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TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017

Ruark_Brand_Ad_Trawler_June.indd2 1 07/06/2017 17:29 TRAWLERWelcome to 08.07.17

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CONTRIBUTORS Welcome... Liam Jefferies Daryl Easlea Superior Audio Since 1986 Well, it’s that time of year again! Hooray for Summer – the season of being outdoors, eating Colette Bailey Sadie Hasler al fresco and of course, festivals! Syd Moore Jacqueline Johnson For this edition of Trawler we’re delighted to bring you a Village Green special on Southend’s Sarah Barlow very own arts and music festival. It's right here on our doorstep, celebrating the very best of Luke Osborne local, home-grown, creative talent alongside invited guests from around the world. PHOTOGRAPHY Si Brandon So – here in Trawler – we bring you the full download on what’s on and where to find it (see the Jon Webber full programme and map on the centre pages) as well as interviews with some of the highlights on Matt Allen Benedict Johnson the bill this year – and not just on the music stages – from organic mushroom farmers to high end, Clarissa Debenham hand-made handbags – it’s all there at Village Green – and right here in Trawler! Frances Beckerman Paul Tait From the gorgeous Kate Nash (on our front cover) to inimitable Nothing But Thieves on Simon Fowler page 14 to story telling and digital art, we cover a huge and diverse range of arts and culture COVER just like the festival itself. PHOTOGRAPH Kate Nash Photographer: Our usual thanks go out to the Official Trawler Photo Heroes Si Brandon – as well as Yoshitaka Kono photographers of images taken from the archives of Village Green, many of whom volunteer Fashion Direction Rebekah Roy their time and talent (Matt Allen, Jon Webber, Benedict Johnson BRITISHand Clarissa DESIGN, Debenham) Hair and make up: SUPERIOR SOUND. Evan Huang using Barry M and Mac As you know, we like to provide a leisurely, sunny Sunday morningFrom read compact with speakers Trawler. and stylish table This top radios, to integrated music systems and perhaps Assistants: Adanna issue is more of a ‘pore over me, plan my day, hour-by-hour, make surethe most I elegantdon’t radiogram miss available, out theon choice a Chikwe, Lauren Mann, is yours. And, whatever you choose to listen to, you Location: single bit of the amazing programme, how the blinking flip I goingcan to relax infit the it knowledge all in?’ that youkind are listening of issue. to the very best. You are listening to Ruark Audio. The Lalit London Hotel

To view our full range of audio products or to request a brochure please visit our website. SPECIAL And if you don’t have your tickets yet – or, if you’ve had you’re headAlternatively, in the contact clouds us on 01702 and 601410. don’t THANKS TO Available locally through, HB Electrical Leigh On Sea, know when, where or what Village Green is – here’s how you findRayleigh out Hi-Fi more...and Waitrose Southend. Village Green: 8 July 2017 – 11am till 9pm www.villagegreenfestival.com

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TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 3 Voluntary Service | PHOTOGRAPHY Matt Allen

Behind the scenes of Village Green an army of volunteers bring everything they can to help you enjoy the day...

4 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 5 Photo: Tait Photo: Paul

6 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 7 The Urban Farmers (Luke Osborne and Panagiotis Drakoulis.) show the three stages of mushroom growth

Urban Farming| WRITER Luke Osborne in Southend

AQAR CHOUDHRY SUFFERS FROM TINITUS. the process but also an endless journey into the world of mycology. Typically, when being affected by this in the night, he will listen to BBC world service until he falls asleep. One As for the “urban” element, the pair thought the project was best suited for night there happened to be an interview on there about an the urban environment. One of their key attributes is being able to convert innovative company in the Netherlands who were using waste coffee to an ‘urban waste’ - used coffee grinds-into something nutritious. Wgrow these fantastic Oyster Mushrooms. There would have been no point collecting from Leigh and Southend Waqar and his business partner, Luke Osborne have a mutual friend and only to process it out in the sticks somewhere. The project is entirely got talking at a party. He knew that Luke owns and runs a Renewable local…well 98%. All their coffee grounds are collected from cafes in Energy Company (EnergyMyWay) and that he was very into sustainability Leigh and Southend, the ‘Farm’ is located in the heart of Southend, and naturally the conversation moved onto the subject of the radio show. beneath Maple recording studios in the Grainger Road Industrial Estate and the mushrooms are sold and consumed within the local area. Urban Waqar is a drug and addictions councillor and the pair wondered if there Mushroom’s furtherest supplied restaurant is the Anchor in Hullbridge. would be any scope in merging their two ethos’ of sustainability and re- habilitation through a similar project to that in Rotterdam. So, they decided They provide the cafes with reusable plastic buckets into which they empty to email the guys at Rotterzwam (zwam being dutch for mushroom!) and their used coffee grinds. These are collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and arranged a Skype to talk over their operation. Fridays to ensure that they are relatively fresh, and replaced with clean buckets. The coffee grinds are then taken back to the farm and put through Swiftly, Waqar and Luke ended up flying out to see them a few weeks later a mixer with a number of key ingredients- all natural. Urban Mushrooms and embarked on not only a weeks internship, learning the ins and out of don’t use any chemicals in their process.

8 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 “The hooks and tie-wraps are re-usable, the spent substrate becomes an incredible compost and soil improver and the buckets are re-useable”.

Luke Osborne and Waqar Choudhry show off their marvellous mushrooms

The mix is then decanted into 5 kg bags, which are hung in an incubation room for around 4 weeks in a pitch black, warm environment.

When the bags are ready, they are moved over to the fruiting room, which is where the magic happens. The fruiting room is cooler and mimics daylight. This forces the mycelium to think that it is the ideal time to ‘fruit’ and that is when it produces the mushrooms.

The guys are very grateful to their affiliates at all the coffee shops they work with. Early on they approached them and explained that Urban Mushrooms could help them reduce their carbon footprint as well as their waste streams and they were very happy to get on board and be a part of it. Luke and Waqar feel that the customers appreciate ethical businesses and they help to facilitate that.

They try to reuse everything that they can where possible. “The hooks and tie-wraps are re-usable, the spent substrate becomes an incredible compost and soil improver and the buckets are re-useable”. The building itself hadn’t been used for 25 years, so you could say they have breathed new life into that. All the floor coverings are offcuts and discards that were going to be heading to landfill. Any unsold mushrooms are either given to the Storehouse or turned into mushroom powder. This is all done to promote people to take away their own hand produced bags. Waqar and Luke are the ‘circular economy’, where the discards from one process are not also looking to partner with other local producers and organisations and classified as waste- but an available resource for the next industry. hopefully offer a way to ‘up-skill’ disadvantaged members of the community.

As for the future, Urban Mushrooms hope to expand what they are doing. Luke is really looking forward to this year’s Village Green. He loves The fresh mushrooms are a ’showcase’ piece and the business would love seeing the diversity that the festival brings to the town as well as a good more restaurants to come on board and support local foods. They have mix of food, music and arts to look forward to. The guys are running an some great restaurants and chefs using their mushrooms but are keen to educational stand there on the Friday for the schools, as well as being gain more of a following. around all day on Saturday.

They are now selling fantastic kits for people to grow their own oyster When asked what his favourite mushroom dish is, Luke states “The mushrooms from their own coffee waste, which as well as the benefit of fantastic mushroom soup that my wife makes, however, I do make some completely fresh food in your kitchen, is a fun educational piece for the mean tandoori mushrooms roasted in the oven!” children to learn about sustainability and food. www.urbanfarmers.co.uk Urban Mushrooms would like to expand on the education side of things Say hello to the Urban Mushroom guys at Mini Green all day on and hope to run workshops where they teach what they do and allow Saturday 8th July

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 9 | INTERVIEWS RousingSadie Hasler the Villagers Where would we be at Village Green without support from the best local bands, DJ's and comperes? Here are some of our favourite bands answering increasingly random questions BAIT Favourite band bonding moment: We The first music that made you think ’I haven't been together long enough! Ask want to do this’ : It's a cliche but it was me another... genuinely 'Nirvana'. It had an edge that “‘the coastal town that was alien and familiar all at once. I was Thing you’re most proud of : In BAIT hooked... “We're all BAIT” they forgot to burn down’ world I'm most proud of our debut record, it was recorded and produced in house by The first music crush you ever had: our very own M R E... in the real world Natalie Imbruglia for sure. is chock full of talented I'm most proud of my wife. Tell us something we don’t know about artists... Village Green Thing you regret most: There's no point you: I once played bass for 'Gang of Four' in regret... I love the 'New Order' tune though. If you had to have a band mantra what celebrates this and brings would it be?: ‘It's always Yes until it’s No' Time you’ve been most scared/nervous: everyone together.” When I was touring in a previous band If you could bottle just one energy/ a few years back, an entire wheel fell off emotion for the world what would it What’s next? No time to lose, we're the van whilst we were travelling at about be? : Adrenaline... although I think Lance already writing the follow up to 'BAIT' 90 mph... Needless to say, it was damp Armstrong already did that? and we'll be back in the studio before the flannels all around! end of the year. We also move forward If you could change just one thing in the managing our Label 'Cool Thing Records', Worst gig: I don't focus on negatives. country right now what would it be? The where we are developing some exciting government. We need more investment in new acts including Suspects / Beckie Best gig: Our album launch show was education and arts. Margaret / Petty Phase / The Horse awesome. A lot of people came out... it Heads / A.C.I.D and of course Asylums.... was sold out x 1.5 What advice would you have for young Check em out. folk picking up their first instruments/ Ever felt like giving up? What keeps writing their first songs/performing You can see BAIT on the Idea13 Stage at you strong & motivated?: On occasions their first gigs?: There is no template. 15.00 of course I've felt like giving up... we're Be yourself and do things your own way. all human. I'm lucky enough to have a Don't recreate... INNOVATE! great network of supportive friends in the Cool Thing collective. We keep each other What do you like about Village Green?: levelled out and inspired. It reminds me that ‘the coastal town that they forgot to burn down’ is chock full of Worst job you’ve ever had: As a musician talented artists... Village Green celebrates I have taken many bad jobs to keep my this and brings everyone together. head above water. The worst was a bin man for sure... I turned up to find a split bin bag with a nappy and a needle hanging out of it... no gloves... Yum yum.

What’s your second dream job other than mega stardom?: I don't wanna be a mega star, I love what I do and the road I'm on. I enjoy graphic design, so maybe I'd be a graphic designer...

Artist you’d most like to work with in the world - dead/alive: I'd love to work with Danny Elfman. I would be so far out of my comfort zone but I'm sure I'd learn so much about everything to do with music!

