The Weekender, Issue Seven

E FRE

DEBBIE AND I

By Brian Aris Meet The Promoters Jazz In Amsterdam‌Nice!

Best Summer Picnics

PLUS: Billy Childish / Smugglers Records Hot Property: Broadstairs / Get the Look: Festival Chic www.weekenderonline.net

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aspinallfoundation.org

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Contributors

This issue’s contributors tell us all about their favourite music

‘EAST KENT LIFE AT ITS BEST’ ISSUE SEVEN / SUMMER 2013 / FREE

Jo Willis is a photographer, stylist and former TV art director. She is a founding member of Resort Studios, Margate and loves “reclamation and all things wood”.

Her regular blog is thecurioinmargate.com Best ever gig?

Chas and Dave at the Winter Gardens — my face hurt for a week from smiling so much!

Your first record?

Push It by Salt-n-Pepa. I LOVED Spinderella (aka Dee Dee Roper). My cat Dee is named after her in homage.

On the iPod right now…

Indie folk to sing my heart out to: Daughter, Angus and Julia Stone, Of Monsters and Men, Iron and Wine. Music for every other state of mind: Dead Man’s Bones, Papercuts, Hanni El Khatib, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and lots more.

Bill Dunn pays tribute to cult artist and musician Billy Childish. No stranger to a paintbrush himself, the magazine editor and motoring journalist challenged his namesake to a ‘paint off’ but is still waiting for Mr Childish to confirm a date.

Best ever gig?

The Jesus and Mary Chain at ULU, 1986.

I was revising English Literature upstairs, wandered past the Reid brothers, jumped off the stage and had a drink at the bar.

Your first record?

David Bowie’s Scary Monsters.

On the iPod right now…

Savages Silence Yourself, Weezer’s Getchoo and Troubled Mind by The Buff Medways.

tom keenan is a photographer from Deal and shot our Beauty page portrait.

More of his work can be seen at tomkeenanphotography.co.uk Best ever gig?

I went to a Christian festival called Momentum last year: the weather was gorgeous with around 10,000 people in a huge tent!

Your first record?

Elvis Presley’s A Little Less Conversation when I was about seven. I bought it from Woolworths which is now a Poundland.

On the iPod right now…

Josh Garrels The Resistance. A great passionate song from a great passionate believer.

Editor’s Letter Welcome to our music special!

While planning the issue, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what makes the perfect soundtrack to summer.

For you, is it The Beach Boys and their California Girls or DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince chillin’ in the car they spent all day waxin’? Maybe it’s Mungo Jerry, the cast of Grease or even Katy Perry in a blue wig cavorting with Snoop Dogg. Perhaps, more realistically, it’s the neighbours’ lawnmower, the chatter around a barbecue or the hypnotic sound of an epic rally at Wimbledon.

With these sounds and more at the ready, it’s been a pleasure sourcing the very best in entertainment that East Kent has to offer.

Our truly iconic cover star Debbie Harry of Blondie leads us to assess the impressive back catalogue of photographer Brian Aris (page 7), who in a 50 year career has shot everyone from The Rolling Stones to Sting, Roxy Music, Kate Bush and The Queen.

We also pay tribute to Chatham man and outsider artist Billy Childish (page 23), meet the area’s most exciting live promoters (page 24) and uncover the story behind two new independent record labels, Smugglers and Dawn Chorus (page 28).

On page 48 we even fly from Manston Airport to Amsterdam in search of city’s best jazz and blues clubs and we have interviews with a starry and talented range of singers, musicians and DJ’s from East Kent and beyond.

Elsewhere in the magazine we have some hot property in Broadstairs (page 40), some inspiring picnic ideas on page 32 (let’s hope the sun shines long enough for these!) and our regular style experts on beauty and interiors (pages 54–55). We’ve also found the time to go sea kayaking on page 52 ­— just to prove that you can have your slice of summer fun on water as well as on land.

I hope you’ll agree this is quite a mix and one worthy of any summer compilation. So why not grab a deckchair, pour yourself a tall ice-cold drink and enjoy the selection?

Editor

on the cover: Debbie Harry by Brian Aris

The Weekender 3

VIEWPOINT 6 Your comments on issue six Competition winners announced

OPINION 21 Jane Wenham-Jones prefers a good local festival to a muddy field full of strangers

OUT & ABOUT 7–19 News, views and must-do events Photo story: Photographer Brian Aris on Debbie Harry and other 1980s icons A­–Z of modern artists Dad rock in Whitstable It’s a Numbers Game: Summer Festivals Q&A Geno Washington If you are only going to do 3 things this summer…

East Kent Original: Eric Storm 10 most rock & roll moments

LOCAL HERO 23 Bill Dunn says respect is long overdue for Chathamborn artist and musician Billy Childish PEOPLE 24–27 We meet the promoters who provide the most outrageous entertainment in East Kent TALE 28–30 How two independent record labels from Kent have created a new musical landscape

7

24

FOOD & DRINK 32–39 Reviving the lost art of the picnic in Sandwich Let’s Make: Summer Salad The Perfect Weekend…Lunch with the Kids

55

Publisher and editor: Dan Synge dan@the-weekender.net Graphic design: dan@danadamsdesign.com

4 The Weekender

Contributing Editor (Food & Drink): Tom Moggach Contributing Editors (Photography): John Stoddart, Sean Preston Illustrations: Ben Dickson Contributors: Jane Wenham-Jones, Bill Dunn, Peter Dench, Jo Willis, Bess Browning, Mike Owen, Lily Guy-Vogel, Natalie Shirlaw, Lynn Taylor, Frances Prescott, Ross Duttson, Peter Cocks, Tom Keenan, Agatha Yuen, Anne Davis, Bill Harris, Pete Fry, Jo Scott

The Weekender is a free independent magazine distributed to over 300 select outlets in and around East Kent.

Copies are available quarterly in Canterbury, Faversham, Whitstable, Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Sandwich, Deal, Folkestone and beyond.

Subscribe to The Weekender for just £16 a year* (4 issues) *includes postage Details: info@the-weekender.net

Contents Issue Seven / Summer 2013 “Debbie has that New York, Andy Warhol background. By the way, she has a stunningly beautiful face”

SPACE 40–47 An exclusive development near Broadstairs ticks all the right boxes for downsizers How Blueberry Homes gave Broadstairs town a modern edge The Curio

23

TRAVEL 48–51 In search of after-hours jazz in Amsterdam The List: Amsterdam for music and art lovers ACTIVITY 52–53 Tom Moggach takes to a sea kayak INTERIORS 54 Ross Duttson turns his home into the ultimate rock pad

49

BEAUTY 53 Our beauty experts on the latest festival looks JUST THE JOB 55 Jo Wallace, soul DJ MY EAST KENT LIFE 58 Former Average White Band guitarist turned restaurateur Hamish Stuart on discovering the north Kent coast

39

47 18

See the issue online at: www.weekenderonline.net Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ theweekendermag Or follow us on Twitter @kentweekender For advertising enquires please contact: advertising@the-weekender.net For editorial enquires please contact: info@the-weekender.net

The Weekender 5

In your last issue, Jane Wenham-Jones boasted support for the new flights from Manston to Amsterdam (Please In My Back Yard) while she accused non-supporters of being “bleaters”. As a bleater who was snatched from my Sunday morning lie-in by the terrifying roar of the plane flying just barely above my sleepy head, I awoke wondering if Jane’s ‘back yard’ was anywhere near mine? Janette, Ramsgate

I was most impressed by your last issue. The design is particularly impressive, and the writing much sharper than in most media of this kind. Arthur, Faversham I picked up issue six at Tea & Times in Whitstable and wanted to congratulate you on easily the best free magazine I have read. I love the paper, layout, content and even the adverts are tasteful and in keeping with the style of the magazine. Sorry to gush but I

COMPETITION WINNERS In the last issue, artist Ben Dickson offered three of his Peter Cushing prints to the first three contestants to answer correctly: Which character did Peter Cushing play in the film Star Wars? The answer was: Grand Moff Tarkin Our lucky winners are: Clare Elson, Matt Simpson and Edward Chambers Thanks to all those who entered. Ben’s prints are available at www.originalportraitart.com Our Great Kent Quiz was won by Pamela Brown Congratulations Pamela, a signed copy of Kent’s Strangest Tales by Martin Latham is on it’s way!

LIFE AT ITS BES T’

FREE ISSUE SIX

/ SPRING

2013

The Travel

Specia

l

www.w eekend eronlin e.net

KENT

2013 Spring Issue Six

“Easily the best free magazine I have read”

I’ve just read your magazine in Beano’s cafe. I didn’t think The Weekender could get any better, but it looks so good and I love the new paper stock; very sophisticated with great articles too. Really pleased to see it turning into a really great publication and, dare I say it, an institution. Andy, Folkestone

nder

Your comments on issue six

‘EAST

The Weeke

Viewpoint

think it’s great for Kent and I wish you every success.

If I had a complaint (which I don’t) it would be the lack of Herne Bay content; the Petit Poisson by the Pier at least is worthy of a visit! Andy, The Grinning Pig, Herne Bay

THE T SP RAVEL

ECIAL ROLLIN : WIT G ROCK H THE E Wayne RS

Designs Hemingw Try O for Dreamlaay:

ur Gre PLUS at Ken nd Cool Co: The Insider’ t Quiz! s Ca untry Pa ds / Su lais / Best M www.w ggs’s W icr eekend hitstable opubs eronlin e.net

If you have anything you want to say about this issue of The Weekender, please write to: info@the-weekender.net You can also join our Facebook group www.facebook.com/ weekendermag Or follow us on Twitter@kentweekender

DID YOU KNOW…

You can subscribe to The Weekender for just £16 a year*? Write to us at info@the-weekender.net and we’ll ensure that the latest quarterly print copy reaches you. Why miss out? *includes postage (UK only)

NEWS, VIEWS AND MUST-DO EVENTS / OUT & ABOUT

Life of Brian From gritty photojournalism to celebrity weeklies, Brian Aris has a back catalogue to die for. So what keeps him hungry after all these years?

OUT & ABOUT

F

rom a generation of photographers that includes the still practising Don McCullin and David Bailey, Brian Aris began taking photos with a black and white 35mm camera aged just 14 years.

Starting in Fleet Street as a lowly runner before persuading the Daily Mirror to send him to trouble hit Belfast, he then found himself working for Save the Children in the Middle East and later Vietnam, where he arrived two days before the US military withdrawal.

“Photojournalism is the thing I love most,” says the veteran photographer from his home in the North Downs near Faversham. “I came back with lots of really good pictures from Vietnam, but by the time my American editor received them, Saigon had already fallen so they were no longer interested in the story. I got quite disillusioned at that point.”

Disappointment was short-lived, however, as he was offered a job by The Sun newspaper to snap the emerging class of models, actresses and celebrities. A world away from the world’s danger spots and with no experience in the studio, he began a four-decade-long career in celebrity image making. His subjects read like the table setting for a fantasy dinner party:

Mick Jagger, The Queen, Madonna, David Bowie, Margaret Thatcher and Brad Pitt to name but a few.

Friendship with Faversham neighbour Sir Bob Geldof (then just plain Bob Geldof, lead singer of The Boomtown Rats) then took him back to Africa for work with Band Aid, the charity whose global media profile peaked with the star-studded Live Aid concert in 1985.

As official wedding photographer to Sir Bob and his then wife Paula Yates, Aris then started making a highly lucrative living from exclusive celebrity weddings. He explains: “Hello magazine came onto the scene and stared throwing an awful lot of money at these things, then OK! came along and made it even more competitive.”

Despite the perceived fluffy nature of such work, Aris says that doing a high profile wedding can be as satisfying as working on worthier projects. He adds: “It’s fun, and I love the battle to stop the paparazzi from taking photos. For the Beckham’s wedding [at an Irish castle in 1999] we spent a week planning the security.”

One star who has a special place in Aris’s unbeatable portfolio is Debbie Harry, the Blondie singer who gave the music scene much needed sex appeal in the late-1970s. Can he help to explain her enduring popularity?

“Debbie has that New York, Andy Warhol background; there’s an art element to her and she has a different view of how you should dress. By the way, she also has a stunningly beautiful face. There aren’t many female performers that have lasted this length of time.”

Aris discovered East Kent after returning from Vietnam as a young photojournalist. A Whitstable-based colleague suggested that he found a place in the country to relax, and he’s still here 40 years later!

“I live in an oasis between the M20 and the M2 and it hasn’t changed a bit since I arrived. When I go to the pub, no one asks about what it’s like to shoot the Queen or Debbie Harry — all we talk about is pheasants.”

