To most American listeners, Marillion are best known for their eighties work as a progressive rock outfit whose music and stage presentation—as epitomized by the theatrics of then lead vocalist Fish—bore more than a slight resemblance to Peter Gabriel era Genesis. What a lot of the same American audience doesn't know is that although their star on this side of the pond faded not long after that time, they remain a best selling, top drawing act in much of the rest of the world, while maintaining a respectable cult following here.
Marillion have also long since shed the baby Genesis image and developed a sound uniquely their own. With their current lead vocalist Steve Hogarth at the helm, Marillion have produced a string of albums over the past several years that sound nothing like the band many American fans may remember.
On albums like the conceptual piece Marbles and the just released Somewhere Else, Marillion continue to display the dazzling prog-rock musicianship and dramatic flair of earlier records like Script For A Jesters Tear, while wrapping the songs themselves in a decidedly more modern sounding package. On their new album Somewhere Else, the songs deal in themes ranging from the alienation felt from a failed relationship ("The Wound") to nothing less than a prophetic, political cry to save us from ourselves ("The Last Century Of Man").
While fans who remember Marillion from the Fish years can continue to appreciate the lush, romantic sweep and pristine production of such newer efforts, there is a far greater emphasis now on song structure. Indeed, there is nothing dated sounding about Marillion in their modern day incarnation.
Marillion have also developed a unique fan-based way of marketing their albums by pre-selling them through their website, which makes the boast "find a better way of life at Marillion.com." Although they went through more traditional distribution channels for the current Somewhere Else album, past pre-sales through the internet have actually served to finance recording costs and even entire concert tours. They are already pre-selling their next album, scheduled for a 2008 release through the website.
Over this past weekend, we caught up with Marillion drummer Ian Mosley while the band was soundchecking just prior to a show in Paris. In a wide ranging conversation, we covered topics from the band's long and storied history to it's unique fan-based marketing. We we're even able to coax a Fish drinking story (where do you think he got his name?) from Mosley.
So take us from Marillion back in the Fish days to where the band is at now.
Right. We did quite a few tours in America with Fish. We were with Capitol Records back then and we did quite a few gigs, but we really didn't ever manage to break through. The only thing was towards the end when the album Misplaced Childhood was out. We did a really short tour with Rush, where we played arenas and that was really good. And then we went back a bit later and played some of the same arenas ourselves, but it was really more in Canada than in the USA. We love touring in the States, but economically it's always a bit of a disaster for us.
Any chance of getting over here again anytime soon?
Well, were working on it. Maybe next year some time. But the American government is making it very difficult for bands to come over there from England at the moment. There's always massive problems trying to get work visas. And then you've got the whole tax thing as well, which is quite complicated. It's even affected some of the classical musicians. There is an eighty piece orchestra that was going to come over to New York, but they couldn't because the American embassy said we need you all here at 7:00 in the morning to apply for visas and it will cost you three to four thousand dollars per visa.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Great interview, Glen! I wish the band could hit the US again, but the never come to Arizona even when they do, unfortunately, so maybe they're just trying to save me some money and frustration.
I'm not a huge fan of the Fish-era, but I'm actually quite excited to see that he's going to do Clutching At Straws - it remains one of my favorites. I'll definitely be picking up the live album for that.
2 - Glen Boyd
Thanx Tom. Looks like it'll be next year before they get over here, if even by then. Rediscovering the band all these years later has been a real pleasure though. Ian was also a great guy to talk to and a great interview. Thanx for the comment.
-Glen