I love to play a lot of shows and if a band I’m in doesn’t want or allow that to happen for some reason then I have to either leave the band or have another band to satisfy the urge to play live. These bands that exist on hype alone and only play a handful of shows a year aren’t for me , well unless I have another group but in general they don’t like that , we end up falling out over it then I leave or get fired!!!

I was fired from The Prodigy which I wasn’t happy about however I could see it coming. Keith Flint let me know regularly that I was a disposable commodity and not essential to the Prodigy machine (charming of him) . I loved that experience and I still love Liam but Keith gave me a hard time. The English Dogs was a band that I inherited by default. I joined them and within 2 years the band leaders left me to run the show. When we reformed in 1993 it was an interesting situation because it was like a bunch of ex band leaders all coming together to run one band after a couple of years I was left to run the show once more.

How permanent is your latest band The More I See or is it another project before you move onto something else?

Firstly I must state that The More I See is a genuine band and not a project like I’d do at school and hand to teacher whilst whistling and running out of the gates like crazy , never turning back . Four of us started this band or reinvented the band as a decision .I am for my sins , the band leader and have funded the album recording and so on and so for that reason I see The More I See is my baby. You could say It began as the English Dogs , morphed into Janus Stark , flirted with The English Dogs again and stopped to re invent itself as The more I See. I’m staying with this baby and I absolutely love the new album .It took so long to achieve I can’t help but have a great feeling of completion over it.

One of the things that struck me straightaway from the album was the high level of musicianship from all the members in the band so how easy was it to find the right guys - I ask cos one of the chief moans I hear from a lot've British bands is the lack of quality musicians (perhaps more
directed at those willing to be in a serious band)?

It’s tragic that there are fewer musicians in the UK that wanna go the extra mile than in say Scandanavia or the USA . I see it rising all the time though. Living in the UK naturally lends itself to this form of music because you can’t help but grow up angry coming through the educational system with little positive feeling . In the UK you witness a lot of shit. On every level we can relate to Thrash Metal . We are angry as hell , we are struggling here , we’re direct , we don’t need to sugar coat anything. How can a band coming from Hollywood be as angry as us? They can’t!!! If it weren’t for the other guys in TMIS , we wouldn’t be able to exist because we DID have a couple of people in the band leave and when we had replacements come in they left after a short time because they couldn’t function on our level and wouldn’t put in the extra work that was needed .

You're well known for that almost legendary crossover guitar sound that is punk & metal so how early on in your career did you decide that was the sound for you and how did you develop it (i.e. did u always know that's how you wanted to play or did you try different styles)?

I started playing in that way when I was 13 and I heard Motorhead’s “Bomber” back to back with The Damned’s “Love song”. My sister was dating a musician called HARRY SAYERS ,a black guy who was into Heavy Metal and he left his Fender strat and distortion unit at my house. He showed me a bunch of stuff by Sabbath , Iron Maiden , Motorhead , Thin Lizzy and Hendrix. My first goal was to play better than him. It took me 12 months. He was my idol at that time though and stayed that way until I heard Van Halen for the first time and THAT changed my life. Bear in mind that all this time I was in a Punk rock band and learning and writing Punk rock songs . I was adding a metal edge to all of it.

Do you agree and to what extent when people say you're guitar sound influenced the thrash metal genre (well, mebbe I should say sound)? If so, do you feel you've got the recognition you've deserved?

