We are currently rehearsing with a new drummer (about whom we will make an announcement in due course) and are looking forward to a new phase in the band's career.

On November 23rd we recorded our performance at ‘The Point’ in Cardiff for a 2008 DVD release. We are also putting the finishing touches to our fourth studio album which we are all very excited about. Expect an early 2008 release for ‘Magenta IV’ and full details of the album will be announced shortly, alongside a series of tour dates in the spring to accompany its release.

2008 looks like being Magenta's most busy and exciting year yet, so we would like to thank everyone, in advance, for their continued support.

Magenta

On a completely different note, Chris will be playing at the CrossKeys Hotel, Crosskeys on December 7th starting at 8pm. Rumour has it that a few other members of the band will also be there and might just be persuaded to play, so it should be a night not to be missed! Details from: Isylwyn Acoustic Guitar club website

The Magenta Forum meet up and buffet before the Robin gig was great fun, with the band in attendance, and also included a brief acoustic set from the Fry Brothers. Most importantly, the raffle and auction raised an amazing £368.31 for Leukaemia Reseach. Many thanks to the heroic Batchain for all his efforts setting it all up. The icing on the cake for the attendees was a video of one of the shorter tracks from Magenta 4, which seems to have gone down very well with everyone that saw it.

The special Revolutions set - which included new arrangements of Children of the Sun and Man and Machine - was videod for posterity (and possible future release) and a couple of chunky clips from the set are now available at the Magenta Fansite . Both clips really are worth checking out. There are also two new sets on the Gallery page, one from the Borderline gig and the other from the Forum buffet. View them here. The band are now preparing for the DVD shoot at the Point in Cardiff on November 23rd. It Kicks off is at 8pm, and tickets can be bought from www.thepointcardiffbay.com. See you there!

The gig at the superb Robin on Sunday 11th will include an unique edit of the Revolutions album, and is not to be missed! The band will be onstage at 8pm and tickets can still be purchased online from www.therobin.co.uk. The band will also be in attendance at the Magenta Forum members buffet from 5 to 7pm, though we understand this is now sold out!

After the weekend, the band will turn their attention to the DVD shoot at the Point in Cardiff on November 23rd, another superb venue, and very much the band’s home gig! This set, in particular, will feature some rarely played songs not on the Gathering DVD. As in all likelihood we’ll be filming people as they enter the venue, everyone attending should make the final cut. Kick off is at 8pm, and tickets can be bought from www.thepointcardiffbay.com.

These three gigs mark the end of the latest chapter in the development of the band, as the live performances planned for spring next year will strongly feature the brand new album, currently nearing completion and sounding great! So those of you that want to see a live set based around Revolutions, Seven, Home and the Singles – now is the time!

Well, the result from the forum poll is in and the people have spoken. It was 47% in favour of Revolutions so we’d like to announce that we’ll be playing a special arrangement of the whole of Revolutions at "The Robin" on November 11th. We’ll still be playing lots of tracks from the other albums as well.

We would also like to announce that the gig at “The Point” in Cardiff will be filmed for a future DVD release. The set will feature a diverse range of songs, the majority of which were not featured on The Gathering DVD. You never know, you might even end up on the final cut. The plan for all three November gigs is to play sets of up to two and a half hours and to give you the chance to hear some tracks that aren’t played that often.This may also be the last time that we will be playing some songs for quite a while, as the plan is that gigs next year will heavily feature a performance of the new Magenta album (which is sounding amazing!!!!!!).

So come along as we plan to make each gig a special one.

A couple of other bits of Magenta-related news:

Christina played a great set at the Summers End Festival on September 16th. Accompanied by Rob, Chris and Fran, her sister, she played four songs from her forthcoming solo album, plus a version of I'm Alive and a great cover of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. We'll post some pictures from the gig as soon as we have some.

Steve Reed, Magenta lyricist, has just launched a new website, selling Movie Posters, starting with a selection of classic Hammer Poster reproductions. To visit it, go to www.postersandstuff.co.uk

The Trippa website has also been launched and can be found at: www.trippa-web.com . The website features a treasure trove of Trippa material, including sound clips, photo galleries and some amazing video clips. It will be essential viewing for all those interested in the genesis of Magenta, as well as fans of the Trippa project specifically.

For anyone who is unaware, Trippa was a pre-Magenta project between 1995 and 2000 featuring Christina Booth (vocals) and Rob Reed (keyboards, guitar, bass). An abundance of Trippa material was recorded during that period and much of which has been gathered together for the 17 tracks that make up the new album. Demonstrating the song-orientated side of Rob and Christina’s writing abilities, it will be essential listening for all Magenta fans, plus anyone interested in inventive and dynamic music.