Despite the easy-going rural lifestyle, he continues to commute regularly to London, where he has a studio. His hunger for taking strong, iconic images – the kind that once graced hit album covers and the dressing tables of the stars – is as strong as ever. Next up is a big celebrity wedding (top secret, of course) and a new retail business plan as well as the continued marketing of his prints online. He may even have time this summer to catch up with his old chum Debbie Harry who tours the UK this summer with Blondie.

Does he think that he has had a charmed career; a case of being at the right time/right place? “I was lucky enough to be able to experience photojournalism in its heyday but also be there for the explosion of music in Britain. The 1980s were a wonderful time to be shooting people and watching them become massive stars.”

Brian Aris’s 24 Rock and Roll Images, The Grossmith Gallery, Margate until 1 August www.brianaris.com Opening page: Debbie Harry at a friend’s New York apartment This page (from top): Northern Ireland gave Brian his first taste of photojournalism; a boy plays on a rubbish tip, 1969 Facing page (from top): David Bowie takes a break during the making of a Tin Machine video; Kate Bush poses in the studio; Roxy Music hit the high notes at Wembley

8 The Weekender

“At the pub no one asks about what it’s like to shoot the Queen—all we talk about is pheasants”

9 - 16 August 2013 CAPERCAILLIE

DERVISH

PEGGY SEEGER TIM EDEY

LARKIN POE YORUBA WOMEN CHOIR

FAY HIELD & THE HURRICANE PARTY ZULU TRADITION

SLIM CHANCE

and many, many more . . .

Season Tickets on sale now!

• Over 500 events in one week • Week, weekend & day season tickets available • Campsite • Fabulous Children’s Festival • Lots of workshops and plus social dances The Ukulele Credit Card Booking, Ticket Sales & Information 01843

604080

www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk info@broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk

Orchestra of Great Britain Pre-festival special

Broadstairs Folk Week is a registered charity No 1104684.

All monies raised are used to promote and fund the festival. Company Ltd by Guarantee No 4485954

GREAT MODERN ARTISTS JEAN-MICHEL

BASQUIAT

GIORGIO

de CHIRICO

JOSEF

ALBERS

OUT & ABOUT

TO SALVADOR

MAX

DALI

ERNST

GET STUFFED!

LUCIAN

FREUD

T

axidermy has come a long way from the nation’s stately homes and club rooms and can now be seen in luxury goods stores and modern art galleries.

Capturing and perhaps driving the trend is Alexis Turner, founder of London Taxidermy and author of a fascinating new book on the subject.

While good taste is undoubtedly an issue here, it is still hard to take your eyes off the various forms this ancient art takes; there are the museum collections such as the one at Powell-Cotton Museum at Quex Park, but also anthropomorphic taxidermy (small animals placed in an often hilarious human context), fashion photo shoots and Victorian fakes and freaks. For a more sinister take on taxidermy, how about artist Thomas Grünfeld’s hybrids such as this pelican/ kangaroo/horse? Taxidermy by Alexis Turner is published by Thames & Hudson

3

9

4

8

5

7

6

ALBERTO

GIACOMETTI

DAVID

HOCKNEY

ROBERT

INDIANA

JASPER

FRIDA

JOHNS

KAHLO

5

ROY

LICHTENSTEIN

MARC

QUINN

PIET

BEN

GEORGIA

PABLO

ALEKSANDR

KURT

VLADIMIR

MAURICE

JIRO

LARRY

MONDRIAN

RODCHENKO

NICHOLSON

O’KEEFFE

SCHWITTERS

TATLIN

PICASSO

UTRILLO

% Everything had broken down and new things had to be made out of the fragments; and this is Merz.

It was like a revolution within me, not as it was, but as it should have been.

S

BILL

VIOLA

ANDY

WARHOL

ZHANG

XIAOGANG

YOSHIHARA

ZOX

Great Modern Artists Alphabet © Andy Tuohy & Olivia Wilkes 2013

Z IS FOR ZOX

Mod Art_50x70_V3.indd 1

13/5/13 17:42:30

O

kay, so how many artists can you think of that begin with the letter Z? Folkestone designer Andy Tuohy had precisely this problem when planning his new poster showing 26 of the world’s best known and important international artists of the last 100 years.

But no Duchamp, Matisse, Hirst or Emin? “Unfortunately some artists didn’t make the cut,” explains Tuohy, “but then there’s only one ‘M’ and we picked Mondrian.” £12.95 plus p&p from www.andytuohy.co.uk

Ocean Colour Seen Step on the sands with a clear conscience this summer with these limited edition beach shorts designed

by Margate artist Steve McPherson.

Launched by Crew Clothing in partnership with the Plastic Oceans Foundation, the organisation committed to reducing plastic pollution in the environment, these Fogle shorts (named after Crew brand ambassador and all-round hearty Ben) depict discarded marine plastic gathered by the artist on his regular trawls around the Thanet coastline. Buy a pair, and £5 goes straight to saving our oceans for future generations. www.crewclothing.co.uk The Weekender 11

Smugglers Records are proud and excited to announce these up-coming releases.

Visit our website to pre-order now www.smugglersrecords.com

Cocos Lovers

Will Varley

Arlet

‘Gold Or Dust’

‘As The Crow Flies’

22/07/13

02/09/13

‘Clearing’ September 2013

Smugglers Festival 2013 tickets also available through the website!

THE L IG HTH O US E NEW MUSIC & ARTS P UB DEAL , K ENT

COM IN G SO O N

INF O @ THEL IG HTH O US EDEAL . CO . U K

OUT & ABOUT

Dads Rock

photo: agatha yuen

Whitstable is home to a vibrant live music scene. The only thing is, most band members are old enough to be your dad. By Agatha Yuen

Far left: Garage band Centrurion Sect come armed with tongue-in-cheek lyrics Middle: Postmen Nagasaki 3 find there is ready market for their 1950s covers Top right: In the studio with 60ft Jesus

“Rock and roll shouldn’t be an age thing,” say Whitstable’s Nagasaki 3. Members Adam, Steve and Jake are postmen by day but started the band in 2010 to play covers from the 1950s finding that there was an immediate market for their music.

Another favourite on the live circuit, 60ft Jesus, share a similar background. Also well beyond the first flush of youth and with full time jobs by day, they still find time to rehearse regularly and play venues such as the Duke of Cumberland and the Old Neptune.

Members Nigel, Pete and Bear say that far from stopping them, it is their families who insist they keep on playing. Pete’s 10-year-old daughter even has their songs on her mobile.

Meanwhile garage punk outfit Centurion Sect combine a high-energy stage performance with a dark sense of humour. “It’s all tongue in cheek,” says guitarist Andy. Their legions of fans will be hoping that songs Debbie Klicker and Jamie Oliver’s Army make it onto their debut album which is released later this year.

Members of the Sect may look ordinary enough at home but when they take to the stage, they become hyper-active teenagers. “When we put our guitars down, the crowd shout for more,” says vocalist Brendan.

“It’s good when the audience get involved and you get pleasure out of that.”

The three Kentish bands have little in common musically, but their attitude is alike. Nothing will stop their passion and they are likely to be making a noise long after the free bus passes arrive.

IT’S A NUMBERS GAME: Summer Festivals -

research by lily guy vogel

36 Average age of festival goers

18% Percentage of 51–60 year olds attending festivals

£423.01 Average spend per person

£864M Boost to the UK’s economy 23% admit to taking drugs at a festival 10,000 Homes that could be powered by the total energy used at UK festivals

30%

rise in bookings for European festivals on last year

1 4

in say downloading has made it less likely they will attend a festival this year

The Weekender 13

OUT & ABOUT

On The Couch… with Dom and Steph

I

n case you missed it, Channel 4’s Gogglebox introduced us, fly-on-the-wall style, to some of the most opinionated viewers in Britain. Remember the Siddiqui family from Derby, Sandra and Sandy from Brixton or the gay hairdressers from Brighton?

Stealing the show from such telly wannabes however were ‘token posh couple’ and esteemed Sandwich residents Dom and Steph Parker, who wowed audiences with their constant facepulling, Clarkson-esque opinions and boozy antics including a moment when the sofa they had been sitting on collapsed along with a mountain of port glasses they had been piling up as a joke.

Says Dom from the comfort of his living room at The Salutation, their idyllic Queen Anne-style luxury retreat designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens: “They filmed us two nights a week for up to six hours at a time, so no wonder we were so pissed by the end of it! “They [the producers] enjoyed the fact that we like to have a drink, but by one in the morning, we were so hammered, I couldn’t remember a thing. I only wish some of the things I said hadn’t gone out on national TV.” The programme aired only four episodes back in March and critics gave it mixed reviews, yet fans singled out Dom and Steph’s performance recognising the couple’s on-screen chemistry. “We had nearly 400 emails, many saying they expected us to be the posh twats but actually we weren’t like

14 The Weekender

that at all,” says Dom. Wife Steph meanwhile has been recognised at the check in desk at Heathrow airport and has accumulated nearly 1300 Twitter followers since the programme. “It’s bonkers,” she chortles, “because I only had four when it started!”

The couple, who have recently put their £4.5 million home on the market, made their reality TV debut with Four in a Bed, a competition featuring B&B owners. Are they ready for more acting up in front of the cameras?

For once, the couple are in complete agreement. “We would look at offers,” says Dom, but if it’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, I’ll be telling the producers that we’re not exactly big on eating balls or cockroaches.”

OUT & ABOUT

If you are only going to do 3 things this summer…

Be creative with the kids at the Turner Contemporary as part of their current exhibition Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing (until 15 September). Make your own fossil impressions into clay or create your own miniature cabinets of curiosity at an Easy Sundays drop in workshop. £3 per child. Free for adults, under 3s and families living in CT9.

For details see turnercontemporary.org/ whats-on Stay at a real safari lodge.

The award-winning Livingstone Lodge at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park is the UK’s authentic overnight safari experience. Enjoy a magical night under the stars in chic tented accommodation, authentic African fine dining and safaris guided by expert rangers.

For more information t: 0844 8550274 aspinallfoundation.org Shake a leg at Margate’s Soul Weekend. Margate’s music venues come alive to the sound of soul, jazz, dance and classic funk. Over 30 DJ’s are performing over the weekend and headline acts include Smoove and Turrell, Bah Samba and 1980s US chart-toppers Loose Ends.

2­–4 August. Wristbands for all evening activities across all venues are £10 margatesoulweekend.co.uk

Geno Washington The US-born singer is still on the road, almost 50 years after his Ram Jam Band wowed soul fans with their non-stop, high energy stage show Your 1960s shows were the stuff of legend. Are the old crowd still following you?

Yeah. That’s what keeps me going! They come to my shows and they bring their sons, daughters and cousins along. I do it for my passion for soul music and the blues.

If you put on soul music where I’m from, you draw the crowds. It’s for party animals. What I don’t do is ‘soul cabaret’—I do full steam ahead with all my rough edges!

Didn’t you once make a record with The Beach Boys?

That’s right. They released an album in Canada and I had a hit off the album called That’s Why Hollywood Loves Me. People always ask me why the record company never released it elsewhere.

I understand that you studied hypnosis—what do you use it for?

It helps with self-confidence, relaxation and creativity.

Studying hypnosis was the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s better than booze and drugs and getting strung out on personal problems.

I’m a qualified hypnotherapist with a degree from the University of San Francisco. Once, I was one of England’s top hypnotists like Paul McKenna and Derren Brown.

Did you ever thank Dexys Midnight Runners for their tribute to you?

As it happens, Q Magazine asked me to present them with an Icon award in 2012.

Kevin Rowland came to see me when I was with the Ram Jam Band in Brighton.

It was great to hang out with him and he was proud that I was still doing

it at such a high level.

You’ve lived in the UK a while now. Do you consider yourself an honorary Brit?

I’m dedicated to Brits, you know what I mean! I love the country and I love the people.

It just feels like home.

Everything the Brits do, I do, and what they complain about, I complain about! They say ‘do as the Romans do’ and that suits me just fine.

How do you keep the energy levels up at nearly 70?

It all comes naturally to me.

I don’t smoke or drink or do any of that stuff, and at my age, every day above ground is a good day! If you ain’t sweating you ain’t doing your job right. You can’t do soul music sitting down, man!

Geno Washington & The Yo Yo’s play The Astor Community Theatre in Deal on Friday 4 October www.theastor.org

The Weekender 15

photo: peter dench

OUT & ABOUT

FRESHER WEEKS

H

ere’s the perfect festival accessory to keep your skin feeling rejuvenated and rehydrated. Ingredients apple pectin and manuka honey help to exfoliate and heal the skin; peppermint helps combat oily areas. They are also deep cleansing and can remove up to four layers of mascara. Celebrity Skinwipes £9.95 www.roomninetytwo.co.uk

EAST KENT ORIGINAL Name: Eric Storm (aka Ukulele Eric) Age: 72 Profession: Musician Home: Cliftonville, Margate

T

he ukulele idea took off after I went and bought one in a music shop. Once I started playing in public I got very good reaction and I realised I was onto something. People tell me: “You have the feel good factor” and if that’s what happens, then that will do nicely.

