Jaguar: Just a great unbelievably amazing ride

Finally that has happened! An interview with the band that recorded the song "Axe Crazy" is posted in the blog called Axe Crazy! Yes, right, Jaguar. They helped to shape speed and thrash metal along with Raven and Venom. Their "Power Games" was a brilliant debut and the future seemed so bright. What could go wrong? I'm sure you know the story. The second LP "This Time" was mellower and AOR-ish than its predicessor. The press slammed it. The fans wondered where the aggression and sheer power disappeared. That was a disaster. The history of Jaguar is quite well documented, but usually it's Garry Pepperd, the guitarist, who does interviews (read a good one about the early days of Jaguar here). I decided to get in touch with the bass player Jeff Cox, who also was there from the day one, helped to bring the band back on track in 1998 and then stepped out. 

How did you get into rock music basically? Who were your favourites and were there any punk bands among them?

I’m not from a musical family, but my Mum had an old record player and some Beatles and Hollies records which started me off. A big moment for me was a school assembly when I was about 12, which was hosted by 6th form pupils who played side 1 of “Moving Waves” by Focus, which starts with “Hocus Pocus” so that sort of got me into rock. As soon as I had some money I started my regular Saturday afternoon trips to the local record shop, buying mostly second hand stuff like Deep Purple and Zeppelin as the cover artwork and imagery gave an insight into the genre.

I was also listening to the Saturday afternoon Rock Show with Alan Freeman hosted on BBC Radio 1 on which he played a good selection of heavy rock, including one of my favourite bands Budgie. I can remember listening to one of their tracks but I missed the name of it and ended up buying ever record they ever recorded, and typically it was on the last one. The track was “Black Velvet Stallion” which is probably not regarded as one of their best songs.

Another light bulb moment for me was when I was about 14. We had a school rock band play a lunchtime show, including some Hendrix stuff, “Hey Joe” seems to spring to mind as one of the tracks, and that really got me wanting to play the guitar, so I started building one as a project at school. Back in those days (1974—1975) there was no internet or even books on how build a guitar other than a book I found at a book shop in central Bristol, after a lot of searching by an American guy Donald Brosnac. Anyway, I built from wood that was lying around in the woodwork shop and it was just about playable up to the seventh fret, as that’s as far as I got with putting the frets in.

School was also a good environment for meeting likeminded budding musicians and that’s when I started playing bass as 3 guitar players and no bassist doesn’t work. The best guitarist, a guy also called Gary, was a big Brian May fan so we ended up forming a band without a drummer playing mainly Queen songs initially. We didn’t do any gigs but wrote a few dodgy songs and split up shortly after. I definitely didn’t play or even listen to any punk stuff as it really only got started in 1975—1976 in the UK with the formation of the Sex Pistols, although now I do admire their energy and attitude but it wasn’t my sort of scene back then. The closest I got was Eddie and the Hot rods.

You met Garry Pepperd at college and played together in several bands before forming Jaguar. Do you remember those bands? Did you play in any bands before you met Garry?

Rolls Royce College is where I met Garry. We were both apprentices along with another 100 or so. We were both into similar stuff so decided to have a go at putting a band together. We auditioned quite few drummers, vocalists and even guitar players and had a few working band names but nothing concrete. Chris (Lovell) was the first decent drummer even though he came to the audition with his older sister as he was too young to drive. We knew Rob Reiss from the Granary and offered him an audition and he seemed like he might be up to it. I can’t remember who came up with the name, but it could well have been Garry. He had an art student friend, Jeff Granfield who we also used to hang out with, and it was Jeff that draw the logo, initially with a swastika on the collar, but that was quickly changed to a “J”.

At the early stages of Jaguar you all were very young and Chris was only 16. How did you manage to get gigs in the clubs? Was your age a problem for the club owners?

