Cyan (band)

Cyan is a British progressive rock band original formed by Rob Reed in 1984, but which split up after a few performances and one demo tape. In 1991 Rob Reed (Magenta, Trippa) received a letter from a French fan who had received the original demo from Nick Barrett (of Pendragon and a fan of the band) and was amazed that there was still an interest in Cyan.

Reed re-recorded the five original tracks in his own studio, playing all instruments and singing, which attracted label interest from the Dutch label SI. During early 1993 Rob recorded new material, and included some of the previously re-recorded tracks from the last demo for the release of For King And Country in May 1993. It was very well received and resulted in various TV and radio appearances.

In 1994 Rob met Nigel Voyle during the making of the second Cyan album Pictures From The Other Side, through a mutual friend (while working on a cover version of "I Know What I Like" by Genesis). Reed asked him to guest on one track for the new album but was so impressed that Nigel took over all the vocals on the album with Reed and female vocalist Christina Booth (previously known as Christina Murphy) on backing vocals.

Voyle had previously worked with the band, Just Good Friends, who were signed to Polydor and played at the Reading Rock Festival in 1983. Nigel was also invited to audition as Marillion’s new singer before Steve Hogarth was recruited. He is currently working as a session vocalist, producer and an actor with the Welsh National Opera.

Reed explains, "The writing for ‘Pictures From The Other Side’ took about three months. I then made demos of all the tracks with me singing and with all the instrumentation worked out which took another two months. Next we recorded and mixed finished versions of the tracks with Nigel’s vocals and other backing vocals and effects. We did up to eight different mixes of some tracks, and this took another four months. Finally we picked the best mixes and running order, got the cover sorted out, sent the whole lot to SI and hoped that they liked it! The CD was written and recorded at home.''

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Wikipedia