Francis Dunnery

The former It Bites guitarist/vocalist revisits the band’s debut album.

The Cumbria-born guitarist/ vocalist, now a long-term resident of the US, plays three UK shows to celebrate his former group It Bites’ 1986 album The Big Lad In The Windmill.

Why are you performing only three shows in the UK?

I’m tired of playing towns that don’t support me, because the five thousand dollars per night comes out of my pocket. The music industry that I grew up in is dead and not coming back. Let’s be honest, it’s not the survival of the fittest, it’s the survival of those that can adapt. I’m fortunate to have never been very popular, so I won’t miss it when it finally collapses. Luckily I can play three major cities, sell out, completely and utterly enjoy myself and make some cash. I bet you I have more fun than any band you know.

Now twenty-two years old, how does The Big Lad stand up today? It stands up like a werewolf’s chopper. Cumbrians are the last undiscovered people in the UK. It was music from a lost race. I wish I knew what I know now. We’d have been bigger than Tony Iommi and I could have easily made my child support every month.

Who will be in your band for these shows?

Pete Jones is on keyboards because he’s incredibly musical. Luke Machin [of the band Machine] plays guitar because he already knows all the stuff. Paul Brown is on bass because unlike a lot of players you can actually hear him. The drummer is Bjorn Fryklund, who I found online and seems rock enough to sound manly and prog enough to play all of the time changes with authenticity. We’re yet to meet, but he’s a Sagittarius so I’m sure he’ll be okay.

How close will the arrangements of the songs be to the original album versions? These live versions will be completely authentic. You can’t do reggae versions of these songs. It will be full-on It Bites music. It’s something I’ve learned to do quite well. I’m the best bloke to do me that I know.

When you heard the newly released five-disc It Bites box set Live In London, which brings together recordings from the Marquee in 1986 to Hammersmith in 1990, on your final tour with the band, what emotions did it generate in you? None at all. It’s like me showing you naked pictures of your ex-wife and expecting you to go: “Phwoooor!” We were fucking intense and some of those shows captured it.

The release of Live In London prompted a fan to plead on your Facebook page for a reunion of the original It Bites – “Pink Floyd did it, and they hate each other…”

I don’t hate any of them. I think they are amazing. Great guys, all of them. I have great memories. It was great music from a great band. But no, there won’t be a reunion. DL

“It will be full-on It Bites music. I’m the best bloke to do

me that I know.”

The first date is in Wolverhampton on January 18.