Julian Marszalek

Julian Marszalek

Julian Marszalek is the former Reviews Editor of The Blues Magazine. He has written about music for Music365, Yahoo! Music, The Quietus, The Guardian, NME and Shindig! among many others. As the Deputy Online News Editor at Xfm he revealed exclusively that Nick Cave’s second novel was on the way. During his two-decade career, he’s interviewed the likes of Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourne, and has been ranted at by John Lydon. He’s also in the select group of music journalists to have actually got on with Lou Reed. Marszalek taught music journalism at Middlesex University and co-ran the genre-fluid Stow Festival in Walthamstow for six years.

Articles by: Julian Marszalek

The Clash - Combat Rock

“An album drenched in musical innovation that proves quality is not defined by quantity”: The Clash used the musical language of prog to make the statement that is Combat Rock

By Julian Marszalek published

Even as they began spiralling out of control, the cut-down double album delivered 46 minutes of creativity, complexity and power

The Cramps - studio portrait

Number one in a field of one: Every album by The Cramps ranked, from worst to best

By Julian Marszalek published

Celebrating the finest in American trash and kitsch culture, The Cramps played rock'n'roll at its delinquent, b-movie best

Lone Justice: Viva Lone Justice cover art

"Too much effort has been put into reinterpreting other artists' material instead of writing their own": The long wait for a new Lone Justice album may not have been worth it

By Julian Marszalek published

An album of covers makes for underwhelming return for LA country rockers Lone Justice

David Blackwell and Can

“It was something we’d never heard before. He was creating it on the spot – you went along with what was happening”: David Blackwell of The Lovely Eggs names Can as his prog heroes, and recalls the time he played with half of them

By Julian Marszalek published

Psych-punk drummer says his duo took inspiration from the krautrock pioneers’ ability to twist pop ditties into heavy drone experiments

Public Service Broadcasting

“I don’t think this is a story of failure… It’s a shame she didn’t make it, but we can all learn so much from what happened”: Why Public Service Broadcasting made an album about air pioneer Amelia Earhart

By Julian Marszalek published

She went missing in 1937 during an attempt to fly round the world – now J Willgoose, Esq has used the material she left behind to bring her story back to life

Pure Reason Revolution – Coming Up To Consciousness

“Raw and confessional – but their musical approach soothes the barbs of the subject matter”: Pure Reason Revolution’s Coming Up To Consciousness

By Julian Marszalek published

Sixth album examines our final destination and demonstrates there’s no rule book for grieving

U.K. and Witherfall's Jake Dreyer

“Our producer played the intro to Nevermore and I was just blown away”: How U.K. became Witherfall guitarist Jake Dreyer’s prog heroes

By Julian Marszalek published

Astonished by the world of Allan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford in particular, he’s happy to explain how you’ll hear the supergroup in his own band’s material

Marcos Curiel and Radiohead

“People would be like, ‘This again?’ I’d tell them it made my shift easier”: P.O.D.’s Marcos Curiel played Radiohead to survive working in a goth retail store

By Julian Marszalek published

Guitarist explains his love for Thom Yorke’s band and (almost) everything they’ve ever done

Jane Weaver

“Anticipatory grief just walks with you all the time… that’s why I was trying to search for joy in certain pockets of places”: Jane Weaver’s recent experiences of death lent a “heavy mellow” to her new album

By Julian Marszalek published

Being prepared and embracing deadlines have never been her strong suits – but when she developed a new approach for Love In Constant Spectacle, she was delighted with the results

Cocteau Twins - Treasure

“Restraint was something other bands did… with little precedent, they were a progressive band to their very core”: Revisiting Cocteau Twins’ Treasure

By Julian Marszalek published

1984 release led the way for countless bands who’d be labelled shoegaze and dream-pop – but trio’s motivation was to find their own direction

Kris Barras and Tony MacAlpine

“I like to be technical, I like to be fast and I like to do intricate things – but it’s always important to have the passion and the feel”: Why Kris Barras loves Planet X

By Julian Marszalek published

Hard rock band leader explains how Tony MacAlpine influenced him when he wanted to develop his playing and Dream Theater wasn’t doing it for him

Dave Brock

“Drugs at our age? You don’t have to take them forever. Once you’ve opened the doors of perception you can see what’s going on; you’ve got the ideas”: Dave Brock on Hawkwind’s late-period purple patch

By Julian Marszalek published

Space rock veteran is happier then ever – and he even found an upside in nearly missing a recent tour over hospital stay

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats: South Of Here cover art

"This collective of musicians breaths new life into established formats": Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats' lineage stretches out on South Of Here

By Julian Marszalek published

Old forms given new life for the modern age on Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats' fourth album

Black Midi

"Hellfire is something that has way more impact with a much wider scope." Are black midi really the 'natural heirs' to King Crimson?

