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was still quite a provincial place and everything had tostop at 1a.m. in most places,” says the band’s other violinist John Matthias. “But there was a lot going on. There were six or seven really good student bands and there were clubs set up by students. There were six or seven really dynamic people around and that’s all it takes to make something happen in a small place like Exeter. The art college was full of lots of very talented people.”
    “Looking back,” Laura says, “I think that generated an intense atmosphere of activity. We started up a magazine as well. It was supposed to be a little bit alternative and not about the things Exeter was supposed to be about, which was twin-set and pearls. I would say that atmosphere pushed anyone who was interested in anything alternative together. I lived with Martin, Toby Amies and John Isaacs. Felix used to come round, who was in Basement Jaxx later. There were two semi-detached houses and there was always somebody there planning something. There was always something happening.”
    In his first few months Thom also wrote for the university magazine, 3 rd Degree . Martin remembers he wrote an adulatory piece about U2’s album of the previous year The Joshua Tree . “He adored Bono for years and years,” says Martin. “I remember U2 was the number one, most important thing in his life. He was also a massive REM fan as well.” But initially Headless Chickens were much rougher and rowdier than that. They were as much about making a visual statement as they were about the music. Thom wasn’t even asked to audition. He looked right and then at their first rehearsal they all realised how talented he was.
    “I remember thinking his voice was lovely even though he was doing backing vocals while I was in the band,” Laura says. “His voice was so distinctive already.”
    “We were a noisy guitar band,” says violinist John Matthias. “But Thom has always had a great pop sensibility and he can’t help writing great tunes that work in a pop sense. The exciting music at the time was people like The Pixies and Fugazi. That was what we were playing in the clubs. Our band was kind of a bit like that but a bit more English and a bit more poppy.”
    At the time bands like The Wonder Stuff were very big in Britain and, with two violinists, there was an element of that sound in Headless Chickens. “I think they were into that but Shack was more into heavier stuff and quite experimental stuff,” says Laura. “On oneof our videos there’s a whole ten minutes where Shack has gone over to the keyboards and is just freewheeling and Thom was putting stuff in with his guitar and nobody really knows what’s happening. There was a nod at The Wonder Stuff but with lots of heavy guitar, thrashy with lots of pedals and effects. Bit odd. A bit of an odd mixture!”
    It was basically Shack’s band to start with. He was lead vocalist and Thom contributed backing vocals. Perhaps surprisingly, considering his talent, Thom made little effort to stamp his own personality on proceedings, at least at the start. He was just happy to have an outlet for his creativity while he was away from On A Friday. He made no effort to try and take over.
    “It is bizarre that we didn’t let him sing to start with,” Martin says. “I used to do some of the singing, which is really bizarre, because I’ve got a crap voice and he’s got quite a good voice! But he really loved performing live and really lived for it. You could tell that when he was onstage his slightly awkward, dweeby side would disappear and out would come a pretty crazed rock persona.”
    “He was never arrogant or cocky at gigs or rehearsals,” says Laura. “He didn’t try and take over musically, which I have subsequently come across in bands. Sometimes you meet somebody and there’s an arrogance that comes out in the music. They seem perfectly nice and then you realise they’ve cranked their amp up to 11 and nobody can hear