Age wasn’t much of an issue in the old days at the venues we played and Chris looked older than the rest of us as he was as schoolboy rugby player and pretty tall and muscular. Most of the time it was me that got asked for ID, but I was 19 when we started so I was ok. I don’t think the venues or promoters even considered it to be honest. The only problem we had was hiring a van, as you had to be 21 for insurance cover so we usually had to get someone to drive for us.

What are your best memories about such a legendary place like the Granary Club? Could you please share some memories about it? What were some other places to go in Bristol and around?

The Granary was a legendary venue, and some mega bands have played there over the years. There’s a book written by Al Read, who was the first and longest serving DJ at the Granary which chronicles all the gigs in detail, including how much the bands got paid. Jaguar played there 7 times. I remember playing there one night and we had 2 massive pyrotechnics set up on top of the PA which went off with such force and were so hot several people on the balcony dropped their beers onto the lower floor and stage due to the shock. Have a look at the photo and you can see someone’s hand and glass in the flames. Not much in the way of Health and Safety in those days and the offending pyrotechnics were caused by our overzealous roadie and Granary DJ Glen Daniels.

"We had 2 massive pyrotechnics set up on top of the PA which went off with such force and were so hot several people on the balcony dropped their beers onto the lower floor and stage due to the shock". 

I think your roadies Glenn, Lyndon and Ray deserve some attention too and guess they were (as all roadies) really good in getting into troubles with promoters, fans and strangers. Can you recall anything about this matter?

We had quite a few roadies during the first 5 years, and yes, as you mention Lyndon and Ray deserve a lot of thanks for dedicating lots of time for very little money to support the band. Lyndon was usually the brunt of most of our jokes, which was a lot in those days when we got bored of taking the piss out of Chris. Lyndon was level headed and sensible, whereas Ray just wanted to get pissed and have a fight. There were numerous incidents, in fact too many too recall clearly, but most of them were instigated by the idiots in the band, myself included, rather than the roadcrew and usually ended in hysterical laughter even if we did sustain a few cuts and bruises or warnings from people in uniform. A common recurring scenario revolved around the driving to and from gigs in hire vans. Most hire vans were box vans with only had 3 seats in the front and a separate section in the back for the gear and rest of the band as there was never enough room for us all. Travelling to a gig usually involved sitting in the back on an old mattress with an acoustic guitar, beer, legs hanging out the back of a van with the door open, weather permitting. Coming back was a slightly different scenario, usually the 3 people sat in the front of the van refusing to stop to let the 3 or 4 people in the back stop for a piss. Ongoing consumption of beer and littering the highway with the empty cans or worse bottles contributed and often ended in us being stopped by the police for opening the shutter door and urinating over the highway and the car following which was usually travelling twice the speed. We won’t mention our foreign incidents, some in hindsight very stupid, such as driving down the motorway the wrong way on the hard shoulder in the dark with the lights off to get to the petrol station we just passed 4 miles ago, or the time Chris got a slap round the face by a Dutch guy due to my poor driving as he was sat in the passenger seat of a right hand drive van, which was quite amusing. Another trip to Holland saw a few members of the band and crew, can’t recall who, participated in a ritual stoning of the van in a busy service area with half bricks as it wouldn’t start and showed no sign of life with another missed ferry crossing imminent. Luckily It was our van, even though it was purchased by our girlfriends of the time, and it did eventually make back to the UK, under assistance.

Jeff Cox with Paul Merrell and the roadie Lyndon Allen 

Do you have any special memories about recording the first demo (1980)?

The first demo was recorded at Sound Conception in Bristol in a very short time, can’t remember exactly how long but it was quick, maybe 3 or 4 hours. Rob Reiss was singing and had a few problems as I recall. It was our first time in a studio so we were all a bit fazed by the equipment and the process.

Tell me about songwriting process within the band. At the early stages you were active in that field and came up with some really cool tunes like “Stormchild”. Tell me please about this song. Do you remember how you wrote it?

