Nick Magnus (born 1 February 1955 in

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, England, near the border of West Sussex and located at by the south coast of England. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet fr ...

, Hampshire, England) is a British keyboard player, songwriter, composer, arranger, engineer and producer. He is from the progressive school of keyboard players, mostly associated with instrumental and rock music. In 1978-1989 he played, extensively toured and recorded with ex-Genesis guitarist

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

and his flautist brother, John Hackett. He was a vital member of Steve Hackett's band, appearing, in total, on six Hackett studio albums released on Charisma Records and Lamborghini Records in 1979-1984. Magnus' contribution was especially considerable on the 1981 album ''Cured'', which he co-produced, and on which he co-wrote (with Hackett) one song, "Funny Feeling", and also programmed the famous

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

drum machine. Nick Magnus studied piano from years 6-15, cathedral organ from 15-18, self-taught thereafter. He started his professional musical career in early 1976 with the symphonic rock band,

The Enid The Enid are a British progressive rock band founded by keyboardist and composer Robert John Godfrey. Godfrey received his main musical education from The Royal College of Music. He is previously known for his work with Barclay James Harvest, ...

. Then he spent two years with the progressive rock group

Autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

. In 1987 he scored the music to the horror film ''

Bloody New Year ''Bloody New Year'' (also known as ''Time Warp Terror'' and ''Horror Hotel'') is a 1987 British supernatural horror film directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Suzy Aitchison, Nikki Brooks, Colin Heywood, Mark Powley, Catherine Roman and Julia ...

'', which was directed by

Norman J. Warren Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as '' Satan's Slave'' (1976), ''Prey'' (1977) and '' Terror'' (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as '' Oute ...

. He has released six solo albums of his own compositions: ''Straight On Till Morning'' (1993), ''Inhaling Green'' (1999), ''Hexameron'' (2004), ''Children of Another God'' (2010), '' N'Monix'' (2014) and the latest Catharsis (2019). Steve Hackett played the guitar on the four latest albums.

Selected discography

With Steve Hackett

* ''Spectral Mornings'' (1979 Charisma) * ''Defector'' (1980 Charisma) * ''Cured'' (1981 Charisma) * ''Highly Strung'' (1983 Charisma) * ''Bay of Kings'' (1983 Lamborghini) * ''Till We Have Faces'' (1984 Lamborghini) * ''Time Lapse'' (live) (1992) * ''The Unauthorised Biography'' (compilation) (1992) * ''Guitar Noir'' (1993 - only on the 1997 remastered version) * ''Genesis Revisited'' (1996 on track 3 only) * ''Feedback 86'' (1986 recordings) (2000 Camino) * ''Live Archive 70, 80, 90s'' (2001) * ''Genesis Revisited II'' (2012 Inside Out on CD2 track 10: "Camino Royale" ackett-Magnus

With others

* Autumn - ''Oceanworld'' (1999 - recordings from 1977–1978) * China Crisis - ''Flaunt the Imperfection'' (1985 Virgin Records - guesting on Grand Piano and synthesizer) * John Warren - ''Burning Questions'' (1986; remastered 2007 Angel Air Records SJPCD217) * John Hackett - ''Checking Out of London'' (2005 Hacktrax HTRX002) * Pete Hicks and Nick Magnus - ''Flat Pack'' (2008 Beach Hut Records - released in January 2009) * Magnus & Foster (with Dick Foster)- ''Don't Look Back'' (available as download) * John Hackett & Nick Magnus - ''Live 2010'' (2011 Magick Nuns Records MNCD1003)

Solo releases

* ''Straight On Till Morning'' (1993 Voiceprint Records VP142 CD, now deleted and unavailable) * ''Inhaling Green'' (1999 Centaur Discs CENCD017) * ''Hexameron'' (2004 Magick Nuns Records MNCD1001) * ''Children of Another God'' (2010 Magick Nuns Records MNCD1002) * ''N'Monix'' (2014 Esoteric Antenna Records) * ''Catharsis'' (2019 Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1003)

As a producer

* Celtic Spirit - ''Celtic Dreams'' (1998 PolygramTV) * Celtic Spirit - ''Lyra II'' (1999 Universal TV) * Amoure - ''Kyrie'' (1999 Polymedia-Polystar) * Gordon Reid - ''Painting Imperfect Pictures'' * Gordon Reid - ''Aliens'' (2000 Deja Vu, DV-GRCD-001)

References

''Sketches of Hackett, the Authorised Steve Hackett Biography'', by Alan Hewitt, Wymer Publishing,

External links

* 1955 births Living people English keyboardists English songwriters People from Emsworth {{UK-keyboardist-stub