Keaveny’s canals Stopping off to talk to us in Little Venice, in London on his morning commute to his afternoon radio show, we meet DJ Shaun Keaveny in a reflective mood. Join us over a coffee as he looks back on his childhood waterway memories, wonders what’s around life’s next bend as he leaves BBC Radio 6 Music and fantasises about his ideal rock ’n’ roll crewmates. “Leigh is riven with canals,” explains Shaun drifting off to his childhood town in the Northwest. “Spending time by water is in my veins. I’m in danger of painting a picture of ancient times, but looking back, it was quite idyllic. All bikes and dens and just exploring the canals outdoors.
Actually, that’s only semi a joke because I am a deeply unfashionable man, musically. I’m an enthusiast, a generalist. The way I look at it, music is about liking a bit of everything. Most people at 6 Music are specialists; extraordinarily knowledgeable. My job is more about what happens between the songs.
When I moved to London 20 years ago, living by the canal in Stepney was important. I was very homesick at the time. Now, when I take the kids back up north, we have this little ritual of taking the bikes down to a waterside pub for crisps and cola. What’s mesmerising about it for kids hasn’t changed at all. It’s still the mystery of the water.
I just concentrate on talking nonsense, which is harder than it seems. It’s a bit like watching Les Dawson playing the piano so badly; there is a skill to it. It doesn’t come easily. Being comfortable on the radio just takes years of practice.”
But this end of the Regent’s Canal is a recent discovery for me. Back in February, I was recovering from Covid. Coming down to the canal was like the opening of a flower. I’d forgotten about nature; the restorative feeling of water. Those reconnections to your childhood. The tranquility in the water; like glass, the stillness of it. Of course, it’s a precious commodity in London.” As he talks for a living we asked Shaun whether time for himself was important: “Definitely. As one of my broadcast buddies, Mark Radcliffe, said the other day, ‘I’m not very talkative off air.’ You need peace and quiet. When I was a kid, my dad worked really brutal shift patterns. He’d be the same. One of the loveliest, funniest men you’ll ever meet. But he likes quiet. Now I finally get it.” He’s even thought about living on a boat: “I fantasise about that three times a week. But then I stop myself, because living on a boat needs a rudimentary level of practicality. That’s not me. So maybe more a canal side apartment. A little veranda … invite people over for a drink … watch the evening light glistening on the canal … are you with me?” And as for his favourite canal tunes? “Well, I’m like Covid,” comes the quick quip. “I’ve got very little taste. And that’s one of the reasons I’m leaving 6 Music.
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Speaking of talking nonsense, what about Shaun’s future on his fantasy canal boat? Who would be in his rock ‘n’ roll crew? “Okay, so Róisín Murphy. She lives near me. Like me, she’s got the Irish roaming spirit. Keith Richards. He has the right spirits, obviously. We’d have a little row of optics. Will Champion, the drummer from Coldplay, he’s big, set, sensible. Secretly fun. On bass, I would get my old mate Mark King, from Level 42, on board. He’s incredibly practical, Mark. Good at sumps and stuff. And I would want somebody like Gladys Knight too. ‘The Pips’ know their way around the ropes.” Maybe this could be the next career move Shaun is looking for? Pirate radio on a canal boat. “Yeah, maybe there’s a Radio 4 programme in that. Everybody’s got a story on the towpath or the waterway. Funnily enough, Johnny Marr texted me the other day. I must have said something on air about doing a show on a canal boat and he was like, ‘I’d be up for that’.” Look out Brandreth and Hancock. Marr and Keaveny are after your gig.