At the start we all contributed to the lyrics. I wrote pretty much all of “Stormchild”, lyrics and music. I can’t remember the inspiration behind the music but lyrically it’s a bit of a Rainbow era Dio theme. I also wrote “Battlecry” which is Black Sabbath inspired. These were early songs when Rob Reiss was singing. He didn’t contribute to the writing process and needless to say he didn’t last long in the band as he didn’t have the level of commitment the rest of us had. When Paul (Merrell) joined he wanted to write his own lyrics which from a vocalist point of view is perfectly natural so we all stepped back from inputting into lyrics post “Power Games”. My last contribution was “Dirty Tricks” which is written about Rob Reiss.

Why did you diminish you contribution to the songwriting when Paul Merrell joined the band?

The writing process changed for most of the songs on “This Time” as Garry and Paul became more influenced by bands like U2 and spent more time writing together. This had an obvious effect on the music which changed drastically from the aggressive sounding earlier songs on the “Power Games” album.

Was there anything special or odd during recording the second demo or was it just a routine process?

The second demo was recorded at Studio 34 in Bristol also in a very short time frame and we were beginning to get more comfortable in the studio but still struggling to get good guitar sounds. Garry was never happy with the guitar sound but we learned to live with that.

Could you tell me everything you can recall from the recording session for “Back Street Woman” in the famous Spaceward Studios? Did you choose it because Iron Maiden had recorded their “Spaceward Tapes” there? Who produced/engineered the single? Did it take long to record it?

That’s exactly why I suggested it and was every bit as good as we were expecting. If you compare it to anything we’d done up until then the sound and playing is way better. I remember Bruce Dickenson reviewing it for a magazine and he loved it.

How do you think why Heavy Metal Records didn’t extend the deal after very successful single?

We didn’t give Paul Birch at Heavy Metal Records the opportunity as I recall. We were playing in Holland, supporting Raven at one gig, and the boss of Neat records Dave Wood was there, he saw our set and offered us a deal on the spot. The recording of “Stormchild” and the final mix on the Heavy Metal Heroes compilation was appalling, possibly the worst recorded song on the album, so we had no regrets in looking elsewhere.

"I remember Bruce Dickenson reviewing it ["Black Street Woman"] for a magazine and he loved it".

Is it true that Chris was responsible for booking gigs and all that management stuff? Did you try to hire a pro manager?

Yes, Chris was good at the business side of things as he had a lot of self-confidence and was good at negotiating, so we often ended up with a better deal than we were offered to start with. Chris would usually give out free t-shirts or promise something extra but he didn’t arrange all the gigs, as we all had contacts. I used to book all the gigs around the Midlands through a local promoter who was also a big fan for ours, so that helped. Garry did a bit as well. We did later sign to Grey Bray Management under the supervision of a guy called Tom Doherty hence the Girlschool tour support slot and other one off gigs in London and surrounding area, but that was just before the Ill-fated second album.

Could you tell me that story when two guys from Holland came to Chris Lovell’s house? How did they find him at all?

I can’t remember exactly how that happened, I think they had got hold of the 6 track cassette and got in contact with Chris as his house was our contact address and phone number at the time. The 2 guys were Nico Wobben and Frits Gijsbertse, who went onto to arrange for us to go to Holland and play at a Festival in Amersfort. We even stayed at his house and went out for drinks to meet some local metalheads the night before the gig.

Jeff Cox and Garry Pepperd

These guys orginised the very first Jaguar’s show in Holland. What are your best memories about that trip and the whole experience? How do you think why did British bands were so popular in Holland back then?

