Tony Wille

At school I was the kid who played harmonica in the playground to a crowd of onlookers. I bought my first guitar at the age of nineteen in a back street of Southampton where I grew up. I tortured my sister with bum notes until I got the hang of it and then copied various folk guitarists of the time. As soon as I knew three chords I started to write my own songs.I stuck a pin in a map and ended up in Nottingham. The dramatic change of environment inspired me to write many songs and develop as a songwriter. I got a job in a wine bar. There was me in one corner and a parrot called Henry in another. Henry got more attention than I did. I realised then that all you needed was a good hook line and a quirky take on life. Henry taught me a lot!As a resident musician at one French restaurant I got fed each night and was given my taxi fare home. I was so hard up at the time I used to save the money and walk.I went to Stoke on Trent to study Creative Arts and developed as a writer and performer. It was there that I met SIMON PITT and formed REDMAN GREENMAN, a whacky poetry and music duo who toured the alternative comedy circuit and hosted our own venue called the HO BLOODY HO SHOW. If you study FRANK SKINNERS autobiography, theres a picture of one of our old posters featuring us and Frank (who appeared under the name of Chris Collins at the time).I moved to Birmingham and there I answered an ad for FELT, a band signed to the CREATION LABEL. I met Lawrence who told me that he loved NICK DRAKE and wanted a picker in the band. I ended up playing on a couple of their albums, touring Scotland and appearing on the Andy Kershaw Show, Radio One. MARTIN DUFFY from Felt went on to play with EDWYN COLLINS and PRIMAL SCREAM. When Felt broke up I formed a band with Felt bassist, Marco and we called it THE DAY. The band mutated into Parma Violets and then Paris Love Mat. I love to play and do so at any opportunity, currently as a solo acoustic artist.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4