I met singer David Tomlinson and guitarist Tim Bricheno in 1996, when they were still X-CNN. I initially joined up on bass duties but after a handful of gigs we soon began writing and recording songs at my home studio in north London. Six months later we were signed to V2 records by A+R chap Dave Wibberly, and so began the experimental journey of the "Thrill Kisser" album. A year or so later we emerged, blinking and hung over and moved to Metropolis studios to begin mixing with the excellent Al Stone. Fast forward six months, the albums out and we're playing the v98 festival, touring with the likes of Babybird and Garbage and the singles "Head" and "Viva are A-listed on XFM. Fast forward some more and we're off on our first American tour. This is where things really picked up! " Head" was hitting the billboard modern rock charts (At one point the 4th most played rock record in the whole US!). And as a result we were playing to thousands of people all over the US (and Europe). Tinstar, with the support of its A-list crew became an excellent live band. And I don't think we could have had more fun in the process. After some rather ill timed and lengthy label swapping (V2UK to V2US) we completed "Dirtybird" toured for a bit, stopped in LA to play the Viper rooms and shot a video before returning home. At this point V2US changed hands. We remained, but momentum was lost. And then 9/11 hit NYC (our label home). It was time to move on. Tinstar was a great experience for me and I owe much to all those involved .TG