A N D Y
T I L L I S O N
BRITISH KEYBOARDIST
SINGER-SONGWRITER
for
PROGRESSIVE ROCK GROUP
T H E
T A N G E N T
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The Tangent is a
Progressive Rock Band from Northern England, based around keyboards player,
composer and idiosyncratic vocalist Andy Tillison Diskdrive.
Their music is cinematic
and lyrical, full of narrative, often telling stories or making observations
about the world we live in - often choosing subject matter more associated with
Anarcho-Punk bands than with the genre in which the band choose to base
themselves. "No Hobbits or Orcs in our songs" The band have released
a steady output of well-regarded albums through their record label Inside Out
Music.
The band has changed
personnel many times and has used this fluidity to keep ideas fresh and lucid.
The debut album released in 2003 The Music that Died Alone was often
referred to as a "supergroup" project, though Tillison has always
eschewed this title, preferring to go for the less obvious "a good
idea".
In twelve years, the
group has had close affiliations with Swedish progressive legends The Flower
Kings, and Jonas Reingold (bass) from that band remains in the Tangent to this
day despite the departure of Roine Stolt from the Tangent ten years ago now.
David Jackson (Van Der Graaf Generator) was heavily featured on that debut
album, Jakko Jakszyk (now of King Crimson) has been a frequent collaborator
along with Theo Travis (Steven Wilson Band, Soft Machine Legacy, Gong etc.).
Guy Manning, Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree), David Longdon (Big Big Train)
have all played key roles in the band's development and the band was instrumental
in bringing the talents of the astonishing young guitarist Luke Machin
(Maschine) to the world for the first time.
Tangent philosophy has
been to embrace other more contemporary bands. Whether overtly progressive
themselves (Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Argos, Magenta etc.) or completely
away from the official boundaries of the genre into metal, Jazz, modern pop,
soul, disco and film music, the Tangent do not follow the prog rock rule book.
"It's more what we
don't do that sets us apart" Tillison said in a 2007 interview...
"we've always avoided doing the 12 string acoustic stuff, and in fact
anything that gets too Genesissy or Floyd-like usually (not always) gets
binned.. that's not to say that there aren't influences.. just that we don't
like the idea of being confined to the styles of those particular figureheads.
The spirit of progressive rock music was carried by lots more people than
Genesis. I think that too many of us (new bands) use the obvious source - i.e.
the 70s bands and forget to look around us and see what our contemporaries are
up to!"
Over the years the band
has had many manifestos, all of which are still relevant to the future of the
Tangent..
Andy Tillerson’s
progressive bands have been "A New Opera" 1978 - 1986, "Gold
Frankincense & Diskdrive" 1987 - 1995, Po90 (Parallel Or 90 Degrees)
1996 - 2010 and The Tangent 2002 - the present. With over 20 albums released
out there - Andy has been one of the most committed and unrelenting advocates
of Progressive Music through its darkest days.
PROXY
At amazon.com
For more information about Andy Tillison and The Tangent
visit
Official website
Facebook
Twitter
T H E
T A N G E N T
P R O X Y
available at
amazon.com
Studio albums
by THE TANGENT
The Music That Died Alone (2003)
The World That We Drive Through (2004)
A Place in the Queue (2006)
Not as Good as the Book (2008)
Down and Out in Paris and London (2009)
COMM (2011)
Le Sacre du Travail (2013)
A Spark in the Aether (2015)
The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery (2017)
Proxy (2018)
Live albums
Pyramids and Stars (2005)
Going Off on One (2007)
Going Off on Two (2010)
London or Paris, Berlin or Southend On Sea (2012)
Hotel Cantaffordit (with Karmakanic as Tangekanic) (2018)
ANDY TILLISON APPEARS
APRIL 14TH 2020
7 PM PACIFIC/10 PM EASTERN
on INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS
with RAY SHASHO
on BBS RADIO 1
www.bbsradio.com
MY NEW BOOK IS FINALLY OUT!
ENTITLED
THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES
SERIES ONE
CHRONICLES, TRUTHS,
CONFESSIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE MUSIC LEGENDS THAT SET US FREE
…Order yours today on Hardcover or E-book
at bookbaby.com or amazon.com
Featuring over 45 intimate conversations with some of the greatest rock legends on the planet
CHRIS SQUIRE... DR.
JOHN... GREG LAKE... HENRY MCCULLOUGH... JACK BRUCE … JOE LALA… JOHNNY WINTER... KEITH EMERSON... PAUL
KANTNER... RAY THOMAS... RONNIE
MONTROSE... TONY JOE WHITE... DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS… MIKE LOVE... TOMMY ROE...
BARRY HAY... CHRIS THOMPSON... JESSE COLIN YOUNG... JOHN KAY... JULIAN
LENNON... MARK LINDSAY... MICKY DOLENZ… PETER RIVERA ...TOMMY JAMES… TODD
RUNDGREN... DAVE MASON... EDGAR WINTER... FRANK MARINO... GREGG ROLIE... IAN
ANDERSON... JIM “DANDY” MANGRUM... JON ANDERSON... LOU GRAMM... MICK BOX...
RANDY BACHMAN… ROBIN TROWER... ROGER
FISHER... STEVE HACKETT... ANNIE HASLAM… ‘MELANIE’ SAFKA... PETULA CLARK...
SUZI QUATRO... COLIN BLUNSTONE… DAVE DAVIES... JIM McCARTY... PETE BEST
