Level 4 Magazine Issue 16 by Debbie Lane

brain food for culture vultures

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Issue 16 April - June 2014

Lennox Brothers

Update on their debut feature film ‘AmStardam’

Estuary Publishing

The publishing house giving a voice to local authors

Wilko

Canvey Island’s last Troubadour talks life, the universe and everything!

PLUS

Books WeirdGear Legend-Deli Southend Shakedown News Boutique Town Belfairs Woodland Centre Amy Sergeant Music The Prittlewell Prince S-O-S Film Festival Glenn Godfrey Theatre

4 CONTENTS

L e v e l

ISSUE 16 | APRIL - JUNE 2014 | WWW.LEVEL4MAGAZINE.MOONFRUIT.COM

12 WEIRDGEAR

Producers, musicians, DJs and label owners, WeirdGear, share their love of music and Fruit Pastilles!

16 PROFILE

search Level 4 Magazine

COVER STORY The legendary Wilko Johnson talks frankly to Level 4 about music and life

24 BOUTIQUE TOWN

Four of the best independent fashion shops around the local area

30 ESTUARY PUBLISHING

The publishing house giving local authors a voice

REGULARS 6 DID YOU MISS?

A round up of the Winter highlights

9 BOOK REVIEWS

Una Rose and Kristina Ohlsson

brain food for culture vultures

14 MUSIC

Reviews and news including NED, Last Superheros and Lost Harbours

38 DEBBIE DOES...

Lennox Brothers

Come Glide With Me!

Update on their debut feautre film ‘AmSta rdam’

40 STORIES FROM THE ‘END Happenings in the local theatre community. PLUS news from Arts Council Southend

45 WHAT’S ON ADS

GENERAL INTEREST 4 NEWS IN BRIEF

Front cover photog raphy by Ian Treherne

KIng Carcass in ‘T’was Beast’ (part 1)

44 THEATRE NEWS

FREE

Issue 16 April - June 2014

Estuary Publishing

The publishing house giving a voice to local author s

Wilko

PLUS

Canvey Island’s last Troubadour talks life, the universe and everything!

Books WeirdGear Boutique Town BelfairLegend-Deli Southend Shakedown News s Woodland Centre The Prittlewell Prince Amy Sergeant Music S-O-S Film Festival Glenn Godfrey Theatr e

Up and coming events and news

10 SOUTHEND SHAKEDOWN The Annual motorcycle ride from the Ace Café to Southend Seafront

11 ALMOST GROWN

The Northern Soul Weekender is back.

22 THE LENNOX BROTHERS Lee and Wayne Lennox tell us about the progress of AmStardam

26 PRITTLEWELL PRINCE

The plans for the artefacts to return ‘home’

27 BELFAIRS WOODLAND CENTRE

Family-centred activities from the new Centre

28 BOOK SPOTLIGHT

Featuring A Scene In Between, Greek Expectations and Quick Reads

32 BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS

Photograph by Martin Higgs and Nick Wood @ www.unshaken-photography.co.uk

FEATURES

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM -

Glenn Godfrey and Amy Sergeant discuss their blossoming music careers

34 SOUTHEND FILM FESTIVAL

An overview of the festival plans

36 LEGEND-DELI & ANKE’S Gourmet food at café prices, and the new hottest spot on the local writers’ trail

WHO DID IT?

36 REVIEWS

11 EIGHT ROUNDS RAPID The latest album reviewed

43 HORROR-ON-SEA

Review from the horror weekend

Collins, Michelle Coomber, Niki Cornish, Paul Cousins, Julia Kay Delmas, Paul Giles, Carya Gish, Creative Director Debbie Lane Kelly Irwin, Mark Lancaster, Advertising Neil Harding, Darren Bevington Leach, Steve Gabrielle Coello McCartney, Kirsty McHattie, Alex Norman, Louise-Ann Oldroyd, Chris Penhall, Ian Pile, Emily Ray, Jessica Russell, Ian Treherne, Helen Barker, Jane Batkin, Dave Michael Upton, Teresa Zoers.

CONTRIBUTORS:

The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily the views of Level 4

Photograph by Niki Cornish

level-4@hotmail.co.uk

THANKS TO:

Niki Cornish, Ian Treherne, Peter Vadden, The Cultural Engine

Supported by Southend Borough Council

Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers

Level 4 Comment Issue 16 April 2014 After many months of attempting to generate the advertising we needed to get this issue sent to print, the decision was made to release it in digital format instead. This wasn’t taken lightly, and ideally I would have loved to have seen this issue go to print, but unfortunately, without the funds, this just wasn’t possible. Discussions are happening as to how we will continue with Level 4 in the future if the advertising continues to be an issue, and this may mean altering the format a little to accomodate this, but nothing has been decided as yet. So, back to this issue. A lot of effort has been made by many contributors to bring you articles of interest, including the Southend Film Festival, books from local authors, music, motorbikes, fashion, and our in-depth profile interview with Wilko Johnson. Personally I am extremely pleased with this issue and have to admit my disappointment with it not going to print, however, if the digital format is the way to get this out and allow the magazine to continue, then this is where we will have to go! I hope that you enjoy the articles we have put together for you, and hopefully find some interesting events you may like to attend over the next few months. Please keep visiting our facebook page for updates on the magazine and our future plans, and hopefully we will see you again very soon, even if it is ‘virtually’! Enjoy!

COMEDY SUCCESS The Laughing Pod comedy club is set for another success with the opening of its newest venue in November 2013 at the Woodman Arms in Thundersley. It’s been selling out every month with its mixture of TV names, comedy circuit stalwarts plus local talent. All this combined with the option of a great meal as well. Upcoming acts include Mary Bourke from ITV’s FHM Comedy Hero, and Luke Benson, The Tallest Man in Comedy. With other regular nights at The Ivory Rooms in Billericay, and The Royal British Legion in Westcliff plus charity nights at the Palace and Clifftown Theatres, the club night has come a long way since owner Stephen Watson produced his first event as part of his Business Studies degree course four years ago. That was at The Pod at South Essex College and Stephen got Southend’s Russell Kane to headline it. The seed was well and truly sewn and he put on more nights at different venues after he graduated, but kept The Pod as part of the name as that’s where it all started. His acts include Bobby Mair from Russell Howard’s Good News, Andrew O’Neil from Stuart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and musical comic Mitch Benn who has appeared on The One Show, amongst others. Each night has a host plus four comedians, and information can be found on www.thelaughingpod.com By Chris Penhall

Stephen Watson and Pat Monahan

VILLAGE GREEN 2014 TICKETS

Announcements have been made confirming this year’s Village Green Festival will be on Saturday 12th July. This year, unlike the previous, there will be a nominal charge of £10 for adult tickets, £5 for 11-17 years olds, and unders 10s free, to help subsidise costs, and tickets went on sale on Tuesday 25th February. There have been mixed reactions to this news with some now calling the festival ‘elitist’ or ‘profit making’ however, as ideal as it may be, keeping things free is not always an option, and paying a nominal

fee to gain entry to this event will allow it to continue for future years. Metal, organisers of Village Green, stated on their facebook page that ‘No profit will be made from Village Green. All the ticket prices represent a contribution to the running costs. The event remains heavily subsidised through the fund raising efforts of the team at Metal which is a UK registered arts charity.’ Tickets are available online at www.metalculture.com, with discounts available for groups of 8 or more.

BILLERICAY ART The Billericay Art Trail will run again this year, from 10th to 20th July. This successful event will be even bigger this time around, with an Arts Festival in locations around Billericay surrounding the more usual Art Trail, which is mainly along the High Street. Any artists wishing to exhibit in the Art Trail, or perform as part of the Festival, are urged to contact the Artist Co-ordinator Cathy Cant at artists@ billericayarttrail.co.uk as soon as possible. An application form for the Art Trail can be found at www.billericayarttrail.co.uk

Photograph from the Metal facebook page

New route to London Southend from ADVERTISING Maastricht Aachen search: Level 4 Magazine

in LEVEL 4 MAGAZINE Advertising in Level 4 couldn’t be easier. We have spaces available for most budgets, starting from just £30! If you would like to find out more about advertising in Level 4 Magazine then please send an email to: level-4@hotmail.co.uk

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, announced recently that it will offer direct return flights between London Southend Airport and Maastricht Aachen Airport and from 10 July 2014, operated by its franchise partner, Stobart Air. Flights starting from €34.99 including taxes and charges are available now for booking at www.flybe. com. Services will operate six days a week. In the first year of the route’s operation, Flybe intends to carry up to 25,000 passengers. In three years Flybe aims to fly 80,000 passengers. This welcome news comes just months after Ryanair pulled its London Stansted service from Maastricht Aachen Airport.

Sander Heijmans, Chief Executive, Maastricht Aachen Airport said “To have the biggest European regional carriers as a new customer for the airport is a significant development that fits in our strategy to offer air connections not only to the leisure passenger but also to our business community. The frequencies offered, combined with the fast connection between London Southend and the city, make this a very good way to travel to London. And for travellers from the UK, this new route offers an excellent start of a city-trip to Maastricht and surroundings.”

To advertise in Level 4 Magazine email level-4@hotmail.co.uk

Karen Christensen:

OFFICIAL STOCKISTS Level 4 is distributed throughout Southend, Westcliff and Leigh. See below for your nearest stockist.

“Look down over the mountains from a fold in the clouds” A new exhibition at Studio 19 in Leigh on Sea encourages you to enter a world like no other. A place where towering archangels reside: formidable, imposing, protective. Within the confines of an old factory building, sculptural artist, Karen Christensen has created an intriguing and immersive installation, shattering traditional archetypes of these celestial forms. Combining lighting, reflections, a rousing soundtrack and her acknowledged eye for finding beauty in the industrial and brutal, Karen presents the archangels in all their powerful glory. She says, “This is a gathering of souls and spirits and ghosts, however with an undeniable physical presence. My angels are constants, guiding and protective, but do not exert control over me”. Drawing heavily from rich traditions of dramatic theological story-telling “Look down over the mountains from a fold in the clouds” is Karen’s first public solo show, having won the inaugural Studio 19 Autumn Open in 2013. Weaving personal philosophy with a love of impassioned narrative, Karen re-imagines her angels as warrior-beings, with recognisable human traits: beautiful and ugly, good and evil. Removing religious stereotyping, they stand among mortals and recount their own journeys. Karen Christensen was born and grew up in Denmark and was involved in a variety of art forms from an early age, focusing predominant-

ly on painting, ceramics and finally sculpture. Before leaving Denmark and moving to the UK, Karen took part in a number of scenographic, musical and artistic exhibitions and happenings. In 1996 she exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer exhibition. Karen joined the Leigh Art Trail in 2011, exhibiting her sculptural pieces in garden environments, and also took part in the Art Hvide Sande exhibition in Denmark during 2012 along with several other Trail artists. Karen describes herself as a “Bricoleur”, using mainly found objects, creating pictures and sculptures. She is particularly interested in the interaction between raw building/garden materials and everyday objects. Her work is instinctive and playful and includes magical fantastical creatures, outlandish architectural models and humorous dioramas. Studio 19 is a gallery and show space, which also houses four resident artists. Set in an old ceramics factory, the space retains much of its original industrial charm whilst offering a perfect white gallery space for exhibitions, installations, rehearsals or workshops. You can walk among the angels @ Studio 19, Leighcliff Buildings, Leigh Cliff Road, Leighon-Sea SS9 1DJ from Fridayy, 14th March to Saturday, 29th March (launch event 7pm-9pm, Friday, 15th March). Call 07903 011890 for further details. By Kirsty McHattie

AIRSHOW AND SOUTH MILITARY FESTIVAL WWW.SOUTHRECORDSHOP.COM

Organisers of the Southend Airshow and Military Festival made the announcement in late March that their attempts to raise the last £35,000 needed to ensure the airshow went ahead this year have been unsuccessful, and therefore have made the difficult decision to postpone the event until 2105. Tom Curtis, who has been organising the airshow along with John Delaney said, “Though it’s undoubtedly a sad day for myself and the team, postponing the event to 2015 does not remove the achievements we have made this year. From the creation of Southend Airshow CIC, ‘Gibson’ the Airshow Bear and raising an amazing £185,000 in just nine months. This is combined with the massive success we have found found on Facebook, where we have in excess of 23,000 supporters making us one of the largest, if not the largest Airshow Facebook page in the country.” The show was cancelled by Southend Council last year in a

bid to save money. It was then the pair started a campaign called ‘save the airshow’. It was hoped the airshow would also have a military theme to it to commemorate the First World War. Tom Curtis continued, “While we could have pushed ahead with a revised smaller event using the existing funds raised, we have elected to postpone the event to 2015 to ensure that Southend gets the Airshow it deserves.” The airshow was due to be held on Saturday, September 6, and Sunday, September 7. If you would like to find out more about plans for the airshow you can visit the web site at www.southendairshow.co.uk

new record store OPENS IN queens rd The shop, South, will be selling new and vintage vinyl and CDs at 22 Queens Road, Southend. Not content with just being another record store, they are also planning to bring bands to Southend to play evening gigs, and free in-stores during the day too. Owner, Richard has worked as a PR at record labels for the past 10 years (XL Recordings, EMI, and freelance for labels such as Columbia, Island, Rinse, R&S etc). He has also worked on high profile campaigns for Adele, Vampire Weekend, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, Beck, Radiohead, The xx, MIA, Basement Jaxx to name but a few. South will be open end of February. Be sure to check it out! By Helen Barker

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

(This issue (issue 16) is only available in digital format)

Southend • • • • • • • • • • •

Chinnery’s, 21 Marine Parade Southend Tourist Information Centre, The Pier, Western Esplanade Focal Point Gallery, The Forum, Southend Priory Park Café & Snack Bar, Priory Park The Railway Hotel, Clifftown Road Waterstone’s, Southend High Street Anything That’s Rock n Roll, Southchurch Road The Royals Shopping Centre, Southend High Street Utopia Coffee Shop, The Royals Sainsbury’s Superstore, 45 London Road, The Cliffs Pavilion, Southend

WESTCLIFF • •

TAP, The Old Water Works, North Road WOA! Gallery, Hamlet Court Road

LEIGH • • •

Gallery 3, 3 Leigham Court Drive The Squeeze, 1, Rectory Grove Estuary Gallery Co-Op, 2 Belton Corner

HADLEIGH •

Hadleigh Old Fire Station, High Street

RAYLEIGH •

Mushroom Studios, Lubbards Farm

Did You Miss?

Exhibitions, theatre, live music, art projects - here is our round-up of events you might have missed over the Winter months Photograph by Niki Cornish

The Forum opening

Seminal Works - A joint show between artists Tom Duggan and Marianna Simnet TAP was transformed at the end of September. The main gallery became a bright, white walkway which contrasted boldly with heavy, dense black drapes which covered the archways to intimate screening spaces. The winch room floor was covered in wall to wall carpet which felt sensually soft underfoot, providing a perfect space for voyeuristic films, I watched as white fluid was licked from the curvaceous rump of a female. The show was entitled Seminal Works and it lived up to its name in many shapes, forms and the spoken word.

