In his book Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock-Star Fantasist (Viking, 2009), Simon Armitage documents his life-long passion for popular music and his role as lead singer and lyricist with the band The Scaremongers.

The Scaremongers released their first album, Born In A Barn (Corporation Pop Records) in 2009; the same year they featured on BBC 2’s Culture Show and played Latitude Festival.