I had gotten a message about a new band Headline Maniac that was causing quite a stir in the U.K.... So I decided to interview Simon Bowley who plays drums with the band to get the facts... The band has been together for not quite a year and they have accomplished so much.. Punk Globe would like to thank Simon for finding the time to answer a few questions...


Hi Simon! Thanks for agreeing to do the interview so last minute. Tell us how Headline Maniac came about.

When the original members of Eddie and Hotrods agreed to do a few shows to celebrate the bands 40th anniversary in June 2015 myself , Dipster and Chris decided to put a little band together to open the show. Dipster had been writing songs and originally we thought they would work for a new Hotrods album but after a few rehearsals we decided the songs weren't right , to good to just ignore we decided to use them for ourselves. The shows went down so well that we were bombarded with requests for another performance so decided to go carry on.

The band is a trio and all of you play with Eddie and The Hotrods. Tell us who is in the band and what they play?

Myself (Simon Bowley) Drums, vocal
Dipster bass guitar and lead vocal
Chris Taylor guitar , vocals

How long has Headline Maniac been together for?

We put the idea together in June 2015 and went into the studio to record album in Sept 2015

Eddie and The Hotrods play quite alot is it hard for Headline Maniac to play shows?

It has been fairly hard up to now because as you say Eddie and Hotrods are constantly in demand but we took the decision to make time for HM shows after the summer ,

I know that Jamie Oliver who plays drums with The UK Subs plays in alot of bands so it can be done. Has Headline Maniac played on the same bill as Eddie and The Hot Rods?

Yes we have opened for Eddie and Hotrods on a couple of occasions which actually worked very well, we would go on and play our 45 min set then quick beer and costume change before going back on as Eddie and Hotrods


Tell us where the band is centered out of?

We all live within 20 mins of each other in Southend on sea , Essex in the UK

Tell us how you came up with the band name?

As you may have guessed Dipster is a nickname . When we were looking for a band name we messed about with anagrams of our names and when we put in Dipsters real name it spelt out Headline Maniac and we think it's a pretty cool name

Have you been able to tour?

Not yet but we do have tours of USA, Spain and UK being planned as we speak

You do have a new release available. Tell us about that?

Our self titled album was released on July 8th, we have had a 3 month PR campaign here in UK which has seen the album get rave reviews and lots of airplay

Do you all partake in writing the bands music?

Dipster is the main song writer , he brings the song to the table and we then add our ideas.

Is it a self release or are you signed with a label?

A year ago Eddie and the Hotrods set up our own label , RodHot Recs to release our old and new material on , we decided to look after our own interests and release the HM album through it too

Tell us about some of Headline Maniac's most rocking shows so far?

We opened for legendary 80's band Big Country which was pretty cool and we have a few fests this summer, so it's only now starting to take off to be honest

So this is a very exciting time for the band... Any bands that you enjoy playing with?

We like playing with all bands , over the years we have been lucky enough to tour the world with Eddie and Hotrods, we have played alongside some great big names as well as having new bands as openers .We did a big arena tour with Status Quo who were real nice down to earth guys


Tell us what is in store for the band for the rest of 2016?

We have shows in Europe and UK until December and more tours planned for 2017.

Any Internet addresses you would like to share with the readers?

People can download the album via Itunes etc , you can also buy the cd via Headlinemaniac.com or just like us and interact with us at facebook/ headlinemaniac

What are your thoughts about England leaving the European Union? And your new Prime Minister?

I personally think it's a very interesting time for the UK right now, we are now able to make our own decisions without being ruled by europe, as for our new PM only time will tell , hopefully she will do a good job and the UK will continue to prosper

Describe yourself in three words?

Really fucking good

Any final words for the readers?

If you like your music loud with insanely catchy hooks then have a listen to us . Its a bit punk , a bit rock and bloody good.

Here are a couple of vid links
https://youtu.be/lcp2uGUVd1A
https://youtu.be/ARczfPBHvpQ