I started off with George Formby songs but now I do covers like Eye of the Tiger. Of course it’s not going to sound like the real thing but the ukulele makes it a jaunty song. Admittedly, I’m not the world’s best player but I have developed a style which I haven’t seen anyone else do. On some songs it’s so fast it sounds like a blur.

I’m still getting the occasional gig and playing the uke every day and, if I say so myself, it ain’t half bad now.

Are you an East Kent Original? Email a photo of yourself and a brief description of what makes you stand out from the crowd to: info@the-weekender.net

DREAM WEAVER

textile designer Margo Selby relocated her studio from London to Whitstable this spring. Not only does she offer a stunning range of luxury hand-made products including this fabulous signature drape jacket (above) and boots (below) but she also offers regular workshops for those keen to get weaving themselves. www.margoselby.com

The Weekender 17

OUT & ABOUT

East Kent Babylon

There may be nothing to rival Jim Morrison’s grave or a tour of Sun Studios, but from the Fab Four in an airfield to pirate radio DJs and foul-mouthed white reggae artists, this corner of England boasts a surprisingly rich musical heritage. Here are 10 seminal rock and roll moments that have taken place not a million miles from your doorstep illustrations ben dickson

JIMI HENDRIX 1 WRITES FIRE IN FOLKESTONE From the legendary 1967 Are You Experienced album, ‘let me stand next to your fire’ originates not from a casual encounter with a groupie but from a chilly New Year’s Eve spent at the Folkestone home of bassist Noel Redding’s mum. As legend has it, the afro-haired rock god became so irked by the lack of warmth in her front room—despite the glowing coal fire before him—that he urged her Great Dane to ‘move over and let Jimi take over’. Cue soaring guitar solo.

CHAS & DAVE 2 RECORD ‘MARGATE’ Long before Eminem and Pete Doherty discovered them, the popular cockney duo paid tribute to the Thanet seaside town sampling jellied eels and a stroll along the promenade, among other delights, on their musical day trip. The jaunty pub ditty peaked at only number 46 in the charts in 1982 but got a further airing on an Only Fools and Horses Christmas special which attracted a television audience of over 20 million in 1989. As Chas 18 The Weekender

Hodges rightly sang: ‘You can keep the Costa Brava and all that palava… I’d rather have a day down Margate with all me family.’

OF 3 PIRATES HERNE BAY A collection of rusting World War Two sea forts built off the coast of Herne Bay, were the unlikely setting for the pirate radio boom of the 1960s. Buoyed by the success of Radio Caroline and lured by their suitability for attaching radio masts to, maverick rocker Screaming Lord Sutch began broadcasting from Shivering Sands tower in 1964. The short-lived Radio City was the brainchild of businessman Reg Calvert who was shot dead in a money-related feud in 1966. Shortly afterwards, it was closed down following the government’s Marine Broadcasting Offences Act. The tower later made a brief appearance in the cult rock film, Slade in Flame in which Noddy Holder and the band are airlifted from a fictional pirate station by helicopter.

DIVAS AT 4 RAP DUNGENESS A windswept beach situated in the shade of a nuclear power station is not normally where you’d expect to find a chart-topping, pink-haired female rapper; Romney Marsh and its environs are hardly what you’d call ‘Bling’. But for her 2012 video Freedom Nicki Minaj braved a chilly November day to mime ‘bitches acting like they killing shit, OK’ in front of a giant sound mirror at Denge.

Honolulu it wasn’t! “Poor Nicki was huddled up and shivering between takes but gamely got on with it all,” said a spokesperson.

OUT & ABOUT

Clokwise from left: Jimi found Folkestone an incendiary experience; Noddy and the band were rescued from an old sea fort in the Thames Estuary; Buster served up extra large portions in Margate

PROG ROCK 5 BLOOMS IN CANTERBURY

BUSTER 9 BLOODVESSEL OPENS

FATTY TOWERS

While Detroit’s Motown packaged slick-sounding soul, Seattle had grunge and Manchester gave us guitar bands with baggy shirts and maraca-shaking side men, Canterbury is the spiritual home of serious avant-garde rock. Led by Robert Wyatt’s Soft Machine and a complex network of oddly-named groups (Henry Cow, Centipede, Egg etc) the so-called ‘Canterbury Scene’ flowered up from the late 1960s and lasted until punk came along to trample on its pretentious musical excesses.

When the music career took a dive in the 1990s, the corpulent Bad Manners front man opened his very own guest house Fatty Towers in Margate. Having already trialled his Club 18-30 Stone from a kebab shop in Ramsgate, Fatty Towers seemed a promising business venture featuring oversized beds and a restaurant that served up 48oz steaks and tequila Slush Puppies. It closed after just two years.

After sponsoring Margate FC for a season, Bloodvessel (real name Douglas Woods) returned to London where he still owns a house boat.

KENT 6 JAZZ DUDE PLAYS ‘WORLD’S COOLEST SAX SOLO’

Ever wondered who played the solo on sultry movie theme The Pink Panther? Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz or perhaps even John Coltrane on a quiet day? Wrong. Step forward Canterbury-born tenor sax player Tony Coe who appears on several recordings of Henry Mancini’s classic soundtrack. Apart from being a gifted musician and one helluva cool cat, Coe has composed several of his own film scores and won the ‘Jazz Nobel’ in 1995. His son Gideon is the BBC6 Music DJ.

JUDGE DREAD 7 RECORDS 11 BANNED SINGLES Who would have thought that the first white artist to have scored a reggae hit in Jamaica would have been a former night club bouncer and wrestler from Snodland, near Gillingham?

The larger-than-life Dread (born Alex Hughes) was Prince Buster’s bodyguard and he rode the reggae bandwagon of the early 1970s, recording a series of 11 hits, all of which were banned by the BBC— a record that still stands today.

While hardly in the artistic league of Bob Marley or Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, his ‘rude reggae’ struck a chord with his legions of skinhead fans and the wider record

buying public like. The world of reggae mourned his sudden death following a show in Canterbury in 1998.

PAINTING 8 WITH IAN DURY Years before Dury and his band The Blockheads scored a number one hit with Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, the late polio-struck pub rocker held down a teaching job at the Canterbury College of Art. An inspiring but rigorous task master and largely hapless pursuer of female art students, his time in Canterbury was far from wasted; art school was the perfect recruiting ground for his first band Kilburn and the High Roads who went on to support The Who. The college (now the University for the Creative Arts) named a student hall of residence after him in 2001.

THE 10 BEATLES PLAY EIGHT NIGHTS AT THE WINTER GARDENS

The Fab Four were not often seen in these parts, but their East Kent fans must have been overjoyed when they played eight consecutive nights at the Winter Gardens, Margate in July 1963. Although their debut album Please Please Me was riding high in the album charts, Beatlemania was yet to grip the nation; photos taken during their stay show the relaxed Liverpool lads shivering in their hotel swimming pool and mucking about with a petrol-driven lawnmower. Five years later The Beatles would return to Kent—this time the location was West Malling airfield for The Magical Mystery Tour singing ‘goo goo g’joob’ whilst wearing paisley Nehru jackets and animal masks.

The Weekender 19

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OPINION

Jane Wenham Jones

Portaloo Sunset

“

If you are off to the middle of a field, I wish you the best of fun (and antiseptic wipes)

” “It’s

the only place you can wake up, drink hot cider brandy, get married, join a morris dancing troupe, then watch the Chemical Brothers. There really is something for everybody.” Everybody except me. Blur’s Alex James’ summing up of the joys of Glastonbury does not make me want to run for my wellies and lavender oil, but rather just makes me appreciate all the more the joys of a hot shower and an ensuite bathroom.

I love music but the thought of a festival brings me out in hives. I can understand the celebs in their Winnebagos in the VIP area thinking

photo: bill harris

it a hoot but why would us ordinary mortals want to wallow in mud with 150,000 other unwashed bodies? When I was 18, maybe. Now? Please pass me the newspaper or the remote control and could you make sure there’s plenty of ice in my gin and tonic?

But I realise I am not the norm.

No longer is it just the free-spirited young who want to cram themselves into a sweaty tent outside the stinking portaloos. The middle-aged flock to the five hundred festivals organised in the UK each year, in their droves. Many take their kids! “Have you ever,” wrote Neil McCormick in The Telegraph, “tried to encourage a small child to hover over a

hole big enough for him to fall through, below which is a visible river of merde?”

No, I can’t say I have. And nor, I can assure you most fervently, would I want to. My mention of lavender oil earlier refers to the fact that I carry it in my handbag to dab beneath my nostrils (a tip given to me by a veteran festival-goer as it happens) in case I have to venture into any sort of public convenience— even one with running water.

Mr McCormick’s further descriptions of pushing his three-yearold in his buggy up and down hills for a weekend, half a mile from their tent, and spending hours in queues does nothing for me either. Nor does the vision of an entire evening jammed in traffic trying to leave the place. Yes, yes, I know it is all about the atmosphere, of being at one with the crowd, of the indefinable happy-clappy, gloriously dilettante escapism of the throb of the beat and the haze of marijuana hanging on the sweet air, but I don’t need to be there to relive my youth.

When it comes to festivals in my world, you can’t beat the town-based local variety. The sort you can walk to and still get home, or at least to a nearby hotel. Which is why I never tire of Broadstairs Folk Week, when the town is packed with hairy folkies with their pewter pots and every bar hosts live music from lunch til dusk. And where I can sit on a pub floor, drinking cider, in my ageing hippy garb, feeling suitably young and free again or wander the warm streets (in theory anyway) listening to the busking til the early hours and know that within twenty minutes I can be tucked up under my own duvet. With a cup of green tea at my bedside and Radio 4 on the Bose.

Like the old codgeress I really am.

Each to her own. If you’re made of sterner stuff and are off to the middle of a field, I wish you the best of fun (and antiseptic wipes). I’ll be with you in spirit and promise to watch on TV. Jane’s novel One Glass is Never Enough, which features Broadstairs Folk Week, is published by Accent Press and is available in paperback and on Kindle. www.janewenhamjones. wordpress.com

The Weekender 21

– the little lOunge – rbury , Cante m r a F n 2013 Merto th July 8 2 , h t 7 26th, 2

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20/06/2013 16:34

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at The White Cliffs Hotel

Arrive at The Bay Restaurant in the heart of the delightful seaside village of St. Margaret’s-at-Cliffe and discover somewhere quite special. The handsome weather-boarded buildings of The White Cliffs Hotel in which The Bay Restaurant nestles may remind you of those found in coastal New England and on stepping through into the beautiful interior with it’s refreshing and quite unique décor you'll find this is indeed a place with a soul.

The Bay Restaurant sits in the hub of the buzzing hotel, the fresh coastal feel extending throughout the fantastically quirky bar into the cool restaurant and out back into the gorgeous sun-trap “beach garden” complete with pebble beach, wooden groynes and stripy deck chairs.

Experience the enjoyable dilemma of being challenged in terms of choice - what to order when you want it all?

A starter of home-made salt cod fish fingers in saffron batter with sorrel mayonnaise, sublime goat’s cheese fritters with a fig jampote to die for , pigeon breast with broad beans and black pig pancetta, or mussels steamed in Weston’s cider, thyme and cream. Mains of sea-bass with fennel, garlic and herb chips or Romney Marsh lamb with aubergine and red onion, minted yoghurt and grilled flatbread or free-range chicken breast with clams and chorizo in a tarragon sauce with new potatoes, Alkham Valley beef with summer truffle butter, woodland mushrooms and ‘real proper chips’.

Then for dessert how about blackcurrant mousse with (heavenly) liquorice ice cream or double chocolate brownie with Kentish cherry ripple ice cream or a lemon crème brulée with a fabulous raspberry sorbet, dressed with mint ?

In this simply yet elegantly styled space, with its wooden floors, stone walls, cheery staff and happy vibes. It’s easy to see why the place is buzzing, The Bay Restaurant is on to a winning formula!

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LOCAL HERO

#7

Billy Childish words and illustration by bill dunn

B

illy Childish, born Steven John Hamper in Chatham some 54 years ago, has never let work get in the way of the artist’s life. In fact being an artist is all he’s ever been since the age of 18 when, working as a stone mason in Chatham Dock Yard, he purposely smashed his hand with a 3lb hammer, declaring he’d never work again. Luckily, this was 1977 and punk and art were available as a fitting substitute.

