Ian L. Clay

Ian L Clay is a former journalist who started work in the Music Division of Nexus Media in the 1990s. As a music fan and journalist he'd always wanted to write a book and through a quirk of fate (and a fellow band mate) was introduced to Keith West in 2012. Having sat around and listened to Keith talk about his formative musical experiences on the psychedelic music scene of London in the late 1960s and his latter life in the music business he became convinced that Keith's was a fascinating and unheard story that connected many of the different threads of a world he was fascinated by. Taking a sabbatical from work in 2020 Ian spent his lock down researching the era and interviewing the major players in Keith's life such as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Steve Howe and Bruce Thomas. The resulting work Thinking About Tomorrow, published by Bennion Kearny, was launched at a Keith West gig in London in 2021 where some original fans got to hear tracks played by their hero for the first time in over forty years. When not researching his next book Ian plays in a band and walks his lovely Australian Labradoodle Olive!