NE Guitars - Issue No:10 - Aug

MARTIN MCALOON

Prefab Sprout’s Bassist Chats

FINN FORSTER

Teeside Singer/Songwriter

NEGUITARS

Aug / Sept 2025

Issue No:10

£4.99

1948 - 2025

Tribute To A Legend

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NE GUITARS

Editorial

Paul George - Editor

Jane Shields - Assistant Editor &

Social Media Manager

Mark Taylor - Marketing Manager

Guest Author - Michelle Taylor

Guest Author - Lee Ethrington

Guest Author - Murdock Brodie-

Thomas

Guest Author - Jimmy McKenna

Review Specialist - Danny Mayes

Email.

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WELCOME...

Issue No:10

August - September

Hi Folks, welcome to the August

/ September issue of NE Guitars

Magazine. We have got a bit of a packed one

this month with stars and guitarists aplenty.

Firstly, we begin with the sad news about

our much loved Ozzy Osborne who passed

recently. This issue is dedicated to his memory

and to celebrate one of the most colourful and

wonderful people in the history of Rock music.

We have Graham Wright, one of Black Sabbath’s long term Roadies, as well as

published author and artist, chatting to us with his memories and experiences with

the Ozzy and Sabbath. I report on our visit to the Black Sabbath Bridge to witness

the tributes and the outpourings of love from his hometown of Birmingham plus

our Guitar guru, Murdock Brodie-Thomas brings us a special tutorial from Black

Sabbath as well as a Pedal review and interview.

But that is not all we have, we feature Prefab Sprout bassist, Martin McAloon who I

met up with in June for a coffee and a dive into his career. He truly is a lovely man

and a very welcome new friend to the mag.

We speak to Finn Forster, local Teeside sensation who is currently out supporting

the Stereophonics on tour as well as embarking on a very successful and exciting

solo career.

NE Guitars and Conquest Music

would like to thank all contributors,

authors, photographers, advertisers

and all of our readers and

subscribers. Without you this

publication would not be possible.

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belong to NE Guitars or entitled

third parties. The reproduction

or making available in any way or

form of the contents of the website

without prior written consent from

NE Guitars is not allowed.

We are back with Guitar Anatomy reviewing the Fuzzy Duck Stratocaster pickups ,

following on from last month. A friend of the mag and rock guitarist, Mark Walker

took a crack at these and was very impressed with them. Read his review inside.

Our regular girl, Michelle Taylor, is away on holiday for this issue but this month

Michelle introduces us to Andy Power who begins a brand new column. This

month, he looks at the ‘Click Track’ debate. Also, our Blues Room editor, Kenny

Relton takes a walk down memory lane with Chess Records.

We look at a couple of North East artists including Lisa Kilcar who we had the

pleasure of meeting up with a few weeks ago.

Finally, I want to just remention the classified section where you can advertise

your guitars, amps, pedals etc. You can also use it to advertise for band members

or anything else guitar / kit / band / music related you may want to put out there.

With an avarage issue readership of over 74,000, a vast majority being in the North

East, you could do a lot worse and it’s pretty inexpensive. Just send us your details

or contact us at editor@neguitarsmagazine.co.uk.

That’s it for this month, happy reading!

Paul & the NE Guitars Magazine Team

www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 03

Contents Aug

- Sept Issue No:10

P10

The BLUES ROOM:

With Kenny Relton

This month, Kenny takes a look at

Chess Records

P16

GUITAR ANATOMY:

Pickups & Tuners Review

In our second review of Guitar Anatomy,

Danny and Mark looks at the Strat Gold

Series from Fuzzy Duck

P42

FINN FORSTER:

Teeside Singer/ Songwriter

A look into one of the North East’s

rising stars currently supporting the

Stereophonics on tour

04 www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

In Focus

On The Cover Ozzy Osbourne

Graham Wright pays tribute to the Black Sabbath

Rock Legend.

12 Martin McAloon

NE Guitars chats to Prefab Sprout’s Martin

McAloon.

38 Graham Wright

The Black Sabbath Road Tech talks to us about art

with a selection of his work

42 Finn Forster

In conversation with a rising star of the North East

58 Lisa Kilcar

Lisa Kilcar, acoustic guitarist and vocalist from

Middlesborough talks about her music.

Reviews

22 Tech Talk with Andy Power

A brand new column with and, this issue talking

about the ‘Click Track’ debate

26 Guitar Anatomy

Looking at Fuzzy Duck Stratocaster pickups with

our tech, Danny and Mark Walker.

54 Caught By The Fuzz

Murdock digs in to his favourite fuzz pedal

and interviews the creator plus a special report

following the closure of GAK and PMT.

Features

06 NE Guitars News

All the latest international, national and local

guitar news.

10 The Blues Room

New Blues Column presented by NE Blues legend,

Kenny Relton

52 Murdock on... Black Sabbath

In a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Murdock gets deep

in to Sabbath’s ‘The Wizard’.

62 Classified Ads

Our brand new classified section.

64 North East Gigs Board

The best of gigs around the North East

On The Cover

Ozzy Osborne

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Or why not give us a call or email us and talk to

us about our deals and your specific needs.

Tel: 07546 656143 Email: editor@neguitarsmagazine.co.uk


NE GUITARS NEWS

STOP PRESS The Latest Guitar News From Around The World STOP PRESS

Iron Maiden

legend Paul Mario

Day dies aged 69

Tributes Pour In From Fans For Black

Sabbath Legend, Ozzy Osbourne

The original Iron Maiden frontman

Paul Mario Day has passed away at

the age of 69.

A statement confirming the sad news

was shared by the band More, the

group Paul was with after his time

with Iron Maiden.

The heavy metal icon played a key

role for the genre in the 1970s, being

with Iron Maiden for their launch

and the beginning of the movement

dubbed the New Wave of British

Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).

Paul was born in London in 1956

and became the first singer for Iron

Maiden at the age of 19 in December

1975. He was with the group for 10

months before they replaced him

with Dennis Wilcock, who also had a

short-lived stint. He formed More in

1980, and the band released its debut

album, ‘Warhead’, the following year.

The iconic frontman also went on to

lead the band Wildfire from 1983 to

1984 and in 1985 he joined a reformed

version of the band Sweet alongside

guitarist Andy Scott and drummer

Mick Tucker.

Day died aged 69 following a long

illness. Reports indicate he had been

battling cancer, though no formal cause

of death has been confirmed by his

family.

He spent time in hospice care before

his death and is survived by his wife,

Cecily.

Tributes have poured

in for Black Sabbath

Frontman Ozzy

Osbourne following his

passing on 22nd July at

the age of 76.

The legendary rock

star died just three

weeks after his farewell

concert at Villa Park,

Birmingham just a few

miles from where he

began his incredible

journey.

NE Guitars Magazine

visited the famous Black

Sabbath Bridge n the day

leading to his funeral

which was adorned with

floral tributes, messages

of condolence and an

outpouring of emotions

from fans all over the

world that visited to

say a final farewell to a

man who influenced the

world of rock music in

so many ways.

John Michael “Ozzy”

Osbourne was born

3rd December 1948 in

Warickshire and was

raised in Aston where he

formed Black Sabbath in

1968.

The band went on to

incredible success, even

changing the face of rock

music with hits such

as Paranoid, War Pigs,

Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath

and many more earning

Ozzy the nickname

‘Prince of Darkness”.

Ozzy’s final

performance, the ‘Back

to the Beginning’ benefit

concert took place at

Villa Park stadium in

his hometown. He

performed the concert

in a winged chair due

tohis ongoing health

issue. The concert wich

also featured Guns ‘n

Roses, Metalica and

Slayer raised over £140

million for Birmingham

Children’s Hospital, Cure

Parkinson’s, and Acorns

Children’s Hospice.


70’s Rock Legend, Dave Edmunds

Critically Ill Following Cardiac Arrest

NEWS

Mott The Hoople

& Bad Cmpany,

Guitarist Mick

Ralphs Dies

Guitarist and songwriter Mick

Ralphs, best known for his

time with Mott The Hoople,

has died at the age of 81,

according to the band’s official

website.

A statement said: “Our

thoughts are with his family

and friends at this difficult

time.”

Welsh Rock ‘n’ Roll Legend Dave

Edmunds is fighting for his life in

Hospital following a major cardiac

arrest.

According to his wife, Edmunds

heart completely stopped as he

went into full arrest for a short

period until medical emergency

services were able to resussitate

the 81 year old star at his home in

Monmothshire.

Cici, his wife of 40 years reported

that that he has suffered significant

brain damage and memory loss, and

is at a “high risk” of experiencing

another cardiac arrest.

Going into detail about the

incident at their home in Rockfield,

Monmouthshire, Cici told how she

tried to ‘keep him alive’ by clearing

his airways of fluids.

She then explained that a nurse

began ‘heavy CPR’ and after a while

declared Dave had died, with Cici

telling how she ‘refused’ to give up

on her husband.

Cici went on to say that by a

‘miracle’, Dave was brought back to

life, stating that he’d been intubated

by doctors but is still critically ill in

hospital.

Edmunds, a Welsh Rock singer

and guitarist modelled himself on

50’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rockabilly.

During the 70’s, he had hits such as

‘Girls Talk’, ‘Queen of Hearts’ and

‘I Hear You Knocking’ which was a

Christmas No:1 in 1970.

Do you have a story to tell or have seen

something in the news or online we

should know about?

Then get in touch with us here at


Stay in the Loop with NE Guitars News

The Hereford-born musician

was a key member of the band,

which formed in 1969. He left

four years later, and moved on

to Bad Company.

A statement from that band

said Ralphs was “survived

by the love of his life Susie”,

his two children and three

step-children”, as well as his

bandmates Simon Kirke and

Paul Rodgers, the latter of

whom added: “Our Mick has

passed, my heart just hit the

ground.”

Ralphs was with Mott The

Hoople for the release of 1972’s

All The Young Dudes, which

was written by David Bowie.

The song reached number

three in the UK singles charts

that year.

Ralphs’ final performance

with Bad Company was

in October 2016, with the

musician suffering a stroke

the following month.

Bad Company had been due

to be inducted into the Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame later

this year.


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Kenny’s

The Making Of Chess Records

Article & Images By Kenny Relton

“What’s he singing?

…… I can’t understand what he’s Singing”

This was the reaction to a song brought

to Leonard Chess and his brother Phil

and owner of Aristocrat records, it was

a recording made by Muddy Waters at

RCA studios in Chicago in the Autumn

of 1947.

The record was a recording of “I can’t

be Satisfied” which was a country

Blues track featuring Muddy’s whining

slide guitar. The Chess Brothers were

currently anticipating the 1948 ban

called by the American Federation of

Musicians and were stockpiling

recordings.

Len Chess was not convinced that

the appeal of such music would be

successful, however he eventually

agreed to release the single, this was in

April 1948.

The disc featuring “I Can’t Be Satisfied”

on side A and “I Feel Like Going

Home” on side B was released on a

Saturday and sold out by 2 PM.

The Chess Brothers had their first hit

record on their hands, this was the first

of hundreds of records that changed the

face of popular music not only in the

USA but in Europe as well.

Leonard and Phil Chess, Polish

Leonard Chess

immigrants, arrived in Chicago

in 1938. By the 1940s, they had

established several clubs and bars in the

South Side, formerly Al Capone’s

territory.

Their biggest club was the Mocamba

club, where the featured popular black

artists of the day, such Ella Fitzgerald,

Billy Eckstine, and the tenor sax player

Gene Ammons. The brothers very

soon realized that there was a growing

demand for records among the

clientele and they quickly set up

Aristocrat Records, their first releases

were five albums of vocal and jazz

recordings, however it wasn’t long

before Len and Phil discovered that

the tough downhome blues played by

Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk

and baby faced Leroy, was what the

black population of the windy city

wanted to hear.

