adam barry - rock star & driving instructor
Interview by Sarah Ganderton
Adam Barry is a busy man to track down. When he is not teaching Worcester’s students how to drive with Cooper’s Driving School, he plays keyboard with a rock band that is really going places, alongside singer songwriter Neil Ivison. It was thoroughly interesting to be able to chat to him about The Misers’ debut album, “Amplified Life Stories” due to be released 1st of June.
The band’s sound has been described by Neil Ivison as The Stones meets Ryan Adams and the Faces. Do you agree with that? And was that what the band was aiming for or just how it ended up?
Well me and Neil have been together for 11 years now, and we see those bands as major influences. I think now it’s more of a natural sound coming out. In the past we were perhaps trying more to be hip, whereas now our songs are reflecting what we grew up listening to.
Is there any reason you’re called The Misers?
Neil and I were in a band for a long time. We decided to front it just the two of us, and we wanted the band to go with it but we didn’t want to pay anyone. Someone said “What misers, you want a band but you don’t want to pay anyone” And we thought “That’s a great name we’ll call it The Misers.”
You sometimes perform acoustic sets, just yourself and Neil. Which do you prefer: playing these acoustic sets, performances with the whole band, or playing in a studio?
Before we went to Rockfield Studios to record this album I would say the Studio was my least favourite, but recording in a venue like that is just incredible because all of our heroes have done albums there, from Queen and Oasis, to Led Zeplin, so to go in and do our album there was just an incredible experience.
An electric gig is good fun, because you can just blast it out but that’s not always what you want to do.
Acoustic sets are much more intimate because you can hear what the audience says: you’re not battling over the sound of a band, you can hear things being said.
What’s the best place you have ever played?
I’d say the The Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom. Just for sheer history. It’s always voted by famous bands as their favourite venue. It seats three and a half thousand and it was packed, and that just an amazing experience. You go down this corridor and pass pictures of everyone that’s played there: Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Oasis, Elton john. You go past all these pictures and you are treading on the stage Paul McCartney has played on.
Your day job is as a driving instructor with Coopers Driving School, but how do you have time for a day job as well as the band?
Luckily the day job isn’t a full time job. I’m only doing two or three days so that gives me the time to do everything else. There’s no way I could do a full time job with this band.
What other jobs have you done?
I worked in various things: retail, warehousing and recruitment. The problem is I always got on really well with the boss and they would give me the time off because they knew what I was trying to do but every time I left I was leaving them in the lurch, which is why I had to get out.
Why did you decide to do this job?
We had periods when we had done the band professionally. But there is such a big jump between being a professional musician and being a professional musician paid well. We came back got “proper jobs” then gave up those jobs again because we had a tour. It’s great to be able to afford the bills, but if you get a proper job you’ve got to be prepared to leave. If you get a phone call to say “can you be in Germany in a few days”, you can’t turn that down.
When we decided to do the Misers properly, I thought, “what can I do that’s going to give me the flexibility?” so I thought, “Driving instructor.” And it works really well. I don’t do it full time, and I have enough flexibility when I need a day off.
What else do you enjoy about doing this job?
I absolutely adore meeting different people. I love the variance of it in terms of having two hours with someone who has never driven a car before, then going to the next person who is ready for their test.
How does it feel when you get someone through their test?
It’s an incredible feeling. It is great when you meet somebody and they’ve never driven before, then after a few months they pass their test. I remember what it was like when I passed my test so I know what it means to people, it’s an incredible feeling. Very fulfilling.
The Misers’ debut album “Amplified Life Stories” is available online at www.themisers.co.uk. And why not go and see the band perform live? Local Performances start 1st June at Keystones in Worcester. Details of how to get tickets are on the band’s website: http://www.themisers.co.uk
And of course you can learn to drive with the rock legend himself by contacting Cooper’s Driving School.
The Misers 2009 Tour
03 June - The Bunker @ Keystones, Worcester
06 June - The Horseshoe Inn, Shrewsbury
13 June - Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
08 July - The Promised Land, Cardiff
11 July - The Blue Rooms, Hereford
26 July - The Marr's Bar, Worcester
02 August - Nozstock Festival, Bromyard
14 August - Worcester Beer Festival, Worcester
16 August - The Tap House, Kidderminster
29 August - Falcon Mews, Bromyard
07 October - The Beehive, Swindon
