The Progressive Underground Volume Two

Contrary to popular belief, progressive rock didn't disappear with the advent of punk, and the lack of media support didn't prevent new bands from forming and new music being created, it just drove it underground. It is hard to imagine these days, with everyone being permanently connected, but there was a time not long ago when communication was by word of mouth and letter. With no coverage by much of the media, it was down to fanzines and independent magazines to spread the word of what was happening within the progressive rock scene, what was being released, and who was worth going to see in concert. Most of these magazines survived for just a few issues, while others continued for many years, all having their part to play in spreading the word. One of the most important during this period was 'Feedback'. It initially started as the newsletter of Mensa's Rock Music Special Interest Group in 1988, but when Kev Rowland became secretary in 1990, he determined to turn it into a magazine promoting music which often wasn't being written about in the mainstream press. 'Feedback' soon became one of the key promoters of the underground progressive scene, and Kev one of the most well-known and popular reviewers. He also became a contributor to Rock 'n' Reel, as well as writing for the Ghostland website in the early days of prog on the web. 
 
Following on from the success of Volume 1, which covers all his progressive reviews from 1991-2006 for artists A-H, he has now returned with the second of the three-volume series, this time featuring artists I-S. The final volume of the set will follow in a few months' time which contains the rest of the alphabet, DVD and video reviews, various artist and short reviews, plus interviews and gig reviews. This set provides the most comprehensive look ever compiled of a forgotten period of the genre. It was while reading yet another "definitive" book on progressive rock that Rowland realized no-one had ever really written about "his scene", the one which he has been so heavily involved for more than half his lifetime. This series of books attempts to address that. It never proclaims to be definitive or comprehensive, but rather here are the honestly given reviews of a self-confessed proghead, whose only agenda has ever been to try and promote music and musicians he felt should be heard.  
 
Along with the other two volumes in this series, this shines a spotlight onto a time when there were very few writings about the music in a constructive manner. Finally, it is again possible to discover some great music from wonderful bands, and this should be used as a guide to expand collections and understand that prog rock really didn't die, it just went underground.

From 1990 - 2006 Kev Rowland ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, often writing about bands that were never covered in the mainstream press. He built close ties with many of the British prog groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad's OCMDII compilation. During this period he reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. He also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, and wrote for Rock 'n' Reel, as well as the Ghostland website.

In 2006 rowland moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified on his departure, at his request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews and interviews.

Although he stopped writing and reviewing when he came over to NZ, Rowland was gradually brought back into the scene and started contributing to many different sites and magazines. He is heavily involved with Prog Archives, wrote the booklets for the Red Jasper reissues, and generally tries to be as involved in the scene as he was previously. However, this all stopped in 2014 when he started to compile all his progressive reviews and interviews from Feedback into a digital format - remember, when he originally started it was using a typewriter and many of the reviews were only available in hard copy. It took more than two years to complete the initial draft, which contained more than half a million words, and Gonzo Media decided to have the text broken into three volumes and also include artwork of the covers in full cover.