There weren’t a great many people in 1980 and 1981 that were hanging around with both crowds Metalheads and Punks. I got a lot of flak for it but I stuck it out.I just started going to pubs and hanging around with older musicians .The respected local punk band was The Destructors and they asked me to join them. I was a really young kid and my Dad couldn’t see any future in me being a musician of any kind . He thought the music I played was horrible.My equipment was pretty shoddy and I had to borrow a Marshall from a friend but it had a killer sound . All the time I was trying to recreate the sound of Harry Sayers crazy home made distortion unit. I wrote a few songs for The Destructors “Neutron Bomb” “Nerve Gas” “Bomb” “Berlin” “Bullshit” “Electronic Church” which was the turning point really. That band commanded a huge following and played all the popular venues in the UK at the time. However we had a lousy drummer , a very limited bassist and a singer that wasn’t much of singer , just a really cool guy.At the same time I was in a band kinda on the side called Kiosk 2 which had a Heavy Metal guy on the drums called Dave. That band was fantastic and was a template for things to come. Dave played me some stuff he was jamming with a fellow guitarist who had a flying V and I felt so jealous!! The guys sound was awesome .Whilst out on tour I was approached by various people who appreciated was I was trying to do and they compared me to Bones from Discharge . That band was infinitely more powerful due to the fact that everyone could play with a great deal of aggression . After Destructors split I formed The Desecrators and we played with Bones’s new outfit “Broken Bones” at the 100 club and it was pretty obvious that I could play better than him but he was a hero on the scene due to what Discharge had achieved. I joined English Dogs and we played with Broken Bones a lot and I must say we were better than them on many levels. I met Metallica in ‘85 and they were banging on about The English Dogs AND The Destructors !!! I always feel that Discharge and particularly Bones got more recognition for the style. The Truth was in 1982 they were far better players than The Destructors. We were let down by a really terrible drummer. That would have made all the difference. We should have roped Dave from Kiosk 2 into The Destructors !!!

You've played in both full on punk and metal bands but it seems that your true love is the crossver that is thrash so can you describe what it is about this style that you like (when I look back many people derided it and today it seems like a flash in the pan cos it gave way to power, black metal etc but didn't really continue itself)?

The style from the 83 – 85 era had a combination of aggression , great playing , melody and songwriting that I feel 100% in tune with. It’s also worth bearing in mind that Yngwie Malmsteen released his first 2 albums in this time which had a huge impact on my playing.

I gotta say, it seems like quite an achievement to be touring the US when you're 18 years old and in a punk band (English Dogs) so what was it like? Did ya ever get to meet any of the guys in Metallica?!

I met their relatives! Kirk Hammets brother I believe. As I said earlier we did hang out with Metallica but that was in London in 85.There were some really cool people out there on our USA tour. Heathen and Lee who is now in Exodus were truly cool , Nuclear Assault , DI , Youth Brigade , Wendy o williams and so on.

When you auditioned for The Prodigy had they ever seen a guy like you or even heard a guitar sound like yours (don't wanna do them down but just how much competition did you really have - you must've blown them away!)?

They didn’t really like the Metal side of things and wanted strictly Punk. The English Dogs were back in action prior to that and had a particularly sassy Punk Metal mix leaning more towards punk this time. The Prodigy loved that. They wanted more mids , less solo’s more pic sliding and SOS signals!!! They were a bit of an odd bunch regarding guitars and liked weird noises and effects more than fast techniques. You can’t please all the people all the time eh?

Was it difficult to make the adjustment going from smaller bands to a mega band like the Prodigy or did your previous experience stand you in good stead?

I’d say it’s harder coming back down ;-) No seriously , I think I handled it OK all in all . It was a HUGE time being No.1 in so many countries at the same time. I did what I could and I’m very grateful that it happened at all. I have to also thank the whole English Dogs experience leading up to that . I wouldn’t have got that gig if we weren’t cooking at the time so thanks , Pinch ,Wakey , Jon , Wattie , Shop , Pid and Stu . Yes the Dogs went through a lot of members!!!

What was your motivation in putting together the Fashionable Loud Rock School....besides learning how to play, is it a school where budding musos can learn about the business and other aspects of the industry that they usually find out as they go along (usually to their peril)? I notice that you emphasis the 'live' aspect rather than a more academic aspect so I guessing that it's for serious rockers who want to play in bands!

I needed money!!! And a friend called Bruce Dickenson advised me to do it as a similar turn around of luck had happened to him . I was a guitar teacher before so I knew I could do it again.Bruce now owns and manages the Brighton Institute of Modern Music and he’s my mentor. ..he’s trying to help me get a similar thing off the ground . What I have at the moment is small but it’s the beginning of great things.I teach one to one , pairs , small groups, classes and whole bands and I teach them everything. Mainly to enjoy it!!!

Ok, thanks for your time Gizz!

Thank you very much Shan. Gizz