The Purple Festival

Photograph by Niki Cornish

The first ever Purple Festival took place in the vicinity of Southend Seafront one beautifully mild evening in October. More than 50 bands played in recognition of the town. The festival was hosted by pub and restaurant owners as well as the council and other community members and was held in honour of Southend’s Purple Flag status which is the accreditation scheme that recognises excellence in the management of town and city

Purple Festival

Photograph by Niki Cornish

The Collective - Louis X1V Held at Louis X1V in August last year, I was proud to be a part of a group of girls showcasing to promote and display 1920’s inspired artwork. The work consisted of a range of arts and crafts including jewellery, canvas’, lingerie, masquerade masks, sugar waxing and vintage clothes! With a steady flow of customers in and out all day and 10% of the proceedings donated to the SOS Rape Crisis charity, this initial event was a huge success. There are hopes for the collective to become a quarterly event, so watch out for myself and the girls in the coming months showcasing more inspired artworks at venues to be confirmed.

Cage Fighting by Heat Sports Sixteen caged fights were put on by Heat Sports in Southend Leisure Centre at Garons Park in early October. The testosterone was pumping from security on the door to the fighters in the cage. The fighters had trained Photograph by Niki Cornish

Southend library closed and The Forum opened in late September. It is a wonderful space made possible with a partnership between Southend Council, the University of Essex and South Essex College. Being open to everyone, it has a gallery space where artists can apply to exhibit their work, it houses thousands of library books, there is a lecture theatre where events will take place, some of which are free and there is a separate children’s zone. Already this area is proving popular whether local people are using it to take books out, chill in one of the many quiet but brightly furnished areas or browse the web and students are using it for their degree studies.

centres at night. Glyn Morgan, a partner at Chinnery’s on the seafront, was one of the main organisers and hopes that after the success of this years first Purple Festival, it will grow into a main event.

continued over page

Tickets from essexfest.bigcartel.com

Friday August 1st

Saturday August 2nd

Sunday August 3rd

Giants Off Balance Grin And Bear It Pints

Headliner TBC 50 Caliber Your Demise 2004 No Second Chance PointDown Three Months To Kill Cast Iron Jaw Deathskulls Splitknuckle Renounced

More bands and headliner TBC The Infernal Sea Tempers Fray Protect Ya Neck Raiden JĂ¸tnarr Who Cares? World Weary Bloodlust EBD

First 5 bands at Saks Underground, Southend on Sea, final bands at The Railway Hotel, Southend on Sea

The Railway Hotel, Southend on Sea

One more to be confirmed

The Railway Hotel, Southend on Sea

continued

Shorelines: Literature Festival of the Sea

hard and were fit and ready to take their chances in the cage. Lili La Scala The place was packed with supporters and if I had to put money on it, I would say it was the ladies who shouted the loudest with feisty encouragement. Definitely an interesting Saturday night out which I would recommend to anyone who would like to experience something a little bit different in Southend.

Horror-on-Sea @The Park Inn Palace Hotel

Photograph by Niki Cornish

January was darkened with the happenings of the Southend Horror On Sea Film Festival. Shoppers ran screaming at the sight of the many horror film characters dripping in blood (albeit fake), clasping their severed limbs whilst staggering down the high street towards the Park Inn Hotel. This plush hotel provides a ballroom where the screenings (screamings) take place. This, the second year of the horror festival was hugely successful with numbers in the audience tripling from last year. Paul Cotgrove, the festivals director is already receiving interest from new independent film makers who want to show their films in next years festival, unfortunately, they will be taking a back seat until after the Southend Film Festival which takes place from 1st May 2014.

- Leigh Community Centre

The second edition of this biennial event saw a plethora of writers, artists and musicians pay tribute to that timeless muse and force of nature so entwined with the past, future and present of this Fair Isle: the sea. Shorelines is curated by local resident and acclaimed author and artist Rachel Lichtenstein, and organised by arts Photograph by Carya Gish organisation Metal. What ensured the success of the festival was its modern and refreshing approach: there were wellknown authors and self-published ones; novelists and adventurers; artists, cabaret singers and musicians as well as multi-media performances. The audience was in for a real journey: starting

music, in fact probably more so! So nearly 30 years on, they could be forgiven for blending in a little more, but no, frontman Martin Degville is as outrageous today as he was back then! Something which the whole crowd seemed appreciative of. This gig was never going to be a groundbreaking musical extravaganza, but it was hugely entertaining and fun. With most people waiting for their biggest hit, Love Missile F1-11, and 21st Centrury Boy, they certainly didn’t disappoint. To top it off, Martin spent the rest of the evening hanging around the bar chatting to people. A weird, yet strangely appropriate sight at The Railway!

Ship Full of Bombs, 1st Year Birthday Sessions The Railway Festival Director, Paul Cotgrove, with the cast of Evil Bread

Sigue Sigue Sputnik - The Railway Anyone who remembers this band from the height of their fame will know they were known as much for their image as their Lord Numb, SFOB sessions

SFOB - Thames Delta Independent Music Radio Station, held their 1st Brithday Bash upstairs at The Railway by recording live sessions for future broadcast on the station. Listeners were invited to attend the sessions where Tuppenny Bunters, Lord Numb, Nancy Wallace, The Severed Limb and Eight Rounds Rapid all performed a number of tracks

from the familiar waters of the Thames Estuary (Rachel Lichtenstein, Robert Macfarlane, Ken Worpole, Nicolaj Larsen, Julian Hoffman) and moving around Britain’s shores (Travis Elborough, Ian Sinclair, Cathi Unsworth), it reached faraway seas at the other end of the world (Philip Hoare, Ruth Little, Mikhail Karikis). Children were well catered for, with workshops and competitions as well as storytelling by Robert Hallmann and Sam Llewellyn. People feeling brave enough to weather the elements could go on sea walks around Old Leigh with author Syd Moore and artist and writer Justin Hopper. Sam Lee and friends performed a special set of sea-inspired songs, and the festival hosted two premieres: Caroline Bergvall’s gripping ‘Drift’, which mixes live video, spoken word and music, and Lili La Scala’s ‘Siren’, a gorgeous assemblage of ‘found songs’ inspired by the sea, accompanied by Simon Fowler’s atmospheric pictures. I for one am looking forward to Shorelines 2015! By Carya Gish

each. The celebrations continued into the evening with DJs downstairs playing tunes infitting with the station’s ethos.

John Bulley curated exhibition @East 15 As 2013 ebbed away, artist John Bulley curated an event high up in the gothic hall of East 13. As notes of acoustic guitar echoed through the halls of the beautifully preserved church, guests drifted in through the boundless glass doors. After months of nurturing a team of young adults, John presented a show of visual diversity. The show about female oppression explored Harriet Bulley with her exhibition piece

Photograph by Niki Cornish

the exploits of woman and the pressure the young artists believed they still face in modern day. Harriet Bulley is shown here with her contribution to the event. If you would like any events you have attended to be featured in our Did You Miss section, please send details to level-4@hotmail. co.uk. If the event is suitable (and not already been covered by another writer) we will give you a word count and ask you to send your written piece plus a small image to accompany it. Thank you.

To advertise in Level 4 Magazine email level-4@hotmail.co.uk

Martin Degville, Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Book Reviews the tokyo express by Una Rose ‘This is a lively, compelling read and the characters are depicted effectively within the contrasts of Tokyo and Ireland’ As Connor searches for his Japanese wife among the debris of the 2011 tsunami, he pieces together the life they shared and torments himself about what went wrong. But this is fate repeating. 60 years earlier his grandfather Owen followed his young lover across Japan, only to find that their lives became impossible together. Fate, it seems, has played a cruel hand across two generations. The Tokyo Express is a lively, compelling read and the characters are depicted effectively within the contrasts of Tokyo and Ireland. Connor is a particularly colourful protagonist, at times humorous at others frustrating. The dialogue is

vibrant, driving the novel and the characters’ stories throughout and illuminating modern Tokyo, as Connor descends into oblivion on a bar crawl, meeting like-minded ‘lost’ souls along the way. In flashbacks of Ireland, where he takes his bride Mimi to stay with his mother, the landscape and people are wonderfully drawn and are entertaining in their idiosyncrasies. Maureen, Connor’s ma, is a complicated, bristly woman who has her own secrets and the cultural clash between her and Mimi is dynamic. A memorable scene is of Mimi making her way delicately up the aisle of the local church to pay her respects, adorned in full Japanese regalia, her wooden clogs echoing with every step, breaking the staunch silence of Irish tradition. This is an entertaining, moving novel that deals with natural disaster and war with both sensitivity and ease. By Jane Batkin

the disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson ‘A slick, sadistic Swedish thriller, written by an accomplished novelist. Ohlsson takes us on an impossibly dark journey into the world of snuff movies’ When a young woman’s body is discovered, buried in woodland near Stockholm, Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht have the grisly task of uncovering the truth of her demise. But the crime is not as simple as it seems: other bodies are unearthed at the same site and it becomes apparent that a serial killer is at large. The Disappeared delves into the dark underbelly of a criminal investigation, in which a team comes under scrutiny and it seems no one is to be trusted. From the grieving investigator who finds solace in the unlikeliest of places, to his companion who finds herself torn between her private and professional life and doubting her partner’s innocence, this novel is unpredictable and fascinating. The victim, a student at university, was uncovering secrets during the course of her dissertation, under the guidance of a tutor who cannot be traced. When Fredrika and Alex piece together

her story, they discover that she was a little too eager to solve a crime and that someone ultimately wanted her dead. But who are the other bodies in the grave and how are they connected? This is a slick, sadistic Swedish thriller, written by an accomplished novelist. Ohlsson takes us on an impossibly dark journey into the world of snuff movies, of grief and revenge, where the killer is lurking just out of sight and out of reach. Ohlsson lures us in and holds us, transfixed, for the duration of this novel. By Jane Batkin

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Taking a look at the alternatives to the mainstream cinema venues and releases...

LE WEEK-END: The Palace Theatre Sunday 27th April

#1 Images courtesy of The Ace Café gallery

Part of The White Bus Presents Future Film Presentations series, Le Week-End is a beautifully observed, poignant and bittersweet story about a long-married British couple (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan) who return to Paris for the first time since their honeymoon to revitalise their marriage. While there, they run into an old friend (Jeff Goldblum) who transforms their thoughts on life and their love for one another. Directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill) this is a perfect joy from start to finish. Tickets are available in advance from the Palace Theatre at www. palacetheatresouthend.co.uk / 01702 351135 or on the door.

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

Alternative Cinema Events

10 Things

Southend Shakedown The legendary Ace Café’s annual Motorcycle event is on its way to Southend By Kelly Irwin

outhend Seafront are once again proud to host London Ace Café’s 16th Annual Shakedown! On Easter Bank Holiday Monday, thousands of Motorcycles will be seen cruising down from London’s legendary ‘Ace Café’, along our very own Seafront! Departing 10.30 Monday 21st April from North circular Road London, riders from all over will be taking the A406 east, A12 east and the A127 east down to the Seafront. This charity bike ride, open to everyone is one of the ultimate petrol heads dream with shiny engines and loud revs! The eclectic mix of bikes includes numerous makes and models from vintage, classic, modern and everything from Lambretta’s to Harley’s! Bikes, Cars and Rock and Roll is the general rule of ‘The Ace’, along with it’s iconic reputation, the Café has a vibrant history that dates back to 1938! It was originally built as a mere roadside cafe for motorists who passed through the busy North Circular. The Café opened and closed on numerous occasions, including being amongst ruin in a second

world war air raid on the Railway yards adjacent. Once re-opened it gradually become a popular hot spot for bikers to meet up, have some food or arrange runs along the coast and often to other cafés. In time, the cafe became the birthplace of many famous bands making it THE place to be. The Ace has since been completely re built and September 2001 saw the Grand opening with the intention of creating the ambiance of it’s history. Now hosting various free monthly and yearly events with the help of organisations and media, The Ace holds many reunions and an event called ‘Incarnation’ which is a massive run down to Brighton, similar to the idea of ‘Shakedown.’ The one thing in common among the enthusiasts of the Ace, is the passion for Motors and Rock and Roll, keeping the memory alive! Shakedown is also now a major fundraiser for the NSPCC. The generous bikers used to come down bearing thousands of Easter eggs for the children, but in recent years have decided to donate the money to children’s charities instead.

Along with campaign work, this charity rely on funding through voluntary donations so Shakedown at Southend is a great way to help fund this. So expect, not only leather clad riders with stunning bikes, but an exhilarating hang out for the whole family with merchandise stalls, displays and donation stands along the way! The only true way to experience the atmosphere of this awesome bike fest, is to see it for yourself! www.ace-cafe-london.com Or for more info on how to support NSPCCwww.nspcc.org.uk

Almost Grown Weekender Southend is gearing up for its annual northern soul & mod weekender and this year it’s bigger and better than ever... If you visit Southend on the weekend on the 9-11th May - you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a scene from cult movie Quadrophenia. Mods, soul heads, custom Vespas and Lambrettas will be populating the seafront and amongst the sea of mohair, Chelsea boots and Shrimpton-esque skirts you’ll find some of the best live music, vintage fairs and DJs around... The Almost Grown Weekender, an extremely popular local mod night is holding its third huge annual weekender and is looking to see a larger crowd than ever before. Promoter and DJ Rob Messer has been running the popular club since its inception with his pals and sees this year as whole new era for the night: “Its really exciting this year - we’ve got one of the most popular mod bands The Phrogs to play, there are DJs coming from further afield - including the excellent Roger Banks from Nottingham and Lee Miller from Leeds.” Rob is so enthusiastic about the way Almost Grown has

developed: “It feels like a natural progression from the past two we’ve done - they were both so successful we’ve built more things into this one, we’re even having trophies for the scooters... best in show, best customisation and so on.” Rob also sees the Almost Grown Weekender as a great opportunity for the local area, “the local people love it - looking at the scooters etc. and it’s bringing great business and energy into the local area!” The weekend kicks off on Friday night with a welcome party at The Royal Hotel 9-2am, with all three floors of the hotel playing host to the best in vinyl club sounds - tickets are £5. The next day there is a vintage fair & music and the big Saturday allnighter, tickets £10. 1000 Tons are hosting rocksteady and ska on the ground floor while the basement sees a host of DJs playing motown, r&b, mod and club sounds. Southend’s likely lads the Phrogs will be play a barnstorming set. The weekend will culminate in a free lazy

Sunday at the Railway Hotel, Clifftown Road - where we’re invited enjoy the open decks and a set from local favourites Mo’ Fingers. We’ll see you there - L4 will be donning our best Quant - we might even be giving out some prizes, so watch this space

mod cats..! For more information about The Almost Grown Weekender or advance tickets go to: www.facebook.com/AlmostGrownSouthend By Louise Ann Oldroyd

Eight Rounds Rapid The debut album, Lossleader, is ‘a blistering assault on your ears’! This long awaited debut album from Eight Rounds Rapid delivers on every level, and is already ‘Album of the Year’ material in my book. If you’ve seen them live, then you’ll know just how much excitement and energy they generate on stage. Incredibly, they have somehow managed to harness and capture that in these recordings too – no mean feat. Lossleader is a blistering assault on your ears, and features ten crowd pleasing favourites, all bursting with the urgency, fizz, spikiness and menacing swagger that we’ve come to expect from Southend’s finest. From the opening bars of Channel Swimmer

through to the final track Ryder, this album demands your full attention, and will leave you breathless by the end. It’s in your face, it’s full of venom, it’s ‘now’ and it needs to be in your player! Available now on CD (Amazon, Fives Records etc) and download (iTunes). Band website: www.eightroundsrapid.com By Ian Pile

They have somehow managed to harness and capture that [live energy] in these recordings - no mean feat! 11

Photograph by The Dim Locator c/o SouthendPunk.com

WeirdGear

The Label...

