I'm a rockstar on hiatus - Ask Me (Almost) Anything

[SweetnSaltyPopcornPlease]

I'm a semi-successful musician in a rock band. It's my only occupation, has been for some years. I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of stuff and met a lot of people. Ask me anything. I can't answer everything for various reasons but let's see how it goes...

@InappropriateFire

What is the deal with Mark Ronson? I can't see it, music wise - what is he so good at? A particular sound? I know he is a producer but everyone else in your list was a musician (I know Spector produced, too)

I don't get him musically yet but his influences and favourite bands are all the same stuff I listened to growing up so I should be able to get it.

Why can’t you say who you are? Genuinely. What would be the problem to admitting you are John/Jane Smith from Band X?

Lots of people say they don’t want to be outed on here but if you have a unique name for this thread then so what?

@BitOfFun I've been in a few dressing rooms myself at Space gigs - they're pretty liberal about allowing fans backstage - and some were lovely, but others were shitholes. One was so tiny I wondered how the band all managed to fit in there. One of the nicest ones they had was at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool.

I worked on Meltdown at the Southbank curated by some spectacular names and was completely underwhelmed by the riders and backstage vibe. There were some good parties usually to do with the less well known bands and overall a great atmosphere but they happened after the gigs when we went on somewhere.

@Floraflower3 lol, Slipknot are pretty hardcore. We're more Indie rock. I like such a variety of music, that's always a hard question. My answer will change by the hour but - for UK I quite like a bit of Spring King, Royal Blood and Lower Than Atlantis. Not enough time to name everyone I like through the decades and countries.

Reverend and the Makers.

That's my guess.

@MissConductUS I love playing in the Midwest. In the small towns, a band passing through can be the talk of the town for weeks, people are so grateful any band made it there that they go wild. And the people are really interesting. Very American, lol. Playing in LA is cool, there's always a celebrity actor there. You never know who might turn up. We've had our music put in films because actors/directors saw us play in LA.

I dunno - I mean it helps that I think he is fucking gorgeous .. I just like all that modest introspection and muttering .. but I like everything he's produced. He does seem to understand people and nurture them.

I think of Carole King as a songwriter rather than performer. I'd also like Trevor Horn because he's one of the greats IMHO.

Who would you go for Serenda? ... Spill. Oops sorry Popcorn that might be considered hijacking your thread. I mean if we have a separate conversation about music people.

@FlowerTink we have headlined many festivals.

Prior to lockdown was the lifestyle like the Nickleback song? (We'll all hang out at the coolest bars, with the VIPs and the movie stars etc)

I want it to be Mystery Jets.

Idlewild?

@SweetnSaltyPopcornPlease have you heard of NeckDeep?

It's Laura McClure from Reverend and the Makers. If you know your music you can figure it out.

[quote JacobReesMogadishu]@SweetnSaltyPopcornPlease have you heard of NeckDeep?[/quote]
I know the parents of one of the members of that band 🤔

I can't believe nobody's asked this yet:

Are you SimonJT's ex?

Is Sergio Pizzorno as much of a prick to work with as he was to encounter socially?

How did you get your big break?

Are you ever not in the mood to do a show? Can the audience tell?

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder and @squiffyseesaw I was also going to say Laura from Reverend and the Makers. She has two small sons hence being on Mumsnet and other things seem to add up to it being her too. I think she has a blog about being a Mum and musician on tour and she won a women in music award.

www.mumontour.co.uk/

It's 100% her @LittleRa - everything adds up and her writing style matches her blog. She'll probably bugger off now but I hope she doesn't, because this is a fun AMA

@Jellykat

Are you in The Wurzels?

Love the Wurzels! (Hi Jellykat😊

@InappropriateFire

I love Carole King, too. Am massively getting into her and Joan Baez at the moment.

The problem is my musical lists change by mood.

I would say

Echo and the Bunnymen
Dylan (for lyrics)
Johnny Cash
Kate Wolff
Peter Gabriel
Fats Domino
Roberta Flack ('The first time'...is still breathtaking for me)
Some early U2
Simon and Garfunkel
Leonard Cohen
Cocteau Twins
Neil Young
Natalie Merchant
Sam Cooke
De La Soul (for sheer originality at the time)

I can tell you what Serge is like btw... an absolute c u next Tuesday...

Fallen in love with Francois Hardy, too