The Beta Band Were Almost On The Dole

Steve Mason, former front man of the Beta Band, has revealed that he nearly quit music altogether after his former band split up.

He says he now feels lucky just to be releasing music again as a solo artist in the form of King Biscuit Time.

He told the BBC: "We earned enough to pay our rent and eat and that was really it every month. None of us owned a house, none of us had anything really to show for it."

"The older you get the more you start to think about the future. All of us were only a month away from the dole when the group finished. I went and worked on a building site for a week to pay my rent and Rich (bassist Richard Green) is now a joiner."

Mason will release his first single ‘C I Am 15’ as King Biscuit Time on September 26.