大象传媒

John Power

Art terrorist and KLF member Bill Drummond, Lightning Seed Ian Broudie and Mercury-nominee Kathryn Williams are amongst the many and diverse musical talents to have sprung from Liverpool.

Now they're amongst ten artists who share their thoughts on their musical roots, getting a break in the recording industry and performing live in a series of in-depth interviews which form the How to be A Musician series on the 大象传媒 Liverpool08 website.

All of the videos were originally shot by National Museums Liverpool as part of the Musicianship strand of The Beat Goes On exhibition, which charts sixty years of popular music in one of the world's most famous musical cities.

They've now been edited by the 大象传媒 and have been put online together to build a picture of how scenes and careers can develop in a particular place at different times.

Musical influences and routes into becoming performers are varied: Garry Christian reveals that his chart topping career with The Christians began with an appearance at a church social as a child.

Eddy Amoo

Bassist and now solo artist John Power first played in a group after responding to a youth training scheme poster in his local Job Centre and went on to meet the other founding members of cult band The Las.

The Beatles have influenced successive generations. Eddy Amoo played his first gig with The Chants as a support act to The Beatles "We actually sung five songs with the Beatles that night," said Amoo.

"I always remember coming off stage and we all looked at each other and we thought, this is what we want to do."

Bill Drummond remembers buying his first Fab Four single, Strawberry Fields: "Well let me take you down cos I'm going... I thought, wherever he wants to take me, I want to go there," said Drummond.

Kathryn Williams

Whilst most of the artists agree that the city which is now European City of Culture had a part to play in their musical development, they have all reacted to the location in different ways.

Garry Christian avoids using his hometown as the subject of his songwriting but is grateful for Liverpool's history as a port which brought black music from the USA. For Ian McNabb of The Icicle Works, the sheer number of musicians in the area add up to an irresistible force.

"I think it's a tradition we uphold you know. In Liverpool, there's as many musicians and artists as there are plumbers."

Ian McNabb's interview is accompanied by an exclusive acoustic video session of his song Liverpool Girl.

There are also acoustic video sessions from Kathryn Williams, who has overcome her stage fright to perform Rolling Down, John Power who sings Mariner, John Head who sings Miles Apart and The Christians who sing Born Again.