Nick Shilton

Nick Shilton

Nick Shilton has written extensively for Prog since its launch in 2009 and prior to that freelanced for various music magazines including Classic Rock. Since 2019 he has also run Kingmaker Publishing, which to date has published two acclaimed biographies of Genesis as well as Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly’s autobiography, and Kingmaker Management (looking after the careers of various bands including Big Big Train). Nick started his career as a finance lawyer in London and Paris before founding a leading international recruitment business and has previously also run a record label.

Articles by: Nick Shilton

Oliver Wakeman with Yes

“It was awkward – Yes sort of told me never to come back”: Oliver Wakeman had to tour with the prog progenitors while knowing he’d been replaced. Surprisingly, he genuinely enjoyed the trip

By Nick Shilton published

If Rick Wakeman’s son had taken an angrier attitude to being fired in 2011, their 2019 mini-album From A Page might never have been rescued from the demo stacks

Haze

“Biker festivals booked us for some reason… Four songs in, when we were actually about to die, we’d launch into some Status Quo to save our lives”: When the unclassifiable Haze finally got to play for a prog audience, they found it refreshingly easy

By Nick Shilton published

80s outfit never had a record deal or management – instead they“got good at being poor” to avoid compromising their musical values, and it’s kept them going through the decades

Frost*

“Last time we did an album with solos was eight years ago. That’s a long time to ask people in a prog band to not have solos”: Why Frost* revisited dazzling debut Milliontown on Life In The Wires

By Nick Shilton published

Leader Jem Godfrey, who took a financial hit to spend five months focusing on the band’s double-length concept album, explains why doing something connected with their past equals doing something entirely new

Mark Kelly's Marathon

"Maybe we can open for Marillion on the next tour?” The story of Mark Kelly and Marathon

By Nick Shilton published

The story of Marillion. keyboard player Mark Kelly's first solo venture with Mark Kelly's Marathon

Jadis

“Had I been told in the 80s that we’d be beset with problems year after year, I think I would have carried on regardless”: With a Monty Python quote as their motto, Jadis somehow keep delivering the goods

By Nick Shilton published

More Questions Than Answers has come eight years after their previous studio album, but bandleader Gary Chandler knows why it might just be their best-ever release

Phideaux

"I wanted to be the person who came up with the ideas and made grandiose visionary albums." How TV soap opera director Phideaux became a prog sensation

By Nick Shilton published

The story of Phideaux's 2018 album Infernal, the final part of his dystopian prog trilogy

Luke Haines and Robert Calvert

“He didn’t want to be a rock star, but made a great rock star… the only way is to run straight at the wall head first, minus the crash helmet”: What Hawkwind’s Robert Calvert means to Luke Haines

By Nick Shilton published

The space rock poet, who died in 1988, inspired Auteurs leader and Britpop pioneer Haines to explore a wider world of art

Tinyfish

"My hope is that most fans of progressive music are fans of experimental stuff, so I leave it in their capable hands." How Simon Godfrey returned with Shineback

By Nick Shilton published

Having led Tinyfish for nine years, Simon Godfrey has taken a sharp left turn with Rise Up Forgotten, Return Destroyed, his first album as Shineback.

Echolyn

“Many prog bands hire a singer who’ll just rely on their chops… we’re one of those bands who can actually sing”: Echolyn didn’t kill the joy with their second self-titled album

By Nick Shilton published

2012 release from the mainly part-time band is a prime example of five friends surviving industry pressure to do things their way

The reunited original Asia

“The priorities of the first Asia were to make it a success. Yet when we had it, we were so stupid it was unbelievable:” How the supergroup admitted mistakes and worked them out via their patchy Phoenix album

By Nick Shilton published

It was the first studio project featuring all four original members since their gradual disintegration in the 80s. And even if it wasn’t their best work, it was an essential element in moving forward

Credo

"By the time we reach our dotage we should be throwing out an album every few minutes!" How Credo prepared to take on the world!

By Nick Shilton published

Back in 2011 Credo released their third studio album Against Reason full of optimism...