Len and Phil, set up a small studio in

the back of a store and recorded local

artists, in June 1950. The billboard,

the American music industries bible,

reported that the brothers Chess were

forming a new label, Chess Records

and that all their existing artists would

be transferred to the new label. Besides

local artists, Chess records would set

out to discover new talent.

The Chess Label was always at the

forefront of musical change, always

looking for talent, always looking for

something new, The Chess Brothers

took American black music from its

roots in downhome blues, through to

R & B and Rock and Roll and onto

Soul and created one of the lasting

stories of popular music that will last

forever.


The Blues Subscribe! Room

Muddy Waters



Martin McAloon

Martin McAloon

Life

Music,

Guitars

&

Article By:

Paul George & Martin McAloon

Images: Courtesy of Martin McAloon


In Focus

Martin McAloon

On a typical overcast day in June,

we ventured up to the gorgeous

city of Durham to meet up with

yet another success story of the North

East.

During the 80’s and 90’s, the British

music scene was awash with amazing

bands experimenting and breaking in

to the pop world looking for that next

new sound. Two brothers were already

writing the next chapter with an exciting

new band, Prefab Sprout.

So back to the present, with Martin and

Paddy McAloon, along with Wendy

Smith, Michael Salmon and a host of

other talented musicians who would

grace the band and take their place in

North East music fame, their story has

been truly written.

Meeting Martin, I must say from

the beginning was one of the biggest

pleasures I have experienced since

writing this publication. I think what

made the interview so easy and enjoyable

is that Martin is as down to earth and

friendly as you can get. There is zero

pretence and certainly no startdom ego,

in fact, he is the first to say that he is just

a normal guy that simply loves music.

For those that weren’t raised in our time,

the many videos on Youtube certainly

tell the tale of a first rate band that were

at the top of their field and shows how

the love for music dominated anything

else that would come along with the fame

price tag.

So, we sat in a cafe, which would prove

to be a historic place for Martin, and we

began a chat which would go on for well

over an hour, mostly swapping guitar

stories and our love for the local music

scene. It didn’t seem like an interview,

rather a chat between two friends who

shared their love for music.

So, I reviewed the recorded file and

decided to bring you the best of that chat

in it’s glorious raw state (with one or two

choice words removed). But I wanted

you all to enjoy the chat as I did.

NEG: Where did it all start for you?

MM: It all started, it would have been

1969, round about when my mother

had guitar lessons. My dad bought my

mother a guitar. He had a garage and he

knew somebody that came by and he

often got people coming in saying, do

you want to buy this, do you want to buy

that? A piano would turn up and then

it would disappear because somebody

would come in and say, I’m looking for

a piano. So that kind of thing. He got a

guitar from his mother. She’d always liked

the idea of playing. Both my mum and

dad could play the piano by ear. She got

a guitar and she got a lesson off the guy

who showed her it. He wrote down the

chords, three chords, and the next day

I got up at six in the morning and saw

it, figured out the windows, the shapes,

and started playing these three chords,

A, D, and E. That’s where it started. My

brother, he started playing at the same

time. I was five years younger than my


brother, so I was only seven. But that

was kind of when, that would be when

Woodstock was happening. So I’m right

in the middle of, I mean, I’m in Durham,

but I’m right in the middle of that kind

of whole guitar thing and Mark Bullock

came in the scene and the Beatles.

The Beatles were there before I started

playing. I remember not being allowed

to go see Help and having to wait for my

brother to get off the bus, coming back

from Durham, having seen it, you know,

things like that. So, yeah, so it was the

Beatles and the Stones.

NEG: I take it back in the early days is

when you and your brother started.

MM: There was three of us. There was

me, my brother and almost like a brother,

a guy called Mick Salmon. He just died

a year, 18 months ago. But we all played

guitar ogether. And then as we got older,

my brother was a better guitarist and I

was the second best guitarist, so I got bass

and Mick kind of decided, well, I’ll play

drums. So it became that, but the name

of the band came about very early 70s

with T-Rex and all those bands around

that era. Where did it come from? Just

two daft words, like, you know, Wishbone

Ash, Moby Grape and Grateful Dead and

all those Tyrannosaurus rex. It was like,

you just thought, well, two words, all you

need. And it kind of stuck and I think

we probably thought about, oh, we can

change it later on when we grew up. And

then you kind of go past that point and

think, why bother? It’s just two words and

we’re used to it. So it was just that.

We did an interview, it was our first radio

interview. We kind of pushed ourselves

onto the BBC. They used to do a summer

road show that travelled around in the

70s and 80s and it was in Tynemouth or

Whitley Bay or somewhere like that and

we turned up there and thought, we knew

that Kid Jenson, who was the DJ from

Radio 1, he was doing it and he’d played,

him and John Peel had both played our

records on the night time show and they

liked them and both commented on

them. So we just turned up and pushed

in and kind of said, listen, tell them that

we’re in the audience. And he kind of

said, ‘where did the name come from?’

And we just went, ‘oh, it was only just like

weeks before we’d heard the Jackson song

and heard the Hotter Than A Peppered

Sprout.’ And Paddy just gave that as the

answer. And of course that was like, yeah,

they get the name from that one. So it

was, yeah, it was just that. But it was just

guitars and my brother started writing

songs at 11.

NEG: So obviously once you got your

band together, Prefab Sprout, where did it

actually start hitting the big time?

MM: Well, I would say we’ve never

hit the big time, but I think t it wasn’t

until John Peel played us. It took that.

It was difficult to get gigs. We’d get gigs

in Durham, we got gigs in Sunderland.

Martin McAloon

Newcastle was more of a Blues town and

they kind of, they didn’t really take to us.

And so you kind of, you felt a bit like you

couldn’t get a break, there was a couple

of places that did, the Lonsdale, the little

pub in Jasmine played us. You know, but

it was kind of, we weren’t a Blues band.

We weren’t, you know, they looked down

on us, some of the venues, and they didn’t

really want to know us. And then all of a

sudden, I kind of knew that if, the only

way to get onto the radio, I’d seen other

bands do it, I thought the only way to do

this is to put out your own record. So I

made my own record. The Sprout’s first

records were on my label. And I kind of

just took it around the radio stations, and

of course when they’ve got something

and you can hand it to them, they’ll take

it and there’s a chance they’ll play it. Not

everybody does. Simon Bates wouldn’t

play it. but people like Mike Reed, Annie

Nightingale, they all took the record and

were gracious about it. John Peel took the

record, and John Peel played it, and Kid

Jensen played it, and it gradually filtered

down. So as soon as you got on the radio,

then you got people in Newcastle, which

was useful.

The head of HMV in Newcastle was a

young lad who became our manager,

so he just put together Kitchenware

Records, which had a band called

Hurrah, with Paul Henderside and Tap

Hughes and Dave, and he also had a band

called Martin Stevenson and the Dainties.

And so I had us, and the idea was that I


also had a band called The Cane Gang,

who were from Sunderland, and they

were like big mates of ours. And we kind

of, it just made sense to join up together,

so you had a bigger, looked like more

things were happening, and the kind of

combined force of it, it compounded.

Our success was their success, their

success was our success, and it kind of

just, it’s that thing, it just took over, and

you weren’t no longer bothered about

being accepted by Newcastle, you were

Newcastle, as far as everybody else was

concerned. So you kind of leapfrogged in

a way, which I’d advise anyone to do. Start

in a band, you have to leapfrog, and don’t

look back. Just slip into it. You’ve got to,

yeah. There’ll always be people who’ll

say, oh, they’re not possible, but just do

it. We got on John Peel’s show, the head

of Warners, Rob Dickens, was in touch,

and he’d never been further north than I

think it was Liverpool, and he came up to

Newcastle to see us, and he sort became

friends with us, he didn’t sign us, he just

signed us for camera, and he thought

there’d be a conflict of interest, having

both bands that were both guitar-based,

singer-songwriter-based, that kind of

thing. He said, I’ve just signed us for

camera, but he said, just keep in touch,

and he’s always been. For me, I used to

use him as a foil. We signed at Sony, or

CBS at the time, with Muff Wynwood,

who’d been in, Steve Wynwood’s brother

and a pair of them had done, Spencer

Davis’ group, he’d produced, I think, Dire

Straits, he’d produced Sparks, he’d done

the Bass City Rollers, Cat Stevens, so

Muff Wynwood had worked with them.

They knew everything about the industry,

but Muff Wynwood was this brilliant

A&R guy, very ruthless and cutting, and

would pull you down to size, you know.

He had this high-pitched Birmingham

accent, and he’d be in the studio trying

to get the perfect mix, and he’d go,

‘Paddy, no-one’s ever going to hear the

perfect mix, because the kettle’s going to

be boiling outside, and the car engine’s

going to be running, just put the thing

out there. He had that kind of attitude,

he’d pull you, he’d keep you straight. But

I also felt like I had Rob Dickens and

Warner Brothers that I could confer

with, should I think, what do you think

we should be doing, what do you think

Sony are after, what do you think, and

that was always great fun to second-guess

what they expect and how to best prepare

yourself. So I loved the business side of

it, it’s brutal, and it’s disgusting, but I’m

addicted to it.

So I’ve kind of done everything myself, so

now when I’m touring, I do it all myself, I

do the roadie, I’ve got the car, I just shove

everything in the car, I go off and I do

the sound, the venues will provide the PA

and the sound guy. I’d be getting a gig a

month, but it would take two months to

get to that gig, and you kind of knew it

wasn’t sustainable, but getting the agent,

he came on board, Dave in Liverpool,

I’d never met him, but I was just advised

by somebody, I also paint and draw, so

I had some work in an exhibition in

Liverpool, during the pandemic, so it was

the longest running show in Liverpool

that nobody got to see, and yeah, I was

put in touch with an agent over there,

and he just said, well, go see if I can get

you six gigs So he’s got me nearly 100

in two years, it was brilliant, and he just

deals with all of the gigs, and I know all

about the music industry from the record

side of it, but I had no real concept of the

live side of it, so just hearing his input

from dealing with promoters and the

guarantees and all those kind of things

to make it flow better, so it’s great, I’m

still learning. We all keep learning. That’s


Martin McAloon

good, but it’s great, and I love doing it,

because I go out and do the end, you

know, and I used to, between gigs with

the band, I’d roadie for the Kane Gang

or the Hurrah, or the Martin Stevenson,

I’ve tour managed Martin Stevenson on

a tour years ago, and it was, you know,

herding cats, you know, that’s what it was

like to manage in a band, but if you let

other people do it, you’ll go to sleep and

you’ll become the kind of person that

gets dropped off at the airport and never

makes his flight because he doesn’t know

how to board a plane. You know, I don’t

want to say Brian Ferry, but you know,

that kind of, so you know, where you

become, you kind of, you need that, and I

kind of just think, I’ll keep going as long

as I can.

NEG: Let’s talk about your guitars.

Favourites, that kind of thing.

MM: Okay. Well, the guitar for me,

I’ve been playing it for almost 55 years.

Probably more than 55 years now. And

chords are the things that I like. Yeah.

