When did you decide that a career in music was for you?

 

Hi Paul, thanks for the interview amigo! When i was 15 our Youth Club was The Irish Club in Kidderminster 1979, it was a venue for all the new and up and coming Punk band. After seeing Neon Hearts and Dangerous Girls loads of us decided we would form band. we were all little tribes and punk was our life and inspiration. 

Who are your musical inspirations and why? Wow, Rock n Roll, the 50s & 60's icons, then punk. I loved the Damned, Stiff Little Fingers, The Ruts. Then we formed a band , got better and supported The Alarm, Theatre of Hate and we were lost to the great Rock n Roll circus forever!

 

Can you tell me 3 things about yourself that people might not already know?

I wanted to be a footballer when i was a kid, i wanted to be George Best. I reached the dizzy heights of playing for Kidderminster Harriers Reserves F,C when i was 17. But got lost to alcohol and Punk! 

I have a University Masters Degree in Touring Theatre? I became a B-Movie Horror actor when i gave up on music in 2014. Checkout https://youtu.be/z5mcnxdmUpw?si=t3QyfNlFLSNKw0EE A classic. I did the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a one man show 'A Rock n Roll Suicide' and got reviews ranging from 1 star to 5 stars " It was like Crack with Marmite on it!" was one of the reviews? Lol! 

I taught Kung Fu 'Crane style' for 15 years & i'm a raging ADHD full blown spectrum super hero!

 

What song of yours best describes you and why?

"I'm in Love with Myself!" from the forthcoming new album 'Church of the Pistoleros' . Its a narcassistic open and honest account of being a lead singer in a band, when you step out onstage and play the role! Where better to hide a condition such as ADHD than as a frontman in a band?’

 

What has been the best gig you have done to date and why?

So many! Supprting Lords of the New Church, The Ramones, Motorhead, L.A Guns, Vain and Faster Pussycat was surreal. They were some of my favourites when i was young and so to go on Tour and meet them and laugh and watch them from the side of the stage was surreal and special. Touring with classic bands like Motorhead, The Ramones, Dio, UFO, Nazareth, etc shows you just why there were and are so special. And those Classic hit songs were other Wordly live!

 

If you could perform a gig at any venue where would it be and why?

Glastonbury main stage! Coz lets face it, we get that. Its all meant something, the legacy cannot be ignored! 

 

What has been your best achievement to date and what would you like to achieve in the future?

The last album 'Duende a Go Go Loco' entering the Official U.K Charts last November 2023 was really special! As an Independent it was a fantastic feat, we even beat Taylor Swift in one of the four charts we entered for the week? Shake that one off Swifty!

 

Tell me a story from backstage or after a gig?

Oh Paul, there are way too many! 

 

If you were not in the job you are now what would you be doing?

I wanted to be a footballer as a kid, at 17 i reached the dizzy heights of playing for Kidderminster Harriers Reserves? My sister died in a horse riding accident back then , i lost myself for a long long time. 

Well i did a Touring Theatre Masters Degree at University in 2016  i'd become disillusioned with music and had turned my attention to acting, appearing in horror films such as Pandemonium, Spy Darlings and Jurassic Predator. In 2019, he took to the stage in Edinburgh with his one man show, A Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide, described by one critic as ‘marmite with crack on it’. The show retraced my career journey against a montage of videos and scenes from my early life, while giving me a chance to belt out songs from my punk, glam and rock career, from the council estates of Kidderminster to Beverley Hills and back.

The show was later redeveloped alongside award-winning playwright Chris Thorpe. I pulled no punches, recounting hilarious stories about musicians such as Lemmy, Axl Rose, Blondie and Joan Jett. I also takes a hard look at myself and my late diagnosis of ADHD, which has had a big impact on my life. ‘Where better to hide a condition such as ADHD than as a frontman in a band?’, he quipped.

 

What would you say is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Watch and learn! Dont become a Rock n Roll cliche like i did! I've been sober for 5 years now and its a new life, a better one now. 

Ziggy Stardust was the ultimate Rock star to me, it was what all of us little punks aspired to be. That was the unattainable. Lemmy was a fantastic role model to meet. Early in my life in 1988 in San Moritz & Marquee Bar, he had time for all of us aspiring musicians, no time for dickheads – and was a real regular bloke. The Godfather of Rock, a special man. I had the fortune to support Motörhead on two tours. I don’t think you ever copy people, you just pick up bits n’ pieces from them, then add the bits you like whilst creating your own persona. But Ziggy Stardust was it! Be as near to Ziggy Stardust as you can? 

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How important do you think your look and image is when it comes to being in the music industry?

Massive, I never held with the idea of wanting to look exactly like the audience. I thought audiences wanted escapism, something to take them away from the shit of normal life for an hour or so, give them something different to watch. That’s what I always took from acting, which Punk did to an extent – dressing and looking different. Ziggie Stardust was the ultimate Rock Star to me

 

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What would say to someone thinking about becoming a musician and getting into the music industry?

Strangely enough the easiest part is writing music. It is the Music Business! Business! You now have to understand that part!  We used to think, we’d got to get wankered, and we’ll write a fantastic rocking sleazy track. No, you just pass out, or talk shit, come up with a crap song and the next day you go like, really? Did we write that? Whereas now, I go up to Kerry’s and sort of jabber at her and she’ll try and decipher it into some sort of pattern on the bass. And then we’ll take it to Crag and put the drums down, and then the guitar goes on last, so we’ve almost got it formatted there and it’s easy. Then wetake it to Dave Draper (Our producer and fifth member) who rips it to pieces, rewrites it and reformats it and we record! I find it so much easier now than ever before, which is strange. I wish I’d known this years ago.

It’s also wonderful because i actually remember stuff now. Somebody told me they thought they’d seen the Gipsy Pistoleros in Budapest and I went, I’ve not been to Budapest. And they were like .. yeah, you were. We’d been supporting LA Guns at the Wig Wam Club, and I don’t remember a thing about it. People go, you look young for your age, but I think I must have lost about 15 to 20 years through not remembering. It’s all new to me in a way, so it’s almost coming back as a new person. I’m really excited … like a kid with it.

Never lose the love of doing it! Its way better than real work, its REAL work on a different level. You have to live it.  

 

If you could collaborate with any other band/singer or musician who would you choose and why?

Bowie! A God!

 

If you wrote a book about yourself what would it have in it?

The whole of my Theatre show 'A Rock n Roll Suicide! Still alive' . But the best chapters are yet to come!