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The Latest Breaking News from Soft Machine

“I’ve had prog dates because of our concerts… the great thing is that you don’t have to explain your weird musical tastes!”: Focus guitarist Menno Gootjes’ prog life

He discovered Canterbury bands in his teens before moving on to Frank Zappa, Opeth, Genesis, obscure Dutch trio Three Dwarves Make War – oh, and Kiss

Louder

“I know it sounds like a joke musical but one of my ancestors was a pirate in the Caribbean. He looked a bit like I did when I was 21 in Roxy Music”: The amazing things Phil Manzanera discovered when he looked into his past

After writing a memoir, the guitarist has done the musical equivalent with an 11-disc box set exploring his five-decade career. He explains how he landed his dream gig, how Robert Fripp beat him to a tonal ambition, and why, in a way, Roxy is still active

Louder

“I lie to them and change the goalposts… you build up techniques of throwing the curveball of discomfort. If it gets comfortable I change it”: David Thomas calls Pere Ubu “avant-garage” – but how prog are they?

They’re unmistakably American, but their lead visionary names Henry Cow, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant and Van der Graaf Generator among his motivators, and explains why his band is definitely not punk

Louder

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“I’d just fed the gerbils and was practicing how to play the saw when this head popped around the door and asked politely if I would like to join Caravan”: Inside the weird and wonderful world of The Canterbury Scene

Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Hatfield And The North - how a small town in England changed progressive music forever

Louder

“Gong is the band you listen to when you smoke your first joint or drop your first acid trip at school”: The mind-bending story of cult psychedelic heroes Gong

Looking back on the career of psychedelic oddballs Gong, one of rock’s most eccentric bands

Louder

Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour is on the cover of the new issue of Prog, on sale now!

Plus Focus, Gryphon, Tim Bowness, Leprous, Yes, Saucerful Of Secrets, Jadis, ELO, Caligula's Horse, Azure and loads more...

Louder

Soft Machine announce Ronnie Scotts date in April

Soft Machine will pay tribute to late drummer John Marshall at one-off Ronnie Scott's headline show

Louder

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Guitarists Gordon Giltrap and John Etheridge team up for UK tour

Gordon Giltrap and Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge undertake their 2 Parts Guitar tour in May

Louder

“A unique, sometimes unsettling experience… His baritone gives the songs a shade of unorthodoxy which goes beyond typical English hippie eccentricity”: Kevin Ayers’ Joy Of A Toy (Remastered Gatefold Vinyl Edition)

Syd Barrett’s contribution is absent in an edition that sticks religiously to 1969 template

Louder

“I suppose what’s different is me. I’ve done a lot of exploring, particularly with Robert Fripp… Working with him was very easy, which doesn’t sit well with a lot of the public’s perceptions of him!” Theo Travis looks back

He’s worked with Soft Machine, Steven Wilson, The Tangent, Gong and more – but the saxophonist and flautist still has one collaborator on his bucket list

Louder

“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

The guitarist most associated with Daevid Allen’s band believes they launched a second wave of psychedelia with their 70s albums Chocolate Teapot, Angel’s Egg and You

Louder

“The rise of a fledgling group, but a collapse of an old one… A forensic timeline of how prog turned into punk”: Stewart Copeland’s Police Diaries

Memoir offers eyewitness view as Curved Air and Soft Machine members lived through a changing of the musical guard

Louder

John Marshall obituary

Supremely gifted drummer who was a long-serving member of the British rock band Soft Machine

The Guardian - UK

Soft Machine: less a band and more an organism which is constantly evolving

Soft Machine's Other Doors review: The fêted fusionists come knocking again with 12th studio album.

Louder

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“Pop music didn’t offer enough open space for improvisation… there was no way we were going to play a tune the same way twice”: How Soft Machine pioneered the Canterbury scene

By the time debut album The Soft Machine was released in 1968, they’d already split up - but its impact changed everything

Louder

The ultimate Canterbury Scene playlist

Enter a world of Caravan, Soft Machine, Egg, Gilgamesh, Matching Mole and more

The Guardian - UK

Hoping Soft Machine are in for the long haul

Brief letters: Long view on music | Bottled proof of the pudding | On board with strimmers | Senior hosteller | Wild eating

The Guardian - UK

First Thing: Trump pleads not guilty as supporters move to cash in

Former president claims being arrested is a ‘great honor’. Plus, meet the bands with no original members left

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Louder

Pink Floyd grace the cover of the new issue of Prog, which is on sale now!

Plus BJH, Soft Machine, Voyager, The Fierce & The Dead, Arjen Lucassen, Enslaved, Mystery, Godsticks and more...

The Guardian - UK

‘I’m the only one that can say I never quit’: meet the bands with no original members left

Fans often question their authenticity – but members of Yes, Odyssey, Soft Machine and Molly Hatchet explain why they’re keeping the flame alive despite the gripes

Louder

Andy Summers on The Police: "We could have gone on and played for years"

The unfeasibly young-looking 80-year-old Andy Summers talks about conquering the world in The Police, the reunion, his long-time passion for photography, and much more

Louder

The guy who everyone thought was 'Meghan in disguise' at the Coronation was a former member of Soft Machine

"I look this way all the time," says former Soft Machine musician Karl Jenkins after strange Coronation mix-up

The Guardian - UK

Open-minded and truly eclectic: Nik Turner was the spirit of Hawkwind

Despite his sometimes turbulent relationship with the rest of the band, Turner’s saxophone was an integral part of their gritty and cathartic 70s sound

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