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.
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.
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 (NOT) Last month, I went to Copenhagen for three days with my collaborator/partner-in-crime/enabler, Nainesh. The idea was to finish off
‘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
“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**
