Biography

I was a fairly late starter and didn’t pick up a guitar until the age of 18. I began playing bass in August 1982 when my dad found me a discarded second-hand one. I told a mate in the pub in Birstall where I lived at the time and he invited me to join his new band. I was thrown in at the deep end and played my first ever gig in the Kier Hardie Social Club in Derby on Boxing Day 1982.

As a youngster I listened to The Beatles mostly but I remember going down to my local Library and taking out ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ on vinyl after hearing about Pink Floyd. I still remember the feeling of awe as I heard that album for the first time, wearing a massive pair of 70’s headphones and sat next to the radiogram in our family lounge. It was my ‘Road to Damascus’ moment. I was hooked. I quickly went out and bought ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘The Wall’ (which had just been released) and that was it. I’ve been Pink Floyd mad ever since.

I started playing music long before tribute bands became a ‘thing’. Following the almost obligatory attempt at rock stardom with an ‘originals’ rock band in the mid-80s, I found a niche playing 12-bar rhythm and blues music with various Leicester-based bands. Eventually, I decided it was time to start playing the music I really loved, that of Pink Floyd.

I saw an ad for a Coventry-based band called ‘Dark Side Of The Wall’ at The Moorbarns in Lutterworth went to see them perform in August 1999. I was extremely impressed, not just with their overall sound but also the fact that they used a big PA and made a serious attempt at providing some kind of light show. They were back at the venue in December of that year and this time I introduced myself saying that if ever they needed a bass player then I’d be happy to come along from Leicester for an audition. A month later I got a call to say their bass player and keyboard player had left and would I still like to audition? So, along with keyboard player Pete Riley (who I was in other bands with back in the 90s) we headed over to Coventry the following week and did the audition. Many years down the line I never expected that Pete and I, the former “new boys” would end up being the band’s longest serving members… and we’re both very proud of that fact. We’ve had so many brilliant times with this band it’s impossible to recount them all. The nucleus of the current line up came together during 2004 and it was the beginning of a second era for me and Pete, and one that has also provided us with friendships that go way beyond just being in a band together. It’s my opinion that it’s the ever-present ‘family spirit’ that has ensured the survival and subsequent longevity of DSOTW. The current line up all buy into that philosophy too and I think we’ve never sounded better as a result. Long may it continue!