SHADOWS Out Of The

“I always wanted to be a solo artist but those ambitions took a back seat to family commitments and being in bands,” states Nick D’Virgilio. “I’m not complaining because I’ve done some amazing things in life, but now I feel I’ve found my voice and from this point forward there will be a lot more music from me. I won’t take 20 or even 10 years between albums.”

Much has changed for this quietly spoken Californian since the release of a debut solo record, Karma, at the millennium’s turn. Having co-founded Spock’s Beard, Neal Morse’s departure in 2002 saw D’Virgilio quit the drum stool to become lead singer and, for the first time, a significant writer over a four-album spell. After moving on in 2011 D’Virgilio played with Tears For Fears and also auditioned to replace Phil Collins in Genesis, going on to perform on four tracks from Calling All Stations, and he is a long-serving part of Big Big Train.

But it was during a five-year spell as part of Totem, the Cirque Du Soleil’s touring presentation of mankind’s history, that D’Virgilio had the idea for . As assistant bandleader his role in the show involved, holds the key to what follows.