Musician Adam Warne, from Finchley, is releasing his first album just a year after fulfilling a lifetime ambition to be signed by a top progressive rock record label.

Signing for progressive rock label Giant Electric Pea (GEP) was a dream come true for the Middlesex University popular music student, and now he is releasing the first album on the label with his band Synaesthesia, after catching the attention of Michael Holmes, from neo prog rock band IQ, who now runs GEP.

Thinking he had nothing to lose, the plucky student contacted GEP – to his surprise he was personally invited by Michael Holmes to discuss being signed to the label. GEP includes the band IQ who Synaesthesia recently supported at a sold out gig in The Netherlands.

Adam spent six months at a studio in Southampton re-recording the self-titled album Synaesthesia, preparing it for release.

The album was written by Adam before the band was formed but it didn’t have the final production values of a professional album – something GEP was able to help with.

Synaesthesia is led by Adam on vocals and synths alongside fellow Middlesex student Sam Higgins, with Ollie Hannifan, Robin Johnson and Peter Episcopo completing the line-up.

Adam, 20, who is originally from Wimbledon, says: “The experience has been very surreal, it’s a been an excellent learning curve – I’ve got so much from being in the studio and working with big names in the prog rock world. It’s been exciting to see the album develop and become a much more professional sounding cohesive thing.

“It has always been a dream of mine to sign with GEP, so I’ve been very fortunate to get a reply from Mike himself.

“Prog rock is all about being progressive and experimental. It has an emphasis on technique, longer tracks and lyrics that explore different territories. The albums tend to be one big piece rather than a collection of individual tracks.”

  • The self-titled Synaesthesia is available now from record outlets.