Amazing Snakeheads: Rocker's widow hopes to find brain cancer cure

Amazing Snakeheads frontman Dale Barclay with wife Laura - wearing his signature cowboy hat

In 2012, Scottish singer-songwriter Laura St Jude met Dale Barclay - the love of her life.

It was about a year after his garage rock band, Amazing Snakeheads, had emerged snarling onto the Glasgow music scene.

On stage, Dale was maniacal, frighteningly unpredictable and frequently topless.

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos described him as "exuding old school gangster meanness".

But to Laura, Dale was a complete gentleman.

"There was something about Dale that nobody could put their finger on," she said. "He was just different from everybody else, he'd give anyone the last penny out of his pocket.

"We met. We spent every day together. We moved in together - it all just happened."

As the couple's relationship blossomed, Dale immersed himself in his music, appearing destined for success.

Amazing Snakeheads had signed with Domino Records - known for Arctic Monkeys, King Creosote, Franz Ferdinand and more - and they released their debut album Amphetamine Ballads in 2014.

Laura described their life as constantly on the move - they wrote music, performed and toured together, feeding into each other's musical projects.

But frequent partying after gigs sowed seeds of tension in the band.

After one wild night in Bournemouth - during which bassist William Coombe broke his leg - the Snakeheads went their separate ways, with Dale the only remaining member.

Then in 2017, outside one of Laura's gigs in Frankfurt, Germany, Dale collapsed while smoking a cigarette.

He was flown home and four weeks later, was diagnosed with glioblastoma - an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Only in about 5% of cases do sufferers live for more than five years, according to Brain Tumour Research.

"The helplessness, there's not really any other words," said Laura. "Dale didn't want to know the prognosis, he was shaken upon hearing the news.

"It took us about two weeks to sort of sit with it - and it was Dale who said 'everyone stop asking why. Let's just get up, enjoy what we've got and we'll throw everything at it.'

"It was his attitude that pulled me out of that desperate place."

About a month after Dale had surgery to remove the brain tumour, he and Laura were married at the Glasgow registry office.

They had been engaged since Christmas 2015, but between tours the time was never right.

"It was beautiful," said Laura. "Just a close knit bunch of us. We went in together holding hands, we went out together holding hands.

"It was just about saying those vows and having that moment together. There were a lot of tears that day."

The cowboy hat in the cancer ward

Months later, Dale's tumour returned.

The couple crowdfunded more than £43,000 for a second operation in September 2018 - largely supported by the music scene they had inhabited for the last seven years.

Five days after the procedure, Dale died from a swelling in the brain, age 32.

"It was unexpected in a way," said Laura. "The neurosurgeon told us that he was the best patient he'd had.

"All the nurses loved Dale - he'd walk into the cancer ward with his cowboy hat on.

"We came out the surgery on a high, we thought we've got some time now to maybe discover new treatments. We didn't get that chance."

In the years since Dale's death, Laura has continued writing her own music, including songs about her late husband.

She has also finished and released singles that she and Dale recorded, one of which was released in support of Brain Tumour Research.

Most recently, she has set up a fund in Dale's name, hoping the money will contribute towards a cure for glioblastoma.

"I'd like to join the fight towards campaigning - for better awareness, quicker diagnosis," said Laura.

"There's no cure. We were told the NHS have a standard of care - but it won't work. I'd just like to see that change.

"I'm taking Dale's spirit and how he attacked life. I need to do my bit."

Watch more of Dale's story in the BBC documentary Dale Barclay: All On Black on iplayer.