Guest blogUtah Saints' Tim Garbutt: 'LFC love helped drive me to something meaningful'

I’ve always felt that football and music share a deep and powerful connection. Both are cultural forces that inspire emotion, unity and passion on a massive scale.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the life and soul of Liverpool Football Club.

Though I was born in London and spent my early years in the south, my first memory of seeing Liverpool play is what sparked my lifelong support for the club. My dad took me to Highbury, Arsenal’s old stadium, to see Arsenal play Liverpool, back when Kevin Keegan was in his prime and Ray Clemence was in goal. I was very young, but the experience was unforgettable. The excitement, the energy, the entire spectacle blew my mind, and by the end of it I knew I wanted a Liverpool kit for Christmas. Thankfully, I got one.

Years later, life took me further up north. First, I moved to Lincolnshire, where I lived until I was about 18, then later to Leeds, where Utah Saints came to life in 1991. We’re still making music as a band 33 years later.

Although I didn’t get the chance to visit Anfield until a few years ago, it was an experience I’ll never forget. I took my daughter to see Liverpool demolish Hull City, and we sat just behind the goal in the Kop. Words can hardly describe the feeling of being at Anfield in-person. The emotion and passion in the air are unlike anything you can experience watching a game on TV or even attending matches for other teams.

Anfield has its own magic, a spirit that’s unique to Liverpool FC, and I truly believe it’s unmatched anywhere else in football.

More from this series

• DRIIA: It's a huge goal of mine to hear one of my songs at Anfield
• 'I jumped in a pool when we won the Champions League in Istanbul'
• 'There's nothing in the world like the sound of the Kop'

In my music career, I’ve been lucky enough to experience the atmosphere of football stadiums in a different way. Back in 1993, Utah Saints had the opportunity to support U2 on their European tour, playing massive venues like Wembley, Rotterdam and Lisbon, alongside incredible artists like Björk, Stereo MCs and Paul Oakenfold.

I’ll never forget walking into the stadium on the first day of the tour during U2’s soundcheck and hearing the anthemic opening of Where the Streets Have No Name. It was a moment that gave me goosebumps, the same kind of goosebumps I felt when I heard Anfield erupt into You’ll Never Walk Alone. Both were moments that captured the raw, emotional power of music and football when they come together.

That U2 tour was also a personal turning point for me. It was when I realised that making music could be my full-time job, a proper career. Football and music share this common theme – they’re both dreams that many young people aspire to but are often told aren’t realistic career paths.

I wasn’t exactly a model student in school or college, and people often told me I should find a ‘real job’. It wasn’t until my father saw my records on sale at Woolworths (back when they stocked the top 20!) and saw me perform on Top of the Pops that he began to understand I was actually finding some success in music.

I imagine there are plenty of young kids sitting in the stands at Anfield each week dreaming of becoming footballers or pursuing other passions, just as I once did. The point is that anything is possible, even when people tell you otherwise. If you’re willing to put in the time, the dedication and the countless hours of hard work (sometimes for no reward), those dreams can become reality.

I like to think that my early experience of watching Liverpool as a young boy contributed, in some small way, to my drive to achieve something meaningful in life. Whether it was in music or some other pursuit, that early passion left its mark on me. If Utah Saints’ music has, in turn, inspired even one person to follow their dreams – whether that’s in sport, music or anything else – then I’ll feel like we’ve left behind a legacy worth being proud of.

Liverpool have made a good start to the season despite their surprise defeat to [Nottingham] Forest, who to their credit have made a great start themselves, and I am optimistic that they will have a solid first season under Arne Slot. Jürgen Klopp’s seat and his legacy is a tough one to fill but I do feel that Slot deserves a fair chance to shape the team to play in his style of play, but overall I think that Liverpool are in a strong place right now.

Utah Saints’ season has also got off to a great start as we are just about to re-release our original first album on double vinyl and also CD, which includes some rare unreleased remixes, and we are out playing shows now most weekends up until Christmas. Check out our website www.utahsaints.com for more info on where you can catch us.