10 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 Rousing the Villagers

LJ Howard

Favourite band bonding moment: A couple years back now, we did a gig in King Cole..... his voice, his emotion and on repeat everyday, why wouldn't I Scotland and found ourselves knee deep in mud. I was wearing my fresh white love it or grow to admire this artist and his beautiful tones. trainers, as you do...I was performing! Bonding moment; more like ‘hold me up, this won't end well’ moment. Great fun and memories. If you had to have a band mantra what would it be: Breathe in and Let's Go!! Thing you’re most proud of: I'm very proud of the way life has panned out for me, my family and friends, but most importantly my wife and two boys. They How would you explain the ultimate height of performing to someone who’s

are my support system. not experienced it?: It's a high - an energy, an emotion. Imagine being hyped Clarissa Debenham Photo: and overwhelmed all at the same time, that's how it feels on stage. Then take Time you’ve been most scared/nervous: I think my memory has tried to those feelings and multiply them by 100 and you won't be close to the feeling, block that from my thoughts. Think little bars stools and tables dotted about, a but you can somehow get the idea. handful of punters and nobody was allowed to stand because they were filming the gig, apparently. If you could bottle just one energy/emotion for the world what would it be?: Love. It conquers all but it's something that's missing in so many of our Worst gig: Worst gig? More of a learning curve. Note to self - be more thoughts on a daily basis. If you can't say it with love, do you need to say it? selective in venue choices! If you could change just one thing in the country right now what would Best gig: I've got quite a few but my most recent gig at Chinnerys was a Jack it be?: Perspective of how we see each other. We are all the same. When all is Daniels sponsored event. I feel this is when I put my name on the map as a said and done we leave this earth the same as when we arrived, with our souls - local singer/songwriter and the support following that gig has been amazing. and that energy can never die, it just changes shape. That's what makes you and me....US. Ever felt like giving up? What keeps you strong & motivated?: Yes I have felt like giving up. I think it's safety mechanism - when you think to yourself “I What advice would you have for young folk picking up their first can't do any more to further my music career”, so you step back to rethink the instruments/writing their first songs/performing their first gigs?: My plan. This is the moment you need people around you, to either push you on advice to young performers or musicians is write down all your ideas, capture or give you those words of wisdom - to gather up that negativity and throw it each and every moment, don't be afraid to show who YOU are, that is YOUR aside. power. Enjoy being creative, be fresh and new and, above all, have fun doing it.

What’s your second dream job other than mega stardom?: Definitely love What do you like about Village Green?: Village Green has always been the idea of being a pilot. Always loved the idea of seeing the world, but to be able something I wanted to be a part of it as an artist, it's all about the community to fly myself there and get paid to do it - sign me up! coming together as a force celebrating what everyone loves: music and having a laugh. Village Green has gone from strength to strength and this is why it has Artist you’d most like to work with in the world - dead or alive: Artists I'd a such a great reputation for supporting local up and coming talent! Honoured love to or would've loved to have worked with: Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, to be a part of it this year! Thank You. Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, John Legend, Adele, Bruno Mars, Pharrell Williams, Rag n Bone Man, Ed Sheeran… If I don't stop now, I'll just keep What’s next?: Keep pushing forward, writing and performing. Most impor- going! tantly, enjoying the journey wherever it may lead me.

The first music that made you think ’I want to do this’: First music that blew www.facebook.com/ljhowardmusic my mind, I was a young boy, my mum had a plastic case with 6 cassettes of Nat You can see LJ Howard at The Chalkwell Park Rooms at 16.50 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 11 Photo: Clarissa Debenham Photo: Photo: Clarissa Debenham Photo:

Holloway Road Favourite band bonding moment: Hotel room pants The first music that made you think ‘I want to do this’: parties are always great bonding moments for us. Hanson - Mmm Bop

Thing you’re most proud of: So many to chose from but… The first music crush you ever had: Atomic Kitten Winning both British and U.K. Country duo of the year has to be up there! Tell us something we don’t know about you: Rob has a cactus obsession owning over 40, Jack is terrified of bananas Time you’ve been most scared/nervous: Playing the Martin GuitarStage at the CMA festival in Nashville was If you had to have a band mantra what would it be? pretty daunting as it was our first experience being Brits Before we go on stage every night we chant 'Sportsdirect. playing country music to a load of yanks. com UKS number 1' at the top of our lungs.

Best gig: Playing the O2 arena How would you explain the ultimate height of performing to someone who’s not experienced it: An orgasm without Worst gig:James Arthur the mess.

Ever felt like giving up? What keeps you strong & What advice would you have for young folk picking motivated?: Think every musician has thought about up their first instruments/writing their first songs/ giving up at least once in their life when they are struggling performing their first gigs? The song is the most to put food on the table or pay their rent due to the love of important thing. It all starts with a song! what they do but it's the love of music, friendship and love for the brother standing next to you that keeps you going What do you like about Village Green?: for sure! It's home!

Worst job you’ve ever had: Eye of the needle measurer. www.hollowayroadmusic.com Holloway Road are playing the Idea13 Stage at 17.40 What’s your second dream job other than mega stardom? Average stardom

Artist you’d most like to work with in the world - dead/ alive: Leathal Bizzle

12 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 Daryl Easlea/SFOB I've had the great pleasure of compering the Village Green Stage since it came into being in 2013 (as well as the fabulous Next Generation day the day prior). It's always a great highlight of my year, a chance to share my enthusiasm for the acts and celebrate everyone coming together for the day. Compering brings together the strands of what i do (writing, presenting and music consulting) and puts them all out there, with jokes.

As part of Middle Age Spread (Grown Up Disco For Those Unafraid To Dance) I DJ the stage as well (with Dan Newman and Al Johnson), and we've had some tremendous fun - when there was a technical issue before Tiggs Da Author last year, we had an extra 45 minutes to play, and we pulled out ALL the stops. We were asked to mellow down for an act a few years back, but even going lower we had the crowd jumping to Fairport Convention and Neil Young.

The main thing to realise when you are a compere is that - as fabulous as you may be (and believe me, I am fabulous) - people are not there to see you, but the acts around you; you have to strike the right balance between imparting exciting detail (who's on) and facts about the day (where the emergency exits are). Don't shout, and share the joy. Look forward to seeing you.

www.shipfullofbombs.co.uk

Suspects Favourite band bonding moment: Easily when we first moved Worst gig: Fortunately we've not had a bad show yet! into a permanent rehearsal space. It was key to the Suspects you are hearing today and ultimately made us closer as a Best Gig: We recently supported BAIT at the Railway Hotel band. for Cool Thing Records. Was packed front to back and was wonderful to share the evening with friends and audience Thing you’re most proud of: We’re very proud of the fact there alike. is only two of us in the band. And the live shows we deliver. Ever felt like giving up? What keeps you strong & motivated?: Thing you regret most: Not doing Suspects sooner. We now The feelings of quitting when things get difficult or become approach everything with zero regrets. frustrating is almost a daily occurrence. Its about PMA and not letting the darkness win. Time you’ve been most scared/nervous: Anytime before taking the stage - it never gets easier and it never goes away. What’s a typical work day in the band?: Most “work days” However we firmly believe if the nerves are not there then consist of James and Thomas writing together in the room. And there is something wrong. going over things over and over again until we are happy. Some days this is easy, and other days it’s a f***ing nightmare. But it’s the same for any artist.

Worst job you’ve ever had: Sales!!! Just haven’t got it, couldn’t sell curry to a p***head. James had a torrid time being a propmaster for a film.

What are the funniest foibles within the band: We are both massive over-thinkers.

How did you meet?: We met in Southend around 2009-2010 down the Alex on a Tuesday when they used to have “pound a pint” night and the pints were genuinely one pound! We drank until we couldn’t see and we haven’t looked back since.

What’s your second dream job other than mega stardom?: James would like to work in a surf shack somewhere waxing surfboards and Thomas would like to own a record shop.

www.facebook.com/suspectsuk See Suspects on Idea13 Stage at 14.10

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 13 NOTHING BUT THIEVES

14 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 NOTHING BUT THIEVES

| INTERVIEW Liam Jefferies

Nothing But Thieves. Musicians. Philosophers. Zombie apocalypse preppers...

OTHING BUT THIEVES FORMED IN 2012 IN SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, THEY HAVE TOURED ALONGSIDE GERARD WAY, TWENTY ONE PILOTS AND MUSE. As well as playing Leeds & Reading and Isle of Wight Festivals this year, they are also the headline act for Village Green. Trawler spoke to Dom from the band Nabout all things weird and wonderful... Hello Dom. You’ve just come back off a European tour, how did that go? It went great! We wanted to get back into the swing of touring after being tucked away in the studio for a few months by playing a few intimate shows around the UK and Amsterdam. That was probably one of the sweatiest gigs I’ve ever played in my life, we were absolutely drenched. We were wringing out our clothes on a nightly basis, probably losing a third of our body weight in water. It’s fair to say it was a hot one.

Normally I try and find time to go to the gym or something but I thought I just can’t lose any more water or I’ll end up drying and shrivelling into some former human being.

Is there anything essential that you take with on tour? Musical instruments help… I suppose the main thing that I make sure to take with me is my MacBook, there’s so many times where we were stuck in an airport or on a bus or waiting in a hotel, you have to keep yourself entertained.

I find myself producing other kinds of music on there, or getting lost in a weird YouTube spiral of watching drunk people falling over or doing stupid s***, then I realise that 2 hours have gone by and I’m not gonna get that back - it’s like a black hole.

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 15 I know that Conor always takes his vaporiser-thing. It’s a thing off in a really aggressive trade that this kid told me would work for his voice that goes over his mouth. It looks like a bong and in my favour. I got hustled hardcore, and out of spite I found when we were travelling through America once the airport this poor boys stash. I don’t even think I kept them. customs were like “what is this?” and we were like “mate… it’s menthol”, we had to explain to him that we weren’t just massive Other than that I think we’re actually quite good. All built on stoners. good morals… despite the fact that we’re all from Essex.

