‘The Rock Artist’s Progress’ is a unique concept and project created by legendary violinist Darryl Way that consists of an album and novel that are intrinsically linked together and sold as a bundle.

The novel also includes musical illustrations created by Darryl Way, that can be clicked on and listened to, whilst reading. Both album and novel were released on September 23rd, on Spirit of Unicorn Music, Cherry Red Records, iTunes and Amazon.

The novel, written by Charles Shorwell, is set against the backdrop of the musical revolution that started with the Beatles and begins in 1968, a year after “The Summer of Love” and follows the story of Daniel Luckham, a young classical pianist studying at the Royal College of Music. Seduced by the rock music scene and vibrant counter culture in London at that time, he contrives to leave college and pursue a career in “Rock.” But some bad decisions lead him down a dark and dangerous alley, populated by drug dealers, unscrupulous managers and femme fatales. On his journey to fulfil his dreams, Daniel finds his integrity challenged, and the innocence of youth cruelly stripped away.

The connection between the album and novel, unfortunately has to remain a secret, as to divulge that information would give away a key plot line in the novel. All that can be said is that the album represents a body of work recorded in the late 60s. Created by Darryl Way, the album features a guest vocal performance from Steve Hogarth of Marillion, on the track ‘Morpheus.’

“I’d rather play one note that says something”

‘The Rock Artist’s Progress’ is a unique concept and project that consists of an album and novel that are intrinsically linked together and sold as a bundle. It seems like a very demanding project. How long did you work on it?

Darryl Way: It took me about 8 months working on the album and it took Charles about the same amount of time to write the novel. The musical illustrations then took me about three months to do and since then, I’ve spent another five months working on the audiobook of the novel, so for me, it’s been about a year and a half.

Can you elaborate on the concept behind it?

‘The Rock Artist’s Progress’ album and novel are intrinsically linked together because the album is the fictional band ‘Magenta Aura’ recorded in the book. More than that I cannot say, because what happens to the album in the book, is an important plot line in the novel.

What did the recording process look like?

I can’t really comment on that other than that I produced and curated the project, because the album, like the novel, is a fictional work.

Would you like to tell who all was part of the album?

For the purpose of the story, all I can say is that the original members of the “fictional” band Magenta Aura got together to re-record the album, using newly discovered demo tapes of the original album, as a template.

Did you have any of the songs written waiting for the project to be born or is all material newly written?

For the purpose of the story, all songs were written by members of Magenta Aura.

I would love it if you can share some further words about the book and illustration created by you.

It was important for both of us that the novel and the album, with songs like ‘Guiding Star’ which is an anti war song, accurately reflected what was going on in the sixties both culturally and politically. As Charles says in the novel “the sixties was actually quite a violent decade,” but what it will be most remembered for, is the musical revolution that the Beatles started and the ideals of peace and love that the youth of that generation tried to promote.

The album was released September 23rd, on Spirit of Unicorn Music, Cherry Red Records, iTunes and Amazon. I think these days we are paying much more attention to albums than in the previous years as the Covid forced us to stay indoors listening to music, don’t you think?

Well I hope that is true, but there are a lot of albums out there, so getting people to listen to, or buy one particular album is now very difficult.

I have to ask about Curved Air, looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?

Well the highlights of being in Curved Air were having albums in the charts, performing live and being at the cutting edge of contemporary music at that time. I’m most proud of tracks like ‘Screw,’ ‘Back Street Luv,’ ‘Marie Antoinette’ and of course ‘Vivaldi.’ Most unusual gig was supporting Emerson, Lake & Palmer and B. B. King in a wooden warehouse in Tampa, Florida in 40 degree heat. Backstage, we were all wilting and had our tops stripped off (not Sonja of course) because it was so hot, but B.B. King was still in his suit and bow tie completely unaffected by the heat.

What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?

Favourite classical violinist is David Oistrakh. Favourite rock violinist is Jerry Goodman.

Would you like to comment on your playing technique? Give us some insights on developing your technique.

Well I was classically trained first at Dartington College of Arts and then at The Royal College of Music, so my technique is basically classical. But over the years I have picked a few blues licks, mostly from guitarist’s like Jeff Beck, Dave Gilmour and John McLaughlin. However, I have always concentrated on expression, as opposed to technique. I’d rather play one note that says something, as opposed to a blizzard of notes, that are just for show.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

Peace and Love.

Klemen Breznikar

Darryl Way Official Website
Charles Shorwell Official Website