Track listing:
1.Where are you
2.Falling
3.Sunshine
4.Alone
5.Sorry
6.Never Gonna Be The Same
7.Speechless
8.Shattered
9.Crash
10.Dreamtide
11.Rendezvous
12.Strange Sensation
13. Whipping Post
14.Save Me With Your Love
15.Drowning
16.The Spy Who Got Away
Bonus track
17.Purify (2006)

For anyone who is unaware, Trippa was a pre-Magenta project between 1995 and 2000 featuring Christina Booth (vocals) and Rob Reed (keyboards, guitar, bass).

An abundance of Trippa material was recorded during that period and much of which has been gathered together for the 17 tracks that make up the new album, due for release in late September on Tigermoth Records. Songs include the original version of “Speechless”, a newly recorded version of the song “Purify” and the title track “Sorry”. Demonstrating the song-orientated side of Rob and Christina’s writing abilities, it will be essential listening for all Magenta fans, plus anyone interested in inventive and dynamic music.

The Official Trippa website will be launched on 25th August, but in the meantime some clips of a recently recorded interview with Rob and Christina about Trippa can be found HERE

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond the bands control, the gig at Sheffield Boardwalk on September 7th has been postponed. The band apologise to anyone who was hoping to see the band there, and assure everyone that they will be back for the CRS at the start of 2008.The band will now play its special gig where it will play one album in its entirity at The Robin, Bilston on November 11th.

The Singles album has just received an excellent review from Geoff Barton in the current issue of Classic Rock, out now!

You can read Christina's blog from the festival on their Myspace Page .

There are now a couple of brief video clips from the bands Nearfest performance online, the first is on Youtube and the second can be found at the Magenta Fansite We hope you enjoy them. You can also see several photo galleries (with one more to come) from the Festival at the bands website gallery page.

Don't forget the band's next gig at The Rainbow Spirit Enlightenment Fayre at Chepstow racecourse on August 11th. You can download fliers for the gig here and here.

That's all for now!

Magenta

Here are a few comments left for the band on our Myspace page :

“Today is Friday, and I'm still basking in the glow of your stellar performance at NEARfest. Everyone was "on" and seemed relaxed as Magenta played to an enthusiastic, appreciative audience. Like some others here, Magenta was the reason for coming to NEARfest. My expectations were exceeded! May you continue to be the the gold standard of progressive rock.”

“You were the ONLY reason I made the trip in the first place and you definitely didn't disappoint. You guys were so inspirational and you actually brought me back some years to the good old days of ALL the great shows I've seen over the years. THANK YOU for keeping the GREAT music alive.”

While we wait for the reviews to start coming in, we now have 4 sets of photos from the festival online on our Gallery page , and another gallery is available at Musical Discoveries . You can also read part one of our webmaster, Stephen Lambe’s 3-part Nearfest blog. here. Enjoy!

Just a quick note to say that Magenta will play a special concert for the CRS at Sheffield Boardwalk on Friday September 7th.

The band will play one of their 3 studio albums in its entirity. We have a poll discussing the possibilities on our Forum , so while there's no absolute guarantee we'll play the winning album, it'll help give us a feel for what you want, so why not get over there, place your vote and take part in the debate.

Best wishes

Magenta

Its written! Or at least the music and melodies are. Its dark. I know I've mentioned that before.

On every Magenta Cd there is usually one track that influences the next Cd:

On Revolutions, it was The White Which that lead to Seven.
On Seven there was Anger, that lead to Home.
On Home there was Demons and that leads us on to...Magenta IV!
The challenge with the Home Cd was a to really let the music rely on melody. It had a collection of short songs which I intended to work as a collective and it was very mellow with a sort of "Dark side Of The Moon" vibe. I hope we achieved that.

Now on to Magenta IV. This is a different beast altogether!

It's called Magenta IV at the moment, but that, like everything else could change. It is currently made up of 4 pieces, with songs 1 and 2, and 3 and 4, lineked together. Songs 1 and 3 are 20 min and 26 mins long respectively. The music is very powerfull and at times like nothing people will have heard from Magenta, so it is the most original Magenta Cd so far. It is very layered and has lots of guitars, with LOADS of strings which make it very wide and cinematic. The guitars are used to creat atmospheres and power and are used in some quite unconventional ways. The arrangements are very challenging and go into very uncharted territory for the band, with lots of weird time signatures, but this doesn't make the music sound "widdly" . Hopefully it will sound exciting.

