With a solo acoustic show at Picture House Social in the pipeline next month, former Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones takes us through his life in music.
The first record I ever bought
Was a 5-disc happy hardcore compilation thing. I tried hard to like it, but it was so awful that I’d hire Beatles records from the library in secret.
The first gig I ever went to
Australian Pink Floyd at the Royal Court in Liverpool when I was 16. We [The Coral] all went together and it blew my mind. I think it was the first time I smoked weed and they started with ‘In The Flesh’, which was pretty amazing.
The first song I ever performed
I used to enjoy all the Beatles songs during assembly at primary school, ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Yesterday’ etc. As an actual performer, though, it would’ve been at the first Coral gig, and I’m trying to remember the name of the song that started the set … nope, it’s gone. It was a bit like Paul Weller meet Pink Floyd, so make of that what you will.
One song I wish I wrote
There are so many! ‘Face Like Summer’ by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci is one.
One song I wish was never made
Again, there are so many, although I think ‘Sex On Fire’ pretty much encapsulates everything I hate in music.
I first fell in love with music when
At about the age of 13 I realised that that the rules were pretty simple. It became like a puzzle for me – and I love puzzles.
A song I can’t get out of my head at the minute
‘B-Dennis’ by GINTIS.
A record which reminds me of a specific time and place
‘Five Leaves Left’ reminds me of living in Cambridge after I left The Coral for the first time. I would’ve just turned 21, I think. It was an odd time and I can’t really listen to it now if I’m honest.
Music allows me to
Buy things.
Bill Ryder-Jones plays Picture House Social on 7 June. Get tickets and more info here.
