Superheavy: In The News

Source: ABCNews

Mick Jagger isn’t sure where his latest musical creation will end up on iTunes.

The Rolling Stones rocker has teamed up with Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, reggae maestro Damian Marley, soul songtress Joss Stone and “Slumdog Millionaire” composer A.R. Rahman for SuperHeavy, a new group fusing their different styles on an as-yet untitled album set for release Sept. 20 in the United States, and a day before in the rest of the world.

“What bit of iTunes genres does it go on? The unknowable? Isn’t there an unknown section?” Jagger joked during a preview event last week at Jim Henson Studios, where the group recorded some of their eclectic music.

Stewart called the collaboration wide-ranging. The recording process began in Hollywood with the entire group, but they also recorded separately. Other recordings took place in Florida, France, Greece, Turkey, India and the Caribbean. Stewart said the group recorded about 35 hours of music with some songs originally lasting “an hour and 10 minutes” before they were whittled down.

One of seven tracks teased Thursday included “Miracle Worker,” the first single off the album, which features the vocalists crooning: “Ooh, you’re a miracle worker/Ooh, you’re the surgeon of love.” The group filmed a music video last Wednesday for the mid-tempo track, which like most of the music previewed, combined rock, soul, reggae and world music.

“Working with four other vocalists was interesting to me,” said Jagger. “I’ve never actually done it before. Normally, I have to do everything, which I’m quite happy to do. Don’t worry. It was kind of fun because when we had to finish it off, I realized we all had a part to play.”

Jagger said the group would wait for reaction to the album before deciding if the supergroup will go on tour.

“We’ll probably end up playing in the unclassified gig section,” Stewart quipped. “Yeah, in a tent at Glastonbury with the unclassifiable acts,” Jagger added.

Source: Newsquod.com

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and blue-eyed soul singer Joss Stone have joined forces along with Dave Stewart and A.R. Rahman to form the super-group, Super Heavy. Damian Marley has also joined the creative venture. The group announced its formation in May 2011 and has already produced its first single.

“Miracle Worker” will be available as a digital download on July 7. The single was lifted from the group’s forthcoming album which is due to drop in September. Jagger admits that the group had wanted a “convergence of musical styles.”

“We didn’t know what kind of music we’d make,” Jagger would later say. “We didn’t know if it’d be any good, but we hoped we’d have fun.”

A true fusion of music indeed, Damian Marley, the son of legendary Reggae artist Bob Marley, adds a unique element to the group. A.R. Rahman is more particularly known for his eastern sound. Former Euthymics member Dave Stewart brings forward his wicked guitar skill, while Jagger and Stone contribute their amazing voices to the project.

Stewart recently described the band’s blend of music as a “mad alchemist type experiment.”

“We haven’t planned to do a tour or anything,” Jagger said. “But if people really like it maybe we will.”

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Sir Mick Jagger has said he’d love to tour with his new super group SuperHeavy.

The Rolling Stone has teamed up with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Joss Stone, Bob Marley’s youngest son Damian Marley and Slumdog Millionaire composer AR Rahman to form the group which Dave, 58, describes as a “mad alchemist type experiment”.

Mick, 67, told the Daily Mail: “The music is very wide-ranging – from reggae to ballads to Indian songs in Urdu.

“We haven’t planned to do a tour or anything, but if people really like it maybe we will. We’d love to get out and play some of it live.”

The band has been in the works for two years and after rehearsing together in Los Angeles their debut single Miracle Worker will be released on July 7.

Talking about how the group came about, Dave revealed: “I was in the Caribbean and I went to the top of a hill. When I got to the top, light was kind of coming through the leaves on the trees.

“I had this kind of flash of how there could be a fusion of music from different parts of the world mixed together and I could visualise it.

“Then I called you [Sir Mick].”

The SuperHeavy album will be released on Universal in September.

Source: Deccan Chronical

A few months back double Oscar-winner and music maestro A.R. Rahman joined hands with international rock legend, Mick Jagger, Eurythmics star, Dave Stewart, Damian Marley and Joss Stone to form the band, SuperHeavy.

On June 30, Jagger, Stewart, Stone, Marley and Rahman came together at Jim Henson Studios, Los Angeles, to talk about the album for the first time.

Nearly half of the album was played to all gathered and the group’s chat emphasised on the unique nature of the project and the random way in which the music — a multi-cultural, free-for-all project, came together.

The album’s concept, from the very beginning, was to see the outcome of a band of musicians from different cultures composing and recording together.

The album seems to be a fusion of different genres – Bollywood, reggae, blues and soul. While Miracle Worker is a straight reggae tune, Energy, with Marley rapping the verses, is an upbeat Slumdog Millionaire-style dance track.

Meanwhile, SuperHeavy, the title track, has a distinct Indian flavour that is evident from its use of percussion.

Source: RTE

The group is fronted by the Rolling Stones musician alongside British soul singer Joss Stone, Jamaican reggae artist Damian Marley, Eurythmics member Dave Stewart and Indian composer A.R. Rahman.

A teaser video of the production process and some distorted snippets of tracks have emerged on the band’s official website, amid speculation an album teaser will drop this week.

Last week the band held an hour-long press listening session in L.A’s Jim Henson Studios. Speaking to the journalists, Jagger said he wanted to form a band of completely varied cultures and genres, rather than a straight rock’n’roll supergroup. Interestingly, the five members are all from different decades; Stone (22), Marley (33), Rahman, (45), Stewart (59) and Jagger (68).

Last week the band also shot a video for their first single, entitled Miracle Worker, which sources believe could be released as soon as July 7th. The self-titled album will be released in September and will have 16 to 18 songs.

The band have been quietly writing and composing in the studio for eighteen months, though the line-up was only announced on May 20th. The songs were recorded in Miami, Cyprus, France and India but mixed and mastered in L.A. Though no plans to tour are concrete, Joss Stone hinted that the next step for the band would be to get out and play live. Jagger further fuelled speculation by stating “we haven’t planned to do a tour but if people really like it, maybe we will”.

Joss Stone, who releases her own new album, LP1, on July 26th, has commented that Super Heavy has “the weirdest sound…very eclectic. It’s like world music but it’s not one style. It’s just not normal”.

Rolling Stones fans were quietly hopeful that the band would put on a special performance or set of concerts to mark fifty years since their first show together. Jagger seems to be setting his sights firmly on the new group and what the future may hold for Super Heavy

Source: Hindustan Times

On Thursday, at the Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles, Indian music maestro AR Rahman and international rock star Mick Jagger, announced the launch of an album called Super Heavy. The songs on the album are the result of a collaboration between Rahman, Jagger, British rocker Dave Stewart, Bob Marley’s son Damian and soul singer Joss Stone.

Rahman says the project began in 2009. “18 months ago, Dave, Mick, Damien, Joss and me experimented at a studio in LA, trying to write songs which had meaning… We had a couple of more sessions after that trying to perfect every song that was written,” he says, adding the album now has 16 to 18 songs and all have a “world sound”.

“Mick and Dave’s incredible musicality and Joss’s soul singing, Damien Marley’s Jamaican influence and philosophies and me bringing musicality from my world, give the album sounds from world over,” he says.  At a press conference in LA, Jagger said, “We entered with just ideas, a few guitar riffs and a few snippets of lyrics… It wasn’t my usual style of working, but the music evolved quickly,” he said.

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