Steve Hackett - Steve Rothery - The Guitars of Genesis and Marillion Play Together

Steve Hackett is an “old acquaintance” of mine, and over the last few years he's always told me he was very, very busy. I certainly never imagined he was also busy putting together a project that not even the wildest imagination of progressive rock fans could have dreamed up: the guitarist of Genesis and the guitarist of Marillion recording an album together! We caught up with the two six-string masters to have them light the way as we head towards the shores of the island of Albion, where the waves roar, inspiring the music of Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery!

How did “The Roaring Waves” come about? Which of you two had the idea, and how did this project take shape?
Hackett: We started recording maybe eight years ago, and we were both very, very busy, so we couldn't finish any of the ideas that came up. Four tracks were born, as I was reminded today, at the Racket Club, which is Marillion's studio. Around the time I started recording with Steve, I no longer had a studio at home. I was living in Teddington, and I didn't have a studio. I'd had a couple in the past, but then I moved to this house, and so eventually, despite this really packed schedule, over the last three months or so, we put together the rest of the album. And I think that once Riccardo Romano came on board, everything became a lot easier. We managed to bring the ship into port, to use nautical imagery, as I like to do now and then. So, over to you!
Rothery: Yes, well, we decided, I don't know, four or five years ago, that we'd give the album a nautical theme. We already had a couple of sea-themed tracks, “Sand's Bend” and “Pacific Coast Highway”. And everything just seemed to tie together nicely. Steve came, with his wife Jo, to Whitby, in North Yorkshire, where I grew up. It's a small fishing town. My wife Jo was with us too, and we all went around exploring the town and the ancient Abbey ruins. For me it was a rather surreal experience, walking those streets and thinking that the fifteen-year-old I once was, a huge Genesis fan, was now walking with one of his childhood heroes 45 years later. But anyway, we pretty much settled on the theme of the sea and all its different facets. And once we'd nailed that down, I think it gave us almost a map of where to take the record and every single track, of how to bring it to life.

Tell us something about the writing process and the subsequent production of the tracks that make up the album.
Hackett: It was all very spontaneous. We jammed. Most of it comes out of jams that were later refined. In a couple of cases we had tracks with a stronger thematic idea already in mind, but we wrote looking each other in the eye, face to face. And that was unusual for me: I hadn't really done that since the days of Genesis and my first band. Because most of the time, if you've got hired musicians, there really isn't time to work that way. People want instructions. It's a bit like going to see a lawyer (laughs). Never ask for his opinion, you have to give him instructions. That way you save a lot of money. But that's the only similarity between lawyers and hired musicians. With this record, obviously, we weren't watching each other's clocks at all. That's how it was. We let it breathe, take its time, evolve, all of that. Spontaneous ideas became elaborate. They were written over time. But the main thing is that it's a musical conversation, face to face.
Rothery: Yes, that's exactly how it was. It came out of inspiration, out of being in the same space together, and it was an almost effortless creative process, the exact opposite of what sometimes happens, especially when you're in a band where you need to reach a consensus on whether an idea is good or not and whether it can be developed. But with this record we simply followed our inspiration. You'd lay down the initial ideas, which became the building blocks of the songs. Later on, when Riccardo Romano, the keyboard player in my solo band, joined as the third member of the creative team, he really brought an extra dimension. He helped us sort out existing ideas and was a creative force throughout the making of the record. He plays bass on most of the album, as well as keyboards. He mixed the record. Yes, he's a great friend of mine of 12 years, but he worked really hard. He never seemed to sleep, that's the thing, when he was working at Steve's place. He'd be there working literally 20 hours a day!
Hackett: I wouldn't let him sleep!
Rothery: Yeah, just feed him yogurt (laughs). But anyway, that was one of the main reasons we managed to focus and finish these ideas, turning partially built song blocks into finished arrangements.

Tell us something about the striking cover art too, its meaning, and what fans can expect from the physical edition of “The Roaring Waves”.
Rothery: Yes, so, we work with Simon, who also collaborates with Marillion and who's worked with me in the past on my solo projects, on the “Bioscope” album. We gave him the titles and some themes, and that's what he came back to us with. I mean, for “The Roaring Waves”, the boy in the storm, the lashing rain and wind, but out of all the artwork on the album, the one for “Black Sea” is probably my favourite. I think it's a really evocative, powerful image. But you want something with a really strong visual identity to go with the music. It looks great, especially on vinyl, with all the artwork across the gatefold sleeve inside. Steve and I, the other day, signed 5,000 copies for the pre-orders from the Hackett Songs website. So yes, by the end of the day our wrists were aching!
Hackett: Yeah, right. I'd never signed so many records in one go before, but his signature looks more like a hieroglyph, while mine is a bit longer, though I'll shorten it. I mean, mine deteriorated so I could keep pace, but we got there. Anyway, it's not a machine, it's not a robot, it's not a stamp. It's a signature. In the end, what we thought was... I went to the area where Steve Rothery grew up. We met there in Whitby, which has the ruined abbey on the cliff. And we thought: maybe we should do something specifically tied to that place. But then it felt limiting. So we found that, by coming up with nautical, sea-related titles, we'd have a broader canvas rather than getting bogged down in too many specific stories. I think it was an immersive idea. And obviously I think the album has that quality where you can listen to it and bask in it, be surrounded by it, and let yourself drown in the waves of the sea and the waves of sound. So I think there's a correlation between the two things. When I was a child, at one point I was very ill and I realised I could see sound waves coming towards me, and it terrified me. But it was something I had to live with. I could literally see them. I thought that if they reached me, they'd kill me. It was absolutely terrifying, like a waking nightmare. I think, as Steve Rothery says, it was really down to his graphic designer to arrive at that imagery. At first we wanted to use something by Turner, the painter. But there was always the worry that no one was really sure whether the rights were available, or who'd have to pay, or who wouldn't. So it was much better to find something original and at the same time ambiguous. That's why there are all those images tied to the songs on the album.
Rothery: Yes, we wouldn't want to use some artwork and then find someone coming to take our house away for that privilege!
Hackett: They can take his house, not mine. I've got a spare room here for you, if that happens!
Rothery: (laughs) Okay.
Hackett: Very low rent.
Rothery: I'll park a caravan outside!
Hackett: (laughs) Exactly. In the garden.
Rothery: In the garden, with the squirrels!

