Jonn Penney
Encyclopedia
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin...
.
He went to Thorns School and Community College in Quarry Bank
Quarry Bank
Quarry Bank is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, which exists within the Brierley Hill DY5 postal district.Locally, the name is often pronounced, "Quarry Bonk"...
, where he met Ned's bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player Matt Cheslin
Matt Cheslin
Mat Cheslin is a musician originally based in the Stourbridge area...
. Penney used to live in a house near the Swan Hotel in Stourbridge, where he used to drink. He now lives within walking distance from there.
He formed Ned's Atomic Dustbin in 1988 while still at sixth form college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
. In the early 1990s they had several hit singles, including "Happy", "Kill Your Television" and "Not Sleeping Around". Together they released three successful albums (God Fodder
God Fodder
God Fodder is the first full-length album by British rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It was released in 1991.-Track listing:All songs written by Ned's Atomic Dustbin.# "Kill Your Television" - 2:59# "Less Than Useful" - 4:05# "Selfish" - 3:54...
, Are You Normal?
Are You Normal?
Are You Normal? is Ned's Atomic Dustbin's second album, released on 3 November 1992. It features the band's biggest American hit, "Not Sleeping Around", which hit the top of Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart.- Track listing :...
and Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume is the third and final album from Ned's Atomic Dustbin with their original line-up. It was released on 21 March 1995.- Track listing :# "All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together" # "Floote" # "Premonition"...
). The band split up in 1995 after record company problems.
In 1998 he formed a new band, Groundswell, initially with former Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin...
guitarist Rat
Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin)
Rat was the preferred nickname of the musician Gareth Pring Rat is most famous for being the guitarist in the early 1990s indie punk band, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, he was a founding member of the band, and stayed in situ from 1987 to 1995...
. The band released a few singles, and played some successful shows, but did not have much commercial success.
After Groundswell split he completed a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
course, and now works as Media officer for Wolverhampton Civic Hall, while lecturing part-time and writing a weekly column titled 'Up Penneyscope' for local newspaper The Express & Star.
In 2000 he reformed Ned's Atomic Dustbin (with an altered line up including Andy King (bass) and Martin Warlow (guitar)) for occasional gigs. The band completed a five date tour in 2004, and Penney continued to play occasional gigs with the band.
Ned's Atomic Dusbin reformed with original line-up for a re:united gig at the London Astoria in December 2008 and then a home gig in Wolverhampton in May 2009.
When asked recently in a magazine interview, "How would you like Ned’s to be remembered?", Jonn responds, "Ned’s? They were that band that sounded like nobody else; they were unique!"
When asked if he would, "change anything?" Jonn replies, "Change one thing and everything else would have been different - haven’t you seen The Butterfly Effect?"
Penney recently contributed vocals to a song by Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
rock musician and free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
advocate, Jono Bacon
Jono Bacon
Jono Bacon is a community manager, writer, musician and software developer, originally from the United Kingdom, but now based in California...
.
In a recent interview, when asked about the happiest memory of being in Ned's, Jonn replied, "Glastonbury 1993. We headlined the NME stage (Blur supported us!). I couldn't see where the crowd ended, there were so many people. We struck up 'Kill Your Television' and the entire field bounced in unison - absolutely awesome to see.
I got a lump in my throat because there were so many people singing back those words I written in my bedroom or in the pub or at the breakfast table - they'd left my little world and infiltrated these thousands and thousands of other lives...
I didn't walk off stage that night, I floated"
Fans
In a 2009 interview, Jonn discussed the loyalty of fans. "We see masses of familiar faces every time we play - we were always pretty familiar with our audiences anyway and we're very lucky that so many of them are so loyal to us. People still fly in to shows from all over the world - Japan, Australia, Canada, U.S. and all over Europe. It's incredibly humbling to see these people keep coming back. I think we were lucky enough to have connected well with our audiences from very early on. Maybe it's because we were very young - similar age to the fans."Of the Ned's reunion and shows, Jonn said: “The reunion shows have gone down well and the fans gave us a massive welcome back so we wanted to do something different for them and play the album that made it happen for us."
“It was a time that was exciting for us and the fans, it is not an anniversary as such, we just wanted to celebrate that album and era.”