The other boys are really into reading so they take books with What is the first song by someone else that you all agreed on them. I’m obsessed with my Rubik’s cube currently, I’ve got it being a belter? down to 57 seconds, personal best, quite impressed with that. I think this only happened about two weeks ago. We thought we had it nailed when we were all in to the Bee Gees but then Speaking of personal bests, I see on Instagram that your Pricey our drummer admitted he just couldn’t get involved with bassist Phil seemed pretty chuffed by his 1’13” time on Mario disco. Kart We were playing a gig in Carlisle at a place called the Brickyard. The hunt went on until Paramore released Hard Times the The backstage area was great, they had this gaming console with other day. I have this recollection of driving from a recent Mario Kart and our tour manager Sweeney was giving it the big festival and Joe was sat next to me, he had Hard Times playing ‘un saying he used to play non-stop and got 1 minute 10 once. through his headphones five times in a row, it’s become a bit of When prepping for a gig we’ll usually listen to music, have some an anthem since then. It’s a big song. drinks and get changed but we thought we’d challenge him so all of us were gathered around this vintage games console on Where is the worst place you’ve ever stayed on tour? this crap JVC television shouting our heads off. When we first started touring in the van around the UK and our tour manager Jerry, bless his heart, lovely lovely guy and an As soon as I came off stage Phil said he got 1 minute 13, and I absolute legend, he had to be so frugal with the budget because wasn’t having it. When everyone went for a post-gig cigarette I there wasn’t a budget basically. smashed out a 1 minute 12 time! I just left it on the screen for him to see when he got back. We got pretty accustomed to staying in a Travelodge, I don’t mind them ‘cos they’re fairly consistent, until you start going out of the city, into the ones that are like, off the M4 in the middle of nowhere where there’s nothing around but a Toby “I like to think that we’re Carvery and a BP garage. I remember the first occasion, I went into the bathroom and constantly reinventing found a used pair of men’s underwear, clearly used if you know what I mean. They gave us some compensation breakfast boxes which consisted of a muffin and the most acidic orange juice ourselves, not even on an you’ve ever had in your life.

album to album basis but song You said that “Excuse Me” from your debut album is the first song you all agreed was the sound of NBT. Can you describe your sound? to song. There’ll be a common See, this is difficult because we’ve spent so long trying to come up with something different, trying not to pigeonhole ourselves thread like with any band, but with stuff like “ambient indie rock” or whatever.

I like to think that we’re constantly reinventing ourselves, not musically it is ever evolving.” even on an album to album basis but song to song. There’ll be a common thread like with any band, but musically it is ever Me and Phil are cousins so there is a sort of family rivalry. Beat evolving. him by a whole second, probably the biggest achievement of my life so far. On the new track, it says you left your heart in Amsterdam, what do you like most about Amsterdam? The lovely bridges? Given your band name, have you ever pinched anything, and We’ve been there about 15 times now. My favourite thing about did you get caught? the Netherlands, I got on a bus that was free, it was emissions We get that a lot, I still don’t think I’ve got a good answer for it. free and also had free wifi. I was so overwhelmed by the quality I remember stealing some Pokemon cards once, I got mugged of their public transport it became too much. There’s also one

Joe Langridge-Brown playing at Village Green 2015

16 Jon Webber Photo: city in the Netherlands that has no cars, it’s all bikes. I think they Nothing But Thieves lead vocalist Conor Mason do a lot of things right. Forward thinking, very liberal. I like that. rocks Village Green in 2015 What inspired the dancing in the video? Probably a few drunk nights out in the Pink Toothbrush. We wanted to have an unusual video that contradicted what is, on the surface, a rock song. We wanted to have something that would create a dynamic change and a juxtaposition. A performance video with a unique spin on it and introduces an Benedict Johnson Photo: element that was slightly unusual for a rock band.

What’s the worst thing you’ve been asked in an interview? The standard one is “where is the band name from?” and we’ve just turned that into our own sort of entertainment, lying about it and coming up with new stories every time. I think my personal favourite from memory is that there was another band from Southend called Nothing But Thieves and we thought it would be ironic to steal their band name. Some people actually believe us and ask if we’re worried about copyright issues, and we tell them not to worry about it. Never let on that you’re bulls******* them.

We get a lot of questions on American radio stations like “what’s your favourite ice cream?” I don’t think anyone really cares, but if they do, it’s mint chocolate chip.

What is your best dad joke? Depends on how long you’ve got. So there’s a man and wife, we’ll call them Terry and Lynne. Terry is absolutely obsessed with tractors, he’s got tractor bed covers, tractor posters, mugs, pyjamas, tractor everything. Lynne gets fed up and says “you know what Terry, this has gone on a bit too much now, it’s me or the tractors” so Terry says “okay Lynne, I love you, I’ll get rid of the tractor paraphernalia, but I just need some time on my own to reflect” so he goes down to the boozer and as he opens the door a great plume of smoke just fires out of the pub. Completely confused, he goes to the barman “what’s going on here?” The barman has no idea, Terry tells him “Look mate, if I can get rid of all this smoke for you can I drink here all night for free?” the barman agrees and in a heartbeat Terry sucks up all the smoke and blows it out of the window. When it’s all gone the barman, astounded asks how Terry managed such a feat, to which he replies “easy, I’m an ex-tractor fan”.

Not bad ay? It’s a bit long but you’ve gotta set it up right. Won’t be forgetting that one in a rush, if you’re at a particularly dry party just drop that one.

Wu-Tang Clan or Cypress Hill? Wu-Tang. broccoli, either of them, steam ‘em, bit of seasoning, maybe some The Smiths or Slayer? sweet potato mash and a nice cut of meat, that’s basically a meal I can’t get on board with the Smiths, Pricey loves ‘em but I’m right there. gonna say Slayer just to be controversial. Would you rather have legs like an ostrich or arms like a The Spice Girls or Gwen Stefani? gorilla? Gwen. Every day of the week. I like some Spice Girls tunes but I I skip leg day so I’m probably not as nimble as an ostrich, love Gwen, I’m going with impulse here. although I’ve never competed with one, I’m just assuming. I am a sucker for an arm wrestle and I can’t help but think that gorilla What is your favourite village in the UK? arms would only help in that position. Well, I have to be biased, I’m born and raised in Leigh-on-Sea so that is right up there. It was voted happiest place in the UK What’s the best thing you’ve eaten/cooked on tour? recently too, I don’t know where they got that from, you should We’ve got a guitar tech called Stu and on the bus on our last US see my family they’re not happy at all! tour he bought this portable flat-iron grill and as we travelled down these Freeways and he’d set up the grill, crack some What is your all time favourite vegetable? eggs open and whack some bacon on it and he’d be cooking It’s all context isn’t it? I do like asparagus, or a tender stem a fry up at 70 miles and hour. He really mastered the skill, he

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 17 Nothing But Thieves bassist Philip Blake whips up a storm at Village Green in 2015 Photo: Jon Webber Photo:

was chopping peppers, making fajitas. Our proudest culinary Which member of the band would you put forward for a pie moment and it was in the bus. I challenge anyone to eat while eating competition? going at a faster pace, not in an aeroplane. Well I have a ridiculous appetite for heavy food. Pricey is like a stick man but he’ll eat 7 bargain buckets of KFC a day. I think it What is your favourite cartoon of all time? goes into him and then turns into air. We’re massive fans of the Simpsons, lots of quoting happens. What is the best insult you’ve ever received? How do you like your eggs? There’s been a few, I think the fans like to test your patience Scrambled. They have to be on the brink of liquid though, milk, to get a reaction. I keep getting called a mushroom cos when salt, pepper, bit of chilli, as you’re spinning ‘em around the pan, I headbang my hair just goes everywhere. I asked a fan if they wait for the last bit of liquid and you’re good to go. Whack it on wanted me to sign something and they just said they’d rather s*** a bit of rye bread with some salmon, and then you’re laughing. in their hands and clap. Fair enough.

Do you have a zombie apocalypse plan? What’s the first thing you’re going to do after this interview? This is something we probably talk about on a bi-daily basis. You I will be doing two things, I’m currently mixing some audio from find a piece of land with a shelter, and you build a moat system our Dingwalls gig, and then I’m getting in the van and going to around it, depending on your woodworking skills you could the Isle of Wight. We’re playing tomorrow and the tour manager even install a drawbridge, and then back it up with a flammable is worries that the ferries will be f*****. perimeter around the building, so if they get through the moat, you just fry the f******. That’s our plan. www.nbthieves.com Catch Nothing But Thieves headlining the Village Green stage When was the last time you did a cartwheel? at 19.10 I did a handstand in Magaluf two days ago, does that count? I Preview their sophomore release "Broken Machine" on iTunes. was so drunk completely misjudged it so as I went up I just kept Album due out 8th September. going and landed on my spine. I haven’t been able to sleep on my back for two days now. Ironically, it was probably closer to a cartwheel. I just went straight over.

18 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 FESTIVAL INFO 2017

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 19

VILLAGE GREEN COMEDY GLOBAL STAGE CULINARY BIG VILLAGE

Our beautiful saddlespan stage is back and it’s rockin’ Presented in Partnership with Essex Cultural Diversity with some of the finest local talent as well as brilliant TOP Project, The WOMAD Foundation and Atlantic Pacific acts from across the UK. Global Logistics. Funded by Arts Council England. New for 2017 a heady mix of culture, cooking and comedy for all ages, tastebuds and funny-bones. 11:20-11:50 12:00–12:30 FYRESKY 12:00-12:30 SOUTHEND HUNGARIAN GROUP Essex Undiscovered Winners - enthralling rock act. HOLLY WATSON Hungarian dance workshops led from the stage. Look out for their nearby, all-day, workshops - hand-made Accomplished and funny storyteller with a charming 12:20-12:50 pieces of folk art, national costumes and craft activi- friendly style. COURTS ties for children. Guitar-based funk & hip-hop - like an illegitimate 12:30-14:00 love-in between Jamie T and the Stone Roses. 12:30-13:00 COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS EFUA SEY CULTURAL ACADEMY Host, Richard Sandling brings together the best of 13:20-13:50 African drumming workshop brought to Southend the UK comedy circuit, including Andrew O'Neill and from the year round school of African culture based AIRWAYS CBBC’s Inel Tomlinson – keeping all their best jokes in Harlow. Fresh from supporting Nothing But Thieves, this is clean for kids - their toughest audience yet! Indie Rock at its purest. ‘One Foot’ - track of the week 13:00–13:45 on BBC Introducing, Radio 1. 14:30- 16:00 DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE: BRAZILARTE 14:20-15:00 Carnival drums to whip up an amazing street party ARDYN GLOBAL PILLAGE atmosphere! Sony Award-winning comedian and writer hosts a Bro & Sis combo & darlings of the Summer Festival brand new comedy panel show podcast all about scene. 13:45–14:30 idiom, culture, customs and norms. Guests include: ABASS DODOO Desiree Burch, Inel Tomlinson, Jo Farrugia and Radu 15:30–16:10 Isac. Be part of the live recording! & MAURICIO VELASIERRA PRIMO NELSON Legendary Ghanaian drummer who tours with Cream's Original, hard-hitting funk inspired groove. Heavy 16:30-17:30 Ginger Baker and plays with Van Morrison - MEETS horns, thumping funk core & husky tones. GEORGE EGG: ANARCHIST COOK - musical stories from the pioneering Colombian flautist. A surreal and absurd mix of stand-up comedy and 16.15 striking innovation from one of the UK’s most in 14:30–15:30 SPECIAL GUEST - LEO C demand comedians. "It's a hilarious show, with sur- (See Oak Stage - SoSlam Young Songwriters prisingly good food" The Times. HEIDI HEIDELBERG LAB act). & MIM SULEIMAN 18:00-19:00 Anarchic soprano musician & film composer working 16:40-17:20 HARDEEP SINGH KOHLI: with classical, jazz, beatbox & rock influences - GET CAPE. WEAR CAPE. FLY CHAT MASALA MEETS - international force of nature from Zanzibar. Get Cape is back, and back for good… returning with BAFTA award-winning & BBC Radio 4 favourite Har- his antifascist, hope filled project. Massive news from 15:30–16:15 deep (Celebrity Masterchef, The One Show, Question one of Southend's greatest singer-songwriters. Time) brings his much loved cookery chat show to RIPTON LINDSAY Village Green, proving that food, thought, and comfort Jamaican master brings traditional & contemporary 17:50-18:40 go hand in hand. urban dance. KATE NASH BRIT Award-winner Kate Nash is back from the states 16:15–16:45 and unleashing hot fresh new material. COMPERE - AL NAED BOLLYWOOD FUSION Bollywood/Bhangra Beats and Dance rhythms. 19:10-20:00 He’s been with us since the very beginning of Village Green, and he’s back for another bumper year of fun! NOTHING BUT THIEVES 16:45–17:15 After eighteen whirlwind months of sold out shows, EFUA SEY CULTURAL ACADEMY chart topping records and a critically acclaimed al- African dance performance and acrobats. More from bum, Southend’s finest come home to headline Village the brilliant academy from Harlow. Green 2017. SAFE SPACE 17:15-18:15 MIDDLE AGE SPREAD Village Green has a Bronze Award from Attitude is GROUP JAM (THE WOMAD & URBAN ALLSTARS - DJS Everything – creating a festival environment that FOUNDATION ARTISTS) takes accessibility for all seriously. A Safe Space, Southend’s popular DJ collective bring their floor- A stunning collaboration between the international open between 11am and 6.30pm, will be staffed by filling skills to work the park, joined by the mighty artists of Global Village. Urban Allstars spinning all things funky on the decks disability awareness and dementia friendly, trained to get you into the groove. volunteers. There will be shade, somewhere to sit in a calm space, a disabled toilet and access to a sterile kitchen and fridge (if medicines need to be stored). DARYL EASLEA - COMPERE Author, broadcaster and DJ is thrilled to compere the Village Green Stage for the fifth year running.