That was our first experience of playing a big festival so we were slightly overwhelmed by the Dutch fans and how enthusiastic they were. We had no idea of where we were on the bill and were half expecting to go on first. We almost fell over when Fritz said we were joint headlining. He then showed up to our dressing room which had 2 crates of beer and a crate of soft drinks. Totally mental, we were superstars for the day. That was a cracking gig and we played pretty well and didn’t upset the Hells Angels who were acting as security. That was the start of a very good relationship with both our 2 new Dutch friends and the Dutch fans in general. They also put us in touch with Metal Mike who was a local Dutch promoter, as well as starting up the Dutch Jaguar fan club including writing and printing a half yearly fan club magazine called “War Machine” of which there were 3 editions. We returned to Holland another 3 times, the next time was with Paul when we played in Uden. It was less than 6 weeks since our last gig in Holland with Rob, so Paul who only joined the band a couple of weeks prior was under pressure to learn the lyrics. He was still getting to grips with them on the ferry on the way over which was usually an 8—10 hour rough trip in winter, so not much fun. We returned again in March for the second time in 82 and then again in December the same year, after the release of “Axe Craxy”, so you can imagine things really picked up a level from that point onwards. English bands were always held in high esteem, and at the time bands like Raven and Jaguar didn’t hold back on stage which the Dutch fans loved. We played one gig in Holland, can’t remember the venue, but it was a small club with a low stage and we only had Lyndon with us, so not much crowd control. It may have been the Utopia in Eisloo or a club in Alpen but towards the end of the set there were more people on stage than in the audience, which was a laugh as they kept standing on Garry’s pedalboard and bashing cymbals causing sonic mayhem whilst headbanging out of control. At least it kept Lyndon busy.

The band stated that Bob Reiss quit Jaguar due to nonexistent input in the music. Was it the only reason? Garry said that Bob changed as a person as well.

Rob Reiss didn’t contribute to the writing process and never showed any intrest in writing lyrics which is weird for a vocalist. I think he was more intrested in the posing side of it rather than the music, and as we became more popular which intially happened really quickly, he became less approachable and put himself on a bit of a pedestal. Needless to say he didn’t last long in the band as he didn’t have the level of comitment the rest of us had.In fact I wrote the lyrics to “Dirty Tricks” which appeared originally on a Neat compilation tape about Rob Reiss an his disintrest in the music and his shitty attitude to the fans.

Jaguar are often labeled as inventors of speed metal. Would you agree with that? Your music definitely influenced thrash bands like Metallica. Wasn’t it a pity to see how they became popular while you didn’t get bigger recognition?

Yes definitely, we were always trying to play stuff louder, faster and heavier. Garry once said of the early song “Feel the Heat” off the 6 track demo, “I’m not sure if it’s heavy enough”. “Yeah, right” followed by a few roars of laughter. Unfortunately we have to accept the blame for our own demise or failure to live up to fans expectations for the second album. Looking back I wish I had been a bit more vocal in my reluctance to embrace the new direction the band started to take post “Power Games”. I wasn’t into U2 or Big Country like Paul or Garry. I was a more of a traditional rocker, and the new songs didn’t give me as much scope as a bass player as the earlier stuff. But we were young with a lot of outside influencers who didn’t know any better than we did the direction the band should be taking. What’s not obvious to anyone looking in on the band at different points a few months apart is that we were living this and rehearsing up to 3 times a week plus gigs so to us the evolution of the music within the band was a slow process, but to someone looking from the outside album to album or year to year it must have seemed like a different band. I’m sure if we’d have continued on our original path we would have become a much bigger band but maybe not quite up to the elevated level of Metallica.

What influenced the band to write songs like “Axe Crazy”? Was it intentional decision or did you do it just for fun at first but like the result?

I think it started with a riff Garry had written which we jammed at rehearsal, but yes the idea was to create a fast tempo monster of a song, not subtle at all. I think we succeeded on that count.

Live 1982

What can you say about the shows with The Rods, Starfighters and Stempede which took place in 1982 I guess?

