“Take no shit!” vocalist Darran Charles yells at us through his webcam, pointing a finger. “That’s my one piece of advice,” he explains when we ask what he’s learned throughout his 14-year tenure as a member of Godsticks. “I actually never wanted to be in a band,” he says. The group’s formation was nothing more than a college project that Charles was forced into as part of the curriculum at the London Guitar Institute. As a module, he was expected to put together a performance with other members. “I didn’t like it at first because it was just nerve-racking,” he recalls, “I had to spend eight hours a day studying and practising and that.”
Prior to this, Charles had had dreams of composing music for other artists and remaining behind the curtain, but after a few live shows he decided that he could see himself on the stage instead. He dropped the “fantasy” of composing for others, gritted his teeth, and placed an advertisement for other musicians to join him.
“The setlist I put together had music from Zappa, George Benson, Steve Vai… a mad variety of musicians,” he laughs. “Just one person replied, that was it.”
That one person was Godsticks’ first bass player, Jason Marsh, and together he and Charles put together a setlist that Charles says they had no audience for.
“It was just to challenge ourselves. This is the music we like, we didn’t give a shit if we had an audience or not,” he remembers. Their search to complete the band continued, but their material limited the applications. “We went through about 8,000 drummers until we were able to find somebody who could play it,” Charles laughs, “I think we were called Multistorey Earthworm back then.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 142 من Prog.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 142 من Prog.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The Bottom Line
The experimental Aussies have turned heads with their dual bass player set-up, but chief songwriter Matt Fack says The Omnific are no mere gimmick. Having honed their craft to its sharpest point with' second album The Law Of Augmenting Returns, he sits down with Prog to discuss their desire to redefine what bass guitars can do.
UNFADING MEMORIES
Experimental Norwegian jazz-rock trio Elephant9 return with eight new tracks that make up the exploratory Mythical River. The band's co-founders, bassist Nikolai Hængsle and keyboard player Ståle Storløkken, reveal the appeal of long coffee breaks, collabs with Led Zep bassist John Paul Jones, and why three really is the magic number.
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Death, Billy Joel and angelic visitations are just three of the ingredients that shaped The Decemberists' latest album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. Vocalist Colin Meloy talks to Prog about creativity as a form of hallucination, sneaking progressive music into the record collections of unsuspecting listeners, and why you have to earn the long songs.
Spellbinding
Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jo Beth Young is back with a third album, which she describes as art-pop or experimental folk. Prog catches up with Young to learn more about the inspiration and process behind the thought-provoking Broken Spells.
COME BACK STRONGER
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Goodbye Blue Sky
When Pure Reason Revolution made an unexpected but very welcome return with 2020's Eupnea, all eyes were on them to see what they'd do next. However, internal changes, personal grief and a case of writer's block made the future seem less certain. New album Coming Up To Consciousness allays those fears with a selection of powerful new material and a modified line-up. Frontman Jon Courtney chats to Prog about finding inspiration during dark times, working with Guy Pratt and his renewed vigour for the band he founded at university.
PYRAMANIA
Egypt's pyramids have long captivated our imagination, with some even believing the magnificent structures harness magical or healing powers. In 1978, masters of the concept album The Alan Parsons Project explored themes of pyramid power and ancient magic on their third studio album, Pyramid. Prog and Parsons step back in time to uncover the story behind the group's Grammynominated and recently reissued record.
Still Life
\"I like to mix things that don't belong together and see what happens,\" says Eivør Pálsdóttir. The singer-songwriter talks to Prog about channelling the folk traditions of her Faroese home, the power of solitude, and the inspiring magic of the natural world into her transformative new album ENN.
Prog, Pop and Progress
By stripping back their instrumentation, Norway's art-rock sensations Leprous have found a different beast lurking below. Heavier and catchier than ever, they hope it can help them reach new frontiers. Prog catches up with vocalist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke to uncover the story behind their new album, Melodies Of Atonement.