"I grew up in Newcastle and in my teens I would go to gigs on a regular basis — one week Hawkwind, the next Leonard Cohen or David Bowie or Black Sabbath. I was just this school kid who soaked it all up. By the time punk started to emerge in 1977 I had taken an interest in photography, with an SLR camera and a makeshift darkroom in my bedroom. It wasn't long before I became immersed in that environment and involved in the start of a new fanzine titled Deviation Street, which lasted three issues, about the average for fanzines then, with features and reviews of local bands as well as The Stranglers, Wire and The Ramones."