The Depths Of The Ocean

On their latest album Holocene, The Ocean dive deeper into prog rock while philosophising over the post-pandemic world. Mastermind Robin Staps tells Prog about its story – and the near-death experience that almost derailed everything.

Matt Mills

The first question of an interview is more often than not, “How are you doing?” It’s a pleasant little ice-breaker that’s started 99 per cent of conversations throughout history. However, when The Ocean leader Robin Staps sits down to talk with Prog over Zoom, we ask that opening question with more concern in our voice than usual. In December 2022, barely four months before our chat, Staps had a near-death experience. His post-rock collective were enjoying a day off on a Puerto Rican beach during a South American tour, and the guitarist decided to finish the downtime with a sunset swim. Almost instantly, he was caught in a rip current and left powerless against the vicious waters for three hours. He’s convinced that, had the coastguard shown up just 10…

You're reading a preview of

Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 140

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.