In prog, there are countless incredible musicians who have yet to become household names and part of this column is to present some of those that are not as well known.
One of those talents is guitarist/vocalist Jordan Ferreira. Jordan has been a working musician since the age of ten, following in his father’s footsteps, who is a successful international singer. Jordan recalls, “I grew up in a musical family. I’ve always remembered there being a recording studio in the two houses I grew up in. I remember musicians rehearsing at the house, jamming, doing sessions, all that type of stuff. It never clicked for me that music would be something I’d be involved with until I discovered the electric guitar. I was 10 years old the first time I really played, and 11 when I was given my first guitar as a birthday present.”
I had the chance to meet Jordan when he was in a group as a teenager called Mindwalk Blvd and was floored at how skilled the group was at such a young age. At 16, Jordan was already an incredibly talented guitarist and singer. The group was a trio ages 15-18 with Jordan as the lead singer. It was hard to imagine a group so young being so good at playing, pulling off Dream Theater, Yes and Rush with such ease. The band had achieved enough notoriety that Jon Anderson of Yes even offered to work with them, although that never materialized due to the group disbanding, as often happens to young groups. “The memories I have of Mindwalk Blvd are the happiest memories I have of my entire life. Honestly all the definitions of what “success” in terms of awareness in the industry we achieved where all peripheral to the amount of fun I was having every single day just being in the same room as Mike (bass) & Tyler (drums)”
Since then, Jordan formed a group called ElixirOnMute which featured ex-Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, as well as guest appearances by Bumblefoot. The albums’ music showed no bounds, with Jordan shredding over 10 minute explosions of chaos at one turn and singing over a Prince-influenced track the next. “ElixirOnMute has been an amazing experience. I wrote and produced 2 albums (EndOfSky and The Long Halloween) I’m incredibly proud of and I’ve had the opportunity to tour the country and work with my favorite musicians on planet earth. Working with Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal was a highlight of my life I’ll never forget. Aside from his talent as a musician, he is genuinely everything you could ever hope your hero is as a person.”
Jordan is now living in LA and working on new album called Memories, which he says is taking him in a different direction. “There’s no question that I have a deep love and respect for progressive music, I have since I was 12 years old, but for the first time in my life I am actually excited by the challenge of creating music that is meant to connect as deeply as possible to as many people as possible. I think there is something beautiful about that idea.“ Expect to hear more from this talented musician who is doing it the only way he knows how… his own.
Find out more about Jordan and ElixirOnMute here.
Roie Avin is the Editor of The Prog Report website.