Jessica Russell takes a look behind the scenes of local promoters, DJs, musicians and label owners, WeirdGear

hen it’s a dark and stormy night on the ‘Ship Full of Bombs’ and the gig is to interview a band whose name is WeirdGear, one might be forgiven for wondering nervously who might turn up. Happily, when Level 4 met the trio of keyboard musicians who make up WeirdGear, Paul Barlow, Paul Wolfe and Lee Maher, first impressions were that they are pretty normal… And then they mentioned their Fruit Pastilles research, but more of that later. WeirdGear are a longstanding, evolving fixture on the Southend music scene. They are also promoters, DJs, and run the record label Magico Meccannisimo Recordings. Oh, and on their spare Sunday nights they do a monthly show on Ship Full of Bombs. Musically they defy categorisation, although Paul Wolfe did venture the genre-bending suggestion of ‘space’ music. He’s onto something too because they are genuine explorers on a musical mission - one that they want to share with the world. It wasn’t always so. Paul Wolfe and Lee formed the band in 1994. Then in 1999, Paul Barlow, an import from Manchester, and Dave Panter also joined making a quartet. (Dave Panter retired from the band in 2009.) Lee explained

that ‘basically we were just having fun, making music… therapy really, with no intention of performing.’ But by 2006 they decided they did want to gig, so they unleashed WeirdGear, live in analogue, on the world. With a ‘niche’ sound, they’ve had to forge their own path through the industry, saying that ‘although we weren’t a commercially viable product as far as record

of sales going to artists. In return, all MMR ask is that signed bands promote each another - Lee says the aim is to ‘increase the circle of awareness’ of the music. MMR offer their artists a range of additional support, but it’s not compulsory. In fact, the only criterion for signing a band is that ‘we have to like their music.’ It’s not just one-way traffic either, everyone on the label

companies were concerned, we still wanted the product presented professionally.’ 2006 was a massive year, in which they also founded their exotic-sounding label (an approximation of WeirdGear in Italian), so they could release their first single: Coffee Girl. At MMR they do everything themselves, from content and production, to sleeves and marketing. In 2013, after seven years hands-on experience, they felt ready to expand. Run notfor-profit, their business model is less cut-throat capitalist, and more a co-operative, with 100%

including Cloud & Owl, Shinzou and Go Yoko! bring something to the party . As a collective, the label fosters cross-pollination and collaboration and it’s an inspiring blueprint for a sustainable community enterprise in the tricky to navigate creative industry. Paul Barlow summarised it more succinctly: MMR has artistic camaraderie. Asked about the motivation for creating a label that aims to raise the profile of fringe artists for free, WeirdGear mused that they are ‘at an age where we should put it back – pay it forward being the buzz word.’ Ever professional, they rap-

The only criterion for signing a band is that ‘we have to like their music’

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The Radio... Expect the unexpected with WeirdGear’s eclectic music choices and groundbreaking Fruit Pastille research!

WeirdGear www.weirdgear.co.uk www.facebook.com/weirdgearband Twitter @weirdgear www.soundcloud.com/weirdgear Ship Full of Bombs www.SFOB.co.uk www.facebook.com/shipfullofbombs @shipfullofbombs MMR www.facebook.com/mmrecordings @mmrecordingsUK www.soundcloud.com/mmrecordings

to do it. They ate fruit pastilles for a fortnight before the show, recording the colour frequency and inviting listeners to do the same. With a sample size of thirty-five packets, including the eleven packets they scoffed in a sugar-fuelled show, they were able to reveal that *drum roll* no, there aren’t fewer purple ones. So, WeirdGear aren’t weird at all, except perhaps a tiny bit for the sake of research. They are well-balanced professionals to a man, passionate about music and not a hissy diva fit to be found amongst them. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that their ménage a trois has lasted longer than most marriages. To finish

The secret of the radio show is that until the mixes are broadcast, they are kept secret from each other up, Level 4 asked about their plans for 2014. Sanguine as ever, after they had declared it their year of the DJ, as well as work on a top secret commission, and loose plans for a future concept album they confessed that ‘we are quite relaxed about that work invested last year, so no plans. If we see an opportunity we’ll take it… It just depends what comes up.’ Ah, well, now you come to mention it, we’ve really been wondering about the flavours of the different coloured Smarties… Photograph by Jessica Russell

idly built MMR’s catalogue by releasing material every month between June and November 2013. This culminated in the launch of WeirdGear’s fourth album CosmonautesDiscotheque, an album that certainly fits into their newly-designated space genre. A first listen reveals meticulous attention to detail, something WeirdGear bring to every aspect of their process. The sounds are multi-layered and easy to get lost in. They say it’s ‘made for cars and for headphones.’ There’s a lot of contemplative complexity to the album and when WeirdGear described their creative methods, it’s easier to understand how they’ve managed to offer such a diverse auditory experience. Initially conceived as an instrumental dance album, it was four years in the making, perhaps partly because each of them had to learn a new role in the band. After the recordings, which took the form of marathon experimentation sessions, Paul Wolfe took on a majority of the production side. With feedback from the other Paul and Lee, it took about a year to get the mixes right. There followed a further two months on the track listings. Meantime, Lee submitted no fewer than forty-seven different ideas for the artwork; in the end it was a futuristic shot of Tallinn airport that got the nod from the others. And that’s how it works with WeirdGear – a focused two hour, three-way, weekly meeting: democracy by triangulation. MPs take note! With such attention to detail, Level 4 asked how they knew when CosmonautesDiscotheque was completed. Uncharacteristically, WeirdGear came over comparatively serious for a second and a ripple of sighs echoed round the room. In the end, Lee answered ‘the album was signed off when we listened to it through and no-one could hear anything to change or improve.’ The same ethos, sighs replaced by laughter, is brought to their monthly Ship Full of Bombs internet radio show...

eirdGear were perhaps expected to play a lot of electronic music, but nothing could be further from the truth. Lee explained they like to ‘cram a lot of music in’ so they take it in turns to play an eclectic selection, presented in ten minute mixes. As much music curators as DJs, it makes for enlightening listening which, like their own genre-skewering output, almost defies description. Lee constantly collects whilst travelling - anything from Chilean Techno to the latest thing in Finland. Paul Barlow was quick to point out that he vets this stuff along with Paul Wolfe saying, ‘Lee plays each track to us and we are like no… no…. yes!’ But the secret of the radio show is that until the mixes are broadcast, they are kept secret from each other. It works well, where else could you catch Iggy Pop mixed into John Shuttleworth or Sebastian Tellier into Bob Ross? Their show’s first year’s anniversary will be celebrated in March 2013 and they are ‘enjoying being part of a fast-growing station with reputation of no-playlist music.’ It’s fair to say they sound like they are having a lot of fun too, which comes through both in the mixes and in the themes. On their second show they had a Fruit Pastilles theme to test the hypothesis that there are fewer purple ones in a packet. Important work and someone’s got

L-R: Paul Barlow, Paul Wolfe, Lee Mayer

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

Images by eYe $e

Peggy Sue’s Piano Bar Peggy Sue’s Piano Bar is situated at 1063 London Road, and is the latest venue for live music and fantastic food. Regualr open mic nights hosted by Dave Woodcock are held at the bar every Thursday, along with booked bands and performers other nights of the week. Open from 10am to 11pm Monday to Thursdays and late Fridays and Saturdays, you can drop in for anything from a light snack to a full meal, or just dessert and a liqueur coffee. Any enquiries, contact Ronnie or Sean on 01702 817354 or visit www. facebook.com/peggysuespianobar

10 Things FILM CLUB: The Railway Hotel Every Monday

Alternative Cinema Events

Monday Night Film Club is held in the downstairs bar at The Railway Hotel. Every week, a different cult film is shown including classic horrors and comedies, underground music documentaries, foreign flicks and B Movies. Admission is FREE and the screenings start at around 8pm. Enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, a cold (or hot if you prefer!) beverage, and film entertainment. Contact The Railway Hotel for more details on their facebook group or call 01702 343194.

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

Musical Happenings A selection of the South East clubs and bands to watch out for

Protest and Survive Originating from various parts of the globe, NED explain their influences, drive and passion for music Essex has a strong-armed tradition and timeline of uprisers, observers and revolutionaries from Wat Tyler to Wilko (with his anarchist friendly black and red Telecaster), Crass, TV Smith and Billy Bragg through to street fighting men at bank holiday bust ups: Mods vs Rockers and Teds vs Punks. The latest unit to take a position in the

I am originally from Billericay, Nicole (Dunbar) is from Sydney, Luis (Correia) is from Faro in Portugal. Alex (Riedl) just joined on bass and she’s from London. Vaughan (Singer Does being politically driven affect the band’s songwriting process? I usually bring a song to the table and then the band put their parts around the basic idea. The only way in terms of the message being affected is lyrically, everything else is pretty standard. What does each member bring to NED musically and stylistically? Everyone brings their own vibe - Nicole interprets the song in her way and puts a beat that she feels suits the song, Luis produces all the songs so he has a great ear for dynamics and Alex brings a heavier approach to our playing which comes I guess from her musical influences. What were your earliest ways into music - records bought, gigs attended: Firstly listening to my Ma and Pa’s record collection and then buying my own records and going to see gigs with

My first show I went to was with my parents and that was to see The Who - which was a good start! tradition of protest music and agitation movement are Ned a folk-punk outfit with Southend roots, now parked up in the capital – where Level 4 caught up with singer Vaughn King for the lowdown on their debut album A New Normal. What are Ned’s Southend connections and where are the non Essex members from?

CD Reviews Table Music Meeting Autumn / Rainbow Valley - Spinney

EIGHT ROUNDS RAPID Writeabout/Steve

Writeabout is straight in and no The artist also messin’. David known as LitAlexander’s tle Penguin remachine gun turns with two vocals attack very different the media’s pieces using obsession two pseudonyms. First up with celebrity culture and assault us with a matrix of stabbing riffs is ‘Autumn’ by Table Music Meeting, a quirky little stampeding against the brittle snap number featuring melodica, xylophone, of thunderous drumming. Simon piano and I think recorder. It repeats its Johnson shreds the lead guitar strings like his old man, you can almost taste main theme throughout the piece and his bloodied fingers. The infectious wouldn’t be out of place in a Jacques energy is absorbing on every level Tati movie, which to my ears is a seal of approval. Very different to the usual until the abrupt ending which leaves fare we are served up and really rather you breathless. pleasant. The seconding offering ‘SpinSteve is a familiar tune to die-hard ney’ is under the name Rainbow Valley fans; providing a catchy juxtaposition with an innocent directness in the and is more of a soundscape than a musical piece. Birdsong is mingled with vocals against a jagged backbeat. They don’t flaunt their skills, it’s out there minimalist glockenspiel sounds and in the deviant rhythm and enticing single string guitar to remind one of hooks. memories of long walks on summer These Southenders sweat rock & evenings in the country as the sun roll; they received critical acclaim supsinks behind the trees. These are two very interesting pieces of experimental porting Wilko Johnson’s recent gigs. Rush your pennies to Fives Records in music. Leigh-on-Sea and treasure this 7” vinyl. By Mark Lancaster By Michelle Coomber

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

LOST HARBOURS - Into the Falling Light This is a dark and moody record. Richard Thompson’s bleak but beautiful drones layered with buzzing feedback and ethereal vocals are mixed with Emma Reed’s more traditional playing of clarinet, violin and flute which lend a dreamlike quality to this new release by duo Lost Harbours. At times Richard’s vocals reminded me of Slowdive main man Neil Halstead, especially on the very lovely Portal and on Evening Vessel which has an almost medieval quality. I was immediately transported back to the glory days of the folky side of shoegaze. Picture lying on your back in field on a summer day watching the clouds wisp by and you will understand the mood this record evokes. It is not without its more nightmarish qualities though as the almost vicious feedback on the later stages of the aforementioned Portal relates. This is a thought provoking musical dream. . By Mark Lancaster

eE y@ Photography

Last Superheros Finding yourself in need of some rock metal therapy to relieve the daily grind? Then Last Superheros are here to save the day! By Ian Pile Luis (Guitar)

r/Guitar) and Nicole (Drums)

Alex (Bass)

my friends. My first show I went to was with my parents and that was to see The WHO - which was a good start! Why the move to London? We were living firstly in Essex and then in Southampton and got bored, so the next logical step was the big smoke! Would NED ever entertain cover versions? Of course! Although we don’t do any at the moment, but if we find a tune that we all like then it will happen! The lyrics balance solutions, options and observation as well political messages - It was more influenced but what is happening around us currently in terms of the situation we as a country are facing - the coalition, the recession and that fed into the songs along with other themes that are more normal such as love and just living day to day life. I’m in no position to say if a band should offer alternatives, we just do what we do and hope people like it! By Dave Collins www.nedhq.com

NED - A New Normal

GREG KISS - Underlay

‘Anger is an energy’ howled John Lydon on PIL’s ‘Rise’. London/local band NED crackle with both. It’s a passion finding a focus and release in the kick-start riffing of Mass Manipulation and the crowd rousing acoustics of Coffee and Toast and Let it Be and I AM FREE. While Who Shall We Blame – has a vocal tone that’s punk at its most urban (in a Jimmy Pursey sense) They are a group going against the tide. Literally. As the Southend scene began a swelling to a lively new high, NED relocated to Shoreditch. This is no bad thing. It gives the band some hermetic distance away from any local influences. Factor in that the line-up are assembled from local and international sources, and you have the band with broad world view on global issues. Issues addressed with a concise, critical eye and solid punk-pop sensibility By Dave Collins

