ABOUT ME

Me, I'm an accidental engineer. I have absolutely nothing to do with the music industry, although I spend all my pocket money financing it.

I live and work in Munich, having moved here with my lovely German wife, Karen, and ex-Birmingham Dogs home dog, Dougal, in 2002.

I enjoy going to gigs.

I have a small scrap of Wendy James' t-shirt, I have had Paul Weller's sweat sprayed in my face (it was he who did it, it didn't come out of a squeezy bottle) and have seen The La's play their whole album twice at Southampton University, due to a lack of material.

I've stood transfixed as The Wonder Stuff spun their Wheel of Fortune at Brixton Academy, played Blur bingo at Alexandra Palace and have romanticised about life in the 60's as Arctic Monkeys played Große Freiheit 58 (a club within mop-top flinging distance of the Beatles' Kaiserkeller in Hamburg).

I've egged on Liam Gallagher as he threatened to duff the whole of the Cardiff Astoria up, written my first and last gig review at Bristol Sound City '95 for Gair Rhydd and can't remember a thing about Oasis' monumental comeback gig at the Watford Colosseum (apart from the fact that Liam came dressed as a bear).

I am the proud owner of ticket number 1 for an Octopus + Geneva gig at TJ's, am the not so proud owner of intact tickets for U2 on their Zooropa tour at Cardiff Arms Park and Oasis at Finsbury Park and have asked Thom Yorke to excuse me whilst I made my way to the toilet at a Strokes gig in the now-renamed Oxford Zodiac (he didn't offer to hold my drink).

I am also incensed that Marion never made it big.

And now I've turned my attention to music festivals.