GERMANY is getting to be a home from home for Roger ‘Trotwood’ Nowell and his musician pals.

Trotwood himself has been across the North Sea recently in his role as Paul Weller’s guitar technician and roadie.

And Trotwood’s old band Skeletal Family, Keighley’s most famous Goth rock outfit, have this month been performing in Germany, too.

Singer Anne Marie, guitarist Stan Greenwood and the rest of the four-decades-old band headlined a stage at Europe’s biggest Goth festival.

Trotwood said: “Anne Marie was bitten by a dog the day before, needing 27 stitches in the wound. She did the gig and got a standing ovation from the packed crowd.”

The band returned to England last week, but there was no time to rest for Anne Marie because she had to record a vocal track for American label Cleopatra.

The label plans to release an album of covers by various artists.

Trotwood added: “This will be good for the band, who plan a return to the States in October or November for a tour on both East and West coasts. In between, they have festivals in Italy and Poland.”

Skeletal Family were formed in the early 1980s from the ashes of Keighley band The Elements, and achieved renown on the UK Goth rock circuit. The band released several singles before disbanding, with Anne Marie going on to front Ghost Dance. Skeletal Family reformed several years ago, going through several line-up changes and building a new following.