Released in February 2014, Underlay is the fourth album from Southend’s Greg Kiss, and it’s an impressive one.. Recorded with a full band, it’s nicely understated and hasn’t been over produced – in fact it feels almost acoustic at times. The ten tunes within are different enough to keep you interested, and have some beautifully crafted melodies and gorgeous harmonies. Whilst the album is all new original material, it evokes memories of the Beatles, Noel Gallagher, I Am Kloot and even early Bowie (Letter to Hermione-ish) in places. Greg has a striking, memorable voice, and he is able to convey real emotion during some of the more soul bearing songs. Fresh and accessible, this album is definitely worth a go, especially at the bargain price of £1 to download it! Go to Greg’s Bandcamp page for more details, and download the album (his previous 3 are all available there too): http://gregkiss.bandcamp.com/ album/underlay By Ian Pile

Southend based Last Superheroes are on a mission, a mission to convert the gig-going public of the South East to their own unique brand of rock. And they are doing a pretty good job of it too! Originally formed by lead singer Gabriel J. Valentine in 2004, the band have gone through a number of personnel changes and fine tuning exercises over the last few years. The continual search for perfection has clearly paid dividends; drummer Sam Panter and guitarist Andy Goodstuff were both recruited on route, and the recent addition of female bassist EvilKris was the final piece of the jigsaw. The result is a razor sharp 4 piece line up, that is delivering both on stage and in the studio. Lead singer Gabriel makes no secret of the focus of the band, saying it’s based on “those that came before”. So if you have an ‘Appetite for Destruction’, you’d do well to check out what’s on their menu. Take the swagger of Guns N Roses, throw in the riffs of early Van Halen and Aerosmith, add the accessible pop choruses of Cheap Trick, and mix with a pinch of Motley Crue and Skid Row. It’s a recipe guaranteed to raise the roof and rock your socks off. Their debut album Black #13 was released in May 2013, and has been picking up impressive reviews. Live they have really hit their stride, with shows becoming more and more frenzied. Guitarist Andy Goodstuff told me “we’ve never signed so many bodies, and had so many photos taken”. Audiences have been getting particularly enthusiastic of late, and Andy says recent shows have been “bombarded with teenagers, reaching out to grab our guitars during solos!”. Essex fans can next catch the band live at Asylum Bar in Chelmsford on Friday 7th March, and The Hermit Club in Brentwood on Saturday 22nd March. CD’s and merchandise can all be purchased at live shows, or ordered online at: http://www.lastsuperheroes.bigcartel.com And if you want to try before you buy, for a limited period, Level 4 readers can download the whole Black #13 album for free at: http:// www.lastsuperheroes.bandcamp.com Keep up to date with the latest news on their website: www.lastsuperheroes.co.uk

rheros

Photograph courtesy of Last Supe

There’s a funny thing if you think about Going. Back. Home - although there are dozens of songs written about the subject, capturing that sense of familiar unease and the re-established feeling of routine creeping itself round you like water over iron. But - to actually get them: you’ve gotta go away first... So today, I’m in the perfect mood for some nostalgia; I’m writing this up after a period away - on blisteringly cold day inside Rossi’s on the seafront and reflecting on the day before I left when I met Wilko Johnson - properly, outside of seeing him in the pub we both frequent. Wilko understands all about going back home - he’s been doing it all his life and he certainly is going on a completely new journey at the moment... So I’m thinking

about his journey and mine, and the hideous sleet is cutting sideways across the windows and of *course* I didn’t bring a hat, I’ve been away too long to remember why I needed one - but now I feel like I might go down by the jetty and smell the salt. You can’t see Canvey from this window anyway... Wilko Johnson hardly needs this introduction from me - and certainly not to this crowd. He is our rhythm&blues Pied Piper; duck walking hypnotically in front of us with his Fender Telecaster, from one of Essex’s most legendary 70’s bands - Dr Feelgood. But now he is much more than that; he leapt back into our consciousness and onto our screens with Julian

Temple’s groundbreaking ‘Oil City Confidential’ documentary in 2009 - and since then, has rarely been out of the public eye. He is a rich part of our counties’ cultural heritage and as Temple said: ‘an extraordinary man - one of the great English Eccentrics’ and all of Essex is proud parent to him, this boy done good from the Island - particularly those of us who live this way out... But a more sobering thought is that the increased exposure in the public eye is not solely to do with the work. In 2013, he announced he was dying from pancreatic cancer and since, his balls out and very frank form of dignity about living with it has won over an entire nation; making him rightly a ‘national treasure’. Not that Wilko has stopped to feel it

Profile interview:

The Ballad of

Wilko Johnson Louise Ann Oldroyd talks to Canvey Island’s last Troubadour about life, the universe and everything unsurprisingly, the answer back was not f*cking 42* - but a constantly shifting kaleidoscope full of nerve shredding guitar riffs, more than one tear from this old rocker and... a bucket of Scotch By Louise Ann Oldroyd Photography by Ian Treherne

much: he’s been too busy living to worry about the dying and while there’s rock&roll on the turntable, the show has been going on. Except now the curtain was supposed to be closed, so it’s all a bit confounding - even for Wilko... L4: I’m going to try and not be a gushing twat... Wilko: Ok, good. That’s good - you’re sweating..? L4: Am I? [Wipes] ... Well, it’s hot… But - you know, your guitar style was much copied when I was younger, so what made you start? Wilko: I was about 14 or 15 and one day at school we’d gone into this other classroom to do a geography lesson and hanging on the side of this desk, was an electric guitar… I

knew nothing about music really, but I was fascinated by it - literally a physical thing - all the knobs and strings and so on. And I thought I’m learning - but I was fucking rubbish and everyone could play better than me! L4: But you obviously persevered - so when did music start to fit in? Wilko: By the time I’d learnt to play a bit the Beatles were around - I saw them at Southend Odeon. Fuck me - that was exciting, you couldn’t hear them of course for the screaming - but it was bloody fantastic. We all just went mental [impersonates screaming girl]... Then the Stones came and I just dug their attitude - they steered me towards American rhythm&blues and I wanted knowledge...

L4: What did it mean to you? Wilko: What the blues? Those American Bluesmen, they almost seemed to be magic, superhuman in a way. I never thought of myself as a blues player - that’s a special thing. But you know, people like Bo’ Diddley had an influence on my playing. The ultimate influence was Mick Green - from Johnny& The Pirates..? You copied me? Well - I copied him - I sat listening really intently... L4: This was where you started to develop something us vulture press called ‘British Beat’, did you feel like you were creating a new music genre? Wilko: When Dr Feelgood started in the 70s we were doing this kind of thing I’d been >>

continued over page

Live photogaphy by

>> into during the 60s, the music wasn’t fashionable then - but we didn’t give a fuck. We liked it so we wanted to do that. It was organic - but to be honest I wasn’t surprised it became successful because the style of music was good, and it didn’t matter where it was played, even Canvey - people would find it... L4: Got to ask you what it was like growing up ‘on Canvey’? Wilko: As soon as you cross the bridge - it is a different place. The funny thing is, Canvey Island has been changing since I was a kid. When I was young it was all open fields and bungalows and unmade roads- very ‘bluesy bleak’... Now it’s covered in housing estates. It used to be quite freaky but now it’s quite conventional. L4: There’s a lot of bands that come out of this coastal region - must be something in being by the sea..? Wilko: I like this question but I never know the answer- a lot of people have given me theories that bands and music often spring from seaports, but you know Southend is just a cockney seaside place... Maybe the sea causes reflection in people? When I was learning to play in the sixties there were a few really good bands here like The Paramounts and there was a fantastic club in Westcliff station called ‘The Studio’... I guess that was something unique to our seaside air... L4: What was it like? Wilko: Bloody brilliant - I remember the teddy boys coming from *London* to be here in this little shit hole bit of Westcliff, and you know we used to get people from all over - big rhythm and blues people from London just to play here. But by the time Dr Feelgood started there had been a gap of some years- that kind of music wasn’t popular anymore... L4: But you brought it back? Wilko: I remember saying to Lee (Brilleaux) ‘cos he was five years younger: “we’ve got to sound like this” ... But then once we got popular and had gone to London with record deals all the A&R people started to come here looking for the next big thing. And that’s where bands like Eddie & The Hot Rods and the Kursaal Flyers got their chance. If Feelgood had never done it I don’t know if they’d have ever come here looking. We used to mythologise Canvey Island quite deliberately. L4: You sort of invented ‘Thames Delta’ sound then..? Wilko: Of course we did - when we didn’t have gigs we used sit and talk about and imagine the ‘Delta Sound’. We used to be the ‘Canvey Boys’ when I was at grammar school on this side of the Estuary. The perception was we were all homicidal maniacs living in tin bungalows... L4: Tell me about the boys then...? Wilko: Figure was literally born around the corner from meour mums pushed us in prams together. Like brothers. I met Lee and Sparko (John B. Sparkes) and I had this jug band with my brother we played on the street with - they just bowled up to us... L4: Was he like ‘Lee Brilleaux’ from the off? Wilko: That’s exactly it... he was 14, so remember I was nearly 19 - but, he was impressive and when he went away I was talking about him. And then I used to see their jug band they’d started. Then one day after I’d done my hippy trail travelling, Lee collared me and although it took them ages to, eventually

Paul Hughes

Koko, February 2014

Village Green, July 2013

asked if I wanted to join the band... L4: You were a gang - you looked like a gang anyway… Wilko: That was the way it used to be. My thing about Dr Feelgood was - it all sprang from Lee- he had this nervous energy he used to radiate. Look at pictures from us back then, like the cover on ‘Stupidity’ - I’m looking at Lee, I’m taking all my cues from him - he was the

say: “go” and I would. It was great- the audience were participating and you could be a kid, but in a really serious way. L4: What were those first gigs like...? Wilko: Well there weren’t so many gigs at first, I had this job as a schoolteacher at King John’s school in Benfleet - we used to play at the Railway Hotel in Pitsea on a Thursday night. It wasn’t really a gig- because people used to say ‘turn this fucking shit down.’ But - we played. Then we played the British Legion in Benfleet and had this disco night at Canvey regular called ‘Cloud 9’ - the club night was the one that made us feel like people had come to hear the music. L4: And then London started knocking? Wilko: We were out of nowhere, we’d been playing maybe for two years in Essex, got the look together - but in London we were unknown, but then it just went great... L4: Did you shit it playing with Chuck Berry at Wembley? Wilko: ‘Course I bloody did. I’d actually just quit my job as a teacher and there I am on stage supporting Chuck Berry... And I’m thinking: ‘This is alright, this is’... But then, I saw the MC5 then as well - it changed my life. Wayne Kramer, he just knew exactly what to do. He influenced me like no one else in that period. I think I went up to that gig as an ex-school teacher and came away as a rock and roller... It taught me so much. L4: What about the other ‘rock & roll’ stories; you played for Led Zeppelin...? Wilko: I know, it sounds like a scene from a film. But we were playing at Earls Court and Robert Plant had seen the band- he was into us and he requested that at his party we were the band playing. What was weird was at one point when I was playing I could see Ahmet Ertegun and it was a bit like: ‘F*ck- we’re playing a song he produced maybe ten years ago - what must he be thinking?’ We turned up after to get our cash in this shit, battered old Merc that our manager used to roll around in and it was like yes - we’re cool! L4: What happened after such an ‘up’ then, because the next year and album saw you cut ties..? Wilko: I don’t know now. Somehow or other it got that Lee and I just started getting on each other’s tits. It was [does falsetto voice] ‘oh the strain’ of the new album - and I was trying to get them to write songs and they couldn’t and they all drank a lot but I didn’t. And I liked the speed... Lemmy’s (from Motorhead) analysis of it was: ‘you can’t have a speed freak and three alcoholics’. But me and Lee had been to America, getting on ok at the end- the next one was going to be our first American album and I thought it was going to be fine, but then after the recording, this terrible argument broke out.

It’s like now - when I’m at the end of the line, I’ve suddenly got this amazing band, and that’s why I’m playing all the time

wellspring for all that. L4: You could pick the Feelgoods out on looks alone... Wilko: When we were on stage - it had that... You know when you’re a kid, and you’re playing Cops & Robbers and you’re doing this... [Fires imaginary machine gun] you know it isn’t really a gun... But when you’re a kid - it is a gun... I had this feeling that we were a gang and Lee was the leader and I was his assassin and he would

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

Full of piss and vinegar by the end of the night it was ‘f*ck you’ from us all. It’s a regret - Dr Feelgood was one of the greatest experiences of my life really. L4: And then..? Wilko: From that point I was always going to start doing everything wrong. It always felt like the Solid Senders were going to be a let down it’s like when you’re succeeding; your luck runs good, everything you touch is gold but then

Photography by Ian Treherne Paul Hughes

L4: Are you recording an album? Wilko: We’re trying to but the thing I suffer with now is terrible apathy. I think we might have enough - but the others have to drag me down there - because when you get down you end up thinking: what’s the bloody point - I’ll be dead in a few months... But then all the publicity started and what was going to be a farewell gig at Koko ended up a farewell tour. I was just thinking please let me live to finish the tour. The doctors told me that I would be dead in October. L4 [Laughs]: Well you’ve got to get a move on then, you’re clearly not dying fast enough... Wilko: I know, they don’t know what to do with me - while I can I’m going keep on, spend time with my family and make music. L4: Family and music are running side-by-side now - your son is just a bit of a chip off the old block isn’t he..? Wilko: He bloody learnt to play on his own. He wanted no help and shut himself in his room and never asked me a bloody thing. I have influenced him though - but never directly. He doesn’t play with a pick and bleeds everywhere like I do... L4]: I saw him and Eight Rounds Rapid at the Koko gig... Wilko: Before that Koko gig I was terrible afflicted for the first time in years with nerves... Maybe because I thought it was going to be my last one... Poor Simon he was bleeding everywhere and I was freaking out, but then when we went on - it was magic. Everyone was

Live photogaphy by

when it goes... You make all the wrong choices. I knew from the time it started it wasn’t right, but I had nobody to advise me, no manager etc. and I made a living but I felt like my fifteen minutes in the big-time had gone... L4: What was it like when you started playing in the Blockheads..? Wilko: I was friends with John-Jacques Burnel and we used to share a flat [aside: f*cking hell that flat in Hampstead...] The Stranglers needed a guitarist as theirs had been thrown in prison, so at this gig they invited people up onto stage and I saw Ian Dury and he wanted to know if I wanted to come into the studio on their next single. Of course I did - I loved their bassist... L4: Norman Watt-Roy, now your bassist..? Wilko: Yeah, but I didn’t know him then. I just thought he was amazing. I knew he was my favourite bass player. Went to the studio and did the single and they just asked me to join. It was great - just such a great feeling. And now he’s playing in my band.. L4: You guys certainly have great chemistry. Wilko: He’s been a life long friend and a great bassist. He just has all this energy - and Dylan Howe now on drums. Honestly, it’s like now when I’m at the end of the line, I’ve suddenly got this amazing band, and that’s why I’m playing all the time. This summer (2013) we’ve done all these festivals - we did the Fuji Rock Festival and I thought after the Koko gig in April I would never play again...