So, I kind of, I like a slightly fatter neck

on them, but I’ve only become obsessed

with them in the last two years. The

first guitar I lusted after was, that would

be about 1971, when I saw a black Les

Paul in a shop window when we were on

holiday, and we drove past it, and I saw it

there in the shop window and thought, I

want one of those. Now, it was a Gibson,

and I couldn’t afford it, I’ve never owned

one. My first electric guitar was a Zenta

copy, sort of a Japanese, I think they were

Japanese copies. The Zenta for about 50

quid, and our Paddy had a SG copy, I had

a Zenta Les Paul copy, a black one. So,

it looked like the guitar in the window,

but it was a 50 quid copy, and then I got

about a 50 quid Zenta bass. But from

there on in, I kind of got into the basses,

so I started off with a Zenta bass, I got an

Ibanez bass, I pulled the frets out, I was

into Jaco Pastorius, I loved his playing

with Joni Mitchell, so I got into the

fretless bass stuff, and then from there, I

think I probably would get basses, I got

a Fender Precision for touring with, and

I think on our first record, I borrowed

a Kingang guitarist’s bass, so he played

a Music Man, and he had a Stingray, so

I played his Stingray on the first album,

Swim. At the end of it, my Fender

Precision got stolen on tour, when I was

playing Leeds University many years ago,

so I think, with the insurance money I

got, a Music Man Cutlass, which had a

carbon fiber neck, since then, I had to

get rid of that 20 odd years ago, I bought

a Fender Precision, which I had to get

rid of two years ago, which was fretless,

which was on Steve McQueen, but they

went to Dave Brewis of the Kingang, so

he’s still got them, he’s a collector.

Anyway, he sort of advised me when I

started touring, Paddy would give me

guitars, so I’d borrow ones off him, and

I was never obsessed with them, they

came and they went, I’d lend them out,

I’d be teaching in Sunderland, or I’d be

teaching in Newcastle, and some people

would borrow my guitars, students,

and I’d never seen them again. I had a

Steinberg five string, that I used on the

album Jordan, the comeback, somebody

borrowed it, you know, it’s kind of, I don’t

know which student it was, but it’d be 25

years ago, and you know, good luck to

them, I hope they’ve used it well.

But, I always liked the Les Paul, so I’ve

always wanted one, so before this, before

my touring career started I bought the

Les Paul Goldtop, and it was the only one

in ‘Guitar Guitar’ (A shop in Newcastle)

that fitted my hand, I tried them all, and

nothing, no Gibson Les Paul, fitted my

hand apart from this one, and it was

going cheap, because it had a broken

headstock, but it worked, so that’s kind of

still, plays beautifully in my hands, so I


love it, so that’s the only Gibson Les Paul

I’ve got.

I was looking on Reverb, and then eBay,

all year, I’ve been looking at these things,

it’s become obsessions, and there’ve been

a number of things, where you see the

Les Pauls for 60 grand, and you think to

yourself, I ain’t going to spend 60 grand.

better to buy an Epiphone, you know, I

thought, I’m still going to sound like me,

I’m not going to sound, you know, you

see these Eric Clapton guitars, that are

16 grand, and you think, I don’t sound

like, I will never sound like Jimmy Page,

I’ll never sound like Eric Clapton, but

they’ll never sound like me, you know,

I just think, so I just, I get these, I’ve got

a couple of Epiphone Les Pauls, which

I’ve done, put to different tunings, so that

it gives me more versatility, I thought,

you know, for under a thousand pounds,

I could have two guitars, that can do

more, I could have three, you know,

it’s like, so I’ve picked up things on the

way, I’ve got a Gretsch, but it was an

Electromatic, kind of thing, it’s white, it’s

like dual colours, blue and white, white

fronted, kind of pearly white, I’ve had

ghost pickups put in it, there’s a guy in,

in Whitley Bay who, creates pickups,

and he’s called Wolf, and he took the

pickups out of that, So in ‘Guitar Guitar’

there was a White Falcon, and there was

this Electromatic, and the White Falcon

was about three and a half grand, and

the Electromatic was about 700, and I

thought, I can afford the Electromatic,

I thought, there can’t be that much

difference, well I tried them and there

was a lot of difference, in the attack, in

the sound of the pickups, the force, the

immediacy of the sound coming from the

thing, it was a different world, but Vince

was able to build pickups, of a similar

dimension, to the White Falcon, and put

them into the Gretsch, so they’ve got

more of a, bite to them.

I came across the, the Bernie Marsden’s,

295, the ES295, the gold one, and it was

down in Cheltenham, for sale down

there, and it was for sale for like, round

about 30 grand, and, I was playing a

gig, I think I’d been in Birmingham, or

somewhere like Birmingham, and then,

Cardiff, so this was on the route between,

and I thought, so I took a detour, and I

went and tried it out, and I didn’t like it. I

didn’t like how they felt, I didn’t like how

they played. I just thought their wiring on

them wasn’t the sort of sound, and they

were selling these guitars. Then I went,

about a week, two or three days later, I

was in London, and I found another two

in shops down there, and I tried them

both, and they weren’t good. When I was

in the second shop, the guy said, I’ve got

another Epiphone upstairs. He brought

one out for just over a grand. It was

better. It was a copy. Electric’s fantastic.

There was an extra fret on it, so although

it’s a replica, there was an extra fret.

Even though I don’t really do dwiddleydwiddleys,

I needed that extra fret for one

chord. I just thought, well, I’m just getting

the Epiphone. It’s like, it works for me. It

looks the same. I understand it’s not the

real McCoy, but so what? So I’ve become

obsessed with the Epiphone.

NEG: Guitars aside, how about pedals,

amps, that kind of thing?

MM: I bought a looper, right? That’s

my pedal. And I can’t turn the thing off.

Loopers are designed for people who’ve

been brought up on the Ableton and they

can create a beat and build a pad and

develop that beat across those things.

If you’ve written songs that aren’t in a

linear format, you can start, you can get

your sequence going at the beginning

but you’re going to have to shut it off

by the fifth bar of your next phrase and

any bit after that. So one day I think it

was an Easter Sunday and I was in the

house on my own and I’d just bought the


looper and I thought I’m going to use it

on this song and I’m going to solo over

the chorus on the end of the song. So I

looped the chorus, well it took me, the

chorus is about a minute long, so you’ve

got to come in on an offbeat, you’ve got

to go out on an offbeat, you’ve got to

wait a minute listening to the loop to see

if it’s correct before you have another

attempt at it and then when you get it

in, you kind of start to, you’ve already

spent three minutes trying to get into

the chorus and then you start soloing the

song. I didn’t know how to turn it off and

I kept playing, I was there for four and

a half hours playing the one song just

over and over again. I could tell that the

neighbours were kind of thinking, how

long is this going on for? And it’s the only

time I’d ever put through an amplifier

either, so it’s like, so yeah.

I’ve got it out again recently and I’ve

done the same thing, I’ve got it to work,

coming in three and a half, you know, it’s,

so, but, it’s not, they’re not for me.

I’ve got a little Boss Kasumi, I can’t

even remember what it’s called, a Boss

amplifier, 50 watt, and it’s got some things

on the top of it and my mate Dave, who

I’ve known for 20 odd years, he put a

sound into it, that’s what I use. Whenever

I’ve been in the studio, whenever I’ve

been making albums, people will say

to me, oh I love the sound of the bass

on this record, I love the sound of the

bass on that record. I let the engineers

and the producer get on with that, I had

no interest. As long as I hit the right

notes at the right time, in keeping with

the drummer, in tune, that’s all I was

bothered about, the right feel, tone of

it, I just thought, well, you don’t know

how they’re going to mix this later on if

there’s a big overall vision of what’s going

to be on top of this and where it’s going

to fit. So I always left the sound to the

engineers, so I’ve never been, I know

that’s kind of lax of me.

I bought my first bass amp in 40 years on

a Friday night from a mate who’s got an

art studio next to my art studio. He crafts

things in wood and he has a bass amp

at home that was 600 watt Ampeg and I

thought, and he said, I’m getting rid of

it, I can’t fit it in the house anymore and

I never use it, so I thought, well I can put

it in my art studio and then I can pretend

to be a proper bass player. But it’s the

first one I’ve had in 40 years. So I’m dead

chuffed. And it was like, you know, it’s

cheap.

Martin McAloon

NEG: It’s actually refreshing when

people say that they don’t use effects and

things like that.

MM: I wouldn’t know what to do. you

know, I take my glasses off on stage, it’s

enough that I have to remember the lyrics

and all the chords and then to be looking

down at my feet, I can’t read the set list

without my glasses on, so I couldn’t be

looking for pedals in the dark. I’d just

collapse in them. So it is, I’d be anxious.

I’d be terribly anxious. I do think I might

take the looper out with me and just tell

them, I’m not using this, but at the end

I’ve got something that’s programmed

in which I’m going to stick on for five

minutes just so you can hear it.

NEG: When you first started playing

with Prefab Sprout, what sort of music

influenced you?

MM: Oh, everything. So we started

off, it would be T-Rex and the Beatles.

The Beatles and the Stones, T-Rex.

That was the kind of, we had the Mark

Bolan, Mickey Finn posters on the wall.

It was that era. But we got into it quite

quickly, we got into Deep Purple, Led

Zeppelin, Neil Young, Glen Campbell,

the songs of Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Webb’s

songwriting, but it was songwriters. You


liked good songs. Free, All Right Now,

and My Brother Jake. Great songs. The

band, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, all those

people, Iggy Pop, all those 70s things.

You had all the stuff coming out of the

New York punk thing, which was kind of

the television, the Marquee Moon, when

that came out. This building (The cafe

where we were)used to be the House of

Andrews and it was a paper shop, and

they sold the NME, and the Melody

Maker, and we’d come here and buy those

on a Thursday or Tuesday, whichever day

of the week it was, and then upstairs, in

here, was a record store. So we’d come up

here, and they had those booths where

you’d try them out, so this is where we’d

come and listen to those records before

we bought them. So it was kind of, we’d

read about them downstairs, we’d come

up here, there wasn’t a cafe up here, so

this is all new, but I remember this as the

House of Andrews. So it’s kind of, there

was a music store just on the end of the

street and across the road there was a

music shop there that sold stuff. So that

was called Music Hall, and you’d pick

up all the records from there. But all of

those things, combined with Steely Dan

and all the doors, as the 70s progressed,

but my dad had a garage, and the people

who worked in the garage, there was a

guy there called Nick Cunningham, he’d

work there weekends, he’d be a young

kid at school, but he was about four or

five years older than us, and he had a

vast record collection, so he’d go, he’d

play Frank Zappa, all these bands, these

blues bands, Hawkwind, the first time we

heard Hawkwind would be him having

an album, long before Silver Machine

and things like that, but it was, and I’d

only be 12, 13, something like that, but

I could play the guitar enough so that

when I was at school, in my little primary

school, some kids were singing this tune,

and they were going on about this new

song that was out, that I’d never heard,

and they were just singing the tune of it,

and it’s an instrumental, and I don’t want

to say the guy’s name, because he’s now,

I’ll just tell you, it was called Rock and

Roll Part One, and they’re singing the

tune, well, I didn’t know the song, but I

had my guitar, so I started to play it, and

they’re looking at me like, how do you

know the song? And I said, well, you’re

singing the notes, and I know your notes,

you’re singing just by ear, and it kind of,

then you kind of think, well, you can do

anything if you, so yeah, so things like

that, Deep Purple, my mates at school

were into Deep Purple, so you want to

be into Deep Purple, because your mates

were, so you know, Child in Time, and all

those things, Deep Purple in Rock, and

Fireball, and Roger Glover’s solo on that,

or the bass on that, that was kind of one

of the key things for me playing bass, was

like, I want to be like Roger Glover, when

I heard his play, I just thought, wow, and

everybody wants to, even though it was

before Jack, it was after Jack Glover, and

things like that, and also, Jack played a

song, famously, called, by Charlie Parker,

which was, which actually was written by

Miles Davis, it was called, it’s like a jazz,

a beat-bop track, I can’t even remember

the name of it, but he did a version of that

on the fretless bass, and you just think,

fantastic,

NEG: So, what are you up to these days?

