N.O.W (Philip Bardowell) – Force Of Nature (2010)
At age six, Alec Mendonça stumbled across the Boston debut album along with some old Beatles records which changed his life forever.
When he turned 14 he started playing more professionally and got a Luthier home made bass.
At age 18 his grandmother offered him the opportunity to have either a car or a decent bass….. although every single hormone in his body urged for a car he went with his heart and got his first fender Jazz Bass special, even recording an album in 1996 that had some air play in Brazil but then it all came to a halt due to sickness in the family.
After a hiatus of 14 years taking care of family business, Alec Mendonça was finally back to the world he loved, the music world.
There were so many tunes popping up into his mind that he decided to form a band and make a record out of it!
N.O.W. was born then, and by joining forces with stellar Brazilian Keyboardist Jean Barros, all the basis of the songs were done in Studio 430.
After 3 months Alec put down 12 songs!
Alec had to travel to the studio so many times he lost count of that, sometimes spending the whole day away from home for months, but it was worth it.
With the demo CD in hand, he only wanted the right vocals to do it and although Alec can sing, his voice is more of a background voice.
Taking his chances, he decided to send the tapes to some people he knew through the internet and caught the attention of gifted vocalist Philip Bardowell (ex-Peter Criss, Ace Frehley from KISS, ex-Beach Boys, ex-Unruly Child) who loved the songs so much that he decided to sing the songs for Alec.
Philip said and I quote : ”Alec, I’ll pour my heart into your songs” and by what you hear on this album, you can be sure he did!
Guitarist Carlos Ivan brought a touch of uniqueness to the album as well, making his guitar lines sound vintage but current at the same time.
All the songs reflect some stories that happened in my life or in the life of people I miss or lost.
The rest I hope becomes history…. as you can be sure that a lot of love and emotion have been put into the making of this album, it’s a 32-year-dream coming finally true… so enjoy and play it out loud!
01 – Can’t Make It (How Can I?)
02 – Listen To Your Heart
03 – Lonely Soul
04 – Once That Feeling Comes Again
05 – You
06 – Idols Grace
07 – Peace Of Mind
08 – Long Hard Way
09 – Hail Mary
10 – Im Free (But Not Ready To Go)
11 – Midnight Call
12 – No Time 4 Goodbyes
Philip Bardowell (vocals)
Alec Mendonça (bass, vocals)
Carlos Ivan (guitar)
Caio de Carvalho (guitar)
Jean Barros (keyboards)
Erik Leal (drums)
Mixed by : Martin Kronlund