The ‘Farewell Gig’, Ko

ko, April 2013

crying, but I didn’t feel sad, going out to ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ was perfect piece of theatre. L4: It’s part of your legacy now... Wilko: Legacy is a funny old thing. We played the Oyster Fleet with The 45s and they’re just sixteen, sharp little f*ckers. They look and sound like they’re influenced by us but they’re so terrifyingly young and it’s brilliant. They’re carrying on where we left off. L4: It’s because you’re a ‘National Treasure’ - is

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Photography by Ian Treherne

>> it f*cking weird to hear that..? Wilko: Actually the first time I was called it was many years ago at Ian Dury’s memorial gig - and whatever it may be, I’m back in the public’s consciousness. I’ve got my picture outside the Railway Hotel, Elton John gave that award back to me... Weird times. L4: What about the new Fender ‘Wilko Johnson Telecaster’, that’s definitely a good way to finish off... Wilko: Its something I’m really proud to leave behind... When I was a kid I wanted one so much, there was one in the window of a music shop in Southend- and I used to go and stare at it... Eventually I managed to get it for £90 paid for week-by-week. I used to sit in the shop playing it. L4: What about ‘Games of Thrones’ - that’s an unexpected development in your career at this late stage? Wilko: It was so much fun. I’ve never done anything like it before, hell my part had no speaking - I just had to look dour, so I was great at it. I was just sorry that I couldn’t continue. L4: Do things like that mean more now? WIlko: Yeah - being told you’re going to die makes you look at everything differently. I’ve had such insights into how marvelous it is to be alive and how fearful death can be [pause] ... Tell you the truth - sometimes I think - when I’m

gone I just wish people would forget me... L4: Never going to happen... Wilko: But sometimes I think - what the world

you leave behind? Wilko: When my wife died nine years ago, f*cking hell I loved her... We were together for

Do what you love, don’t try and do what you think is required. If anything goes wrong you’ve probably had a good f*cking time anyway

does when I’m gone is up to the world. I don’t consciously want to think about ‘legacy’ - but [laughing] you can put the Fender on my grave though.... L4: Is that how you’ve decided to tackle thoughts on dying now..? Wilko: Like everything it does fluctuate, but you know, when you get on a high one - I’ve not felt such wonder since I was a kid. Sometimes it’s so intense, almost worth having the threat of death to teach you this, almost though. L4: Afterlife..? Wilko: Not today! No - I’m a confirmed atheist. I think after death is complete oblivion... Thirteen billion years ago when the big bang happened, I was dead- I was dead until 1947 - but then I’m going to go back to my normal state of being dead anyway. L4: Do you think religion is more for the people

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

forty years - but when she died - I knew she’d gone. I’d love to think she was in paradise, if I did, I would have killed myself nine years ago... L4: Why are you not receiving treatment..? Wilko: Well in January 2013 - they told me I’d have about ten months to live and with chemotherapy I’d maybe have a year. But chemotherapy makes you very, very ill - so I’d rather let it do its thing and be fit and healthy for as long as I can and then when it comes -let it come. They can’t cure it, all they can do is slow it down. But they said ten months... I’m missing the deadline at the moment... L4: Did your friends and family feel the same way..? Wilko: Yes, but lets be honest the whole situation is worse for them. I know because when Irene was dying - the feeling is that someone is being taken from you and you can’t

different knowing that you’re going to die soon not some kind of nebulous concept for the future - but, now... It gives you food for thought. L4: I suppose we all have to live in our moments..? Wilko: That’s the secret... I look outside and enjoy the beauty. I can appreciate it right now because I’m not trying to remember it for the future. I’ve got to enjoy it now, as your consciousness is finite. L4: Have you been doing that with your telescope? Wilko: Funnily enough no – it’s the apathy that’s getting me. Earlier on in the year, I was obsessed as the constellation Orion was passing out of the sky – it’s a wintertime one and I knew it was going. I thought; I’ve got to go and look at the Orion Nebula one more time... Eventually it was a clear night so I got up there and saw it and thought ‘goodbye’- but now, it’s come back... L4: Is there anything else you think - you’d like to have done that, but now you don’t have time? Wilko: Before the band started, my main aim was to be a painter - I had all these images I wanted to set down and when rock&roll came along I followed like a groupie [laughing]. Now sometimes I wish I’d tried anyway. But, you know... I was a much better musician than a painter. L4: Do you ever manage to forget about the cancer? Wilko: No. Never. In the morning it takes me two seconds - but I am pleased to say, as yet it has never entered my dreams... And I dream vividly, so it’s something I take great pleasure in. L4: I sleep like shit so I rarely remember my dreams... Wilko: It’s something that has plagued me too. I like the feeling of being the only person alive on the planet - when everything is still. People who live a nightlife, we have experiences that most people don’t have which are pretty good, in some ways. L4: I don’t want to, but I have to ask you for a ‘final’ thought... Wilko: Do what you love, don’t try and do what you think is required. If anything goes wrong you’ve probably had a good f*cking time anyway.

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

By Duncan Ireland

do anything about it. I have my moments when I think it’s really bad for me - but generally, its much worse for them. L4: Were you like this pragmatic before looking at dying from a personal perspective? Wilko: F*ck no! I was always a miserable soand-so, subject to terrible depression - all that pointless doom and gloom... In fact - I’d say, death has made me a nicer person - it’s certainly made me realise how futile the depression was. L4: This a weird conversation for me, English people are so reserved talking about death Wilko: When you face the worst thing its not so bad - we’re all going to die. But - it’s slightly

10 Things

And he certainly is doing... I felt like I’d taken a little piece of history away with me on my iPhone and I promptly left with very wet eyes even though I knew he wouldn’t like it and he’d probably call me a soppy tart if he could see. When I moved away and only recently came back home, like Orion’s Nebula he hasn’t passed out into the sky and the view towards Canvey looked a little bit brighter. I’m hoping that his legacy needs him for a bit longer yet...

ROCK’N’ROLL’S GREATEST FAILURE Park Inn Palace Hotel Ballroom

Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie, will be screening on Friday 2nd May at 8.30pm at The Park Inn Palace Hotel Ballroom. The documentary, which is only playing at selected festivals, tells the almost unbelievable story of musician John Otway who, in the Seventies, was signed by Polydor, with a hefty advance, as ‘the next big thing’ – only for his ‘next big hit’ to arrive some 25 years later!! This terrifically entertaining film chronicles the anarchic, shambolic spirit that has endeared Otway to his fans, enshrining him as ‘Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure’! John Otway, ‘Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure’, will also be attending the showing for a Q&A with music writer Daryl Easlea.

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Down By The Jetty Louise Ann Oldroyd picks a fistful of her favourite Wilko Johnson tracks…

I Don’t Mind

Dr Dupree

Keep On Loving You

This song cuts right through me- it’s more upbeat than their usual blues stomp and has a full kilter, almost Ramones-eque choppy guitar riff dancing alongside the shimmery percussion. Perfect for having a good time – I sling it on anytime I’m the wrong side of the bourbon… This is a choice for me entirely borne out of nostalgia, it was the first Dr Feelgood song I ever heard and I still get a slick thrill from listening to the smoky dub type rhythm and strangely lilting Arabic guitar sounds… I know it’s not typical Wilko – but I love it its dark after-hours feelings… Late nights indeed… I decided this song had to go in after seeing it performed live last year – the fantastic chemistry between him and Norman in the solo section keeps the whole dirty, quasi-blues feel of the song anchored… and Wilko’s voice sounds better than ever... rhythmically spitting out his own brand of tortured love.

4 Bonie Maronie/ Tequilla

I’m going to choose the live version of this song as well – as frankly that’s where I fell in love with it… So much of Wilko’s music changes for me when I hear it performed. A fantastic classic rhythm&blues boogaloo with a great solo plonked in the middle- if anything reminds of summer festivals, it’s this…

All Through the City

How can I not choose this? It’s classic Feelgood – the balls-out strut of the guitar riff, Wilko showing us the grimy side of life and the sweet rhythms in the background underpinning it all. It pretty much defines the Thames Delta sound of this era for me. If it comes on, my feet want to start the shuffle by themselves…

PETER SELLARS TRILOGY: Odeon, Festival Gala Thursday 1st May

The Opening Gala of this year’s Southend Film Festival has three very special screenings of Peter Sellar’s shorts previously thought to have been lost. Dearth of a Salesman, Cold Comfort and Insomnia Is Good For You were made in 1956 but, after their initial release, went missing and have not been publicly screened since then. For ticket details go to www. southendfilmfestival.com

Photography by Ian Treherne

L-R: Wayne ans Lee Lennox

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

Lennox Brothers

brain food for culture vultures

Issue 13 September

Louise Ann Oldroyd talks to Southend’s avant-garde, boys about town the Lennox Brothers about their upcoming search: AmStarDam The Movie release...

f you’re in the know with the hipper-than-thou arts scene in this area, chances are you’ve already heard of Wayne & Lee Lennox... Cult commercial and music video directors and now feature filmmakers - they are about to unleash their first feature-length movie ‘Amstardam’; a comedy/adventure story with fairytale overtones. I caught up with them (eventually - these boys are busy!) for a beer and a chat about the movie process, plans to dominate the big screen and tattoos... “It’s been mad” Wayne says: “The dream of one day making a film has now become a reality for us. Although ‘Amstardam’ is still a few months off completion, we can smell the finish line getting closer!” When talking about the movie its clear how much effort and time they have invested in it - but, although they’re obviously hard grafters they’re keen to point out how many people have helped them along the way... Lee: “We’ve been truly blessed, it’s taken two years to go from the concept of the movie to finishing filming - which is pretty quick. The cards have really fallen our way; we flew to Los Angeles and signed with ‘William Morris Endeavor’, we joined forces with our business partners ‘Propeller Artists’ and we found

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FREE

- November 2012

Death Ray Cats Southend’s finest Psychobilly horror

an amazing producer ‘Zorana Piggot’ who brought the whole project together.” The casting has been essential to the film too, for Wayne working with actors is always such a rewarding experience and he The loves the strange feeling of: “Seeing your Wolfmen characters leap off the page and become Two of Adam’s form er Ants talk to Level 4 living breathing people.” To help them achieve their vision Hubbard Casting put Pat Higgins forward “a great choice of actors.” and Essex’s most prolific they both modestly point out that: “The horror filmmaker screenplay we wrote was very demanding, featuring so many emotions for each Books Art WOA! character, so we tried to make the actors V Festival Julian Woollatt Gothic Estuary News Olympic Torch Anth Cathi Unsworth Zombies feel comfortable and to give them the Music Southend Pier Fest em ival Theatre space they needed to perform on camera.” So boys- where is the film at now..? “We’re on when this one is finished and where it’s showing, in-between getting drunk at the final stages of editing - color grading with our good friend and Southendite Richard and indulging in their other passion... tattoos (not as many as me we discover!) So its a ‘to Theron, then in April we’re going to Prague be continued’ from me and them. Watch this to record the score with a full orchestra.” It’s clear the boys have got the film bug and can’t space - you’ll be hearing their name a lot... wait to work on another feature, which they have just finished writing as we speak... On leaving they promise to give me information

The

PLUS

Lennox Brothers

We’ve been truly blessed, it’s taken two years to go from the concept of the movie to finishing filming

Local fashion stylist Julia Kay Delmas selects her choice of the best independent fashion shops to add some unique style to your wardrobe

boutique Town Southend is home to a growing number of fashion boutiques and vintage shops that are perfect for adding something a bit more

unusual and original to your wardrobe. It is really worth hunting these gems out and venturing off the High Street to find that

Vintage evening gown, Fur colla r both at Posh Clobber

elusive dress for a special occasion or just something a bit different to make you stand out from the crowd.

Posh Clobber A treasure trove of vintage clothing, shoes, bags, belts, costume jewellery and even home wares, Posh Clobber is on Southchurch Road- so a little bit off the beaten track but well worth a visit. The boutique is a real find for vintage clothing lovers and a great place to browse around. Lorna who runs the shop with her Mum, says you never know what you may find as new items are coming into the shop all the time, from a classic 80’s batwing knit to a 60’s evening gown, there is bound to be something that catches your eye. Posh Clobber is at 757 Southchurch Road. Tel 01702 808062

If you want something truly original that will have your friends dying to know where you got it from, check out Southend’s own new label - Moth. Moth’s range of fabulous quirky designs are one of a kind, each piece created from a mix of new and vintage materials and trim. Michelle of Moth began her love affair with fashion at an early age influenced by her Mother’s love of sewing. She became skilled in tailoring and upholstery and decided to develop her own collection of both clothing and home wares. The collection can be viewed and purchased on line at www. mothcloth.co.uk

Moth

Tartan dress by Moth

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Kim Cannon Studio Kim Cannon Studio is tucked away behind Southend High Street on Queens Road. Kim specialises in corsetry and handmade designs. If you visit her studio you can buy designs off the peg, but Kim will tailor and adapt any of her pieces to fit you perfectly. She will also design a one off piece for you for a special event. Some of her designs have a 50’s edge to them with corset tops

Plaid Corset and Net Skirt by Kim Cannon

and full skirts, great for proms or weddings. Kim also regularly themes her dresses, using beautiful unusual patterned fabric for say Valentines, Halloween or Christmas. Check out her studio window display for what she’s currently up to. Kim also has regular studio sales which are really worth popping in for a look. Kim Cannon Studio is at 78 Queens Road, Southend. Tel 01702 345 386

Credits: Photography – Martin Higgs and Nick Wood @ www.unshakenphotography.co.uk Stylist – Julia Kay Delmas Make-Up – Ashleigh Bunce Hair – Louise Plumb Model – Francesca Turner

Callie and Finn

10 Things BLUE JASMINE: Leigh Community Centre Tuesday 29th April

The White Bus Present their Future Film Presentations series with Woody Allen’s new drama Blue Jasmine. Starring Cate Blanchette as Jasmine, who derives her worth from the way she’s perceived by others, while she herself is blind to what is going around her. Delicately portrayed, Jasmine earns our compassion because she is the unwitting instrument of her own downfall. Tickets available in advance from Leigh Community Centre, 7173 Elm Road, (tel: 01702 477248) or on the door.

