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I grew up listening to music from my Dad's Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and traditional Irish music, my Mom's Queen and various 60's & 70's music, to my sisters music, which varied from cheesy 80's pop to Black Sabbath and Whitesnake etc.


I always wanted to be a vocalist but never had the confidence to do it. I was at school one day (1989) when a friend came up to me and asked if I wanted to go get out of my French lesson and learn guitar. Of course I spoke to my French teacher and without hesitation he let me go (he did say that I was crap at French and he was also a big Black Sabbath fan!!!)


So anyway, off I went along for guitar lessons. I struggled, as I didn't have a guitar, I used to practice at home with an old pool cue that I stuck bits of paper on to mark the frets. 2 months later it was my birthday, I sold my old Star Wars collection (worth more than all my guitars put together today!) and my family put the money together to buy a guitar. It was an Encore, JHS thing with a floating tremolo system bought at around £150.


I practiced and practiced, jamming along to everything from AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, and the list is endless. I fell in love with the guitar. I didn't join a proper band until I was 19, when I had just met my now wife, Sam, I was approached by a 'local hero' of the Redditch music scene to audition for his new 'Prog Rock' project, 'Mozart's Tights', as the guitarist was moving to Australia to work. I learned the music and that was it, I was in the band.


The main influences were, Pink Floyd, Mozart, early Genesis, Yes, It Bites and Dream Theater. We ended up with some really complex and rocking songs with a huge stage show to go with it and played places like the Robin 2 in Bilston, Wolverhampton. Unfortunately after about 7 years in the band we all gave up, well I didn't, things were starting to move. A friend of mine, Mick Bonham (yes, John's brother from Led Zeppelin) came to see us, he thought we were amazing, he passed a few CD's around to a few of his friends and we had a great response. Then our manager, Bernie, got us a gig in Portugal playing a bike festival with the likes of Motorhead!!!


The rest of the band didn't want to know. At the time, Mick had also invited me along to a private party/jam with some members of some 70's bands such as Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Bev Bevan and many others. Unfortunately Jimmy Page and Robert Plant couldn't make it so it was called off. Not long afterwards Mick died, I didn't know him for long but he was a great man, he seemed to touch everyone in someway (he would have came out with a good comment if he read that!)


Thatwas a great year, 2000, it's gone now! I started teaching guitar in 1997, the day my son was born and still teach today, working from home and at Kingsley College in Redditch. I joined the 'Registry of Guitar Tutors' in 1999 and have put many students through the LCM grades.


Since the end of Mozart's Tights, I have played with Sam's Talisman (my wife's cover band), Totem (my wife's acoustic set), R.S.W with the vocalist from 80's glam metal band 'Wrathchild'. I now play for the 1980's cover band 'The Breakfast Club'.


My biggest guitar influences are:


Randy Rhoades, Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Joe Satriani, Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, John Petrucci, Gordan Giltrap,

And many more……….


Well I hope that bored the hell out of ya!


Clem

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