On this episode I am joined by Frontman of the Fantasy Prog Band Azure, and newly published author, Mr. Chris Sampson - who joins me from Brighton, UK.

Chris is a phenomenally talented and creative individual who's band I have been following for many years now. Not only is he a virtuosic vocalist with an extraordinary mind for music, he is especially adept in the coveted craft of musical storytelling.

Nothing demonstrates this more than the release of his brand new novel - Path of the Azdinist: Lu - which expands upon a story told across two tracks from the last Azure album (Ameotoko I & II).

This story, and many others from the catalogue of Azure, are based in the fictional fantasy world of Kraj - which Chris and the band initially created for a few songs and has since become an integral worldbuilding project with an astounding level of depth.

Naturally, I enjoyed nothing more than the chance to get to delve into such depth with Chris here about perhaps my favourite thing of all, the art of musical storytelling. He gave us not only a wonderful insight into the lore of Azure, Lu & Kraj - but also practical advice, tools and insight to his process which would benefit anyone interested in the topic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this chat and hope that you do too!

WJR ❤️

~

You can check out Chris and Azure's links here

For all other Love Anarchy links including socials, music, blog, etc - go here

~

Timestamps:

00:33 - Introduction & Synopsis

01:16 - Overview of Chris & Azure

03:45 - Prog Discussion & The Sound of Azure

16:55 - Musical Storytelling, Lore & Writing a Novel

29:20 - The Story of Chris' Book - Path of the Azdinist: Lu

39:14 - The Role of Artwork In Music & Storytelling

52:07 - Worldbuilding & How Chris Approaches Musical Storytelling

01:20:20 - How Chris First Got Into Music & Fantasy

01:23:25 - The Art of Musical Theatre

01:38:52 - Closing Sentiments