Tie front silk blouse, Black frill penc il skirt and Pearl and jet necklace all at Calli e and Finn

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

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Just off Southend High Street, Alexandra Street has become home to a few small independent clothes shops and to one of the town’s best fashion boutiques, Callie and Finn. This sophisticated shop offers a range of stunning on trend pieces together with unusual jewellery and accessories. Smart tailored dresses and pencil skirts, beautiful evening wear and great knitwear are among the finds there this season but there is always a great selection of hand chosen pieces Pop in to have a look and you’ll be welcomed by Jay who owns the shop and is always on hand for fashion advice. Jay also designs and makes some of the jewellery herself. Callie and Finn is at 35 Alexandra Street Southend. Tel 01702 344767

The

Prittlewell Prince is coming home Preparations are being made to bring back the Essex Prince’s treasure to display in its impressive entirity By Chris Penhall

Gold crosses found with the Prince

he two beautiful glass bowls and green glass cups at the Prittlewell Prince exhibition in Southend Museum recently look so familiar. Like something I would buy in a craft shop or bric a brac stall, or barter for in an exotic North African souk. But they were made in the 7th century in the eastern Mediterranean and they belonged to a local south Essex Prince. That’s how close we are to history – it’s literally buried under our feet. In this case, unknown and untouched between Priory Crescent and the railway line near Priory Park for hundreds of years. Prittlewell was the medieval village from which Southend grew, but its origins go much further back, with evidence of settlements in Anglo-Saxon. Roman and pre-historic times. In 2003 the Museum of London Archaeology Service began investigations at the Prittlewell site of a proposed new road development where an earlier excavation in 1923 revealed a 7th century Anglo-Saxon

cemetery. This new project led to the discovery of one of the richest Anglo Saxon graves ever found.

it had remained undisturbed meant that is was regarded as significant an Anglo-Saxon find as the 1939 discovery of the great ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The excavated pit contained a deep timber walled underground room full of objects made of copper, gold and alloy. Many of them were still exactly where they had been placed nearly 1400 years ago. About 110 objects were found including a sword, a lyre and a folding stool. The greatest warriors and earliest kings displayed their wealth through richly decorated clothing, weaponry tablewear, gift-giving and feasting. Their most valuable possessions were often buried with them. So who was the Prittlewell Prince? The fact is no-one really knows. The Anglo-Saxon era was not well documented and there were many ‘kings’ and ‘gentry’ scattered over the country. Any grave that is found with a gold or precious object is called ‘Princely’. And the fact that there were imported items amongst the treasure indicates all this belonged to a very important person indeed. Possible candidates are Saebert, who died in 616AD and Sigeberht II The Good, who was murdered in 653AD. Both were East Saxon kings known to have converted to Christianity during this period. At the moment the majority of the artefacts found with our Prince are currently housed at the Museum of London. But preparations are finally being made to bring his treasure home in its entirety. But the surroundings have to be exact. “Getting it back is a long-term project,” said Clare. “We are currently exhibiting a few of the highlights but it’s much more interesting if it’s seen as a whole.” It can only displayed in small batches at the moment until the new museum is completed, but also the delicate objects have to be kept in the correct environment. “Ideally this is 50% relative humidity and 20 degrees centigrade, and it has to be very stable,” she explained. “Certain objects can

We are currently exhibiting a few of the highlights but it’s much more interesting if it’s seen as a whole And whilst other great archaeological finds over the centuries were excavated with old-fashioned tools, this was done with completely modern and up to date methods. Clare Hunt, Curatorial Manager for Southend Museum Services, was the curator of art in Southend when the discovery was made. “One time when I was here,” she explained,” they bought in the gold buckle which was the biggest piece of gold, still encased in its soil. It was pretty incredible. The archaeologists knew they had something special and it was a once in a lifetime find.” The size of the burial and the fact that

be ruined by too much damp or too little. Even things from the same collections need completely different environments. “The objects displayed currently can be housed in any environment, but the rest of the materials – metals and organic matter, such as wood, bone and leather - require the kind of specialist space we can’t give them at the moment.” The road improvement planned in 2003 never did go ahead. But the legacy of the Prittlewell Prince, marked today at the spot it was found, will continue to educate us about our history for many years to come.

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Belfairs Woodland Centre

Photograph by James Porter / Essex Wildlife Trust

Enjoyable, interesting and educational, the new Woodland Centre hosts a range of family-centred activities By Chris Penhall

f you go down to the woods today – I mean Belfairs Woodland Centre - you’re in for an enjoyable, interesting and educational time. Essex Wildlife Trust Members and residents raised £50,000 towards the £800,000 centre, which was opened in September by BBC Springwatch presenter Martin Hughes Games. It has been a great success, with a range of events to suit children, families and parents, including the

of which is woodland. A partnership between Essex Wildlife Trust and Southend on Sea Borough Council, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Interreg, Maxigreen project, it aims to provide a focal point for a range of events and activities for the whole community. It also has volunteering opportunities, refreshments and an education hall. Open daily from 10 am till 4pm it offers a space to enable people to learn about south Essex’s ancient woodlands in an interactive way. Holiday activities have included Mobile Monday – a day for being out and about with a bug hunt and games, Tremendous Tuesday – following the sculpture trail and looking for hedgehogs, and building

We are only able to do all this with the help of our amazing volunteers pre-school Squirrel Squad and the monthly Family Sunday Session. It introduces visitors to the 116-acre Daws Heath and Belfairs “living landscape”, a third

bird boxes. There is also an opportunity for 11 to 16 year olds to join the Green Bunch, and take part in conservation work and help manage Belfairs Park. It meets once a month on Saturdays during term time, and Wednesdays during the school holidays. And there are many opportunities to get involved in running the centre. Jo Loman, Education and Community Officer says “We are only able to do all this with the help of our amazing volunteers. They are the people who serve visitors their teas, coffees and snacks, help manage the woodland and support the community events. They deserve a big Thank You, and we would welcome any other enthusiastic individuals who would like to join our team.” For more information, call Jo on 01702 477467. You can find out more about the centre and future events by visiting https:// facebook.com/EWTBelfairs

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A Scene in Between

The Smiths Alex Norman gets out his stone wash denim and his DMs as he quantum leaps into a new photographic book that showcases 80s underground fashion and shows that far from being a flash in the pan, it inspired an entire generation and is even coming back into fashion again (did it ever really go away?) There’s an old adage that says ‘a picture is worth a thousands words’; if that’s the case then Sam Knee’s new photobook time capsule would fill several novels. It’s a snapshot of the 80s music scene in Britain but, between the covers, you won’t find images (or should

that be snappy snaps) of George Michael in string vests, Phil Collins with hair, but no jacket or Kylie Minogue feeling incredibly lucky, lucky. lucky. No, Sam’s book, A Scene In Between: Tripping Through the Fashions of UK Indie Music, focusses on the less commercial and more obscure bands of the time, unearthing a veritable treasure trove of photos that highlight the bands, fashions and people that embraced this era – spanning Postcard Records, Creation, C86, shoegaze, and the multifarious sub-scenes that sprouted in between.

“This era was my youth and I witnessed most of these bands live and experienced all of the youth fashion nuances as they morphed into one another first hand,” recalls author Sam Knee, who is originally from Leighon-Sea and went to Belfairs high school. Made up of photos, both amateur and professional, contributed from archives of original scenesters and band members of the time, it looks at the charity shop chic, anoraks, bowlcut hairdos, leather trousers, stripy tees and ‘60s threads that were so popular on the scene, and which are now making such a dramatic comeback. “It seemed like a subject I could approach with some genuine nous and compassion,” admits Sam, “also for some reason it had remained uncharted written territory, which for a vastly fascinating chapter in UK youth fashion music history is an absolute crime of omission.” The book features hundreds of previously unpublished photographs of bands including Primal Scream, Spacemen 3, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Talulah Gosh, Vaselines, The Pastels and countless others. Interviews and ramblings from members of The Pastels, Talulah Gosh and My Bloody Valentine make this a must have for musos and fashion aficionados alike. By Alex Norman

It’s all Greek to me! Introducing Ekaterina Botziou’s comical tale of her Greek family life

Ekaterina juggles life as a PA, actress and writer. The book initially stemmed from her quest to balance a Greek marriage with her own modern principles. We discussed her family and friends’ reactions as she strives to bring the traditional Greek woman into the 21st century, “I received positive reactions to my book but there has been negativity from those unable to take a light-hearted view; they see it as offensive rather than a humorous observation of my own heritage”. She gathered hilarious stories from family, friends and her Facebook page ‘The Greek Wives Club’, “The page began as a place for wives, partners and friends of Greek men to share amusing experiences and soon became a platform for my blog”. The project proved to be a cathartic affair while providing clarification; “Writing is a form of release and the research put my own experiences into perspective while discovering a few family secrets along the way!”

Ekaterina explains how feminism is perceived within the Greek community, is it possible for women to untie their apron strings in a traditional household? “As with many other strict cultures, feminism can be a sensitive topic. There is always opposition but some men and women are bringing a greater understanding and tolerance to the inequalities of certain societies”. Ekaterina observed how Greek children are raised, “I think there is a differ-

Greek Expectations: The Last Moussaka Standing by Ekaterina Botziou is available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon. By Ashlie Allen By Michelle Coomber Image courtesy of Ekaterina Botziou

Greek Expectations: The Last Moussaka Standing is a semi-autobiographical tale capturing Ekaterina Botziou’s comical experiences of Greek family life. Ekaterina hails from Leigh-on-Sea; her parents married in Greece but settled in England where her British mother was no longer under the constraints of her husband’s large Greek family. Ekaterina was encouraged to embrace her mixed heritage but fun-filled childhood visits to Greece also revealed another side to family life which made its mark on an impressionable young girl, “I experienced some of the strict cultural traditions but nothing can prepare you for the harsh reality of taking on a Greek man and his entire family!” A law graduate, who spins as many plates as she smashes,

ence between the family bonds of Greek boys and girls. There seems to be more pressure on a girl to uphold traditional values”. How did her Greek-Cypriot husband react to her book? “Despite being a Londoner, he values his heritage and traditions, so I didn’t discuss much of the book before I published it. Happily, he’s been very supportive but he’s worried about book two!” Ekaterina is refreshingly self-deprecating, “If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?” When asked how she would sum up her crazy life, she exclaims “It’s all Greek to me!”

Rediscover Reading Quick Reads brilliantly combine a reader-friendly format, with a range of interesting titles by best-selling authors. Quick Reads is an ongoing series of books specifically written to appeal to readers of all ages and abilities. The idea is to re-ignite people’s passion for reading when, in their day-to-day lives, they may have lost this, or may just not find the time. Quick Reads books are shorter than most novels, which in itself makes them less daunting to read, especially for someone with not so much time available for this. However, they may be shorter, but the stories are definitely no less enthralling. With genres including thrillers, romance,

drama and war in this current six-book series, and many others previously, finding a book that grabs your attention is not difficult. And to top things off, all of the books in the Quick Reads series are only £1 in price. Simon Wallace, Community & Diversity Manager at Southend Libraries said, ‘We use Quick Reads with many of our book groups. They are great as they are suit a wide range of abilities, and help people improve their reading as well as get used to talking about books. They are also brilliant for people taking the Six Book Challenge reading scheme and who might lack the confidence to take on a longer read.’

10 Things ALI: Fear Eats the Soul: The Forum Thursday 26th March

To coincide with Jemima Stehli’s exhibition The Forum will be screening a pair of films selected by the artist in the gallery’s project space. The second of these screenings is Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. An almost accidental romance is kindled between a German woman in her mid-sixties and a Moroccan migrant worker around twenty-five years younger. They abruptly decide to marry, appalling everyone around them. Tickets are FREE. Contact The Forum for details.

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Think you don’t have time to sit and read a book? Think again with the Quick Reads series

The Sea Word Michael Upton talks to Leigh based author and entrepreneur Audrey Snee about her venture Estuary Publishing which gives local authors a voice and tells the unique stories that make up the Thames Estuary

stuary Publishing, an imprint specialising in books associated with estuarine Kent and Essex, has recently released its third book EKCO SOUNDS : How a Southend Radio Maker Changed the World telling the history of the pioneering company and some of the thousands of people who worked there. For director Audrey Snee, the publishing business is the latest chapter in a lifetime passion for words “As a school girl I dreamt that one day I would be a foreign correspondent- although I wasn’t entirely sure what that entailed’, she explains. After completing a languages degree, Snee trained as a journalist. She added proficient Japanese to her Russian and French while working in PR in Tokyo for a Table tennis champion leading to several roles in international journalism -including foreign correspondent for Hong Kong South China Morning post. She describes her next role as a Senior Reporter at the Southend Echo as “really the most fun I’ve had at work”, relishing the opportunity to immerse herself in local issues. While working on a story about fishing she met Paul Gilson- who would become author of her first book, Sole Searching: Tales of A Thames Fisherman. “I asked Paul what he did to relax and he said I write. He was contemplating giving up being a fisherman. He’d always been told at school that his spelling and grammar were poorbut no one had recognised his gift as a storyteller.” Snee says. Impressed by Gilson’s short stories and poetry, the pair hatched the idea of a book. Around the same time local author Rachel Lichtenstein was putting together the Shorelines Literary Festival of The Sea. “She was looking for a local fisherman to speak and I told her Paul was working on a book and I was considering offering to get it published.” In that assumptive breath Estuary Publishing was born. Following a successful festival preview Sole Searching,

which also draws on sixth generation fisherman Gilson’s experiences as an environmentalist, lifeboat man, and skipper of the Endeavour has sold well UK wide Sole Searching was followed by Festival of the Gargoyles by Robert Hallman, a fantasy set in the 18th Century Thames Estuary area. Gargoyles was the first children’s book by Hallmann, who had specialised in true crime and local history. While the book is a first foray into fiction Snee explains its appeal to the Estuary imprint “Robert also introduces children to historical ideas and concepts – what it was like to be in this area in 18th century, the superstitions, the fear of smugglers.” The book has appealed to adults too, and a ‘Harry Potter’ style adult cover re-release may be in the works. At the heart of Estuary Publishing is a desire to tell local stories about the town, the region, its histories and people. “I’m publishing the kind

are completely overlooked”. But successful sales of EKCO, both locally and further afield suggest that that the tide may be turning. “Local reviews of the EKCO book have been excellent” she explains “and the signing at Waterstones in Southend proved popular”. A further local launch event at the EKCO social club was also well attended by local press, VIPs and former employees but the interest has been international too. “That’s partly because EKCO family has dispersed but also because the company had national and global impact.” She says there has also been praise from an online network of self-confessed radio geeks. “They

At the heart of Estuary Publishing is a desire to tell local stories about the town, the region, its histories and people

of books local people want to read, revealing new stories or adding depth to stories they thought they knew. What is it like to be a fisherman? What did EKCO do?” “All aspects of the publishing process are local too” adds Snee, “from photography by Paul Watson, design by Ian Hutchings, David Hurrell’s illustrations, printing by 4Edge through to the proof readers and the booksellers.” She is bewildered by the lack of value that people tend to attach to books. “They will fritter 10 pounds on a round of drinks but quibble over an eight pound book because it might be four pounds in the sale. The care put in to writing, editing, and photography

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

were even quick to spot that we used a Phillips radio on the cover- a deliberate nod to the eventual takeover” Drawing on the experiences of his family and employees, the book charts the 40 year journey of EKCO from its 1922 establishment by Eric Cole to becoming an influential international brand which produced the first car radio and portable television but also played pivotal roles in the birth of radar, equipping Britain’s first guided missile, monitoring the Nazis and even dabbling in ‘nucleonics’. The book came about when author Chris Poole approached Audrey with detailed documents about the history of EKCO,

The Winter’s Tale: Odeon, Southend Monday 28th April

Part of the ‘Special Screenings’ held at the Odeon, this ‘Odeon Plus Culture’ screening is Christopher Wheeldon’s collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot to create his first ballet based on a Shakespeare play, the late romance ‘The Winter’s Tale’. The performance, performed by The Royal Ballet, will be beamed in live from The Royal Opera House by satellite and using the latest state-of-the-art sound and digital projection technology. Tickets are available from the Odeon website (www.odeon.co.uk) under the Odeon Plus Culture link, and are priced at £15.50 for a standard adult ticket. More screenings of various shows are also available.

