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Who the hell are you?
My Name's Neil Emery, im 34 (ish) and Im originally from West London where many
moons ago i was born in the house my folks still live in, I moved to America for a couple of years, then lived in East London
and then back to West London but recently i have gone upmarket and tied hankerchief to stick and moved to leafy Aylesbury
in Bucks. I have no kids but a rather unruly tabby cat called 'Baby' takes all my time
What do you do?
Ive been a draughtsman, a radio engineer, a profesional portrait artist, a professional
guitarist and a thousand other things. My life was somewhat altered when in 1998 i was hit by a drunk driver and very nearly
killed. I spent months in hostpital with badly shattered legs and skull with a bad case of Coma etc etc and had to learn how
to speak again from scratch as well as learn to walk again, you would never know now though apart from still quite frequent
bouts of depression and nightmares. I was in St Thomas' in London with their brilliant staff without who (a doctor later
told me) I would most definately would have lost both legs. I was lucky that the guy who saved mine happens to be the best
surgeon in the country in his field. I was very lucky. It was during the months after coming out, while getting over it
that i started building the first Charley's War website. Because of this RTA my focus has shifted somewhat from Music (which
i was obsessive about before) to god-knows-what and there- in limbo it remains at the time of writing.
Why/How are you thanked in the sleeve
notes and credited for one of the features in my Charley's war book one?
Pat Mills, being the true gent that he is pushed for me from day one to have a
hand in it, because of the work id done on the site, he convinced Steve White at Titan who eventually allowed me to write
a piece for it, i thank them both for what to them, is probably an everyday thing, for me a very special honour indeed.
When I wanted to contact Pat Mills (at my mate mark's sugestion) the guy i wrote to (webmaster of a now defunct 2000ad site)
said that he would give me the email address but advised me against writing because 'Pat hates fans and he is very abrasive
to them' He was nothing but a gent to me and has gone out of his way to help me. Hes a truly unique and genuine person, and
thats quite away from his profession.
What are your other interests apart from the
first world war, and Charley's
War?
I obviously like to paint and draw, computers (for music and everything else) Music,
Cats, playing the guitar, which i own far too many of ( Rickenbacker, Custom 73 telecaster, strat, Martin and Johnny
Marrs 12 string Epiphone '67 riveara)I also play bass, piano and mandolin, I also transcribe/notate guitar tablature (much
of the better stuff on the net is mine), I like to teach guitar, jolly-up during the odd drinking sillyness, spoil my niece
and nephew, spend money and i like meeting people you instantly 'click' with. I am also an avid 'ripperologist' which means
someone who likes 'jack the ripper' books and thinks they can solve the mystery from their own sofa, but dont. And i
like Hats which i think is an underrated accsessory that men in this day and age never exploit fully. I intend to start a
'bring back the hat' campaign soon.
What hats do you own?
I have a variety of headwear but in my top five would have to be a prada ski hat (Ebay bargain), John
lennon-esque black Kangol enfield (courduroy) , and a new york yankees (original) baseball hat (brought over there),
Jaguar team Hat (baseball) and a black beaney. Hats are the new thing (plus you never have to wash your hair) Dont forget
you saw it here first.
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| God knows what im doing |
What Music/groups do you like?
My main love is for the Smiths who i saw many times when they were
together, i followed them around the country at 15 on the meat is murder tour and then again on the Queen is Dead. I was also
at the last ever gig in Brixton, I own a guitar that Johnny Marr once owned which is how much of an anorak i am! Secondly
theThe- Matt Johnson's umbrella name for himself! I believe him to be the best songwriter of modern times, I like the The
Jam (not paul weller i must state FIRMLY) Placebo, Diesel park west, Billy Bragg, The Cult, the Stones, The
Beatles, Talk Talk The Cardiacs the Cure the Chameleons, faith brothers and Billy Franks, Radiohead, Dylan and so on
and so on. Current groups are of a lower class really, Travis i like, The Killers, Badly drawn boy.
God help me the day the Smiths reform lets hope they dont i think
its criminal when great bands like 'Echo and the Bunnymen' reform and ruin the legacy they had left before. (although i still
went to see them when they toured)These things should die with good memories i mean do you rememebr the Sex Pistols reformation
? oh dear.. To sum up though im a fan of songs with good hooks, and if that means the latest Kylie Minogue tune then
so be it. Im far from a musical snob, im proud to say. (if i liked a busted tune id shoot meself though)
Do you like any other comics at all?
Not really no, but then again i never claimed to be a fan of them.
