Date & place of birth:
December 24 1959; south London, near Elephant & Castle.

Profession:
Production Manager/Tour Manager - currently with Peter Gabriel's Growing Up tour.

What was your first professional job?:
Worst guitar tech in the history of rock'n'roll for Nine Below Zero from 1980. Sitting on milk crates in the back of a Ford Transit van from Peckham to Scarborough Penthouse... loading in up five flights of stairs and a load of Northerners giving it large... deep joy!

How did you get into production management?:
I slept with Dennis Arnold and Mickey Modern - Nik Kershaw's management team. I know it's hard to believe but Dennis was extremely good looking in those days.

Who has had the most influence on your career?:
Strange choices, I know, but its easy - Mickey Modern, Dennis Arnold, Pete Wilson and Andrew Zweck.

What's been your biggest professional achievement?:
Keeping Jimmy Nail happy! No, seriously, Pavarotti in Hyde Park and the Kylie Fever2002 tour

How about your worst professional disaster?:
I did a job for Andrew Zweck once called the Regal Rock'n'Blues at the Royal Albert Hall. It was my first in-the-round show and I thought I'd hit the big time. We wanted to use George Benson's revolving stage but Zweckie wouldn't pay for it. So I had 12 of Graham Shaw's crew secreted under the stage on their back, pushing the stage around with their hands and feet. The artists looked like George Clooney walking around the boat in 'Perfect Storm' as they tried desperately to maintain their balance.

What was the last record/CD you bought?:
Matchbox Twenty and Mud's Greatest Hits (I love 'Tiger Feet').

The last live show you attended as a punter?:
I don't go to many shows, but I like to keep my hand in so I can plagarise other production managers' ideas. That is a very hard question. Can I say 'Our House', the Madness musical? It was full of C-class celebrities from EastEnders and Coronation Street. I was asked for my autograph which impressed Debbie, my wife. I heard the autograph hunter say to another 'fan' "Get Dale Winton's autograph - he loves it!"

Any hobbies away from the job?:
I'm a complete Chelsea F.C. nut - I'm a season ticket holder and I live and breathe them.

Do you ever get asked to tell a joke?:
Ah! This is has to be reference to my name... funny that. I have a friend called Norman Wisdom but nobody asks him to keep shouting "Mr Grimsdale!" I don't tell jokes and can't tell jokes. I recently stopped wearing my cowboy hat with an arrow through it. People who know me say I'm the most sarcastic person they have ever met. I like sarcasm, its very underrated.

If you were to meet up with the teenage Steve Martin, what advice would you give him?:
Get that tan going a bit earlier, young Steve.

mail steve