MM: I’m rehearsing. I’m trying to, when

I first went out, I played the songs as I

would play them, because I knew how

to play the songs before, the productions

made them records, and so I kind of, I

don’t listen to our own records, I listened

to my own head of what the songs were

like and how I played them, so I know the

chords that were there and I kind of only

now, after two years of touring, I’m now

going to perhaps listen to the records and

try and incorporate a bit more of some of

the melodic bits in. I try and incorporate

the melody into what I’m playing, so it’s

the chords of the song but with a melodic

element to distract from my voice, so if

I’m not going to hit the right note on the

voice my guitar will start screaming to

support me and to save me and if you do

it quick enough nobody notices and if

you do it without looking at your hands

it looks like he knows what he’s doing

and that’s that’s how you sell it. So, yeah,

rehearsing at the moment yeah.

I’ve got 21 gigs lined up from October

to December so yeah anything like that,

I’m playing Newcastle Clooney right for a

couple of nights in December.

NEG: So where can where can our

readers learn more?

MM: Okay I’ve got www.martinmcaloon.

com is my website and I’ve got Twitter

and probably Instagram and probably

Facebook and you can find my gig listing

online.

NEG: Martin, thank you very much for

chatting to us, it’s been a real pleasure.


Martin McAloon

Martin McAloon


Tech Talk

Andy Power’s Tech Talk

The Click Track

Intro: Michelle Taylor

Article & Images By:

Andy Power

With a career spanning professional

performance, touring, session work, and

international media composition, north

east musician Andy Power has worked

across the music industry for many years

with many prolific artists. Alongside

touring and studio credits, Andy has

taught music performance, music theory

and music technology at both college

and universities. Worked as part of the

programming and development team for

Yamaha/Zero-G on the music software

Vocaloid (Lola, Mirium and Leon).

Winner of most innovative software at

Next Fest San Francisco.

Holding a master’s degree in creative

composition, his work has been featured

on TV and radio in the UK, USA, Japan,

and Dubai. Andy’s hands-on experience

with both live performance and

production makes him a trusted voice on

the integration of technology into modern

musicianship.

In his first article for NE Guitars Andy

takes a look at “The click track”.

The Click Track Debate: Local Bands,

Live Shows, and the Magic of Timing (or

Not)

In today’s increasingly complex live show

environments, click tracks are no longer

just a studio tool or a crutch for solo

performers. For bands, theyhave become

a powerful backbone for enhancing

precision, triggering elements, and

synchronizing technology across the

stage.

Before we go any further, let’s be clear:

this article isn’t about karaoke-style

backing tracks for solo acts. We’re talking


Andy Power - Click Tracks

about click tracks and accompanying cue

parts designed specifically to augment

live performances by full bands. These

can include guide cues, percussive layers,

or auxiliary instruments — all timed to

the beat — and offer major advantages

beyond just keeping tight time. With the

right setup, click tracks can also be used

to synchronize lighting effects, automate

guitar pedal changes and synth presets,

and even trigger media elements like

video or projected visuals.

In Part One of this two-part series, we’ll

address common concerns about using

click tracks in a live setting — from fears

of rigidity to the loss of spontaneity

— and weigh their benefits against the

perceived drawbacks. Part Two (out next

month) will offer a detailed guide to the

equipment and routing setups needed

to implement click tracks reliably on

stage, from simple in-ear monitor rigs to

advanced MIDI and playback systems.

The Click Track Debate…

Ah, the age-old battle: click track or no

click track? If you’re in a local band,

this debate has probably come up more

than once, usually while you’re trying to

decide between a loose, jam-session vibe

and avoiding that one song from turning

into a train wreck because someone

didn’t quite remember how the bridge

goes.

I’m not here to convert the non-believers

or start a revolution—though, if you’re

into revolutions, I guess that’s a thing.

And no, I’m not trying to justify why I

use a click track with my band (yes, we

ALL play live, no backing tracks here...

except the click track, which we lovingly

call our “5th member” or, depending on

the day, “columnist”). I just want to throw

out some ideas and options—like a buffet

of musical possibilities—but without

giving a sermon.

Sure, there’s something undeniably

special about musicians on stage, plugged

in and making that magical connection

with the audience. When everything

clicks (pun intended!), you’re in the zone,

riding the wave of live energy. It’s like

the universe aligns, the crowd is with

you, and for a brief moment, you’re all

connected in a beautiful, chaotic, musical

moment. That is the joy of playing live.

But here’s the thing—does the audience

always share that joy? Do they notice the

imperfections, the slight missteps, the

drummer pulling off an impossible fill

only to fall off the beat? Maybe, maybe

not. Some fans live for that rawness, but

others are more focused on the overall

vibe.

Here’s the kicker—whether you use

a click track or not, we’re all in the

entertainment business. If you’re gigging,

you want to entertain. You want people

to leave with their ears buzzing and their

spirits lifted. At the end of the day, you

might be making a living out of this, or

at least trying to (while eating cold pizza

after the show). And a click track, while

it may sound like the enemy of “live”

performance, is just another tool in the

arsenal. It can help tighten things up,

keep everyone in sync, and give you the

security to take a few more risks in tempo

and arrangements.

Does it take away from the “live” feel?

Maybe. Does it make you sound tighter

and more professional? Definitely. And


hey, the audience may not even realize it,

but they’ll sure feel the difference when

your set sounds like it was supposed to be

this good.

The Click Track Dilemma: Drummers,

Digging, and Rocking Out with

Technology

Alright, let’s talk about that little ticking

metronome in the background—the

click track. Some people hear it and

immediately think, “Oh no, they’ve gone

soft. They’re just robots on stage now.”

But here’s the truth: playing live with

a click is an art. It’s not just pressing a

button and letting it run. Drummers have

tojuggle timing and spontaneity, all while

staying locked into that metronome that’s

basically like the strictest band member

ever. You know, the one who doesn’t let

you go off on a tangent in the middle of

a song.

It’s a skill, and for the drummer, it’s a

delicate dance. You’ve got to keep the

groove feeling fresh and alive while still

adhering to that digital drill sergeant

ticking away in your ears. Trust me, it’s

like trying to keep a wild party going

while also being told to keep it quiet and

balancing the live energy with that everpresent,

unrelenting click is no easy feat.

Now, let’s talk about those musicians I

always run into at gigs who catch wind

of the click track and decide to throw in

a cheeky little “dig.” You know the ones.

They lean in and say something like,

“Oh, you use a click? Pfft, we just feel the

music, man.” It’s often a mix of lack of

understanding, a bit of ignorance, and in

many cases, fear of the unknown. They’re

like, “What’s that? A click track? Is that

like a metronome from the future that’s

coming to steal our soul?” Honestly,

some folks seem to think using a click

is like admitting you’re cheating at a live

performance. But hey, each to their own,

right? If you want to live in the dark ages

of rhythmic disorder and confusion, go

for it.

But here’s another kicker: If you use a

click, you’re definitely not alone. In fact,

you’re in pretty good company. Want to

feel better about that click track in your

ear? Well, just know you’re sharing that

technology with some of the biggest

names in rock. Yep, the click track is on

stage with the likes of(to name but a very

few) -

Foo Fighters

Muse

Paramore

Green Day

Linkin Park

Avenged Sevenfold

Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Smashing Pumpkins

Queen + Adam Lambert

Nine Inch Nails

Coldplay

U2

So, if it’s good enough for them, it’s

probably fine for your local gig, too.

So next time someone throws shade your

way for using a click, just smile, nod,

and remind them that in the world of

rock ‘n’ roll, the click is just another band

member—minus the attitude and the

inevitable groupies. Keep rocking, stay

tight, and remember, there’s always room

for a little bit of tech alongside the rock

‘n’ roll chaos.

Conclusion - The Click as Your Silent

Partner - Unlocking New Possibilities

with Clicks and MIDI Automation

When used creatively, click tracks and

MIDI automation aren’t about sucking

the soul out of your live show — they’re

about enhancing it. They provide the

stability you need to take bigger musical

risks, create tighter performances, and

even build a truly dynamic, productionlevel

experience for your audience.

Whether it’s changing guitar settings

seamlessly mid-song, switching

keyboard presets without missing a

note, or running lighting cues and

visuals perfectly in sync with the music,

integrating technology into your live

setup can transform your shows from

great to unforgettable.

And the best part? This is just the

beginning. In Part Two of this series,

we’ll dive deep into how to set up your

own click and MIDI-controlled live rig

— including equipment lists, routing

examples, and practical tips for making it

work reliably night after night. We’ll even

explore how to expand your system to

control lighting rig/fixtures in sync with

your band’s click track — because why

stop at just the music


Guitar Anatomy

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www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk 41 17

Review

Fuzzy Duck Stratocaster Gold Series

Article & Guitar Images By Danny Mayes

Tech Info & Images By Guitar Anatomy

Guitar Anatomy are back

again, with another set of

fantastic pickups. This time

for you single coil lovers! The Fuzzy

Ducks are back with us at the testing

labs, and it’s safe to say, they’re still

impressing us!

Responsive to dynamic playing and

with a strong quack, these pups are

fighting with the big names and in

our opinion, coming out on top!

Presented in the box, nice and neat

with their respective wiring coiled

around the pickups. You get your

warranty card hand signed by the

factory tester, showing that more

personal touch hand wound pickups

provide, and the 3 pickups sat in

order from Neck to Bridge

allowing for ease of installation.


My favorite part about the packaging

is that it’s all sustainable, no plastic

boxes that are thrown away or end up

housing spare screws and junk, but

instead recyclable cardboard that’s

minimalistic and well presented.

The build quality of these pickups is

second to none. A nice aged cream

finish on strong covers that’ll take a

beating. (they also come in White,

Vintage White, and Black.) The Duck

insignia is a personal favorite, it

doesn’t stand out too much to draw

the eye, but to the curious audience

member/band mate, will allow them

to know their aftermarket and help

identify the brand! The poll pieces

are slightly raised, accounting for

a signature Strat string radius and

providing even output across the

strings, proving these guys have an eye

for detail.

They sound amazing. To be perfectly

honest, I cannot stand single coils.

They’re too quacky and the split

position sound just doesn’t do it

for me. But these sound menacing!

They’ve got a lovely creamy tone

when played softly, but when you

dig in, the Ducks become Dragons!

A serious bite to them when driven,

they are a strong competitor and ,in

my opinion, better than the Tex Mex

pickups Fender produces! You can

achieve a range of tones from these,

suiting most if not all play styles. They

respond extremely well to volume

controls, not losing an ounce of tone

and just decreasing the volume which

can be a major issue in the aftermarket

pickup world! This paid with a good

amplifier gives you crisp cleans when

needed, dirty leads when wanted, all

done dirt cheap too!

The Fuzzy Duck Gold Series will

set you back £99.99 for the set, £20

cheaper than their aforementioned

rivals. So definitely more bang for

your buck. And right now they’re on

sale saving you another £10, absolute

bargain!

To round it off I’d say the Gold Series

are worth every penny, they’ll give you

everything you need whilst sticking to

their mantra of high quality pickups at

low end prices!

Guitar Anatomy

Introducing Fuzzy Duck

Stratocaster Gold Series

These handmade pickups

are designed to produce the

sound of a vintage 60s Strat

with a lot of attention to

detail.

Made with the perfect blend

of Alnico II and V poles,

these pickups have period

correct magnet stagger and

produce a warm smooth

vintage tone without sounding

too deep and muddy.

