The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias

The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias is an upcoming long-running multi-media project by English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Anderson. It is the follow-up to his debut studio album Olias of Sunhillow (released in July 1976). Originally, it was to be a concept album.

Development

In a 2001 interview to The Music Street Journal, Anderson revealed he bad begun working on a sequel to his debut album Olias of Sunhillow as early as 2000^[2] (and even predicted a possible release the following year that ultimately didn't occur), stating: «I'm working on my own project at the moment. I've been working on this piece of music for a year now, and it will be ready next summer, I believe. I'm very excited about it. I did an album years and years ago called Olias of Sunhillow where I performed all the music, and I'm getting back to that place again.»

In 2004, Jon Anderson called for collaborators to contact him via his website. He described the project as a "return to Olias".

In 2006, around the time his debut studio album Olias of Sunhillow was re-released, Anderson confirmed that he was making a sequel called The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias.

In late 2008, he announced on his Myspace page that he was hoping to finish the sequel soon.

In a 2009 interview to The Bolton News, Anderson confirmed working on the Zamran project and even predicted a release year (that ultimately didn't occur) for some of the new material: «I've been working on the story of Zamran, the son of Olias for three years and it's already three albums long. The potential is enormous and some of it may come out next year.»^[4]

In an interview on 1 June 2011, in parallel to his work on Zamran, Anderson revealed he was preparing to perform the original Olias of Sunhillow in its entirety in 2012 with an ensemble, a group of people out of New York and an orchestrator out of San Francisco.^[3]

In a Rockline interview on 20 July 2011, Anderson was asked about the sequel. He said that he hoped to have the first bits of Zamran out in a year.

In an interview to The Cleveland Sound on 30 August 2011, Anderson confirmed being working on a sequel to Olias of Sunhillow, describing it as a «large-scale project», (at the time) «three hours long», for which he had already written most of the music, but was still «trying to figure out how to recreate it correctly», explaining the «whole concept», i.e. to use «modern technology» to «create [...] an interactive album [...] an app that allows people to go on a journey, [to] choose a new journey every time they open it up, and hear it in a different way every time.»^[5]

In late 2012, a web site was launched (www.sevendragons.org/zamran now closed) entitled Zamran Experience, showing a short preview and describing it as "an interactive audio-visual album".

In a Ultimate Classic Rock interview on 3 January 2013, Anderson confirmed still being working on his sequel to Olias of Sunhillow still entitled The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias, likening the work to a slow-baking cake: «It's not ready yet, [...] I have all the ingredients but I haven't put it in the oven yet.» The article explained that Anderson [had] used the internet to collaborate with musicians from various parts of the world» and that «part of the delay [had] been due to many other projects he [had] released or [had] in progress, while part of it [was] simply finding the right narrative, Anderson admitting: «I have written the story now five times, [...] It is driving me crazy.»^[6]

Anderson also announced in January 2013 he was preparing to perform Olias of Sunhillow in its entirety with a group of young musicians out of Philadelphia.^[6]

Anderson is philosophical about working without an apparent deadline: "It is a slow process",^[6] claiming his new mantra: "it will happen when it happens."^[3]

On 1 December 2014, Anderson confirmed on his Facebook page: «I keep myself busy working on the Zamran project.»^[7]

Concept

In June 2011, Anderson described the Zamran project as "part two" of Olias of Sunhillow, confiding in journalist Howard Whitman: "It's very exciting because it's a large-scale project and large-scale ideas but the technology isn't ready for what I want to do. I have the music and it's slowly cooking in the oven and it's coming along. It's about three hours of it now and it's going to be probably a five-hour project.",^[3] adding: "People will be able to go into the realm of Zamran and they can choose their path every time they go in there. They don't have to take the same pathway so they can choose different pathways and hear different versions and different styles of music relating to the same theme that carries on all the way through. It's about the discovery of how the earth works. That's all."^[3]

Anderson explained: "At each juncture you find about more about the mysteries of the planet earth and then more about the mysteries of the human condition, and then more about the inter-dimensional condition of this planet and how many inter-dimensional beings are out there that we don't see. And then of course, the extension of that is the inter-galactic people that we don't see. But they're here, don't worry. They're here. They've always been here."^[3]

Anderson stated that The Songs of Zamran: Son of Olias would be an app incorporating visuals: "I'm working with three people at the moment [2011] — one guy in Poland, one guy in Canada, one in Brazil — and we're just creating slowly these projects and visual arts. It's looking really good. It takes time. It's something that's so different and so revolutionary. Because gone are the days of records, CDs, etc. etc. In five years' time, we will be using "mind drive", don't you know." The app would be an app for smartphones, iPads or computers: "It's an app for everything — an app for your computer, to your wristwatch, whatever you want to do. Because you'll have an implant and you can actually watch it in virtual reality with your Ray-Ban virtual reality glasses, when they actually make them. So that's the way it works."^[3]

Artwork

Five years after his first meeting with Jon Anderson at the Star Plaza Hotel in Merrillville, Indiana, stained glass artist Steven Kelso^[8] got an email on 7 May 2009 from Jon asking him to work on his Zamran project.^[9]

Kelso worked several times on Anderson's Zamran project. Throughout the Summer of 2009, Kelso worked closely together with Anderson, the two coming up with a stained glass panel entitled "Dyerexus: The Zamran Glider", and did a total of 10 separate paintings and numerous drawings for Zamran based on Anderson's bi-weekly emailed visual ideas.^[9] In Summer 2010, Anderson validated Kelso's stained glass panel and his work on Zamran, a moment that Kelso described as the pinnacle of their collaboration.^[10] Throughout 2012, Kelso continued to work on Anderson's Zamran project with artwork and featured videos on Anderson's website.^[11]

Potential tracks

• "Sing to Me" (2013) (music: Jon Anderson & Jamie Dunlap; lyrics: Jon Anderson)^[12]
• "Untitled early demo" (2014) (music: Jon Anderson & Fritz Heede; lyrics: Jon Anderson)^[13][14]

Credits

• Music written by Jon Anderson, Jamie Dunlap & Fritz Heede; Lyrics written by Jon Anderson

Personnel

• Jon Anderson

References

External links

• Official website
• How to Zamran (since 6 March 2009)