After first picking up a guitar at the age of 20, this relatively late starter quickly learnt the basics of guitar playing, while slowly but surely building up his arsenal of lightning quick chops. It was, however a few years before he first hit the stage. His mate Kenny Manson formed a band with some of his schoolmates and were looking for a second guitarist to fill up their wall of sound. After some deliberation, Kevin decided to take on the task, and ‘Discrepancy’ was spawned. Despite being somewhat older that the rest of the guys (24 as against 18), Kevin fitted in well, and after Kenny left to form ‘Vitriola’ it was his brother Ally who stepped up to the microphone. And that was the start of something unique – Thurso’s first ever Heavy Metal band!

Kevin and fellow guitar maestro Dave Morris soon struck up an understanding, playing dual guitar solos in many songs, most notably in ‘Hangar 18’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Their soloing and riffing was roundly applauded amongst the people who ‘knew’, and received praise in the written press also.

After more than a year of gigging and rehearsing with Discrepancy (including regular ground-breaking gigs in the sadly missed ‘Moonshine Rock Bar’), the slow progression from Heavy Metal to Thrash Metal was beginning to grate with Kevin, so much so that he even refused to play one of the songs live. This was the beginning of the end. It was only a matter of weeks until the band disintegrated, and it was very messy indeed. Ally and Kevin fell out big-style, and it would be some years before they would be on speaking terms again.

After a few months of consolidation, Kevin had the urge to play again, and it would come about in the strangest fashion – Ally had scored the job as Bass player in another local band, Hooligan Soup but it was obvious to most that it wasn’t working. When the time came to look for a new Bassist, Kevin offered his services. The shock move stunned most people, as Kevin had never played the Bass before, but the Hooligan Soup guys accepted him and quickly set about rehearsing. This would not be a Heavy Metal band, though, with a softer selection of tunes, but Kevin was happy again. The new-found freedom of learning basslines left him more scope for performing, and he was in his element. Particular highlights of the set included ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Centerfold’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. However, things would not last too long. Hooligan Soup Drummer Les Taylor had moved to Glasgow to attend College (Sound Engineering) and had invited the guys down for a gig in the prestigious Cameron House Hotel. The gig went well, and the lads had a good break down in Glasgow, but on returning to Caithness it was noted that having a Drummer 250 miles away was not conducive to Hooligan Soup. Guitarist Chris Nixon then expressed his intention to return to University, and that was that. For Kevin, it would be a long time before even picking up a guitar again.

After a lengthy break, Kevin was again itching to play, but he found that the longer finger stretches of bass-playing were causing him problems – his hands were constantly sore and becoming less supple as time went on. To get round this, he picked up his trusty old Fender-copy, and started practicing the guitar again. It took a while, and whilst he never again reached the dizzy heights of yore, gradually he became ready to show off his skills again. The call came, and again there was a link to the past! This time it was Kenny and Ally Manson who again wanted to start a new band – and with the likely involvement of Guitar Hero Dave Morris, Kevin was extremely interested. However, things did not pan out as Kevin wanted, and Dave Mo never fulfilled his destiny, leaving Kevin and this new band to find another guitarist – Paul Craig.

And so Metal Attakk! was born…………………..

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