Member Since: 3/10/2006
Band Website: http://www.flyingheroes.co.uk
Band Members: The Octagon
Always loved music and it's pretty well what occupies most of my time. I run what I guess you'd call a rock school from the Squactagon (Son of Octagon) in Lawford. Teaching some days (guitar/drums/bass) and recording others. Recently finished angineering/playing bass, drums and a modicum of guitar on Martin Newell's new album A Summer Tamarind, recorded here at the Octagon for Cherry Red Records. This is the first serious recording project undertaken here (only finished building the place a year ago) and was also about as much fun as you can have whilst still calling what you do a job. We're pretty chuffed with the result so this could be another of life's directions for the future. Martin has kindly lent his vocal/lyrical skills to a couple of my songs too so any Newellists out there...watch this space :)
The Committed
There's something special about that band and I'm pretty proud to have been a part of them. How the heck ten people have managed to gel in quite the way we did I don't know but if, like me, you're a soul man at heart then you just may enjoy watching the Committed as much as I enjoyed playing with them. Soul is alive and well :)
Flying Zeroes
A little known pnenomenon, a girl band who do actually get a bit of practise in between booze/banter, Flying Zeroes are the brainchild of their guitarist the delicious (my missious) Di Seager. Midwife by day and, more often than not, midwife by night. But she still finds time (after getting my tea :) to get her guitar thing together and in collusion/collision with several other dedicated musos of the gentler gender (where did THAT saying come from, lol) manages to delight audiences from...our garden to...her sister's garden with fine performances of some pretty tried and true classic rockers. I tend to join them once I've eaten/watched the all important re-run of the original Avengers and let's face it...they're bloody good!
RockSynchrony
Anyone who has come to me for lessons will be able to confirm (I hope, lol) what a great day RockSynchrony is. It started life as The Great Gig In The Garden, a yearly get together where all the students perform a number on the Octagon stage (all 4 inches of it!) backed by an especially assembled band in front of a friendly audience. The idea being to gain the experience of maybe their first gig. Since then it has become obvious that this would be an ideal opportunity to raise a little cash for the Teenage Cancer Trust and to this end the annual event has now evolved into RockSynchrony. Synchrony because we now encourage other venues to run an event on the same day and for the same charity under the RS banner. RockSynchronyII took place on 30 June this year and the many venues/bands taking part collectively raised £2,573 all of which went to the TCT. See the RockSynchrony myspace page (on the friends list) and get yourself involved in RockSynchronyIII...it's a great way to raise a little cash for a great cause.
Flying Heroes
The Flying Heroes celebrated our 30th anniversary a few years back and one form or another of the band is what's kept me sane over the years. I may have been tempted to change the name at some point were it not for the Flying Heroes tattoo I paid a perfectly good 2 quid for at the off. There have been 25 members of the band since 197...er...something and I still regard all of them as friends. I have the outrageously talented Frankie and Hazel to thank for rekindling the rocker in me more recently. The present line-up is taking the band into fairly new territory and keeping the Heroes dream alive and kicking in a most pleasing way :) Top bunch and I still love playing with the band as much as I did all those years back when London was nice, cigarettes were cool and drink driving was a bit naughty (please!...don't be shocked. That's just how it was).Update: With the departure of the utterly brilliant Hazel and Dan for Uni duties (boffins both, lol) the Heroes is undergoing yet another metam...metamo...transition right now. Hazel, Lucy and Dan all deserve a bloody medal for putting up with me over the last couple of years and I can't thank 'em enough...lovely people and we've played some stonkin' gigs together. Wish them heaps of luck in any future ventures. Charlii (bass) and Serge (guitar/keys) are most welcome additions to the band and Lucie remains our rock steady drumster :)
The Wife and Kids
Get a missus and some twins, they're brilliant! Even if you may sometimes find yourself wondering what the hell's going on :O
The Government
As no-one will ever read this far this seems like the ideal spot to have a friggin' good rant...but in the imortal words of todays superb youth...cba
UPDATE
Having perused the nippers' webbage it has come to my attention that I'm such an old git. I hadn't even picked up on the fact that today's superb youth are now such victims of cba-ness that it's considered totally old-school to even include the 'a' in 'cba'. Then again, I always found it amusing to buck the trend and so I'll continue in my very own way to include that 'a' and please understand this...in my own version of cba the 'c' actually stands for 'can'. How radical is that!!! :) Of course my new found 'can be arsedness' dictates that I really should now rant about the government...and so I shall...when I've had a fag...oh...I quit smoking.
Type of Label: Unsigned