"Allium: Una Storia" is the name of the production by three prog heroes and friends Andy Tillison (a. o. The Tangent), Jonas Reingold (a. o. The Flower Kings) and Roberto Tiranti (a. o. New Trolls). It's a very special album, the idea for which goes back to a special afternoon that keyboardist Tillison experienced 45 years ago. In the interview, the 62-year-old Englishman talks about an unforgettable musical experience in Italy
eclipsed: Andy, how is your Italian language skills?
Andy Tillison: "Buon giorno", "Buona sera", "Buona notte" I know. That should be all of them. (laughs)
eclipsed: But obviously you love Italian culture?
Tillison: Especially the ancient culture there is fantastic and unique! From the modern era, on the other hand, there is Italo-Prog, which I love beyond measure.
Andy Tillison is the mastermind behind The Tangent. Even though the British singer and keyboardist always emphasizes that without his fellow musicians Jonas Reingold (bass), Theo Travis (saxophone and flute), Luke Machin (guitar) and Steve Roberts (drums) the sound of the band would sound completely different. But the fact is that 61-year-old Tillison works out all the compositions at home. In the studio they are then given the finishing touches as a collective. This also happened with the current 11th studio album "Auto Reconnaissance". The focus is on music between opulence and fragility. The lyrics, however, also deserve attention, oscillating between inner and outer world, between self and social criticism. "The private Andy is impossible to have or grasp without the political one," jokes a well-prepared Tillison right at the beginning of the interview.
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?
"The world has changed, but not the band" is the almost defiant motto with which The Tangent promote their new tenth studio album "The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery". And because that is the case, the English have also remained true to their prog roots. But the content of the sextet around mastermind Andy Tillison expresses itself politically like never before.
"The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery", the new studio recording by British progressive rockers The Tangent, has become another exciting affair. Located beyond time and space. But if you listen to the lyrics of mastermind Andy Tillison, you will notice that the group has now arrived in reality. "In fact, the world has changed in the last few years," says Tillison.
ERIC CLAPTON
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Not only the Rolling Stones have been in the business for half a century, Eric Clapton also celebrates his 50th anniversary as a member of the Yardbirds: The guitarist's first professional engagement took place in October 1963. It was the beginning of a long journey that led him again and again to Crossroads, and it was the years in which he set the course for his unique career, which is still valid today.
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