Fluctus Quadratum

Fluctus Quadratum are a synth and keyboard led progressive rock band who aim to take you back to the serious progressive rock era, with a considerable modern twist. Their style is a mix between the sweeping riffs of Pink Floyd, the technical ability of Marillion and the modern soundscapes of Steven Wilson.

They first began their FQ journey as a prog loving father and son duo in 2019, during the Covid era. Jopheus Burtonshaw (son) self-taught keyboardist, composer and producer (basically he does everything except for drums and vocals!) wrote the music for the very first FQ song, Convergence, when he was just 14! His drummer father, Rick Burtonshaw, has many years of experience in the industry with bands such as Cry Wolf, Tricks Upon Travellers (T.U.T.) and Pre-Med.

Shortly after their collaboration they gained record label backing from Sky Rocket Records and had their first gig booked at a large prog festival. All without any vocals on the music!

The duo were soon in need of some vocals and were joined by Curtis Adamczyk.

The trio have been joined by various guitarists at various times before deciding to settle (for now) with sessions for their live work. Jopheus writes all the instrumental parts and he is so good at inventing chords and extremely complicated riffs that it scared off many musicians! So, the power trio of Jopheus, Rick and Curtis became the primary force behind the band.

The trio, together with various guitarists have played many great festivals to date, including ON BOARD THE CRAFT (where the band played their first live debut in 2022), FUSION Prog Festival, NENE VALLEY ROCK FESTIVAL (winning the best new band vote), PROG FOR PEART (particularly special to us as Rick had his own dramas ending in brain surgery, no, they didn’t find a brain! ;)), HRH PROG Festival, THE 1865 (supporting The Emerald Dawn), a headlining slot at THE SUNDAY CLUB at 45 LIVE in Kidderminster and SONIC ROCK SOLSTICE FESTIVAL.

The band put out their first release, an E,P – THE FIRST WAVE, in November 2022 and their first album LAPLACIAN was released in February 2025.

In February 2026, Fluctus Quadratum were voted into third place in the Prog Magazine Readers Poll 2025 Best New Band category - a wonderful surprise!

Their aim remains to continue to grow, write, record and play more great music, keeping prog truly accessible and proggy!

Members:

Jopheus Burtonshaw - Keys

Rick Burtonshaw - Drums

Curtis Adamczyk - Vocals

Mark Worledge - Live Guitars

Fluctus Quadratum are available to play gigs and festivals and would love to support other bands at their gigs.

We also support Ian's Chain (a fantastic charity who help people in crisis) following the tragic suicide of a previous band member. This is a matter very close to our hearts and we dedicate this band to our fallen musical brother, David Saunders, gone but never, ever forgotten. With Ian's Chain, we stand united against suicide.

The Progressive Aspect The 1865 Review by Simon Arnold 13/11/2024

A square wave hit the South Coast as Fluctus Quadratum rolled in to The 1865 in Southampton to open for The Emerald Dawn. This is a band with some story behind it too! It’s not just because it features a father-son combination with dad, Rick Burtonshaw, featuring on drums while his son Jopheus is the de facto band leader on keyboards in the live setting, and much more including composition in the studio. There is inspiration here in that a young man like Jopheus has been moved to emulate many of our keyboard heroes from decades ago and to create work inspired by their masterpieces. He wrote the band’s first ever song, Convergence, when he was just fourteen years of age. This is no easy path that he has chosen and what’s more he has even eschewed the easier route of using the most modern keyboards to replicate the vintage sounds with pure electronics. His live rig is a keyboard nerd’s dream, all manual dials and switches, wiring and wooden panels to boot.

So much for the ambition and the dedication. The acid test of course is whether he can deliver by actually producing music that people are going to listen to, particularly in a live setting. It didn’t take more than a couple of tracks to have that question categorically answered. By the time the band had completed the first couple of tracks, Inertia and Acquiescence 3, the audience at The 1865 felt like they had discovered a new band that was very worthy of attention.

Jopheus himself is clearly a remarkable talent and between his playing and composition I think he is well on his way to achieving the stated, rather bold, aim of taking us “back to the serious progressive rock era, with a considerable modern twist”. Using many of the textures and techniques of the Emersons and Wakemans of this world the band play epic tracks, my personal favourite was Direlight, and if you want keyboard-led epic prog then this band is very much worth looking up. They only played the shortest track, Acquiescence 2 from their one recorded release, The First Wave EP but their new album is due out very soon, so a lot more will be available.

By the time the band closed with Laplacian, the title track from their new album. I think they had won over quite a few new friends which is no mean feat when you consider the audience. The crowd at The 1865 is extremely prog-literate and there can’t be many tougher tests for a band aiming at keyboard-led prog epics than playing in front of an audience waiting to see The Emerald Dawn . . . they passed with flying colours!

The Progressive Aspect NVRF Review by Dave Ridley 21/09/2023

Fluctus Quadratum. Imagine being trapped in a small room with soaring synth riffs reminiscent of Pink Floyd and Marillion, and just as you catch your breath you are hit full in the face with something like "In the Court of the Crimson King". Magnificent.

Fluctus Quadratum win band competition to open the Kingfisher stage at Nene Valley Rock Festival 29th July 2023

In late July 2023, we received the news that, facing stiff competition, we had been voted through two stages of the competition and had won the opportunity to open the Kingfisher Stage at Nene Valley Rock Festival. Our sincere thanks go to the founder members and the founders of the festival for voting for us in both stages - we really appreciate the opportunity!

Prog Magazine April 2023 issue 139 – Fusion 4 Festival performance review by Alison Reijman

“The extravagantly named Fluctus Quadratum flood the hall with darkly brooding sonics as experienced on their EP The First Wave. The cascading synth-led passages on Convergence make their behatted young keyboard player, Jopheus Burtonshaw, one to watch.”

London Prog Gigs Group - Fusion 4 Festival performance review by Lee Mellows 5th March 2023

"Fusion Day 2.2 Fluctus Quadratum. Total Prog. Excellent vocals and musicianship. May well go far."