Nad Sylvan: the man who has been in Genesis longer than Peter Gabriel
Imagine forming a tribute band in honour of your greatest heroes, only to become part of the furniture for longer than the heroes themselves. That’s exactly what happened to Genesis.
Well, to be more specific, that was what happened to Nad Sylvan, the Swedish rock fan who fell so hard for the Genesis hype back in the day that he managed to spurn a whole career out of it, namely in the revitalised outfit of Genesis Revisited. You can’t criticise the commitment of the man – in doing so, he’s stuck it out longer than the original band themselves.
It’s not an attempt to make Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins hang their heads in shame, but for someone like Sylvan, whose life started out as a mere fan of the band while the prog rock bug well and truly infected his own musical endeavours, his story is truly a testament to the lengths that idolisation can take you.
After toiling away for years in various prog-rock bands that never seemed to take him very far, Sylvan sought a different route to the spotlight. It was a route that arced back to the very start of his musical journey. As a child, he had dreamed of performing with Jimi Hendrix. He then got inspired by everyone from Alice Cooper to Yes to, indeed, Genesis, and although it seemed at times that he was destined for a life among the stars, nothing ever came to fruition.
It took years of isolation in the late 1980s and early ‘90s for the musician to truly figure out who he was. Then he ventured out one night to a Genesis tribute concert in 2003, and his life was forever changed. He caught the hype again, becoming prominent in fan forums and the communities that worshipped the band’s every note.
He then hit the jackpot in 2012, when Genesis’s real former guitarist and songwriter, Steve Hackett, came across his talent and asked him to come on board for this new vision of a project he was working on: Genesis Revisited. It would bring the band back to life for a new generation, forming new memories and talents as they went. All Sylvan had to do was sign on the dotted line.
That has been his mantra ever since, and the irony is that, through the vehicle of Genesis Revisited, Sylvan has now created a longer career for himself paying tribute to Genesis than the prog rockers were ever treading the boards themselves. Despite still having a successful solo career in his own right, he is always drawn back to Genesis Revisited.
“I strive to get away from the Genesis vibe on my solo stuff,” Sylvan explained in an interview last year. “But it’s hard to do, because it’s so deeply ingrained in my DNA. I was brought up with this music.” And clearly, this is a major part of the reason why he has felt a sense of duty to the band he has loved for so long: they gave him the life he lives now.
For any sort of commemorative honour Genesis may receive in the future, Sylvan also surely deserves a cut of the profits, as he has done more than his fair share of heavy lifting in terms of promotion for the band in their current incarnation. In fact, oftentimes more than the actual members themselves. He’s the real unsung hero, but he’d be the first to admit that’s only because the originals laid the groundwork first.
