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Editor’s Note: Today brings us the second and final instalment of Darrin Cappe’s world wide exclusive interview with Steve Rothery and Pete Trewavas of Marillion. You can read part one here. As a longtime fan of the band, and a musician himself, Darrin was obviously able to connect with Steve and Pete on a level that your average writer would never be able to. Suffice to say, many thanks to Darrin for sharing this revealing interview with Biff Bam Pop! Now, on to part 2!

Darrin Cappe: One thing I wanted to talk about was that apart from the band and that relationship, that in a lot of ways Racket Club (the band’s recording studio and home base) as a home base and that you all get along well, and have a place that you can go and create…that’s what a lot of bands lose as they move through their careers.  Geographically they don’t have that interaction so much.

Steve Rothery: We’re incredibly lucky I mean all the musicians that have come in are so jealous of having somewhere where you can write, you can record, you can rehearse, store the equipment, run your web business and shop from. It is a perfect solution for a band in our position. I think a lot of bands have copied our approach. It’s one of the reasons we continue to do what we do.

Pete Trewavas: Also having our own studio has made us more relaxed in the studio environment.

S: We’ve made lots of albums where it has cost 1000 Pounds plus each day. There’s nothing worse than being in one of those types of places when you’re not finished writing.

P: Yeah we’ve been there before haven’t we? That is frustrating.

D: Well you are your own timekeeper and you aren’t bound by any schedules

P: Exactly and we’re empowered to do truly what we want to do.
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Editor’s Note: My longtime web friend Darrin Cappe is a huge progressive rock fan and recently had the chance to sit down with the members of Marillion, one of the longest lasting prog rock bands of the past 30 years, with a devoted fan base and tons of critical acclaim. We’re very lucky that Darrin wanted to share his interview with Biff Bam Pop readers and prog fans around the world. Take it away, Darrin!

Marillion – they’re not the band you think they are. You may know them for the 80’s hit song “Kayleigh”. It is a great song from a fantastic album (“Misplaced Childhood”) without a doubt, however it is just one song. Judging the merits of Marillion as a band based on that song alone is sort of like judging Pink Floyd from the song Money, or Genesis by I Can’t Dance. It in no way is reflective of what the band is about; their history or their current way of life.  By being familiar with only Money or I Can’t Dance one would be deprived of a vast wealth of incredible music from both bands; from Echoes to Supper’s Ready; Dogs to The Cinema Show; Comfortably Numb to Afterglow. It is a bit of a golden albatross in that “Kayleigh” elevated the profile of the band to a level that brought them mainstream awareness, but at the same time to those who only know the one song it is how they have come to be defined. This is the truly unfortunate part, for the fans that stuck with the band after their original lead singer/lyricist ‘Fish’ left in 1988 and those who have found them along the way; a whole other world of wonders has been their reward.
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