Promotional biogs

if you’re a promoter and you need a 50, 100 word biog etc. then please email me and i’ll supply you with one ASAP! don’t try and pull one together from the self-indulgent essay below…my career is just too bizarre for me to leave any of it out. ta!

2006-07 | 2007-09 | 2010-13 | 2013-15 | 2016 | 2017-18 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

2006-07 | Spoken word beginnings

December 2006, a few weeks before my 18th. i’m at an impromptu jam session, at a Bromheads Jacket after-show party, in a secret underground venue in Sheffield’s red light district. somebody had heard my early poems on MySpace and ushered me onto the mic…

from there, i began introducing bands on the Yorkshire indie scene. before long, i had a string of regular compère slots. my breakthrough came at a Love Music Hate Racism gig in April 2007, where i first performed my early trademark ‘Nazis on the Doorstep‘ piece.

2007-09 | Skint & Demoralised success

in May 2007 i was contacted via MySpace by a Sheffield-based songwriter/producer, using the alias ‘MiNI dOG’. he started layering my poems over some electro instrumentals, which soon developed into an indie-pop songwriting partnership – Skint & Demoralised.

after 6 months, our demo ‘Red Lipstick’ was played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1, and from there it snowballed. in March 2008, we signed to Universal. we recorded in NYC with The Dap-Kings, and completed ‘Love, And Other Catastrophes‘ at RAK in London.

début single ‘The Thrill of Thirty Seconds‘ was Colin Murray’s Record of the Week on R1 and playlisted on 6Music. we were being hailed as “the next big thing” by the likes of The Sunday Times Culture, Q, Clash, The Times, The Guardian, and many online music sites.

2009 kicked off with a headline UK tour, before a summer release of ‘Red Lipstick‘. it was Sara Cox’s Weekend Anthem on R1, but charted at #100 and saw us dropped. despite this, we were a big hit at festivals, including Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds/Reading, and Bestival.

2010-13 | More Skint & Demoralised, plus solo festivals

in April 2011, Skint & Demoralised signed to Heist Or Hit Records, and subsequently released three albums through the label. this included a 20-date tour of the UK in October 2011, plus some headline shows in Germany that Christmas.

in summer 2010, i returned to the UK festival circuit with far less gear to carry; performing 30 minute spoken word/comedy slots at Latitude, Leeds and Kendal Calling. the three Skint & Demoralised albums received critical acclaim.

2013-15 | Full return to spoken word

a hat-trick of spoken word slots at Glastonbury 2013 gave me a fresh appetite for poetry, which led me to co-found a collective known as A Firm Of Poets. we had an anthology published by Ossett Observer in September 2014, and were a hit at regional festivals.

in spring 2015, i formed what is now the UK’s leading spoken word record label: Nymphs & Thugs. in the summer, i did a week’s run at Edinburgh Fringe, and then in autumn/winter, i co-fronted A Firm Of Poet’s 22-date UK theatre tour ‘Ossett Observer presents: The People’s Republic of Poetry’.

2016 | Projects and political activism

2016 began with a project called ‘Four Under Parr’, which saw me programming and producing four monthly events in response to the Martin Parr photography exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield.

i was a central figure on the #JC4PM tour and performed on both nights at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. that year, i shared a stage with the likes of Sara Pascoe, Francesca Martinez, Grace Petrie, The Fall, Sleaford Mods, and Paul Weller.

i visited ‘The Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, and campaigned for several issues including homelessness, anti-racism, and the refugee crisis. my work with The Poetry Takeaway led to me starring in a national TV ad campaign for Nationwide Building Society.

2017-18 | #LIVEwire and #TwoLittleDucks

spring 2017 saw the Nymphs & Thugs #LIVEwire tour, which supported the release of Salena Godden‘s album on 2LP gatefold vinyl. the album was shortlisted for the prestigious Ted Hughes Award.

i then did a full Edinburgh Fringe with my début one-man show ‘Two Little Ducks’. the show explores the working-class Leave vote; my experiences at the Calais Jungle; and a fictionalised character called Maria. it received rave reviews.

after a slot at the Roundhouse’s Last Word Festival, ‘Two Little Ducks’ embarked on a 22-date UK tour in autumn 2018, accompanied by my début collection on VERVE Poetry Press (buy here).

earlier in 2018, I was commissioned by Arts Council Collection to write responses to the ‘Revolt & Revolutions’ exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. i also wrote the official poem for and performed at the European Youth Forum’s bi-annual Yo! Fest in Strasbourg.

2019 | Classrooms, comebacks and commissions

my début poetry collection for kids was published by Bloomsbury Education on 11 July. ‘A Hurricane in my Head’ is targeted at kids aged 10-14 and is available to purchase here. it was one of National Poetry Day’s recommended reads, which led me to appear live on Blue Peter.

following a 6-year hiatus, my band Skint & Demoralised returned with brand new music on Fierce Panda. all four singles received plays on BBC Radio 6Music, and our fourth album ‘We Are Humans‘ is out digitally and on limited edition white vinyl (purchase here).

i appeared in another national TV ad campaign for Nationwide Building Society, was commissioned to write this poem for Cancer Research UK, this poem for Leeds United FC’s centenary kit launch, and this poem for Jeremy Corbyn’s General Election campaign.

2020 | Radio show, Insta sessions, articles and more

with the UK on lockdown, i continued with new venture Roaring 20s Radio alongside Salena Godden and Amah-Rose Abrams and also started hosting weekly Insta sessions through Nymphs & Thugs. i co-starred in a Nationwide Building Society advert alongside my better half Maria Ferguson.

The Poetry Society invited me to be a patron for 2020’s Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. i also wrote a series of articles for The Football Pink and a monthly Leeds United column in the Yorkshire Evening Post. finally, I did an online performance ‘Two Little Ducks’ which you can stream back (links in this post).

2021 | #DisarmHatePoetry, début novel and school residency

the first half of my year was dominated by Nymphs & Thugs‘ #DisarmHatePoetry project. Arts Council England then awarded me funding to develop my début novel ‘VOIDS’, including mentoring time with acclaimed novelist Richard Milward.

i began a full school year residency at Dixons Trinity Chapeltown. finally, for a period of time, i was working as Development Manager for Write Out Loud.

2022 | Sunny Bank Mills artist/researcher residency

i kicked off this year with an artist/researcher residency at Sunny Bank Mills, which is part of a wider project by LEEDS 2023. this phase culminated with a Sharing Stories event at The Old Woollen in Farsley in April. Maria and i have also launched a new semi-regular night called ‘Tubthumping’ at The Constitutional in Farsley.

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