Hoxne rock group Blame it on the Dog back together after 20 years after reforming during lockdown

Spurred on by lockdown, a local rock band from Hoxne have regrouped after almost 20 years apart to record a new album – despite now living on different continents.

All the way back in 2001, Blame it on the Dog reached the final of the Star Maker Talent Competition – a yearly event at Park Hotel aimed at seeking out local musical talent.

Months later, the group – made up of lead guitarist Matt Davies, bassist Jason Watson and drummer Ollie Mills – disbanded, and did not speak again for almost two decades.

That was until the first lockdown, when a friend of Mr Davies, now 41 and with two children, brought it up.

“There was a thing going round where you name 10 albums that influenced your life and then you nominate someone else,” said Mr Davies, who now lives in Sussex, where he runs an electronics business.

“An old friend of the band came up with our old album, which we did not even know still existed.

“He sent it to me, and then I sent it to Jason, and he sent it to Ollie. We had this moment of ‘what did we give up?’

“We were gutted that we had let this slip when we were too young and stupid to realise what we had – we had amazing chemistry.”

The trio began to talk over video chat and flirted with the idea of getting the band back together.

Mr Mills, 41, is now a father-of-one living in Canada, where he works for a technology company, while Mr Watson, 42, has three children and works in airport security.

“We began to talk every day,” added Mr Davies. “Talking led to joking about how cool it would be if we could somehow still make new music – it felt impossible really.

“We all started working on these ideas and songs, and things just started happening.”

After a year of passing files back and forth, the group managed to reignite the spark that they had created when they were performing at Park Hotel, in Denmark Street, all those years ago.

This month, they released a new album, Three Chairs of Armageddon, which is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.

“As a result my two young boys are now seeing me play music, and they too are wanting to learn now,” added Mr Davies.

“The friendships which we have formed from this are incredibly special.

“The message here is that it is never too late; never too late to go back and chase old dreams, fix things with old friends, or go back to what you love.”