22 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 JAZZ GRRRL ZINE GRRRL ZINE STAGE STAGE WORKSHOPS

Presented by The Jazz Centre UK, alongside an Presented by Grrl Zine Fair and funded by Arts Presented by Grrl Zine Fair and funded by Arts exhibition of highlights from TJCUK archive, including Council England. Council England. Louis Armstrong’s trumpet! Curated by Digby Fair- weather and Mick Foster. ALL DAY 11.00-11.45 GRRRL ZINE FAIR FREER IDEAS: DRUM WORKSHOP 12:00-12:45 The DIY Punk Self-Publishing Party curates a full day UK-based music project, empowering marginalised THE DOMINIC ASHWORTH DUO of alternative scene music, workshops, and talks. individuals & communities through music lessons, Hugely talented, multi-stylistic guitarist (Dominic) workshops and gigs. plays with world-class bassist Roger Curphey. The 15:30–16:00 duo will also supply the rhythm section for all our PETTY PHASE 11.45–12.30 visiting stars! Petty Phase is a new four-piece outfit bringing the ESTELLA ADEYERI: spirit of Riot Grrrl to Southend. Their rama-lama GUITAR WORKSHOP 13:15-14:30 punk sound compares to early Hole, L7, or even The Hugely talented musician and singer (JUNK/ Big STEVE FISHWICK Runaways. Joanie/ Witching Waves/ Decolonise Festival Organi- “I can’t think of another trumpeter who can do what sation) Estella Adeyeri leads a masterclass session. he does!” (Wynton Marsalis) This ‘Rising Star’ British 16:30-17:00 Jazz Award winner (2002) has risen! with 5* reviews TOP KNOT 11.00-15:00 for his recent album ‘In the Empire State’. Brighton-based gal band. Having played just a hand- PORTABLE PRINT STUDIO ful of shows they are already getting people excited Artist-led project running drop in screen printing 15:15-16.00 with their 'DIY lovers punk'. workshop. Take part for free, and receive your own KAREN SHARP personalised tote bag! Starting out with the legendary Humphrey Lyttelton, 17:30-18:00 Karen now leads her own poll winning quartet with QUEEN ZEE AND 13.45-14.45 pianist Nikki Iles, bassist Dave Green and drummer THE SASSTONES SHADOW SISTXRS FIGHT CLUB Steve Brown. Pop punk band from Liverpool, "marrying vulgar son- Workshops in self-protection - physical and psychic. ics with earworm melodies". Learn selfdefense martial arts techniques, holistic 16:45–17:30 dance movement and delve into the worlds of herbs MICK FOSTER 18:30-19:10 and crystals. “The greatest all-round saxophonist in the UK" (Jazz BIG JOANIE Critic, Art Napoleon). Mick’s formidable CV includes Think, Ronettes filtered through 80s DIY and Riot 12.30-13.30 everyone from The LPO to Dame Cleo Laine, Jacqui Grrrl. ARTS SISTERHOOD UK Dankworth and ‘Swing Out Sister’. A unique, grassroots Arts & Mental Health organisa- 19:10–20:00 tion offering women and non-binary people affordable 18:00-18:45 art therapy classes. CLARE FOSTER / DJ BBZ LONDON Centered on positive feminine energy and eradicating SHANTI JAYASINHA misogyny for queer women and genderqueer fam of 13.30-15.30 Clare’s cool-voiced interpretation of standards is colour. NAIL TRANSPHOBIA accompanied by the trumpet and flugelhorn of Shanti Tackling transphobia through nail art, it's fabulous (Brand New Heavies, John Mayer’s ‘Indo-Jazz Fu- activism! Founder Charlie Craggs comes to Village sions’). A great way to end the day! Green with her pop up nail salon.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR FREE ROAM VILLAGE GREEN 2017 FESTIVAL Extra security measures have been put in place this year BUY YOUR TICKET IN ADVANCE – it’s cheaper (saves you a STILTS PRO at Village Green, working closely with the police and our fiver!), and means you can be inside the event much faster security provider. and helps us and you avoid more queuing. Look up! Stilts Pro are back & taller than ever! Festival goers can also play a big part in helping to keep PLEASE REMEMBER - Alcohol is not permitted. You may MOTH PHYSICAL THEATRE Village Green safe and secure, so we’d very much appreciate bring water and soft drinks but they must be in sealed plastic Immersive theatre experience and walkabout act. it if you’d read and digest the following messages. bottles or unopened cartons. Picnics are encouraged, but Bringing 1780's Parisian glamour, flamboyant deco- please be aware that any sharp utensils will be removed rum and audaciousness to any occasion! PLEASE PACK LIGHT – The new measures include the during searches. searching of ALL bags and pushchairs. You can really help WISECRACKERS THEATRE CO us by travelling light and not bringing large bags, trolleys There will be plenty of security staff and police around, so if Satirical physical comedy, using mime, clown, pup- or rucksacks. We would ask everyone to be prepared (bags you have any queries or concerns, please don’t hesitate to petry, live music, and bouffon, poking fun at current open), patient and to co-operate with any security requests. speak to them. affairs. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY – These extra security measures will Thank you in advance for your understanding and coopera- make getting in to the event slower than usual and there will tion and we look forward to welcoming you to Village Green. be queues. It would be a great help if you could plan for this, allow extra time for arrival and entry, and work with us to OTHER TOP TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY DAY - make it speedy and pleasant as possible. See our FAQs on www.villagegreenfestival.com TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 23 MINI IDEA13 STAGE CHALKWELL

Presented in partnership with The Railway Hotel, GREEN Chinnery’s, Cool Thing Records and South Essex PARK ROOMS College – an eclectic mix, hand-picked by those in the Presented by Metal Art School. And you don’t even Presented in partnership with Chalkwell Park Rooms, know about what’s HOT on the local and UK scene. have to be mini to enjoy it! The Railway Hotel, Chinnery’s and Cool Thing Records. 11:40-12:10 11:10–11:30 11:50-12:20 MISS BOPALONG BEACH FOR TIGER THE DAISY BOWLERS Five piece psychedelic rock band. "Ready to turn Interactive family dancing using fun props, engaging Wonderfully unique vintage style band with excep- daydreaming into an art form" - Clash Music stories & much loved songs! Come & Bopalong! tional vocal harmonies. 12:30-13:00 11:40–12:00 12:40-13:10 TINY TALES THE VELVETEENS CONOR O’MALLEY All the way from lovely Leeds and endorsed by Höfner Puppetry & storytelling from a consummate & charm- Accomplished Dublin-born soundsmith and lyricist, Guitars, the Railway Hotel favourites bring their mod- ing performer, Hannah Brailsford. composing beautiful pieces of folk balladry. ern, refreshing, new and edgy tunes to the South. 12:10–12:35 13:30-14:00 13:20-13:50 IMAGINATION STATION PUPPET THE SCARLETTS CAROUSEL 6-piece Americana music collective. Taking inspira- SHOW Powerful and potent sinewy five piece, drawing on the tion from a plethora of music to fuse country, folk, All aboard for Auntie Sarah’s adventure with darker side of new wave and laced with psychedelia. dinosaurs,mermaids, enormous Aliens and the occa- rock’n’roll, blues and roots. sional chicken. Join in for hands on musical puppetry 14:10-14:40 mayhem! 14:20-14:50 SUSPECTS THE PHROGS Thrilling 2-piece Indie Punk band have recently 12:45–13:35 Long-running legendary Beat Garage band. They turn premiered their debut single ‘Innocence’. Kerrang! & up, plug in, sometimes tune up, and play with venom. MRS H AND THE SINGALONG BAND Radio X are big supporters of the pair. A riot of colour, music and dance. Nationally re- An honour to have them playing Village Green. nowned for their ability to create music that unites 15:00-15:30 15:10-15:40 generations, bringing together elements of Folk, Soul, BAIT Afro, Latin and Dub. ELECTRIC PYRAMID Industrial Punk outfit, featuring members of Asylums. Heavyweight riffs, sleazy rock vocals, & attitude in Their pulverising debut album earned them a sold 13:45–14:20 spades. out debut show and a growing army of fans including MISS BOPALONG (As above) Radio X's John Kennedy and Rough Trade. 16:00-16:30 14:30–15:10 15:50-16:20 MUERTOS IMAGINATION STATION PUPPET DARREN JONES & Drawing their energy from the darker side of life with influences from the freakbeat and garage psych SHOW (As above) THE WORLD MUSIC BAND scenes. Blending Afro beats and world music inspired rhythms 15:20 –15:50 with catchy lyrics to deliver an electric performance 16:50-17:20 TINY TALES (As above) and vibrant and colourful sound. LJ HOWARD Soul infused with RnB and rock, LJ’s emotive lyrics, 16:00–16:50 16:40-17:20 catchy beat and unique voice never fails to entertain. MRS H AND THE SINGALONG BAND VERY SPECIAL GUESTS!!! (As above) To be announced on the day. Don’t miss them! 17:40-18:10 THE TRUSTED 17:00–17:30 17:40-18:10 Hot, young, and the talk of the town - remixed twice by MISS BOPALONG (As above) HOLLOWAY ROAD Pet Shop Boys’ musical MD and wooed by LA. What’s Bringing a taste of Nashville to Essex, this multiple next? Village Green, that’s what! award nominated Country duo are twisting the neck COMPERE - SARAH DODSWORTH of authentic and keeping things fresh. 18:30-19:00 A Village Green favourite - back again with her fabu- LONGY & THE GOSPEL TRASH 18:30-19:00 lous, friendly and welcome-all style. A firm Village Green favourite, Longy unveils The FIFTY-FOUR PLATES Gospel Trash, the 6 piece band he’s been locked away 'With more raw energy than an angry volcano’ (Daily with for over a year - and the results are incredible! Mirror). Think a rocked up modern Crosby Stills and Nash, taking influence from The Who, and Pearl Jam. 19:20-20:00 BIG JACKET FIRST AID AND 19:20-20:00 Super fresh rock-pop-folk band with great energy and SLIM PICKINGS powerful live vocals to get everyone moving. LOST CHILDREN Renowned 8-strong party reggae/dub force who won’t rest until you’re moving and grooving. Sites for assistance are clearly DJ/COMPERES SHIP FULL OF BOMBS - DJ George Monk bringing the soulful sounds of original marked on the festival map. Southend's cult alternative radio station present an Mod culture and Lewis Mudford harking back to the incomparably eclectic bag of music gems. golden age of American rhythm and blues from the 40's to the 60's.

