Forest of Dean band Spiral Planet will be making an appearance at the Two Rivers Studio in Cheltenham on Friday 30th November for a very special launch of their new album.

The eight-piece band have spent the last eighteen months working on their debut album ‘EarthRise’, and as founding band member Mark Millar explains, the album has been a long-term project that he’s relieved to see finally complete.

He said: “The album is called ‘EarthRise’. It’s a concept album, the majority of which I wrote way back in 2003. I introduced the music to the guys in the band a couple of years ago and we’ve been working incredibly hard on the album since then.

“It’s fantastic to actually get this project recorded and completed. I’m obviously delighted to have ended up with the finished album. I can’t wait for the launch night, it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll be playing to a live audience for the very first time, I’m sure there will be a few nerves but overall it’s an evening to be excited about.”

Mark Millar is joined in the band by Stephen Butler, Geoff Murrell, Pete Farnell, Ian ‘lofty’ Gardner, Ade Miller, Ali Park and Joe Simpson. It was a chance meeting at a Cinderford recording studio that proved the catalyst in the formation of the band.

Mark continued: “The story begins in February 2016. A few of us ended up in a recording studio in Cinderford and decided we wanted to play music together. We formed the band shortly after that and have been lucky enough to add further members as time has passed.

“Our album tells the story of a 30-year-old gentleman who was working in finance and doing very well. But his life starts to break up, he loses his job and joins the army. He ends up in active service abroad and ends up with PTSD. He eventually emerges from that and then gets back together with his first love. I love writing music that tells a story, that’s the whole concept of this album.

“We’re all mature guys so there’s those 1970s and 1980s influences from the likes of Genesis and Dire Straits but this is our album, we haven’t made it to sound like another band.”

The band will be returning to the recording studio in early 2019, with another album planned for release.

Mark added: “Once album launch night is complete we’ll be getting straight back to the studio. We’ve got plans for another album that will hopefully be released some time next year. It’s exciting times for us. To get the opportunity to make music with such a great group of people is a real pleasure.”