Magenta is a Prog band from Wales, feautering Christina Booth on vocals. Rob Reed is
the main force of the band. They just did a small tour with RPWL and PBII in the Netherlands.
Plans to return and do a bigger tour are lying on the table.
Their latest studio album was called Metamorphosis and they just released a live dvd "Live at the Point".
MAGENTA AFTER THE METAMORPHOSIS
An interview by Michel Scheijen for
www.mostlypink.net
Photos by Raymond Kruijen.
The term metamorphosis stands for change. If one band changed their sound in a radical way it’s MAGENTA. Their latest studio album ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ (2008) is based on the grubby moments before death. Musically it is more heavy guitar structured with dark soundscapes. There’s a lot to talk about! I speak to Christina and Rob just before the gig at progweekend in Kerkrade.
[M]:
What were the reactions after the album’s release?
[rob]:
“It’s been almost a year since it was released. We had really good reactions. A lot of new people came in to it because it’s a bit different than its predecessors. It’s heavier, demanding, and darker. Maybe a bit risky, but it worked well. The audience loved it when played live”.
[christina]: “After ‘HOME’ the sound changed a lot. ‘HOME’ is very positive and melodic. ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ inspired me of doing vocally different things”.
[M]:
Was there a reason for choosing a different kind of production?
[rob]:
“On every album we try to do something different. I don’t like doing the same thing on every album. That’s too easy. I think ‘METAMORPHOSIS’ is the way it’s been developed”.
[M]:
Why getting back to epics?
[rob]:
“It all started with short songs, but expanded during composing and production. I couldn’t stop. No song was planned to be twenty-five minutes long. Again I must say: it’s just the way it’s been developed. But I cut-out the dodgy things I didn’t like”.
[M]:
The rumor has it that Rob is working on a solo-album in the traditional Mike Oldfield-style. When will it be released?
[christina]: “When will it be recorded? HA!HA!HA!”
[rob]:
“It’s something I like to do and has to be done. I’m a massive Mike Oldfield-fan. The problem is that I’m to busy with MAGENTA and Christina’s solo-album”.
[M]:
When will Christina’s solo-album be released?
[christina]: “Present we’re in the process of getting different musicians to record vocals or guitars. It’s all going very well and maybe it will be released in September this year”.
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@ www.backgroundmagazine.nl/ + a live review. | |
[M]:
What kind of music will be on her solo-album?
[christina]: “That’s a difficult question. Several styles come in to it. It’s a lot more…’commercial’…if you like. Whatever ‘commercial’ means, of course. Some songs are a bit bluesy, jazzy, or rocky. A mixture of a lot of things. Hopefully it will be interesting”.
[M]:
Had Rob any influence on it?
[rob]:
“Christina’s album will be different to MAGENTA. It’s more in the style of music that she’s in to. I helped her in the process of recording and producing”.
[M]:
How did Christina become involved in MAGENTA?
[christina]: “Rob asked me to do some backing vocals for the CYAN-albums. That’s what got me on board. After a while we decided to do a side-project which was MAGANTA. Originally it was planned being a studio-project but people were asking Rob for doing it live. So it went from there”.
[M]:
Are there any concrete future plans?
[rob]:
“We’re just finished the live-DVD which took us a lot of time. We recorded it a year ago, and it’s a complete nightmare to do. Some band members left during recording and filming the gigs. The whole mixing-process takes a lot of time. Of course there will be a new album”.
[M]: What kind of influence had Mike Oldfield on Rob?
[rob]: “Mike’s ‘TUBULAR BELLS’ was the first album I listened to when I was a young boy. It’s the reason why all this happens. I wanted to be like him and play all the instruments by myself. I wanted to be a second Mike Oldfield”.
[M]: Did he fulfill his desire?
[rob]: “Well, I didn’t sell nineteen-million albums, but that’s a different part. He’s a lot more rich and a bit barking mad”.
[M]: What was Christina’s major influence in becoming a singer?
[christina]: “I listened a lot to Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and Patti Smith. When I started singing a few people said I sounded like Annie Haslam from RENAISSANCE. To be honest: I can’t hear that, and I didn’t knew who it was! It was just a coincidence. A lot of musicians say that they were inspired by the music their parents listen to. I certainly wasn’t. My parents didn’t listen to a lot of music when I grew up. My oldest sister got me into music”.
[M]: Thanks for your answers, Christina and Rob.
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@ www.backgroundmagazine.nl/ + a live review. | |
Did you liked tis interview? There's another new one at my space: Troy Donockley.
Troy played together with Magenta too ;-)
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Back to: Magenta
Live reviews + photo's; Magenta, The Reasoning, Marillion, Gazpacho, Mostly Autumn, PBII, Pure Reason Revolution & RPWL. www.magenta-web.com/. MySpace. Live @ the Point; YouTube. |
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