JC: Sometimes it feels like far too much!! It's a bit like having two full time jobs, the day job helps fund the music side of things, which is something I've always been passionate about. So between us, that's Jill, my very patient wife, and myself, we run Stunted Records & Management which is a small independent label and artist management company (www.stuntedrecords.co.uk)  - it's surprising just how much time it soaks up, lunchtimes and evenings during weekdays and at least one day at a weekend. Most of the stuff we are working on is operating at a national and even international level so we don't get too much contact with the local scene any more. On top of that I try to keep my hand in and play some guitar around the house (usually when Jill goes out!) and I'm still writing music, but in the loosest possible terms because I can't read music - it's all in the head. I have an ongoing project with a friend from Grimsby which is called "Watch This Space" after an old Be Bop Deluxe tune, so all in all plenty to keep me occupied.

 

 

JC: I was a bit of a late starter to the guitar and didn't begin until I was 16. Basically there were a few friends at school, only one of whom had a guitar and could play a bit, and we were all listening to Zappa, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Pink Fairies etc and we decided to form a band, so we each went out and bought our instrument of choice and started rehearsing and helping each other along the way, writing our own songs and doing our own interpretations of other peoples songs (basically we weren't good enough to call it a "cover"). That band was called Nebulahand we ended up doing a fair few gigs around Scunthorpe until the bass player, Mark Westoby, left to join Terra Pax, who were doing really well at the time.

 

Terra Pax had just won the Melody Maker Folk/ Rock Competition as an acoustic duo but now wanted to create a full band, so not long after Mark joined them I too was asked to join on guitar. Jem Gash and Mick Walker were the main guys behind Terra Pax, a very accomplished songwriting partnership. Martin Mitchell joined on keyboards and the line up was complete. Martin lived in a huge house in Scawby where we rehearsed in the haunted stables and occasionally indulged in a few hi-jinks in their indoor swimming pool. Terra Pax gigged much farther afield in places like Leeds, with all their gear being transported in Martin's horse box, including his huge Hammond organ! At one bit we started rehearsing in what can only be described as a large shed/ hall behind some gardens near Ashby Turn, but we had a tendency to go for an impromptu rehearsal late on a Saturday night after the bands at The Priory had finished and this clearly didn't go down very well with the neighbours. Terra Pax did some recordings at Fairview Music in Hull, which is still going strong, and a regular haunt of Bill Nelson coincidentally........now where's that old cassette?  

 

Following Terra Pax I joined a band from Lincoln who eventually morphed into Seagull, a band from Scunthorpe with a drummer from Lincoln.....don't ask me how that happened!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC: The Classics started out as a 4 piece who were all from Grimsby with the exception of myself. Basically, towards the tail end of Seagull's life we had become friends with a couple of Grimsby outfits - Jody and theBrothers Band who featured two singing brothers, Keith Newby and Steve Newby respectively. Steve joined Seagull as singer for a time but then as Jody and Seagull fragmented, members of the two bands combined to form The Six Pistons, a tongue in cheek approach to the burgeoning punk scene at the time. It was a mad time, the Grimsby crew were a very funny bunch to be around but it didn't last long - when things fell apart, it left myself, Keith, Rob Hampson on drums and a new bass player called Ash Aisthorpe to form The Classics. Keith and Rob didn't last long and soon we were down to a 3 piece with Mick Freer on drums. We gigged all over the place regularly and built up a pretty good fan base, especially in Scunthorpe at places like The Cocked Hat and The Baths. I did most of the booking and pulled together some fairly respectable tours which even got news items in places like the NME. We recorded a 3 track demo at Fairview Studios which landed a contract for a single with Future Earth Records. Funnily enough, that single ("Zero Ambition/ In The Night") now goes for up to £90 on the internet and for the last 4 years I've had a mad Jap (sorry Nobu) chasing me, as he wants to release stuff in Japan where there is a demand for music from that era apparently....they must be mad. To be honest, I've always tried to move forward so I find it difficult to get enthusiastic about something from so long ago but maybe I'll follow it up soon, who knows.

 

Anway, not too long after the single was released Mick quit the band and he was replaced by Trev Fearnley, the old drummer from Seagull. It felt really good at the time, Trev was a solid rock drummer, but within about 6 months we called it a day. When Mick turned 40 in around 2000, we actually reformed the band for a one off birthday bash and then ended up doing a fair few gigs, culminating in a final one with FULC at The Lincoln Imp in 2001 shortly before they won the Rock Open in Scunthorpe. We weren't kids any longer and it was at this time that I started getting involved in managing FULC who featured my son Rik.

 

As a bit of a side note, we actually made it into the history books ( kind of) when The Classics were featured in a book by Alex Ogg titled "No More Heroes - The Complete History of British Punk 1976 - 1980" which was published about 18 months ago. It also had some information regarding the association with Magazine who I auditioned for during my time with The Classics. I still haven't tracked a copy down yet but I know Mick Freer has one and The Evening Telegraph. Alex, the author was once a member of That Noble Porpoise I believe.

 

One little known fact from the same period is that I also auditioned for Generation X with Billy Idol. The band were really terrible to be honest and if I remember correctly most of the audition was spent jamming around the Bowie song Jean Genie, with me doing my very best Mick Ronson impression!