From LDN to TLV

How did I get here??

Originally from London, UK, I moved to Israel in 2011. People ask why I moved....and I sometimes ask them in return if they want the real answer or a fake one. Many tend to reply that I don't need to tell them if I don't want to but I'm not that much of a secretive person. For those I have just met, I simply say I moved because my family moved here. That is technically true. The longer story includes the part where I had a breakdown over something that, in hindsight, was something so ridiculous. I came to visit my parents who live in Zikhron Yaakov (north of Israel) for a bit of support during a very dark time. In the end, I decided to stay. This move resulted in the disbanding of what I consider my second REAL band and my longest running band to date, Ghostnotes. 

My attempts at forming and being in bands.

Although it is all a pretty vague memory, I am pretty sure that I had tried out for a few bands in my college years. I remember jamming with a garage/new wave type band called Dolls House (or House of Dolls) in south London. There was definitely at least 2 girls in the band but cannot remember if it was just the 2 girls or also another girl or another guy. Anyway..that did not last long as I then got replaced. I was also replaced with the previous drummer in a metal band from High Wycombe. There were several names for the band but when I was in them I believe we were called Dead Sea Scrolls. It was interesting being in that band, as at that time I never really knew where High Wycombe was. Turned out it was a short overground train journey from Wembley Stadium train station. It was fun playing in this band, from what I remember, but I was never really any good with double pedal so it's probably better off that I was replaced.  

Jacknife Rickshaw

Ghostnotes' original guise as Jacknife Rickshaw (so named while roaming around central London one night) happened around 3-4 years earlier when I was 19/20. We were a 4 piece, comprising of myself on drums and 3 of my closest friends from secondary (high) school. We had always been jamming together at school and were always talking about actually being band and it eventually happened. We had one show at the 12 Bar Club , Denmark St London.  I then moved to Derby for 3 years where I was studying Creative Expressive Therapies. In the second year, I formed a band that I both drummed and sang for called Butting Heads. 

Butting Heads

Like Jacknife Rickshaw, Butting Heads was short lived and we only had one show.  It was barely a "show". I had a birthday party at my student house and we set up my attic bedroom, which we were already using for practice space, to have enough space for a crowd. It was my first attempt at a punk band. It was made up of 2 guys I had randomly found online via message boards, a friend I new from one of my circle of Uni friends and I was on drums and singing main vocals. We really only had about 3 songs and a Girls Aloud cover (that I can remember). We weirdly disbanded shortly afterwards. I say weirdly because I can't quite remember why or how. We were meant to be playing a birthday party of a friend of a friend of our bassist (no typing error) but then members were saying that they're leaving the band after this show..and then there was an issue about getting my kit to the party...and I basically pulled the plug on playing that party and the band was no more. One of the guitarists now plays in Nottingham based noisy band Fresh Eyes For The Dead Guy.

Shot At The Bar

At the party Butting Heads played, I was approached by a friend's/classmate's boyfriend who was also starting a new punk band at that time. He liked the way I sang and wanted to know if I could sing for them. He sent me a demo recording that they did with his Mac. The song idea was there, it just needed a bit of ironing out. This resulted in Shot At The Bar. We were also a punk band and lasted a bit longer and did more shows than my previous bands. We had a great first show at The Blessington Carriage (AKA The Bless), despite me forgetting a majority of the lyrics, along with friends ska band Toon Union and a band the Toon Union drummer was also in from his home town (I can't remember the name). We then continued until the end of the academic year, playing at a good number of the venues around Derby city centre.  As that year was both mine and some of the other members' final year, that was the end of the band. We got some stuff recorded but it was not a good mix. Our final show was playing Eddii Fest, which was a tribute to my friend Eddii WG, who played bass in Butting Heads, played in a few other bands and was also a singer/songwriter in his own right. Eddii sadly took his own life because of depression. 

Ghostnotes

After leaving University and returning to London, the aforementioned Ghostnotes was formed. We were a 3 piece rock band comprising of the same line-up as Jackinife Rickshaw minus the Canadian (he knows who he is). We had a bit of a "Beatles" type thing going on where we all wrote songs and sang our own. I really only had one of my own, Sugar & Spice, but I was in the process of writing more. My move to Israel may have hindered us from having supporting slots with big(ish) bands and releasing an album (which we recorded in Ireland), but luckily my band mates have both gone off to do their own thing in JB Newman & The Black Letter Band and Black Hay respectively. They are both currently doing quite well with album and single releases and touring the UK, both playing what can only be described as sexy rock music. No online evidence of Ghostnotes' music really exists anymore due to wanting to forget the past and start afresh.  

Side Defects and Gal Hagoel & The Bananas

And now we arrive over 2,000 miles away from London in Tel Aviv. After attempting a metal band with some other expats, I ended up forming Side Defects with 2 members of a band called Inside Job. I actually met them at one of their performances and the guitarist got me my first job working with autistic adults, similar to what I was doing in London. At around the same time (I can't remember which came first) I also drummed for a singer/songwriter called Gal Hagoel. Like Butting Heads, I drummed and sang Side Defects. I sang the songs I wrote while our guitarist sung those that he wrote. We only had 3 shows and made a live demo but we had fun. Like Butting Heads, Side Defects sort of petered out. I also drummed for Gal Hagoel. Gal writes great songs of a more acoustic/alt rock/blues feel than anything else I played in. We only played about 4-5 shows. We got to a point where we had a producer and were going to go into the studio but out of nowhere the lead guitarist leaves and throws everything out of whack. After about a year, Gal has eventually gotten round to forming a new line-up, now collectively called The Galbijones. 

And that brings us to now.....Stay tuned.....