How did you became the guitar player in Cardiacs ? Were you asked and did you do an audition ?
In 1991 I went to see Cardiacs last gig with Bic and Drakey (Tim Quy had already gone) which I think was the Oxford co-op hall and Bic told me he was leaving coz he got busy with Levitation. Bob Leith and myself had been obsessive fans following them up and down the UK and giving them tapes of our band "Ad Nauseam" who had more of a hint of Cardiacs in it but also had a slightly more proggy Genesis element and sometimes more embarrasingly an 80's rock element.
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We became friends with Dominic and gradually met the others one-by-one as they got into our stupid little tape. At the Oxford gig I bumped into Tim who said he was gonna make a trip to Milton Keynes to see Ad Nauseam's first gig. (Dominic sat in on drums on one song at this gig.) I was very excited at the thought of my hero coming to see me play and blurted out something really stupid like "What?! You mean you're gonna travel up in a car and everything?!"
He replied, "No, I'm gonna get dragged up the M1 by my fucking teeth, you stupid cunt."
Ahem, yes of course,sir.
Anyway, the gig happened and unbeknownst to me Tim's then girlfriend was nudging him throughout the gig saying "You've gotta nick him, You've gotta nick him!" Tim didn't want to "nick me" coz he liked our band and didn't want to upset anyone. I'd really hit it off with Tim and a few days later decided after a conversation with my oldest friend, Gerald that I should as he put it "strike while the iron is hot so to speak." I rang Tim and asked if I could audition and he said "well actually I was thinking of asking you but I didn't want to upset your band." I was all "no, no that's fine etc" and he said "well you wouldn't have to audition as it goes without saying that you're right for Cardiacs but I need to run it by the others first."
A few agonising days passed when I got the call to say,"I've talked with the others and they're not into it so it's not gonna happen" "Oh that's fine...I thought I'd ask anyway...No worries etc."
Then Tim say's "No, only joking, you're in... can you come and meet me at The Spice Of Life on Tottenham Court road?" (DO look for it I believe it's still there!)
The rest, as they say, is history.
What is interesting about this is how young we were back then. Tim was 29 and I was 21. I was in the band for 12 years! Where the fuck did that all go?!! I tried to keep Ad Nauseam going after this but internal arguments, power struggles and jealousy regarding girls and certain people joining their favourite bands tore the band apart.
I'd vowed that I'd come back for Bob and get him in the band somehow but then we didn't talk for a year. We did however then kiss and make up and still love each other to this day and HEY FUCK...I GOT HIM IN THE BAND!!
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