Scott's Spotlight #26-- The Windmill
Originally posted to Facebook on March 27, 2025
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Welcome to Scott’s Spotlight (#scottsspotlight) issue #26. For more information about this series, please click here:
I don’t know why, but the Scandinavian countries are a breeding ground for great prog bands. Earlier in this series, I featured the Swedish proggers The Flower Kings as well as reviewing albums from Flower King spin-off bands Hasse Froberg Musical Companion, and (just last week) Karmakanic.. Last week, I also featured the great Norwegian band Magic Pie. This week I’ll be featuring another band from Norway- The Windmill.
While the band has only released 4 albums from 2010 until now, they bring the epics! The albums range from 4-6 tracks each, and each one contains at least one epic of 20 minutes or more.
The band began as a side project of a group of musicians in the Greater Asker region in Eastern Norway in 2001. All of the involved musicians played in other bands and got together occasionally for fun to play prog music– both covers and original. One of those musicians, keyboardist Jean Robert Viita, had had a “revelation” some years earlier in the 1990s when driving through Germany. As he crested a hill, he saw a windmill farm, and it seemed to him that the windmills were moving in time with his choice in listening on the car stereo: “Moonmadness,” by Camel (which I reviewed while doing the 100 Greatest Prog Albums Challenge). When these musicians began playing together, they decided to call themselves “The Windmill.” Initially, there was no ambition to record an album or turn the project into a serious band.
By 2005, however, the musicians began to realize that they were enjoying the music that they were making even more than their “main” bands. They began to rehearse and record at (then) guitarist Bent Jensen’s house, where he had a full recording studio available. One of the original Windmillers decided to step out of the project as drummer Vidar Kleivane was replaced by Sven H. “Bulle” Borgen. By 2007, the band had scored their first significant gig, when they opened for fellow Norwegian proggers Panzerpappa. The recording of the debut album took quite a while, and after completing the drum tracks for the album “Bulle” left in 2008. He would be replaced in 2009 by Sam Arne Nøland, who brought a new “glow” to the band. More gigs followed and the band became more polished. By 2010 one more member would leave on the eve of the album’s completion and release a few months later. Bent Jensen left due to the large amount of work his band Pulse of Floyd (presumably a Pink Floyd Tribute band) was getting. He is listed separately from the rest of the band’s names under the heading “With” as providing guitars and being the co-producer on the band’s debut album “To Be Continued…”
The album was mastered at the famed “Sterling Sound” in New York and released in May of 2010. The album quickly gained attention in the prog world and garnered many positive reviews. The album has six tracks, with the nearly 22 minute epic “A Day in a Hero’s Life” as the centerpiece. There is also a 10 minute track called “Don’t Be Afraid.” The lineup for the album is as follows:
Line-up / Musicians
- Erik Borgen / vocals, guitars,
- Jean Robert Viita / keyboards, vocals
- Morten Clason / flute, saxophone, keyboards, guitar, vocals
- Arnfinn Isaksen / bass
- Sven H. "Bulle" Borgen / drums
With:
- Bent Jensen / guitars, co-producer
The release concert on May 7, was the fist gig without Bent Jensen but Erik Borgen and Morten Clason handled the guitar parts quite well without him. However in July of 2010 at their next gig at the “Up On the Farm” BBQ and Music festival they premiered new guitarist Stig André Clason (Morten’s son) to much acclaim. Through 2011, The Windmill had a number of high profile gigs including opening for legendary ex-Marillion singer Fish, and for The Watch, as well as festival performances that helped to raise their profile among prog fans as a band to keep on their radar.
Work on the follow-up to “To Be Continued…” began in the fall of 2011 and it would be titled “The Continuation” (see what they did there?) The lineup by this time was:
- Erik Borgen / guitars, lead & backing vocals
- Stig André Clason / guitars
- Jean Robert Viita / keyboards, lead & backing vocals
- Morten Clason / sax, flutes, keyboards, guitars, lead & backing vocals
- Arnfinn Isaksen / bass
- Sam Arne Nøland / drums, percussion
The album was recorded between gigs throughout 2012, and once again mastered at New York’s Sterling Sound. It was released in March of 2013. While the debut album closed with its relatively short instrumental title track, this one opened with its also relatively short instrumental title track, giving a sense of continuity between the two albums as they are based on the same flute melody, played beautifully by Morten Clason. The big epic “The Gamer” closes the album at nearly 25 minutes in length. It also contains the nearly 13-minute “The Masque” among its 5 tracks. Over the next few years The Windmill played several high-profile prog festivals around Europe and established an even stronger presence in the pantheon of 21st century prog bands. During those shows they began to incorporate newer songs into their repertoire, which they would begin recording in the autumn of 2016. Sadly however, The Windmill suffered a major blow in the spring of 2018 as their drummer “Sammi” Nøland was diagnosed with cancer. He just managed to complete his drum tracks prior to his passing in April of 2018. The album, called “Tribus” was released in November of 2018, with the same lineup as the preceding album. This one features the opening, nearly 24-minute epic called “The Tree.” While the band mourned Sammi’s loss, drummer Kristoffer Utby took over the drum throne.
After playing a number of festivals and other gigs during 2019 the band set forth to record album #4 in early 2020. However, as you may recall, a little virus put the world on hold for the next year or two. Although the band would play a couple of festivals in 2021 and 2022, they would not resume recording the next album until August of 2022. In October of that year, they were tapped to open a couple of shows for neo-prog giants Arena. The fourth album, called “Mindscapes” was finally released in the summer of 2024, with Utby on drums Utby would soon leave the band before the album’s release, to focus on his band Infringement. He was replaced by Nils Harsem from Slemmestad. 2024 found them as part of the stellar lineup of the final “Night of the Prog” festival:
23:30 Riverside
21:30 Arena
19:30 Alex Henry Foster
17:45 Sylvan (GER)
16:30 IZZ (USA)
15:15 Cheeto’s Magazine
14:00 Inhalo (NL)
SATURDAY
23:00 Steve Hackett
21:00 Pendragon
19:15 Lazuli
17:45 Beardfish
16:15 Karnataka
15:00 Ritual
13.45 !GeRald!
SUNDAY
21:30 Big Big Train
19:30 Steve Rothery Band
17:45 The Flower Kings
16:00 MEER
14:45 Amarok
13:30 The Windmill
12:15 OK Goodnight
Wow, what an incredible festival that was! Upcoming in 2025, The Windmill will once again open for Arena.
While there have only been a total of 20 songs released by The Windmill over the past 15 years, they are ALL well worth any prog fan’s attention! Let’s hope that they will be able to release albums with a bit more frequency in the future and break into the big leagues of prog where they belong! Fans of Jethro Tull, Camel, and long form symphonic prog should especially check them out. See the Links for Listening.
Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share my spotlight posts with anyone you think might enjoy them.
LINKS FOR LISTENING:
From: “To Be Continued…”
“Don’t Be Afraid”
“A Day in a Hero’s Life”
From: “The Continuation”
“The Masque”
“The Gamer”
From: “Tribus”
“The Tree”
“Storm”
From: “Mindscapes”
“I Still Care”
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