At the moment there are no words and the recordings just have me singing the "rough" melodies. All the instrumentation so far will act as a guide for the final recording, but even now I feel that it is the best thing I have done so far - it's a BEAST. And now, I just have to finish it.

The drums will be recorded next week, then the words, and then Tina etc etc etc.

At the moment I am aiming at a January 2008 release date. But it could be earlier - or later!

ROB

Now that our most recent sequence of gigs has come to an end, here are a few updates from the Magenta camp. Thanks to everyone who came to Cardiff, Rotherham, Tiana and Frome – we hope you enjoyed yourselves. Each was a memorable gig in its own way. If you have any comments, get over to our very active Forum and tell us what you think!

First of all, a reminder that The Singles album is released tomorrow, May 21. We have updated The Singles page with Rob Reed’s insights into the making of the album. In addition, our Myspace page now includes a segment of the song Cold from the album, alongside the new version of I’m Alive, so get on over for a listen.

We have just done an upate to the Magenta Fan Page . It features two 13mb clips of The Visionary and Man and Machine from the Cardiff gig in April. Coming soon will be some documentary footage from the band's trip to Bajaprog back in 2003.

We have updated our own Gallery page with pictures from our recent gigs in Tiana and Frome. You can also see a few amateur videos from the Tiana gig here , plus some excellent pictures of the whole festival here

Finally, just a quick note that Christina will play a solo set on the Sunday of the Summers End Festival at the Robin, Bilston on September 16th. Further details and ticket info as it happens here .

Next stop – Lydney Town Hall and the sold-out Nearfest in June. Details on our Gigs page

Best wishes

Magenta

Also, we’d like to remind everyone that we will be headlining the Somerset Prog Festival at the Cheese and Grain, Frome on Sunday 13th May. Other bands playing are The Pineapple Thief, Electric Soup and Crimson Sky. Tickets are available from Ticketweb . Further details can be obtained from The Cheese and Grain .

Magenta – "The Singles" will contain 14 tracks consisting of every song that has made up the band’s four EP/singles. 8 of these tracks have been specially re-recorded exclusively for this release, and none of them have been available on a full length CD before. Until the official release date of 21st May, the album will only be available at Magenta gigs and, very soon, from the Magenta shop

Rob Reed explains the decision to release the album: “Most of these songs have been an important part of Magenta’s live set for several years now and they have evolved as the band has performed them live. We felt it was time to record and release definitive versions with our current line up, which includes Dan Fry on bass. We hope that fans of the band that have our three albums, but have not yet had the chance to hear these songs, will enjoy this equally important aspect of the band’s music. However, we hope that those that already have some of this material will appreciate how these songs have evolved over time and that you all love the new versions.”

Included on the CD is Night and Day (originally recorded with Annie Haslam) which features a complete lead vocal from Christina for the first time, plus Sunshine Saviour, a new piece adapted from Children of the Sun from the band’s first album Revolutions.

The three bonus tracks contain an additional 25 minutes of music including the full 14-minute director’s cut of "Pride".

Track listing:

Speechless (Single Version)
Anger
King Of The Skies
I'm Alive
Call Me
Sunshine Saviour
Broken
Lemminkainen's Lament
Night And Day
Essence Of Love (Instrumental)
Cold (2007 acoustic mix)

Bonus Tracks:

Opus 3 (Instrumental)
Pride (Director's Cut)
Sloth (String Mix)

Total running time 79 mins

Don’t forget the exciting batch of live dates coming up starting in just over a week, at the Point in Cardiff on April 20th, Herringthorpe Leisure Centre, Rotherham on April 28th, Tiana, Spain on May 5th and The Cheese and Grain, Frome on May 13th .

Also, if anyone is in Cardiff at lunchtime on April 13th (this Friday) Chris is playing a free acoustic set with Andy Mulligan at 12.30pm at the Millennium Centre. Further details at The Millennium Centre website.

Finally – on April 20th we will be revealing some exciting information about a new Magenta release. See you then!

The album is the brainchild of Pendragon / Arena keyboard player Clive Nolan as part of his Caamora project, which also features Polish vocalist Agnieszka Swita. Christina will play the part of Ustane - the native girl that falls in love with the hero Leo (played by Clive). Agnieszka plays Ayesha ("She") and Allan Reed of Pallas guests as Holly.

An album will be released in 2008, and there will also be a DVD shot in Katowice, Poland in October 2007.

