One Man And His Prog

Andy Tillison has had an intriguing and varied professional journey. Although he fell in love with progressive rock at a young age, his first bands were new wave/pop acts and he owned and ran a studio in Leeds in the 1980s, which became a magnet for anarchists and punks. Soon he was rubbing shoulders with seminal British thrash and hardcore bands such as Civilised Society? and Carcass, as well as establishing a lasting relationship with anarcho-communists Chumbawumba. During the 1990s, he fronted a band heavily influenced by those studio experiences called Gold Frankincense & Disk Drive – their debut album, Where Do We Draw The Line?, was the first release on Peaceville Records, later home to Opeth and Anathema – then released a series of neo-prog/art-rock albums under the banner of Parallel Or 90 Degrees (aka Po90).

However, it’s his work with The Tangent for which he is undoubtedly best known. Through this band and associated projects, Tillison has come to work with many major names in contemporary prog. Some 20 years since The Tangent made their debut with an, as a one-off expanded solo project, Andy Tillison sits in his studio in deepest Yorkshire surrounded by a plethora of keyboards, microphones and esoteric outboard gear discussing the band’s latest release.