I became aware of the band when my brother Chris joined, and as a result I’d been to all the bands’ local gigs, but hadn’t been too familiar with Prog apart from that.  When Matt sadly left, Chris suggested I go along to the auditions for the new bass player.  I hadn’t been playing bass before – I was a guitarist, and singing as well in another band.  It was a big step, and if Magenta had been any old pop group, I wouldn’t even have auditioned, but because I really enjoyed the music and I knew it was going to be a challenge, I went for it.  Most of the other things I had been involved in were mainstream rock, more in the style of bands like Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead. 

Of course, I didn’t have to learn how to play the bass, as such. It was a relatively easy switch, but the biggest challenge was locking into what Allan, the drummer was doing. The feel and tone of playing a bass live was different as well. When I first joined, I was still in my other band, but I found being in both too hectic, so I knew I had to make a decision about which way I wanted to go.  I still write outside the band, but this is my main live outlet now.

It was great to get into the studio to record the forthcoming single. Before that and the recent gigs I spent a lot of time in a dark room with the CDs working out the bass lines for everything!  It was great to be involved in something from the ground up and I hope I’ve put my own feel into what I’ve played so far.  I certainly think I have a very different style to Matt.  Of course, I wouldn’t say my playing is better – Matt’s a great bassist, but I like to feel I’ve added a new dimension to the sound.

My personal tastes change quite a lot, I’ve been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, a lot of Pink Floyd and I recently got my first Yes album “Going for the One”.  I suppose the only thing that put me off  Prog in the past was that the musicians tend to take themselves a little seriously, something which, of course, isn’t true of Magenta at all!