COMPERE - OLLIE WINIBERG Long-running presenter of BBC Introducing, Ollie’s 24 finger is firmly on the pulse of new music in Essex. TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 OAK STAGE CLEVER

Presented in partnership with SoSlam and South Essex College, this stage is all about the youth – the STARS of tomorrow! Make sure you see them here first! ESSEX Presented in partnership with BBC Essex and hosted 11:45-12:00 15:30-16:00 by the brilliant Rob Jelly. Celebrating all that is Clever LEO C KIERA COURT – past and present – from our brilliant, but often much- Move aside, Jonny Cash, Lou Reed & Bob Dylan! Unique, warm vocal melodies with guitar. Influenced maligned county! Original material from this young singer songwriter. by Norah Jones and Laura Marling, she's an endear- One to watch. ing live watch. 12:00-13:00 SEA LEGS! 12:00-12:10 16:10-16:30 Join the Rubber Ring Relay Race and hear from the CLEM TALBOTT KATY FORKINGS RNLI as we celebrate Lionel Lukin, Essex boy and Original material, thoughtful pop ballads with dreamy A blend of pop and country with a soulful voice and inventor of the first unsinkable lifeboat back in 1785! vocals. lyrics ahead of her years. 13:00-14:00 12:10-12:25 16:40-17:00 MAD SCIENCE BAVARD SHAZZ & BK Don’t miss Dr Dude’s show! Learn all about the bril- Two young busker brothers with catchy original songs Singer/Songwriter with eclectic tastes! liant Joseph Lister, a groundbreaking surgeon and and a strong local following. pioneer of antiseptic. Get hands on as we explore the 17:10-17:30 barmy world of bacteria. 12:25-12:35 TED GROVES AARON WONG Singer/Guitar player from Leigh, performing popular 14:00-15:00 Pianist & composer, full of changing dynamics. covers and original material, influenced by blues, WRITERS BLOCK punk and rock. Did you know that 101 Dalmations was written by 12:35-12:50 honorary Essex Girl, Dodie Smith? Go dotty with the LILLITH VLKOVA 17:40-18:00 Dalmation Formation and create your own Love Letter Captivatingly unique songs and descriptive story EVA TOBIN to Southend at our drop-in workshop! telling. Passionate singer/songwriter from Southend-on-Sea. 15:00-16:00 12:50-13:00 18:10-18:30 DO THE SAMBA STRETCH NOAH FOX JOSH GLEAVES Pull up your legwarmers; it’s time to get physical with Soft and charming experimental guitar work. Essex based music-loving folk-rock singer-songwriter Miss Bopalong! Join-in with retro aerobics, to records not to be missed. used by Essex Girl Eileen Fowler, founder of the Indus- 13:00-13:15 trial Keep Fit Organisation in 1956. LOTTIE MOLLICA 18:40-19:00 Original songs with a soft air of innocence. BLAB 16:00-17:00 Fiery female-fronted indie-rock four piece! SINGALONG! 13:15-13:30 Join our cockney knees-up, with special musical CAITLIN KING guests! Grab a song sheet and celebrate brilliant mu- Original folk and soul material with passionate lyrics. DJ/COMPERES sicians and performers from our corner of the world, Hosted by the musicians from the SoSlam collective. including Peggy Mount, Ken Campbell and Dudley 13:30-13:45 Moore. ANNA-MARIE CHILDS 17:00-18:00 An exciting and professional young talent. HELP US CLEVER ESSEX ROLL CALL 13:45-14:00 Take part in our final show, as we speed through some EMILY FRITH of the best Clever Essex characters through time, including Boudica, Lee Brilleaux, Margaret Cavendish A luscious combination of Country & Pop ballads. LEAVE NO TRACE and many more. 14.10-14.25 At Village Green we subscribe to ALL DAY SAM FRASER NOMINATE CLEVER Putting his own unique spin on modern chart music. the ‘leave no trace’ philosophy ESSEX CHARACTERS 14:30-14:50 and as such would ask you to We are looking to find 125 more people who we are RUTH OLAJUGBAGBE treat Chalkwell Park and the proud to say represent Clever Essex. Nominate yours throughout the day – or on www.cleveressex.com! Stunning mature vocalist with a lot of soul. surrounding area with respect 15:00-15:20 during your visit and dispose of JUMEAUX COMPERE - ROB JELLY all rubbish responsibly. the sonically inquisitive BBC Essex presenter, pro- Lo-fi pop band with fresh original material and ducer & writer - and yes, his real name is Mr Jelly! breathtaking harmonies. Please use the waste bins and recycling points on the Event Site. Thank you!

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 25 IN THE MINI IN THE PICNIC AND GREEN AREA... AREA... MORE

BUTTERCUP CLUB FACEBACK MARCH OF THE MAKERS A fun toddler group that lets your little one learn and Join the Faceback community and meet real live New for 2017! Join us in our craft tent, where you will have fun through sensory, tactile messy play. people! Your Face is turned into a badge and worn by find the best in local designers and makers demon- someone you haven’t met yet. Your mission is to get strating their skills and offering one-off pieces METAL ART SCHOOL your Face back! for sale. Loads of creative activities, across the whole day including Discover In A Day – join in the fun and gain SOUTHEND PARKOUR RAILING AGAINST THE MACHINE a nationally recognised Arts Award at the same Watch the local Parkour crew fly through the air! Local artists and schools have come together to fill time! With artist Claire Softley (for ages 5-11yrs) and the railings of the sports court in Chalkwell Park with colour and imagination to unite! Take in the activities led by our current Arts Award students who OKAMI MARTIAL ARTS are selling limited edition copies of the 2nd issue of exhibition or buy a work to take home with you. Exciting Martial Arts demonstration from this local DIY magazine PARADISUS. karate and fitness club based in Southend. Find out SOUTH ESSEX SCHOOLS ESTUARY how to get involved! JACQSON DIEGO STORY EMPORIUM ART GROUP As part of Railing against the Machine Village Green Stories and books for all the family. Storytellers and GESTALT ARTS poets performing live in our Stories in Bloom tent; is proud to present South Essex Schools Estuary Art Join Ruth and the opera team from Gestalt Arts, who workshops to help you create your own stories in Group, led by a group of school teachers who meet will be gathering participant's responses to their local our Growing Stories area. once a term to share skills and knowledge. On show is river and what it means to them in a unique and crea- work Primary and Secondary schools from Southend, tive way. Hockley, Maldon and Basildon. BRICKS4KIDS Interactive family fun featuring everyone's favourite CYCLE SOUTHEND LOVE LETTER TO SOUTHEND building brick! Challenge yourself to cycle on the 45m North Shore Launched earlier this year on Valentine’s Day, we in- track! Tackle technical trials and experience the thrills vited individuals, schools, community groups, artists, USBORNE BOOKS of single track riding. All ages. makers to create a Love Letter to Southend to Book fun for all the family with this evergreen of the celebrate the Borough’s 125 birthday. We’ve had children's publishing world. TOMA thousands of responses and here you can see each and every one in all their glory! Prizes for hitting low-fi, fun-fair favourite, Tin Can MENDIP WILDLIFE COMMUNITY Alley - 3 balls per go. Free badges and sculpture fun ART CAR BOOT RALLY GARDEN with recycled materials. Vintage clothes, hand-made and home made goods, Join Mendip Wildlife Community Garden in making fancy stationary, vintage bus destination signs, origi- seed bombs, learning about permaculture, sustain- COPPAFEEL nal artworks and much, much more in our Art Car able urban growing, and generally getting messy! On a mission to stamp out late detection of breast Boot Rally! cancer. Come to the boob cube to find out more and URBAN FARMERS grab a snap of yourself dressed as a giant boob! (Go SIGN OF THE TIMES Learn how to grow your own mushrooms at home with on - you know you want to!) Artist Ben Connors and Poet Justin Coe have come this local business. Find out more about sustainability together to produce this mass installation around the and renewable energy while you pick up your grow kit! MAD SCIENCE theme of positive protest. Come revel in the message of good ideas, love and unity, meet the makers and NU URBAN GARDENERS Join the team from Mad Science to make slime – if you think Instagram can show you how to do it – think add your own message! The live art organization inspired by a love of the land again! This is the real deal! and the spirit of Cabaret Voltaire. Design your own FARMERS MARKET sustainable village green, rescue Lord Byron’s dog or Forgotten something for your picnic or fancy some see how many peacock themed beer mats you can flip ROUND TABLE HUNGRY HIPPOS olives with your craft beer? Head over to the farmers and catch in one go! Live sized version of the classic greedy game! market next to the Comedy Culinary Big Top where you will find fresh backed bread, fine cheeses, Portu- SOUTHEND BEEKEEPERS CAPATARO guese custard tarts, drinks and snacks of all varieties! Real live bees in their observation hive. Learn about Emerging Southend theatre company announces ‘Hey the art and craft of beekeeping! Billy, This is Just the Beginning!’ – a new community PLUTO JUGGLING play. Drop by to find out how you can be involved! Festival favourites all set to dazzle with circus skills CULTURAL ENGINE workshops. Learn juggling, tight rope plate spinning Ever wondered how food impacts on culture, society and stilt walking with expert tuition. Find them next to and the place where you live? Visit Club Critical Chalkwell Hall. Theory, a collaboration between UEL and Cultural Engine to find out more whilst cooking up some delicious food to try. SHOW US SOME LOVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA CAST: RECIPE SWAP Use the hashtag: #vg17 Have your meal times been uninspiring lately? Or perhaps you’ve got that rare thing - a healthy dish that Twitter: @vg_festival teenagers can’t get enough of? This is the place to visit! A recipe-share of ideas from around the world Facebook / Instagram: @VillageGreenFestival and closer to home. Bring yours to share – and pick up tips from others. www.villagegreenfestival.com 26 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 Let them eat Cape Sam Duckworth aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly has a quick chat to BBC Introducing's Ollie Winiberg before returning to Village Green

“First show back as GC has got to be at home - Village Green. It’s kind of strange because as soon as I decided what I was going to do I was like “Ok - first show back - it’s got to be that.”