An EP called Closer, which does not feature Christina, has already been released, previewing a couple of the tracks from the album.

Further details can be found at http://caamora.net/.

Unfortunately, if ever there was a bad day to release a single, it was March 19th 2007. This was the busiest week of the year so far for single sales. We're sure that you're aware it was the same week as the Comic Relief single, and it’s not hard to guess who came off the worse. But then again it would be hard to imagine a better cause.

Overall, we JUST failed to slip into the top 75, though on sales of the hard copy CD single alone we actually got to number 74,above a few well-known names that we can't really mention!

We can honestly say it was a valiant effort considering the circumstances.

We would like to thank everybody for their support. The help we have received from supporters of the band both old and new has completely overwhelmed us. It’s been a very busy and exciting couple of weeks, and we hope to try again in the near future. In the meantime, in terms of the overall object – to increase the profile of the band in the UK – it’s been a massive success.

So again, THANKS!

Magenta

Many thanks to all of you that have already pre-ordered the CD single. Pre-sales so far have been very encouraging.

However, this is the point where we really need you all to stand up and be counted. The physical CD single remains available direct from Amazon, HMV and Townsend Records.

You can also buy the single from branches of HMV and Virgin. If you live in Cardiff, we recommend Virgin, who should have it well displayed.Please quote catalogue number CDTMR1.

However, it is the download that will decide whether we get into the charts or not, and below is a good selection of sites you can buy it download from. Please order as many as you can afford. Remember, both the Single edit and the extended version count towards the chart placing. The two mixes are very different - the extended version has a completely different vibe to the single edit, and if you order them separately – not as a package – it counts towards the chart twice!

Download sites:

Woolworths, 7 Digital, Itunes UK, Napster UK, Wippit, HMV Digital and Virgin Digital. More download sites will be added later.

You can also download the song direct to your mobile phone, via Orange, O2 or Three mobile. If in doubt, search for Magenta Speechless via the tones or download section of your mobile phone. The cost should be around 99p, and will go onto your phone bill.

Many thanks for your help –let’s make this a week to remember!

Magenta

There will be three bands on the bill, with Pure Reason Revolution opening the festival at 5pm, Magenta onstage at 7pm and IQ closing the event at 10pm, so it’s an all-British affair!

The festival began in 1999, and past performers include Mostly Autumn, Galahad, Pallas, Le Orme, Kayak, Fish, Riverside and PFM, so the band are in distinguished company.

Further details will be available shortly from www.tianaprogfest.com. For those outside Spain, ticket information is available from Irene@tianaprogfest.com.

We can also confirm a new gig at The Point in Cardiff on Friday April 20th.

With one week before the release of Speechless , here’s the latest update on activity and places to buy and download the single.

We are very pleased to announce that Amazon.co.uk and HMV online have been added to the list of online retailers from whom you can pre-order the CD single. This is particularly useful for those of you that want to order multiple copies.

Those of you whole would like to order the single through your local branch of HMV or Virgin you can do so by quoting catalogue number CDTDR1 and mentioning that the single is available through Universal.

For those of you wanting to buy the CD in Cardiff, the Virgin Megastore will have copies in its new release section from 19th March. We are already getting a great deal of interest from the local press in South Wales, so we’re expecting demand locally to be considerable.

Those living outside the UK that want to buy the CD should note that they will be able to buy it from the Magenta shop , Progrock.co.uk or Sonicbond.com after release date.

If you would like to pre-order the download of Speechless now, you can do so from 7digital . Each of the three tracks is 77pence, and you can order all three for £1.77. You can also hear brief audio clips of all 3 tracks. The list of other download locations will be considerable, but we’ll give you specific details of these just before release. Outlets will include Itunes , and Napster , plus the Orange and O2 mobile phone networks.

Finally, there are still a few places left for our launch party, at which we will play a short live set, at the Hard Rock Café, Cardiff, on Tuesday March 20th at 8pm. If you would like to come along, please email us at magentasingle@btinternet.com as soon as possible. Entrance is free, but is by invitation only.

Best wishes

Magenta

We have a couple of exciting updates for you in the Speechless campaign.

Firstly, we are delighted to say that the CD single version is now available as an exclusive pre-order from Townsend Records price £2.99 plus p and p ( the standard retail price is £3.99). All purchases from a UK address will count towards the chart placing, so get ordering!

Secondly, the entire video for Speechless is now online at the Speechless Mini Site. You can also see it at our Myspace page or using this direct link to Google video. We hope you enjoy it.

