So to be asked to talk about myself, to release the inner Gav, as it were… as the other band members will know, I HATE talking about myself…so where to start?… Ok then that’s a lie. I may like to talk about myself just a little… hey I’m the lead singer… I have to have some kind of ego… it’s the bass players you really have to watch out for (joke!).
I guess music has always been a huge part of my life. My dad was a musician; a keyboard player and like me, played by ear…he could play anything after hearing it one time…he had his own band back in the day which actually had Van Morrison on rhythm guitar (that’s pretty cool)… he was always playing this and that, so music was always heard throughout the house. One of my first memories actually was sitting on his knee at a gig, I must have been about 3… he was playing the keyboard, the band all playing, the mic right beside me as he sang at the front of the stage, all the crowd in front of him… that has always stuck in my head…. It’s great to witness that view again as Phoenix 23 play live…I suppose a little bit of him will always be with me there on stage…
I play guitar now, but my first instrument was drums and percussion… I would annoy the neighbours on a daily basis! My first ever gig was actually playing the bongos with the band Tiberius Minnows live on the BBC TV Show Anderson on the Road… live from Ballygally!!! I still have the recording (dodgy haircut alert!!) But I always had a thirst to try the guitar… and when I finally convinced my parents that it wasn’t just another ‘phase’ like golf, archery, the tuba or paragliding…they finally got me one… I just remember practising and practising and even more practising, going through the stages of desperation, annoyance, frustration; the feelings every guitarist goes through until that one day when it all ‘clicked’ and I was a proper player… now don’t get me wrong.. I can’t play lead guitar AT ALL (thanks Andy for having that amazing talent)… but I think because of my drumming background, my rhythm guitar is pretty tight…
In Uni, in Hull, I formed a cover band called ‘Neech’, we played around Hull, Leeds and York… I was the backing singer and rhythm guitarist, that was until after our first ever gig, the next day I turned up to practise and the rest of the band had decided to sack the lead singer to make me the singer in the band… ok so that was a surprise… but made even worse as the ex- lead singer was a house mate… that made for a fun rest of semester I can tell you!!
Even after Uni, when I lived in London, I wrote and wrote… up to now I have written hundreds of songs, ‘half’ written 2 books (horror is my genre) and also a musical called ‘Love Fool’ (that reminds me, I really must do something with that)… I just love writing a song and then hearing it come to life… it’s an amazing feeling.
So here I am currently playing music with the best guys in the world (and Glenn)… I personally am having an amazing time… through the band I have met friends that I can honestly, hand on heart, say I will know for the rest of my life, from all corners of the World… hey I even met my wife through the band!
To summarise…I am very lucky guy, living the dream… music has been good to me… It’s in my soul….it kinda keeps me alive…..
Keep rockin…
