Where to start? Take Phat is made up of four wonderful guys, Si, Clarkey, Oz & Faz. Si, Clarkey and I actually go way back to the old days, when I had long hair, and played guitar in a band called, Almost. The year was 1997, I started my music course, not knowing anyone, all I had was my guitar and a handful of dreams. Day One, some loud kid, would never shut up…and I mean ever, he talked all the time….soon, it was my turn to be talked at, played to…then asked what I could play. Crap! erm! first thing that came to mind was Layla, by Eric Clapton – but the unplugged version.
Next thing, this loud kid (I say kid, he was nearly 2 years young than me), was dragging me round to meet his friend and show him what I could play. The loud one was Simon, he still talks a lot! His mate, Peter Clarke. Back then Si played drums, and comparisons to Animal (from The Muppets) were pretty accurate. Almost was born, we needed a Bassist (Cliffey – but he doesn’t feature much in the rest of this story), we toured Runcorn & Widnes, far and wide our Roadies (parents) drove us, all the way from the top end of Widnes, to the bottom end of Runcorn, we didn’t quite make it out of the Northwest.
Then times changed, musical differences happened and we went our separate ways. I still have one of our jam sessions on cassette tape somewhere.
Simon got in touch via facebook, and said that these guys needed some pictures taken. The date was set, and we all met up. It was like stepping back in time, laughing and joking just like we always had. But it was time to get to work. I was treated to a couple of songs first, what can I say….they were brilliant. I took some shots of the guys performing, then it was time to get some group and individual shots of the guys. Then they sprung on me that they had brought clown suits and make up with them. I’ve read IT, by Stephen King. Clowns are pretty freaky, but I’m a professional – I could handle four grown men, dressed as clowns, occasionally gyrating against each other (at least my therapist tells me, I’ll get through it). Clown suits and make up on, I took a shot of each of them, as they were ready.
A couple of group shots and I then got treated to more songs, brilliant! On to the pics!
Thanks for a great evening guys, I had a real blast, catching up and hanging out with you.
This is the lads version of Take That and Party
