..My name's not really Pooh. It's a nickname that someone gave me at a Damned gig in 1981 (on account that I looked a bit like Winnie the Pooh apparently) and it's stuck ever since. So in that respect it may as well be my real name because no one ever calls me anything else. I was born in London in 1967 and lived in Pimlico and then Raynes Park for much of my early years. By the age of 12-13 I was a little punk rock urchin, going to gigs in London, seeing The Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, The Clash, Crass etc anywhere that would let me in. In the early 80s I moved to Leatherhead in Surrey where I met a gang of Antz, Killing Joke and Bauhaus obsessed folk and the gigging kicked in properly - following Bauhaus and Gene Loves Jezebel around the country and going to see KJ, the Banshees, Southern Death Cult, Bow Wow Wow, Theatre of Hate and the like, when I really should have been doing my homework. Around that time I started writing for fanzines and magazines, interviewing bands, roadieing, selling T-shirts on tours and generally having the time of my life. I formed a band with Stephen Marshall from the Jezebels in the early 90s and had a sneaky glimpse of success before mysteriously landing a job as a civil engineer. I'm still obsessed with music and have never stopped going to see bands - been to over 1300 gigs since 1979 and still love live music more than ever - thanks, largely, to discovering the spectacular and magnificent Go! Team a couple of years back - one of the best live bands I've ever seen and whose gigs I hope to get to as often as possible. I now live in Horsham, West Sussex, I'm married, have a son, some great friends and nothing at all to complain about. Except that I still look a bit like Winnie the Pooh.