Magenta

This is just a quick note to let you know that we have just launched a brand new, improved official forum .

We've done this because some users were having trouble signing up to the old forum, so we think you'll find this one a lot more user friendly. The old forum will remain available for a few weeks, but will disappear completely on March 18th. We've also taken the opportunity to simplify the forum structure, so that all threads appear under one heading. You''ll also be able to comment directly on official band announcements for the first time.

We hope you enjoy the new format, and and happy posting!

The campaign to chart our new single Speechless, released on 19th March is beginning to gain momentum. We’ve been really excited by the response so far, and we’ve already had several airplays, with Christina and Rob being interviewed by Jerry Ewing on Total Rock Radio last Saturday. Here are a few of the latest developments.

Speechless Launch Party
We are delighted to announce that we will be launching the single at a special free party at The Hard Rock Café, St. Mary Street, Cardiff on Tuesday 20th March. The band will play a 30-minute set, and entrance will be by invitation only. If you would be interested in attending, then contact us at magentasingle@btinternet.com

Single artwork
The striking artwork for the single is now complete, and you can see the front cover on our website www.magenta-web.com

Become a member of the Street Team
Now we have the artwork, we have produced some leaflets and posters to help promote the single, so we need your help. If you can find a suitable location for a poster, be it in a workplace, shop or venue, then get in touch and we will get some to you. Please remember, though, no fly posting!

We have identified a series of concerts at which we would like a team of leafleters. You can see the list here . Please get in touch if you can help with any of these. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, so if you are going to any other gigs that you think might have some audience crossover with Magenta, or have any other places to hand them out, let us know and we’ll get some leaflets to you.

Of course, we are not asking you to do this without any sort of reward, and anyone willing to join our street team will get an invite either to the single launch in Cardiff, or a signed Magenta album.

Video launch
Finally, the entire video of Speechless will be premiered online at www.magentasingle.com on February 24 , so put that date in your diary.

We will be back soon with downloading and pre-ordering information.

We have some very important and exciting news for you! To celebrate our move to a new label Tigermoth records, Magenta will release a new single on March 19th. The song is Speechless – a version of which some of you will have heard opening bands live shows in November. There will be two versions of the song available, plus a new version of Anger from Home. The single will be available as a download and also as a physical CD, and we are asking YOU to help us make it a hit in the UK!

Says Rob: “People may be surprised with Speechless – it shows a side of the band that not many have heard. However, we feel it’s a very strong song, and the perfect vehicle to increase the profile of progressive rock in the UK. We genuinely believe we can get it into the top 40.”

We are asking all of you to buy the single between Monday March 19th and Saturday 24th March – either as a download or a physical CD from an established retail outlet. If we all do this together, then we have a real chance in having an actual top 40 single. We have also shot a video of the song, which will also be on the physical CD. You can view a clip from the video at our special Speechless mini-site Here

We are also looking for as many volunteers as possible to help us promote this major even for the band.For further details of the single, to hear an MP3 extract and see snippet of the video, and information on how to help, go to the Speechless page HERE. To join our mailing list for email updates on the campaign click HERE. You will also go into a draw to win a complete set of all 4 Magenta albums. We have also set up a special website for the event, which you can visit HERE. You can also EMAIL us to volunteer your services, or to ask us any questions about Speechless.

Hi All. Just a quick note to say that we've just opened a brand new shop. As well as the CDs you have already been able to buy online, you can now get the items previously only available at gigs, including T-shirts and prints. Happy shopping!

Also, for those of you that have been following this series, we've also added Rob's commentary on My Home Town to the Fan Area

Here are a few bits of news from the Magenta camp…

The Nearfest line up is now complete, with the addition of Hawkwind and Magma as headliners. Tickets go on sale on March 31st. We’ll remind you of this closer to the event, as those wishing to attend will need to stay alert when they go on sale – tickets traditionally sell out within the first hour of becoming available!

The excellent Dutch Progressive rock pages are currently running their end of year poll. It’s a lengthy one but good fun to fill in and there’s still time to vote. We wouldn’t want to suggest who to vote for, of course. That would be vulgar!

We’ve just added the second part of Rob’s track-by-track analysis of Home to the Fan Area – his look at Moving On. There are plenty more exciting revelations in store!

Magenta have had another poll success recently. Home has been voted second best album of 2007 by the listeners of the MLWZ radio show on local station Radio Alfa Krakow 102.40 FM in Poland, losing out only to the great David Gilmour! Our thanks to the listeners of the station for their terrific support over the years.