Hello, I’m a London-based music promoter, but when no one is looking, I like to write tragi-comic tales about glorious failure. The stories are all true, apart from the bits I make up. I also write & record songs and podcasts and sometimes perform live. Welcome to the shed in my head, a place where you can read, watch, & listen to my efforts. I hope you enjoy looking around.
ANOINT MY HEAD
How I Failed to Make it as a Britpop Indie-Rockstar
MUSIC MEMOIR – OUT NOW!
Back in the early nineties, I was the lead singer in an indie-pop band called the Pointy Birds (yes, I know, great name). We played the backrooms of London’s pubs and toilet venues, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Blur, Suede, Pulp and Radiohead. But while they went on to bigger and better things during the explosion of Brit-pop, we couldn’t get signed, sold no records and got bottled off stage at our first ever gig. But we did have one big fan. His name was Ricky. He worked as the Entertainments Manager at the University of London Union and became our manager.
This is the story of how we didn’t become rich or famous, but our manager did.
Available as paperback, hardback, e-book or audiobook.
A Tale of Three Manuscripts….
Hope all is well in your world. It’s been a while, so this newsletter is a longish one, but hopefully, it will feel short. It’s the tale of three manuscripts, so if you’re sitting comfortably, I’ll begin. COPENHAGEN, THE MUSICAL
Falling Apart at the Seams…
Here is a sneak preview of a song I just recorded at Snorkel Studios in Forest Hill with my partner in crime, Nainesh Shah. It’s called ‘Falling Apart at the Seams’ and is one of the numbers from our soon-to-be
Seven things…
Hey, ho ho ho I hope you’re all keeping well. I haven’t sent one of these in a while. I’ve been meaning to, but life keeps getting in the way. I could go into detail about my knee physio or
A Sense of Relief
Here is a new made-up true short story about being caught short featuring a golden retriever, a service station on the A2 and a lucozade bottle. You may not think of Lucozade bottles in the same way again. Max is
Press for Anoint My Head (the book)
‘Captures the time and the aspirations of a young band brilliantly. A great eye-opener into the absurd thought process of what it might take to headline Glastonbury!’ Steve Lamacq BBC 6 Music
“All the fun of youthful dreams and the poignancy of disappointment – plus a remarkable A-list cameo. Magnificent.’ Phil Harrison Time Out / Guardian
‘If This Is Spinal Tap is the quintessential rock mockumentary, Anoint My Head is the closest you’ll get to that in book form.’ Loz Etheridge God is in the TV *****
‘Anoint My Head is a great read which rips along at pace and would make an excellent dramatisation or comedy series.’ Iain Key Louder Than War *****
‘Hilarious warts-and-all story of a Britpop band whose big ambitions did not meet their talents’ Dan Carrier Camden New Journal
Press for Anoint My Head (the show)
“Carries the magnificent bravado of youth that will hold Generation X-ers and anyone nostalgically inclines in a state of happy reverie.” Daily Telegraph ****
“A campfire tale of hope, dreams and failures with a lesson for us all – if it’s fun, it’s worth doing.” Entertainment-Now
“Charmingly Ramshackle Catnip.” David Hepburn The Scotsman
“Gently amusing and accessible to anyone with even a passing appreciation of artistic folly…including a tender tale of inter-species love” Fiona Shepherd The Scotsman
“Funny and touching tale of Britpop stardom that never was.” Al Murray, the Pub Landlord**