Moon Safari

“There was just so much circus along the way. It felt like the album was cursed”: Having kids, splitting with one member, nearly splitting with another - small wonder it took Moon Safari a decade to deliver Himlabacken Vol. 2

By Nick Shilton published

Barely able to believe the record has finally left their hands, and often doubting it would, Swedish sextet take stock as the reactions roll in

DeeEpxus

"The middle of the day was Marillion. Mornings and evenings DeeExpus." What happened when Mark Kelly joined North East prog rockers DeeExpus

By Nick Shilton published

The rise of DeeExpus has been swift. Now with their second album King Of Number 33 and Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly in tow, prog stardom awaits.

John Wetton

“If there’s a message it’s live every day as if it’s your last. I went through a very sticky patch… The freedom of not being enslaved by addiction is marvellous”: John Wetton’s return from the darkness

By Nick Shilton published

With Asia on the rocks and a scuppered solo deal, the singer found himself struggling with alcohol in the 90s - before he finally earned himself a reprieve

Neal Morse Band

“Every album is different, but this one was a strange process." The inside story of The Neal Morse Band's Great Adventure...

By Nick Shilton published

Prolific prog rocker Neal Morse sat down with Prog in 2019 to talk about the latest Neal Morse Band album The Great Adventure

Landmarq

"We were never motivated purely by money – that idea was knocked out of us many years ago!” Landmarq and the story of Entertaining Angels

By Nick Shilton published

UK prog rockers Landmarq released Entertaining Angels in 2012, their then first new album for 14-years against a backdrop of line-up shifts, outside commitments and ill health...

Andy Tillison

“21st Century Schizoid Man – the first track on the first prog album – is a political protest song! Anyone who says prog and politics don’t belong together never realised what it was about”: The Tangent’s Andy Tillison on why prog should challenge you

By Nick Shilton published

Self-confessed “raving leftie anarchist” gave the subtitle “A protest, a reflection, a couple of regrets and a rant” to The Tangent’s 10th album for good reason

Galahad

“It’s an homage to all the fans who stayed with us for all these years.” Galahad and the story of The Last Great Adventurer

By Nick Shilton published

Galahad's first new album for five years, The Last Great Adventurer, showed the prog veterans to be in particularly fine fettle..

Glass Hammer

“I’ve always said it’s not just ‘progressive anything’. It’s progressive rock and it needs to rock." How Glass Hammer turned it up to 11 with Skallagrim – Into The Breach

By Nick Shilton published

If anything epitomised the ambition of progressive rock, then surely US proggers Glass Hammer's Skallagrim trilogy was it. Here's the story of 2021's second instalment

Spock's Beard

“It was brutal. I would wake up and not get out of bed. I couldn’t face having to tell the guys what was going to happen… that God wanted me to leave”: Neal Morse’s struggle with his final Spock’s Beard album

By Nick Shilton published

9/11 brought turmoil just as the benign dictator had decided to completely rewrite the record that would become Snow - but there was even more turmoil to follow

The Tangent

"There are keyboard players who are way better than me who have made albums that aren’t as good as mine!" - The Tangent, Andy Tillison and Auto Reconnaissance

By Nick Shilton published

Long standing UK proggers The Tangent discuss the creation of their eleventh studio aobum, 2020's Auto Reconnaissance

IQ

IQ and Frequency: "It's one of our best pieces of work"

By Nick Shilton published

Having endured the loss of founding keyboard player Martin Orford during the writing of the album, IQ returned with their powerful tenth album Frequency in 2009

Spock's Beard

Spock's Beard and the story of Noise Floor

By Nick Shilton published

US prog rockers Spock's Beard released their thirteenth studio album, Noise Floor, in 2018. It remains their most recent studio release...

Sound Of Contact

The story of Sound Of Contact and Dimensionaut

By Nick Shilton published

In 2013 Sound Of Contact released their debut album Dimensionaut to much fanfare. This is the story...

Spock's Beard stand in front of city lights with their hands in their pockets, circa 2013

Spock's Beard: The story behind Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep

By Nick Shilton published

Spock’s Beard's first album with Ted Leonard on vocals was always going to divide fans. Here, the band share the story behind 2013's Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep