Jonn Penney, frontman of iconic Stourbridge indie rockers  Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - and ‘accidental rock star’ - discusses the lyric book he’s written about the band’s music...

Hard as it might be for some older readers to accept, iconic Stourbridge rock band Ned’s Atomic Dustbin celebrate their 40th anniversary next year. Having initially split up in 1995 after releasing just three albums, the band has been an on-off concern almost ever since, habitually getting back together to play shows to long-term fans as well as those new to the tunes of their early-90s pomp.

It’s a scenario that singer Jonn Penney claims works well for all concerned. The self-effacing frontman, who has been a stalwart of the Midlands arts scene for three decades, says treating the band as a hobby has removed the stress that caused them to call it a day in the first place.

“We’ve had two phases,” he says. “The phase where we were a record-releasing and writing band, and now, when we’re just a performing band. We don’t write anymore. We had to put that to one side because, at the end, we became incapable of writing together - and that was the thing that kind of finished us.”
The band’s musical legacy amounts to 56 songs - a mix of singles, B sides, EPs and three albums - all released between 1990 and 1995. Jonn, who penned the words to all the tunes, has now written Self-ish, a ‘lyric book meets autobiography’ that gathers them all together. The publication was partly prompted by his children wanting to know about his life as a rock star.

“My kids were forever saying ‘tell us about the band, tell us what you did.’ I wouldn’t know where to start, you know... I did this and I did that, and sometimes I’d be interested in something and sometimes I wouldn’t.”

Hardly an auspicious jumping-off point, the notion of writing a book was further hampered by Jonn being rather more reserved than the typical rock star. Despite enjoying “showing off and demanding attention” while on stage, away from the limelight he’s pretty much the opposite.

“I never really enjoyed talking about me that much. One of our Achilles’ heels when we shot to fame was that people suddenly wanted to get to the bottom of Jonn Penney, and I felt quite uncomfortable with that. A big part of it was that I didn’t have a massive opinion of myself, and never will. That’s a great leveller and a good way to live, but when people have got paper space to fill but nothing to fill it with, it’s a bit of a difficulty.”

The singer warmed to the task of writing the book when he decided it could be less about him and more about the songs he wrote.

“Talking constantly about myself is not exactly my idea of fun, so I decided to write a lyric book instead, because my words in our songs are what I’m most proud of. Hopefully, by reflecting on those words, I can reveal to Neds fans what was happening with the band and my own life at specific times in our story - and why.”

The book takes its title from one of Jonn’s favourite Ned tunes (“very much about being introspective, but also being brave enough to be yourself, so a nice fit really”) and covers all the songs in chronological order, each getting its own chapter. The chapter lengths vary dramatically, from four lines long to eight pages (“because that’s what I remember”). The whole thing looks fantastic, courtesy of beautiful designs by the same person who created Ned’s logo and much of the band’s artwork.

“I love that it’s gone from a quick read to a coffee-table book,” says the author, who admits that another benefit to basing everything around the lyrics is that he didn’t feel the need to provide a definitive history of the band, fact check every element or clear it with all parties concerned.

“Happily I found a format that kind of bypasses a lot of that stuff and disclaims any inaccuracies. Basically it’s all about the lyrics, and I’m going on what my memory tells me happened. But there’s a dirty great disclaimer that says I could be wrong about some of these stories.”

Deciding that “nothing was so crucially important that I had to get it exactly bang on” also gave him the freedom to write the way he wanted to.

“I felt like I could just take my written voice naturally and not worry about any constraints. And there’s parallels with when we wrote the songs, in that I wrote my best lyrics when I was most relaxed.

“When I was with the boys and they were coming up with these fantastic tunes, the words just burped out of me. I didn’t write outside of the rehearsal room; I wrote them all on the spot because I was inspired by the music.”

Writing the book was more fun than Jonn expected it to be, and he admits being the “50-odd-year-old self looking at my 20-odd-year-old self” was illuminating as well as therapeutic. It’s not only given him a sense of closure about the way the band originally ended, but a clue as to why they were successful in the first place - something he’s keen to pass along.

“I had this urge to tell people ‘if I could do this - the person that I am, with the issues I had - then so could you’. Without wanting to be a motivational speaker, I guess I’m just trying to say ‘follow your nose and have a bit of belief because it’s amazing what can happen if you just let yourself be.’ It’s a massive lesson for any kid - well, for anybody - to learn.

“Also, you may think you need to be a certain person and do certain things to succeed, but you can succeed by being yourself. From where I’m sitting, the people who are able to be themselves generally get on better in a creative world.”

And judging by the initial response to the book, his mantra has paid off.

“I held my breath a bit when it came out, but the reaction has been fantastic. It’s been amazing, and people are saying all the lovely stuff you want to hear.

“I couldn’t be any happier with it. It just feels like a piece of art, and it feels like a legacy. I’ve been able to be honest and straightforward, and I’ve revealed a lot about myself.”

Jonn Penney’s book, Self-ish, is available from threadsatomicdustbin.com

By Steve Adams

Image credit: Alfie Harco