MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals and electronics
Dylan Day: guitar (Hey Joe and Dealey Plaza Blues)
Joe Filisko: harmonica (Mississippi Saxophones and I'll Get A Break)
Tommy Bohlen: steel pedal (Don't Be Cruel)
Alexander Krispin: co-producer, mix engineer, and various instruments
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

PRESS RELEASE:
As listeners, we dream of albums like this. Albums that take a well-worn, tradition-based template or two, blow them wide open then put the pieces back together in a way that isn’t just satisfying but leaves one gasping a bit at both the startling results and the daring it took to create them. It’s those records - think Horses, Contort Yourself, Marquee Moon - that we end up acknowledging as legends at birth, records that manage to confirm our preconceptions while shattering them in pretty much the same instant and Mortal Prophets’ second record Dealey Plaza Blues, construed via the incomparable talents of John Beckmann, is here to join their ranks. Like those, DPB is a fresh, exciting, even startling record because it’s like nothing you’ve heard before and because you’re deeply familiar with most of what it offers. 

Of Dealey Plaza Blues’ tracks, seven are covers, and three are original but all are of such a transfixing piece it can at times be a challenge to tell one from the other. Going from the fever-dreamed audio mirage of instrumental opener “Mississippi Saxophones” that arrives like some eerie wind tripping through your headphones to the bold moody take on “Born Under A Bad Sign” that virtually glistens with despair, Beckmann’s lurking, almost disembodied baritone casting a steady if lone presence against a hallucinatory background, is to find yourself enveloped in a trance of sorts, one that doesn’t concern itself with provenance and one you won’t be quit of until album’s end. In those seven covers, “Hey Joe,” “Baby Please Don’t Go,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Down On Me” among them, Beckmann has taken original blues and timeless rock standards and, with the help of musicians Joe Filisko, Dylan Day, Tommy Bohlen and co-producer/musician (and seven-year Daniel Lanois protege) Alexander Krispin, reanimated them in such a persuasive way that they bring fresh fuel to one’s view of reincarnation. In a luminous way, the songs have been reborn in him, he in them. And, to be clear: this isn’t revivalism, it’s not dilettantism, it isn’t any -ism at all. Rather, a sui generis construct does that little Latin phrase proud. And anyway, upon listening, one realizes those covers aren’t really covers but something more akin to repossessions, stripped back to their essences then morphologically reconfigured for the 21st c. Heard that way it becomes difficult if not impossible to imagine them being any more alive than they are right here, right now on Dealey Plaza Blues. 

Beckmann has long displayed that quality all visionary artists and composers must possess: a hunger for the new and, quite often, groundbreaking. Nurtured for decades, then, it’s no surprise that come 2021 when he’s introduced to Captain Beefheart alumnus Gary Lucas the path toward Mortal Prophets’ current sound found its guide, an influence on his process heard most clearly on the “Dealey Plaza Blues” itself, a hypnotic, dub-infused original that anchors the album like a Metal Box version of fractured Americana (an essence captured by the track’s avant-garde montage video shot by Michele Civetta and chock full of Zapruder, paranoia, grief, and conspiracy). In that context, Beckmann’s take on the not-so-new art forms here can perhaps seem at first an almost shocking development but, once heard, is better understood as something of a natural progression. From there it’s an almost inescapable conclusion that if Beckmann can do this to the blues and Otis Blackwell-penned rock’n’roll, there are really no limits to his talent.

DEALEY PLAZA BLUES

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, harmonica, and treatments
Parker Bryant: guitars
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: organ and harmonica
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
John Beckmann: mix
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, Finland
Ciril Jazbec: photograph

THE TWANG GANG [Live in Berlin]
Release Date: September 15, 2023

PRESS RELEASE:
As if 2023 wasn’t a prolific enough year for Mortal Prophets, John Beckmann is already back with another branch of his experimental music project. And boy oh boy, is it a curveball.

While Twang Gang [Live in Berlin] was recorded right after his debut EP Stomp the Devil, though its 11 original tunes sound like they were torn from an entirely different script. It’s as cinematic as a Saturday night movie, complete with its name in neon lights and the following disclaimer: “All names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred.”

Beckmann’s tagline is telling; after all, Twang Gang [Live in Berlin] has more in common with acid-drenched Westerns like El Topo and Dead Man than a run-of-the-mill concert recording. In fact, it’s unclear whether it’s a real live record or simply meant to mimic one on such tongue-in-cheek takes as “Dog Face Joe,” a surreal, guitar-led sequence that leaves a trail of smoke behind its softspoken rhythm section and Beckmann’s moon-lit reminder to follow his five-piece “band” on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.

