| Biography Flying back… 1983 Simon Boardman was lead guitarist with Argon; Jono Hudson was bassist/vocalist in Python whilst brother Joolz Hudson provided lead guitar. Both bands received rave reviews in the press and rock fanzines of the day and bombarded A&R people nationwide with their multiple demo recordings. Both groups ultimately built a strong following in the Yorkshire and Lancashire areas. Says Simon: "Considering that all of Argon and half of Python were still at school when we started, I think that both bands achieved an impressive amount in the time. We were on a par with, if not ahead of, many of our older contemporaries". Jono adds: "I think both bands had a novelty value to the local media because of our extreme youth. They could be quite patronising. We used to blow 'em away though when we started to play. They couldn't believe that a bunch of kids could produce such a hard, mature heavy rock sound…" Searching for stardom, the two outfits gigged the rock circuit tirelessly, playing everywhere and anywhere, with appearances on local TV and radio stations. Jono: "We played youth clubs, church halls, village halls, school discos, pubs, nightclubs, people's gardens, you name it, we played it. We even played at a local caravan club once!" Sadly, however, stardom eluded them. Chewed up and spat out by the rock and roll engine, Python and Argon had both split by 1985. 1986 1987 They rocked. They rolled. Simon's additional guitar sound and supporting vocals imparted a new dimension to the group's musical ability. Anthem after anthem poured from the pens of our one time bitter rivals. Creamsoda hit the road again as a five piece and were better than ever, as increasing audience figures quickly demonstrated. Hastily ushered into a recording studio, they put down tracks for two songs tipped to be their first independently released single. The band was set to be a huge success and very quickly realised the experiences (and excesses!) of local rock and roll infamy (and frequently the local infirmary!). 1988 1990 Incidentally, in this same period, Macca, Jono and Big Bad drummer Paul O'Dowd also teamed up with another local rocker Andy Wordsworth to form Ramones tribute band the Marones. This group experienced massive success with a string of big UK shows, and peaked with an hour-long session and interview on national radio with DJ Mark Radcliff. Eventually, the group decided to hang up its wigs when it had the rug (no pun intended) pulled out from under its feet by the real Ramones re-formation and subsequent tours. 1992 Simon formed a covers group working the pubs and clubs of Northern England and toured this relentlessly. 1993 1998 Meanwhile Jono and Joolz had formed a band under the banner "Stateless Quo" in tribute to the veteran rockers Status Quo. Playing much of Quo's earlier, heavier stuff, this group played successfully around the North for three years. 2002 2003 With Jono on lead vocals and bass guitar, Simon on guitars and backing vocals, and assisted by guest drummer Jay Cee, FLYZ was born. Following many hours locked in local rehearsal studios polishing the new tunes; Simon and Jono decided to self-finance the FLYZ debut album and release it on their own label - Bad Blood. Says Jono: "It's strange to think that after about 20 years of playing in different bands, often crossing each other's paths, that the driving forces behind Argon and Python should ultimately end up being in the same band again - creating the best sound we have experienced so far." Simon adds: "The songs just came pouring out one after the other. We just had to get some of them out on a CD, but we didn't want to wait around for a record company, so we decided to form our own and get the thing out ourselves. It just makes you wonder what would have happened had we stayed together all those years back…" Who knows? Still better late than never! 2004 Says Simon: "It was a gruelling schedule. We were doing 12, but sometimes running to 18-hour days in order to get all the parts down for the 11 tracks we'd committed to. By the time we'd finished, we were all knackered, had blisters from the guitar strings and Jono's voice was shot. When they heard the finished product however, they knew it had all been worth their efforts. Their jubilation was cut short however, when in early March long standing guest drummer Jay Cee announced that he would no longer be able to commit any more time to the band and was hanging up his sticks for good. Jono takes up the story: "I think we'd always known that this would happen at some point, but we'd had our heads buried in the sand, cos we knew how difficult it would be to get a replacement drummer. It also meant that the gigs we'd planned to support the CD had to be knocked back until we found someone else." Despite this setback, the band decided to go ahead with a planned trip to the Czech Republic capital of Prague, to celebrate the release of, and launch, the CD. They gave away promotional copies of the CD to the people and bars of Prague. The CD was played for the first time to unsuspecting listeners in the Budva Bar and a bar called Marquis-de-Sade, where it received a great response. On their return to the UK, the band set about the task of searching for a new (and permanent) drummer. They advertised in all the local press, music fanzines and placed posters in music shops, venues and music studios - to no avail. Daz Thompson (producer) says: I went with them to listen in on a couple of the auditions. The only drummers who'd responded were a couple of kids who only seemed to be interested in playing kind of Linkin Park, or Slipknot covers, that type of thing. One hadn't even played in a band before. I suppose they were good drummers for that type of stuff, but they were just not right for FLYZ. Good, experienced drummers are very hard to find". By May, the band had still not found a suitable replacement. Then, out of the blue, Simon received an email from Ady Thewliss, a drummer who'd seen an ad that Simon had put out a few weeks earlier. Ady had just left top Yorkshire rock act The Tourettes, who he'd been drumming with for several years. The Tourettes had been experiencing internal wrangling for some months and Ady had had enough. Via several emails, they discovered he was experienced, into they same music as they were, he looked right and had a big black 1974 custom Ludwig Monster kit. He seemed too good to be true. Nevertheless, he agreed to meet with Simon and Jono for a non-committal beer one night. Jono explains: "We wanted to find a good, experienced, drummer; particularly one with a warped sense of humour like ours. One day, Ady responded to our Internet ad, so we met up with him for a beer one night, where we had a chat and exchanged CDs. It was like some weird kind of blind date walking into the place where we met, because neither of us knew what the other really looked like or what to expect. We'd only seen some grainy pics of each other on The Tourettes and FLYZ websites. But we spotted him right off 'cause he was wearing this jet black T-Shirt with "I'VE GOT F***ING TOURETTES" in big white letters across the back. As soon as we saw that we knew he was for us." Says Simon: "When we first went to meet him, it was surreal. The place was completely empty, yet there was this awful, loud disco playing some sort of Neil Sedaka and peculiar 1960's stuff. Yet there was Ady, sitting at the furthest end of the bar right in front of the disco's speaker cabs, with disco lights flashing above his head. He had his "I've got f***ing tourettes" t-shirt on. It must have looked like some kind of oddballs' reunion! We spent the first hour yelling at each other; unable to hear each other speak! But somehow, we managed to arrange a rehearsal - which went great!" Ady continues: "I was sitting there in this huge, empty pub. I'd secreted myself away round a side of the bar but sort of facing the door, where I could see anyone coming in. That way, if they came in and they looked like serial killers, I could just slip away out the bar unnoticed. But suddenly, the weirdest disco you've ever heard starts pumping out right behind me with lights flashing around my head. I was lit up like a Christmas tree. Right then in walks Si and Jono. I sometimes wonder whether it was them that arranged that f***ing disco! They say it wasn't them, but I wouldn't put owt past 'em… They were like the odd couple - one's a big imposing bald guy, the others a bit shorter with long shaggy dark hair. Neither looked like they'd slept for a week. They both looked as uneasy as I felt. Because of the disco lights they spotted me immediately and came straight over. We spent ages just shouting at each other, but once we'd moved away from the noise and could hear each other speak, we got on like a house on fire". A few days later they all met at Jam Studios in Leeds for an audition. Ady had learned almost all the songs on the FLYZ CD in just a few days. A solid, rock drummer, he was perfect for FLYZ. He was in. Flyz spent the rest of May, June and July rehearsing their live set with Ady, and also writing some new songs. The rest of 2004 was spent playing shows in support of the Aphrodisia CD. This included numerous support slots, ultimately leading to frequent headline appearances at top Yorkshire venues such as The Cockpit (Leeds), Joseph's Well (Leeds), The Vine (Leeds); Rio (Bradford), Junction (Halifax), Snafu (Rotherham) and The Classic Rock Bar (Sheffield) 2005 However, a few months later the replacement came in the form of Harrogate based Drummer Nige Harrison. They began playing shows again in the summer of 2005 with a headline appearance at Mont's Rock Bar (Harrogate)and were back on the road to recovery when they were hit by set back number 2... Jono kept suffering repetitive laryngitis attacks, then was hospitalised by a throat abscess and septicaemia. This culminated in him requiring a throat operation to remove an infected growth and polyps - followed by months of convalescence and vocal therapy, ending a good run for the band. 2006 - 2007 Although still officially Flyz drummer, Nige's commitments to his other musical projects meant that the time he could dedicate to either rehearsing or playing live with Flyz was increasingly limited. Needs must when the devil calls… It was during this period that Si decided to cover the drumming when Nige was unavailable and Jono's brother Joolz Hudson was recruited to cover lead guitar. When Nige was available, Flyz simply ran with the two guitar line up, which filled in the missing 2nd guitar which Flyz had always really needed. After a few rehearsals to keep things ticking along, it became clear that this situation was not ideal. Flyz spent more time watching Nige play live in his other bands, than they did with him playing for Flyz. So after the bleak summer of 2007, Flyz decided to take a break to re-think things. By Christmas 2007 the band we're practically dormant, apart from socialising and a couple of Jams now and again. 2008 FLYZ are now once again writing new songs and playing live shows in support of the "Aphrodisia" CD; though a long awaited new CD is in the pipeline. Watch out for them playing at a venue near to you soon. They would love to see you there and appreciate your support. If there is a "live bands" venue near to you that you would like FLYZ to play at, drop them an email at either: merchandise@flyz.co.ukor info@flyz.co.uk ...and they'll investigate. In the mean time, why not check out the CD tracks on this site? |