Marillion’s Magically Replaced Childhood

Follow the muse. It’s a musician’s mantra that’s easy to say, but often hard to do. Some bands continue kowtowing to corporate strategies that override their better creative impulses, while others—like veteran British progressive giants and crowdfunding pioneers Marillion—are able to call their own shots after spending years in the trenches. “We’ve never been trendy or fashionable, even at the height of our commercial success,” observes founding Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery, “but the stability that independence gives you means you don’t have to play that game. You just make the music you have to make, and you know there’s an …