anthill1956

PICTURES OF AN EXHIBITIONIST

It all started with a growing interest in music, everything from the classics to film scores, folk to Heavy Rock and everything in between.  Then, at around the age of fifteen  I started to feel a little left out, as my  brother Chris  was learning to play guitar and, as he was getting all the chicks  I decided to  learn to play something other than the village idiot and  get in on the action. I quite fancied having a go at drumming but we didn't have any drums but Dad had a Piano and an Organ.  Having tried to learn a few years before I really couldn't get over excited with the idea of being a piano player.  As fate would have it I was offered tickets to see Emerson Lake and Palmer at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, this was during the Trilogy tour and before that I had heard Pictures at an Exhibition which I thought was rather exciting (Thanks to Rob Dakin for lending me Pictures and getting the tickets and to Ian for taking us).....Rob, if I ever find you again you owe me big time! 

 The 3 hours spent at this gig changed my life out of all proportion and was probably the best £1.50 I ever spent but eventually cost me a hell of a lot more!  

Watching Keith Emerson hammering his Hammond s, synths and pianos blew my Mind. The keyboard was now not only the only instrument for me it also became the only life for me.  The very next day, with help and patience from my Dad (an excellent pianist and former band leader) he started to teach me how to play.  Inspired  by seeing  Keith Emerson and having listened to Rick Wakeman & John Lord (I did actually see Deep Purple around the same time...wow!)  I was totally obsessed with copying or emulating  my "new" heroes!  A daunting task which I undertook willingly and, with the innocence and naivety of youth I practised for  hours every day awaiting the time when I would be catapulted into stardom, fame and riches.....obviously that didn't work as I am still waiting!   After a few months of intensive practise and research I was playing simple songs but most importantly to me (as I later came to realise)  I had also started creating my own compositions.  During this learning curve, that lasts to this day, I taught myself many different styles and techniques,  I learned how to read and write musical notation and how to make musical arrangements  work.  The rest as they say is history.......but there is so much more and not wanting to bore anyone any further lets just skip to some of the highs and lows of the next few years!

LIKE A VIRGIN

About 1974-1975 I played in my first real band called High Concern.  My little brother on bass, Dave or Allan on drums, Pedro on Guitar & Vocals, Mick on Harmonica, Flute and congas.  We only played covers and mostly around the working men's clubs which was very scary to a painfully thin and shy 17 year old.

 It did teach me a lot.... how not to get upset when you were asked to exit the stage when the bingo was wheeled on half way through your song,  how to keep cool when accosted in the Gents by drunken youths saying you we're a shit band and how to stage manage the old drunk who wanted to sing with the band and wouldn't give the microphone back.  Finally how act appropriately when the strippers took to the stage and you are not actually old enough to be in there!

 The band finally split after a few years following some disagreement that I cant

remember.

STRANGE DAYS

Now that I was a seasoned veteran with dozens of gigs behind me I started to look for another band. I eventually found one that to this day still has a lot relevance and influence in my life.

Some time around 1975 or 76 and I answered an advert in the Nottingham Evening Post for a keyboard player with own gear and transport, and NO BREAD HEADS!  I went to Beeston with my gear and in the company van, which Dad let me use,  and after a successful audition with Colin and Eric and Rob I joined the band.  Years later they teased me that I only got picked as I was the only one who had  access to a van and could drive.....at least I assume they were teasing! As it turned out I was probably a founder member of this  band which, after the sudden departure of Rob and a change of personnel became Strange Mist.  This was much more my type of band, heavy rock with some great lyrics and good original songs (See some of them on my you tube page).  Under the supervision of our new manager Simon Towle we  soon developed a following around the Nottingham area through a combination of self financed gigs and eventually a residency at the Imperial and the Mint bar plus numerous other gigs including the Sandpiper and the Boat Club, the Palais and Nottingham University.  Thanks to all involved and who made these years very special, Dave Stafford , Phil Petraitas, Colin Wright , Mick (Eric) Dickens, Simon Towle, Nick & Rob Bradgate, it was a great and exciting time.  

The band eventually took an extended break due to other commitments we all had but I don't believe we expected it to be nearly 30 years before we were all together again.

OUT OF JOON 

After putting a video compilation dedicated to strange Mist on you tube, probably 25 years after we last played together I was contacted by Phil who had seen this online.  We had a very nice meet and catch up and after 25 years there was a lot to talk about.  Anyway,  some time after this  Phil called me to say he had been for an audition with a band out at Draycott and he had decided to join with them.  They also needed a keyboard player so I went along for my audition and after a very good session I also decided to join them and The Joons were born.   This was very much Mike Gregory's band and along with Nigel (his long term collaborator and also a great drummer and vocalist),  and Phil and myself , we had a good sound.  Mike could write some really great songs  and he could also play all of our instruments, and sing, so he didn't really need a band just a few more limbs would have been enough.  I didn't find it at all easy letting someone else control the musical direction of the band and it became obvious that Mike had some strong ideas about where he wanted it to go.   I tried to go along with him as much as I could, as I loved his songs and I enjoyed playing in a real band again, but I also started writing and recording my own material as I needed this other creative outlet.