Alnico 5 magnets have been

used to keep the low end

focused whilst Alnico 2

magnets keep the high end

sounding warm and rich.

For the Gold Duck Series,

The middle pickup is RWRP

(reverse wind reverse polarity)

for hum-cancelling

in positions 2 & 4. Whilst

the bridge pickup is slightly

overwound to give a hotter

output which helps to provide

tonal balance to the set.

The Gold Series come wax

potted and have waxed cloth

wire as per vintage Fender

Spec.

OUTPUTS:

• Bridge: 7.2k

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43

Northern Guitar Shows



OZZY OSBOURNE - RIP

A Tribute To The Rock

Legend, The GLobal

Personality & The

Beautiful Man

Told By Graham Wright,

Black Sabbath Road Crew

Intro by Paul George

Images Courtesy

of Graham Wright

& ‘Free to use’ Licence


Ozzy

Osbourne

On 22nd July 2025, The world

lost one of the most influencial

characters in the history of rock

music, John Michael ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne.

Since that day, tributes have poured out

from grieving fans across the Globe but

none so deep as those closest to him, his

family, his friends, his band and his home

town in Birmingham.

Two days before Ozzy’s funeral, we took

a trip to Birmingham to take in the

tributes, visit the Black Sabbath bridge

and check out the artwork purely so I

could write this short intro with the right

frame of mind, with compassion and

with dignity and I do hope that’s how it

will come across.

Of course, being a son of Birmingham,

it’s easy to believe that the tributes would

be something special but I can honestly

say, I wasn’t prepared for the outpouring

of love. The last time I had seen anything

like this was when Princess Diana passed.

I have to be honest, although his music

is amazing and I have my Sabbath

favourites, I really don’t feel I am

knowledgable enough to write about

Ozzy’s career, I leave that to the big

magazines, newspapers and those who

knew him best, with the greatest of

respect, that is not me. However, we

know a man who knew him well.

One of his band crew, Graham Wright,

who has worked with Ozzy since the

early days and especially at the final

concert in July, graciously agreed to talk

to us and tell the story of Ozzy Osbourne,

share a few cherished memories and tell

us about that historical final gig.

Sitting across the table over a coffee in the

middle of Stockton High Street, chatting

to a man who could bring us so close

to Ozzy and Black Sabbath was a true

honour. So all I can do is share with you

our conversation and let you come with

us on the journey of Ozzy Osbourne.

NEG: So Graham, how did you end up

getting involved with Black Sabbath?

GW: I went to art school in Hartlepool,

Hartlepool College of Art. And I left

there and I was wondering what to do

for a job. And the only avenue that was

open, this is like the 1960s, was going

in to teaching. And I didn’t want to go

into teaching. And I used to knock about

with a few local musicians. Yeah, they’re

rowdy, really. I expect just for local

bands on Teesside. And then I moved

to London. And a friend of mine down

there said, do you want a summer job

working for a band? And so I went on

tour with them around Europe. And at

the end of the tour, this was like 1972,

we went to America. And I started

looking after the drums. So I actually, not

knowing it at the time, I became a drum

tech. In those days it would be called a

drum roadie.

So anyway, I did that. And for a couple

of years with different other bands, went

back to the States, toured with Uriah

Heep, and so and so. And 1974, I heard

that Bill Ward from Black Sabbath was

needing a drum roadie. So I went to

see Bill and got on with him really well.

And when I mentioned I’d come from

Teesside, he said to me, he says, oh, I

used to go on holiday to Seaton Carew

from Birmingham with my brother. I

went, what? So we got on really well.

And that’s when I started working with

Sabbath full time.

I then spent all the 70s being a drum

tech, stage manager, worked 24-7 with

them, in the studios, Sabotage album,

Technical Ecstasy, Never Say Die,

Heaven and Hell. I did all their albums


in rehearsals, studios, all the tours. And

then obviously Bill left and Ozzy left in

79, Bill left in 80, and I just carried on

working in the business. And carried on

being a drum tech in the 80s for different

bands, a band called UFO.

I did a couple of American tours with,

which was good fun. And then I ended

up being a stage set carpenter and started

working for like doing big tours with the

Scorpions and Tina Turner. It just went

on and on. And the last, sort of like 15

years, I just took a back seat and started

driving generators around for the Stones

and U2. It just went on. I mean, 50 years

of being on the road, and then I retired in

2020, just before the COVID pandemic.

And it was quite funny because

everybody retired for a year.

And I’ve been backwards and forwards

doing the odd jobs, you know. Not

many. And obviously the last one was,

you know, Bill got in touch with me

and said, do you want to get involved

in the last show at Villa Park? I said,

of course I do, you know. I’ll be there

tomorrow, you know. So I went down,

it was like three weeks before the show,

and we started rehearsing at Oxfordshire,

Angelic Studios. And then we moved to

Flag Night Production Rehearsal Studios

in Redditch, did the full production,

and then to Villa Park and did more

sort of sound checks and sorted what

was going to happen with the round

table. And at the same time, Ozzy had

his band featuring people like Zak Wild

and Adam Wakeman and Tommy on

drums. And it was all incredible. It was

just an incredible concert because you

had Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Pantera

backstage, it was just like you bumped

into all these people, you know. People

like Brian May were just milling about,

you know. So what an incredible time

it was. And the concert was, I mean, it

was unbelievable. And it was a tribute

to Ozzy because Ozzy wasn’t well at all,

we all knew that. But he managed to get

through it and he got through the set

with his own band and then the final set

was Sabbath and he sang his heart out

and he was in that throne. And you could

see he wanted to go but he couldn’t walk,

you know, he could not walk. But the

time I spent with talking to him, which

was only briefly because it was madness

backstage, but I managed to have a chat

Ozzy Osbourne - RIP

with him and he was still cracking jokes.

He was still, there was still that Ozzy

there, like we all used to say, we saw him

as the prince of laughter not the prince of

darkness.

So we said our goodbyes and then

obviously a couple of weeks later he

passed and I think we were all shocked

that he went so early really, so soon

after the concert because I think we all

thought oh maybe he’s going to hang on

for a few months hoping that would be

the case but sadly it wasn’t.

NEG: Obviously the media has blown

Ozzy up as the prince of darkness, and

you see this other side of him with the

television programme with his family and

he’s always struck me as a real down to

earth family chap that’s got an amazing

sense of humour. Would I be right in

saying that?

GW: He was, yeah, he was. I knew him

in the early days in the 70s, I spent more

time with him because we were touring

a lot even with his first wife Thelma up

in the cottage up in Brampton where he

used to live in Staffordshire, we used to


Ozzy

Osbourne

all knock about together.

So I remember a young Ozzy and he was

down to earth, he was just a working

class kid from Aston that had done well

for himself. I used to always say he loves

his country pursuits, he loved shotguns

and fishing, he could go anywhere in

those days because he wasn’t well known

like he is now. He’d become a national

treasure, not only here but in America as

well with the Osbornes. Sharon certainly

promoted him, Oh yeah, The Oz fests, it’s

unbelievable but he still remembered his

old mates, he was good.

NEG: Have you got any special

memories or fun times that you can

recall?

GW: I’ve got loads, I was talking about

it to somebody yesterday. I remember

when he started his first tour as the

Ozzy Osbourne band, he was doing a

gig at New Street at the Odeon Theatre

on New Street. He was doing theatres in

those days before he started doing big

arenas, in fact there wasn’t an arena in

Birmingham in them days, it was just the

Odeon and he comes on stage with an

ironing board and an iron and he starts

singing I am ironing man and the whole

place just cracked up. That was it, he

loved to have a joke and a laugh.

I went for an Indian meal with him once

with Frank Zappa. Ozzy and Frank Zappa

in an Indian restaurant in Birmingham.

Frank was doing a gig again at the Odeon

I’m going back to the 70s here. We went

into this Indian, I remember the name of

it, it was called the Koi Noor on Bristol

Street. This restaurant was packed and it

was after the show and we walked in and

it was really busy. People used to go for

Indians at 12 o’clock at night. The whole

place went quiet when they saw Frank

Zappa and Ozzy, so we sat down and

Ozzy’s going ‘what are you having Frank?

are you going to have a vindaloo?’ he

went ‘no I’m having steak and chips’ so I

said ok so we’re all ordering curries and

Frank’s there with his steak and chips. So

Ozzy says ‘I bet that steak tastes like old

boots.’ Straight away, ‘No it tastes like

new boots!’ A lot of people don’t realise

but Frank Zappa was a big mate of Ozzy


Ozzy Osbourne - RIP

Osbourne in Los Angeles. They used to

live close together. Ozzy used to walk to

his house.

NEG: It’s been a burning question prior

to this interview. I’ve been asking myself

how do I get the best tribute? I think the

best thing I could do was just celebrate

the best times and stories like you’ve told,

something people can read and have a

giggle about.

GW: That’s how he wants to be

remembered. I’ve heard him say, ‘When

I kick the bucket, I don’t want people

to mourn, I want people to have a

good laugh and enjoy life and celebrate

Sabbath.’ The Prince of Darkness thing

was tongue in cheek because we used to

tour the States, devil worshippers they

used to say. Couldn’t be further from

the truth. All four of Sabbath were great

friends, they loved the wind-ups and

loved taking the piss out of each other

just like lads do especially working class.

it’s the way it was.

NEG: Obviously once he passed, it must

have been a massive shock. We went to

Birmingham a couple of days before the

funeral and it was overwhelming, it was

absolutely incredibly overwhelming.

GW: I knew that he was going to

get buried at the house just outside

Beaconsfield. I knew he was going to

get buried in the garden and I knew it

was going to be a private ceremony. The

family is quite a large family actually, his

sisters, his sons, daughters, their families

plus the band and a couple of musicians

who we got close with and I knew that

was going to happen.

I went down to Birmingham for the

procession to pay my respects. We got

the train on Wednesday morning from

Stockton to Evenscliff and we spent the

day there, but I was also interviewed

by Sky News. They wanted me to pay

a tribute and I wasn’t going to do it at

first because I didn’t want to go to the

family funeral because I think that was

private for them to mourn. So anyway,

I did go down and I thought I will pay

my respects. It was unbelievable, just

tens of thousands of people lining all of

Broad Street and the Black Sabbath bench

and the flowers and just the respect they

got, I mean you have to remember that

previous to the concert there, and you

know Birmingham was so proud of the

four of them. Four kids from Aston, four

working class kids formed a band and

they were all within walking distance of

each other’s house. I mean how many

bands, even the Beatles, did that or the

Stones and the last concert was five

minutes walk from where Ozzy lived

on Lodge Road. So it was an incredible

tribute. I mean we thought ‘oh well, it’s

the final show.’ I mean it was, but we

knew it was a tribute and a goodbye to

him.

NEG: I think the last week or so, the last

couple of weeks are certainly going to be

a major point in the history of rock and

roll.

GW: I think it was important for me

personally because I walked Bill onto the

stage and walked him off the stage for the

concert and sat behind his drums and

he wanted me to do that because that’s

where I used to be in the seventies.

I used to set his kit up, sit beside him,

make sure that everything was ok and

nothing was going to fall to bits because

he played hell out of his kit in those days

and nothing ever did move. I used to nail

everything down. But he said, ‘I want you

there, Graham, just for old times sake. So

I was sat behind Geezers speakers and I

could see Bill for the four numbers of the

show and I could see the audience. it was

incredible, it was so important. So yeah,

it was unbelievable

NEG: Graham, thank you so much for

spending time with us and sharing your

stories with us.

