By the time Jigsaw Culture had ground to a halt, I felt as though music had become far too complicated. I had enjoyed the freedom to follow ideas wherever they led but the struggle to keep the band moving had taken much of the enjoyment out of it. I wanted music to feel immediate and fun again.

I had known Kev Grainger since the mid-1990s. He had a band called The Motorvators and I knew him primarily as a drummer, although I had seen him appear here and there in other bands over the years including a brief spell singing with The Negatives. We occasionally crossed paths but it was during a chance meeting at The Gasworks in 2006 that we properly got talking about starting something new.

I had only ever known Kev as a drummer until then but he loved to sing and had a real passion for it. He was ten years my senior and had an infectious childlike energy whenever something excited him. We were not trying to formulate any grand musical strategy. We wanted to start a band, write some songs and enjoy ourselves.

I already had quite a few punk friends, most recently having spent time around newly reformed Bradford band The Negatives. Wild Trash took me further into that world. One thing I loved about the punk scene at the time was just how friendly and welcoming it was. There was no judgement at all musically speaking. Nobody appeared particularly concerned with how technically accomplished you were or whether your influences were considered respectable. You turned up, played your songs and joined in.

We found Lyndon Birchall through a local online music forum called Cypher Music. Lyndon joined on bass and he initially brought along a drummer he had played with in another band. For reasons I can no longer remember, that drummer was unable to continue. We tried a couple of other people afterwards but neither quite worked out. We were starting to feel pretty despondent.

Then Simon Brazier appeared.

From the first rehearsal, Simon was exactly the right man for the job. He understood what the music needed and fitted the personality of the band perfectly. He and I became quite close friends very quickly and once he was in place, Wild Trash finally felt complete.

Rehearsals had brought me back to Voltage Studios. We’d recorded the Jigsaw Culture EP at its new premises following the move in 2004 but Wild Trash was my first experience of the rehearsal rooms there. Revolver/Voltage had been such a constant throughout my earlier musical life that it felt like coming home.

The early days of Wild Trash were also centred socially around The Gasworks on Duke Street. It had not long been open. We spent a great deal of time there together during 2006 and 2007 and the band quickly became as much a group of friends as a musical project. I would later have my differences with the place but I still remember that period with great fondness. Things were fun.

Some of my friends from the metal scene thought I had lost the plot. I had gone from the progressive ambitions of Jigsaw Culture to something deliberately simple and direct but that contrast was exactly what I needed. It felt liberating.

Finding a name took a little longer. After racking my brains for something appropriate, the words “Wild Trash” fell onto the page. I was chatting with Lyndon on MSN Messenger at the time — remember that? — and asked him:

What do you think to Wild Trash?

His response appeared:

I
LOVE
IT

That settled it.

Lyndon then designed what I still consider the perfect logo for the band. It was scruffy, bold and immediately recognisable with just enough playfulness to stop it taking itself too seriously. It was the only logo the band ever had. Between the name and the logo, Wild Trash seemed to acquire an identity almost immediately.

The music followed quickly. Kev had a real enthusiasm for writing songs and an instinct for keeping them simple and memorable. I had spent years following ideas into increasingly elaborate arrangements but Wild Trash demanded something very different. The others would often ask me to simplify things or stop playing quite so much. They were usually right and I welcomed the challenge.

Wild Trash rehearsed regularly, gigged extensively and found a natural home within the northern DIY punk scene. We recorded two four-track EPs, Stay Wild and True Love Never Dies, followed by the songs Cellophane and Brats in Hollywood. The recordings captured the uncomplicated spirit of the band without polishing the life out of it.

Some of the songs were affectionate and good-humoured while others had a little more bite. I was very proud of Stan, our tribute to a familiar older face who could still be found enthusiastically attending Bradford gigs long after many people half his age had stopped bothering. Songs such as Brats in Hollywood, The Sun Goes Down and Cellophane showed different sides of what we could do.

