Damon Williams is the Bass player for the leather wearing, British heavy metal band Horse London that formed in 1987. He still plays bass as a session musician for bands of the heavy rock genre and still wears plenty of black clothing but is more Rick Owens than Rob Halford when it comes to style. He’s the guy always on the guest list or back stage with a band and when he’s not travelling the world he can usually be found sipping a herbal tea on the Kings Road, Chelsea.
Questions by Bridget Veal Carroll
Q. You’ve worn leather on stage, in your everyday life and for motorcycling, what do you look for when you’re shopping for leather and do any The London Leatherman or P&C pieces spring to mind?
My first significant leather jacket was a Johnson's La Rocka! from Paradise Garage in Cardiff, kudos to that shop for being ahead of the game outside London at that time. Bought it for my 21st, I still have it and it still fits. I've owned and traded many leathers since then, it's always been something that's part of my wardrobe.
I remember, back in the day, with my first publishing money from my band, I invested heavily in made to measure Leather trousers, jackets and waistcoats at Red Balls On Fire in Kensington Market, who I suppose were a kind of Chrome Hearts of the day.
Now I only have two leather jackets, a Lewis Leathers (can I say that?) Super Sportsman sheep hide and an Indian Motorcycles leather with body armour for riding.
I think The London Leatherman has some great unique pieces, favourite amongst them being the Highway Patrol Jacket, also, can't forget about the Galaxy belt, which I've owned for years and have become very attached to.
Q. Spinal Tap references are a running joke amongst you, Dave and your mutual friends. Do you have any memorable ‘Spinal Tap’ moments from being on tour or in the studio with any band?
A. Over the years of touring I've seen some classic examples of some nonsense Spinal Tap moments, some I can't say as I'll never work again but...Up at the top of that list was a festival in Spain where I was watching T*****d S****r from side of the stage where a headset mic on a lead got caught in someone's 'hair' and started pulling off his syrup...That was rough.
Damon Williams (sitting on his motorcycle) wearing full leather, with his band mates from Horse London. Photographed outside the Marquee in London, circa 1989.
Q. You and Dave have a long time mutual interest and appreciation for all sorts of motorcycles from Harley’s to Super Bikes. What are you riding at the moment? Do you have your eye on something you want? What’s been your favourite bike so far?
A. Funnily enough, I actually met Dave around motorcycles, I think it was when he had his BSA chop if I'm not mistaken.
On the subject of motorcycles, since growing up in rural Wales I've been involved with them all my life. I love most things two wheels but they've bitten me back badly a couple of times, one time I broke my arm badly racing Motocross in California and another was when a stolen car pulled out in front of me in London, went over the car and smashed my bike and wrist to bits.
Over the years I've been fortunate enough to own most of the bikes I've wanted and had a nice classic bike collection at one time. I've had some great motorcycling adventures around the world, mostly on Harleys and an Africa Twin.
I think maybe the chase is better than the catch as I've let them all go in search of the next 'one'.....I'd say my favourite bikes so far have been all of them....seriously, looking back I'd have to say it was a black, tuned '80 Ironhead Sportster (which I sold to a film company that threw it off a cliff), close second would be the '76 Norton Commando, also worth a mention, a '98 Wide Glide which was stolen in London, Ducati MHR, and a 1200 mile '77 XT 500.
I'm looking for an Evo Electra Glide in black at the moment but, ultimately if money was no object it would be an XLCR.
Q. For anyone who doesn’t know Horse London how do you explain the band? Your 1989 MTV Headbangers Ball interview makes for interesting viewing!
A. Horse London was formed from an idea I’d had brewing since around 84-85, around that time there was a sharp turnaround when it was ok to be into Rock again, everyone got the Led Zeppelin cassettes out, mainly thanks to The Cult's Love album. Having been around the London clubs, especially Batcave etc you could feel the shift towards Rock again when the Positive punk/Goth scene started to run out of steam.
Bands like Zodiac Mindwarp filled the Rock n Roll vacuum for a while, and as much as I found their image entertaining and interesting, having always been a Rocker at heart something with more of an AC/DC DNA based sensibility appealed to me.
Horse London was a simple concept, a Hard Rock, Punk, Glam melting pot, similar in fact to the Guns & Roses template, delivered honestly and authentically.
Inevitably though, too much too soon and the ‘Live Fast, Die Young’ maxim meant the whole thing imploded big time on the eve of a US tour after we'd just recorded one album.
There have been a few calls from promoters etc to resurrect it recently, we did try but we're all so different now it just didn't work. Musically it still sounded great, as raw and hard as ever but the personalities were just too different after such a long break.
I’ve been quite lucky over the years, through playing bass, to have been able to pick and choose the tours offered. Some worked out really well, others not so much. I haven’t drunk for 10 years so I find it difficult to fit into the Rock n Roll lifestyle these days.
I have a nice bass playing job coming up with a band I’ve liked for a while, lots of good things lined up for later this year/early next.
Q. Many of the Horse London band members have relocated to my home town of Melbourne, Australia and you’ve spent some time recording out there. How would you compare the music, biker and style scenes out there compared to London?
A. Yes, I've spent a lot of time recording and writing in Melbourne over the past few years and I've got to understand and appreciate the city. Certainly met some unique characters...
Melbourne actually has a rich musical heritage, there's an interesting history going back to the Sharpies, and from that scene there's a timeline through to the 12 bar based tradition of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo etc which is where the world picked up on it.
On the subject of how things are in other countries and how they do things, I’m sure Dave will agree with me on this, we were very fortunate to have grown up through the 70’s/80’s Britain with such unique youth cultures and varied musical creativity. The one thing the UK has always got right is music and style. A huge worldwide reach for such a small island….
Q. Every time we see you, you’re about to head off to another part of the world. How is your travel itinerary looking for 2023, do you have any destinations on your travel wish list?
A. Well, I do like to get out and take in as much of this planet as I can, travel broadens the mind and all that….I got back from a month in Colombia in February, Ibiza, Portugal, Finland later this month. On my way to Amsterdam on a guitar buying trip as I write this. Later in the year LA/California for a while, India/Sri Lanka then Japan/Australia to get the tattoo on my back finished by TenTenTattoo.
I’ll be relocating to Europe for a couple of months from May for a change of scenery…So I suppose I do 'get around a bit', I have houses in Mumbles in Wales but it's not my 'home', trying to be a 'citizen of the world' and luckily there's a lot of world out there to go and see..