The progressive rock band The Windmill was started in the autumn of 2001 as an occasional prog project for fun, as a side project alongside various other bands the band members then played in. The background for the band and the name is a "revelation" keyboard player Jean Robert Viita received in Germany in the early 90s. Above a hilltop, a windmill farm appeared, and Jeanni discovered that the rotors in the windmills seemed to rotate synchronously with Camel's "Moonmadness" playing on the car stereo. There and then, the seed of The Windmill was sown!

The first years were characterized by sporadic rehearsals, during which both own songs and classic prog songs were played just for fun. At that time, the idea of a permanently established band with live performances and recordings was relatively distant.
But ambitions tend to develop, and in autumn 2005, it was decided to start recording the debut album "To Be Continued....". They began with recordings and rehearsals in (then) guitarist Bent Jensen's studio in Fredrikstad, where a complete digital studio was available. The band started to take shape as a proper band and not just a side project, and regular rehearsals were introduced, parallel to the studio work.

Most members began to think this band was more attractive than those they were involved with and decided to commit themselves fully to The Windmill. A new drummer, Sven H. "Bulle" Borgen, was brought in as a replacement for Vidar Kleivane, who chose to retire.

After much trial and error in 2005 and 2006, the first live concert was held at Maiden in Oslo in April 2007 as a support act for another Norwegian prog band, Panzerpappa. This concert proved a success and spurred further efforts in the rehearsal room and studio.

After this, the recordings continued, and several concerts followed. A minor setback came in 2008 when drummer "Bulle" withdrew from the band. However, he finished the recording (drums) of "To be Continued...".
2009 started with a new drummer, Sam Arne Nøland, and a new rehearsal room in Åros. With Nøland's entry, a new glow came into the band, and more concerts followed.

At the beginning of 2010, guitarist Bent Jensen chose to retire due to a lot of work with Pulse of Floyd. The mixing of the debut album continued, however, and in mid-March, it was sent for mastering at Sterling Sound in New York, and "To Be Continued..." was released in May 2010 to fantastic reviews worldwide. The release gig was held on May 7, 2010, in Slemmestad. It was the first concert without lead guitarist Bent, and that created a little extra excitement. However, there was no need to panic: Morten and Erik tuned the guitars perfectly to fill in the gaps left by Bent. It was a fantastic concert, with a fantastic audience!

The next live performance was on July 31 of the same year, Up On The Farm BBQ, a festival based on food and music. Here, the new lead guitarist, Stig André Clason, was presented for the first time. His brilliant performance exceeded all expectations, and he became a permanent band member.

In 2011, The Windmill got the chance to bring their music out to a larger audience when a gratifying number of gigs appeared after the CD release: Nordkappfestivalen, Honningsvåg, warm-up for Fish in Drammen, and for The Watch at John Dee, Oslo, Norway and the Art Rock Festival in Lidköping, Sweden should be mentioned.
In the autumn of 2011, they returned to the studio to start recording the follow-up album "The Continuation".

During 2012, several great concerts were held in Norway, and a lot of hard work was done in the studio. The last chord was recorded at the end of December, and "The Continuation" was sent for mixing and mastering in mid-January 2013. Again, Lydspesialisten in Fredrikstad was responsible for mixing, and Sterling Sound was again responsible for mastering in New York. This time, it was also decided to press a limited edition of vinyl LPs. "The Continuation" was ready for release on March 13, 2013.

2010-2016 offered several pleasant tours and concerts at home and abroad. In particular, it was incredibly nice to play on the main stage at the Cambridge Rock Festival in 2014 and 2016, the Haugaland Progrock Festival in Haugesund with Junipher Greene in 2015, and the concert with Adventure and Fish at Kimen Cultural Center in Stjørdal also in 2015. The We Låve Rock Festival concert in Hurum in 2018 should also be mentioned, along with Arena and the Franck Carducci Band. In autumn 2016/spring 2017, the band acted as a backing band for Caamora Norway, which staged Clive Nolan's musical "Alchemy" at Sætre, Kolbotn, and Høytorp Fort at Mysen.

The recording of "Tribus" began in autumn 2016. The album consists of songs that had been in the live repertoire for a while and completely new songs that have never been played live. As usual, The Windmill has an epic song when it comes to a new album, and this year's contribution is called "The Tree" and clocks in at close to 24 minutes.
The album was partly recorded at Morten Clason's summer house in Sweden, at Stig André Clason's home studio in Oslo, and in the band's combined rehearsal room and studio in Hurum. Karl Groom (Threshold, Shadowland, Strangers On A Train) mixed and mastered the album at Thin Ice Studios in England.

In the spring of 2018, the band received the unspeakably sad news that drummer Sammi Nøland had contracted cancer. He just managed to record the drums on the entire album before his strength ran out in late April. In August, the news came that the disease had worsened significantly and that, unfortunately, it was rapidly declining. On the night of September 5, Sammi died, leaving a massive void in the band that has yet to be filled. RIP, Sammi! A wonderful person and sparkling drummer has left us.
"Tribus" was officially released on November 15, 2018, in connection with the release gig at Belleville in Oslo. Once again, the reviews were fantastic, both in Norway and abroad. In the wake of "Tribus," there was an extensive concert activity in 2019, and the highlights worth mentioning are the Night of the Prog Festival in Loreley, Germany, in July and the Summers End Festival in Wales in October. The Close To The Rain Festival in Bergen in June and Prog At Sea should also be mentioned at the end of August.

Work started on new songs for the fourth album at the beginning of 2020, but the Corona outbreak in March 2020 placed the band on the sidelines for a while. Playing at the Klokkarstua Festival in Hurum in 2021 and 2022 was pretty much the only activity after the Corona. In August 2022, work on album number 4 started again.

In October 2022, the band played two warm-up concerts for the English prog band Arena: at Cosmopolite in Oslo on Saturday, October 15, and at Musikens Hus in Gothenburg on Sunday, October 16.
2023 offered several ups and downs. The Windmill played at the Midsummer Festival in Valkenburg, the Netherlands, and Prog en Beauce in Pierres, France. Work on album No. 4 continues.

In October, drummer Kristoffer Utby, who had been with the band since 2018, retired to spend more time on his project, Infringement. The new drummer from January 2024 is Nils Harsem from Slemmestad. He debuted live with the band at a memorial concert for sound engineer Morten Skancke on January 15, 2024.

The fourth album, Mindscapes, was finally finalized and ready for release on July 1, 2024, for CDs and digital formats. The vinyl versions are scheduled for August 1, 2024.
The Windmill is also invited to play on the last day of the last Night of the Prog Festival in Loreley, July 21. This is a great honor. At this event, the young guitarist Emil Olsen will substitute Stig André Clason, who, unfortunately, is unable to participate.

Members:

Discography:

Mindscapes		Album		2024		Buy physical editions		Buy digital download
Tribus		Album		2018
The Continuation		Album		2013
To Be Continued...		Album		2010

Information:

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