I know it's probably too early to talk about this, but do you think this record will have a follow-up?
Rothery: Yes. I think we'd be crazy not to, in a way, because it's been phenomenal. I think we're close to half a million views for the “Black Sea” video on YouTube, which, these days, is so hard to achieve in terms of attention and visibility. And I think the idea of two progressive guitarists complementing each other, creating something timeless, is really exciting people.

And what about the possibility of playing live together in support of this record?
Hackett: We've talked about it. We thought that, if there were another album, we'd have plenty of material to draw a setlist from. Because a single album, which is roughly the ideal length for vinyl, wouldn't give us enough material to put together a full show. It would be nice not to have to pad it out too much with stuff from our past. So yes, things we can both play that are tied to work made specifically for this pairing between me and Steve Rothery.

So will you put together a band with musicians you already work with?
Rothery: Yes, I think so. It's highly likely we'll use a lot of the same musicians for a second album. And we hope to bring them out live too, budget permitting. But I know my guys are cheap, so I'd say we're covered (laughs)!
Hackett: He drives a hard bargain. Riccardo, as you say, only eats yogurt, smokes cigarettes and I don't think he ever sleeps at night.
Rothery: I saw him in Pompeii and he's actually quit smoking.
Hackett: Quit smoking? Oh, that's great!
Rothery: Yes, really great.
Hackett: I'm really glad about that. That's excellent news, because we want him to live long and prosper, as they say!

Steve Hackett: when did you first hear Marillion in your life, and what did you think of them at the time?
Hackett: Well, I met them while they were making their first album, so I already knew them from back then. Naturally, very quickly they got signed by EMI and started having success. I think the commercial pressures on them were pretty high, but I always loved their live shows, and they've survived in a similar way to Genesis. They survived their original singer leaving and kept growing more and more, and today they put on an incredible live show. They put on a fantastic show, and it's clear, watching how the fans respond to their music, that they're with them one hundred percent. I think they've built up a huge amount of loyalty from those fans, and the only way to really achieve that is by doing an enormous amount of live work. They say that in this business you never really stop paying your dues. That's how it works. So, in the early years, I worked hard touring with Genesis. In later years, and especially over the last 20 years or so, I've worked flat out trying to play as many shows as possible, to play in front of as many people as possible, to be able to put together an outstanding live band and have the best possible musicians. That goes for the bass player I work with too: I've got several Swedish guys in the band, because it just so happens they're among the best musicians around. And it's often said, isn't it, that if you can put together the Real Madrid of progressive bands, like the best football team with the best players... Jonas Reingold says that too. He's an incredible bass player. Lale Larsson is an outstanding virtuoso keyboard player, the latest addition, and Felix Lehrmann is the drummer. And we'll be playing in Italy later this year, in November I think. So I can't wait to do that again. So those are some of the things, besides the album, that I've loved about working with Steve Rothery. Plunk, plunk, plunk (onomatopoeia imitating strumming)!

What are your fondest memories connected to Italy?
Hackett: Over to you, Steve. You've just done Pompeii.
Rothery: Exactly. Those are my strongest memories, the two shows we just played at the Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, which were absolutely incredible. We filmed and recorded them for a concert film, which I hope will come out next year. But it was simply a unique experience. Very hot. On the second night it started raining, but we didn't stop playing. We figured we'd just keep going until something blew up, and we managed to make it to the end of the show. But yeah, it really was magical. We had an Italian choir performing with us, truly extraordinary, and it added another dimension to a lot of the music. Yeah, that's something I can't wait to see finished. I've already heard one of the mixed tracks, and it sounds really special.

What about you, Steve? What are your special memories of Italy?
Hackett: Oh, Italy. Every time I go to Italy, it's special. It's always been incredible. I was blown away by the response of Italian audiences, who already seemed to know everything back in the Genesis days. In the rest of the world we were still playing clubs and colleges, but in Italy we were filling arenas right away! I don't know why that was, but there always seemed to be this incredible response. In Italy it would happen that we'd be halfway through a song, maybe at a point we didn't consider the highlight, but maybe because it was a favourite track that people recognised, they'd spontaneously start applauding right in the middle of the song (laughs). I'm sure you've experienced something similar. It was always an incredible thing, that feeling that wherever you are in Italy, you're playing encores right from the start. There's that incredible welcome, that incredible feeling that only Italians really seem to have, that ability to show their emotions instantly. It's always an event. Even when I showed up with just an acoustic guitar, it was a full-blown event. It's part of Italy.

What final greeting would you send to your Italian fans? An invitation to buy their own copy of "The Roaring Waves"?
Rothery: Yes, basically: the more people buy a copy of our album, the more likely we are to come there on tour!
Hackett: Well, that's true. Yeah, yeah. In the meantime, I'm sure both our bands will keep playing there for many years to come, with a bit of luck. I can't wait to get back to Italy. It's always fantastic. I'm not just saying that. I think it's one of my favourite places to play. Even the Genesis lads, who could be very British with that classic "stiff upper lip", would turn Italian once they got to Italy. And that's how it was. That's just how it works.

(September 18, 2026)

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