Magenta is a wonderful continuation of keyboard wizard- Rob Reed's first band: Cyan, which he formed in 1984. Robert, never shy about stating his musical influences, combined original compositions with inspiration from bands such as- Genesis, Mike Oldfield and It Bites. The group split up after a few gigs and one demo tape. In 1991 Rob re-recorded the Cyan tracks in his own studio and two years later he, added three more tracks and released the album under the Dutch Prog Rock SI Music label. Entitled- `For King & Country,' the Cyan album was essentially a Rob Reed disk as all instruments and vocals were recorded by him.
Rob met Nigel Voyle during the second Cyan recording- `Pictures From The Other Side.' Voyle took over the lead vocals on the project. he also met future Magenta singer- Christina Maria Booth Murphy, (who is credited as simply- Christina; her voice is beautiful and IMHO is a cross between Renaissance's Annie Haslam and Stevie Nicks), who provided backing vocals.
During a Cyan lull, Reed produced and played keyboards on the a new band called- Fyreworks, which raised a few eyebrows including music label- F2 Music... and after SI Music folded, Cyan signed with F2 Music.
Soon after, they released their third Cyan album entitled `The Creeping Vine,' which sold well and again featured Christina on backing vocals again.
Not to appear just a progger, Rob also created many side-projects that included different musical genres- the most noteworthy was the band- TRIPPA (including Christina on vocals), which combined a contemporary Eurhythmics sound with edgy industrial pop and orchestral arrangements. The band's single was voted ‘Record of the Week’ on Virgin Radio and he group also received some television exposure.
During this time, Rob decided that Christina had the perfect voice to sing lead vocals on a future Progressive Rock project- hence the origin of Magenta. Rob’s aim for this group was to get together like-minded, talented musicians who would bring to this band the enthusiasm and belief that Magenta could be a force to be reckoned with on the progressive rock scene. The band started out as just Rob, (as he composes all the material and gets in people to embellish some of the parts he has written) but he soon brought in Christina and old and new talented friends to turn his ambition into a band.
Magenta was never intended to be a touring group in Rob's mind, but in early 2002, Rob while producing an album with a band called Erasmus, met bassist Matthew Cohen, and in July 2002 he asked Matt if he wanted to gig and play bass in his new Prog project. With the addition of Chris Fry (guitarist with a local band called “Eskimo), Martin Rosser ((guitars/vocals),- a long-time friend of Rob's or years and he had a band called the Othello Syndrome), and Christina (lead vocals), Magenta now fit Robert Reed's vision.
The debut album- `Revolutions' (released March 1st, 2001), is very 70's retro in flavor, nodding influences of prog giants- Yes and Genesis. Reed provided the keyboards, bass guitars, acoustic and some electric guitars, as well as male vocals. Christina was now the lead singer and Cyan collaborator- Tim Robinson was behind the drumkit (additional percussion was done by Tim Short). Ex-Cyan collaborators- Chris Fry and Andy Edwards provided guitars in addition to Martin Shellard. Even Rob's brother contributed concepts and lyrics to the project (he also provided the lyrics to their next album). In July 2003, drummer Rhys Jones left and was replaced by Allan Mason-Jones who used to play with Matthew Cohen in a band called- Unbroken Spirit. He is now the permanent drummer in Magenta.
2003 was a busy year for the band highlighted by a memorable performance at Baja Prog in Mexico as well as Progeny Festival which was held at the Astoria in London in November that same year.
In 2004, Magenta went back in the studio to record their second album- another concept album featuring each song as one of the seven deadly sins. The album appropriately named- `Seven' - also included the services of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra to provide strings which contrasted nicely with the electronics. Compared to `Revolutions'- `Seven' feels much more cohesive and whole, perhaps to the shorter songs or to the strong use of melody (which contrasted to most prog bands tendency of showing off technical skills). The album has received excellent reviews and the band have gained many new fans (including myself). To promote the `Seven' album and live gigs, an EP release (entitled-`Broken'), was released June 1, 2004, which is much poppier than anything on their second album and showcases the band's flexibility. Christina provided the lyrics for the song- Broken (and will do the same for the next single).
Reviews for their live shows have been very positive and have shown that the band's confidence as well as live showmanship has improved considerably. This is a band to look out for and is one of the few pure prog bands to feature beautiful female vocals. And as the group starts to shift from strictly supporting to headlining gigs, they will continue to capture a larger fan base they justly deserve.
Future band dates: on October 31st 2004 at the progSfest the band will share the featured evening performance with The Ray Wilson Band.
On April 4th, 2005 Magenta played ROSfest 2005 festival at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, PA, USA. to support a new live album- Another Time... Another Place... (double live cd). A DVD was released in 2005.
During the summer of 2005 Matthew Cohen (bass) has decided to resign from the band. Says Matthew: "My decision to leave Magenta was not an easy one and was thought about very hard. I have had a wonderful 3 years with some of the best musicians on the scene."
Magenta current line-up:
Christina - Vocals
Rob Reed - Keyboards / Vocals
Chris Fry - Guitars / Vocals
Martin Rosser - Guitars / Vocals
Allan Mason-Jones - Drums
Magenta Discography:
March 1, 2001 - Revolutions
March 1, 2004 - Seven
June 1, 2004 - Broken EP
2004 Another Time... Another Place... (double live cd)
2004- I'm Alive (single cd)
