The Music History Museum by Luke James   “No future, no future for you” scowled Johnny Rotten in Anarchy In The UK. John, unlike Sid Vicious, has had something of a future beyond his time in the initial spotlight- I’m a singer in a punk band, get me out of here indeed! Sidney always had too much rope. And now Johnny wants us to frolic in a meadow covered in butter. Shame on you John Lydon. There’s a school of thought that says capitalism can never die, that as long as there is one human [...]

Killing Time by Luke James   “This is bleedin’ ridiculous.” Miki says. It’s just after midnight. We’re standing out in Edgbaston Road scanning the deserted street. Hunt tugs open the battered transit’s back doors. “Yeah, well you lot are on the dole.” Hunt says. “Can’t be too careful. Now get this lot inside, sharpish.” Miki trots back and we start lugging boxes out of the van and up the front steps into the flat. Fifteen minutes later we stand in our downstairs back room, sweat-spangled, and surveyed our haul, about twenty five large, cardboard boxes. [...]

Michael Des Barres: Interview With an Optimystic – Part 3 by Kitty Amsbry   Old rockstars… where do they go? Most of them just fade away. Some burn out, only very occasionally in a blaze of anything remotely resembling glory. Lucky for us, Michael Des Barres has chosen another path, one that is uniquely his own. Borne of more than just good breeding, the Marquis is a rare creature who excels in nearly every aspect of entertainment — in music, on television, on the stage and the silver screen.   Josh Weinstein (the original Tom [...]

Michael Des Barres: Interview With an Optimystic – Part 2 by Kitty Amsbry   This is the second installment of an interview I conducted with musician and actor Michael Des Barres. You can read Part One here. I spoke with Michael last week from him home in LA as he was preparing to head to Tokyo with his fellow members of the band Silverhead, who performed together for the first time in forty years to rave reviews this weekend in Tokyo. As I write this, Silverhead has just come offstage at Shimokitazawa Gardens to rave [...]

Michael Des Barres: Interview With an Optimystic – Part 1 by Kitty Amsbry   What happens when a group of sixty-something year old guys who haven’t even seen each other for thirty-five years jump on a plane, fly halfway around the world and leap onstage to play a down-n-dirty set that they wrote as teenagers? Silverhead, the glam-tastic, bluesy rock n’ roll band borne of the sleazy 70’s showed a packed house of die-hard fans exactly how it’s done with an unforgettable lesson in how to make rock history. Early reports say that the reformation [...]

TOP 5 TIPS ON HOW TO CHOOSE A MANAGER by Luke Skyscraper Hello my pretties, Luke Skyscraper here with today’s top 5 tips about being in a band, and that. Today we’re going to be looking at how to choose a manager. Now, a lot of people ask me, Luke how can I find a good manager? Actually what a lot of them ask me is Luke how did you ever manage to fool even some of the people some of the time? To which I like to reply, somewhat mysteriously, “What, we the people?” [...]

FAN THE FIRE OF FANDOM by Brian Thompson you might have a spark. but you need a flame. and once you have a flame, you need a fire. in fact, you need a raging fucking inferno. you need to burst into flames and create the most fantastic of fans. that’s how you create true, sustainable longevity. it’s done by your fans and through your fans. your most passionate fans are the key to your success. are you fanning the fire of fandom? without fans, your thing won’t be heard. without fans, your thing won’t be [...]

REASONS TO PICK UP THE GUITAR: JIMI (the other end of the rainbow bridge)   by Luke James   By 1992 I’d been playing guitar for going on twenty five years and through all that time the six-stringed siren never strayed far from my twitching fingers. In that year I won tickets in some “You are the 7 Billionth Person to Buy Bog Roll in our Store” competition to the NCAA Final Four up in Seattle. Ironically, even though I’m 6 feet 9 inches tall and have been asked my whole life if I play [...]

Reasons To Pick Up A Guitar: JIMI by Luke James I was fourteen-years-old, and we were still living in our tiny council slum. One dark and freezing December evening Jimi Hendrix changed my life. He all but jumped out of our thirteen-inch, black-and-white television on Ready Steady Go, which up until that point I’d mainly watched because I wanted more than breathing to shag Kathy McGowan.   Through the living room’s fog of fag smoke I peered at this wild haired black man swaggering his Strat through a song of betrayal and revenge. He shot [...]

REASONS TO PICK UP A GUITAR: PLAY IN A DAY   by Luke James   It was the Christmas just before my sixteenth birthday. And it was still dark outside. Our Roy and I shivered our way into the living room, banging doors and turning on lights. This was the one day of the year we didn’t have to worry about making noise and disturbing Dad. (He drove a taxi on nights so if we knew what was good for us we had to be quiet in the day).   Mom appeared in the living [...]