Billy has espoused the punk spirit ever since. He was too punk for art school (which is saying something), getting expelled from St Martins School of Art for refusing to paint inside the college building. A tutor remembers him as “the most unteachable student I have encountered in 30 years of teaching”. He was even too punk for an art protest movement — he formed the Stuckists as a reaction against conceptual art—“artists who don’t paint aren’t artists”— but then left them because he didn’t like being pigeonholed.

Whether it’s Billy’s music or painting, writing or poetry, it all stems from this spirit of homespun amateurism, demystifying the specialness of being an artist or a musician — anyone can do it, you’ve just got to do it. In fact he’s a professional amateur, because he’s always known that amateurism equals independence, and independence equals freedom. And Billy’s always been a free spirit.

That’s why his music sounds fresh and is revered by the likes of Jack White from the White Stripes, Beck and Graham Coxon— it’s the real deal, the Medway Sound.

Despite Jack White’s fondness for analogue studios, he can never quite replicate the gritty reality of The Pop Rivets or Musicians Of The British Empire (Billy’s first and most recent bands).

Usually recorded very quickly on average equipment, his music has no truck with knobtwiddlers or musical trends and nuances—it’s just raw,

pure ideas. “I’ve seen people work very hard and very slowly to achieve something like an LP,” he says. “They take a year to record it and it’s got four good tracks on it. I’ve recorded an album in a day and a half and it’s got four good tracks on it.”

He doesn’t listen to other people’s music, though: “It’s all right banging nails yourself, but why listen to someone else doing it?” Despite the brutal analogy, there is a sensitivity to Billy’s music that comes from a complete lack of artifice — he’s completely unafraid to reveal any aspect of himself to the listener.

The brevity and intensity with which Billy attacks a guitar track or a canvas partly explains why he’s been so prolific.

The rest is due to making the time available—he’s able to do a great deal of work because he’s not worried about working.

“Deconstruct this anomaly” he says in Archive From 1959 (the year of his birth). He certainly is an anomaly— a man who eschews fame (refusing to appear on Celebrity Big Brother) yet somehow ends up amongst it anyway. His labelmates on Sub Pop included Nirvana and he famously went out with Tracey Emin. He wields an electric guitar, sings about Joe Strummer, yet rarely dresses in anything made post-war. His look has been copied by everyone from The Libertines with their military gear to practically every moustachioed young coffee barista in the land. He’s also a vegetarian yoga-practising teetotaller.

A true gentleman who believes that life is a spiritual journey in which the key is to better oneself, he finds it “hard to be enthusiastic about things I know are nonsense”. This includes most of the modern world including Rupert Murdoch, iPods, Richard Branson and more.

The phrases ‘local hero’ and ‘national treasure’ are bandied about too frequently today, but at 54, Billy Childish is a strong contender for both titles. Perhaps he could be made Earl of Kent, although he almost certainly wouldn’t turn up at the ceremony.

The Weekender 23

PEOPLE

LET ME

ENTERTAIN

YOU!

From private beach huts and village halls to publiclyfunded arts centres and concert halls, our area is awash with cultural activity.

Who are the people who drive our demand for live performance and, in turn, help the stars of tomorrow find those all-important first steps to fame?

We dust down the casting couch, light up a fat Cohiba and meet just a few of the promoters, producers and impresarios that have made life in East Kent just that bit more entertaining

24 The Weekender

PEOPLE

photo: pete fry

H

aving your very own annual summer music festival would be a dream job for many, but as Sean Baker and Vic Hazell, founders of Lounge on the Farm can testify, it’s not always a chilled-out stroll in the field.

“Booking bands can be really stressful and working with financial investors can be a battle,” says Baker. “In 2011 our investors booked some horrible acts which didn’t reflect our core values. That meant we had 4,000 people on the site that we didn’t actually want.”

With such hiccups now firmly in the past, Kent’s only local and sustainable music and food festival is truly back on track this summer. The line-up not only includes chart topping divas (Jessie Ware) and soul and reggae legends (Soul II Soul, Aswad) but also home-grown talent in the form of Broken Hands, Coco & The Butterfields and Syd Arthur.

Lounge was launched on an increasingly crowded festival scene in 2006 and has been at Canterbury’s Merton Farm location for eight years.

Recalls Hazell: “Having been to some pretty awful festivals ourselves we realised that we could do better. Lounge has never been just about music and wellies; we have a strong foodie angle and want the money spent on site to stay in Kent and boost our local economy. We also offer cultural sustainability. Unlike some festival organisers, our aim is not to become rich, we just don’t want to lose our money!”

The duo’s low key niche approach has paid off over the years with audiences peaking at a healthy 10,000 over the July weekend. Most are from Kent or the south east with anyone from small babies to groovy 70-year-olds there to enjoy the eclectic line up and impressive local catering. “People say that we are a cross between the early Glastonbury festivals and a village fete; we don’t mind those comparisons at all,” says Baker.

Baker, who co-founded the festival after years of running his own club night Lounge Originals has both booked and met several of his heroes through promoting the festival. “Some of them turn out to be really cool people and some of them aren’t. Ian McCullough (Echo and The Bunnymen) is the only artist who has asked for a hairdryer!

I also had to get the New York Dolls from their limo then take them though a muddy cow shed, which they thought was really cool.”

“I had to take the New York Dolls through a muddy cowshed”

The highlight for him, however, is that moment when, after all the planning, financial wrangling, logistics and ego massaging, he gets to play the final DJ set of the weekend. “It’s great!” he says, “Up there on the podium, I feel as if I’m ten feet tall.”

Best moment Watching Martha Reeves and the Vandellas trying on dresses at the fancy dress stall.

Worst moment Having 4,000 “horrible people” on site in 2011.

Ideal line up This year’s line up! www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk

P

utting together a regular comedy/variety show can bring both chaos and uncertainty but Peter Cocks, who has run his Private Widdle Social Club nights since 2010, is not remotely bothered. “Things going wrong are all part of it, and as a producer, my job is to stage manage that chaos,” he says.

“Private Widdle is about tapping into a seaside tradition of slightly tawdry and worn down comedy and putting a fresh spin on it. We like a bit of surrealism.”

Live mayhem that he has been responsible for include snake dancing and a ‘cat organist’ as well as the more rarefied humour of Never Mind The Buzzcocks funnyman Paul Foot. Cocks is also one of the few promoters brave enough to take on a resting Adam Ant. The former 1980s pop star appeared at the Astor Theatre, Deal in 2011, selling out the venue in the space of a few hours.

He played Prince Charming and other hits backed by a troupe of burlesque dancers before disappearing out of East Kent to re-launch his career in earnest.

“Adam Ant was a fantastic draw,” remembers Cocks fondly, “I could have sold his show three or four times over, but the fun was the car crash of doing it once.”

The formula so far has been to blend comedy circuit regulars with local variety and music acts. The first Private Widdle night was an instant success but Cocks is only too aware of the challenge to repeat this on a regular basis. He says: “London comics such as Paul Foot or Henning Wehn can be booked from £250 but the profit margins are still tight.

Local theatres are helpful and they are keen to build an audience and happy just to take the bar money, but once the serious money comes in they want their cut of it too.”

Cocks, whose own background is in children’s television, has plenty of off-the-wall ideas sustain the interest in his quarterly Widdle nights. Last year he took a group of six performers on a tour to China. Was the Far East ready for Widdle’s curious brand of seaside humour? “Obviously we had an interpreter,” he says, “and I deliberately put a very visual show together.” His troupe, which included a tattooed dancer and a half-Polish ukulele player, found themselves accused of nudity on live radio. “The high point for me was to get our Chinese audience doing a conga line around the town square — it was a major moment of cultural exchange!”

Best moment Adam Ant on stage with a transgender Tommy Cooper impressionist and burlesque girls.

Worst moment There have been many, all quite special in their own ways.

Ideal line up Paul Foot and Lenny Beige presiding over a bill that includes a performing budgie, a man doing steam train impressions and a touch of glamour. www.privatewiddlesocialclub.co.uk

A

relative newcomer on the local variety scene, Sadie Hennessy’s Whitstable Anchorage Klub has quickly found a following with its bizarre mix of performance art, music and saucy seaside fun.

The outrageous fancy dress evenings compered by talking fox Basil Thrush have now moved from their home St Mary’s Hall in Whitstable to the more mainstream Marlowe Studio in Canterbury. “I’ve been amazed at the appetite for variety and it’s great to see queues of dressed up people lining up outside the venue,” says Hennessy who also organises an annual music event, Hutstock, at her beach hut.

She is happy to give the stage over to amateur and semi-professional performers and recent acts include naked balloon dancers, a Scouts �D The Weekender 25

PEOPLE

“We like a bit of surrealism”

This page (from top, clockwise): Sean Baker and Vic Hazell started Lounge on the Farm back in 2006; revellers enjoy the sunshine at the Merton Farm site; Widdle promoter and organiser of “chaos”, Peter Cocks; comic Paul Foot draws the crowds; Adam Ant famously played the Private Widdle Social Club in Deal

26 The Weekender

photo: jo willis

PEOPLE

This page (from left, clockwise): Fans gather at the main stage, Lounge on the Farm; Tom Thumb’s Jessica and Eoin bring a fresh wave of entertainment to Cliftonville; variety is the spice of life at the Whitstable Anchorage Klub; promoter Sadie Hennessy lays on nights of performance art and saucy seaside fun

photo: john stoddart

explored include the saucy seaside, doctors and nurses and a French night.

With a host of performers and lighting and sound engineers to pay, there is little financial reward for promoting the night. But artist Sadie’s “performance art meets care in the community” has caught the imagination of her seaside town and beyond.

Who knows where this show will drop anchor next?

brass band and a man who impersonates buildings.

She says: “It’s a huge amount of work doing it on your own, and getting the lighting and sound right can be tricky, but it’s worth it. What I love about it is the community aspect — I love seeing people practising and getting together just to make something happen for the show.”

The fancy dress idea, she explains, is a way of breaking the ice so that audiences enter into the spirit of the event. Themes that have already been

Best moment The Greatest Show on Legs doing their Red Sparrows routine was absolutely hilarious.

Worst moment Sorting out the many Health and Safety issues associated with a knife-throwing act only to be told that the act was an illusion and real knives aren’t actually used.

Ideal line up I’m looking for someone who does heel-work to music with their dog. facebook.com/WhitstableANchorageKlub

D

immed lights, hushed whispers and the rustle of a sweet wrapper?

Jessica Jordan-Wrench and Eoin Furbank have a different plan. The Tom Thumb is a theatre with colours and flashes, haze, distortion and rumbles to make your insides shake.

Residents of Margate for a mere 12 months, Jess and Eoin hit the ground running and haven’t stopped since. The youngest members of the family-run Tom Thumb Theatre are spearheading the new wave of entertainment in the

area with indie film nights, live bands and DJs, alongside cutting-edge theatre and experimental performance from across the country.

Throw a few distorted guitars into the mix and you’ve got Margate’s coolest venue. With the help of local lad Sammy Clarke, On Margate Sounds has become a regular night out for bands from near and far, complementing their popular Bluegrass and Folk and Roots nights.

Cosmic Sands, a journey through dance music, from before the disco age and beyond is the latest addition to the programme.

The recently-opened ramshackle cocktail bar above the theatre has given the locals a new drinking haunt. In the very rare free moments that Jess and Eoin have, they can generally be found behind the bar concocting new and bizarre cocktails to add to their menu.

Interview by Jo Willis Best moment Watching the expressions on people’s faces when they arrive at the theatre for the first time.

Worst moment Battling against an ice-cold, gale force wind to get to the theatre before realising we had forgotten our keys and having to trudge back home to retrieve them.

Ideal line up The TEAM would be incredible, as would Great Small Works, who produced Toy Theatre Festivals — perfect for our compact venue! www.tomthumbtheatre.co.uk The Weekender 27

TALE

GREEN SHOOTS, FOLK ROOTS

original photo: mike owen

Finding an audience and selling music to them is increasingly hard now that record companies are no longer bankrolling new artists. Some local musicians have had other ideas, as Peter Cocks discovers

28 The Weekender

TALE

Main photo: Cocos Lovers line up at the Black Douglas Coffee House. Smugglers Records founder Will Greenham is in the middle of the group (holding mug) Right: Syd Arthur get ready to play the 100 Club in London. Their independent label Dawn Chorus is home to a number of new local bands

T

he county of Kent has produced some of the longest-serving alumni in the school of British rock. Among this illustrious band are Dartford’s Jagger and Richards as well as Bromley boy turned ‘Thin White Duke’, David Bowie.

