The Dividing Line’s “The Rogues’ Gallery” started its run back in May 2003 and was the first actual Podcast featuring new progressive rock every week! Listeners from all over the world tune in specifically to hear the latest progressive rock releases. The Rogues’ Gallery has established itself as the most popular outlet for progressive artists and labels seeking to release new material.
Frans widens the appeal and definition of Progressive Rock to include all emerging and related genres, sometimes with wondrous labels such as “post-prog,” “exo-prog,” and any number of bizarre variants. “Out with the old, in with the new” is the motto, so this progressive rock podcast will continue where the Neo-Progressive Rock genre left off, and will tackle a large field of progressive music. Don’t expect a lot of classic prog on this show. Instead, your host, Frans Keylard, will scour the globe for new and exciting bands to spotlight from all over the world, and not just bands from his home base in Seattle, Washington.
Frans Keylard originally hails from The Netherlands and grew up listening to FM pirate radio stations both transmitting from land, and off the coast in international waters from converted fishing trawlers. These stations carried names such as Radio Veronica, Radio Caroline, and Radio Mi Amigo. Those stations existed because of the restricted broadcasting regulations only permitting state-controlled radio. In the US there were university stations in the 70s that carried lots of progressive rock, but those no longer carry that same type of programming. Legendary DJs like Tommy Vance, who had a large degree of creative control over their content are gone. Who will be the next champions to stand up and challenge apathetic FM programming? The wide acceptance of portable music players such as the iPod, cars with MP3 capabilities, and audiophile PCs have made the Internet a viable alternative to discovering new music. When asked what drew Frans Keylard to the Dividing Line, he answered: “The Dividing Line is the most popular Internet Progressive Rock station in the world, just look at the line-up of DJ and the variety of programming! I love that that this station has an environment and audience who really want to join me on a journey of discovery. There’s so much great new Progressive Rock in various guises that never gets heard, so I will try to uncover more every week. Progressive rock is my starting point, but there’s lots of progressive inspired music out there as well! The Dividing Line listeners are frighteningly well-informed, highly engaged, and are willing to invest time in the music orphaned by FM radio. When you add the chat room interactivity with other listeners and bands, it becomes clear that this is what radio has evolved into.”
Frans intends to locate and play several new artists every week. The following artists are more or less a guideline: Marillion, all “related” bands such as Porcupine Tree, Blackfield (and all Steven Wilson projects), Kino, Transatlantic, Iris, Postmankind, Aziz, Wishing Tree, h Natural, etc. That’s just the start, because the reach of the show goes far beyond those artists.
Perhaps it’s easier to see a sampling of some of the bands Frans has played in 2007 alone (yes, he’s been VERY busy):
Popularity: 72% [?]
