Mandalaband
Mandalaband is a progressive rock band formed in England in 1974. The band is led by David Rohl who writes, arranges, mixes and produces their material. Rohl is also a somewhat controversial Egyptologist, once featured on the London Sunday Times front page with the caption "the real Indiana Jones".
In 1974, Rohl had taken an interest in Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetans’ resistance to the Chinese invasion in the 1950s. In the process he had begun writing what became a 20 minute musical piece titled "Om Mani Padme Hum", and began to build up a team of musicians in order to record the first movement of the piece. These musicians evolved into a band and started to write other songs about the same subject. Demo tapes soon interested Chrysalis Records, who then signed the band.
Chrysalis wanted the band to gel together as a live outfit so that the recording would have a ‘band feel’ rather than just a bunch of session musicians playing in a sterile studio environment. Prior to recording an album, the label sent them out as the opening act for Robin Trower’s first major UK tour, playing to 2,000 fans each night for about twenty shows. The band played all the tracks from what would become their first album (including the whole twenty minutes of "Om Mani Padme Hum"). The live band consisted of David Rohl on piano, Vic Emerson on Hammond, Moog and Claviolines, Ashley Mulford on guitar, John Stimpson on bass, Tony Cresswell on drums and Dave Durant on lead vocals.
Mandalaband's first album, simply titled Mandalaband was released by Chrysalis Records in 1975. It included the 20 minute track entitled "Om Mani Padme Hum" – a four-movement work for rock band and choir. The lineup for this album were lead singer Dave Durant (accompanied by the London Chorale), and original band members Vic Emerson (keyboards), Ashley Mulford (guitars), Tony Cresswell (drums) and John Stimpson (bass), with David Rohl as founder, writer and studio engineer for the band.
David Rohl left the band on the first day of recording the album after having been removed by Chrysalis as producer/engineer and replaced by another producer. When the tapes were delivered to the label however, Rohl was asked to remix the album as the record company executives were unhappy with the results. Although the album was released and well received, Rohl was always dissatisfied with the outcome stating "I did not record the actual instruments, so the album never got close to the quality I had envisaged and feel could have been achieved".
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