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| Nigel Hobbs - Keyboards, Guitar & Vocals
STARS:
ARIES
FAVE BANDS:
Genesis, Yes, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Spock's Beard. Of late,
really enjoying stuff by The Feeling,
BIOG - Early musical mumblings started from the fledgling age of three when apparently I was heard bashing the piano to a toon that resembled, er, well whatever it was nobody recognised it! Early signs were noticed by me Mum and Granny, both of whom were pianists. Started writing little songs and was encouraged to play whenever possible. Took classical piano lessons at 7 but like most kids of that age, I was far more interested in kicking footballs around and playing out with me mates than studying the merits of crotchets and quavers so the lessons stopped, but the piano lives on and is currently residing in Mum's garage under a dust sheet (or is that my brother?) By 13 was well into rock and electric guitars and me old man eventually submitted to pressure and bought me a black Les Paul copy guitar and a Wem 15 watt valve amplifier. Enjoyed pis*ing off the neighbours by playing the opening chords to The Sweet's ‘Blockbuster’ at full volume with my bedroom window open!
A school mate introduced me to Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' album and, hey, that was it! Fell in love with the sound of the mighty Hammond C3 organ (ooer missus) and the keyboard addiction had begun. Every penny I could earn between the age of 14 and going to work was spent fuelling my synthesizer habit... It turned out to be a bottomless pit from which I would never escape... Gradually started absorbing all sorts of influences - prog rock, Stevie Wonder, Elton John. As a teenager, the headphones were rarely off my head as I soaked up as much music as I could - how very geeky! The rest of my teens and early twenties continued with numerous school bands (with such exotic names as ‘Ion Grid’ and ‘Wild Bishop’!) and then onto the live circuit with Reflex. Joined Frozen Heart (later know as Walk The Wire) in 1988 which was a perfect vehicle for my songwriting. Had some cracking times on the live circuit and eventually broke into Radio by winning the Radio One Rock Wars contest. One of my fondest memories is recording at the BBC and getting played on the legendary Tommy Vance Friday Rock Show (RIP). Fulfilled the dream of getting a record deal in '94 and recorded our debut album in 15 days of madness at Maison Rouge. It was quite surreal to be working in a studio and bumping into the likes of Bjorke, members of Simply Red and Take That! - I expect they said the same of us (not)....
One from the archives (there is some hair - just!) After being in Walk The Wire for 8 years, it all imploded with a bit of a dull fizzle, as opposed to the blaze of glory that we would have liked. Kinda sad really - loadsa potential but the 'big break' came five years too late... Formed Arizona in 1996 with Dave and I can honestly say it's the most enjoyable bunch of herberts I've ever worked with - and they can play pretty damn well too! We enjoy every gig and when we're just kicking around waiting to go on stage we spend so much time laughing and enjoying each other's company that I can see us one day making a film version of Last of The Summer Wine for musicians. I feel very proud of this band. Our first 10 years playing hundreds of gigs have been the most rewarding times of my musical career. Here's to the next 10!!
Hobbsy's Gear |
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Roland A90 Digital Piano |
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email:
arizonaband@hotmail.com website ©arizona 2006 |
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