I’m not nervous this time. Something strange has happened. I’ve not necessarily been a confident artist my whole career and now it’s like “well, I’ve been doing this for twelve years” and there’s a stride in my step because I feel like there’s hope on the horizon. Because of that it’s given me a sense of energy, like, “right, let’s smash it then”. I’ve got a great new band, we’ve started working things out together, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

It’s strange for me because I’m just about to start recording my tenth record and I’ve been doing this full time now for twelve years, I think it’s that thing where there’s things you want to t’s a bit of a surprising turn of events really being Get achieve and if you do it’s amazing, but the real core of being a Cape again. I didn’t expect it, it all just came out of musician is to love your art and to practice and to work hard. I nowhere. So yeah, it’s been odd, in the last month from see so many people that are chasing these kind of goals and making the decision to seeing it through, everything’s they’re great when you get to do them, but from having done kind of felt like bit of a whirlwind. things I dreamt of my whole life I look back on it and think they weren’t necessarily my highlights. I did one last gig at the end of the pier for Estuary Festival and it “Iwent really well and I really enjoyed it. For me, highlights come from those moments you don’t expect. Those tracks that come out of nowhere or something you’ve had We did the ten year anniversary show and then did a couple more to grind to get it to work and then suddenly it works and you get for Venues Week and I realised I enjoyed playing the songs and that satisfaction. I think you’ve got to be dedicated. There’s so many I didn’t want to turn my back on my catalogue, and the more I musicians in the world who want to do it and if fame and stardom started writing new stuff the more it felt like it was Get Cape. It is then prepare yourself to be on a rollercoaster. It’s always going to got difficult. The idea was to always have things in boxes, so I could be relatively difficult to sustain a career but if you love what you do work on thing and pick them up and… The worst thing was I and you commit to it and you’re passionate and you work hard - it wrote a load of songs that sound like Get Cape and I had to go doesn’t matter how buzzy you are or how quickly it happens, it’s through that moral dilemma of what to do. that dedication, that resilience is where my pride comes from. You know, I was lucky - people said to me “we love what you do, stick First show back as GC has got to be at home - Village Green. It’s to who you are, and be prepared for peaks and troughs and trade kind of strange because as soon as I decided what I was going to on being yourself and that’s where satisfaction will come”. I was so do I was like “Ok - first show back - it’s got to be that.” I grew up lucky to have been guided so early on in that way really.” just down the road from Chalkwell Park. You know, I used to play football there…27 years ago! So it’s closer than anywhere else in www.getcapewearcapefly.com the town I could play for a hometown gig. Watch Get Cape. Wear Cape Fly at 16.40 on the Village Green Stage

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 27 WEALD HANDMADE

| WRITER Sarah Barlow | PORTRAIT Si Brandon

28 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 EALD HANDMADE STARTED using. My design process is very much lead by the material WITH MY OWN FRUITLESS itself. I have a basic form/shape in mind but never draw SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT BAG. my designs. I sit with a mountain of different leather scraps, A maker at heart, I decided that there was bending, cutting and manipulating the leather. I like the only one thing for it and set about to making my own. way the design organically develops with the raw material WAfter being repeatedly asked by friends where they could very much at the forefront. lay their hands on one, Weald Handmade was born. The shape of the flap on the Edith satchel was inspired by I graduated with a law degree and started working at a a natural scarring on one of the hides. My scrap book of charity supporting people with learning disabilities. As a inspiration mainly holds images of architecture, geometrics self taught dressmaker and pattern cutter, I’d always made and haute couture fashion - the amazing shapes a simple my own clothes, but it was when I made my first bag that piece of fabric can make always astounds me. As a self a spark was lit in me. I knew I needed to take this passion taught dress maker and pattern cutter, I draw a lot of further and that is what led to me eventually quitting my inspiration from these techniques. This can be seen quite job to make Weald a reality. clearly in my Dart and Nellie clutch bags with the use of darts to create their form. Work/life balance is very important to me and I want to enjoy the simple things in life, like trips to the beach, days I actually looked to my Instagram community to help sat at the park and dining with friends and family as well as with the naming of the new collection. A couple are creating and developing my business. people's daughter’s names (including my own) and grandparents. One lady commented to say her daughter After only recently “properly” returning to work after consistently fails to find plates/mugs etc with her name having my son, I’m looking at the business from a new on and how her daughter would flip to know there was a perspective. Weald developed quickly with the contract bag named after her. with TOAST and there was initially little time to plan or guide the direction of the business. I’m now working I generally have a favourite from each collection. I mostly on building up the brand identity and making sure the wear my Audrey Satchel, so coupled with this being my business fits with my life, steering the direction of Weald to best seller, I'd have to say this one is my favourite. Although work alongside raising my two children. I am keen to get my own Hattie bag made up but I just keep slipping down the priority list! I want to further build relationships with independent retailers whose customers value classic design and “slow The thing I enjoy most about my work is actually having fashion” craftsmanship. I’m not looking to compete the opportunity to create and design. My workshop is in with the big brands, I just want to concentrate on what the attic at our home. I work away with the skylights open, 1 we do best: classic designs made-by-hand with lots of sound of birdsong in the background and lose myself in the love and attention. making for a good few hours. For me, it's a labour of love. When I'm not making, it doesn't feel right. It's a chance I have a close working relationship with our leather to be defined not as a mum or wife, but just be me. When merchants in London who source the best Italian leather I'm making bags, I'm unwinding and relaxing, free from for me. Walking around their warehouse is initially rather the everyday stresses of life. And then to actually see people overwhelming but you can easily lose a few hours in there wearing one of my bags, that's a great feeling. I have to stop soaking up their knowledge and passion whilst browsing myself running down the street to ask for a photo. In terms the array of colours and textures that they offer. of the actual process, I get to sit down, can do it anywhere 1 in the house and it is very therapeutic. It's also the first time Bags are either press cut by Mick in Leicester or hand cut you see the form of the bag taking shape. by me in Leigh-on-Sea, where the bags are also prepped, stitched and finished by hand. The straps are cut, edge I live locally and Village Green has always been a fantastic dyed and finished in Dalston, East London. No factories event, growing year to year. So this year I decided I needed or sewing machines are used at any stage in the making of to be part of that. If I get to nip away from the March of the bags. the Makers tent I'll be heading to watch Kate Nash.

I’m inspired very much by minimally classic shape and www.wealdhandmade.co.uk form. I like to see the natural form of the material I'm Visit Weald Handmade at March of the Makers all day

Sarah Barlow of Weald Handmade

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 3 29 Clever Essex Clever Essex is an ongoing Metal project that was launched at Village Green 2014 by Phill Jupitus. It aims to highlight the ingenuity and inventiveness of Essex women and men throughout the ages, de-bunking the contemporary stereotypes of our often much-maligned county……

In association with BBC Essex, a Clever Essex stage at this year’s Village Green will celebrate some of the fantastic characters Metal have discovered so far. DJ Rob Jelly will present a jam packed, fun-filled programme of activities, games, performances and talks which will include experiments and demonstrations, a rubber ring relay race, Dalmatian Formation, retro aerobics and a classic Southend singalong knees-up – each one honouring a great Essex boy or girl from a bygone age! Meet a few of the characters here. Full programme details on Pg 25.

KEN CAMPBELL 1941-2008 LADY GWENDOLINE GUINNESS 1881-1966 Born in Ilford, Essex, was a writer, director and actor. He was prolific and unusual – writing genre-defying theatre, delighting in staging elaborate Lady Gwendoline became the pranks, and passionate about improvisation, ventriloquism, trepanning, first female MP for Southend in teleportation, synchronicity and the Jungian concept of archetypes – among 1927 when she won the by-election many other things. He founded The Ken Campbell Roadshow, performing on 19 November in that year. She in unconventional venues with members that included Bob Hoskins and was among the very first women Sylvester McCoy; in Westminster and elected a year before women were finally given He starred in film and TV including ‘A Fish Called the vote on the same terms as men Wanda’, ‘In Sickness and in Health’ and Derek via The Equal Franchise Act in 1928. Jarman’s ‘The Tempest’ among many others and She served as MP for Southend for wrote many plays including ‘Illuminatus’ eight years until her retirement at the and ‘The Warp’. 1935 General Election.

He trained at RADA, was artistic director Together with her husband who of Liverpool Everyman theatre and held a was also an MP, The Rt. Hon. Rupert Professorship in Ventriloquism. Guinness, she founded an Emigration Training Farm where young men were taught In his obituary, the Guardian called him farming under Canadian conditions enabling them to find employment in Canada. “one of the most original and unclassifiable Women were also offered training in the hope that this would help to ‘smooth the talents in British theatre of the past half- rough places of colonial life’. century”.

