The Tangent had settled their last studio work "The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery" as well as their predecessor records beyond time and space. Only musically, though. Listening to the lyrics of mastermind Andy Tillison, it became clear that the formation had arrived in reality and was clearly hitting critical notes. With their current release "Proxy" the supergroup project didn't want to act as a reminder again. A demarcation that the quintet did not really manage to achieve. Tillison feels too committed to various daily topics and is determined to write about them. The 59-year-old no longer calls on his audience to go to the barricades to demand a better life. But he still wants "all of us together to get this planet, on which we live, whole and positive".
eclipsed: 15 years ago, when you started The Tangent, could you imagine that this project would release its eleventh album in 2018?
Andy Tillison: Not at all! But I'm glad this thing still exists. Because it's constantly evolving. The Tangent make their living from the fact that new comrades-in-arms are added time and again. I have never been at odds with any of the musicians who have said goodbye for a variety of reasons. That's the way it is: Ultimately, I'm behind this story. But I'm a curious guy. In my quiet little room I soon develop ideas for new songs. Then I'll send them to my helpers. And from this point on the songs develop their own dynamics. Suddenly almost new compositions emerge. For this I am extremely grateful to the helpers.
eclipsed: The last album was very political. Why is this concept missing from "Proxy"?
Tillison: In principle, I love such concepts. But this time I have written texts that do not fit together in terms of content. But there is, I hope, a musical connection between the songs. In a way, it became a conceptual work after all. Everything is strongly based on the spirit of improvisation.