Canterbury flourished in the 1970s with its jazzy, psychedelic sound then later Billy Childish and the Medway beat scene livened things up in the 1980s. But with pop music now in the payroll of TV talent shows and artists struggling to find decent record deals from an ailing music industry, where, you might wonder, is the new musical express coming from?

Given the fertile soil that is found in East Kent, it started, appropriately, with small green shoots. Independent label Smugglers Records was founded in Deal in 2008 by Will Greenham, an economics graduate and musician who was brought to the town by his wife Natasha, singer and violinist and scion of Deal’s long-established Douglas family.

The couple started a band and began looking for gigs. Finding little on offer, Greenham looked for a venue where they could do their own thing. He recalls: “For a town so rich in musical ability and heritage—from The Royal Marine School of Music to traditional sea shanties—there were few bands writing original music or venues willing to support it, so we had do it ourselves.”

Joined by Natasha’s sister, Mary-Ann

they hired the run-down Landmark Centre on the High Street. Their first band The Faraway Tree was joined by fledgling Canterbury act Syd Arthur, led by brothers Joel and Liam Magill.

Despite a few protests from the regulars of the Landmark bar, the gig was a success, bringing together not only like-minded musicians, but finding local people hungry for live music. At around the same time, The Astor Theatre was undergoing a renovation and relaunch and Greenham took it upon himself to establish free Smuggler’s Sessions at the venue. The night not only created an enthusiastic following for his label and a new audience for The Astor, but also sparked a new energy, drawing musicians from across the county to Deal.

Greenham immediately found that he was a conduit for new music. He explains: “We would meet bands from around the country and Europe while on tour, and invite them back to play in our town. That’s how we met the Dutch band Bucket Boyz and Nuru Kane from Senegal. We would house and feed them, then they would do a great show.”

His band, meanwhile, had metamorphosed into a seven piece, and was re-named Cocos Lovers. Brothers David and James Hatton joined on drums and bass, while Phil Self lined up on lead guitar and multi-stringed instruments. It turned out that the Greenham’s exotic-looking au pair,

Nicola Vella, also had a voice and played a mean flute. The band was now comprised of brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and lovers; an organic family unit in keeping with the times.

HOMESPUN LABELS

By 2010, big record company deals were as rare as rocking horse manure, and a contract for a couple of thousand pounds was not worth having anyway. Even bands with proper deals end up owing thousands to their corporate bosses.

Greenham therefore took the guerrilla approach, producing and cutting his own records and selling directly to the public at festivals, gigs or by busking on the street. As he points out: “Why bother getting your record into HMV that might only sell a copy or two a week, when by busking in Canterbury for an afternoon, you can sell 50 CD’s?”

Similarly, Cocos Lovers began to produce a more homespun sound, channelling not only folk and roots music but blues, Cajun, sea shanties and African. Their instruments, including violins, woodwind and African calabash combined ethnic, acoustic and traditional with electric guitars and keyboards.

Their look was also homespun and in tune with their sustainable ideals; Cocos Lovers even played a festival with their electric instruments powered by a bicycle generator, their van fuelled by recycled chip fat. One tour, undertaken

by Greenham and Smugglers �D The Weekender 29

TALE

“By busking in Canterbury for an afternoon, you can sell 50 CD’s”

stablemate singer/songwriter Will Varley, went from the coast to London and back entirely on foot.

Meanwhile in Canterbury, Syd Arthur and bands like Zoo For You and The Boot Lagoon, were developing along similar lines. While the music harked back to Soft Machine and other prog rock bands, they had also taken the antirecord company stance. Taking the best bits of modern technology and the free platforms available such as MySpace, SoundCloud and Facebook, the bands were able to spread their music virally with both free downloads and, taking the shilling, iTunes.

Syd Arthur founded Dawn Chorus, a label to produce and promote their own records and those of affiliates (Zoo For You and The Boot Lagoon are manned by a seemingly endless supply of Magill brothers) while Greenham and Cocos Lovers founded Smugglers Records, which has so far released 18 records.

Albums and EP’s are sold hand-tohand or by download, although some free downloads are available from the bands’ own websites.

While the online sellers such as Amazon take a cut of up to 20%, all remaining revenue goes directly to the labels with no other middle men. The artists benefit by keeping all rights to their songs, while also working for the labels as graphic designers, web-keepers, bloggers or video makers.

FIELD OF DREAMS

The bands are now regulars at Kentish festivals such as Lounge on The Farm, The Hop Farm and others, but have also appeared at Glastonbury, The Cambridge Folk Festival, Green Man Festival and The Secret Garden Party amongst others.

Taking it a step further, Greenham decided to start his own festival. Finding a sympathetic landowner and music fan in the countryside at Little Mongeham, outside Deal, he launched his first 30 The Weekender

Smugglers Festival in 2010. With a capacity of around 2,000, the first and second festivals sold out and were, in the opinion of many, just what festivals should be like; small, local, organic, seasonal and sustainable. With compost toilets in place of the deadly portaloos, the festival set out to support local businesses too. Beer is supplied by the local Ripple Steam Brewery and Gadds’ from Ramsgate. Deal’s Black Douglas café and Proud Fox caterers have stalls on site and there is a souk for small-scale stallholders, from vintage clothes dealers to ukulele makers.

Turnover hardly runs to the tens of thousands and profits are ploughed straight back into the business, but the festival helps sustain the label, record and support new artists and, for Kent music fans, hits the nail firmly on the head.

Of course, there are many more musical strands in the county, but it would seem that these two bands and their various enterprises provide a roadmap for the way music is going forward. Beyond the acts in their own stables, Smugglers and Dawn Chorus, there are splinter groups and affiliated bands that defy ethos and genre; young bands such as Coco and The Butterfields, Gentlemen of Few and The Boot Lagoon, who are all in their teens and seriously talented. All they want is to make great music on their own terms. And in these hard times, could their collaboration, support and can-do attitude set the template for the next wave?

Photos from top right: Kentish through and through—The Boot Lagoon revive the Canterbury prog sound of the 1970s; bluegrass merchants Gentlemen of Few are Dover’s answer to Mumford and Sons; Canterbury’s Coco & The Butterfields fuse folk, pop and hip hop —Fip Fok

FOOD & DRINK

Baskets in the Sunshine The sandwich is said to have been invented by the Earl of Sandwich during a long gambling session.

Now the town’s new deli is reviving the lost art of the picnic. By Tom Moggach

32 The Weekender

FOOD & DRINK

“W

e’re taking Rose’s to the customer,” explains Jim Marshall, expertly fastening the straps of my picnic hamper. Jim is one of the energetic team at Rose’s Fine Foods, a new delicatessen in Sandwich offering a nifty sideline in al fresco catering.

Their bespoke home delivery service is proving to be a smash hit: you hire the hamper, they fill it with your favourite foods, and then deliver to your chosen spot within a five mile radius.

“There’s something special about eating outdoors,” says Chris Howard, an ex-architect who followed his dream to run his own deli. “It gets you closer to nature.”

Chris first spotted the potential of this historic shop in Sandwich, which still boasted its original marble counters, vintage wall tiles and hardwood shelves. It was lying empty, after brief stints as an antiques and bookshop. But until 1987 it had been the much-loved grocer’s store run by three generations of the well-respected Rose family.

Last year, Chris began the challenge of restoring the shop to its former glory. “One of the nice things is to be recreating a bit of history,” confirms Jim, a local resident who joined Chris and his friend Claire Woods in the team running this artisan grocery.

The picnic delivery idea fits neatly with their already flourishing sandwich round. Ironically, it had been impossible to find a high quality sarnie in Sandwich until now. So what, I ask them, are the ideal ingredients for a picnic? “My perfect day would be something totally different to you,” replies Claire Woods, who helps to run the shop. She loves a secluded spot on the banks of the nearby River Stour. Jim agrees: “Some people love to go all elegant—bring the candelabra and tablecloths.

But I think just get out there and enjoy it.”

“Some people love to go all elegant—bring the candelabra and tablecloths.

But just get out there and enjoy it” Inspired by the story of Rose’s revival, I enjoyed my picnic with friends and family on a shingle beach just a few miles away from their fine emporium. The hamper included smoked salmon sandwiches, posh sausage rolls and a pork pie, salad, chunks of Kentish cheese and a bowl of peaches and strawberries, all washed down with a bottle of sparkling lemonade.

Make sure you celebrate your fleeting summertime with a feast outdoors.

Rose’s Fine Foods —a Potted History For more than a century, three generations of the Rose family worked as grocers in Sandwich until the death of Frank Rose in 1987. The Grade II-listed building then stood largely empty before the current owners brought it back to life in 2012.

They have not only restored the interior but researched the shop and family in local archives, recreating the atmosphere of the delicatessen in its heyday; it’s as if Fortnum & Mason had opened up a branch near the Kent coast.

This artisan grocer now stocks a wide array of quality foods, including locally-made meat pies, bread and cheeses such as Winterdale Shaw and Sussex Crumble.

Look out for their range of upmarket ready meals and their popular sandwiches—the best in town.

Rose’s Fine Foods, 60 King Street, Sandwich t: 01304 613288 www.rosesfinefoods.co.uk

The Weekender 33

FOOD & DRINK

TOP TIPS FOR PICNICKERS 1

Freeze grapes to use as ice cubes in drinks, and small bottles of water to chill your foods during the journey.

2

Take any salad dressings in separate jars so to add them once you arrive—soggy salad is a miserable experience!

3

For some classy finger food, sprinkle mini mozzarella with black pepper and wrap in a slice of paper-thin Parma ham. Even better with ripe figs.

4

Make the most of leftovers in your fridge by cooking up a tortilla, an easy Spanish-style omelette. These are wonderful served cold in chunky slices, and can included cheese, ham, bacon, peppers, onions, potato and the like.

5

Bring a bag to collect your rubbish at the end of your feast.

RECOMMENDED PICNIC SPOTS SANDWICH BAY

Lay your rug on the crowd-free beaches or shelter among the sandy dunes. For a post-picnic jaunt, explore the nature reserve or pop into town to visit The Secret Gardens, a ravishing walled garden attached to a manor house. www.the-secretgardens.co.uk

SOUTH FORELAND LIGHTHOUSE

This historic lighthouse, built in 1843, is now a stunning National Trust property. The cliff top spot has been home to a lighthouse for over 350 years.

Take a tour, visit the tea shop or borrow one of their free games and kites. Approach from either St Margaret’s Bay or the White Cliffs visitor centre, above Dover docks. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/south-foreland-lighthouse

DUNGENESS BEACH

This wild and windswept spot offers a picnic with a difference. Some call the beach bleak; others say that it’s deeply atmospheric. Travel there in style via the miniature railway. www.rhdr.org.uk

DUNCAN DOWN, WHITSTABLE

To the south west of the town, this 23-hectare site is said to be Britain’s largest village green and includes dense woodland and fine views across the coastline.

34 The Weekender

“Make sure you celebrate summertime with a feast outdoors”

Go on, you know you Wantsum !!

www.wantsumbrewery.co.uk wantsumbrewery@googlemail.com

0845 0405980

23-27 HARBOUR STREET, BROADSTAIRS, KENT CT10 1EU T. 01843 865126 WYATTANDJONES.CO.UK

FOOD & DRINK

Serves 4 For the dressing: 2 tablespoons orange juice ½ teaspoon sea salt

Pinch caster sugar 6 tablespoons olive oil For the salad: 5 medium courgettes Coriander leaves Small mint leaves To make the dressing, place the orange juice, salt and sugar in a bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add the olive oil and whisk again.

To prepare the salad, use a potato peeler to make

long, thin courgette ribbons, rotating around the fruit and discarding the softer centre.

Place the ribbons in a bowl and toss with the herbs. Just before serving, pour over the salad dressing and mix, then decorate with the flowers.

Recipe from The Urban Kitchen Gardener by Tom Moggach (Kyle Books, £16.99)

photo:

© laura hynd

Let’s Make: Summer Salad

This superb salad stars ribbons of fresh courgette or summer squashes. Bring a grater or knife along to your picnic so you can make it on the spot. Add the dressing just before serving to preserve the crunchy texture. Crusty bread is perfect for mopping up the dressing.

The Weekender 37

FOOD & DRINK

The Cream of Kent by jo scott

T

he Kent food scene is on the move.