That term’s in quotes because the designer by day (principal of the architectural design firm Axis Mundi), musician by night, is acting more like a mad conductor than a mic-toting frontman this time around. Take the title track, for instance. A slippery jam session with a whiff of hand-rolled cigarettes and whiskey, it finds Beckmann calling out cues (“Let’s hit the bridge”) and encouragement (“you are good on those keyboards, man — sweet Jesus”) to guitarist Parker Bryant, bassist Concertina, organist/harmonica player Richmond Davis and percussionist/programmer Beckett Laurent. Similar in spirit and headed straight for the sun is “Pagan Driving School,” a square dance spliced with leathery guitar licks and jet-powered synths.

Other songs (“Psychotronic Guitar Lullaby,” “Alamo Aloha,” “Waltz Across New Jersey”) are far more subdued; as if Mortal Prophets set out to make the ultimate ambient country album — a cosmic soundtrack for stargazing as space cowboys hover overhead and tumbleweeds blow across alien contrails below.

Rather than revisit any of the territory Mortal Prophets have explored so far, Beckmann has cracked open the cliches of Americana itself and let the ghosts slip out. To the point where the cowboy in “Ride Em High” isn’t being celebrated so much as mourned — a storybook figure bound to fade off into the distance, hand on his holster and head held high, as he rides.

TRACKLISTING:
01. Waltz Across New Jersey
02. 3 Dolla Holla
03. Mesmerized Stargazers
04. The Twang Gang [Live in Berlin]
05. Pagan Driving School (Square Dance)
06. Can You Feel It
07. Ride Em High
08. Alamo Aloha
09. Dog Face Joe
10. Psychotronic Guitar Lullaby
11. The Bones Go Last

THE TWANG GANG [Live in Berlin]

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Aoibheann Carey-Philpott: backing vocals
Jon Cobert: pianist on TWID
Gordon Ashe: drums on BTD
Matthew Carter: drum programming HOHW
Will Wilde : harmonica on HOHW
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Hell or High Water written by John Beckman and William D Lucey
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles
Cat Chow: photograph

PRESS RELEASE:
Having already taken the groups ethos to almost unimaginable heights with last summer’s Dealey Plaza Blues, John Beckmann, doing daring and dauntless business as Mortal Prophets, returns with the 6-song Sleeping in My Bed EP to assure us that that remarkable piece of work was no fluke. 

Proving beyond doubt his placement on the list of this country’s canonical songwriters, Mr. Beckmann has gotten his house so much in order that, upon any release but this one especially, it’s fair to expect a string of classics resounding through its hallways no matter from which stylistic room any particular track may originate. To wit:

With its initial swirl of dusty acoustic and dark effects and the drone of a uniquely American dread hanging over it, the atmospheric, cinematic and wholly evocative opener “Bury Them Deep” has one imagining Morricone lost in a new bad dream of sad American heroism even as the track is as head-nodding addictive as anything Beckmann has produced. “Sleeping in My Bed,” with its sultry, soulful blues vamp soaked in saxophone and menace creating a vibe that places it midway between a bar on Bourbon St at 6AM and a tent revival, simply drips with an incantatory fever, Beckmann’s vocal, against an arrangement of horn and lowing organ, leaving no doubt as to the narrator’s intention. “Tom Waits in Drag” not only speaks for itself but, coming on the (likely high) heels of that title track, proves the perfect segue as it actually takes place on Bourbon Street before “Hell or High Water” continues down this EP’s sublimely dissipated path, yearning and obsession laid bare for all to hear and then there’s three more past that but let’s leave those for your discovery as you surely have the idea.

As a piece of work, Sleeping in My Bed, as is true of any and all Mortal Prophets work, suggests a reimagining of Tin Pan Alley after years of neglect and abuse, brought back to stunning life with all its wounds and scars and shattered glass right out there in the open yet no less inspiring and swoon-worthy for all that. This is a modern pop music that on the one hand is fearless in its conjuring of a broken world while on the other clinging with great faith to the precepts of classic American songwriting. No one else is attempting this with quite the verve and fearlessness as the Mortal Prophets nor is anyone succeeding to a level heard here on the new EP. A great artist doing great work is usually more than enough, but when that work also speaks to the national psyche and the wounded human heart beating inside it, that’s everything that could possibly be asked for from any songwriter. John Beckmann delivers just that.

