Out Of The Blue

A mutual love of Dream Theater brought together Azure’s Christopher Sampson and Galen Stapley early on during their music degree course at the University Of Sussex. Eight years later, they’re astonished to find Azure voted Prog’s Best Unsigned Band. “I still can’t believe it!” exclaims guitarist Stapley. “We put up a post on Facebook to see if we could do anything. Everyone was so sweet and voted for us! I knew we had a few fans out there but not enough to help us win the poll.”

This accolade rounded off an action-packed 2021, which saw the, a story involving a fantastical sailor-rescuing bird, and , the glass-shattering high-voltage single. Three gigs also introduced audiences to Azure’s dynamic live show, highlighting the octave-defying gymnastics of Sampson’s voice and Stapley’s intricate, cultured guitar work, augmented by three new bandmembers in what they hope will be a permanent line-up. Prog metal and 80s synthpop are among the myriad influences informing their art fantasy-inspired compositions. Recalls Stapley, “In our very first music business class, I saw Chris had a Dream Theater rucksack and I thought, ‘Wow! Here’s someone else who loves Dream Theater,’ so we started talking. I went over to Chris’ flat – and we started making music.”