"So what's an old punk rocker doing playing in a
band like this?"
I
actually think that punk and especially
post-punk music, which I grew up with through my
most impressionable years, was and is very close
to the ideals of folk. They seem to meet here.
Punk and post-punk artists wrote songs about how
they felt at the time - seeing the changing
times and the political injustices at that time.
(As well as many, many nonsense songs!)
I was born and grew up on a council estate, and
went to a rough comprehensive school in Rainham
Kent. It came to ‘option’ time to choose my
CSE’S - I went for Music and Drama because I had
a strong interest, and I thought they would be a
good doss! There were only three of us in the
music course, and the head of music of the
school taught us at the time. He was always too
busy to be bothered with the three of us. He
just left us to play musical instruments,
guitars, pianos school drums and records! Cool I
thought, until he left and we got a new head of
music and he thought we knew much more than we
did! He also soon realised we were a lost cause
and also left us to our own devices.
After
getting chucked out of my piano lessons for not
practising what I was told to (sorry to waste all
that money mum) I got my first electric guitar when
I was 12. I just took this to school and locked
myself in one of the small practice rooms in the
music block. My father had an amplifier made for me
by my uncle, it was a small box and was about 5
watts power, and had one input, a volume and tone!
The great thing about this little box was that if I
turned it up it distorted!
The
music around me at the time was - The Clash, Stiff
Little Fingers, Chelsea, The Undertones, Stranglers,
Sex Pistols etc! I played in many punk bands in and
around Medway, and also during my year in Plymouth
(which is all a bit of a blur! I was drunk/stoned
most of the time). When I returned, I started
playing with my long term friend and drummer, Andy
Baker.
Around this time we recorded some punky songs in our
friend Mac’s flat in Croydon above a Kentucky Fried
Chicken, on a four-track recorder! In the evening we
went to what was then called ‘The Underground Club’
and saw a brilliant band called ‘The Folk Devils’ -
this band got me thinking!
When
I met my partner she introduced me to New Model
Army, and 999, (The Pogues and Oysterband and The
Men They Couldn’t Hang were also around at this
time) and then Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span,
The Dubliners - these bands affected me deeply! I
remember going to see New Model Army at Brixton and
The Levellers were the support band. I thought they
were brilliant. We still love these bands now!
(Strange though; we never thought that we would
record our albums at The Levellers’ own studio in
Brighton)
The first folk song that I wrote was when I was
playing with my post-punk three-piece called ‘In Our
blood’. I saw Mike Harding on TV one night, singing
and playing his guitar. At the same time Billy Bragg
was doing the rounds. After seeing these excellent
talents I was inspired to write folk/folk-esque
songs. I soon realised also that if I stripped down
the punk/post-punk songs I had written, they would,
or certainly could, work as great folk songs once
they were in their purest form.
So my
first concerted effort to write a 'folky' sounding
song from scratch, was a song I wrote about World
War Two Lancaster bomber pilots called ‘Bombers
Moon’ The song had a great haunting feel to it.
Shortly after the collapse of 'In Our Blood' I
formed Folk/Rock/Celtic/Punky band ‘Prides Purge’,
with Andy on drums again, and also with Ted Can't
Hear Ya's former member and old friend - Tim Sumner, on fiddle. We all got in to playing
punky folk stuff similar to the Levellers around
1992/93. After two stressful and hectic years
'Prides Purge' we split, but I found I felt
comfortable and excited about this sort of sound.
I
formed Ted Can't Hear Ya' a couple of years after
this; although I had vowed not to be involved in
such a potentially big band again. But after all
these years, it has become blatantly obvious to me
that music and folk/folk-rock/punk runs deep in my
veins - why? I can't explain; but I do know that I
simply couldn't live without playing and writing
songs.
It’s
a communication thing - I love communicating with
people through our music and songs. Whilst paying
homage to the thousands of hugely talented artist
that have done this before me, and still do it.
Some of whom I have been lucky enough to have
interviewed over my radio broadcasting career and for
www.folking.com
and
! hope to continue to do so! I also hope that this
tradition continues; through my daughters and their
children’s children!
Seven
years on, and one line-up change later - I love what
we do in 'Ted Can't Hear Ya' - we all do, and we
hope that you the audience enjoy our music as much
as we enjoy playing it! I am so lucky that I still
find writing and performing songs as inspiring and
enjoyable as I ever did - long may it continue!
Thank
you for reading this - I hope you are still awake!
Paul
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