I was particularly proud of Cellophane. It had a huge simple chorus but also suggested a direction which would eventually lead elsewhere. The song later followed me into Suicide By Cop and became an important connection between the two bands.

Around 2007 or 2008, the Mannville Arms returned. It was a far cry from the pub that had closed in 1995 but somehow still felt familiar. Wild Trash became part of this new chapter in the venue’s history and it was good to find myself back there again. My friend Tom Marshall was instrumental in both the venue’s return and our band becoming part of it. He was a prominent figure in my life at the time and the help he gave the band was invaluable. We were very close for quite a while but sadly drifted apart over time. I have never quite understood why.

Simon eventually had to leave when he moved away to the Midlands. He was genuinely gutted about it and so were we. By then he and I had become quite close friends, which made his departure feel like more than simply another change of drummer. There had been no falling-out or musical disagreement. Geography had simply taken him elsewhere.

Steve Ward then joined us on drums and brought a different energy to the band. He fitted in quickly and Wild Trash continued moving forward.

Around this time, I found myself writing more and more lyrics. I’d had something of a creative epiphany and felt I needed to start something new as a vehicle for my ideas. Wild Trash had reminded me how much fun music could be and had taught me an enormous amount about simplicity and songcraft. However, I didn’t want to try and turn it into something it wasn’t and impose my ideas too much. It wouldn’t have been fair on Kev as the singer and principal songwriter and the rather more serious tone wouldn’t have been right for the band.

Steve and I eventually left in late 2008 to form Suicide By Cop.

Kev in particular did not take our departure well. I am not sure he fully understood what I wanted to do and, from his perspective, losing two members at once must have felt like a rejection of something he cared deeply about. Kev could be a passionate and spirited bloke and we had our occasional spats in the years which followed.

Lyndon was perhaps more pragmatic. He had been itching to move over to guitar anyway and quickly recruited his brother Martyn to take his place on bass. Fortunately, the remaining members of Wild Trash were able to join forces with members of Martyn’s band Psychotic Union. Martyn Birchall and Luke Thomas on bass and drums respectively formed a great rhythm section and fitted right in. They were briefly joined by second guitarist Ben Naylor but the five-piece line-up was short-lived.

The four of them continued for a while longer and the band remained extremely active. During the years that followed, members came and went and I saw them play many times. Kev worked hard to keep it alive through changing line-ups and the songs continued to find audiences long after Steve and I had left the main line-up.

I had always remained incredibly proud of the band. Seeing later line-ups performing the songs never felt like watching somebody else take possession of them. Wild Trash had developed a life beyond my involvement, as bands often do. Kev’s determination was a large part of the reason it survived for so long.

I did occasionally return. A version of Wild Trash appeared at Stanfest 2 in 2010 and I became involved more substantially again at the beginning of 2012. That line-up featured Kev on vocals, Steve on drums, Ben Savage on bass and me back on guitar. We played two Bradford gigs which Steve and I regarded as a temporary return.

Kev and Ben already had another line-up ready to take things forward afterwards. Martin Aylward (a lovely bloke whom I would meet properly years later in another life) replaced Steve on drums and a guitarist called Duggie took my place. Their first gig was at Nice and Sleazy later that year. I am not entirely sure how long that particular incarnation continued but Wild Trash was still playing well into 2013.

The last time I saw Wild Trash play was in August 2013 when they shared a bill with Dawn of Elysium at a punk all-dayer. They had remained a very active band since my departure and I had seen them play several times in the intervening years. My impression at the time was that Kev was working hard to hold the latest line-up together. Their set had changed quite a bit since the previous time I had seen them and the band sounded great.

Kev and I had not always seen eye to eye since I left, which made it especially lovely when he dedicated a song to me during the set. Dawn of Elysium was perhaps slightly off message for the occasion although that was probably a sentiment held more by me than anyone else.

A good time was had by all.