Bonehead is a name any Oasis fan will know immediately. Not only was Bonehead a member of the phenomenon that was Oasis, he was also a founding member.
Since leaving Oasis in 1999, Bonehead has recovered from what he describes as a roller-coaster of a ride and has kept his hand working/playing and recording with mainly Manchester bands and artists as well as being roped in to work on radio.
For the last year he has been busy working with The Vortex, another Manchester band that caught the attention of Bonehead and having passed the audition is now a fully fledged member.
The Vortex are bringing their Indie-sound and Manc-swagger to Beckfest this August and we caught up with Bonehead to find a little more about The Vortex and Bonehead.
SM: You're playing with The Vortex, have a twenty-date tour and are coming to West Cumbria for Beckfest. I've been on your website and listened to the one track, good stuff. What's the story with the band then?
BH: That's all that's up at the moment, we've just put clips on. We are recording an album and funding it ourselves. What we are going to do on a weekly basis is put one and a half minutes clip of each track up. The reason is just so people can hear what we are up to, so there is always a taster every week.
SM:Do you still have a studio at home?
BH: I used to but got rid of all that a long time ago. I have a set up but nothing as big as I used to.
SM:Where are you recoding the album now then?
BH: We're recording in Stockport at a place called Moolah Rouge. Loads of bands have recorded there. It's a really nice, vibrant place. The likes of Dodgy, Badly Drawn Boy, Mazzoni, Happy Mondays - everybody uses it.
SM: With regards to your album, is there a release date?
BH: Well we haven't got one yet. At the moment we are funding the album ourselves and we are generating quite a bit of interest from record companies. At the moment we are at the mixing stage. We have got interest and orders but we might start our own label.
Only, because of the state of the music business at the moment, it's easier and because we can. In the meantime it's carry on mixing, get on with the gigs and see what happens. We have some company interest, we might release a single digitally which will coincide with the touring that we are doing. The plan is get out on the road and stay out on the road - it's the 'old school' way and keep coming back. What we are not doing is trawling around the music companies cap in hand. The main game-plan is to get out and gig and try and create a buzz which is where we are headed.
SM: I take it you're enjoying music again?
BH: Absolutely loving it! I'm really enjoying it with this band.
SM: Where did you find these lads?
BH: I got to know the bass player Nick. He give us some demos and I really liked it. I'd seen them live and I really, really liked them - they are a great sounding band. I first came across them a year and a half ago; I guested at a couple of gigs, I played with them a few times and they asked me to jump in full-time.
SM: Alan McGhee likes the The Vortex, he says: "they are more Primal Scream than they are Oasis, they are more Happy Mondays than they are Oasis but they have that Oasis attitude and not just because Bonehead's in the band, they sell out shows in Manchester, unsigned, and play to hundreds in London. They are kind of like The Roses, and it's just on word of mouth."
BH: Alan likes us, he's a diamond fella. I was DJ'ing with Alan a few months ago in Milan. He says he is retired from the music business, he doesn't run a label anymore but he's still the biggest champion of music.
SM: With regards to you being in one of the biggest bands ever, at what point did you decide to jump off? You were there as a founding member.
BH: Yeah, I was originally a founding member. I don't know, but I've said it a million times but I really do think that Oasis should have bowed out the minute we walked off the stage on the second night at Knebworth. We'd reached a point further than we ever imagined.
In a couple of years we had gone from playing to ten people to playing to 250,000. When it came to [/]Standing on the Shoulders of Giants[/], the spark that had always been there had gone. I do think that they captured it again a few years after I left, but there was always something there and it fizzled out, all of a sudden it wasn't fun for me anymore.
SM: Do you still see Liam and Noel?
BH: I seen Noel a couple of years back and I've met up with Liam a couple of times down in London but not for years really.
SM: So what have you been doing with yourself since leaving?
BH: It took us a couple of years to get me feet back on the ground after that. I mean you sit back and think what happened there? It was such a roller-coaster, everything was so fast.
SM: Looking at the upcoming gigs and dates with The Vortex, will you be returning to venues that you played with Oasis?
BH: Yeah absolutely. We just confirmed one gig in Newcastle at The Riverside. I'm going back and revisiting there; something happened when I played there with Oasis. I'm loving it now and thinking 'will anyone turn up?', I mean if ten people turn up and we do a top gig, that'll do me. Loading the gear in, setting it up, driving the van doing it all, that's what it's all about. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with sliding by with a personal body guard and a limousine - that's all alright, but it's nice to get back to basics, the roots, it's what being in a band's all about. It's what I really enjoy at the moment.
SM: With regards to the Manchester scene over the years being a hotbed for music, is there anyone floating your boat at the moment? Is there anyone coming through?
BH: What in Manchester? You know what, there really isn't. No one's got that buzz at the moment. There is a really healthy music scene in Manchester and there are a lot of good bands, but nobody has that party feel, you know something that makes you want to get in the shower and can't wait till 9 o'clock to get out. There is no one doing that. There's long overdue another scene as it were but there are some great bands out there.
SM: Red or Blue?
BH: Red, but I haven't been to Old Trafford for years. I think Oasis didn't help, everyone thought I was a Blue. If I went there, I probably would have been battered.
SM: Are you still working in radio?
BH: No, I was working with Terry Christian - that's how I got to know Nick, the bass player from The Vortex. I joined The Vortex and there was a choice: gig or radio show. So there was no choice really but I enjoyed doing the radio show, it was great. It was something I never even thought I'd do and ended up part of the furniture.
SM: Playing now there isn't any pressure other than to enjoy it is there?
BH: There's no pressure at all. I've done all that but I'm not just passing the time of day. I'm probably more passionate about what I do now than what I did in 1994. I never thought I'd ever get that passion back.
SM: Who were your early influences?
BH: Stones, Dylan, Bowie, Lou Reid, all that stuff. Then in the eighties you had Smiths, Jesus and Mary Chain.
SM: There's another scene, as much as it hurts me, Manchester has had a few good scenes.
BH: It's where it's from mate. (Laughing) Yeah I don't want to rub your nose in it but people in Liverpool still harp on about The Beatles, get over it! Manchester's where it's at, but seriously, Manchester and Liverpool are the hotbeds. If you look at the top thirty bands, there's loads just from them two cities alone that would make it in.
SM: Who are you listening to at the moment?
BH: All sorts. But I'll tell you what I've been getting right into: Mumford and Sons. I saw them a long time ago, I'm getting into real folksy stuff lately, in fact I've recently bought a banjo.
Watch this space...
You can find The Vortex at www.myspace.com/thevortexmanchester
The Vortex will be performing at Beckfest August 14-15.