New food festivals, farmers’ markets and cooperatives are popping up everywhere, with the standard of what is on offer getting better each year. We have an abundance of independent food producers working hard to bring their very best goods to the market. Try these for starters…

Kings Hill Rare Breed Farm James and Maxine Cockerton have transformed what was once a pear orchard into a working farm, where the animals are allowed to mature at their own pace. Their pork is mouthwateringly succulent and produces the best crackling. kingshillrarebreedfarm.co.uk

Harbourne Vineyard Laurence Williams owns and runs this small vineyard near Tenterden, using traditional methods of grape growing and winemaking. No insecticides are used and all the skins pips and prunings are put back onto the land. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. harbournevineyards.co.uk

Core Fruit Juice This family-run business, near Canterbury, produces awardwinning pure farm pressed apple and pear juices, and even an aromatic mulled apple juice which is lovely warmed up in winter. corejuice.co.uk

Ramsgate Brewery The Gadd family run this micro-brewery in the heart of Thanet, producing quality cask and bottled ale. Look for draught regulars and irregulars such as She Sells Sea Shells—try saying that after two pints! ramsgatebrewery.co.uk

Kentish Blue, Staplehurst Cheese and good bread are the staple of life for most people. Kentish Blue and the new Kentish Bluebell are unpasteurised blue cheeses, handmade by Steve and Karen Reynolds on their family run dairy farm just outside Staplehurst. kentishblue.co.uk

Whitstable Fish Market With so many stalls to choose from, Whitstable Fish market deserves a listing in its own right. A fish lover’s dream of mussels, oysters, fish flat or fat—all glisteningly fresh and very, very inviting. seewhitstable.com/whitstablefish-market

Sandgate Bakery Artisan is the buzz word for bread and this tiny bakery in Sandgate has it off to a T. Currently available through farmers’ markets in coastal Kent, this bakery produces a surprising range of bread from a minute working space.

Definitely one to watch. thesandgatebakery.com Carolyn’s Ickle Pickles Producers of chutneys, curds, pickles and sauces, all hand made in small batches using the best seasonal and local ingredients wherever possible. They call themselves Condimentalists! carolynsicklepickles.co.uk

FOOD & DRINK

The Perfect Weekend…

Lunch with the Kids words and photos by dan synge

“I…WANT…McDONALDS!” goes the plaintive cry from the back seat of the car, every time we pass the big yellow M. Yes, it’s easy enough to pull in and give the little ones their quick fix of fast food but let’s raise the bar a little with dishes that actually challenge young taste buds served up in a setting that will feed the senses as much as the stomach.

So it is, that we have all trooped down to Broadstairs to have lunch at Wyatt & Jones, a stylish new restaurant opened in February by Jan Wyatt and Kat Hughes-Jones. Wyatt, who previously ran a gastro pub in Whitstable, had his eyes on a Broadstairs site for a while, eventually plumping for this former Italian restaurant on the harbour side of York Gate, the ancient arched entrance to the town’s former boat yard.

Their aim, he explains, is to offer high quality gastro pub fare in a setting that is more like that of a family restaurant.

The food is, by and large, locally-sourced

and seasonal; asparagus grown in Thanet makes a regular appearance on the menu, as does fresh fish bought from a dealer in the high street.

So far, so good, but as I got stuck into on some anchovy toast (£2) and a shared Devon crab tart (£6), the question I was hungry to find the answer to was: would the children take to the Children’s Menu with its promise of freshlycooked vegetables, a mini ploughman’s and— don’t drop the complimentary kid’s coloured pencils—mussels?

My son, aged 8, went for the sausage mash and greens (£5), loving the old school gravy but passing most of the green pile to his mother, but at least he tried. His younger sister, aged 6, eagerly set about her cheese and ham sandwich served with chips (£4.50) not forgetting to put a huge dollop of ketchup on the side.

Seated comfortably at a window table facing the beach, we grown-ups were also rewarded for our adventurous lunchtime choices and were given a comprehensive wine list; I enjoyed a hearty ray wing cooked with wild garlic potatoes, greens and tomato dressing (£14) while my wife had the salt cod fishcake with cauliflower puree, broad beans and a poached egg (£10).

All this in a relaxed seaside setting with the harbour wall and beach

Photos (left to right): No getting away from the greens —sausage and mash from the Children’s Menu; the salt cod fishcake is served with poached egg; a cheese and ham sandwich makes a tasty main course for younger diners

huts clearly in view. Right behind us, the team led by head chef Jess Leah, formerly of Deeson’s in Canterbury, worked purposefully away in an open kitchen area. Unusually, the restaurant is arranged on three separate levels giving each table a private, uncluttered feel.

The décor is all deep grey walls, dark wood floorboards and stained glass and vintage mirrors which lend a clubby yet unpretentious atmosphere.

But as all right-minded children know, pudding is the real highlight of eating out, and despite demands to raid the kiosk next door for Nobbly Bobblies, they quickly dispense with their two scoops of ice cream (£1.50).

I polished off a black cherry and custard tart served with rum and raisin ice cream (£5.50) while hands were rigorously washed and mouths wiped in preparation for an afternoon of sitting on the beach and watching planes fly past from the nearby air show.

Sadly, this trip wasn’t to be the eureka moment when our children discovered the goodness of greens or became seafood connoisseurs. But perhaps this can wait.

If only more supposedly child-friendly restaurants were as accommodating and imaginative as this.

Wyatt & Jones, 23–27 Harbour Street, Broadstairs t: 01843 865126 www.wyattandjones.co.uk The Weekender 39

SPACE

Beyond The 39 Steps

Downsizers and younger retirees are advised to take a look at an exciting new development just outside Broadstairs. But does the immediate area match up to the newly regenerated streets of the old town?

Main photo: The original wood-panelling fuses effortlessly with the modern interior Right: The building retains the impressive wrought iron front entrance Bottom right: The old conservatory sheds light on a ground floor kitchen

A

little more scrubbed up than neighbouring Margate and Ramsgate, Broadstairs has something of a buzz about it right now. Perhaps it’s the recent influx of boutique hotels, independent eateries and the fact that it boasts its very own annual food and folk festivals. Or maybe it’s because this picturesque seaside resort beloved of Charles Dickens continues to attract holidaymakers and pleasure seekers from all over the globe, each drawn by its relaxed cosmopolitan atmosphere and Blue Flag-winning sandy beaches.

Recently, The Times ‘best places by the sea’ voted Broadstairs its top coastal location beating off competition from 30 other UK resorts including Brighton, Dartmouth and Whitby, so it must be doing something right. At upwards of £500,000 for the average four-bed home, living by the sea doesn’t come cheaply, but an increasing number of buyers, especially younger retirees and middle-aged downsizers are seeing the untapped potential of this historic seaside gem.

And if you are one of those looking to re-locate to a smaller, more manageable home in a prime coastal spot you would be advised to pop up the road to Bevan Mansions, tucked away at the far end of Stone Road with its Kentish flint walls and stately cliff-top villas.

The stunning neo-classical house, now converted into 14 luxury apartments, offers modern apartment living in a highly traditional setting with its own private driveway and �D The Weekender 41

SPACE

Photos from right (clockwise): The neo-classical exterior of Bevan Mansions as viewed from the garden; each apartment offers a contemporary living space by the sea; kitchens come with a choice of design options including granite worktops and integrated appliances

“Metre-upon-metre of balustrade has been lovingly restored”

42 The Weekender

landscaped grounds. The original house was built in the 1920s for the Vestey family, wealthy importers of canned meat and other foodstuffs who formed the famous Blue Star Line in 1911 to transport their eggs from China.

The imperial legacy of the building lives on with its trademark high ceilings, ornate oak-panelled staircases and a wrought iron front entrance redolent of a rather sleepy British Consulate. This was clearly the home of a seriously minted family, and one who had no need for compromise when it came to detail or internal space.

Fortunately, such exquisite features are retained and updated in the new conversion and metre-upon-metre of balustrade has been lovingly restored to achieve the palatial look of the original.

Inside it’s a different century altogether and each apartment has a fully fitted modern kitchen, top-of-the-range en-suite bathroom and brushed chrome light switches, taps and door handles. Space wise, buyers can choose from a two bed ground floor apartment (£275,000) to a first and second floor duplex with absolutely stunning sea views and floor space totalling nearly 500 square metres (£600,000). Cramped it is not.

Set high above the white cliffs of Stone Bay with sandy Joss Bay over to the east, Bevan Mansions is in exalted company.

Next door is the North Foreland Estate, a privately run housing development built in the 1890s and still laid out as it was originally planned.

Local celebrities and big wigs have traditionally lived here and they continue to share the maintenance and security of their fiefdom by the sea. Interestingly, it is the estate’s residents who are meant to have private access to the beach at the foot of the cliff via a tunnel and set of 78 stairs which the thriller writer John Buchan immortalised in The 39 Steps. Buchan wrote part of his best-seller whilst he was convalescing at St Cuby, another grand house on Cliff Promenade.

The far end of the estate gives way to the now disused Victorian lighthouse, open fields, the local golf club and Joss Bay, a haven for surfers and day trippers.

Admittedly, we are now a long way from the buzz of Broadstairs old town and its busy bars and cafes, but this is the kind of place where one can really loosen one’s belt, throw open the well-proportioned patio doors and start yet another sunny day by the sea.

Enquiries: Haart of Broadstairs 01843 860180

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SPACE

GET TO THE POINT

Broadstairs does traditional very well thank you, but two new contemporary developments are designed to make us see things differently

V

isitors to Broadstairs always remark how quaint the town seems. If you were to rock up to the town during the annual Dickens Festival, you’d be hard pressed to find somewhere quainter. Along the promenade, men and women strut around in Victorian frock coats and bonnets speaking a long-lost variant of English, while the wide sandy beach below is awash with striped wind breaks, buckets and spades and children off crabbing in the rocks at low tide. It’s as if air travel had never been invented and Britain was permanently stuck in 1953. Not that anyone seems to mind, judging by the tourists tucking into Neapolitan-style pizzas and ice cream on the sun-drenched terraces behind Albion 44 The Weekender

Street or by the hordes of fresh-faced foreign students that, on any day, are found dodging the hungry local seagulls outside the town’s chip shops and cafés.

Traditional Broadstairs can be a bit misleading, however. For anyone looking to relocate to this unique corner of Kent, an estate agent can conjure up housing stock ranging from smart Victorian and Edwardian town houses to 1930s semis and 1950s bungalows. But look carefully, and you’ll discover that the town boasts some real modern gems – ones that are a cut above the average seaside abode.

Take for instance Park View, located just off the high street with the beach in one direction from its front entrance and the railway station just a few minutes’ walk heading the other way. The 14

luxury apartments are part of an exciting new development from Blueberry Homes, a locally-based developer who are previously known for their stylish seaside homes in nearby Ramsgate and Margate.

The company specialise in exclusive developments in prime locations such as this, but also offer excellent value for money (apartments in Park View start from £250,000) and quality build inside and out using carefully-chosen materials and superior craftsmanship borne out of decades of experience in the trade.

Other than its stand out location at the heart of the revitalised town with its cool boutiques and mouth-watering array of eateries, buyers will be drawn to building’s solid contemporary appearance which blends seamlessly with the surrounding businesses and private residences.

Once inside, each apartment has a fresh, spacious and modern feel with all the fixtures and fittings you would expect from an experienced outfit such as Blueberry Homes; real oak flooring, fully integrated appliances, solid granite kitchen worktops and buffed chrome fittings all round.

As each apartment has been designed with flexible living in mind— buyers so far include both investors and

SPACE

“It’s no wonder that this is the town’s most talked-about new luxury build”

Facing page: Park View offers good value for money in a prime Broadstairs location This page: The soon-to-be-unveiled The Point has contemporary living space with epic dimensions and unspoilt panoramic sea views

‘empty nesters’—the space is equipped with a video phone entry system and there is secure underground parking with a lift to all floors.

With UPVC sliding sash windows and double-glazed French doors included in the package, an apartment at Park View is either a sound property investment or a positive lifestyle change in what is a serious claimant for the best seaside town in the UK. If, however, you have your heart set on uninterrupted panoramic sea views, simply take a stroll down the high street and past the Dickens Museum and Morelli’s ice cream parlour and its Las Vegas-style neon sign to Western Esplanade, a quiet residential road which starts at the seafront and continues high above Dumpton Bay and neighbouring Ramsgate.

Blueberry Homes’ second exciting development in the town, The Point, is shortly to be unveiled here. With three of the five apartments already spoken for, it’s no wonder that this is the town’s most talked-about new luxury build.

Not only is the location impressive (the sandy beach can be accessed from just across the road!) but the interior spaces offered range from 1,647 to almost 3,000 square feet. The near epic dimensions are perfect for stylishly relaxing or entertaining by the sea and each unit is equipped with the latest in-home entertainment and communications; in-built features include broadband, television and satellite outlets, pre-wired Dolby 5.1 surround sound and ceiling speakers installed throughout.

As you might expect from such a landmark site, each apartment has its own private parking and garage along with a share of the freehold on completion.

