Sometime in 1986, I was hanging out with my best mate at the time, Stephen McCarron. We would hang out in his room listening to music or play games on his amazing new Amstrad computer. Or we would head into town and do the Richmond Centre loop. It pains me to admit it now, but at the time, while I was still deciding exactly who I was or what my interests were, I decided to become a 'New Romantic'. I know...what was I thinking! Stephen was also a New Romantic and I suppose I modelled myself on him a bit. I even bought the same big long black coat and big silver leather boots that he had. Thankfully I stopped short of applying make up. That was a step too far! I actually remember saying to him once that if I wasn't a New Romantic, I'd probably be into heavy metal. Little did I know what was round the corner!
One day, we were in his room, listening to music again. It was either 'The Cult' or 'Big Country'. We had just been to see 'Big Country' in the Templemore Sports Complex which was my first time going to see a live band. I remember being especially impressed by the drummer, Mark Brzezicki.
I just loved watching him play and found him far more interesting than the other musicians. The spark of my interest in Drums started there but lay dormant until that fateful afternoon in Stephen's room.
We were listening to music and chatting about whatever 15 year old boys chat about. I think some other mates were there but I can't remember now. Anyway, I can still picture this like yesterday. I was sitting on the floor, maybe reading a magazine or something when I noticed something under the bed. Being the nosy type, I stuck my hand under the bed and pulled out a pair of drumsticks. 'What are these?' I asked. 'Oh, drumsticks.' said Stephen. This gave oxygen to the spark and I asked him could I borrow them.
So, I took them home and set up a mock drum kit in my mum's kitchen, using chairs and cushions and a few pots. I remember practising away to find out how to drum. I listened to records and tried to copy what they did. Now normally, I'll get bored with a new hobby but I kept coming back to this. After a while, I persuaded my parents to buy me a kit so we checked the classifieds and found a kit for £120. I remember going to get it and being amazed that it was covered in a Leopard Skin print!! It was pretty rough but I loved it.
After a while, Stephen and I thought we would try to get a band together. Unfortunately that very first attempt in his garage was pretty ropey but it did introduce me to Chris Bradley and Flo Porter. Now my memory is a bit patchy here but I'm pretty sure this was around the time that I got to know Chris and Flo. To be honest I've forgotten the circumstances but I know that Stephen was also in our very first band for a while but quickly left. In those very early days there were several people in and out of the first band and we practised in loads of different places. My interests in music soon switched from New Romantic to rock/metal. After a while the initial line up settled down to myself, Flo Porter on vocals, Chris Bradley on lead guitar, Davy Watts on lead/rhythm guitar and Pixi on bass. We found a place to practice in a local community centre and we settled on a name....Crisis
Crisis 1987
Back Row - Davy Watts, Chris Bradley
Front Row - Michael Peoples (Pixi), Flo Porter, me!
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