You might recognise Ed Gamble from Mock The Week and his standup shows, but you might also know him as the not-very-metal-looking guy losing his mind at the last Clutch show you went to. After discovering the world of heavy music through an issue of Kerrang! magazine in 1998/9, initially drawn in by an image of Marilyn Manson on the cover, it was a review of System Of A Down at the London Astoria that kickstarted this teenager’s love of nu-metal.
“I thought it looked like the weirdest thing I’ve seen in my life,” Ed tells Kerrang! today, “so I thought I’m going to have to check them out, and then I bought their debut album because of that.”
And before long, Ed was embedded in alternative culture, wearing the nail varnish, baggy hoodies and jeans, despite being “quite posh” by his own admission.
Were System Of A Down the first metal band you gravitated to?
“Yeah, and I think it’s a pretty solid choice. Out of all of those bands, they’re the ones who’ve lasted the longest in terms of credibility and quality. My first gig was Korn at Wembley arena on the Issues tour. It was amazing to see a band live, but I was in the queue for that and someone set their pubes on fire. The gentleman pulled down his trousers and pants then set his pubes on fire and I thought, ‘You know what? This is the genre for me.’
“I can’t not mention Slipknot. I had the fortune of having a brief conversation with Corey Taylor a few years ago because he did QI, and my friend Aisling Bea was on that episode and she got up a picture of her and Corey, and I messaged her basically saying ‘Fuck you, Aisling. I can’t believe you’re living my dreams.’ The next thing you know, I got a message on Twitter from Corey saying ‘Aisling told me you’re a big fan of Slipknot so I thought I’d message and say hi.’ I had to try and play it cool… but I’ve read the messages back since it’s just a fanboy going mad.
“After the debut album release, Slipknot did a signing at Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street and I queued for five and a half hours to meet them. I was in the front of the queue, they came out to sit at the signing table and I found myself at the end of an aisle with Corey Taylor right ahead of me. I was a bigger boy then, and I just ran straight at him, threw myself on him, and I heard him under his mask go ‘Oh god!’ (laughs).”