As it turned out we were very much a backing band for Mikes talents,  and, after a few years working together and doing a few gigs  the band folded and we eventually all went our own way.  

 I see  that Mike and Nigel and Sara are still performing covers around the area and I am pleased to have worked with them.  The whole experience did teach me a lot of disciplines I had let slide.  Most significantly it also re-awakened my desire to perform live again before age became a barrier.

THE GRAND REUNION

In November 2008 Myself, Dave, Phil together with  Simon  & Rob Bradgate met up for an afternoon of jamming and playing some of the old Strange Mist standards (See below). These have been recorded and are now on my you tube page.  Sadly a couple of years later we lost our friend Rob who had been poorly for some time but was always there to support us and is greatly missed by all who knew him.

 Following this reunion we finally made contact with Mick (Eric) Dickens our drummer my long lost band mate and vocalist/lyricist Colin Wright both  from my Strange Mist days and we had a final rehearsal with the old original line up which sadly we have not yet managed to repeat.

DON'T PANIC

To cut short a long story,   In about  2014 and as the rest of ,what was  Strange Mist  had other commitments,  Colin Wright and I decided to form  band with the intention of performing our self penned songs, new and old.  After several years and a few personnel and name  changes we now have a great line up with our new  band,  Mild Panic.

Find us on our facebook page under Mild Panic or copy and paste the following link into your browser window

    www.facebook.com/Mild-Panic-599468250235447/

Dave & Phil at the Strange Mist reunion. 

From left to Right, Anthill, Simon Towle, Dave (Strat) Stafford, Rob Bradgate and Phil Petraitas

Strange Mist.   

Polaroids from our performances sometime around 1976-7. 

 Top right is me in the Sandpiper Club in Hockley with my Wurtlitzer Piano, Yamaha Organ, Roland SH1000. 

 On the left is  Colin on Vox, Dave on Guitar, Eric on drums, Below is Phil on Bass behind Colin (the one with the Tambourine).

During the early 80's while learning how to record on my Portastudio I  began to write a lot of new songs and although the recordings were very...very basic (I didn't realise how basic they were at the time) I think that, with the help of a  few friends we crated some good songs.  Thanks to Rose Potts  and to Rob Bradgate (sadly no longer with us)  for contributing and performing them.  Anyway, some interesting results and some reasonably good songs but not really broadcast quality but who knows, maybe I will re-visit them one day armed with new technology.

At about this time I formed another band with my brother Chris on bass, Simon on Guitar,  Dave on drums and Rob on vocals.....never got as far as gigging but had some great rehearsals and we wrote some good songs before fading away....can't remember why but I think we all had lots of other things to do. 

Eventually I out grew the space available at home but managed to  find an  unused office at the place where I worked and I set up my portastudio, keyboards, guitars and recording equipment in there.  Now  I could really go to town and play at being  a professional musician and recording artist!

It was in this new location that I was introduced to Bruce Starkey a talented guitarist and vocalist (Thanks to Richard for the introduction....sadly recently departed Rip Richard*) and he introduced me to Mick (Bass Guitar) and eventually Dave Reynolds (Drums) who was touring for the summer season at that time.  We eventually all got together and we started rehearsing and writing together and it was hear that I met Chris Gill.  We had some good results and some promising songs but again we never got much further because we then became involved in Subway Studios.

As it happened there was an empty computer room below the office block I was working in.  In those days, in fact long before those days, a computer room was a large temperature and humidity controlled room where you installed your main frame computer which had all the processing power to run a large company but today wouldn't even run your mobile.  Anyway,  the room was empty, derelict and dirty but myself  and Dave Reynolds saw the potential for a rehearsal room so we did a deal with the landlord and rented the space.  Eventually, with the help of Chris Gill, Dave Fletcher and Pete Brown we  fitted out 3 rehearsal rooms with carpets, sound proofing , pa's, drums, mirrors, mics etc. and we rented the rooms out on an hourly rate to local bands.  We were soon working 7 nights a week and most  Saturdays and Sundays.   

What started out as rehearsal space for our band ended up a business.  We then expanded into offering recording facilities which again proved to be quite popular with local bands and a few from further afield.  Eventually we moved the recording to Beeston and joined another local recording  Studio....my memory says it was Square Dance but not sure about that!  We decided to  specialise in providing a small recording  suite (in a large venue) for song writers and individuals while leaving the rest of the studio to handle the big bands.   With our midi suite and 32 channel mixing desk in sound proofed surrounding, and a dedicated engineer or two on hand with all the out board gear we could ever need we prepared for the rush of customers which would surely follow.  Unfortunately within a few months of the move  our new landlords went into administration and we only had a few hours notice to get our belongings removed or risk having them seized or impounded until we could prove we owned them.  And that was the end of our commercial recording venture...but not the end of my story!

 SUBWAY STUDIOS CONTROL ROOM.

 Tascam 38 plus Atari mega 4 for midi sequencing.  

Korg DW6000 & Roland Super JX10 in foreground.

  FX Rack below. 

 BELOW, PLAYING WITH THE "JOONS" 2008 TO 2011.

 "IDOLISE"  BY  WRITTEN  BY  MIKE  GREGORY.