Joseph Ashley-Smith
The first band I ever played in was a one-shot all-star psychedelic covers band, called Bravado Macaque (with Kip, Tim et al). I was a bassist then, with long boofy hair that looked like a perm and an under-chin caterpillar I referred to optimistically as my ‘beard’.
After our one and only gig, I moved to Yorkshire to study film and learned, after persuasion, that good music had also been made after the 70s. I joined Superfine (a band inspired by Sonic Youth and named after a packet of crisps) and, rather than pursue the satisfying and lucrative career of a film editor, became an impoverished but hopeful musician. Superfine got signed to Deceptive Records, recorded a duet with Justine Frischmann and became ‘the first band to release a free single by email’ ever.
When Superfine dissolved in a shower of fisticuffs and a broken nose, I moved back to Cambridge and formed Donderevo with Tim, Barney and Jim. Steve Lamacq loved our 4-track sound and played every demo we sent him. We got signed by the nefarious Lizard King Records and released a whole bunch of excellent albums, wowing teenage boys up and down the country with our (now genuine) beards and wild stage antics. I left the band in 2005 and moved to Australia.
Having vowed never to join another band, in 2006 I responded to a musicians wanted ad and formed The Silver Linings with Thea, Thornall and Mike. I now live in Sydney, score the occasional film and tinker with my self-indulgent side-project alter-ego, The Modern Woodsman.