Those shows were all at the famous Marque club in London, and to get a gig there was a sure fire way of getting notice, as it was packed every night with everyone from hardcore music heads to Japanese tourists looking to tick it off their list of places to see. I remember The Rods were up themselves and wouldn’t let us use the backstage dressing room, so we had to get changed out the back in the recording studio and push our way through the whole audience to the front and climb onto the stage. Not very rock and roll. Stampede was a good show and they were friends of the band, so myself and Boggy aka Colin Bond, bass player from Stampede, swapped cameras and took some photos of each other’s band. Bizarrely we both had the same Olympus OM1 cameras, so the photos turned out OK even though the lighting wasn’t brilliant. I can’t remember anything extraordinary about the Starfighters gig other than we had recently seen them at the Granary in Bristol and given them a hard time from the audience. I don’t think they recognised us but they probably remember the ensuing fight and beer throwing. Oops. Our other appearance at the Marquee was supporting Lita Ford from the Runaways, who was very kind to us, allowing us to use her dressing room, even if she was in there at the time ogling Chris as he removed his pants to put his Spandex on. Haha!

I know that “Power Games” was recorded in 5 days. How did you manage to do it? What comes to your mind when you think about that record session? Any special memories about Keith Nichol and Impuls Studios?

You’re absolutely correct. “Power Games” was recorded in 5 days because as Dave Wood famously said when we asked for longer, “What do you want to do, go on a fishing holiday?” Memories from the recording sessions include Keith (he’s a canny lad) dry comments and the occasional appearance of Cronos from Venon, or Conrad the tape op as we knew him initially, to make tea and help mic stuff up or go to the shops to get fags for Keith. Dave Wood stopped him working in the studio after a while as it was affecting his reputation and stage persona. The studio was on the top floor which was also a pain in the arse with Neat Records offices on the floor below. Dave was well into it expecting good sales as “Axe Crazy” did really well. The band weren’t impressed at the time as sound wise it’s not as punchy or as clean as the Spaceward Studio recording, but the band were pretty tight and the songs more rehearsed.

“Power Games” was recorded in 5 days because as Dave Wood famously said when we asked for longer, “What do you want to do, go on a fishing holiday?”

Why didn’t you re-record anything from the demos and the singles on the full-length album? Did you fell you had stronger material?

We had enough songs to not have to revisit any of the old material which was getting a bit tired by that point, even though we played most of the stuff live if we had a long enough set. The new material was definitely stronger with songs like “Dutch Connection” and “The Fox” which was also superfast.

“The Fox” was about fox hunting in the UK. Who came up with this theme? Did this subject matter for you?

Yes, “The Fox” was an anti-hunting protest song with the lyrics cleverly penned by Paul, and as all of us were anti-hunting we did a gig at the Granary with another band Gold to support the cause and raise some money for the anti-hunt supporters.

If I am correct the band wanted to call the album “War Games” but changed it to “Power Games”. Any memories why?

I think that was probably Garry’s idea but it’s all a fuzzy 35 years on.

The cover of this album was your idea, wasn’t it?

Yes, the cover was my idea and hinted at the Cold War tensions, which were still ongoing at the time. I sketched out the idea in the pub or Bed and Breakfast we were staying in, can’t recall which, but the final artwork on the cover was pretty poor, I could have done it better myself to be honest as I was a Technical Illustrator at the time. The first time we saw it in a record shop there were a few choice comments.

The band moved in a slightly different direction on the second album. Why was that? Did you try to get more airplays or did your musical taste change by that time?

All I can say was that we were young and easily influenced, with so much going on musically at the time it was difficult to not let it affect the song writing and the direction of the band.

How was it to work with Tom Doherty on “This Time”? Did you have plenty of time to lay down everything? Was the band full of enthusiasm during that period of time?

The second album with Tom Doherty producing was at times tedious as we had almost a month to record it with most of the songs already written. A lot of time was spent trying different guitars and amps as everything sounded out of tune as if the intonation was out on all the guitars. We had strobe tuners, mesa boogie amps and numerous guitars but nothing really cured it. The guitar sound was a bit bland, nowhere near as aggressive as “Power Games” and the drumming uninspiring. I think Chris knew the end was nigh. We also experimented with keys on a couple of songs plus more backing vocals, and I even played a fretless bass on one song so not very NWOBHM.

A lot of people consider “This Time” as a disaster but I still like it! What do you think about the record? Do you get back to it and listen time after time?

