Musician and film maker Richard McMahon has shared the stage with several rock ‘n’ roll icons of the century, but whether it’s the O2, Bryan Adam’s recording studio, or a bar in his home town of Hexham, Richard is in his element whenever he’s got a guitar in his hand.

“I’d grown up listening to Mott the Hoople, so getting a chance to support their lead singer Ian Hunter was surreal,” Richard said: “It happened overnight. One of my friends who was a journalist had heard that Ian was looking for a support act at the Tyne Theatre – but they had to be available that evening. I picked up my guitar, and rushed over to the arena, where I was brought in for soundcheck as soon as I got through the door. A few hours later I was playing on stage to hundreds.

“After the show, he came backstage and had a pint with me, I was defiantly a little starstruck.”

At the time, Richard was no stranger to performing on big stages however – having been the frontman in a band called Fables Last Stand, who had travelled the UK spreading rock ‘n’ roll, one of their largest gig including playing support for international rock band UFO at the O2 arena in Newcastle.

“It was nearly full to capacity, so there were around a thousand people all staring up at us on stage,” Richard said. “We’d learnt from experience that the best performances are your most confident ones, so we would practise often to avoid being swallowed up out there.”

Fables Last Stand worked with music producers Jeff Dawson and Mike Frazer, who between them had worked with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Biffy Clyro and Aerosmith.

The band were even shipped out to Canada to “live as rock stars for 13 days,” Richard said, travelling by limousine, and set up in Bryan Adam’s recording studio, the Warehouse in Gastown.

When the band separated, Richard launched a career as a solo-artist, and has since recorded two albums since, which he compose and wrote himself, and toured across the region playing a mixture of acoustic and rock anywhere he can.

“I sometimes miss the camaraderie of being in a band, but I’m enjoying just being a troubadour and sharing my music to anyone who wants to give it a listen.”

When he’s not on stage, Richard is behind the camera, creating films under his own production company Overdrive Films.

His latest film Dark Spires is a supernatural/psychological horror which tells the story of a young man’s spiral into madness after a strange skull falls into his grasp.

Along with writing, directing and staring in the film, Richard composed the entire soundtrack.

On where he finds inspiration for so many projects, Richard said: “I think I’m just someone who craves creating something, and have been since I can reminder. Whether it’s music, poetry or films, there’s always new projects on the horizon, so life is never boring.”

Dark Spires along with Richard’s latest music can be found on his website www.richardmcmahon.co.uk