Rock bands loom large in the Saltbury Chronicles.  After all, my main character Hazel is in one band, plays as tour drummer in another and is the daughter of internationally known Rock Mega-star, Debbie Stewart.  There are a lot of bands mentioned, from local Saltbury groups to major acts like Jilly Evans ‘Tantric Angel’ but four are particularly important and I am constantly asked what real world bands they are modelled on.

The answer is that they aren’t really based on anyone, but I guess you might say that there are other bands that fans of theirs might also like.

For example, Debbie’s main band is ‘Xeroed’.  They are huge Prog Rock stadium stompers, formed at the end of the 1960s and at the peak of their vast fame in the 1970s and 80s.  So their fans might also love bands like ‘Rush’, Pink Floyd, or ‘Yes’.  Even Deb says that for her, hearing Pink Floyd’s ‘Ummagumma’ album for the first time as a young girl was a life changing experience.  But that’s not the whole story. ‘Xeroed’ have something very original in the form of multi instrumentalist Stevie Hides.  She plays virtually everything, but above all she is a violinist.  Few bands have really made full use of the violin as a Rock instrument, but of those who have, ‘Xeroed’ fans might particularly like a band which is little played these days but which I have always loved.  They are called ‘String Driven Thing’.  Their album ‘The Machine that Cried’ was the first I ever bought and I wore out several LP copies before finally getting a CD.

Debbie’s other band, Aleyse, is a much more gentle, contemplative affair, formed with her friend Jilly Evans, after both women lost their husbands.  And unlike ‘Xeroed’ which has a male vocalist, John Inger, Debbie is the singer here.  Deb is mostly known as a genius guitarist, but Aleyse is far less guitar, and more synth driven.  The band was formed in the 1970s, but its fans would probably like modern bands like ‘London Grammar’, ‘Deaf Club’ or rather further back, ‘Clannad’.

Hazel and her big sister Roisin have started a band called ‘Fauld’ after their surname.  It’s unashamedly Rock in sound with Haze on drums and Rosh singer/guitarist.  They were just starting to get regular gigs in the latest book, ‘Sisters’ and who knows what the future might bring.  I think their growing fan base might like the likes of Seattle band ‘Thunderpussy’, Portugal’s ‘Anarchicks’, Britain’s ‘Llines’, or even ‘Savages’.

And don’t forget ‘Dark Portal’ the sinister Goth band led by Hazel’s friend Mabel (Hex) Trevithick for which Hazel often plays on tour.  They are gloriously menacing and might share fans with real world bands like ‘Nox Navacula, ‘Lesbian Bed Death’, or ‘Poison Crow’.