The songs are good but I’ve probably only listened to it 2 or 3 times in the last 30 years as I think it sounds quite dated and very eighties. We were even listening to Bryan Adams early albums back then.

"Garry and Paul became more influenced by bands like U2 and spent more time writing together. This had an obvious effect on the music". 

Why did Chris leave after the recording of the second album? Was it fair to replace his photo on the back cover?

We did give Chris a hard time during the recording, some of us more than others, and it did signal the start of the end for his position within the band. I don’t think we had the artwork or photos prepared for “This Time” until later when Garry Davies had joined, so it was logical to put photos of Garry on and not Chris, even though Chris had recorded the drums.

Can you clear the situation with the drummers? How did you find Gary Davies and why did you replace him with Les Foster? And who is Will Ng???

Drummers. Well they are the pain of my life. It’s hard to find a really good drummer who is committed to one project, or dedicated to one band. We found Garry Davies who fitted in well musically but I think he struggled with the piss taking side of the band. Also he didn’t drive and lived in Chepstow over the Severn bridge so that was a bit of an issue long term. He also grew up with Prog rock and got offered a position with local Prog band which was more his thing, so he made his excuses and left. I did make contact with him in 2014 and persuaded him to join a heavy progressive rock band I was putting together called This Raging Silence. We did record an album together in 2015 and rehearse for live gigs but he had an ongoing shoulder injury so never got to gig with us. Les Foster was a guy we found who used to play with Tokyo Rose, who were also from Wales. He didn’t last long and I can’t remember why. Will Ng was a guy we knew also in a local band but different genre of music, but he was good and we played Ashton Court Festival with him in 1985, I think.

You toured in support of “This Time” with Girlschool. Was it successful? Any particular memories abut that one?

The Girlschool tour was a good one, in fact probably our last successful gigs. A few things stick in my mind such as sleeping in Kim McAuliffe Mum’s house on the dining room floor after one of the London gigs as we had no money for accommodation. It was stripped pine as I remember so not too comfy. Paul would often ask the audience at the end of the show if anyone had a room we could crash in.

The band also recorded a session for the “Friday Rock Show”. Did you like that experience of doing that and working with Tom Wilson who produced the session?

We did the session for the “Friday Rock Show” at the BBC Maida Vale studios while we were up in London rehearsing for and recording the album so we knew the songs quite well by that point. It was a good session and recorded in a massive studio used by The Beatles among others. Tony Wilson, the Producer, did push us quite hard, especially Paul, but the end result was worth it. We recorded 4 songs in quite a short time frame, maybe 4 hours or so after the gear set up.

Why did the band split up? Did you consider an option to return to your original sound and record another album?

I think we all realised that we had gone too far down the wrong road and the music and line up had changed so we just called it a day.

Tell me please about your career after Jaguar’s demise in the 80’s with such bands like Targa, Escape and The Lost Boyz who released the album “Diamond Dust” in 1991 or 1993. What kind of music did you play with those acts? Is “Diamond Dust” still available to purchase?

After Jaguar ended I also became a bit confused with my musical direction as the late 80’s were an uninspiring era music wise. Even the best bands were coming out with the most mundane boring dirge, so my attempts to start singing and playing guitar with Escape was never going to go anywhere. It was only the nineties and Grunge, including the likes of Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Pearl Jam that got me back on track. I formed The Lost Boyz with Fred Hale, also from Escape and now with Sons of Liberty. We put together a line-up with potential and recorded an album for Tom Doherty, who managed Jaguar for a while, which was eventually released in 1993 on Communique Record, entitled “Diamond Dust”. Tom had managed Jaguar from the “This Time” period so I was still in contact with him although the limited budget meant the album never received any promotion, but is still available in CD format. It was a promising start and we were all set to record the follow up when bass player Justin announced he was off to London to attend music college for 2 years. We struggled on but never really found the momentum or a suitable replacement for Justin. I spent the next 4—5 years in the acoustic guitar wasteland, writing, recording and playing a few gigs and open mic nights. Nothing really changed until I got the call from Garry, which brings us back to Jaguar and the Neat 20th anniversary reformation.

