I had the pleasure of having an extended conversation with one of my punk rock heroes, Buzzcocks drummer John Maher. John was the teenaged phenom behind the kit for one of the few punk era bands to break into mainstream consciousness with multiple chart hits in the UK.
Having listened to John's drumming for most of my life, I only recently discovered his post-Buzzcocks photography career. His work documenting the people and abandoned places of Scotland's Outer Hebrides islands is remarkable and stands quite well on its own despite his musical notoriety.
We'd only intended to speak for about 20 minutes, but got caught up in subjects dear to the both of us and wound up carrying on a bit.
This first part of our conversation (1/3 above) covers the upcoming Buzzcocks vinyl re-issues on Domino Records, the Pete Shelley memorial concert scheduled for London's Royal Albert Hall on June 21 and a bit of photography.
Part 2/3 (below): Buzzcocks touring with Blondie, Clem Burke's influence, taking photos on first US tour in 1979, Volkswagen drag racing, photographing Scotland's Outer Hebrides.
Part 3/3: In depth on photographing abandoned croft houses of Scotland's Outer Hebrides.
Find John Maher's photography here.