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

Audrey Snee, Director of Estuary Publishing, and Peter Brown, co-author of EKCO Sounds having worked there in its later years. Snee jumped at the opportunity, surprised to learn that 7000 local people had worked at the factory but no one had told its story until now. “Chris’ work was extensive but extremely factual and the idea was to help him extend the people side of the story”, she explains. Sadly Poole passed away while the book was being written and Peter Brown an aviation historian who had been helping with a parallel online project came on board to help complete the book. “He took the notes, re-interviewed some interviewees added depth and other dimensions to the work- finishing the book off. It was the realisation of a dying dream and the delivery on a promise.” Snee has a busy few months ahead. While making the most from her existing portfolio – ideas include a radio adaptation of EKCO and

Gargoyles the movie- she is promoting her own novel. The Tokyo Express, written under the pseudonym Una Rose, tells parallel love stories set in war torn Tokyo of the 40’s and Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami. She is also developing SWAN (Southend Writers and Artists Network) the sharing platform she set up for local creative people. She ends our conversation with a note of caution, “Don’t go into publishing for the money- it’s a labour of love.” Fortunately for the Estuary’s writers, her own great romance with words seems far from over. For more information about Estuary Publishing and their books visit www.estuarypublishing. co.uk Join SWAN on facebook: www.facebook. com/groups/SouthendWritersandArtistsNetwork/

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Glenn Godfrey

Images courtesy of Glenn Godfrey

Original, upbeat and energetic: they’re the three words rapper, singer and songwriter Glenn Godfrey uses to describe his distinctive style of music. His buoyant passion for his work is also more than evident when I speak to him as we discuss the artists who have made an impact on his songs. “I get influenced from everyone from McFly to James Arthur,” he says. “Even Eminem – he went through loads of struggles. He even got booed off stage, but you wouldn’t believe it now!”

Glenn, originally from Harlow but now living in Takely, started writing lyrics at the tender age of 13. From the age of 17 onwards, he worked on developing his musical style, before properly getting started at the age of 18. Now just 20 years old, he’s already ticked off some pretty big achievements. Performing on the main stage at Brownstock festival, Chelmsford, has arguably been his highest profile gig to date, as well as his biggest achievement. He was chosen out of 1000 people to share the Saturday stage with

acts such as Tom Odell, Devlin and headliner Professor Green. He was also asked to turn on the Christmas lights in Stoke-onTrent last November, after Signal 1 Radio heard his single ‘I am Young.’ It’s clear to me that his infectiously catchy music and zealous personality is opening doors for him – but that doesn’t stop him doubting himself. “I actually have enough songs written for three EPs,” he says, “But there’s always room for improvement.” Now with two singles under his belt, he’s working on his next song and planning to film the video soon. He’s also looking to make 2014 his biggest year yet, with more festivals and gigs coming up across Essex and beyond. Keep up-to-date with Glenn’s music at https://www.facebook.com/glenngodfreyofficial and http://www.youtube.com/artistgodfrey By Emily Ray

Bright Young Things 18 year-old singer songwriter, Amy Sergeant, takes the folk scene by storm

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her first album had reached number 17 in the Amazon folk charts? “I was so pleased!” she says. “I couldn’t believe it, the EP was created alongside doing my A-Levels but still a lot of time and effort went into it!” As brainy as she is ambitious, she’s currently studying Commercial Music at Bath Spa University, an all-encompassing course, she says, which covers “performing, writing and producing music as well as learning about the music business.” She’s also part of Bath-based jazz/ ska band Domino Collective which she set up as part of her degree with course mates. The six-piece band can regularly be found across venues in Bath, putting a reggae spin on songs such as Pink’s Get the Party Started

and Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t you Worry Child, with original material due out soon. And what of her plans for 2014? “I am currently working on writing and producing a new batch of songs so I may release these as another EP,” she

By Emily Ray

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Image courtesy of Amy Sergeant

She cites Carole King as one of her musical influences and her debut album reached the top 20 of the Amazon Folk Chart, sitting alongside giants including Eva Cassidy and Frank Turner: it’s fair to say that Amy Sergeant is not your average 18-year-old. Her relative success isn’t the only thing that sets her apart. A regular on the Southend gigging scene, self-written, understated songs including Chains and Uneven Ground ring out with mature tones you’d struggle to find in voices from performers twice her age. Testament to her commitment to the arts, the Thorpe Bay songstress started playing the guitar at the tender age of 11 and, by 15, she was writing, playing and singing her own folk music. By the time she’d finished her 6th form studies at Southend High School for Boys, she had released her debut single ‘Uneven Ground’, while her debut EP ‘Racing the Tide’ came out last July. How did she feel about finding

said. “I will also be doing lots of gigs in Essex when I am home from uni as well as focusing on my studies in Bath.” Ultimately, she says, she would like a stable career in the musical industry, either as a songwriter, artist or producer. Judging by her current track record, we wouldn’t rule out a successful career as all three. For more information on Amy’s forthcoming plans, and to download her latest single ‘Bite The Bullet’, visit www. facebook.com/AmySergeantMusic and follow her on Twitter at @ AmySergeant

Southend-on-Sea Film Festival returns for the sixth year with exclusive screenings of Peter Sellers’ ‘lost films’ By Darren Leach

STOP PRESS: The biggest film news of recent times is the discovery of ‘Lost’ Peter Sellers films. They were found in a skip during a clean out and were almost lost. Made in the mid 1950s the three comedy short films will be screened at opening Gala night, May 1st. Dearth of a Salesman, Cold Comfort and Insomnia Is Good For You were made in 1956 but not long after their initial release, mysteriously went missing and have not been screened since then. They were made when Peter Sellers was beginning his move from radio – no doubt you all know him from the highly successful The Goon Show – to films, where his true acting brilliance shone as the incompetent Inspector Clouseau in the hilarious Pink Panther films. There are no immediate plans for them to be shown anywhere else so head on over to Southend-On-Sea and help honour the memory of the great actor and comedian. According to Paul Cotgrove, he is hoping that there will be representatives of the Peter Sellers family in attendance, as many have contacted them for tickets. He also assured that there will be more celebrities at the Gala night with a Q&A

Archive Screenings: TAP (North Rd) Every Wednesday

These evenings are centred around The White Bus’s huge collection of 16mm and 35mm film which includes hundreds of documentaries, cartoons and short films as well as over 260 feature films. Starting at 7pm with an hour or so of documentaries and short films, followed by a feature film, these evenings are FREE of charge, although a £1 donation is encouraged as the screening are run by volunteers. The feature film titles are not usually announced in advance, as many of the patrons enjoy the ‘Secret Cinema’ approach. However, if you’d like to know what’s playing, please let David Simpson (at david@thewhitebus.org.uk) know and you can be added to the weekly group e-mail.

>> R E C O M M E N D E D

It’s not about the glitz and glamour, it’s about supporting the local community session, but it is too early to mention names. Be sure to keep an eye on their official website www.southendfilmfestival.com for all future updates.

2013 - Actor, Patrick Baladi (top left) with Southend Film Festival Director Paul Cotgrove (centre), and Director, Producer and DOP for the film N.F.A. (No Fixed Abode)

Photograph by Niki Cornish

ttention all film fans! Put May 1st to 5th in your diaries because the annual Southend-On-Sea film festival opens. And while the Southend-On-Sea film festival doesn’t have the same glitz and glamour of say the Cannes Film Festival, it sure brings its own to the party. The red carpet will be rolled out with many of the films cast and crew strutting their stuff down it. But this film festival isn’t about the glitz and glamour, it’s about supporting the local community. It all kicks off on Gala night on Thursday May 1st at The Southend Odeon. Then from Friday 2nd to Monday 5th you will see a fascinating collection of classics, World Cinema, audience favourites, new features and documentaries. While the Odeon is the only true local cinema, many venues will be transformed into makeshift cinemas over the course of the event. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of popcorn and other yummy treats to go around! Previous films have included Special People, Oil City Confidential, Room 36, Mamma Mia!, Day of the Triffids, Tintin and the 30th anniversary screening of The Long Good Friday featuring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. According to Festival Director Paul Cotgrove, as soon as the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival finishes each year, he sits down with the Festival Team and look at what films brought in the biggest audiences. From there they decide on how they programme the Festival for the following year. This discipline has served them well over the last five years, with audiences growing at every new Film Festival. The main festival will be held at the Park Inn Palace Hotel. Once again The White Bus company is organising and presenting the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. Before you ask, yes there is an actual old but trusty white bus! They specialise in film and video production, distribution and exhibition. They are heavily involved in education, running courses on subjects as varied as camera lighting, editing and scriptwriting. All in support of their local area. The Southend-On-Sea film festival – it turns a healthy six years old in 2014 – attracts its stars; Ray Winstone strutted his stuff on the red carpet whilst attending the second film festival in 2010 for his movie Fathers of Girls. Ray must have enjoyed his time so much that when asked to be Festival Patron, he had no hesitation in accepting the honour. There is also a chance to chat with some of the cast and crew with a special Q&A session; previous years have included gritty police drama SUS, urban drama Shifty and football drama Cass. Many of the cast and crew even introduce their own films!

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Gourmet Food at Café Prices - Southend’s Market Place plays host to a dining experience fit for By Niki Cornish the most discerning foodie

a cover of 50, including the outside dining in the summer months. The gourmet menu will be served in the newly designed quirky Boho style eatery, with a take away service just through the archway in the original seating area. Chef J personally sources his ingredients from local businesses, using Southend butchers, green grocers, fish mongers and bakers. He will, however be making his own pasta when the Deli expands sometime in early March. Having built up a rapport with other local businesses, Chef J offered each business a Chair For Life in his new dining area. Seating will be on an eclectic mix of chairs, each one having a unique etching, branding businesses and carrying the community spirit forward. The Market Place is an area close to my heart. Having worked in The Sun Rooms, ‘back in the day’, I have watched this area ebb and flow (although the waves would often end up swelling and come crashing into shore!). The Market Place has always lead the way with a passion for food and an unusual mix of drinks … cocktails, fruit beers, not to

Legend-deli 16 Market Place Southend on Sea SS1 1DA

Chef J of Legend Deli ! mention Fast Blast, an Bubble and Chic energy drink popular with The Sun Rooms bar staff working the night shift! I can honestly say, if you strolled down to The Market Place today, you wouldn’t be able to resist returning again and again.

‘Brain Food for Culture Vultures’

Photographs by Niki Cornish

eep in the underbelly of The Market Place, simmering away under its very core, lies LegendDeli. East End born Chef J opened his legendary doors twelve months ago and won the hearts of many a foodie, capturing their attention with his modern twist on gourmet food. A self confessed control freak in the kitchen, Chef J seeks perfection with an ever evolving menu and a personal slant on American Diner style dishes. What makes Legend Deli so unique is his private dining experience, offering gourmet dinners on Saturday nights. These evenings are tailored to meet your wildest desires. Chef J passionately told me about a game evening he was sourcing, offering a choice of bird or beast prepared in a revolutionary way. With a bench mark of £28.00 per head, for a three course meal. All this, whilst having the restaurant booked exclusively for your party, makes this is an affordable treat. Adding icing to the cake, Legend Deli invites you to bring your own bubbles or wine to the table – the Deli’s emphasis being on their carefully crafted food. A passionate host, once the food is prepared and served, Chef J is happy to attend the tables, talking through the food served that evening. Legend Deli is already laying plans to extend into next door, raising the covers from 10 to 30, potentially raising its seating to

Louise Ann Oldroyd checks out the new coffee house which is the hottest spot on the local writers’ trail...

, Anke’s Tea and Coffee Lounge

Once upon a time coffee house culture was known as a breeding ground for creativity - cafes were politically provocative and intellectually charged places where you’d find inspiration as well as damn good espresso! Think of London in the 1800s - Oscar Wilde pouring over the Yellow Book, or Montmartre in the early 20th Century - you might have seen Satre or De Beauvoir enjoying some Turkish coffee. Now Southend in 2014 is reinventing the coffee house with Anke’s Tea & Coffee Lounge, a great independent lounge with a lively atmosphere that welcomes creativity and real conversation. I dropped in for a hand-roasted coffee and a homemade slice of cheesecake (delicious!) to have a chat with Anke about her sanctuary away from the modern world. Anke is super enthusiastic about the lounge: “Anke’s has always been a dream of mine, the idea of a space for people to chat, share ideas and enjoy good food.” Modestly Anke believes it’s people who make the place - her customers and her excellent team of staff, she mentions people’s readiness to: “come together and talk to strangers” when they are there and I can can’t help but notice the atmosphere: there’s a small group of people talking intensely over notepads, a hip looking be-dreadlocked man drawing and several people enjoying the type of lively conversation unseen in generic coffee chains... The house also contributes to the local creative scene with a Writers’ Forum which is held fortnightly on a Thursday 2.30pm

and Sunday 2pm (details on their Facebook/ Twitter pages and in the shop window.) Each session deals with a different writing subject and one of the regulars describes it as unique, with “a group sitting inside in the corner reading the odd poem or a piece they have written - part of their life, but still laughing.

