THINK of the name Marillion and the chances are your mind will be taken back to the 1980s when the Aylesbury based rock band stormed the pop charts with a collection of memorable hits including Kayleigh, Lavender and Incommunicado.

However the bands chart days only forma small part of Marillion’s 33 year history which has involved several line-up changes and different approaches to the bands musical style: “We like to reinvent ourselves and we have a set of natural skills at our disposal” confirms bass player Pete Trewavas.

Pete joined Marillion in 1982 at the request of then vocalist and lyricist Fish in order to fulfil a tour requirement. It was shortly afterwards things began to happen for the band when they were picked up by EMI Records. Steve remembers the excitement hearing those early chart hits played on the radio on a car stereo and the bands subsequent appearances on Top of The Pops, although he remembers “hanging around the studio all day waiting to go on was less inspiring”.

The 80s proved successful for the band, a run of hits, subsequently touring with Queen and playing to over a 150,000 fans in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 80s ended with an amicable parting with frontman Fish leaving the band without a lyricist and a vocalist. This is when Marillion newvocalist Steve Hogarth entered the picture.

“Steve’s band was just coming to an end and he was thinking of giving up music,” recalls Pete. “His publishing company sent us a tape. He was in a slightly different place to us while we were more progressive, he was pop. The sound then became a bit more commercial…”

Meeting in the middle, the new approach worked well for Marillion and the band have continued a good creative working relationship for over two decades.

“Wedo get on well,” says Pete “We start off jamming and it grows fromthere into something exciting, something special.”

The band were also pioneers of the internet and one of the first to pledge support from fans who invested in new Marillion recordings before the band entered the studio, resulting in a successful formula that has worked for several albums.

“We usually try and give a little bit more in way of a thank you for the support,” says Pete.

Marillion have already premiered some of their songs fromtheir latest release Sounds That Can’t Be Made as far away as Brazil and France and they can be heard performing them live at Cardiff Student Union on September 9 “We like playing Cardiff; it’s always a nice place,” confirms Pete though he concludes with a chuckle “Weplay a lot of songs in our set as we have a lot of material to get through.”

Judging by the bands longstanding following of die-hard fans they won’t mind at all.

● Catch Marillion live at Cardiff Student Union on September 9, visit cardiffboxoffice.com or call 029 2078 1458 for ticket details.