Chris Carr was born at the Jane Crookall Maternity Home in 1962. The family moved off-island before Chris reached school age and he grew up in the Midlands.

Chris is married to Ann Marie and has four children - Aaron, Kristopher, Amy and Georgia. Chris is a retired aircraft engineer. His real passion was football and he spent his spare time as a football coach/managing and eventually scouting for Coventry City FC. Son Aaron signed and played for Coventry FC. On Chris’s return to the island in 2009, he took up his second passion, music, and Deep South Music Festival Isle of Man was born.

1) Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines

I read this as part of my English GCSE. The story of an adolescent teenager with little or no future, who trains a kestrel as a release from his dysfunctional life. Brian Glover’s role in the film version as PE teacher Mr Sugden is pure Hollywood gold.

2) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A book way ahead of its time in recognising both class and colour prejudice. Once I picked it up I could not put it down.

3) One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Andrew Martin, a school friend of mine who was streetwise, showed us how to sneak into Coventry City FC football ground on Saturday afternoons and Sunday nights into the local Odeon. The story sees Randell McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) incarcerated as a prison inmate pretending to be insane and duly convinces the mental health authorities to admit him as a patient.

4) Ridley Scott’s Gladiator

Russell Crowe and Joaquim Phoenix steal the show in this Hollywood blockbuster. My favourite film of the modern era.

5) Rat Race by The Specials

You simply could not grow up in Coventry during the early 80s and not be drawn in by this new sound. I was privileged to watch these guys close up as they were propelled into music stardom.

6) Road to nowhere by Talking heads

Pretty much anyone who goes onto secondary education has a soundtrack that reflects that particular moment in time.

7) The Stranglers ‘No more heroes’

Labelled as the older statesmen of punk rock, this song reflected as close as I ever got to the punk rock movement. Timeless.

8) relax by Frankie goes to Hollywood

It was 1983 and Margaret Thatcher had just swept to victory. The BBC had also just banned this song from their airwaves. Trevor Horn fiddled with some studio knobs and hey presto produced this masterpiece. What’s not to like?

9) Waterfront by Simple Minds

Nothing quite prepares you for your first arena gig and mine was NIA Birmingham’s 18,000 capacity arena. Simple Minds were in town as part of their Sparkle in the Rain album tour. Jim Kerr and the boys put on a show that will live with me forever and even more so when they belted out Waterfront driven by a big pulse beat generated by a Dynacord amplifier.

10) Losing My Religion by REM

This is my go-to song if karaoke is on offer and I have consumed too much red wine. REM tick all the boxes for me.