By Julian Marszalek published

Young London modern prog rock trio black midi set out their stall with third album Hellfire

Kavus Torabi - The Banishing

“A plaintive joy throughout, informed by painful experiences… not an album that feels sorry for itself”: Kavus Torabi’s The Banishing

By Julian Marszalek published

Psychedelic polymath draws a line under a recent difficult past with a personal form of ritual exorcism

Jane Weaver

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God! That sounds much better. It sounds how it should!’” Jane Weaver accidentally pushed herself out of her comfort zone for Love In Constant Spectacle

By Julian Marszalek published

He new album, produced by PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, included sessions in a studio where Weaver felt the spirit of Hawkwind upon her

Hawkwind

“He did one track… then went off with some famous singer to do another album”: Hawkwind’s collaboration with William Orbit didn’t happen on this album - but they hope it will on the next

By Julian Marszalek published

Stories From Time And Space marks the band’s first offworld work in years, after being mentioned in a book got them thinking of the cosmos again

Youth and David Gilmour

“It could be more amazing than U2’s triumph in Las Vegas. I think you could even blow that out the water”: Can Youth persuade David Gilmour to stage a live show with The Orb?

By Julian Marszalek published

Producer discusses his reboot of 2010 collaboration Metallic Spheres as Metallic Spheres In Colour

Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World

“Embracing the new eclecticism, they wove together a variety of threads to prove that heavy topics don’t need to be heavy-handed”: Super Furry Animals’ Rings Around The World bears all the hallmarks of a prog album

By Julian Marszalek published

Welsh band’s fifth outing illustrates their fierce intelligence and sense of humour as they kept moving forward

Derek Forbes and ELP

“Our music teacher would belt us if we didn’t know all the musical signs and notes. She used to play Mussorgsky… so I love ELP’s version of Pictures At An Exhibition”: Simple Minds’ Derek Forbes names his prog heroes

By Julian Marszalek published

Bassist explains new wave outfit were massive Genesis fans when they started out – and he used to sing the whole of Foxtrot while working as a painter and decorator

Coheed And Cambria, Matty Mayz of Oxymorrons

“It feels passionate, like it comes from the gut up. Everything is just so epic… I got goosebumps the first time I saw them perform”: Oxymorrons’ Matty Mayz watched Coheed And Cambria blow up

By Julian Marszalek published

Rap-rock drummer loved the idea of a band from the same area making it big – and that was before he realised the scale of their ambitions

The Witching Tale

“Is it a strange fusion that manifests and reveals itself with repeated listens? The result is the kind of weirdness that ran through the works of HP Lovecraft”: The Witching Tale’s What Magic Is This?

By Julian Marszalek published

Katharine Blake of Mediæval Bæbes and Michael J York Coil return with a cerebrally challenging and creepy collection that rewards the effort put into listening

Lol Tolhurst and Can

“They sort of jiggled around for a while until someone found something and took hold of it and the rest went, ‘Great!’” The Cure co-founder Lol Tolhurst’s love for Can

By Julian Marszalek published

Drummer appreciated krautrock heroes from his early days, along with King Crimson, ELP and others

David Bowie with his band The Manish Boys outside BBC TV Centre in London

“He wasn’t taken seriously on the London scene because he was into mime and he wasn’t a total hippy”: the turbulent story of David Bowie’s early years

By Julian Marszalek published

Even superstars have to begin somewhere – and for the young David Bowie it was with a string of flop 1960s singles and a bizarre appearance on the BBC

Gong circa 1974

“When we started, it wasn’t necessarily going to be a trilogy… I like the fact that each one is a bit different. To this day that’s the best band I’ve ever been in”: Steve Hillage on Gong’s Radio Gnome Invisible era

By Julian Marszalek published

The guitarist most associated with Daevid Allen’s band believes they launched a second wave of psychedelia with their 70s albums Flying Teapot, Angel’s Egg and You