Name:             Dan Baker

Position:         Bass trombone (and Chairman)

Joined in:       Um, I think about 1996??!

When I’m not at band: Having presented and produced news and current affairs shows on ITV Central for 10 years, I quit journalism and joined Anglian Water in 2005, where I am currently Head of Media. That means I can be on telly, radio or in the papers defending the company’s reputation or promoting something positive we’ve done. I tend to find myself apologising quite a lot!! Other than that, I try to get to the gym about 3 times per week (you wouldn’t know to look at me though!!) as my body wants to be about 20 stone, but I won’t let it!!

Best Foresters moment: I should probably say playing on stage at the Albert Hall in 2000, but playing on centre circle at Walkers Stadium to 30,000+ football fans was probably more fun. Winning the Area a few years back was also pretty awesome – the best cheer I’ve ever heard at a contest!! Or maybe it was finding out we were awarded £10,000 of lottery funding this year….. or was it moving into our new bandroom??!! There are just too many positives to choose one as the best!!

Favourite piece: Currently it’s the Roy Newsome arrangement of Deep Harmony. Can’t get enough of that! Some of my brother’s arrangements (Leigh Baker) are excellent and I’m really proud of what he does. Also, the first time the soprano singer Carrie Trutz came to a rehearsal and sang ‘Oh my beloved father’ made me sob. Don’t know if anyone noticed?!! Couldn’t play a note!

Most embarrassing musical moment: Sight-reading Scheherazade in an orchestral concert in Huddersfield, thinking ‘it’s only 2^nd trombone so I’ll get away with it’ … Turns out there’s a 2^nd trombone cadenza, which is in Alto clef. Until that section of the piece was upon us, I’d never seen Alto clef before, never mind knew how to read it. I could hear Rimsky-Korsakov spinning in his grave as I busked my way through it in a Les Daswon style!!!

The thing that makes me laugh: Is other people laughing. I find it totally contagious. I also laugh at my own jokes a bit too much.

The thing that makes me cry: I cried with happiness at our civil partnership, I cried with frustration on a dectet trip to Guernsey last year as I felt really ill, I cried with sadness when I heard a friend was very ill. A good book can make me emotional, as can a soppy film or TV programme. Looking into the eyes of my wonderful niece and nephew, that makes me well up a bit too. Basically, I cry at the drop of a hat!

Something people probably don’t know about me: My cousin plays keyboards with The Hooziers. And the 2nd and 3rd toe on each of my feet are slightly webbed, which is probably linked to the fact I’m from Melton Mowbray!!