MURIEL LESTER 1881-1966

Muriel Lester was born in JOHN RAY 1627-1705 Leytonstone, when it was part of Essex. She became a prominent Known worldwide as ‘the Father of English Natural History’ and as the man social reformer and pacifist. She with whom ‘the adventure of modern science begins’. He was born in Braintree, turned her house, Rachel Cottage, Essex where you can still visit the John Ray Gallery in Braintree Museum into a holiday home for poor today. children from the East End of London and later, along with her He published important works on botany, zoology and natural theology. His sister Doris, she converted a disused classification of plants in his publication Historia Plantarum, was an important chapel. step towards modern taxonomy. He was the first to give a biological definition of the term species. Kingsley Hall, as it was known, became a shelter and soup kitchen for workers in the He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, General Strike, 1926 and again in 1935 elected in 1667 and throughout his for the Jarrow March. Mahatma Gandhi stayed there in 1931 and the building life published around 23 works. The now houses the Gandhi Foundation, an organisation that campaigns against war Ray Society (founded in 1844 and and promotes tolerance. still active today) was named after him. It has published over 172 In 1934 Muriel was part of the InternationalFellowship of Reconciliation, a books on Natural History and has society that was founded in response to the horrors of the First World War. its home at the Natural History Wherever she went she urged people to find peaceful solutions to conflict. She Museum in London. was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was recognized as one of the world’s leading pacifists. 30 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 MARGARET CAVENDISH 1623-1673 EVERARD CALTHROP 1857-1927 Margaret Cavendish was born in Colchester at St John’s Abbey to a family of prominent royalists. She was a prolific poet, scientist, philosopher and Everard Richard Calthrop playwright. was an engineer and inventor. He was A colourful character, she created her own responsible for the building fashion, and refused to conform to the usual of light railways across India constraints and expectations of women of her and Britain. In later life he time. She wrote poetry, philosophical tracts, secured several patents for his prose romances, essays and plays, and did design for the parachute and something that no other women were doing ejector seat, just in time for the at the time – she wrote and published using First World War. her own name (most female writers of the time used male pseudonyms). Calthrop’s greatest feat of engineering was, perhaps, the Barsi light railway in India, Her writing was varied and looked at a however, after witnessing his friend Charles Rolls (of lot of different issues from the plight of Rolls Royce) die in a plane crash, he set his mind to other tasks. His first women, their lack of power, to manners, design for the parachute was patented in 1913 and in 1916 he also patented scientific methodology and philosophy. a design for the ejector seat which used compressed air.

She published over a dozen works and has been When he died in Loughton, Essex, in 1927 his obituary read that he was championed as a unique and groundbreaking female writer. “a pioneer and an authority in the construction of light railways and the She was also one of the earliest opponents of animal testing. invention of life-saving appliances for aircraft”.

EILEEN FOWLER 1906-2000 DUDLEY MOORE 1835-2002

Eileen Philippa Rose Fowler lived and worked in Thurrock in Essex for many Dudley Moore was born in Dagenham to working class parents, Ada Francis years. (Hughes), an English secretary, and John Havlin Moore, a railway electrician.

Following a career in the performing arts, she focused on her passion for He was a gifted comedian and started outas a child musical prodigy. Dudley keeping fit and a healthy lifestyle. She believed exercise was the key to energy Moore’s career both with Peter Cook and alone helped shape future and suppleness – a natural tonic for a sense of well being. She set up the generations of comedians and made the world a much funnier place to be. Industrial Keep Fit Organisation, bringing her unique presentation skills to bear, creating huge displays of teams in uniforms with EF on their shirts. His film career took off with the success of 10 (1979) in which he co-starred with Bo Derek. Arthur (1981), co-starring Liza Minnelli, came next and was Her demanding routines were a feature of radio and television between 1954 his most successful film, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. and 1961. She was a founder member of the Keep Fit Association in 1956 and produced fitness programmes on LP records, including Stay Young Forever. Moore also found time for his great passion, She was awarded an MBE in 1975. She died in Colchester in 2000. music. He composed scores to films such as Bedazzled (1967) and Inadmissible Many from Thurrock will remember her Evidence (1968). He served as fitness classes at Bata, East Tilbury, the founding Advisory Board Queen’s Hotel, Grays and at President of Music For All Thames Board Mills, West Seasons, an organization that Thurrock. strives to provide music to those who, for health, economic or other reasons, are unable to attend concerts.

For more information and our FREE online resources for teachers and anyone else interested see www.cleveressex.com TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 31 | INTERVIEW Liam Jefferies

Let’s start by telling us who you are and a little overview of the project? I: Well I’m Indi Sandhu, I manage the Essex Cultural Diversity Project, we’ve been working with Essex in Southend and Thurrock over the last 9 years supporting cultural diversity within the arts and heritage sectors. A: I’m Annie Menter and I got involved with Essex Cultural Diversity about three years ago. I was director of the WOMAD foundation which is the educational arm of the WOMAD festival and Lindsay Strange who also works with Indi came to me and asked if we could put some artists in for a project to raise the profile of the many many BAME artists that there are in and around Essex.

I was delighted and thought that it would be a really good project,, a lot of our work is in schools and with community groups, both in this country and internationally, so it seemed like I’d got a good pool of artists who would come and do that kind of work who were very high quality but also very grounded.

What's your relationship with Village Green? I: I came to the first Village Green back in 2008 and since then I’ve since been coming back every year. Through the Essex Cultural Diversity Project I've worked with Metal on Global Village, which started off with a small tent and then gradually built into a big stage and arena now featuring world music and dance.

What other projects have you been working on lately? I: There is this project were working on with Thurrock Museum called by By Thames to All People of the World, particularly focusing on Czechoslovakian, African Caribbean, Nepalese and Sikh communities. Those are the communities that settled in GLOBAL VILLAGE GLOBAL

32 Thurrock over the last 40-50 years due to the docks and the cement works so that’s why we targeted these communities which settled there. We’re working with the museum to actually develop audiences and assemble artefacts and collections related to those communities.

The museum didn’t really reflect anything to do with the diversity of the local community. That’s what we’re actually trying to promote, that these communities can have a sense of ownership and have something related to their communities that can be exhibited there for all the cultures to share.

A: Just to add to what Indi is saying, I think it is interesting that the artists we’re bringing to Village Green are from places as far afield as Jamaica, Zanzibar, Ghana, Colombia and the UK and all of them have at some point settled in the UK in different areas and have brought their culture with them obviously.

What I think what is interesting is that most of them have been in this country for up to 20 years and British culture, whatever that is, has influenced their styles and their art and vice versa. It's a real exchange of experiences and ways of being in a country that you may not have been born in. There is that sense of feeling, are we outsiders or are we insiders with being here so long? The lines are getting blurred, and with the current migration debate it is interesting and important to raise the value of the richness of the people that have come into this country over the years, really important.

Let’s talk about Village Green, you will be appearing at the festival, what does that entail? I: This year at Village Green we have a Global Village stage which is going to be a fusion of world cultures from talent from around the world and also established national and local artists as well, all performing together.

This developed from last year’s GMAD (Global Music and Dance weekend) in Colchester. They were training and also mentoring last year so now we’ve taken it up to the next level where this year there is going to be collaborations and performances together.

What are you doing that is unique at Village Green? I: I'm going to be doing Bollywood dance and it is a MUST. It’s become a real iconic thing where you just get a sea of people all ready to go. You get such a buzz, honestly it is just amazing to see all the people dancing and just enjoying themselves as well, it’s become a regular event with the schools day now as well, The Next Generation.

What is the goal of your VG appearance? I: just to promote cultural diversity and community cohesion and also understaning about each other’s traditions, customs and cultures. I think that is very important and that’s where the arts can play a big part in community harmony. A: I think it’s about challenging stereotypes and busting myths about people from somewhere else who actually come from where you are, where I am. They’re here and they contribute to society here in Britain, in England. I think that the artists that we’ve chosen to come into this project are very much the sort of artists who are happy to share their experiences. Although they are international artists, performing around the world, they actually know the importance of encouraging new artists and bringing people, raising the profile if you like, of the arts in Essex, and saying “you can do it! I’ve done it so you can do it!”

Who are you looking forward to at this years Village Green? I: This year, probably Hardeep Singh Kohli, big fan of Hardeep, he’s doing the Chat Masala. I saw it on tour at the Edinburgh Festival, it’s great, he’s doing the cooking and the also the comedy as well at the same time, I like the title as well, so that should be good, I’m looking forward to that very much.

https://essexcdp.wordpress.com/ Global Village programme runs from 12.00-18.15 (full listing on page 22)

Photo: Frances Beckerman Frances Photo: Beckerman Frances Photo: 33 A love letter to Southend... O CELEBRATE 125 YEARS OF SOUTHEND BOROUGH (OFFICIAL BIRTH-DATE, 19 SEPTEMBER 1892), Metal invited people of all ages and from all walks of life, from right across the region Tto share a Love Letter to Southend. To date, we have received over 3000 messages – amazing drawings, affectionate thoughts, fondest memories, poetry, prose, political comments – all of Southend life represented!

Every single message received – in all their glory – will be on show at Village Green lining the walls of the Art Car Boot Rally. We hope you enjoy!

Come and join the workshop at the Clever Essex Stage at 14.00

34 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 35 Digby| INTERVIEW Fairweather Sadie Hasler

Town treasure and jazz legend talks to Trawler about his plans for Village Green and beyond...

So how did you find jazz, or did jazz find you? which is the set of muscles round the mouth you use to play the Back in 1946 when I was born, for one thing Rock n roll hadn't trumpet, well, the muscles had coalesced and formed a terrific arrived, and it had hardly been invented in America at that point, embouchure… so I toddled over from my cot to the radio, I’m told, turned it on, and it just blew me away, I heard this wonderful exciting sound, Was it all the kissing? and that was it really for me. I gravitated towards the big bands, Ha ha! Well, they do say trumpet players make good kissers! led by people like Ted Heath and Eric Delaney, and then one day I heard Louis Armstrong, and that was the day for me. From It’s still as fresh as when you started? then on the whole business of exploring the music was my total What excites me is a really good creative session, where I feel I’m preoccupation. playing the music honestly from the heart, if you want to use a cliche, and playing what I mean to play. That happened a couple of When did you pick up your first instrument, and were you weeks ago and I kind of jumped up and down. always drawn to the trumpet? Actually I was drawn to any musical instrument. My mum and Is there such a thing as a most memorable gig? I used to drive around Southend and look in the junk shops and It’s hard, there’s been lots, but the one that I can’t ever really we’d find anything from a violin with a couple of strings missing forget. I was championed by a Scottish trumpeter called Alex to a snare drum. I had a homemade drum kit which I assembled Welsh, who most people think had the greatest band in the from all kinds of silly things - a tin tray for a gong, a tin drum, an country, and I think it was, it was wonderful, he rang me up and old military drum that I bought in a junk shop for ten shillings, said “what are you doing tomorrow night, lad?” and I said “Well, someone must have worn it around their waist in a regiment at nothing as far as I’m aware”, and he said “Well, you are you’re some point, and that was the first. But I always had this secret playing with me at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and I said “woah, thing - when I saw a trumpet or anything that had valves I would what do you mean?”, and he said “I’ve decided you’re ready to sort of have a mental brainstorm - and then I found a tenor horn in come to the South Bank, and I will give you a spot with my a local junk shop and that was it. band where you can play your solos and I’ll stand aside and you can lead the band”, so I spent all saturday polishing my shoes, Why were you drawn to the valve instruments, do you think shining up my trumpet, and we had a great night, and that’s a you associated them with your early love of Louis Armstrong? gig I shall never forget because he was so kind. And I had a lucky I know when I was about five I used to have a plastic trumpet and night - but the fun thing was the next day I had a gig in the road I used to turn on the light in the sitting room and mime, a bit that runs behind the festival hall, and there were four people in like people play air guitar. I’d pick up my trumpet and watch the the bar. I thought “last night Queen Elizabeth Hall was packed silhouette of myself in the window. There was always something and I had myself a good ovation and here I am the following day about it. The sound of the instrument is so commanding, and also playing in a pub to four people.” Laughs. how you do it - you’ve only got three buttons, yet you have, well, any note in the world! Do you like that though? Do you like the unpredictability, that you can go from low to high and back down again? When did you know that jazz was going to be your life? I think you have to be used to it. you know, you cannot - we will I remember when I was nineteen, I’d given up for about a year never be in my lifetime, Elton John, who spends, what is it, four because I’d found a most delightful lady friend called Barbara, so thousand pounds a week on flowers, you know - you have to get of course the trumpet had gone under the bed, and we courted used to the fact. And in my time in order to survive I’ve had to for about nine months or so, and I thought one day “Well, I’ll just do broadcasting, I did ten years for the BBC, I’ve written several try the trumpet”, and I went into the music room and picked it books, I’ve contributed to a lot more, I’ve taught, of course we all up, and this huge beautiful note flew out of the end and I thought have to teach, I run an educational course called Jazz College with “WOW, what’s happened to this?” and really that was the day when a friend, and you have to be prepared to swim for your life and I thought “this is what I want to do”. give it everything you’ve got to survive. So yes, in short, one day something massive, the next, something teeny. What had happened? Was the trumpet commanding you to come back to it? So tell us a bit about your archive… Ha ha! No. What it was, I’d rested what we call the embouchure, Well, it’s called the Jazz Centre UK and it’s something I’ve had

