IAIN

 

Well.... I've played the guitar on and off for a few years now. It was actually (uncle) Sam (bass) who first introduced me to the guitar. As a teenager he leant me his "Les Paul", taught me the basic chords and off I went ... at that time I was heavily into thrash metal and hardcore, bands like Fugazi, DRI, SOD, Minor Threat, Anthrax, Slayer, very young Metallica, etc. as well as a couple of 'mainstream' bands such as ACDC, Sabbath, Nirvana, UFO, The Stone Roses, etc. So that's what I tried to learn - the noisy stuff ! As teenagers, me and a few mates formed a not-very-good band playing Metallica, ACDC, Sabbath covers along with a number of original songs. This band had a few names .... Filler, FDI .... and some I can't remember.

Following on from that, except for playing an acoustic about twice a year, I put the guitar down for at least 10 years and went to university where I obtained a degree in Civil and Structural Engineering. I then got married to Anne and we had our daughter Bethan.

It was about when Bethan was 3 or 4 I met Steve via Karl (ex SpiderMonkeyS guitarist) .... and I started playing again ... bought an amp and guitar.... with Karl and Steve we learnt a number of songs and played them in various pubs in Wigan ... notably the Stage Door where our backing cd kept jumping !!! - we were saved that day by The Cat !

2004 was Anne's 40th birthday and she wanted a party. She didn't want a DJ ... she wanted a band ... an idea was spawned ... I talked with Karl and Ste talked about playing a few tunes for Anne ... it then snowballed into a full band. Sam was asked to put down his six string and play the bass for one gig - the party ... my dad was tempted out of (musical) retirement ... and the SpiderMonkeyS were born. We learned about 10 or 12 songs and enjoyed it so much we decided to carry on.

At the start of 2005 Karl left the band ... had known Rob for a number of years and I made contact. Rob came down to one of our practices and he fitted in instantly. So, here we are today ... a set list of well over 30 songs - growing all the time .... starting to write our own stuff ... busy playing gigs ... and enjoying it all the time ... especially lugging round the enormous amount of gear we have to each venue !!!

 

My musical influences .... my tastes have changed over the years ... blues (rocky type) plays a major part in my listening today ...

Bands - Metallica, Slayer, Wishbone Ash, UFO, etc.

Guitarists - Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, James Hetfield (Metallica), Andy Powell (Wishbone Ash), Aynsley Lister, Joe Bonnamassa

 

Photograph : Ian Livesey www.foundworlds.com