Steve Hillage

A highly skilled guitarist known for his fluid, effects-heavy playing, Steve Hillage has influenced several genres, particularly space rock, prog, ambient, and techno. Associated with the Canterbury Scene during the late '60s and early '70s, Hillage also became a key member of Gong before launched his solo career with the 1975 prog rock suite Fish Rising. While albums such as 1977's Motivation Radio contained some of his most accessible material, 1979's Rainbow Dome Musick helped pave the way for ambient and new age. Hillage spent much of the '80s in the producer's chair, and in the early '90s co-founded the techno/trance group System 7 with partner Miquette Giraudy. Hillage reunited with Gong for concerts between 2006 and 2010 before parting ways again. Most of his releases since then have either been archival concerts or new System 7 recordings.