TRACKLISTING:
01. Bury Them Deep
02. Gun and a Prayer
03. Sleeping in My Bed
04. Tom Waits in Drag
05. High Water
06. Cut You Down

SLEEPING IN MY BED

John Beckmann: lyrics, vocals, and cover art
Gerald Menke: guitars, and steel pedal
David Sisko: producer and all instruments
Min Max Studios: New York
Mike Tucci: mastering, Los Angeles
Michele Civetta: video

ICNCLST/

THE AMERICAN JUNKIE SHOW

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals
Joe Filisko; harmonica - Mississippi Saxophones and I'll Get A Break
Alexander Krispin: co-producer, mix engineer, and various instruments
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles
Made in NYC and Los Angeles

© 2022-23 Lux Astralis Music. All rights reserved.

Dealey Plaza Blues

Please Don't Go

PLEASE DON’T GO

I'll Get A Break

I'LL GET A BREAK

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals
Dylan Day: guitar -  Hey Joe and Dealey Plaza Blues
Alexander Krispin: co-producer, mix engineer, and various instruments
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles
Made in NYC and Los Angeles

© 2022-23 Lux Astralis Music. All rights reserved.

Hey Joe

HEY JOE

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: lyrics and vocals
Gerald Menke: guitars
David Sisko: producer and all instruments
Min Max Studios, New York
Mike Tucci: mastering, Los Angeles

BANG BANG

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, harmonica and treatments 
Parker Bryant: guitars 
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: organ and harmonica
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, Finland

Pagan Driving School

PAGAN DRIVING SCHOOL (Square Dance)

THE TWANG GANG [Live In Berlin]

MESMERIZED STARGAZERS

Waltz Across New Jersey

WALTZ ACROSS NEW JERSEY

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: lyrics and vocals
Gerald Menke: guitars
Isaiah Barr: sax
David Sisko: producer and all instruments
Min Max Studios, New York
Mike Tucci: mastering, Los Angeles

LIKE THE NIGHT

Mississippi Saxophones

MISSISSIPPI SAXOPHONES

3 Dolla Holla

3 DOLLA HOLLA

MUSICIANS:
John Beckmann: vocals
Alexander Krispin: co-producer, mix engineer, and various instruments
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles
Made in NYC and Los Angeles

© 2022-23 Lux Astralis Music. All rights reserved.

Born Under A Bad Sign

BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: lyrics, vocals, and electronics
Gerald Menke: guitars
David Sisko: producer and all instruments
Min Max Studios, New York
Mike Tucci: mastering, Los Angeles

FLOWERS FOR YOU

THE SUN IS ON FIRE

SO REAL

WHO'S THAT GIRL

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Gerald Menke: guitars
David Sisko: producer
Tom Rogers, Atomix, LA: mastering

AN AMERICAN SCENE

AMERICAN JUNKIE

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Aoibheann Carey-Philpott: backing vocals
Gordon Ashe: drums on BTD
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Hell or High Water written by John Beckman and William D. Lucey
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

Sleeping in My Bed

Bury Them Deep

BURY THEM DEEP

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

A Gun and a Prayer

GUN AND A PRAYER

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Aoibheann Carey-Philpott: backing vocals
Jon Cobert, pianist on TWID
Gordon Ashe: drums on BTD
Matthew Carter: drum programming HOHW
Will Wilde : harmonica on HOHW
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Hell or High Water written by John Beckman and William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Jon Cobert, pianist
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

Tom Waits in Drag

TOM WAITS IN DRAG

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals and lyrics
Matthew Carter: drum programming
Will Wilde: harmonica
Wiliam D. Lucey: bass, keyboards, samples and programming, electric and acoustic guitars
Produced and mixed by William D. Lucey
Studio: LeftBank, Cork, Ireland
Hell or High Water written by John Beckman and William D Lucey
Jonas W. Karlsson: mastering
Henkka Niemistö Mastering, Helsinki, and Los Angeles

Hell or High Water

HELL OR HIGH WATER

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: all music + artwork
David Sisko: mix
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York
Joe LaPorta: mastering engineer, Sterling Sound

NEW BREED

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: all music
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York
Mastered

ZINC

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: music
Lux Astralis, New York, and
Hansa Studios, Berlin

FALLING FROM GRACE

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, lyrics and music
John Beckmann and Cat Chow: artwork
Lux Astralis, New York: recording studio
Abby Road Studios, London: mastering

BRIEF EVEN AS BRIGHT (For Percy Bysshe Shelley)

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, and electronics
Anaïs de Nerval: vocals, and backing vocals
Parker Bryant: guitars, and violins
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: keyboards, and organ
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York,
Hana Road Studios, Montreux, Switzerland

APOPHENIA

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, and electronics
Anaïs de Nerval: vocals, and backing vocals
Parker Bryant: guitars, and violins
Concertina: bass
Richmond Davis: keyboards, and organ
Beckett Laurent: percussion and programming
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York,
+ Hana Road Studios, Montreux, Switzerland