Add to this Blueberry Homes’ usual attention to detail including bespoke contemporary kitchens and bathrooms with every available amenity on tap, and The Point is a package that is hard to beat anywhere on the Thanet coast or beyond.

For more information on Park View and The Point contact Haart of Broadstairs t: 01843 860180 The Weekender 45

SPACE

THE CURIO by jo willis

Julian lives in a chocolate box Georgian cottage in Broadstairs. Inside, music from yesteryear plays on the Dansette and the smell of coffee fills the house. Muted shades cover the walls and a collection of beautiful hand-printed vintage wallpapers, offset by the occasional shot of neon and statement pieces in hot pinks, reds and turquoise. This house is comfortably kitsch with a pinch of punk and a shot of glamour How do you define style?

Well, you either got it or you ain’t. It’s the effortless ability to make things work without labouring over them.

Do you have an object of desire for your home?

Any old thing can inspire me; the tattiest piece of old kitsch can lead to a whole plethora of new ideas. Actually my ideal for living is just one grand room with a bed in the middle, albeit a gorgeous one, with a good chandelier above it. The ideal kitchen being a coffee table with a coffee maker and toaster on it and everything else just chucked on the floor, like the children in Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terribles. Oh, and a nice fireplace...I had a room like that once and it was perfection.

If you could go back and live in another era from a design point of view, when, where and why?

Oh, but you can recreate anything now, can’t you? But a lovely, decadent, late-19th century look in lavender and yellow where one could sit reading Rimbaud and eating opium and laudanum could be rather good.

If you could change one thing about your house what would it be?

Nothing at all. It is perfection for me. I fell in love with it the very second I saw it.

www.thecurioinmargate.com

The Weekender 47

This photo: It’s solo time at the Café Alto Right: Sax legend Hans Dulfer performs regularly in the club’s authentic jazz setting

TRAVEL

AMSTERDAM… AND ALL THAT JAZZ It’s not all clogs and coffeeshops. Amsterdam’s love of live music borders on the insatiable and on any night of the week, visitors have the pick of the best live jazz and blues acts around

T

words: dan

synge photos: john stoddart

he Dutch aren’t exactly known for their contribution to the world of pop and rock.

Take the 1980s hit by native-born rappers MC Miker G and DJ Sven (ring-reng-adong for a holiday) or its naff Eurovision precursor Ding-a-Dong by Teach In, a band so hairy they made The Grateful Dead look like Pop Idol winners. And if it hasn’t been bland techno chart fodder like 2 Unlimited, there are grisly rock reminders such as Ram Jam’s Black Betty or Radar Love by The Hague’s Golden Earring. Orange-shirted football teams may have conquered the world with totaalvoetbal in the late 20th century, but, let’s face it, they’ve had nothing to trump Led Zeppelin, Abba or The Clash.

But one art form which the Dutch do seem to have mastered very well, however, is jazz. All the greats including Miles Davis and Oscar Peterson recorded at the city’s impressive Concertgebouw music hall in the 1960s and the annual North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam remains a must do in the jazz calendar.

Amsterdam even boasts its very own purpose-built jazz concert hall, the Bimhuis, which opened in 2005 in the exciting new Oosterdok development behind the city’s central station.

Legendary bop trumpeter Chet Baker famously died just a few steps away from here after falling from a second floor

window while staying at the Hotel Prins Hendrik near the Red Light District.

A bronze plaque outside the hotel continues to be a shrine to cool, 25 years after the mysterious accident.

Most music fans, however, are here to enjoy the nightlife, and central Amsterdam is home to dozens of hip jazz joints and blues bars all within a short walk or cycle ride away from each other.

It’s as if a part of Lower Manhattan and New Orleans had settled on the edge of the North Sea and decided never to return home.

Add to the equation Amsterdam’s beautiful canals and walkways lined by block after of block of stunning 17th and 18th century town houses, and the experience is like nowhere else.

Thankfully, this is not an elitist, jazz buffs-only kind of scene. Most of the clubs don’t demand a cover charge early in the evening, and they are good places to meet friendly local enthusiasts as well as fellow tourists out on the town.

With only one wet summer’s night at our disposal, we begin our Dutch jazz odyssey at the legendary Café Alto, which is located down a side street of the popular Leidseplein with its bright lights and busy tramways. As we enter the smoky brown room with its low lighting and long American-style bar, we are lucky enough to catch a set by veteran Dutch sax player Hans Dulfer, father of the Grammy-nominated Candy Dulfer, also a saxophonist who has played with Prince and Van Morrison.

This is live jazz as it should be enjoyed; the joint is packed to the gills but we are close enough to see every line on the performers’ seasoned faces and can feel every percussive thud and honk that bursts out from the tiny stage at the back. �D The Weekender 49

TRAVEL

Photos from top right (clockwise): Jur Scherpenzeel minds the bar of his longestablished blues venue; bright lights, not so big city — Amsterdam’s neon signs point the way for music fans; girls just wanna have fun — student night in the back bar

“We are close enough to see every line on the performers’ seasoned faces”

J

ust around the corner from here is Bourbon Street, a live music club with a much wider stage and a Ray Charles lookalike serving the drinks.

The crowd is a little thin on the ground tonight—perhaps it’s the rain—but the band soldier on regardless. The singer/ guitarist introduces the first number in a thick Irish brogue, a reminder that Amsterdam is an international hub of art and music.

Blues fans are advised to head along the Lijnbaansgracht canal to Maloe Melo, a club which has stayed on the scene for over 30 years. In the lively back bar we meet owner Jur Scherpenzeel, a sprightly 70-year-old with an impressive grey quiff and a cigar clenched between his teeth.

On the walls are photos of the many rock and blues artists that have played at this intimate venue that’s slightly off the tourist track including Patti Smith, the late Louisiana Red and, erm, Ruud Gullit.

Jur, a piano player by trade, often gets up on stage in the back room to play his accordion, but he is equally happy behind the bar serving beer and playing records for the next generation of blues devotees. Bar the owner, there isn’t a grizzled old jazz or blues man in sight—it’s student night so it’s a more fresh-faced crowd who are getting down to the 12-bar boogie.

From here, there are almost endless options for the discerning music lover.

Whether it’s a sophisticated new space like the North Sea Jazz Club, an offstreet dive like the Cotton Club or a bigger venue such as the Paradiso or the Melkweg, somewhere a band will be tuning up their instruments and someone will be getting up to dance.

It’s just that kind of place.

The Weekender travelled with KLM from Manston, Kent International Airport to Amsterdam Schipol. KLM offer a twice daily schedule with connections to over 130 worldwide destinations www.klm.com

50 The Weekender

THE LIST

Amsterdam

A guide for music and art lovers Live Music Bimhuis

State-of-the-art jazz music venue in the new Muziekgebouw building with superb technical and acoustical facilities.

Piet Heinkade 3 www.bimhuis.nl

Paradiso Housed in an old church just off the Leidseplein, this venue has hosted concerts by everyone from The White Stripes to Lady Gaga.

Weteringschans 6–8 www.paradiso.nl Melkweg Multi-purpose arts/music centre with regular jam sessions and the occasional big name.

Lijnbaansgracht 234 www.melkweg.nl Cotton Club One of the oldest jazz bars in town. They host concerts every Saturday afternoon.

Nieuwmarkt 5-H www.cottonclubmusic.nl

Bourbon Street Another intimate venue off the Leidseplein with live music seven nights a week. The venue has hosted concerts by Joss Stone and late Dutch rocker Herman Brood.

Leidsekruisstraat 6-8 www.bourbonstreet.nl

Jacques Brel’s melancholic Amsterdam (1964) was actually written whilst the Belgian chanson singer was staying in the south of France. The song has since been recorded by dozens of artists including Scott Walker, David Bowie, Ute Lemper, John Denver and Bellowhead.

Don’t Miss

Casablanca This Red Light District favourite hosts regular jazz nights and karaoke.

Zeedijk 26e www.cafecasablanca.nl Museums and Attractions Rijksmuseum Amsterdam’s most famous gallery finally reopened in April after 10 years of renovation and the wait has been worth it.

View Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait and 8,000 other exhibits in this vast national art museum.

Jan Luijkenstraat 1 www.rijksmuseum.nl

Maloe Melo Long-standing blues bar just a few blocks away from the Leidseplein.

Lijnbaansgracht 163 www.maloemelo.nl Café Alto The quintessential Amsterdam jazz joint. Dutch saxophonist Hans Dulfer plays here regularly, sometimes accompanied by his more famous daughter Candy.

Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115 www.jazz-cafe-alto.nl

Did You Know?

The Chet Baker plaque outside the Hotel Prins Hendrik (Prins Hendrikkade 52–57). The American-born trumpeter was found dead at approximately 3am on May 13 1988 after falling from a second-floor window. Chet Baker had a long-standing drug problem and was based mainly in Europe at the time. In the same year Bruce Weber’s film Let’s Get Lost had introduced Baker to a new audience offering him a long over-due revival which was tragically cut short.

Getting Around I Amsterdam City Card

Use this smart card to gain free entrance to museums and attractions. Also comes with unlimited transport access on the GVB network. They are valid for 24, 48 or 72 hours.

Pick one up from the main tourist information office opposite the central station.

From 42 Euros

Rent a Bicycle Why not experience the city just like a local? There are a number of reputable rental companies dotted around, most of them nearby the central station. Be sure to stay in the right hand cycle lane and beware of trams! www.yellowbike.nl www.macbike.nl www.starbikesrental.com

For further information about Amsterdam and the rest of Holland www.holland.com

Van Gogh Museum Home to the largest collection of van Gogh paintings in the world.

Paulus Potterstraat 7 www.vangoghmuseum.nl

North Sea Jazz Club (Westergasfabriek) Bespoke jazz venue in the Westerpark area offering the best new jazz acts and threecourse dinner concerts.

Pazzanistraat, 1 www.northseajazzclub.com The Weekender 51

ACTIVITY

IT’S A SHORE THING

Kayaking is one of the fastest growing sports around. Tom Moggach finds his paddle and takes to the water

I

t was a cruel crime. Especially for a kayaking addict like me who was craving the open sea. There I stood in my wet suit, clutching fishing rod and life jacket. Yet some bugger had pinched my paddle— a frustrating start to a sunny day.

I’m not alone in relishing my new hobby. All along the Kentish coast, people are discovering the bliss of kayaking at sea. This remarkable flourishing of interest has taken place within just a few short years. Look out to sea on any bright day, and you’re sure to spot a new convert bobbing in the waves.

52 The Weekender

photo: anne davis

The Angling Trust, the organisation that represents game, coarse and sea anglers in the UK, states that kayak angling is now their fastest growth area, and has rushed to provide training to satisfy demand. “We really had a pick up last year,” confirms Rob Davis, who runs training sessions at the Seapoint Canoe and Kayak Centre near Hythe.Even the coastguard has noted this phenomenon.

They are somewhat less pleased, however, reporting a rise in emergency call outs to rescue struggling paddlers.

So what’s the appeal? There are many.

Above all, in this age of austerity, kayaking

offers a simple, relaxing, low-cost pastime that’s open to all.

Kent is well suited to the sport. “The whole coastline is attractive,” explains Davis. If it’s choppy at sea, you can also easily explore local rivers, lakes or canals.

“On a good day, it’s quite euphoric,” explains Julian Sims, a writer, actor and adventurous kayaker, whose many Kentish forays have included trips to the Goodwin Sands which lie almost 10km off the coast at Deal. “It’s the idea that you just plough through nature and it’s all your own body. It’s a mind and body thing.”

Moreover, if you decide to fish off your

ACTIVITY

“Kayaking offers a simple, relaxing, low-cost pastime that’s open to all”

boat, kayaking hits the spot in terms of providing fresh, organic food with nearzero food miles, with the adrenaline rush of the hunt thrown in for good measure.

So how do you start? I simply bought a kayak online and then set out to sea, but in retrospect it would have been better to have prepared more thoroughly. At the Seapoint training centre next to the Royal Military Canal, Rob Davis suggests signing up for a session first, just to master the basics: “Get some instruction and make sure you get appropriate kit.”

Much as he applauds the surge of interest in the sport, he’s wary of new converts not considering the risks involved. You might underestimate the tide, current or your physical ability.

“Paddle out too far, and you can’t paddle in,” he warns.

Your first choice is your type of boat. The two main types of kayak are sea kayaks and sit-on-tops. The first are longer craft, typically with a cockpit, and bulkheads for storage over longer journeys. Canoes, in case you’re wondering, tend to be wider boats that require a single bladed paddle rather than double paddle. They are often paddled from a kneeling position. The sit-on-tops, which are increasingly popular, are both extremely versatile and easy to handle—ideal for any type of water. Expect to pay around £300–450 for a new model.