As I said earlier, this was an amazing

honour and we can’t thank Graham

enough for his time and telling us about

the real Ozzy Osbourne.

Graham Wright


Ozzy

Osbourne


Ozzy Osbourne - RIP


GRAHAM WRIGHT

ARTIST

We wanted to say a big thank you to

Graham for speaking to us in what

is still a difficult and emotional

time following Ozzy’s passing. So I

decided to chat to Graham about his

incredible artwork and show a few of

his paintings and drawings.

I was always interested in art at school,

I was always drawing and messing

about doing cartoons and paintings

as you do when you’re a teenager

and then I went to art school. I went

to Hartlepool Art College in 1966

and spent a year there and then I

transferred because I was living in

Stockton. I was getting a United bus

backwards and forwards to Hartlepool

everyday and that got a bit old so I

transferred to Middlesbrough Art

College for a year,

After that it’s funny because I went

to Amsterdam as well and hung out

for a few months and joined this Art

community over there. I ended up in

Hull and there was a group of artists

and we were all like a bunch of hippies

really and yeah it was sort of we had

Art in common and we exhibited and I

just carried on all my life.

Then I became a roadie obviously, I

didn’t have the time to paint but I did

a few bits and pieces and in 1980 I got

a studio in Laurel Canyon. I came off

the road and I started painting in Los

Angeles and doing big works, very

realistic works as well. I did that for

a couple of years and then my visa

ran out so I had to get out of America

because I didn’t have a proper visa so I

came back to England and exhibited in

York and Middlesbrough and Hull and

you know just a few galleries around

and carried on painting part time up

until when I retired in five years ago

and then I started painting again.

I’m a member of the local Cleveland

Art Society and I exhibit now at the

Heritage Gallery in Middlesbrough

and we did have an art gallery in

Stockton but the Stockton Council

wouldn’t fund us so we had to close it.

So anyway, I just love drawing, I love

painting and yeah, that’s what I do

that’s what I do for. I paint what I love

and what I know and I love old trucks

and I love different architecture and

I love the local scenes on Teesside. I

love the old steelworks and yeah just

paint what I love and paint what you

know and that’s been my philosophy.

I don’t really do commissions, I think

I’ve done one dog portrait in my life.


Graham Wright



Graham Wright


Finn Forster

Teeside Singer/Songwriter Rise

To The Top And Living His Dream

Supporting Supergroup ‘The

Stereophonics’ .

Finn Tells All In Conversation with

NE Guitars Magazine.


Finn Forster


In Focus

Finn

Forster

Article By:

Finn Forster & Paul George

Images Courtesy of Finn Forster

To watch one of our own, in the North

East, become successful is a truly

amazing thing in today’s climate. The

music industry has never been so

competitive or fast paced and chances of

success are few and far between.

So when we chatted to Finn, it was

refreshing to see great a North East

talent getting the opportunity to shine,

even more, to realise his boyhood dream

of performing on the same stage as his

favourite band. Definitely a dream come

true.

Hailing from the industrial town of

Middlesbrough in the North East of

England, Finn Forster is a pioneer of

songs that come from places of real truth,

deliver anthemic melodies and shine

light on the trials and tribulations of his

youth told through captivating vocals.

Over the summer months, he has been

the main support for Stereophonics for

their 12 date European tour in 2025, and

has played at Reading & Leeds, Kendal

Calling, SXSW Austin, The Great Escape,

Latitude, YNOT, Truck and more. His

music has received support from Radio

X, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6, plus

DSP playlist support from Apple Music,

Amazon Music, VEVO, Deezer and

Soundcloud.

So in true NE Guitars Magazine style, we

dug in to the career of Finn.

NEG: So let’s start off from the

beginning. What got you into music?

FF: I was quite lucky. I come from a

very musical family. So my granddad

and his brother, who’s my great uncle,

started a family band when they were

younger. And then my mom joined. By

the end of the full assembly of the family

band, it was my granddad, my great

uncle, my uncle, my mom, my auntie

and my cousin. And then I was the third

generation to join and start playing with

them when I was about 14. So I grew up

just seeing them in rehearsals around the

house. It was all basically an Irish folk

cover band. It was called the Shea Family

Band. And they basically played for the

love of it. They had regular jobs and

things, but they very much participated

in weekly folk clubs. And played lots

of folk festivals, local and across the

country. And I was kind of surrounded

by it really from a very young age. My

cousin plays the melodion. Everyone

sings. And everyone pretty much plays

the guitar as well. I was surrounded by a

lot of the Dubliners and Luke Kelly, solo

stuff, Fancy Brothers, all that kind of stuff

growing up.

NEG: So whereabouts were you brought

up?


Finn Forster

FF: I grew up in Middlesbrough. I

still live here now. I live in Nanthorpe.

I grew up in Ormsby. I’ve spent a lot

of time at my grandparents’ house

where my granddad would have a ton

of instruments constantly laid around.

Many guitars.

NEG: Tell us a little bit about what

guitars you use.

FF: Yeah, so I’ve got a few guitars really.

What I’m using at the moment is the

Alvarez LD-60E, which is the Sunset,

electro-acoustic. And then I kind of

go between that and a Gibson SJ-200,

a jumbo acoustic as well. That’s what

I’m playing live on the road and stuff.

Alvarez is probably my main choice at

the moment and what I’m using mostly.

It’s just fantastic really. Alvarez have

been great. The models I use, it’s a 2025

model as well. For the Alvarez, it’s just an

amazing sound. Ever since I first played

it live and stuff, it’s just got the most

amazing resonance. And that’s pretty

hard to beat when you’ve got a Gibson SJ-

200 before it as well. To switch between

the two is fantastic. That’s what I use

predominantly for out on the road and

for recording as well in the studio.

NEG: Do you use any pedals or anything

like that on stage? I do have my music

guitar that I’ve got. That’s probably my

favourite. I’ve got a lot that I haven’t

actually used yet but wanting to use at

some point. I’ve used it on a couple of

recordings. My granddad passed and I’ve

got his electric which is like a harmony

hollow body. I don’t actually know the

model but I know that he bought it from

a market when he worked away around

1972 in Libya. I think he bought it for

about a tenner. It was in Libya and the

guy who he bought it off said it was

originally red when he had it. If you look

at it now it’s just completely wooden.


In Focus

You wouldn’t even be able to tell it was

anything other than the wood that it is

at the moment. So there’s no traces of

it being red but the guy who bought it

off said someone must have sanded it

at some point. It’s not even wear and

tear. It looks like someone by choice has

changed it. Maybe he did, I don’t know.

It’s very interesting. That’s probably one

of my favourites. It’s a really nice hollow

body harmony electric guitar.

NEG: Have you done any album work?

FF: I’ve just released two EPs. After I

left my family band and as I got a bit

older, I pursued music as a career. I fell

into writing songs around 16 but picked

up the guitar as a tool to write songs

and accompany my singing. I was very

much a singer first and then I fell into

it. I loved the thought of playing guitar

and it was quite easy to pick one up

because I was surrounded by it. I think

pretty much I taught myself how to play.

I think it was my first song. My grandad

taught me Beat Through The Desert on

a horse with no name. Only two chords.

I remember being influenced by Paolo

Natini and a bit of Oasis as well. I played

a song by Oasis. Technically three or

four chord songs but from the off I think

I’d only learn three or four chords. I

was writing songs straight away. It just


Finn Forster

came to me very naturally. It felt very natural to be writing

songs straight away which I think is quite a rarity. I think a lot

of people tend to want to master it or build more confidence

in it before they move on to writing stuff of their own. I really

didn’t have that much ability at the time. I started writing my

first song out all on the guitar. My song writing and my guitar

playing started at a very similar time and a similar level both

from the beginning. I released a string of singles completely

independently without any kind of exterior team or anything

like that. Then I found my manager and we started working

together.

Over the last two years I’ve put a plan together. I’ve released

my debut EP called ‘Grey Skies’ last year which is a five track

EP which is out now available on all streaming platforms

and on YouTube. A couple of songs off that got me my first

international radio play. It was on BBC Radio 2. It was on the

C-list and stuff. I was playing for about a month straight every

day. I was playing a lot of festivals and gigs during that time. In

between all that was writing my EP that I’ve just brought out in

May this year. At the end of May this year I brought it out which

was called ‘Embers’. It’s basically my second EP. That’s available

as my first physical as well as on vinyl. I think I’ve released a

very limited run of them. Only a few hundred and I’ve currently

got around 50 odd left. They’re gone forever and never to be

remade so they’re available on my store.

The response in my first vinyl has been amazing. That’s a four

track EP. It’s got three singles on there. It’s got a song that was

never a single, it’s just a little ballad. It’s a little bit of acoustic

in there but it’s mainly a little bit of piano as well. Whether it’s

embedded in me creatively and genetically I don’t know. I’ve

always had an interest in creative writing. I remember growing

up in school and I found friends and stuff. You find out there’s

a lot of people, not everyone, but there’s a lot of people who

are academically inclined and love puzzles and numbers and

maths, mathematics and stuff. There’s people who fall into the

other side of things which is creative, the arts or literature. I

was definitely English language literature in the arts and stuff

like that and just creating. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in

it. It’s quite funny really, I think it must have just been fizzling

up in my brain. Always kind of there, I just needed some kind

of motive or reason to want to put pen to paper and write as a

release. It’s quite funny to say now because I was about 16 at the

time but I remember my first ever girlfriend breaking up with

me when I was 16. We’d been together about six months but it

was obviously the end of the world for me. That’s the first one

always is.

I remember it was around the same time I was sat most nights

in my bedroom anyway, just fiddling on the acoustic guitar,

playing through some chords and stuff. It just came very

naturally to me one time. Wanting to write a song and just

feeling this giant sense of relationship with writing.

For me it’s always been an escape and a release for me to write.


I’ll always often very much write

some kind of chord progression on

the guitar.

All my songs so far have started with

acoustic guitar. I have to come up

with initial ideas whether it be a half

a song, a chorus or even just a verse.

I’ve started pretty much everything.

I write nearly everything I’ve done

actually. For some reason on the

Gibson SJ200, it’s just got that lovely

kind of warm sound when it’s just

completely stripped. Acoustically and

not plugged in, it’s just got a really

nice sound to it. It came naturally to

me and I guess it was just an escape

and release. I’ve kept that with me

through songwriting as I’ve grown

older as well. I remember my people

I’ve lost and stuff in life. I’ve found a

lot of comfort in writing songs about

them.

NEG: So moving on to the kind of

stuff you’re doing at the moment.

You’re playing around with the

Stereophonics at the moment aren’t

you? Tell me how you got into that,

that’s pretty exciting.

FF: Yeah, it’s a bit mad really. I’ve

always been a huge Stereophonics

fan. I remember just taking a lot of

influence from Stereophonics and

playing their songs probably every

single gig. I’ve probably played Ellie

Jones songs thousands and thousands

of times more than I’ve actually

played my own. I’ve always hosted

little bits of their playlists.

I was very influenced by them online

and stuff. I think as my teams grew,

I’ve grown as an artist and put myself

out there a little bit more. Especially

over the last couple of years, I’ve been

able to gain the attention of more

and more people in the industry.

I’ve got a really great live agent and

a really great team around me now.

I’m able to be put forward for big

things like this. Ultimately, getting the

Stereophonics tour was an alignment

of lots of different things happening

at once.

It was a case of me having a great

team and a great agent. What

probably tipped it over the edge was

I found out through another person

online that a woman who lived by

Kelly Jones in London stopped him

in the street and showed him a video

of me playing a Stereophonics song.