"The late 80’s were an uninspiring era music wise. Even the best bands were coming out with the most mundane boring dirge".

Was it an easy decision for you to resurrect Jaguar in 1998? Why didn’t you ask Chris to join you?

The 20th anniversary of Neat Records (and Jaguar) plus the proposed new album and Wacken Festival appearance were the catalyst for both the reformation of the band and the return to a heavier sound. Garry initially contacted me after being contacted by Jess Cox from Neat Records and we had a chat about reforming. Paul didn’t think he could commit to the project and had doubts if he could sing in that style any more, and we had no contact or knowledge of Chris’s where about’s, not that we would have asked him anyway so we advertised for a vocalist and drummer.

What are your best memories about the gig at Wacken in 1999? What were some other shows you played with Jaguar after the reunion?

With new members Jamie Manton and Nathan Cox (no relation) on board it was inevitable it was going to be heavy. The Wacken festival appearance was a good experience and showed that if anything we were better than we had ever been. There are a couple of Youtube videos out there of the Gig from an onstage perspective as head roadie Lyndon wandered around the stage recording us on his newly acquired video camera. Best memory from the gig was probably Jamie climbing up the lighting rig and meowing like a cat as he got stuck for a bit before crashing back onto the stage in a heap.

How and where was the album “Wake Me” written and recorded? Who produced it? Did you feel the same thrill working on it?

The “Wake Me” album was definitely a return to form and re-energised both Garry and myself. It was recorded in Coleford at a small studio called Berry Hill Studios over a week or so and was engineered by John David who owned the studio. We pretty much produced it ourselves to be honest. I still listen to it for a bit of nostalgia and I still think it’s a good album. Everyone was putting in ideas, which was good, and Jamie’s enthusiasm and vocals are excellent as well as being totally manic in places which I guess makes the record a bit more modern sounding. I was massively into the Red hot Chilli Peppers at the time, still am, so we did add some funky bits and the novel vocal style added to the uniqueness of our sound at the time. Nathan’s drumming was in a different league so the rhythm groove was always going to be spot on. Obviously it goes without saying that the guitar parts were at least a good match in comparison to “Power Games” in the heaviness stakes.

Why did you quit after the album was released? What have you done musically since then?

I didn’t want to quit to be honest but things were starting to take off for the band as we had just been offered a 3 week tour in the US, but I had 2 young daughters, and the most responsible best paid job I ever had and I needed the money so couldn’t commit to carrying on with the band. As it happens the tour didn’t come off but Garry did persevere and the band did record a few more albums and keep the name alive.

How do you view the years you spent with Jaguar? Are they still important for you? Are you still in touch with Garry, Chris, Rob, Paul and others?

The Jaguar years were my musical initiation and formed the basis of everything I’ve done since, so yes, they were my musical foundations if you like. I’m still in touch with Garry, we recently got together at a friend’s wedding. I’m friends with Paul via Facebook but we haven’t met up in years.

I guess this question isn’t for you but what happened to that “Archive Alive” series? The label announced it would be a 3 CD set but so far only one CD was released.

I have absolutely no idea about that but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Tell me a bit about yourself. What music do you listen to these days? Are you into sports, reading etc.?

These days I’m still an avid rocker. I’m really into Steven Wilson, both his solo work and Porcupine Tree stuff. I still play the guitar everyday but I haven’t played bass for a while, well not in a band anyway. I still ride a motorbike , KTM 990SMT is my current bike, I’ve been riding on and off since I was 16. I’m also currently building a recording studio in my garden so I don’t annoy the neighbours so much with my guitar playing. I formed a heavy prog/rock band in 2014 called This Raging Silence and we released our 2nd CD “Broken Ocean” which is available in digital format. We’ve been gigging since 2016 but we are looking to do more gigs and festivals soon, so watch this space. You can find us on Spotify or any other online streaming site or visit the website www.thisragingsilence.net.