ADRIAN VANDENBERG
The Dutch guitarist, best known for his days in Whitesnake, opens up on how UK are a constant source for admiration.
“My love of prog started with Focus and Jan Akkerman when I was about 16. Akkerman was in his mid-20s at the time and he was already blowing people away. Being from Holland, they were heroes for me. We all watched them explode in England and America – it was inspiring. Then I discovered early Yes, who were a little rockier with Roundabout – I actually remember trying to figure out some of their classical guitar parts back then.
“About six months ago I used the first UK record to test some new speakers in my house and I realised just how ahead of its time it was. They made complex music sound so easy, which makes me very envious as a guitar player. It still sounds very relevant today.
“UK always had such great musicians, guys who other musicians wanted to see perform. Allan Holdsworth was extremely gifted, but he was also underrated as an influence. The techniques that he pioneered and his way of playing – guys like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani wouldn’t sound like they do if it wasn’t for him. And he was very understated: he just stood there with his battered Stratocaster,
Arjen Lucassen's upcoming Ayreon album Transitus stars Doctor Who icon Tom Baker (right) as The Storyteller who brings the concept together. “I've done it with such pleasure because I like the idea of the impossible,” says the British actor. looking more like an accountant than a rock player. But when you heard his playing you got really intimidated. He was on a different level.
“John Wetton was the gel in the band, I thought. He wasn’t a virtuosic bass player, but he had a really attractive way of singing, which made their sophisticated music a bit more accessible. He let the others blow you away – Bill Bruford, Terry Bozio, Eddie Jobson – you couldn’t take your eyes off them.
“I’ve always tried to incorporate a progressive approach into my songs. On songs like This Is War and Fighting Against The World I wanted to incorporate more interesting harmonic structures to solo over and that was greatly influenced by my love of UK and Yes.
“I think Yes showed that you could write quite rocky prog, but UK took that a little further. They took everything that bit further. They explored every avenue alongside the road that they were travelling on and I think that’s why they left such a great legacy behind them.” POW
Former The Enid vocalist That Joe Payne will release debut solo album, By Name, By Nature on CD this June. Digital versions will follow on August 7. He's been working on it since 2017, while also recording LPs with John Holden and one with ZIO.
Kyros launch their third album, Celexa Dreams, on June 19. The British group say the follow-up to 2016's Vox Humana is a “love letter to the era when prog rock bands like Yes and Rush were experimenting with synth-pop.”