I was playing Indian Summer. That

was a video I put out. It was a little

tongue-in-cheek bit of content. I

knew it’s not how it works, but I just

wanted to put it out there anyway

to see if I could garner the attention

of Kelly Jones and anyone from the

Stereophonics team. I put out a little

video playing Indian Summer about

eight or nine months ago saying

this is my application to support

Stereophonics.

Obviously, I knew it doesn’t work

like that. It goes through agents

and things like that. There’s lots

of logistics. I just thought I’d do it

anyway and see if I could at least grab

the attention of them. Hundreds and

hundreds of Stereophonics fans ended

up tagging them in the comments. I

guess the team had seen it. This lovely

woman, by the way, who I’d never

met, still haven’t met, but hopefully

can meet one day, stopped him in the

street and said, you should check this

guy out. There’s a lot of fans tagging

you. He said it was great. He said, I’m

on support. I didn’t think anything

of it. A few months and stuff passed

and then we got the call up for the

European tour.

Not to know them. They’re all super

cool, by the way. Honestly, some of

them are just the coolest guys I’ve

ever met. I’ve been telling everyone

they’re just normal guys that you’d

go out on a pint with or do anything

with. They’re normal guys and

they’re just rock stars for a living. It’s

hilarious. It’s great. I’ve learned a lot

from them. I did the full European

tour, the best time ever. I was at the

last date on the line and found out

that they wanted me to jump on and

open for them at the UK ones as well.

I’m in the middle of the UK tour at

the moment. We did Huddersfield,

John Smith Stadium. I’ve got Bella

Houston Park in Glasgow coming up

on the 28th. I think it’s about 35,000.

We’ve got Finsbury Park, which is

about the same, at the start of July.

Then I’ve got two sold-out nights

at the Principality Stadium on the

11th and 12th of July which will be

awesome.

NEG: So, Stereophonics aside and

your tours aside, what have you got

coming up in the future?

FF: So, lots of new music. I’ve got

a big busy festival season as well,

across August, the end of July, August

and September. I’m playing at a

lot of big festivals for the first time

this year. I’m playing in Reading

and Leeds. I’m playing at Latitude

Festival, Truck Festival. I’ve got a big

Bellatrum as well. I’ve been in Venice

and Scotland, so quite a lot. Then

I’ve got my own UK tour, which is

in November. Which we do London,

Manchester, Bristol. Then I’ve got

my biggest hometown headline show

today, which is at the Middlesbrough

Empire. These are all in November, on

sale now. They’re all selling really well,

which I’m really, really excited about.

I’ve got Glasgow as well on that tour,

and that’s just at the end of July. So,

Glasgow first. I did a Newcastle and

York date a few weeks ago. Because

basically what happened is I had the

entire tour booked and then I had

to reschedule because of the Eastern

Stereophonics dates. So I pushed

them back to November. I did the first

couple of North East dates, which was

Newcastle and York. They were great.

It was a sold-out show. A full-fledged

show as well. Both amazing.

NEG: So, where can our readers find

out more about yourself and your

music?

FF: Yeah, I’m on all social media.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, which

is under Finn Forster. I’m quite

busy and frequent on my YouTube

channel as well. I find my YouTube

channels often a good place to have

a bit of a dive through and check out

my videos. There’s a whole array of

anything from vlogs to live videos

to acoustic stuff. I do footage for my

gigs and things. Yeah, they can check

out that. Basically everywhere online,

pretty much. Yeah, there’s a whole lot

of stuff out there online. I think the

ultimate thing would be for people to

come down to a live show.

NEG: Finn, thank you for talking to

us at NE Guitars Magazine and good

luck for the future.


Finn Forster


Murdock On...

Black Sabbath

Join Murdock Brodie-Thomas each month with an insight and lessons

to the best guitarists out there. This month he features the legendary

Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath continuing our tribute to the legend

Article: Murdock Brodie - Thomas -

No words can touch the sides of a 55-

year legacy.

Ozzy and Black Sabbath are credited

with inventing heavy metal - and its

subsequent genres; Doom and Stoner

Metal (respectfully). On the 5th of

July 2025 that heavy metal was used

to host the greatest metal concert

in history, Back to the Beginning!

Hosted in Aston Villa Park, and

attended by a who’s who of rock and

metal - this concert managed to set

records the likes of which may never

be topped again (and that’s without

mentioning the whopping £150m

they managed to raise and donate to

Parkinson’s charities and children’s

hospitals).

We lost Metal’s First Son, and while

the world posted tributes, it still

doesn’t feel real. How do you sum

up a man who reshaped music with

every cough, scream, and stomp?

You don’t.

So we won’t try. We’ll honour him

the only way we know how—by

plugging in, stomping on, and playing

the mighty riffs as loud as we can! So

let’s dig into the harmonica howls and

fuzz-drenched stomp of The Wizard.

I have broken this up into the 3

primary riffs of the song so it’s easy

to pick up and play along with the

original.

Remember this is FUZZ not

34 50 www.neguitarsmagazine.co.uk

Murdock Northern On... Black Guitar Sabbath Shows

OVERDRIVE, and a lot of the bottom end is

coming from how beefy Geezer’s bass tone is.

So dial in the fuzz pedal, grab the SG and crank it to 11

one more time for Ozzy!

I’m using the Caught By The Fuzz, by Funny Little Boxes

(and at £99 you should too! -

https://funnylittleboxes.co.uk/collections/pedals/

products/caught-by-the-fuzz-pre-order)

Remember to check out the video to this lesson on our

Youtube page.

https://youtu.be/QuOyH1twlX8

The Wizard

Main Riff


The Wizard

The Verse

The Chorus


Murdock On... Black Sabbath


CAUGHT BY THE FUZZ

High street stores facing

closure,while the indie pedal scene

flourishes?

Article By

Murdock Brodie - Thomas

Guests:

Andy Ilgunas

Simon Barron

Paul George

FUNNYLITTLEBOXES

https://funnylittleboxes.co.uk/

Based out of Norwich, Funny Little Boxes

are a bespoke pedal company with one

goal in mind. What would creator, Andy

Ilgunas, want on his pedal board?

They currently have 4 incredible units

available, with their most recent being

Caught By The Fuzz!


Murdock - Caught By The Fuzz

This beautifullydesigned fuzz pedal,

inspired by the 1995 song of the same

name, provides all the grit, dirt and mirth

inspired by the Supergrass classic, but

offers so much more!

Hand built by Andy himself, this

pedal has a wonderfully playful design

(complete with flashing blue lights on the

copcar) and a super-simple approach to

achieving its tone -with just two controls;

FUZZ and Volume.

Sonically, it channels fuzz tones from

the ’60s through modern alt-rock:

Supergrass, Led Zeppelin, Black

Sabbath, Nirvana’s In Utero, early

Pearl Jam, and beyond. It’s designed

to be fun, user‐friendly, and richly

voiced—delivering vintage grit with

approachable control. The pedal

represents a throw back to classic fuzz

while staying grounded in contemporary,

reliable components and joyful artistic

expression.

To hear how the pedal truly sounds

besurrey to check out my video here

https://youtu.be/QuOyH1twlX8

I met Andy while attending the Brighton

Guitar Show earlier in July, and of all

the builders in attendance Andy’s pedals

immediately offered something different

- So I thought why not chat to the man

himself and see what all the fuzz is about.

Murdock: Hi Andy! Thanks for joining

me. First things first-WHO are Funny

Little Boxes?

Andy: Hi Murdock. So we started out

during lockdown (2020) selling oddball

second hand guitar pedals. At a time

when the whole world seemed to be

buying up as much musical gear as

possible, I wanted to provide a service

where guitarists could grab quality pedals

at affordable prices. The idea being

that none of our pedals (then or now)

would cost more than £100. That way

if I brought a new pedal home and my

wife asked how much I’ve “wasted” on

“another eff-ing guitar pedal”!

Then in 2021 I was approached by Matt

Webster (of the Lets Play All You Tube

channel!) who asked if I knew anyone

who could create a pedal that captured

the tones of Pearl Jam’s “Ten”. I thought

“Sure I know a guy-ME!” haha. And from

there, our first pedal, the “1991” was

born.

Building the initial design took about

five months and when the pedal was

launched we initially made a small run

of fifteen pedals - those all sold out in 15

minutes! We then had a waiting list with

over 1,500 units.

M: YIKES! That’s incredible! Having

played the pedals at the show I can see

why people were desperate to get their

hand on them! What is it you think sets

your pedals apart from just going and

buying another Tube-Screamer?

A: Look - I’m a Dan Electro kid at heart,

but the beauty of all of these pedals

is I wanted to build something that

a seventeen-year-old me would have

loved to have on his pedal board. With

the “1991” Matt needed me to build

something specific, and I wanted to

achieve that goal. However, throughout

the building, the primary inspiration was

if I could travel back in time and hand

this pedal to my younger self then I know

I would have put the biggest smile on his

face from the second he plugged it in.

M: Is this what inspired the Caught By

The Fuzz?

A: Yes-but this one is also special to me.

I’ve always been a huge Supergrass fan,

and it’s a firmly held belief that they’re

everyone’s second favourite. I said just

before about going back in time and

handing one of my Funny Little Boxes

to a seventeen-year-old me - Caught By

The Fuzz is the one he really would have

wanted!

M: I can’t lie - this one lives on my board

now! I can’t thank you enough. One of

the true tests of my favourite fuzz’ is the

old 60’s blues players trick-where you

roll back that volume and it provides the

sweetest clean tone. I really think the

testament of a good fuzz is not the noisy

end, it’s the sweeter end.

A: Amazing, thank you! That’s exactly

what we were after. That - and you can

actually play the thing live! I remember

seeing Billy Corgan (SmashingPumpkins)

talking about Siamese Dream (1993) and

how the fuzz tones in the studio were

amazing, but the second you step on the

thing live it’s squealing and making an

awful racket. That’s the benefits of using

the Op-Amp’s on this circuit. They deal

with those higher gains more cleanly.

M: It’s fantastic!

I then asked Andy what was next for

Funny Little Boxes, to which Andy

showed me something truly incredible!

The trouble is - I can’t show you yet.

But there’s an incredible new stompbox

coming to a pedal board near you

very soon, as well as something spicy

involving Matt Webster and the LKet’s

Play All show!

As we sipped our coffees and chatted we

began talking about something that I

thought would be cool to mention here

for you guys -The closure of PMT & GAK

earlier this year, and the impact that has

had on the indie scene in general.

GAK (Guitar, Amp & Keyboard)ceased

trading on 25 March 2025—its Brighton

stores shut, website went offline, and

employees were made redundant by early

April. Shortly afterwards, Gear4music

purchased GAK’s remaining stock

and digital assets (trademarks, the

website, customer data), paying around

£2.4million, but explicitly did not take

on GAK’s business, liabilities, or trading

name.

PMT (Play Music Today), trading under

S & T Audio, entered administration

on 11 June 2025, resulting in the

immediate closure of all 11 UK stores

and its warehouse. Around 96 staff were

laid off, with only 48 retained to assist

the administrators. Gear4music again

acquired select stock, digital assets and


the website for up to £2.4million, but

neither the trading business nor the PMT

name were assumed. Unfulfilled orders,

warranties, and gift cards were likely

void, and customers have been told to

file claims as unsecured creditors via the

appointed insolvency team.

M: How has the closure of the stores

affected what you do?

A: Well immediately it’s worth

acknowledging all of the jobs that people

have lost during something like this. It’s

always a shame to the community of

music lovers but the direct impact it’s had

on those that lost their jobs due to the

company being unable to stay afloat. It’s

very sad.That said, the PMT we had here

(Norwich) had a mostly depressing vibe.

