Prog Encyclopedia

SAFT (meaning squash, as in the concentrated liquid made from fruit juice and sugar, which is diluted to make a drink, in Norwegian) is a progressive rock band from Bergen, Norway, with their most active period in the early 70's. They were one of the first Norwegian rock bands to sing in Norwegian Nynorsk (which is based on rural, spoken Norwegian, and is one of four official languages in Norway). The core of the band is the two brothers THUE, Ove and Trygve, who are the only members to be part of both of the band's incarnations, both of which set benchmarks in Norwegian rock. Initially the band's music was rooted in typical early 70's heavy prog and pop rock.

The cross-generational supergroup of rock and fusion stars on the album includes Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Mike Stern, Al Di Meola, Randy Brecker, John Helliwell (Supertramp), Steve Bailey, Simon Phillips, Leslie Mandoki, Tony Carey (Rainbow), Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp) and more.
With a setup that is hard to find in contemporary music production, and with which the band has captured a warmth and vibrancy in their music that is often lost in digital recordings, the Soulmates have created a work of musical diversity that ranges from prog to jazz rock, combining compositional maturity, playful ease, and artful solos with great arcs of tension and profound lyrics with socio-political themes.

More than three decades after being founded by Leslie Mandoki, Mandoki Soulmates not only set new musical standards with their album "A Memory Of Our Future", but also present a masterpiece of production technology: the entire album was recorded and produced in analog form - from the first note to the finished vinyl.

Over the past 20 years Australian progressive/alternative/underground rock of the early 1970s has taken on a huge cult collector following throughout the world. This is particularly so in Europe, where vast sums are paid for scarce original vinyl albums by such bands as Kahvas Jute, Galadriel, The Masters Apprentices, Fraternity, Blackfeather, Company Caine, Tamam Shud, Pirana, and New Zealand's Dragon - outfits which forged a distinctive Oz Rock sound that would eventually be embraced by an international mass audience.