| Starting Out |
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Born in Washington (Tyne and Wear) I left 6th form in 1982 to study drums at Newcastle College of Arts and Technology. During
this time joined band 'All Sons of Alison', a synth based pop band, as drummer and in 1984 moved to the 'Big Smoke' to seek fame and fortune. After numerous demo's the band
came to end.
I decided to stay in London and, using the musical bible of the time, 'The Melody Maker', answered an advert for a drummer and joined
'Sam and Galore'. Playing great pop tunes, this was more successful. We financed, recorded and promoted our single 'Heaven Knows' which we released on our own label
'Fine Tune Records'. The single received Radio 1 airplay as well as attention from Ireland (homeland of our management). This led to T.V appearances with both Sinead
O'Connor and Fergal Sharkey on Belfast and Dublin. We played gigs in London such as the Borderline and Crazy Larry's.
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Unfortunately, the singer with 'Sam and Galore' had to leave to run his
family business, Macari's Musical Instruments in Charing Cross Road (London).
It was at this point that I stepped from behind the kit and took centre stage as singer.
We changed the name to 'Mrs Jones' and changed the direction of our music to a more pop/rock feel to suit my vocal style. We then proceeded to record new tracks.
Despite some success the band never quite made it and eventually came to a natural end.
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| The Big Time? |
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My next band 'The Scam' saw me move into what has become my forte... Classic Rock. We were managed by the guitarist from 'Mrs Jones' and
his brother, who used their contacts to create an industry'buzz'.... and a Classic British Rock band was born. Well respected Maggie Farron became our PR company and high
profile Alan Stein became our U.S. lawyer. Our team attracted major interest from the directors of both Geffen and Warner Brothers (U.S.). We featured in various rock
magazines such as Kerrang and Metal Hammer and became regular headliners at famous London venues such as The Marquee, The Grand and The Borderline.... all to rave
reviews. Tracks were recorded in London studios such as, Trident II( Victoria), C.T.S (Wembley) and Point (Victoria) using top producers. |
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Unfortunately, as often
happens at this level, personality clashes (namely the ego of a manic depressive guitarist/song writer) led the band down the well worn path of self-destruction... much
to the disappointment of all the major players involved.
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| Just For Fun |
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This proved to be my final foray into the music industry and I decided to continue just for fun. So, I joined Triple X a great covers band
playing rock and pop songs ranging from Deep Purple, Rainbow, The Who through to Simply Red, Supertramp and even Robbie Williams. Great musicianship meant we built up quite
a following (Shine On You Crazy Diamond proving a massive hit with audiences). After a while, band members started to move away from London (Steve our guitarist set up the
excellent Deep Purple tribute band, Deeply Purple) so Triple X became no more.
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I moved to Great Cambourne and after settling in to Cambridgeshire life I started the search for a covers band.... and via an advert on
Gumtree, joined The Kurmujun.... even though Pete was searching for a plumber!!
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