Misplaced Years?

Robert Illesh was born in 1971, is of Austrian-Hungarian descent and grew up in West London. He started playing guitar at the age of 11 and has not really stopped since. His first guitar gig at age 12 involved a classical guitar recital of Yesterday by the Beatles. As he was not happy with the provided musical score he immediately rearranged it. Like most musos passionate about their discipline, he spent  misplaced teen years studying scales, licks and chords, writing songs and playing in bands. Aided by guitar maestro Winston Morson, by age 17, Robert Illesh had well mastered the rudiments of jazz, classical and rock playing.
 

Robert Illesh’s first recording of note was on the 1993 psychedelic rock album “No Frills” by “Blim”, where he played, amongst other things, bass! This album was re-released in 2013 in glossy double gatefold form. By 1998 he had secured a tour of Italy with ex Jethro Tull members Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker. Around that time he was making a name for himself on the London scene doing the usual of playing in as many bands as conceivably possible and playing as many instruments simultaneously as inconceivably possible.

An interesting break came in 2000 when Robert Illesh was asked to join Fragile...

In a spin off from the Jethro Tull work, Robert Illesh found himself as lead guitarist in Fragile, the first Yes tribute band to form in the UK. Robert had already been dabbling in the progressive rock scene as his genre of choice for a number of years.  A relentless couple of years followed of touring UK, Europe, recording 3 albums and inevitable personnel changes. This activity firmly put Fragile on the international map who could now proclaim themselves as Europe’s Premier Yes Tribute. But this was only the start...

Fragile Truly Rock!

In early 2005, Fragile received an unexpected phone call from none other than Yes guitarist Steve Howe. The rest, as they say, is history as this led to the now legendary shows in UK and Europe in 2005, 2006 and 2007 where Steve Howe graced the stage with Fragile. The format for the shows was a winner with Fragile performing an hour of their gutsy Yes interpretations, Steve Howe performing 20 minutes of his sublime solo acoustic guitar pieces, culminating in a rock-out with Steve Howe and Fragile performing the Yes classics.

Then, in true teddies out of pram fashion, this version of Fragile prompty split up in late 2007!
 

Aquaplanage and Beyond

Robert Illesh had been working on some original material with the Fragile members for a while. A long while actually... Christmas 2008 saw the release of the Aquaplanage album on the Cheeky Features label, produced by Robert Illesh. Very quickly the album gained a foothold on the international scene and is currently on sale (legitimately) in at least 30 countries.

At about the same time, Robert joined current The Sweet member Steve Grant’s Barockestra. This is an interesting band who play rocked up versions of baroque and classical music wearing period costume, accompanied by 4 ballet dancers, tenor and soprano opera singers. Barockestra appeared in all their glory at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe festival, performing 24 dates at the New Town Theatre for Universal Arts.

The Future is Golden

2011 saw the release of the Robert Illesh solo album Golden. Weaving delicate webs and stories, this intimate original music is classically and sacred inspired. It is performed exclusively on 6-string nylon and steel strung acoustic guitars, with just a hint of string and vocal accompaniment.

Robert Illesh was also unexpectedly drafted into the Yessongs Italy band - a band of fine young musicians from Rome, performing the entire Yessongs show, on authentic instruments - yes that means Hammond, Mellotron, Moogs and hernia all round Europe.

New Horizons and the road To Horsenden

2013 saw a drastic sideways turn in that Robert Illesh announced suspension of live activity, for the time being, to concentrate on other aspects of life and music. A significant closing of a chapter.

2015 has seen the release of the Robert Illesh solo album To Horsenden. This melange of quirky progressive folk sees a return to music for Robert in a more intimate singer-songwriter vein. The new chapter? Perhaps.

After an extended hiatus, Robert has joined Anglo-Welsh rockers The Crisis, as lead guitarist. They’ll be out rocking audiences and spreading fun and joy through music.

February 2024

Extra-Curricular

And by the way, between all this illustrious musical activity, Robert has managed to get a First Class Honours in Physics, PGCE, PhD on Energy and Level II Reiki. He has conducted academic and industrial research and continues to consult worldwide on a number of subjects.

See Robert’s commercial site Opal Flame for more details.

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