Spiby is probably most well known for being the leader of Black Spiders - renowned for the face melting rock n roll and unmatchable swagger. Groop Dogdrill were pure uncut weapons grade alt.rock napalm and Future eX Wife lovingly crushed anyone and anything in their path. In April 2017 Black Spiders gave their fans one final chance to raise their middle fingers aloft and yell ‘fuck you’ at their five grizzled faces before hanging up their riding capes for good. In the months leading up to their final shows Spiby was undergoing rehabilitation. Not in the cliched rock n’ roll sense dear reader but for an operation on his left hand which learned physicians say is an important part of the human anatomy when you’re doling out sweet riffs left right and centre. “When we did the farewell shows it gave me such a confidence boost that I was even able to play guitar without the pain and medication that I’d had for the last 3 years” says Spiby. “I decided that it was time to do the only thing I’ve been doing since I was at school.” Please welcome ladies and gentlemen Failed Magician. It’s the title of Spiby’s new solo release; it’s not a concept album about sleight of hand tricks gone awry accidentally sawing an assistant in half or drowning before a horrified studio audience. “Me and Ozzy [Lister former Spider riffologist] were working somewhere in the world” explains Spiby “and during a very one-sided drunken conversation he slurred the words “I just don’t want to end up being a failed magician. It’s obviously not what he meant to say but I kept it under my hat to use at some point in the future”. There comes a time in a man’s life when the blues become mandatory listening and this in turn has informed his new songs. “I have sorrow in my pocket and exorcising the ghosts is a way out of the darkness” he says. “There were a lot of deaths in rock during 2017 that made me think about mortality depression and life. There’s a thread that goes through all of this and it’s basically a collection of domes

LP 1:
1. Lightning Bolt
2. Bible Studies
3. Friday Night (just died in Saturday mornings arms)
4. We Used To Be Friends
5. Why Not Let Them Come
6. Wrap You Round My Little Finger
7. Guiding Light
8. Mary Lous Dawg
9. Working For Mary Jane
10. Thrown To The Wolves

LP 2:
1. Guiding Lite Blues
2. Mary Lous Dawg (came back)
3. Why Not Let Them Come Again
4. We Used To Be friends (slight return)
5. Thrown To The Blues
6. Lightning Bolt Blues
7. Mary Jane Blues
8. Bible Study Blues
9. Mary Jane Blues
10. Friday Night Blues