In terms of safety, a lifejacket and a mobile phone, kept waterproof, are the bare basics. Distress flares are also advisable for longer journeys.

Practise first on the calmer waters of a river or canal, advises Sim. “Get used to the kayak and then throw yourself in wearing a wet suit.” He explains that it’s vital to master the technique of reentering the boat when in open water.

Techniques such as this form part of the training offered at centres such as Seapoint.

Once you’re up and running, there’s no end of places to explore. From Hythe to Dover, for example, you can ogle the coastal Martello Towers from

the Napoleonic era. Then there’s the picturesque White Cliffs of Dover and St Margaret’s Bay, or the chalky coastline around Margate and Broadstairs.

For the adventurous and experienced, a trip to Goodwin Sands is perfectly possible when the tide is low. The journey takes around two hours each way. “Getting there for the first time is an incredible feeling,” says Sim. “It’s like discovering America.”Veterans also talk with reverence of journeys to the Maunsell Sea Forts out in the Thames Estuary.

The Seapoint Canoe and Kayak Centre in Hythe offers sessions to people of all ages, often working with youth groups. I watched a session with the Sea Cadets, sitting with the father of Adam Emby, aged 12. “They shouldn’t be frightened of the sea but they should respect the water,” explains his dad, looking out proudly. Adam, emerging from the water, flashes a broad smile at passing his test. “I don’t regret it,” he says.

High points were learning to capsize and sliding off a wall. “I thought I wouldn’t like it but it was really fun!”

Still unsure whether kayaking is for you? “Give it a go,” suggests James Houghton, 68, one of the trainers at Seapoint. “I started when I was 13 and have been doing it ever since.” www.seapointcanoeandkayakcentre.co.uk www.anglingtrust.net photo: tom moggach

photo: anne davis

Main photo: A group of kayakers and their instructors get ready to paddle out; kayaks are longer than canoes and have bulkheads for storage; Adam Emby, aged 12, passes his test at the Hythe centre

The Weekender 53

INTERIORS

BY ROSS DUTTSON

ROSS RECOMMENDS… Union Jack Chair (£189) This quirky upholstered chair is a modern twist on a traditional style with an ornate Louis XIV-style frame. If the flag isn’t your thing, you can try a velvet style fabric in a variety of outrageous colours including hot pink, leopard print and black.

Right: Pet Sounds wallpaper ramps up your room without going overboard Below: A design inspired by music cassettes

HOT TICKET T

he festival season is fast upon us and if you’ve left it too late to get tickets, what can you do? There are two ways of looking at this; be jealous of your friends who have the golden tickets and are furiously packing tents or be happy for them and create your very own rock and roll lair at home.

Let’s imagine you’re going with the second option as it’s more fun, and to get the drums rolling on this you need to channel your inner Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix. The great thing about being creative like this is that you can step away from your normal good taste and go a little crazy. Try it, and be the Ozzy Osbourne or Pete Doherty that lurks deep within!

Start searching in second-hand shops or at boot fairs for old music magazines—framed images of your favourite rock stars will make really eye-catching wall art. Alternatively, 54 The Weekender

to make a dazzling centre piece, arrange the images haphazardly on a coffee table and lay a piece of glass on top cut to the size of the table.

Most glass merchants will do this for you and if you ask nicely, they will smooth off the edges for you.

Pop and rock-inspired wallpaper by Mini Moderns is a great way to ramp up a room without going overboard. I love two ranges and plan to use them on statement walls. The first is a nod to the old music cassette and the second is Pet Sounds featuring musical instruments and animals in a simple design. If, however, you are looking for just one statement piece, check out my locally-sourced ‘must haves’. Who needs Glasto when you can replicate all the on-stage adrenaline at home? @rossduttson / www.rossduttson.com

Street Signs (£39.99) With their aged finish, these vintage style wooden street signs will scream Beatlemania in your home.

Stockists: McCarthys Interiors, 1 Dundonald Rd, Broadstairs www.stores.ebay.co.uk/ McCarthys-Interiors www.minimoderns.com

BEAUTY

GET THE LOOK: Festival Chic

BY NATALIE SHIRLAW AND FRANCES PRESCOTT

We would all love to rock up to a festival looking like Kate Moss but with the reality of no showers or electrical points for our straighteners and the likelihood of rain, how do we get the look?

Three seasoned rock chicks show us the way ALEXA CHUNG

Hair: Alexa has a choppy bob and a great fringe that looks effortless and stylish. For hair longer than chin length, why not get some soft layers cut in? Then simply damp hair down and spray in some Fudge Salt Spray (top right) for a dishevelled textured look with anti-humidity protection­ — you don’t want a frizzy mess after all that dancing!

Make up: The look is fresh and modern. Try little or no foundation, neutral shades on lips and cheeks or Mac cream blush in bamboo and blot on lips. Kiehl’s have lovely lip and cheek pots in great easy-towear shades. Blue eye liner keeps the look modern but not too heavy.

KELLY OSBOURNE

Hair: Kelly has been sporting the new pastel craze where pieces of your hair are coloured pink, blue or lilac.

It’s a fun look for a festival but what if you have a proper job and have to go into work on Monday? Try these hair chalks from Top Shop (above); draw on where you want colour and they wash straight

KATY PERRY

Hair: Katy was seen this year at Coachella wearing a side plait. This is such a great look and takes no time to style.

Simply pull hair round to one side and loosely plait. Or try a fishtail plait or a plait through

the front hairline to get some different looks.

Make up: For Katy’s look, keep skin fresh and dewy but brighten up with a flash of bright cream blushes from Mac (nearly neon is great!) or try some of Liz Earle’s more muted but still bright shades.

Eyes can be nearly bare but with lots of mascara or a sequin over the eyebrows for that festival feel. Lips can take a bright or neon shade as her look is fairly fresh and natural.

Ask Natalie out. Great value at £7.50 giving you colour without the commitment.

Make up: Tinted moisturiser or BB creams give light coverage protection and a wash of colour favoured by Kelly. Try Boots no7 BB creams or Dermalogica tinted moisturiser for a lovely dewy finish. Go for smudgy, smoky eyes and lots of kohl liner­ — an eye palette from Bobbi Brown is perfect. Try a smudge of bright colour for lips. Apply as a stain so as not to detract from strong eyes to keep the balance right.

Q

I’m going to several festivals this summer and want my hair to look fantastic.

How do I restore my hair overnight without washing it properly?

You can always use a dry shampoo which will restore your hair if you can’t have a shower. Boots stock a brand called Batiste which is great and very reasonably priced at £3.99 (200ml).

Simply shake can and spray roughly 30cm away from your head in at the roots, massage through then brush and style as usual. This will take away any greasy roots and give you great root lift and texture.

My favourite one out of the range is Big and Bouncy XXL Volume­ — I love it! Stockists: www.topshop.com / www.fenwick.co.uk / www.boots.com Natalie Shirlaw runs her own boutique salon Shirlaw Sanctuary, www.shirlawsanctuary.com Frances Prescott is a make-up artist and runs a boutique room in Whitstable T: 07939 023619

The Weekender 55

JUST THE JOB

JO WALLACE, Soul DJ

R

amsgate’s very own Queen of Soul, Jo has been on the scene since the late 1970s carving a niche for herself playing rare vintage vinyl at venues as diverse as Glastonbury, Vintage Festival and the legendary 100 Club. She also works as an archivist for Universal Music and compiled the best-selling Motown Floorshakers Volume 1 CD. She outlines what it takes to make it in the competitive arena of DJing.

It all started when, as a young girl, I watched Marvin Gaye singing Can I Get a Witness on TV. By the time I was nine I had amassed three record players and piles of records. I even asked my parents for a box index system for my birthday! Later I was

56 The Weekender

the Saturday girl at a record shop in Chatham and got to order their imports for them. I was calling bingo numbers at Dreamland in Margate and was using the mic, so DJing came easily to me.

In those days there were no female role models. I was out there on my own. I once played a rare copy of Stewart Ames Angelina, Oh Angelina which I bought for £5 (worth £700 now) and a guy stood in front of me saying, “Why have you got it?” He was furious. Now that I’m doyenne of the soul scene I’m given a lot more respect.

I used to own 40,000 records but my collection has been reduced. I’m still a little cagey about telling people where they are stored. Some rare singles sell for up to £30,000, but the most expensive vinyl I have is Sleepless Nights by Paris – I paid £1,000 for it and it’s now worth £2,000.

In the late 1970s you could go to old electrical shops and find real gems. I found Garnet Mimms Looking For You for 50p from a little shop in Peckham. It’s worth about £100 today. Some collectors say you shouldn’t play them because you’ll get ‘groove burn’ but it doesn’t matter to me because they are what I work with.

My advice for aspiring DJs is not to drink, be professional and understand your audience. Speak to your promoter and find out exactly what they want. I always ask the doorman what people were doing on the way out. The answer should always be “smiling”.

You have to read a crowd and never ever panic; don’t feel you have to put on your most commercial track. I’m an old school MC and if there is any trouble I’ll say: “To the man in the pink shirt, this goes out to you.” That usually works.

I couldn’t afford to buy one record on what I’m paid but it’s my passion. I’m happy to be a conduit for other people’s music and I believe it’s what I was born to do. I’ve got a full time job (as a skills tutor) and I DJ at weekends. Last month I did headline a gig in Milan on the Saturday night and was back for work on the Monday. There are times when you have to earn a living as DJ and I would play Kylie Minogue at the drop of hat!

PROS Playing anything I like, from 1950s Latin to Funk and Boogaloo.

{ Being able to expand my knowledge of other genres.

{ Getting free records and being asked to compile soundtracks.

{ CONS It’s hard graft and a killer for any relationship.

Partners don’t always understand that music comes first.

{ Having to function on very little sleep.

{ Out-of-date attitudes to female DJs.

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The Weekender 57

MY EAST KENT LIFE

Guitarist Hamish Stuart found fame with 1970s funk outfit Average White Band.

Having worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, Chaka Khan and Marvin Gaye, he settled in Kent 12 years ago.

The former landlord of both The Three Mariners and The Anchor in Faversham, Hamish and his partner Claire have now sparked a new venture, the East Coast Dining Room in Tankerton. But he still has time for the music. Here, he talks big crowds, big names and what the future holds Musical Youth My folks, who were both great singers, were a big influence on me and my mother always really wanted me to sing.

When I was at school, me and my mates ‘made a band’.

Everyone got guitars when The Beatles came along.

Me and my pal would come home from school and put on A Hard Day’s Night and learn the songs. So getting the opportunity to later work with Paul and Ringo was great.

A lot of the tunes that we played I cut my musical 58 The Weekender

teeth to. We’ve had some amazing times together and playing to 250,000 people in Rio was epic.

Funky Stuff Memorable gigs with The Average White Band? There are so many. In 1973, we turned up to Dingwalls in Camden. We’d had some good press but it was the first time that we’d seen a queue outside one of our gigs. In 1977, Marvin Gaye came down to a show in Los Angeles.

We were at our peak and so was he at the time. We got to

photo: brian cooke

Hamish Stuart know him and he loved the band, which was the ultimate compliment for us. We used to do I Heard It Through The Grapevine as our encore and when Marvin joined us on stage for it, the place went absolutely mental!

Another night in Washington DC we got caught up in a traffic jam leading to the venue. There was a real party atmosphere with everyone suited and booted and lots of fedoras—it was the 1970s!—with high fives and handshakes exchanged through the limo windows.

We’d bonded with the audience before we hit the stage so the show burned a little hotter.

Finding Faversham We left London about 12 years ago because we just couldn’t get any peace. I couldn’t get any peace to write and Claire wanted a change. Plus the impersonal way the city had become; you say hello to somebody you recognise in the street here and they say hello back but the city is not like that anymore. I’ve always liked Kent. In 1969 we played gigs at Margate’s Dreamland and the Chatham Dockyard.

Many years later, me and Claire plonked ourselves down in Faversham in the market place and said ‘This is nice’ and we were back for good three weeks later.

Down Time on the East Coast The new restaurant is going great. Things have taken off much quicker than we expected. But I’m working a lot more this year because I’m not needed at the restaurant as much, as there is no cellar

Photos (from left): Hamish in action at his annual mOare music festival; an early Average White Band promo shot.

Hamish is third from left; on stage with Paul McCartney, 1989

to look after like at the pubs.

When I had down time at The Anchor, I worked on writing songs. Now I have enough material to make a new album and enough to start getting out there again, so that’s what I’m going to do this year. When I’m not in the studio, I love walking. There are some great walks by Faversham Creek and out on the spit in Tankerton. I also love a good book, a barbecue, spending time with good friends and of course, a nice glass of wine!

Interview by Bess Browning

photo: bess browning

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