Former Marillion and GTR drummer Jonathan Mover has put together the ultimate superstar prog covers band, ProgJect, featuring Saga frontman Michael Sadler, Ryo Okomutu from Spock's Beard, Sound Of Contact's Matt Dorsey and former Saigon Kick man Jason Bieler. You can watch a teaser video of the project in action below.
"Prog Rock is the reason I play drums," Mover explains, who was inspired by a stint touring with Genesis tribute band The Musical Box: “I haven't had that much fun onstage in a long time and was reminded of the reason I began drumming in the first place– prog rock. Playing songs like Robbery, Assault And Battery, Dance on A Volcano, Wot Gorilla, Watcher Of The Skies and Back In NYC had me feeling fifteen again and relit the very same fire I felt when I first picked up sticks."
Next thought; "What if I put together 'The Ultimate Prog Rock Experience', with top players, and pay homage to our favourite prog giants: Genesis, Yes, ELP and King Crimson, along with some Pink Floyd, Rush, Peter Gabriel, U.K., Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and more?" The seeds were sown.
The ProgJect have come up with a two-plus hour set that includes prog classics and epics such as Squonk, Cinema Show, Firth Of Fifth, Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression Pt. I & II, Siberian Khatru, Roundabout, Heart Of The Sunrise, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Lark's Tongues In Aspic, Xanadu, La Villa Strangiato, Have A Cigar, Solsbury Hill, Living In The Past and more...
The group began rehearsal in late September, 2019, and was set to embark on a two-dozen date run from Northeast Canada, down the East Coast and across to the Midwest… and then came Covid.
Sixteen months later, ProgJect is back in full-production rehearsals, modifying the set and preparing for their first official tour, starting April, 2022.
