TI: So Tom, what do you call this place?

TOM: dont fucken humor me - its a shithole!

ED: We are sitting in a "shithole" suburban timber renter, furniture recovered from the dump and much non-creative use of milk crates. We are here to interview Tom Winchester, ex member of the 60's band "Bent Edge", creator of the famous Clearlight Twist, said to be a coctail made from clearlight acid, lime & vodka! Tom has not been intervied by anyone for over 10 years during which he had been living as a junky record producer, local pot dealer and philosopher. Over the past 15 years Tom has endured several extended bouts of time in rehab clinics and mental hospitals, which he still maintains was more use to the doctors & other patients than it was to him.

TY: So what do you remember of the days touring with Bent Edge, you must have had some times in London, New York etc?

TOM: Yea ... Wild .. actually i dont remember fucken anything! .. I mean .. theres a catalogue of memories in my head that relate to the times, but im really not sure if they are my memories, or things that people have told me happened, or just things ive seen on TV!

TY: There was alot of drug taking and partying .. right?

TOM: Aparantly there was.. i mean what would you do, we were touring non stop, making plenty of money and hanging with people who just had heaps of drugs. They tell me it was one long party! .. I seem like an alien when I try to imagine myself living that kind of reality (LAUGHS COUGHS).

TY: What happened to all the money?

TOM: YEa right .... by the time Ron died (Ed: Ron Whitechurch was the 2nd gitarist and also co-song writer) it seemed like it had all evaporated. There were a few royalties for a time, but they just paid for the bills, I think Jeremy eventually sold all the rights to a US record company for about $10K which we split between us and Rons girlfriend & Kids. Fucken joke really!

TY: Who was the best artist you ever saw?

TOM: Well we were pretty fucken good! .. yea .. i liked our stuff .. still do! .. I have a very hazy recolection of seeing Nick Drake in a cafe whacked on Leb Hash ... that was pretty cool!

TY: Our research shows that you are the only member of the origional band left?

TOM: Yea .. aparantly so ... after Ron died a couple of the boys went on to play with other gigs. Jeremy kept on playing and making good money for a while... he died in Mexico in a shootout with some drug barron... Pete OD'd and was found 3 weeks later when they kicked his motel door in to get the rent. Not a pretty site .. they had him cremated, they invited me to the funeral but I couldnt afford the fucken air fare! Mick died on tour in Germany while managing a punk band back in 83.

TY: He's buried in Paris right?

TOM: yea .. sposedly somewhere near Jim Morrison .. some Rock Historian fella with a bald head and glasses showed me a picture of it once.... you kno, bleeding heart angel on top, the works!

TY: So whats your secret to sucess and long life?

TOM: (LAUGHS & COUGHS BADLY) .. Yea .. well .. they say that heroin has a preserving effect on the body .. no doubt my liver and kidneys have been cured to leather by whisky and my lungs feel like they have enuf fungus growing in em to keep em fertile!

TY: How old are you now?

TOM: Last count I was 65 ... err .. 67 i think .. memory aint what it used to be (LAUGHS - COUGHS)

TY: So what do u think of the music scene today?

TOM: Music Scene!! .. there aint no fucken music scene! .. its all pretty boy video clips and dance formulas .. all sounds the fuckn same!

TY: Is there anyone u like the sounds of?

TOM: No one ive seen for a long long time! there was a band I saw in a pub on the northside a year or so ago that sounded pretty good ... they were called "ReJekt" and they kicked some ass! .. even had an old fella like me excited!

TY: Werent you their manager or producer or something?

TOM: Yea, i helped em get a few gigs and did a few tracks on their CD .. even playd a few riffs for the samples! .. yea cool!

TY: What happened to em?

TOM: They didnt make any fucken money so they all fucked off back to art college or whereever they go!

TY: What are your plans for the future?

TOM: Well not dieing is definatly a factor... the expermments in immortality have been going pretty well up to this point! .. who knows, maby i will be around long enough to make it big again!! .. theres been a couple of oldies that have been doing the "remember me" thing! .. had a producer try to get me to signup for an oldies tour .. I said NO WAY! .. couldnt see myself gettin pissed with a bunch of has-beens everynight. It would be fucken painful! .. besides they wouldnt pay any $$ up front so fuck em!

TY: OK Tom well its been real good talkin to ya! .. i grew up listening to Bent Edge and you guys were one of my all time favorite concerts!

TOM: Yea .. wild ... so can I have the $50 bucks now? .. you said $50 bucks right? .. say .. how bout you make it $70 so I can get some dinner as well?.. you want me to hook ya up with some weed?

ED: We left Tom's place $120 later ... remember kiddies ... drugs can cause extreme bouts of happyness!

Interview recorded by Micky Monad & Ty Butler

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