It’s all about the story isn’t it. For over a decade of making documentaries and releasing them on DVD, in February this year I decided to try a different media.

The original idea was to transcribe the interviews from my music documentary ‘We Sold Our Soul for Rock n Roll’ (available via You Tube). The stories still sounded fresh and funny even though I heard them many times during editing. But where do they go from here ? I’d read a few blogs and thought they would be a good outlet for the stories, how do I put one together?

I got in touch with a friend who wrote a blog and he talked about using a WordPress template. It didn’t sound too difficult so I checked it out. 

The interviews filmed for the music documentary were a good start, they just needed updating. Then I got in touch with more musicians, recording their stories via email or meeting up and recording our conversation with a dictaphone.

The initial idea was to interview North East based musicians but social media makes it easier to contact bands from across the UK, Europe and USA. Managers and European PR agencies have also been in touch to arrange interviews.

The blog mainly covers rock, punk and NWOBHM. Although the scope has widened lately, but if the story is good – it’s in. The latest feature, Vinyl Junkies, interviews musicians, actors and writers who talk about their favourite 7 records that shaped their world.

So here we are, 5,300 views in 6 month on a blog which I thought would be read by a handful of people. Starting with 300 a month in February it has grown to 1,500 in July. Special thanks to everyone who has shared their stories…they just keep on coming.

Listed below are all the blogs from the past 6 month. To make it easier to find an interview you can now check on the month or put the musician or band name into the white search bar.

February:
Vince High & Maurice Bates (Mythra) Brian Ross (Satan, Blitzkreig) Lou Taylor (pt 1 Satan, Blind Fury).

March:
Lou Taylor (pt 2 Satan, Blind Fury) Mond Cowie (Angelic Upstarts) Micky McCrystal (Tygers of Pan Tang) Bernie Torme (Gillan)

April:
Steve Dawson (Saracen, The Animals) John Gallagher (Raven) Paul Mcnamara (Salem) Dave Dawson (Warrior) Lee Payne (Cloven Hoof) Paul Di’Anno (Iron Maiden, Battlezone) John Roach (Mythra) Harry Hill (Fist).

May:
Danny Hynes (Weapon UK) Chris Bradley (Savage) Rick Bouwman (Martyr) Maurice Bates (Mythra) Neil Wil Kinson (Spartan Warrior) Kev Riddles (Tytan) Andy Boulton (Tokyo Blade) Steve Dawson (Oliver/Dawson Saxon).

June:
The Butchers of Bolinbroke (Angelic Upstarts) Neil Newton (Angelic Upstarts) Wavis O’Shave (Alternative), Terry & Gerry (Ska/punk), Mick Maughan (Phasslayne, Cirkus) Trevor Short (Dealer) Martin Metcalf (Hollow Ground) Trevor Sewell (Blues) Kev Charlton (Hellanbach, Bessie & the Zinc Buckets) Steve Thompson (Bullfrog, Neat records) Mark Duffy (Millenium).

July:
Ian Dick (Soldier) Jeff Baddley (Troyen) Lee & Chris Wright (Crashed Out) Stevie James (Grudge, Warwound) Martin Popoff (Vinyl Junkies) Bernie Torme (Desperado) Will Binks (Vinyl Junkies) Thunderstick (Samson) Blast Recording Studio (Newcastle, UK) Let the Music do the Talking (Tyneside musicians) Antony Bray (Venom Inc).