4.52am Issue: 033 11th May 2017 The And The Hangnails Issue

live session for my band at the time. We
recorded a full live set of originals and
covers. I was about fourteen and I took
this tape in to the manager at Fibbers
(the infamous local music venue) with
my contact details so as to ask for a gig.
After a week, when I didn't get a call or
email back, I went back in and asked to
see the manager again. We ended up
booking our first proper gig there on a
matinee show off the back of that.”
Was it always the guitar you
wanted to play?
“I remember giving up playing Cornet
when I started secondary school cos I
didn't want to have to carry it all the way
to school every day. Then when I started
playing guitar I would bring a guitar and
an amplifier with me. Haha. I've always
been a very chilled out person. I think
how much effort I was willing to put in
at that age shows how much cooler
guitars are than brass instruments in the
eyes of a 14yo me.”
How did the recording go?
“The recording took exactly as long as it
did to play. There was no producer. It
was exactly what I was expecting at the
time, and I think it really set me up for
preferring live takes all the way up until
now. I've done a fair bit of studio
recording now, and the closer I can get
it to being live the better IMO.”
What gear was being used?
“At that point we were using a Peavey
keyboard amp for both the bass guitarist
and the vocal mic and a Peavey bandit for
the guitar. I was playing a Fender
Stratocaster that my brother had found in
a cupboard upon moving into a new flat.
The previous owners knew nothing of it
when he asked them about it and since
he didn't play guitar he gave it to me. It's
still one of my favorite guitars for writing.
I've not had the heart to butcher it with
modifications like I do with most of my
live guitars quite yet, but I still might one
day. Haha.”
So what was your first guitar?
“It was my dads, and still is. I suppose I
was just borrowing it. After that, the Strat
I mentioned before, officially speaking, is
my brother's I suppose, but I it's mine
really. Squatter's rights.”
How about influences when you
were starting?
“Starting out my older brother had a tape
recording of a band that played a battle
of the bands at his school that I used to
listen to. The fact that this band was at
school and were playing a gig was a big
inspiration. Music definitely felt like
something that you just do for yourself.
Anyone can do it you have to want to.”