That time Prog met Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls!

Derek Smalls
(Image credit: Press)

No, your eyes do not deceive you! That's Prog and the legend that is Spinal Tap's Derek Albion Smalls. Allow us to explain...

The world looked slightly different back in 2018! The Prog Magazine podcast, or Progcast as it was affectionately known, was an actual thing, and as he was about to release a new solo album, Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing), Prog Editor Jerry Ewing and Associate Editor Jo Kendall sat down with Smalls to talk about the upcoming abum for one of the most popular episodes of the Progcast. You can listen to the podcast below.

As well as the star-studded solo album, we discussed his work with the likes of Rick Wakeman, Donald Fagen and Dweezil Zappa, and explore the prog reality behind the behemoth that is Spinal Tap.

It wasn't the first time our paths had crossed either. Smalls' alter-ego, actor Harry Shearer, had appeared at the 2015 Progressive Music Awards, where he presented the Chris Squire Virtuoso Award to Pentangle legend Danny Thompson.

You can listen to the Derek Smalls podcast here.

And you can listen to all the Prog Magazine progcasts here.

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.