Your name:
Greg.
Where are you from?
Essex, England.
Name of band:
I once played bass in a band called Indigo, but that was a very long time ago and I now direct my musical outgoings to my RealSoundsOK blog.
Who else is in your band?
RealSoundsOK is a one-man band.
How would you describe yourself?
Very tall, balding, laid-back and tattooed. I like listening to new music (and a lot of old stuff). I don't like being nasty, which is why I don't do reviews.
Who are your main influences musically?
The first album I bought was Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits (I loved Johnny B Goode from the film Back To The Future). The first band I saw live were Dire Straits cos my dad took us to see them at Wembley Arena. I've had spells where I was into pop, rap and hip hop, grunge, metal, dance/house, nu metal, Britpop, indie and so on. Nowadays I listen mainly to rock and metal, but will try anything once. I love Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Korn and 36 Crazyfists among many others.
What do you hope to achieve in music?
To have a couple of beers with Dave Grohl! My aim with the blog is to find new artists and music that I like and to also help people make headway and build a fanbase for their music by giving them some exposure. I think I'm achieving that. I'd also like to achieve more followers on Twitter and a load more hits on the blog.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
Getting thanks and praise is always nice, as are offers to go to gigs and festivals. My best memory from covering music was when I blagged my way into the photo pit at a V Festival to watch Foo Fighters, a band I love. I was there on a press pass, but didn't have a photographer's pass to get to the front of the stage. I'd been drinking most the day so I had built up a bit of courage by the evening and tried to talk my way in via the PR woman in charge. She was having none of it. Undeterred, I made my way to the outside press box near the car park and tried to blag one from the poor sod stuck out there. I told them I should've been given a pass and was only there to photograph the Foos and had only just realised I wasn't given the right pass. My act was working and was just about to get the wristband I needed when the woman who had earlier given the firm 'no' turned up to see what was going on and put the kibosh on it. But I persevered. I got chatting to some of the proper photographers and managed to find one who had been given TWO photo pit passes. I managed to convince her it was in her best interests to let me borrow one, she managed to slide it off her wrist without breaking it and I was on my way. I queued up with the other photographers to be taken round to the front of the stage, but the PR woman was there again and stared at me in disbelief when I showed her the wristband. But, fair play, she let me through and minutes later I was in front of Dave Grohl snapping away on my tiny digital alongside these guys with their massive cameras and lenses. You only get the first three songs in the pit, so I took photos for the first and then started jumping around, dancing and standing on the barriers at the front looking out at 80,000 people like a rock star. Awesome.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
A very nice PR woman once helped me get accreditation for a festival and the passes included free food and drink all weekend. I'd only spoken to her on email up until then but found out what she looked like so I could go and say thanks. Unfortunately, after quite a few of those free drinks, I decided that rather than just saying 'Hi I'm Greg from RealSoundsOK, thanks for getting me in', it would much funnier to look her up on LinkedIn, find out where she went to uni and then pretend I was a one-night stand from back in the day. She didn't find the joke quite so funny. I did later reveal who I really was (also a mistake) and how I found out the uni she went to, which I think creeped her out even more. I haven't been back to that festival since.
Where can we find out more about your music?
The blog address is RealSoundsOK.blogspot.com
Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
If you're in a band or sing or make music in any way then get in touch, take the Q&A and let me help you let people hear it. Email me, realsoundsok@gmail.com
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