the new album by Mark Steiner & His Problems (2024)
OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE: FRIDAY 26. JANUARY 2024
Photo: Tom Garretson
BLACK HOLE - A Road to Recovery
Trauma. Addiction. Heartache. Depression. Recovery. Sobriety.
Make no bones about it. Mark Steiner sure doesn’t.
The fact that this once decadent Norwegian-American ruffian has been clean and sober since April 2021 has,
almost ironically, resulted in the successful development of this new album, Black Hole.
This is Steiner’s first full-length release since the album Saudade was first launched back in November, 2014, and features legendary drummer Ted Parsons (Prong, ex-Swans, Killing Joke, Jesu, Metallic Taste of Blood, Keith Levine), bassist Leon Muraglia (Radio 9, Salvatore) and guitarist Romek Paluch-Edwards, along with additional special guests, including Norwegian singers Ingunn Holmen and Line Saus,
Czech violinist Pavel Cingl, and longterm Danish wingman Thomas Borge.
Black Hole, both as a song and as an album title, is a journey where intersecting dark, psychically tortured souls have clambered up from the abyss into a bizarre post-pandemic world riddled with struggle.
These mastered tracks, produced and mixed by Leon Muraglia and Mark Steiner,
have just experienced a final transformation in the hands of mastering magician Nick Terry.
Where these songs end up before they inevitably hit the global market is anybody’s guess at the moment,
but since you found your way here, you are presented with the opportunity to give them all a listen…
The Back Story
Back in 2018, these four Oslo-based ex-pats first came together to simply jam with a raw, dark yet playful energy. Eventually, these live sessions resulted in songs, the songs became a set list, and the gang began making their way from Steiner’s Stagger Home Studio into various venues around Norway’s capital city,
seemingly with no end in sight...
That is, at least until Covid-19 hit, and the subsequent lock-downs shut it all down.
Unsurprisingly, Steiner jumped the rails and hit the bottle - like he never had before.
But by April, 2021, he finally hit the wall.
Thanks to this dark catastrophic avalanche which finally resulted in a moment of personal clarity,
Mark Steiner finally kicked the drink, and has been clean and sober ever since.
This new album is in fact a soul-searching personal reflection on that entire journey to sobriety.
But it is also much more than that, both musically and lyrically...
This is an honest roadmap to recovery which many listeners will certainly relate to.
Just listen.
The Four Felons - Ex-pats in Exile?
MARK STEINER • VOCALS & GUITARS • Ex-New Yorker. The ringleader of this international conspiracy.
TED PARSONS • DRUMS • Ex-Bostonian via NYC. Perhaps best known for his heavy hitting with bands such as Swans, Killing Joke, Jesu, Metallic Taste of Blood, Keith Levine, Teledubgnosis, and, of course, Prong. Like Steiner, Ted relocated to Norway some two decades ago. It seemed almost inevitable that these two American ex-pats were to finally end up sharing a stage together, as they first did in 2016 as part of New York Martin Bisi’s improvisational backing band at a gig at Gloria Flames in Oslo.
LEON MURAGLIA • BASS • Ex-Londoner. Also sharing the stage with Martin Bisi was this ex-pat living in Norway, the illustrious British-Italian multi-talented Leon Muraglia (Radio 9, Salvatore), who as bass player invited both Steiner and Parsons to perform at Revolver Oslo in 2017 as part of yet another backing band for none other than Damo Suzuki of Can. The trio then decided to make jamming a more regular thing. and a new incarnation of Steiner's Problems was born.
ROMEK PALUCH-EDWARDS • GUITAR • Another ex-Londoner. The final key and core element was none other than the marvelous British guitarist Romek Paluch-Edwards, who first met Steiner while pulling pints for him at his favourite watering-hole in Grünerløkka. An unknown talent, at least at the time, “Rom” quickly ended up falling into the main ranks as one of Steiner’s "Problems," and was immediately invited into the fold.
Additional International Accomplices
Pavel Cingl
Thomas Borge
INGUNN HOLMEN (Norway) - vocals on "Black Hole" and "Hang On" (aka "Twin Flames")
A Norwegian debutante, also suspected to be Steiner’s musical twin flame. It’s no secret that she has also had her share of struggles over many years with various traumas and addiction. Now clean and sober, this enchanting musical partner-in-crime has found her true calling as a singer.
LINE SAUS (Norway) • guest vocals on "Insomnia"
Hailing from the small city of Tromsø in the far North of Norway, Line and Mark have sparred on the stage over the years, delivering a magical experience to each other’s musical performances. Her intense delivery on the song “Insomnia” is a worthy, devastating retort to Steiner’s contribution on her singles “Six Feet Under” and “Waltz in the Vapor.”
PAVEL CINGL (Czechia) • violin on "Black Hole" and "Hang On" (aka "Twin Flames")
If there were ever a violinist given the recognition of signature styles as are the world’s greatest guitarists, this Czech legend deserves it. Although his contributions on this album are modest, to say the least, his story with Steiner doesn’t end here. Pavel lives in Prague, so of course he is a proud, responsible drinker, one who knows the true value of playing music, and how to deliver just what it takes.
THOMAS BORGE (Denmark) - effects on "Black Hole" and "Hang On" (aka "Twin Flames")
Steiner’s former wingman, born and bred in Copenhagen, founding member of the bands Halph, Saudade and Rovdrift. Also a recovered alcoholic. Now a mentor. It just wouldn’t be a Problems album without Thomas’ subtle, beautiful sonic contributions.