
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.
Latest articles by Julian Marszalek

“I like to be technical but it’s important to have 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

“You don’t have to take drugs forever”: 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' 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

"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’s The Banishing: A plaintiff joy – painful, but never sorry for itself
By Julian Marszalek published
Psychedelic polymath draws a line under a recent difficult past with a personal form of ritual exorcism

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“Am I Prog’s Taylor Swift? That’s a debate that could run and run”: why Peter Hammill re-recorded his Enigma-era albums
By Julian Marszalek published
Van der Graaf Generator lynchpin cites pop star’s motivation behind his new versions of In A Foreign Town and Out Of Water

“An album that refuses to wallow in self-pity… Having gained their musical chops in the dance arena, they wisely apply those dynamics to their newfound idiom”: The prog heart of Doves’ Lost Souls
By Julian Marszalek published
After chart success as Sub Sub, the Mancunian trio transformed themselves into a defiant but optimistic guitar-driven band

"The sheer firepower of the Jimi Hendrix Experience is palpable throughout." The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Live At The Hollywood Bowl, August 18, 1967
By Julian Marszalek published
An early onslaught in the US finds The Jimi Hendrix Experience establishing their credentials on Hollywood Bowl August 67

“Their best work under the banner has always been the result of collaboration rather than dictatorship”: King Crimson’s 50th anniversary version of Larks’ Tongues In Aspic
By Julian Marszalek published
Steven Wilson adds an understated sheen to an album that’s weathered the decades well

“I wanted to define the archetype messiah rock star. That’s all I wanted to do”: the epic oral history of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album
By Julian Marszalek published
How David Bowie became Ziggy Stardust and turned rock’n’roll on its head

"I’ve been lucky to work with some really decent people who have come back for more." Stephen W Tayler's fascinating life in music
By Julian Marszalek published
Fresh from remixing a number of prog classics, production ace Stephen W Tayler takes centre stage with a new solo album and DVD that encompasses visuals as well as sound.

“The way things are going, maybe psychedelics could be a good thing. It’s a doom-laden world at the moment.” Hawkwind's Dave Brock calls it as he sees it
By Julian Marszalek published
Hawkwind's thirty third studio album, 2021's Somnia, was a concept album inspired by sleep

Has Steven Wilson's remix of Hawkwind's Warrior On The Edge Of Time become the definitive version?
By Julian Marszalek published
Steven Wilson's version of Hawkwind's Warrior On The Edge Of Time gets a vinyl release. Can we let him have a go at Hall Of The Mountain Grill too?
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