I really do feel im missing out on something though, i mean, i think someone as outspoken and talented and skilled
as Pat Mills is a little wasted in his chosen field. I know it's probably awful to say that but i do. Ive thought about it
a lot and though i do admit i may well be an idiot for not getting it, i think that it's a tiny audience compared to what
he deserves. I want to get into Nemesis because i love the whole idea of it being anti-religion (my girlfriend has a couple
of books) but shamefully i lose interest, even though Kevin O'Neill is a wonderful artist...i know a lot of you will
hate me for that and im so sorry. Im hoping a time will come where it will change. I love the way Mills uses metaphors though,
he's very clever and i want to read more but i was never a sci-fi fan, i guess ive got a limited imagination. That said, ive
made some really good mates since ive circled the circumference of the comic world-Mark Jarvis from the 'Battle' site is always
bigging up this site and has helped me so much since the start, Moose Harris from the 'Action' site is a top bobby as well
as Jim Crossdale, Richard Moyle and loads more, so i certainly am not anti comic fans, even though ive received some emails
from 'fans' even wishing for my speedy death for claiming ignorance of Pat Mills other work, luckily those types are few and
far between.
Having said all that there were some great 2000AD stories which
i loved at the time (the hunters club, block wars and apocalypse in Dredd for example) I also love the killing joke book,
and some of 'Crisis' I didn't mind, oh and im partial to a bit of rouge trooper as well so im not that
much of a peasant!
What other writing have you done?
Well apart from the CW book and the site i had some poems published
in an anthology of new poets back in 2000 (i hate poetry as well!) It was a big thing at the time but it's now something i
forget about really, i had two 'Every cripple has his own way of walking' (nothing to do with my road accident btw) which
was a poem about how i hate poetry! and 'Crossing the family line' (a poem about the damage parents can do you) The same two
poems with a third were published for a similar book in America a year after.
What do you want to do in the future?
I am directionless at the moment-i think it's a difficult age! I
make enough to get by doing portraits but it's a hell of a hard way to earn a living, so i wont be doing it for much
longer. It was a wise man who taught me that it's not what you do its who you are thats important, thats my excuse anyway.
Having said that i would LOVE to do some more writing,
What qualifications do you have?
Art A level, and a CSE grade 5 in maths. (good eh?) and a few
assorted o'levels (remember them)
What are you most afraid of?
Death, something happening to my Mother who is the most worthy person who ever walked
the earth. Upsetting people without knowing it, being alone, Polish Girls, religious people, becoming right
wing in middle age, Oh and the kids program bananas in pyjamas. It disturbs me greatly-should be something the hero sees in
the tripping scenes in film Jacob's Ladder. My Nephew went to see them live at the Beck Theatre -Oh yes people these things
go on the Road!!!! Horrific.
Who are your heroes?
I collect heroes like others collect stamps lets see Noel
Coward, John Lennon, in recent years Paul Hewson (Bono), Hendrix, Winston Churchill, Tony Benn, Bob Monkhouse, Pete Townsend,
Joe Colquhoun and Pat Mills, my mother, her father who won a Military Medal in Italy during the second world war, My great
Grandfather Pop who served in the merchant Navy in the first war, Martin Cook (my first job's manager) Johnny Marr, Matt
Johnson, H. Bosch, Dali, Mucha, Paul Nash, Gary Oldman, Mark Hollis (talk talk) Paul Mcgann and Mark McGann and John Smith
(labour leader who died of a heart attack before Tony Blair) Ronnie Ancona (the perfect woman and talented impressionist)
Charles Edmund Carrington, Frank Richards, Chris Eubanks (nicest person in the world in person) Nigel Benn, John Lennon, Phil
Daniels (Quadrophenia), Michael Caine, David Niven Tom Baker, Francis Reader, Richard Harris, Yoko Ono Etc Etc
Who and what do you really hate?
Hmm Jon Bon Jovi, whitesnake, Bryan Adams, Tony Bucknell,
Religion, Death, losing a hat, spiders, rats, hamsters, ignorant people, bullies, radio one and capital radio, MOT time of
the year, trainers, being run over, people not taking the short stories of Sherlock Holmes seriously and not giving it the
credit it deserves, all the sports teachers in the world, the ones who bully you into the showers, and watch you, the ones
who ignore you if you are crap at football but call the lads that are good by their first names, and take them off down the
pub at 14, all bullies the lot of them, i hope they choke, terrorists, people who base their philosophy on the 'Sun says'
,work, how women will cry over what they were'nt ashamed to do (lol), drunk blokes who look for a fight because they cant
hold their drink, i also hate Robson Green, Trisha, Kleenex Reeves, The agony aunt on this morning, Suggs (w***r), Coldplay
(miserable gits) Frank Skinner,busted and Mcfly (so bad it hurts)The Corrs (blurggh!) Lord of the Rings and anything to do
with it, and all people who point out it was written in the trenches 'ah yes but he was shellshocked!!!) Ill stop here
because i could go on all day long.
What unrelated-to-charley's war websites
do you frequent?
My linkages are below sir, Well.....some of them :-)
Greatintentions This is my frankly hilarious daily blog if youre really bored
Fender Guitar company some may have heard of
Rickenbacker The collest Guitars ever if not perhaps the most versatile
The fiat forum - Yes i drive a Fiat Marea 16v so what? Have you
got a problem with that?
wanderlust- my mates band who are getting rave reviews actually
Email the fool
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| The Best band since the Beatles- The Smiths |
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