The staff were typically people that didn’t

want to be there on a Saturday, they

seemed disinterested in providing a great

customer experience - and when your

entire business model is designed around

the joy of music it’s a real shame when

9/10 times you’re in there it’s a prime

example of everything a music shop

should be. I also feel, and I’m no expert

on any of this, but I feel that some of the

problems would have been linked to the

fact that places like that (GAK/PMT) will

have deals with guitar brands like Fender

and Gibson who come with tight margins

and big commitments. If that stock

doesn’t shift, you’re stuck with expensive

guitars and very little profit to show for it.

It’s a shame for the musicians community

because if I look here in Norwich - we

have St Benedicts Street. Now that used

to be Norwich’s answer to things like

Tottenham Court Road (London). You

couldn’t move for music shops. There’s

maybe one or two left. It’s a shame.

In terms of affecting us - they haven’t

really. We’re so small in comparison that

we get to exist in our own little niche part

of the market and that’s suiting us for

now. People know who we are, word of

mouth is good, Matt and Let’s Play All are

great for promoting us. We’ve also just

had Lindsey from Dot’s Music (Camden)

take us on - so if you’re in London and

you want to take a look at our pedals you

can go there - try them in person. Speak

to the lovely staff who can tell you all

about everything we do! They’re great!

M: That’s amazing! I’ve spoken to a few

others with regards to all of this and we

all keep coming back to the idea that

“community is the answer”. If musicians

keep going to their local music shops

then the local music shops will stay open.

A: I think that’s true. We met at Brighton

Guitar Show too. I think those shows

are great for guitarists (particularly) and

other musicians to get together, see what

new and exciting stuff is on the market.

I guarantee you 90% of what you’ll find

at any guitar show wouldn’t have made

it onto the walls of somewhere like PMT

or GAK, either. They’re such a wonderful

asset to have, now more than ever! GO

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUITAR

SHOWS!

You heard the man!

Andy is a wonderful person to

speak with, and Icannot recommend

enough that you check out his pedals

immediately! He has turned his passion

for tone into a real success.

The full range includes:

*1991 - ThePearl Jam “Ten” inspired

*DIRT - Alice In Chains inspired

*Skeleton Key - Queens of the Stoneage

inspire (currently their bestseller)

*Caught By The Fuzz - Supergrass

inspired (and Murdock’s favourite)

MORE THOUGHTS ON GAK & PMT

Simon Barron (formerly of North Lanes

Music - Brighton)

“I think that living in a post-covid world,

with instant shipping, and the issues with

profit margins on new instruments - it’s

very sad, but also no wonder these places

are closing. When the Fender Strat is

without shadow the most popular guitar

being bought at any time you really can’t

compete with the Google Top Sellers like

Thomann, Andertons, Reverb etc”

But what happens next is there’s nowhere

to buy your guitar strings and pedals. You

can order on Amazon, but that’s no good

if it’s 2:30 in the afternoon and your gig

starts at 8! People don’t want to spend

two days waiting for strings that may

potentially be fakes.

Amazon has no quality control.These

smaller scale problems are going to affect

everybody in the community if all of

the smaller music stores go too! With

GAK closing that also means a lot of

the smaller stores don’t have the regular

access to the accessories that musicians

need. We all help each other. GAK was

helping us because they could put in

much bigger orders. I know when it

closed there was talk that a few of the

smaller stores were looking to take on


Murdock - Caught By The Fuzz

a little negative when dealing with

PMT. Our store, up here in Newcastle

couldn’t have been more helpful to me

personally. Their advice and service

has been second to none. I was pretty

saddened when they closed.

one of those Fender deals - but it’s just

not feasible, unless we wanna go the same

way.

You wouldn’t buy a new car off Amazon.

Go to your local music shops. Try these

instruments with you hands. See how

they feel before you spend a months

wages on one. The stores will set that

guitar up for you, because as we all know

- guitars have been built in factories,

packed up for transit, then delivered

without having a proper set-up. Most

of the guitars bought by inexperienced

musicians end up going back because

they’re “faulty” - They’re not faulty - you

need a professional to set it up for you!

These are all the things we’re losing if

these music shops close.

Paul Michael George (Editor, NE

Guitars)

“Firstly, I have to say I was a little sad

to hear that Andy’s experiences were

But that aside, as a musician, I agree

that life is getting pretty difficult in

the community. Is it a result of online

competition? Maybe. I tend to buy

a lot of stuff on the net purely due to

the lack of stores in our area. I’ll go

so far to say that, in Hartlepool where

I live, the only place where you can

buy strings in our town is either these

Cash Convertor stores (and let’s face it,

they’re the cheapest of cheap) or our

local pub that keeps a good selection

which the magazine has managed to

arranged through our friends, East

Durham Guitars, who themselves are

suffering in the current climate.

I would love to provide an answer to the

problem which as this article has proved

lies in the community but with everrising

business rates and rents, this seems

unlikely. Are we on the brink of a new

era? Who knows.”


Locally...

Lisa Kilcar

Intro: Paul George

Article & Images: Lisa Kilcar

So it’s no secret that one of my goals

in this mag is to discover and promote

local artists around the North East

and put them in alongside our big

names. In fact, if I’m honest, the

North East side of the mag’s name is

rooted in our local music scene. Yes,

the North East has produced major

names over the years but it’s our pub

and club world where I spend most

of my days rooting out the raw and

untamed.

Every now and then, while panning

the music streams for future riches, I

stumble across real gold nuggets. This

is certainly the case with our featured

local lady. About a month ago, while

running our local open mic, we were

visited by Lisa and her music partner,

Jim. Both acoustic players/ vocalists,

both top class. Lisa took the stage

secondly and instantly captured the

audience with a very laid back and

soulful style which is extremely easy

on the ears. I lie not, I could have

listened to her all night long.

Her guitar style is, as she states,

minimalistic but executed with

remarkable skill and care. The result

is quite simply, a guitar that sings


Lisa Kilcar

along with Lisa in a soft but very

complimenting way.

Lisa has since returned to the Open

Mic at ‘The Fish’ and hopefully will

become one of our regular artists.

For those in the area, take a chance

and pop along on a Tuesday night

and see for yourself. Definitely a

North East star and a very welcome

guest into our pages.

Lisa Kilcar is a Singer/Songwriter

from Middlesbrough with a

soulful, bluesy voice and a

minimalistic style of guitar style.

Having had only a few formal guitar

lessons she has managed to find

her own unique way of playing that

compliments her vocal prowess. “I

know I can sing a song, but I was

blown away when Paul George asked

me if I would like to be featured

in his Magazine,NE Guitars, as I

never really thought of myself as a

guitarist…….. The funny thing is,

more and more people have been

saying how much they enjoy my

guitar playing as well as my singing.

I always really just thought of myself

as a singer. Coming from Rock and

Blues bands previously, I have always

gravitated in that direction, but I

find myself writing invariousall types

of genre. For me it is just a case of

channelling my emotions, other’s’

emotions or something entirely

different. Don’t ask……… It’s not

something I really set out to do, it’s

more in the moment. One minute I

am playing something, I have played

a hundred thousand times before,

and then I will find a lovely chord

progression or perhaps just a few

notes..And then, find myself suddenly

I’m hearing a tune in my head, and

I’m off. It’s not just the tune though,

it’s the feel… and from that the lyrics

just come with, no pushing. On a few

other occasions I have woken from

sleep with a fully formed song in my

head and it is a rush to get it down

before I lose it. And then there are

the times when I feel a need to write

something particular, and that is the

hardest. Perhaps from a song title, or

something for a friend in need, but

still doable with a little push. Always

takes longer though.”

Lisa grew up in a large,

unconventional and busy household.

Her mother and father, both

eccentrics, gave her a taste of what

life should be… FUN! Her family

home was always busy and filled

with a variety of interesting people.

Music of some sort was always

playing somewhere in some part

of the house. Lisa was taken to her

first concert at in her teens to see

Don McCleanat Newcastle City Hall,

which for her, was a very moving

experience. Always looking for new

adventures, her hobbies and work

have been varied and interesting,

including surfing and a stint working

as a dresser in a Dinner/Theatre


in Berkshire. In 2003 Lisa found

a passion for everything holistic

and subsequently. Trained in many

modalities providing Holistic

Therapies, which has given her a lot

of insight into people and the healing

aspects of sounds and words. Her

empathy for others shines through

and her songs are crafted with the

intention each song that she sings,

is written, played and sung with

the intention to heal or to convey a

message. “I find Music to be very

powerful, touching the Soul of the

Listener. Music It can heal in many

forms.,Perhaps a song to lift your

spirits and make you happy, or a song

to motivate you, and yes, even songs

to make you cry…, to release and

heal. I have Eclectic tastes

,(and this comes through in my

music), but probably my favourites

for Rock/Blues are @Rivalsons

and @Pearl Jam. My favourites for

Chill music, @rRorybButler and

@NickHarper, but I like a lot of

different music. If it’s good, it’s good.

My dream is to, one day, play a big

stadium, maybe alongside some of

my favourites. A girl can dream!.

But ultimately if my music helps even

a few people, then it’s been worth

doing it”.

After a near death experience in

2009, Lisa decided to pursue music,

her first love. First making an impact

on the Teesside music scene as the

singer with rock and blues cover

band Rifflover, before going she went

on to form her own band, Unspoken,

which showcased her songwriting

abilities, alongside her remarkable

vocal skills. As a solo artist, Lisa has

had some success with a Solo release

her song “In The Distance”, which

was picked up by a couple of radio

stations abroadincludingand some

play on Radio Caroline and also

Red Grey Matter You Tube channel

where it has racked up 76k views.

Covid found her pouring herself into

writing, playing and production and

over the last 5 years this has led to a

collection of new music that she is

proud to present to the world.

Taking this next step, Lisa is excited

to start her journey as a live solo

performerartist. She kicked this off

with her first solo performance at

the North East Volume Music Bar &

Venue in Stockton, on the 16th May,

2025, as the opening act of a lively

musical evenin appearing on the bill

with a couple of popular local bands,g

where she started her showcase with

some of her softer more evocative

numbers and slowly moved into

her, more up tempolively numbers.

Her new song “What on Earth” was

released on the 5th June, 2025 and

can be found on all major platforms.

It and is a hard-hitting rock

piece,conversation of Mother Earth

talking to humanity. It was written

and produced, from conception to

the finished article within a couple

ofin just two days. “It just fell out”,

she says. Lisa is gently gathering

momentum and has a couple of gigs

booked in for next month 2nd August

at the Office Ale House, in Starbeck,

Harrogate and then 29th August at

The Twisted Lip in Middlesbrough.

“I haven’t really been pushing myself,

just allowing things to happen, but

am always on the lookout for special

places to play and am hoping to get

out and about further afield”.

As a solo artist Lisa Loves to use some

gadgets to supplement her sound.

She has an RC-30 Loop Station to

build her sound on, a Zoom G3Xn

for guitar sounds and a TC Helicon

to use for some augmentation of

her vocals on certain songs. She

plays a few different guitars,because

ofexploring various weird and

wonderful tunings. Her favourites

are aA Guild 240 Limited Edition, aA

Dean Exotica and an AriaElecord.

You can find more information about

hernew releases and gigs Sign up to

her Facebook on her Lisa Kilcar –

Singer/Songwriter page on Facebook

page to keep up to date with her new

releases and gig dates.


Lisa Kilcar

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£350

Flying V’s

2004

Mahogany Body

Mahogany Neck

Made in Korea

£495

£395


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NE Guitars - Issue No:10 - Aug - Sept

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NE Guitars - Issue No:10 - Aug - Sept

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