Who was the first band or artist that you really noticed?
For me it was Muse as a teenager. My dad played a lot of classic rock music around the house generally and when I heard the Origin of Symmetry album it was the first time I remember actively listening and thinking this is cool.
What was it about them that made you notice them?
It was a big sound for 3 guys and the riffs were angular and gritty which is still influencing my writing now. It sounded different to the classic rock that was normally reverberating around the walls at home and opened my eyes to modern sounds.
How did it make you feel?
Muse was my catalyst to exploring modern rock and I became a bit obsessed with them. There is a lot of emotion in the earlier Muse catalogue and, as a teenager working out my place in the world, that resonated with me. It’s not so much what it made me feel, it’s that it actually made me feel and empathise in the first place…
What was the first album you bought and why?
Luckily, I’m old enough to still remember physical sales! The first album that I bought was a CD from Woolworths and it was Blink-182 greatest hits album. I bought it to see what everyone was raving about at school as pop-punk was not on my radar – still have it now and I put it on fairly regularly (though not in CD format anymore) – topical for this time of year, it has a really underrated Christmas song on it (I Won’t Be Home For Christmas) that not many people know about hah
What was the first musical instrument that you learnt to play and how did you learn?
It was the guitar and my one and only. I am completely self-taught and never had a lesson in my life. I taught myself by listening to records, playing along by ear and looking up tabs on the internet. I definitely picked up some bad habits along the way but I kind of like it as it means I have my own style forged by myself from the ground up - you know it's me when I'm playing, bad technique and all. It would have been nice to have lessons so I have a better knowledge of musical theory, but my family could never afford them when I was a kid. All I know is that if it sounds good, I go with it.
What was your first gig?
Completely random one – Dropkick Murphys in Brixton Academy at the age of 16 on a school night. Never experienced anything like that again, mad mosh pit full of drunk Irish men and the loudest gig I’ve ever been too. Went to school the next day and all I could hear was ringing – couldn’t hear a word of what anyone was saying.
What musician has inspired you the most?
That’s hard to narrow down as I listen to a lot of different artists who bring a myriad of things to the table. I’d probably go with Jack White for bringing the 2 piece band into the mainstream and doing it first in rock successfully (that I know of). Without him, we’d probably still be looking for a bassist…
How has music shaped your life?
It dictates everything I do and has been there every step of the way – there’s always a song to be played when you’re doing something, or a song to be written about what happened.
What do you think you would be doing if you didn’t get into music?
Definitely something creative – I can’t sit down for 5 mins at home without picking up my guitar, tinkering with something, or playing a video game! I’ll go with video game developer as that’s something I’d like to get my teeth into at some point (especially if music was the main focus of the game).
Make sure you check out Common Tongue's latest release Done, which came out a few weeks ago.
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