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Peter Laing: lead guitar and vocals
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I showed musical curiosity from a very early age. One of my earliest memories is of surreptitiously prizing open the 'f'-holes of my mother's violin with a nickel teaspoon to see 'the works' inside that made the sound. I imagined there must be cogs or some mechanical basis within that would explain the sound it made. I got my first guitar, a plastic Beatles guitar with four nylon strings - complete with a photo of the Fab Four - as a Christmas present from my parents at 10 years of age. It was a revelation, in many ways. First, having seen guitar players on Top of The Pops I had imagined that guitars were operated by pressing the 'buttons' on the neck, and I recall being taken aback when I realized that it involved plucking and 'fretting' the strings. I was taught a few chords by my brother Ian - the only 'lessons' I ever had. I loved that guitar! I played it so much that I wore off the frets (which were also made of plastic) so that it would no longer play. Fortunately, this was not before completing some interesting experiments using aluminium wire in place of strings (not recommended!) and putting aluminium foil around the base of the strings to create an electric-guitar like metallic fuzz sound. Already I was hankering after the powerful sound of an electric guitar.
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As a teenager I got involved with my friends in a blues group, influenced by my elder sister Joan's musical tastes in soul and blues, particularly John Mayall's early albums. We modelled ourselves on the Memphis Jug Band playing early country blues and urban blues, verging on rock & roll, with me playing ukulele and violin as often as guitar, because we were all guitarists. We played anywhere that would have us, mostly folk clubs which was somewhat difficult because we were conspicuously 'under-age'. My sister also was into Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell at that time - both of whom are indelibly imprinted on my musical soul. By then though, my great favourite was Fleetwood Mac, particularly Peter Green's passionate guitar style. Soon afterwards I had saved enough money to buy my first electric guitar - a Burns 'Vista Sonic'. It is a magical guitar, I still have it. It sounds very like Brian May's guitar, which has the same pickups, although that similarity was coincidence (pre-Queen). Dr. May turned out (later) to be a major influence.
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At Bath University there was a vibrant musical scene, and I got involved with a rock band led by a man named Simon Cowl (not the one from Pop Idol - whose name is spelled differently). At the time of our first performance, still 'un-named' there was the possibility that our performance (and indeed life in general) could be interrupted by a power cut. Seizing the moment, the guy drafting up the posters named the band 'Power Cut' to make sure it grabbed people's attention. It was such fun. Recently I tracked down Simon and other musos from that time (late 70s), and have a musical project ongoing with them which is now taking shape (refer to Climie Fisher website). Unfortunately, we did not get round to doing any proper recordings with Power Cut, although we did appear on the University TV channel, we did not quite reach megastar status!
Still at Bath, I was also involved in playing solo in folk clubs and in two bands with John McNulty and friends although no longer as a virtuoso guitarist, which, by then was not cool. We did some good stuff, and some recordings survive from those times. I learned a lot from the other guitarist in the band, Dean, who was an excellent rhythm guitar player.
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After moving from Bath in the 80s, life intervened in my musical career, but I have always continued to write songs and actively play acoustic and electric guitar, and occasionally to play at folk clubs. During this time I developed separate musical identities - periodically concentrating on either electric or acoustic guitar. In 2000 I started to get back into playing and songwriting with a new fervour and teamed up with Bob Simpson and Sarah Gordon. Sarah (who previously had a band with Rob Jackson) and I did some original acoustic songs and gigged in Cambridge. Meanwhile I learned of a blues jam session that took place at the old Blue Ball in Grantchester, near the famous Grantchester Meadows in Cambridge. There I met Malcolm Guite who had a blues/R&B band going, although I do not know at that time if it had a name. Malcolm invited me to play at a private party open-air gig in the summer of 2001 (I think) at the 'White House' in his home village of Fenstanton. Something clicked. There is no experience in life which is quite like playing the electric guitar in a rock & roll band. I was hooked again and felt instantly at home with my new musical friends. It felt like I had never been away.
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The band became Mystery Train. At that time Fabian Bonham was the bass player. Fabian was much in demand by several bands, and rightly chose to go with Horace-X, who are now an internationally successful Cambridge-based band. Meanwhile Bob Simpson got involved as the drummer in Mystery Train and Rob Groves (singer-songwriter guitarist) and I became core members of the band (I think, in fact that Rob already was). At all times the band has had a 'rolling-revue' structure with various additional musicians that contribute very positively to the vibe of a Mystery Train gig, where anything can happen!
Mystery train were seeking a new regular bass guitarist, I mentioned this to my sister Joan, who mentioned that an old friend, Mike Boursnell, was a bass player and happened to live around Cambridge somewhere. I called him up - he was a bit sceptical, and had other commitments with a successful ceilidh band based in Oxford, but helped us out one time in an emergency - and thereafter was hooked!
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