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One of the cornerstones of the Magna Carta label, Cairo have been delivering consistantly impressive progressive music for years now. ProgSheet decided to pick the brain of keyboardist / composer Mark Robertson to get a brief peek at what makes the man and the band tick...

Q : There has been a definite resurgence of progressive music with more bands than ever on the scene. Why do you feel this has happened?

MR: Possibly because people are getting tired of what is on the radio, therefore more audiences to support the musicians that want to play prog- rock. �

Q: What was the very first song you learned to play?

MR: I learned to play Let It Be. That was my first song, but I had played classical music before that. �

Q: What drew you to want to play the keyboards?

MR: The options of having great polyphony, the sounds they create and all the effects you can create with keyboards. When you play classical piano for instance solo��.. The things you can play are so complete, something you cannot really do as a soloist on an instrument like a trumpet or flute for instance, they kind of need to be part of an orchestra or something. �

Q: What was the first prog album you ever heard & what was your initial reaction to it?

MR: The first Prog record I ever heard was Tarkus by ELP, I was pretty much stunned. �

Q: What would you say are your biggest influences as a composer?

MR: I would say my biggest influences are Copland, Chopin and Liszt with some jazz influences like Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. �

Q: How did Cairo come together?

MR: I had Just come off tour with Tony MacCalpine and Mike Varney introduced Jeff Brockman (our Drummer) to me. At that time I had been talking to Varney about he and Pete Mortacelli starting a prog label,I was asked if I wanted to start a prog band and do a couple CD�s under that label. After talking it over with Jeff we decided to do it and started auditioning different guys to play in the band. The rest is history. �

Q: How would you best describe the musical aim of Cairo and your role in it?

MR: The musical aim is to write good music. My role in the band, well���I write,play, arrange, and produce and try to keep a high level of quality in the band,as far as the production and writing. I�m your basic hall monitor!!! �

Q: What 3 songs best show the diversity of your playing and why?

MR: The Fuse, The Prophecy, and The Underground (all on the last CD). I just mention them because they are on the most recent recording. They all show the diversity of songwriting, musicianship and imagination of all of us as well as the guy�s playing on the last CD with us. The studio guys, Luis and Brian did awesome work on the CD. �



Q: Tell me 2 things I'd never know about Bret Douglas?

MR: He is a rap artist, and loves to eat head cheese in the studio, in front of us���.while recording,,,,,,,,,SICK!!!! �

Q:�"Ruins At Avalon's Gate" is a massive, epic piece. Walk me through how that came together from concept to recording.

MR: It is a song I wrote over the period of about a month or so. I first wrote the whole thing on piano and then showed all the different parts to the guys in the band. I had written all the bass parts and just showed them to Rob. Bret and I sat and worked out all the vocal lines together as Jeff and I did with the drum parts. Alec and I kind of worked out the guitar parts as we were recording because they came last. �

Q: What are 6 CDs, off the top of your head, that you just couldn't live without?

MR: Steely Dan- AJA
Steely Dan- Gaucho
ELP - Trilogy
Yes- Close to the Edge
Genesis- Selling England By The Pound
Aaron Copland- The Copland Collection �

Q: If you could turn people on to any one band in addition to Cairo, who pops into your head first?

�MR:�Magellan is very good, not sure what style you are talking about but in prog rock I love 'em.



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