IAN WESTBURY

About IAN WESTBURY

Ian Westbury, founding member and lead singer of Fierce Blue Ascot

I’m from Scrapcroft, but went to high school in Leicester. That’s where I met my bandmates – two fashion-forward, big-belt loving aspiring musicians – Susie Cheltenham and Pauline Wallis. They were friends of my girlfriend at the time – I broke up with the flame, but the girls stuck with me. Read into it what you like (you wouldn’t be far wrong). We instantly clicked with our shared love of all things synthpop, and we formed a trio. We toyed with several names for the band during the first few months. Finally we brought a list of suggestions to rehearsal one day and oddly the words “fierce” and “blue” turned up on each of them – so there was a fulcrum, if you will. As for “ascot” – I was wearing one. It looked as good on me as it sounded in the band name, but had it been a less windy day, we could easily have been “Fierce Blue Fedora.”

After a few years of gigging in all the clubs from Camden to Copenhagen to Amsterdam we could get ourselves booked into, we had a top ten single with Under the Moon. Unfortunately, our later singles didn’t receive the appreciation or attention they deserved – obviously a major lapse in good judgment at the time. I mean, I understand that the public can sometimes be fickle but I think there was a profound cultural shift that coincided with our rise to fame that I can only blame on a massive cosmic misalignment and the brain-numbing combination of marmite on toast while watching Saturday morning telly.

The band basically fell apart after that. We were constantly bickering over lyrics and eventually it became obvious that we weren’t creating the same top quality songwriting and sounds that launched our career initially. It was like the spark that ignited our blazing entry into the spotlight was suddenly and irrevocably dimmed by powers beyond our control. It was during that period that I married and divorced, twice. I don’t really like to talk about that. We decided that the best thing would be to split up. Pauline went solo and experienced a modest level of success. I never really liked her all that much anyway – she wore a little too much lip gloss for my liking, and honestly, I don’t know if she had any moves other than that serpentine arm twisting. Susie Smarty Pants went and enrolled in Loughborough University. I decided to escape the naysayers and move to America.

With my vast knowledge and experience in the music industry, I eventually opened my LA-based record shop, where I am to this day. I like to think of myself as a musical Sherpa, if you will, guiding my customers to the absolute peaks in musical ecstasy. It’s what I do. I read people, can tell what they’re into and what they might like to venture into. Music keeps the wheels of commerce spinning and I provide the petrol.

I get asked all the time by my fans about the possibility of a reunion tour. For my part, I’d like to see it happen. But you can’t go back, as they say. So here we are.