Quite possibly, the oldest swinger in town but most definitely the littlest hobo, that’s right it’s James Fitzgerald aka Mick, Jim, Fitz or Fritz as he is more commonly known. Fritz has been drumming for the past 19 years starting at the grand age of 15. Although, he was dressing up as ‘Adam Ant’ from the age of 10, so that could have been a sign…. but then ridicule is nothing to be scared of….! In his early years, he played in bands with a heavy mod and rock influence - the names may give it away: ‘Disguises’, ‘Social Outcast’ and ‘Slaughterhouse’ – mmmm……..

Then settling for a while with the infamous ‘Wishplants’. For any of you who can remember the band you may know they signed to China records and during their run released two albums ‘Coma’ and ‘Daddy Long Legs’. They had considerable success on the indie scene and during their time played at Glastonbury, on the university circuit, supported ‘Terrorvision’, ‘The Wild Hearts’ and ‘The Wonder Stuff’…. Rock 'n' roll…
In the last few years he has played in ‘Billseys Dolphins’ (mmm the names get crazier) a rock/reggae group. While he currently plays with the ‘Pressure Tones’ a ska - based band and of course ‘Slim 47’.

You can gather that his musical influences are varied but when quizzed as to who his favourite bands are he cites ‘The Jam’, ‘The Who’ and ‘The Small Faces’. The best gig he ever attended as ‘The Pixies’ at Brixton Academy in 91 or maybe 92 his memory is hazy (..so many places…. so many gigs). And, the greatest drummers who ever lived, as Buddie Rich, Keith Moon (The Who) and Jon Bonham (Led Zepplin).

 

One thing is for sure, he is absorbed by his music and anyone who has ever seen him play live will testify to that. His manic drumming style lends itself well to the faster tracks among Slim 47’s play list, ‘By the Way’ (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and ‘Times Like These’ (Foo Fighters)….

Maybe tomorrow he’ll wanna settle down,
but until tomorrow he’ll just keep rockin on………
‘I hope I die before I get old’, just seems less and less appropriate…