog album? That's a lot of albums!

Thanks for taking the time, I hope you like what you hear

1) "Mutiny in Jonestown" was originally a song title by my favorite 80's post-punk band, "The Minutemen". I like the connotation of the word Mutiny in that it speaks to individualism and paired with the word Jonestown could be taken to mean, "I'm not drinking your kool-aid Jim Jones, I'm going to mutiny instead!" I guess I could have named the band, "Mutiny in San Jose" as that's where I was living when I formed it, but Jonestown seemed to strike a chord in me as something darker and well worth having a Mutiny against

When I began the band in '87, I'd never heard of Neo-Prog (not to mention the other prog buckets and subgenres we commonly refer to today) it was all just Prog to me. While I absolutely love IQ, Marillion (Fish era) and Twelfth Night, I never set out to be any specific style of band. I've always just written what interests me and while I have many musical influences, the deepest are rooted in 70's Prog so that tends to be the dominant style that comes out.

2) It is a lot of albums! If you count my other one-man bands (WytchCrypt [also in the Prog Archives database in the "Experimental/Post Metal" subgenre], Morpheus, The Alchemy of Atlantis and other one off projects) it's even more and I'm currently working on album #77 (which could become a new Mutiny in Jonestown or WytchCrypt album...not quite sure yet). Anyway, I know if I found a new band and was presented with a Bandcamp page of 24 albums, I wouldn't know where to begin. While it's hard for me to be objective enough to point to the most typically Neo-prog album of the bunch, I can say based on others comments/reviews that any of the 4 I earlier mentioned ("Lost in an Absinthe Dream", "Providence", "No China Doll For You", and "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep") would likely be considered typical Neo-prog. Of those 4, I'd still recommend my favorite as "The Daemons Mock Me While I Sleep" and would recommend starting there. As the saying goes, you never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression and I think, "The Daemons Mock Me..." is my best album