36 “What excites me is a really good creative session, where I feel I’m playing the music Digby Fairweather honestly from the heart, if you want to use a cliche, and playing what I mean to play. ”

in mind for years. It’s in the Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend on Sea, and it’s going to be, with luck, the first cultural centre for jazz in the UK. Thanks to Southend Borough Council they’ve given me this much larger space, which will allow us to have, if all goes well, a research centre, an art gallery, a heritage museum which is very important for me, a cinema which is already up and running, a sound archive which will give people a chance to listen to jazz in whatever format they wish, and also most excitingly we have architect’s plans for a replica of London’s oldest jazz venue, the 100 Club, opened in 1942. We’ve got most of the memorabilia from the club now, all the posters, the blue plaques to musicians, all the photographs…

Are you going to serve booze? You betcha! The bar is the next thing!

And do gigs there, obviously. Yes. It’ll seat 200/250. I’m absolutely thrilled.

So tell me a little bit about how you’ve programmed the day for Village Green. Well, we are absolutely thrilled to be at Village Green. It’s the perfect setting for a jazz cafe. The rooms at Chalkwell Hall are acoustically beautiful. We have planned two things - one is an exhibition of some of our artefacts at the Jazz Centre UK which I think will be fun, and we’re going to decorate the room so it looks like a jazz club, and we have 8 of the top British artists coming to play for us. It’ll be 5 three quarter hour sets, so there’ll be a lot of diversity, and I hope a lot of young people will come because jazz is a bit of a buzz word these days. I’ll be there. I might even play!

You better play! We’ve got Steve Fishwick, a local player who’s incredible, and we have Karen Sharp who’s a great tenor player, Dominic Ashworth who’s an award-winning guitar player, Mick Foster who plays with everybody from the London Philharmonic Orchestra to the Count Basie band, and we have a great singer called Clare Foster, who is one of the best singers I’ve ever heard, who is going to come and do the closing set, with her husband who is also one of the best trumpet players I’ve ever heard, Paul Shanti. So we’ve got one heck of a line-up, and I’m really thrilled. And I think it’s a particularly nice that Metal has done this at Village Green because it’s wonderful to be offered a major stage because jazz is often found in smaller clubs, and I hope that a lot of people will come to dig the jazz!

www.digbyfairweather.com Digby will be hosting the Jazz Cafe and Exhibition inside Chalkwell Hall from 12.00-18.45

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 37 | WRITER StoryJacqueline Johnson Super Powers

OW DO YOU LIKE YOUR pre-exist writing and reading, they are part of STORIES? ARE YOU A being human and we are listening to stories from READER, LISTENER, before we are born. “If you want your PLAYER, WATCHER, OR TALKER? We all enjoy stories in different ways and sometimes in more than child to be smart, one way at the same time! We read stories in Hbooks, comics, on tablets; in all kinds of wordy and tell them stories.” non-wordy ways, like picture books and paintings. Listeners listen and you are never too old to listen Albert Einstein to a story. Whether sharing a favourite book, listening to an audio book, you hear a storyteller, storyteller gathered the tribe around his fire and or you overhear a story at the bus stop, listening told them the one about the WEE ALS, spinning to stories is fun. Players, play games and make up strangers that appear in town, it wasn’t altogether stories while they are doing it (sometimes without extraordinary when Og the inventor suggested even realising). There are lots of different types of a new way of moving things around the cave players, they can like computer games, they might a few months later by making round discs that make models, they might run around pretending spun on an axel. Stories and invention, go hand to be someone or somewhere else. Players make in hand because they help us find ways into our believe, but then we all make believe! Watchers like own thoughts. Plus, they make difficult things their stories via films or TV, they might also like a little less scary. Sometimes, we make sense of computer games or watch plays, pantomimes or the difficult stuff when our brains are otherwise storytellers. Finally, talkers, who like to read aloud, occupied. make up stories and tell them to anyone who is listening. Someone clever once worked out there are only 7 original plot lines for all stories. But from those So, you see it's not a simple question at all. And origins we can create millions and millions of even if you think you are mainly one, you might possibilities, and we are all creating a story at this realise you are also a little bit of all of them. Books very moment. You create one for the whole of your and stories can be brought alive in lots of different life, your story that’s made up of millions of tiny ways. It’s fun to share them and be inspired to stories with zillions of possibilities. You don’t know create from them. Bring ideas together using what will happen next, it’s an adventure and a knowledge from the things you do, and see and mystery. Some of it you can choose, but other parts hear, to unlock your books and stories. Beowulf, an Anglo Saxon superhero story, was depend on others so things happen that you don’t written down about a thousand years ago. It expect. It’s exciting but it’s also scary but that’s okay Books and stories are important. Not just because is written in old English and because it’s very because we can read and listen to stories and build they help us to learn to read and write and do all difficult to read but lots of fun, it’s rewritten and our own story armour to protect us. The author the things that are important practically. But they printed many times, sometimes with pictures. Ben Okri said that “stories can conquer fear, you are important because they help us to unlock super But Beowulf is much older and was originally know. They make the heart bigger”. So make your powers within ourselves. You have Story Super told, not written. There are stories much older heart bigger, build your story armour and conquer Powers, we all do. than Beowulf, stories from Ancient Egypt, the world – one book, or game, or audio book, or Ancient Greece and Rome. From the Middle discussion in the kitchen or … at a time. We have no choice letting stories into our lives, East and Russia, from Africa and Polynesia. In they are what connect us to the world – to now, fact there are ancient stories from everywhere. the past and the future. Stories are time travelling, Stories don’t look for borders or boundaries. Jacqueline Johnson is the founder of Jacqson Diego distance travelling superheroes and so are we when People all over the world are joined together by a Story Emporium, a not for profit organisation that we are part of them. Our world is created by tiny shared story history. engages children and families with books and stories. stories that link together and pull apart to make We will be growing our Story Patch at Village Green, ever increasing tales of life. And don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you for children age 2-13 year and their families. Find us are either arty and creative or scientific. Scientists in the Mini Green area with poets, storytellers, and When we learn to read we are given a gift that is and inventors are the most creative people on authors sharing stories and workshops to create your bigger than the skill of making sense of words and the planet. They need massive imaginations to own. Find new books in our Book Nook, join in our writing, we are given a key to enter new exciting think up the possibilities. Albert Einstein said installations and find out ‘How you Like Your books’ by worlds that we can take others too or explore on “If you want your child to be smart, tell them playing our game. our own. We can find fun and new friends and stories. If you want them to be smarter tell them jacqsondiego.com help them discover new things, and we can wear more stories. If you want your children to be [email protected] our stories like an armour to protect us from brilliant, tell them even more stories”. Stories @jacqsondiego sadness and difficult times by empathising with feed our imaginations and imaginations feed the situations of favourite characters. Stories the possibilities. After all, when Ug the caveman

38 TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 The World’s First Digital Art Park Photo: Alison Ballard Photo: Photo: Simon Fowler Photo:

| WRITER ETAL – THE ORGANISERS OF Colette Bailey VILLAGE GREEN HAVE THEIR PERMANENT HOME IN CHALKWELL Village Green is just one HALL (the big white building with wind turbines on the roof ) at the heart of Chalkwell of many arts events that Park and next door in the old stable block, which they recently renovated to create Metal Art School. Village Green is just one of Metal creates each year. Mthe many arts events that Metal creates each year. takes listeners on an abstracted but informative exploration of how In 2015, Metal launched NetPark – the world’s first digital art park. roses are bred, grown and named – all set to a fantastic soundtrack. Visitors to Chalkwell Park can now find an extra layer of activity to The second work, Woodland, by French and Mottershead is a the usual park life as NetPark, open all year round, currently hosts contemplative piece that asks listeners to find the shade of a big 15 digital artworks and stories, created by artists, musicians, writers, tree, lie down (perfect activity for a hot day) and go on a poetic illustrators and Southend school pupils. audio odyssey spanning 1000 years to explore how the afterlife of a human body is part of the natural life cycle of the earth. Each artwork is an App to be downloaded to your smartphone or iPad. With content hosted via GPS co-ordinates, the works NetPark is open all year round, with free public wifi across the park. take you to different areas of the park to experience by turn The works are available to anyone through smartphones (Android meditative, thoughtful audio walks, a spoken word tour of an or iOS) or iPads. imagined love story, a music tour by US musicians Matmos using sounds recorded on site (with a star turn for the resident peacock), Please note: Some works are only available on iPads. Devices are augmented reality talking trees, adventure stories and much more. available to borrow by arrangement from Metal on 01702 470700. Two new artworks have recently been added to the NetPark collection, in June 2017. Both audio works, Spiky Black by [email protected] Amanda Loomes and Alison Carlier, created in response to the www.netpark.zone historic Rose Garden and the punk gardener who tends them, @NetParkZone #NetPark

TRAWLER | VILLAGE GREEN SUMMER 2017 39 All of us at Henry Burgers hope you enjoy Village Green 2017

If, you feel a little...jaded the next day, why not pop down and see us at 141 Broadway, Leigh-on-Sea for some well deserved sustenance

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www.henryburgers.co.uk | 01702 715390 @henryburgers | Use #henryburgers