Damon Gough in Dunstable, England. Gough chose his stage name from the title character in the show 'Sam and his Magic Ball', which he saw on TV at a party in Trafford, Manchester in 1995. Before he thought of using this name he made some 'business cards', each one unique, with a printed picture of a drawing by his nephew, and a small collage by Gough. This was then laminated and given out to friends and people at clubs in Blackburn and Manchester. The Twisted Nerve empire was later spawned after a chance meeting with Andy Votel at the Generation X bar in Manchester. His friends Scott Abraham and Damon Hayhurst were contributing to an exhibition held by the Space Monkey Clothing Company at the bar and Votel was DJing that evening. Their first seven-inch single, EP1, was pressed about a year later to critical acclaim, although only 500 copies were made.
In 2002, Q magazine named Badly Drawn Boy in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", although this was as part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way".