Anke’s is going to earn itself a place amongst the local cognoscenti for a very long time There is always a subject to talk about. Life is what you make it and Anke’s is the place to do that.” And so say all of us - it’s not Bohemia in Paris at the turn of the century, but we are living in Southend! Anke’s is warm and welcoming in all weathers though and you’re likely to find an interesting and articulate crowd... So why not pop along, sample their excellent coffee and home baked sourdough bread & play a board game? If you’re a writer and want some inspiration, visit their Writers’ Forum - something tells me Anke’s is going to earn itself a place amongst the local creative cognoscenti for a very long time. For details of the Writers’ Forum and Anke’s go to: www.facebook.com/ AnkesTeaAndCoffeeLounge or follow @555LondonRoad Anke’s Tea and Coffee Lounge, 555 London Road, SS0 9LJ

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With Summer on its way, what better way to appreciate the countryside than from 3,000 feet, gliding through the air?

ost people nowadays have, at some point in their lives, travelled aboard an aeroplane of some sort. But being a passenger in an engine driven aircraft solely as a means of transportation is a very different experience than actually having the opportunity to fly one of these crafts yourself. Then take away the engine, and you have a truly unique experience of gliding through the air with only the wind and thermals as your power. The closest club to Southend for this particular activity is the London Gliding Club in Dunstable. This is a friendly club with a nice little café to get some drinks and snacks while you wait, with a great view of the airfield. Having never been up in a glider before I wasn’t really sure what to expect. My understanding of aeronautics is pretty non-existent so although I knew that gliders ‘work’ and do stay up in the air, how to control this and keep gaining altitude without any form of engine power was beyond me. On my gliding day I was going up in a K21 craft, a two-person glider made from glass fibre and resin. There were two options for how to get the glider in the air. The first, a

uctions

Concentration needed: dashboard instr

winch launch, where the glider is attached to a cable and pulled up by a winch at high speeds. This all happens very quickly, and to be honest, looks a little scary due to the speed the craft is pulled up. The second is the aerotow, where the glider is attached to a motorised plane by a cable and towed from the ground to a height of around 2,000 feet. This takes around 4 minutes to achieve, the cable is then released freeing the glider. My method of launch was the aerotow taking the glider to a higher initial altitude therefore giving us a better chance of a longer flight. Before launching however, there were things I needed to learn. The dials on the craft were all in the front seat, which is where I would be sitting, so understanding what each of them meant so I could report this information back to my instructor was essential. Checking the altitude, the speed, the horizon line and the thermals was all going to be my responsibility. I also needed to learn the emergency procedure, as in which levers to pull and push to release the top off the craft, how to unattach myself from my harness, and how to jump and pull my parachute! And although my instructor pointed out that he had never had to use this procedure, my attention was definitely gained and I found myself repeating the sentence ‘pull the yellow lever, push the red one, twist the belt and JUMP!’ over and over in my head before take-off! Yes, this had made me nervous! The day I was booked in for my flight could not have been more perfect weather-wise; it was warm and sunny, but not too hot, with a blue sky scattered with clouds, which I now know is great for catching thermals. For those of you who don’t know (like myself before I did this), a thermal is a large stream of hot air rising

Photograph by Fran Heaver

Come Glide with me from the ground created by the warming of the surface through the sunlight. If this air contains enough moisture then it forms a cloud. And it is these thermals that create the lift needed to keep the glider in the air for a much longer time. Our take-off was very smooth, very quick, and very quiet. And although we were attached to an engine powered aircraft the distinct lack of noise from ours was very apparent. Once we were lifted to 2,000 feet and released, my instructor, Richard, took charge and found some thermals to give us some more altitude. The way of doing this is to find the thermal (indicated by a faster and louder beeping noise) and turn the craft in tight circles to basically lift it up. This was great, our altitude was rising and the view was magnificent… until the inevitable effects of the circling hit me; suddenly I was really hot, face getting sweaty and stomach feeling decidedly queasy! The circling was beginning to take its toll. Not one to let such a tiny issue spoil things, I decided to keep quiet, I wanted to go higher and if this was the way to do it, then so be it! After we had gained a decent amount of altitude Richard demonstrated the controls to me and let me have a go at flying whilst explaining how to gain speed (nose down), how to slow down (nose up, not too much though otherwise we could stall!) and left and right for turning and circling. This sounds easy, and actually it is, once you get the hang of the capabilities of the aircraft (I for one was not in any hurry to accidentally stall an unpowered aircraft on my first flight!). After my initial tentative attempt at the controls, I found myself over a thermal. Richard told me where to steer and I did as I was told. Now this was fun! I continued to look out for the clouds, listen out for the beeping and managed to catch thermal after thermal

Suddenly I was really hot, face getting sweaty and stomach feeling decidedly queasy!

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Instructor, Richard, explains the dials and switches on the dashboard

SAVING MR BANKS: The Palace Theatre Sunday 25th May

My reaction to the emergency procedure instructions!

with no instruction necessary, seriously, this was fun, I was flying this thing with no help or instruction! It also turns out that when controlling the glider myself, the sickness subsided. Before launching I was told to expect maybe a 20 or 25 minute flight. Being in the air with no watch made it very easy to lose track of time, I had my concentrating head on and so, if you’ll excuse the pun, time really did fly! Richard seemed very pleased with my progress and was happy for me to just keep flying around finding thermals until it got to the point where his next session was due. He allowed me to fly the glider back and line it up with the airfield and take it down to 500 feet, where he told me legally he had to take over. Within a minute or so we were on the ground again. It turns out I was in the air for around 42 minutes altogether, something which I am told is very unusual for a first lesson. I have to say I was very proud of myself after hearing Richard’s comments stating, ‘I have to say that I don’t think I’ve flown anybody that has done so well on a first flight, she was absolutely fabulous!’ It really does go to show that until you give something a try you really don’t know what you can achieve. Although admittedly when the idea was put to me of getting lunch in the canteen straight after my flight I had to postpone for half an hour due to a regained queasiness. But hey, that’s a small price to pay for such an exhilarating experience. www.londonglidingclub.co.uk

Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar winner Tom Hanks star in Disney’s Saving Mr Banks, inspired by the extraordinary untold tale of how one of the most beloved stories of all time, Mary Poppins, was brought to the big screen. The film starts at 7:30pm but the bar opens at 6pm, in plenty of time for a drink and chat before the performance. Who says that cinema is not a sociable passtime? Tickets are £6 (£1.50 booking fee for non-cash purchases). For more information visit southendtheatres. org.uk

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Photograph by Niki Cornish

orror-on-Sea, now having run for the past two years, is becoming much more than just a film festival showing horrors. This year, Silent Studios, a local specialist zombie and horror group, not only showcased trailers for their upcoming short films, but spent the weekend ‘horror-fying’ up both themselves and members of the public with their extremely talented SFX team. Any unsuspecting visitors to The Park Inn Palace (home to the festival for the weekend) must surely have been more than a little surprised to find the abundance of zombies and horror characters wandering the corridors of the building!

Festival Director, Paul Cotgrove, with the cast of Evil Bread

Along with the addition of Silent Studios’ SFX team, the festival also included extra stalls selling comics, videos, DVDs, Bluerays, horror-inspired jewellery, and even a full-sized coffin! The programming of this year’s festival was the responsibility of organisers, The White Bus, and was chosen from the many submitted films sent in to them. The purpose of this festival is to showcase films which do not have national distribution and which may otherwise not get any public showing. What this means is that it is extremely unlikely that you will have seen any of the films prior to the festival, and you never know what you’re going to get! The genres depend entirely on what people submit, and these can be anything from psychological thrillers, to zombies, to the supernatural and so on. And getting to view independent, low-budget cinema, on a large screen is a unique and interesting experience. Personnally I enjoyed most of the films for various different reasons; some just for the sheer time, effort and imagination that has gone into them, and others for the special effects and tension-building tactics. But whatever the reason, I find watching all of these films highly inspiring and find myself seriously wishing I could get involved in a production. Next year’s festival will run from Friday 23rd, to Sunday 25th, January at The Park Inn Palace Hotel. Save the date, it’ll be worth it!

ALL NIGHTER: The Railway Hotel

10 Things Sunday 4th-5th May

#10

Once again The Railway Hotel plays host to this year’s All-Nighter as part of the Southend Film Festival. This year the films being shown are Braindead, a 1992 New Zealand zombie horror comedy gore film, Peeping Tom, a 1960 British thriller film directed by Michael Powell, Gimme Shelter, a 2013 independent drama film, based on a true story, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, a 1959 science-fiction/horror film directed by Joseph Green, and Do The Right Thing, a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sleeping bag, and any who make it all the way through until the morning will receive a free breakfast!

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Alternative Cinema Events

Horror-on-Sea

10 Things

Theatre News News and plans for the upcoming months We are sorry to say goodbye to our long standing chaiman Florrie Holland she has served the local arts in the town for many years she will be missed. Our AGM will be held on Monday 9th June at the Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre, we will welcome our new Treasurer David Shaer and new Written Word rep Ann Robson. We also have official launch of our new website. Other events this year will be the Book and Arts Fair on Sat 4th October and the Visual Arts Exhibition both at the Forum, Southend on Sea.

East 15, Clifftown Theatre Photograph by Andrew H Williams

Southend Arts Council

A chance to catch up with what’s been happening, and what’s new in our local theatre groups

Gormenghast

‘Hiding in plain sight’, as the saying goes, is the Clifftown Theatre; a converted gothic church which stands towering and ornate in the very heart of Southend’s conservation area and which is home to the internationally renowned East 15 Acting School. The theatre’s motto is ‘Rewarding the Curious’, and state-ofthe-art Clifftown offers exactly that; providing a refreshing alternative to local ‘traditional’ productions since 2010. As in previous years, our most recent season has dazzled and impressed, from the macabre to the heart wrenching, from a carnival of colour to political piety, from alluring trapeze performances to dystopian clowns, our Spring Season has charmed and inspired our audiences who return each season hungry for more; and with new plays by professional playwrights commissioned and directed by international theatre directors, it is easy to

Audition Information Scoob Productions are holding auditions for ‘The Evil League Ball’. We are looking for the male lead title role. This applicant must be able to sing as they will be required to sing three solo’s and four accompanied numbers. We are also looking for additional extras including actors, singers and dancers. Prior performance experience is not essential but enthusiasm and a sense of humour are most welcome. Four evening performances are planned for October half term with rehearsals on Tuesdays or Thursdays plus Sunday afternoons nearer to the performance run. For more information please email level-4@hotmail.co.uk and also lisa_ poet@yahoo.co.uk We very much look forward to meeting you!

understand their hunger. Our upcoming summer season is no exception, including such spectacles as the intensely physical production of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ opening on Thursday 29th May and gothic fairy-tale worlds, opening on Thursday 8th May, created by the director that brought our audiences the highly acclaimed ‘Ghosts of the Mary Rose’ in 2012. Clifftown also prides itself on the professional touring work that it receives, most recently ‘WASTED’ by Kate Tempest and performed by Paines Plough, but also live radio recordings by the BBC, including work by much loved stand-up comedian Russell Kane, and looking to the future, an intriguingly dark and challenging piece called ‘I Had a Black Dog’ by Small Nose Theatre Company in conjunction with MIND. The theatre is also proud to host events for local businesses and arts based ventures, including the Southend Film Festival, providing a venue for local charity organisations including the YMCA, MIND and various Rotary organisations, as well as offering high-tech and low fee performance facilities to local dance schools and drama groups looking for a venue that is a little less ordinary. So if you too are looking for theatre to tease, delight and charm your creative cravings, then look no further than the Clifftown Theatre: www.clifftowntheatre.co.uk

The Scoobs NEED YOU! The Scoobs are a local amateur dramatics group who got together last year to produce a musical theatre show held at The Railway Hotel, Southend. The show, held last October, proved to be so successful (with two sold out performances) that the group decided they wanted to continue producing musical theatre shows at The Railway Hotel, Southend. Currently The Scoobs have started working on a new show, ‘The Evil League Ball’, which will combine live music and songs, interwoven with the story of their (The Evil League’s) newest member’s journey into the League. The show will have an evil cabaret feel to the performance with a gothic/comedy/ super-villain theme running throughout. Audience members will also be encouraged to invent their personal super-villain personas and turn up in costume on the night. The Scoobs are a small group of perdominantly musicians who had little experience of theatre performance prior to their first show last year. However, with the help and advice of some local experienced thespians, the group learnt a lot in a short time and are

Performance at The Railway Hotel

intending to put their new skills to good use in this next performance. ‘The Evil League Ball’ still has some parts to fill (including the lead role) and The Scoobs are looking for actors, singers, dancers and anyone else interested in getting involved in this show. If this is of interest to you and you would like to find out more, please contact level-4@ hotmail.co.uk and/or lisa_poet@yahoo.co.uk.

To advertise in Level 4 Magazine email level-4@hotmail.co.uk

The Railway Hotel Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 1AJ Phone: 01702 343194 3rd May - Schizophonics 15th May - Barrabce Whitfield and the Savages 24th May King Automatic Mondays - Regualar Monday night film club/writing club Tuesdays - Bluesday Tuesday Wednesdays - Jazz Shangri will not be on during April and May, but we will have live music in the bar. Different bands each week. To find out what bands, visit our website www.railwayhotelsos.co.uk

Summer Ball

Featuring Carols Crew Tickets £5

Sat 19th Jul 2014 : : 19:30-12:00 Celebrate summer with an evening of elegance and great music. Bucks Fizz on arrival followed by a sumptuous 5 course banquet. Featuring a tribute to Elvis and Dean Martin by the fabulous Neil Duncan. With DJ John Watson

Park View Suite, Chalkwell Park, Westcliff on Sea SS0 8NB. 01702 483900

Tickets £35.00 Dress to impress Doors 7.30 till late Contact: Park View Suite 01702 483900

3rd Thursday every month

Lindisfarne Players present

The Miser by Moliere

4th May The Ivory Rooms Billericay Doors 6.30pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Dana Alexander 30th May The Woodman’s Arms Thundersley Doors 7pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Luke Benson 1st June The Ivory Rooms Billericay Doors 6.30pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Quincy - The UK Tour

27th June The Woodman’s Arms Thundersley Doors 7pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Philberto 6th July The Ivory Rooms Billericay Doors 6.30pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Mitch Benn 25th July The Woodman’s Arms Thundersley Doors 7pm - Tickets £10 Headliner: Wes Zaharuk

www.thelaughingpod.com

Mon 26 - Sat 31 May Cliffs Pavilion

Station Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. SS0 7RA

Wed 25 - Sat 28 Jun

Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre

The Joker Comedy Club brings 28 years of heritage to the Park View. The club that launched many of the UK’s finest comedy stars delivers a fantastic line-up for 2014 Friday 27th June at 9pm Mc Martin Davis, Justin Panks, Pete Cain and Rudi Lickwood. (Tickets £8 in advance from park view or via www. wegottickets.com or £10 on the door)

Saturday 12th July Joker on the Green (Tickets and show details coming soon)

RHS Garden Hyde Hall Creephedge Lane, Rettendon CM3 8ET

May 2014 Sat 3rd / Sun 4th / Mon 5th Open: 10am - 5pm

A celebration of contemporary craft at this stunning Essex venue. Art, photography, ceramics, jewellery, textiles and more; with exhibitor demonstrations throughout the weekend. Ample parking / Disabled access / Refreshments

@essexcraft Proud to be a part of

Admission included with normal garden entry RHS Members FREE (See website for details)

email: info@essexcraftanddesignshow.com

tel: 07944 806 340

essexcraftanddesignshow.com