John Kavanagh : Indie Web Developer

Before growing up and getting a real skill and real jobs I played in a relatively successful Liverpool-based indie band called The Sometimes. We were an indie rock band arrangement formed along with three other students from the Northern Academy Television and Drama Workshop, when it became clear that our musical talents most certainly didn’t lie in singing covers of Robbie Williams and Take That, we took things into our own hands.

Away from workshop and from the constrains of only being able to sing three songs at two variety shows four times a year, we were all able to bring all of our own talents to the table, (mine being as a singer and songwriter) and I quickly picked up enough guitar to bang out the rhythm part to Oasis and Rolling Stones covers in pubs where nobody was really listening, which was all we did for the next two years. Our break from this came in the form of a surprise support place in the Manchester Academy alongside American surf-rockers: Nada Surf, from which we went on to play support slots alongside a number of big names and frequently found ourselves in situations we couldn’t explain nor remember the next day.

We completed a summer-long self funded tour across Europe (performing at the FIB Heineken Festival, amongst many other gigs) , visited America and Japan, and eventually released our self-published EP: ‘History Hurts’.

Sadly at what felt like our peak and with record companies pounding on our doors, it all ended. We said our tearful goodbyes, split out the bank account and went our separate ways. During our time together we sold over 5,000 CDs from the back of our vans and cars, sending out another 500 copies of The Neil Sessions and The Last Stand to fans worldwide when we ended, we played over 300 concerts, in sixteen different countries, and raised over £40,000 for various charities along the way.

Since then I’ve spent time both on stage and in the studio with a number of talented musicians and bands but never in the life-encompassing way it used to be. The studio work I’ve been a part of covers a wide variety of genes - from country to metal and back to indie as a singer, a guitarist and a lyricist.