PHYSICS OF THE DAMNED

PLASTIC RESOLUTION

John Beckmann: all music
Lux Astralis, New York: recording studio
Abby Road Studios, London: mastering

ALL THE PRETTY GUITARS

IN THE GROOVE

ABSOLUTE TROUBLE

SUPERORGANISM

NOT SO FAST

CUNNING FOLK

WALK AWAY FROM ME

DID I MAKE YOU LOOK

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: music
Dämmerungschor: vocal ensemble
John Beckmann and Cat Chow: artwork
Lux Astralis, New York: recording studio
Abby Road Studios, London: mastering

SEGUE FOR A THRILLER

SPIRALING TOWARDS CONTROL

MERCURY RETROGRADE

ELSEWHERENESS

ASTERIOD

FALLING

PRETTY THINGS

SMOKE RISE

SPIRITUAL MACHINES

STRUNG OUT

AMERICAN JUNKIE - Extended Version

John Beckmann: all music
Lux Astralis, New York: recording studio
Mixed by Larry Crane at Jackpot! Recording Studio, Portland

PRESCRIPTION

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: all music
Recorded at Lux Astralis, New York

LOVE WILL TEAR US APART

MAISON OBLIQUE

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, electronics, and arrangements
Parker Bryant: guitars, and violins
Richmond Davis: keyboards, and organ
Carte Blanche: percussion, and programming
Concertina: bass
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York,
+ Hana Road Studios, Montreux, Switzerland

GUNSLINGER

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: vocals, electronics, and arrangements 
Parker Bryant: guitars, and violins
Richmond Davis: keyboards, and organ
Carte Blanche: percussion, and programming
Concertina: bass
Recorded at Lus Astralis, New York, 
+ Hana Road Studios, Montreux, Switzerland

IDIOT SAVANT

MUSICIANS
John Beckmann: all music, vocals, lyrics, and production
Lux Astralis, New York, and
Hansa Studios, Berlin

I'LL BE THERE

www.mortalprophets.com

“Anyone having trouble getting to, or staying, asleep should proceed with caution when playing The Mortal Prophets’ debut album around bedtime. The demonic intentions implied by the album’s name and defined by John Beckmann … coil each selection in menacing directions, bringing fresh, often frightening twists to these standards. Be aware - when you engulf yourself in these riveting, uncompromising performances. They are not for the squeamish.”
- American Songwriter

John Beckmann and his evolving band of genre-bending roustabouts dig deep into America’s primal scream. Beckmann is an unholy mix of mad scientist and blues shaman, a man who’s spent his life careening between high-concept design, dark experimental ambient operas, and the electrified roots of American music. If you think you’ve got him figured out, think again—he’ll zig when you expect him to zag, dragging you into the shadowy corners of his mind where art, music, and madness collide.

He cut his teeth in the unforgiving concrete jungle of New York City, making waves with furniture that looked like it belonged in a dystopian sci-fi flick. Inspired by the Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich, Beckmann’s chairs, tables, and other sharp-edged creations were more like functional sculptures, ready to challenge your perception of what furniture—and art—could be.

But Beckmann’s appetite for creative chaos couldn’t be satisfied by mere design. Music was his next conquest. With The Mortal Prophets, he didn’t just dip his toes into the blues; he took a deep, dark dive, emerging with a sound that’s equal parts Mississippi Delta and futuristic nightmare. Their debut album, Me and the Devil, isn’t just a reimagining of blues classics—it’s a full-throttle ride through a sonic landscape where Beckmann’s gravelly voice and electronic beats pull the old ghosts of the blues kicking and screaming into the present.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any darker, along came Dealey Plaza Blues. This album, named after the infamous site of JFK’s assassination, is drenched in the paranoia and conspiratorial dread of the 1960s. It’s blues, but twisted through Beckmann’s uniquely sinister lens, with eerie electronic undercurrents that make you feel like you’re being watched by the shadowy figures lurking just out of sight.

Beckmann’s talents are not limited to music and design. He also created Hanussen: The Enigmatic Clairvoyant - a dark ambient opera that delves into the life of Erik Jan Hanussen, a clairvoyant with ties to the occult and Nazi Germany. Like his music, the opera explores the dark intersections of history, power, and mysticism, showcasing Beckmann’s fascination with the shadowy side of the human experience. Hanussen further cements Beckmann’s reputation as an artist unafraid to tackle complex, unsettling themes.

John Beckmann’s journey from designer to musician is a testament to his boundless creativity and his ability to excel in multiple artistic disciplines. With The Mortal Prophets, he has found a way to bring his diverse influences together, creating music that is both a tribute to the past and a bold statement for the future.

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