Meet - Filthy Contact

Mark - Guitar

Mark first picked up a guitar aged 13. Four years later he joined his first band and has rarely been out of the music scene since.

During his mid 20s he was part of a successful Blues-based band and from then, the Blues became his discipline and true love in music.

In 2002, he completed a 3 year diploma in Music including Music Technology, Music Media and Industry.

Mark has worked alongside Jim Laughton from Cupid's Inspiration. He's well known amongst local musicians and has enjoyed playing in many popular local bands.

He spends most of his time around music and musicians. On Monday evenings, he co-presents "Peterborough's Most Wanted" on Peterborough's PCRFM radio station, where both new and established artists are showcased.


	Mark - Guitar Mark first picked up a guitar aged 13. Four years later he joined his first band and has rarely been out of the music scene since. During his mid 20s he was part of a successful Blues-based band and from then, the Blues became his discipline and true love in music. In 2002, he completed a 3 year diploma in Music including Music Technology, Music Media and Industry. Mark has worked alongside Jim Laughton from Cupid's Inspiration. He's well known amongst local musicians and has enjoyed playing in many popular local bands. He spends most of his time around music and musicians. On Monday evenings, he co-presents "Peterborough's Most Wanted" on Peterborough's PCRFM radio station, where both new and established artists are showcased.

	Tanya - Vocals Tanya started singing at the age of 2 in front of the television with a hairbrush. During her childhood she fell in love with Rock 'n' Roll legends such as Bill Hailey, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Shadows and of course The King of Rock 'n' Roll himself, Elvis. Her Dad introduced her to Crowded House, The Beatles and Shakin' Stevens. She became a huge fan and later became influenced by Madonna and Shania Twain. Tanya has been a devotee of karaoke since leaving school. In 1997 she joined Peterborough Operatic Society and then a year later joined Peterborough Gilbert & Sullivan Society, where she was classically trained in musical theatre. In March 2015 she entered a local X Factor competition which led to a love of open mic events. Later in 2015 she joined a local covers band The Empire as their lead vocalist. When The Empire split amicably in June 2017, Filthy Contact snapped her up straight away.

	Ben - Guitar Ben started his journey to mastery of the guitar aged 8. He studied music at Huddersfield University and is a qualified Music Teacher. Before joining Filthy Contact, he played with Closed Circuit. He is a man of many words who loves Blue Cheese. Don't we all? He also likes any music with odd time signatures.

	Steve - Drums Steve hails from Great Yarmouth and started drumming aged 14. He's played in bands of many styles, ranging from Country to Indie to Heavy Metal. Steve is one of the nicest and kindest people you could meet. He's cycled across America for the Save The Children Fund, worked with the local council rehoming animals, and is now involved in charity work helping to provide food for those who are struggling. He beat Cancer in 2019 and spends his days helping others and living life to the full. Steve has an infectious laugh and a rather dubious sense of humour. Tanya will confirm this.

	James - Bass After hearing Roxanne by The Police in the Summer of 1979, James knew that bass was going to be his thing. He was something of a stranger to the local music scene though before joining Filthy Contact in 2023. He'd been a member of Eklipse from 1986 to 1987 - a Peterborough-based Iron Maiden/Black Sabbath/Dio/Queen covers band who were really quite good. Life then took over until 2018 when he joined a band based in Huntingdon. This outfit were allergic to performing in public though and following three shambolic gigs and five years rehearsing the same tired set list every week in a pub in the middle of nowhere, James decided that enough was enough. A work colleague told him about the Facebook "Situations Vacant" groups for musicians. He joined one and immediately discovered Filthy Contact's advert for a bass player. The rest as they say, is history. James has based his stage persona on John Entwistle from The Who. This gets him into all sorts of bother with Mark because he just gets on with it without moving or smiling at all.