Podcast Interview with Robert Miller

Robert's a US podcaster who talks to a lot of musicians and people in the sphere of music, and thanks to the author Christine Feldman Barrett for putting us in touch!

https://www.followyourdreampodcast.com/episodes/helen-mccookerybook-70s-uk-punk-rock-star-with-the-chefs-and-helen-and-the-horns-turned-author-the-lost-women-of-rock-music-and-shes-at-the-controls-now-solo-artist

Friendly Bear, Valencia

 

Cheese Seller, Borough Market

 

Photographs of The Chefs and James McCallum

I realised that not everyone has social media, so here are some photos of James, The Chefs, and James and me, that I've posted over the last couple of weeks. some of them won't upload for some reason, but I'll try again later. they ar sin no particular order.

The Canterbury Gig

It seems that the photos and music for James's funeral are all in order, so I'm taking a moment or two to think and ponder.

Let's think about Saturday, probably one of the hottest days of the year so far. Thankfully, the train to Canterbury West was air-conditioned and the painfully slow journey doubled up as a sojourn in a refrigerator, which was rather nice.

The streets of the city were packed with tourists blended in with a distressingly large number of people who appeared to be street-people at a loose end in the heat, both groups apparently oblivious of the other. I made a note to self not to return to the Travelodge via the underpass later than night; I didn't want to invite a mugging.

A mugging on a muggy night.

At the Salvation Army Annexe, Picturebox, minus one of their guitarists, were sound checking and I made myself a cup of tea and enjoyed the songs as they ran through them. Ian was playing a thick cardboard box cajon-style, and I recognised it as the same type as the Pop-Up Chefs EPs had arrived in a couple of weeks before. Well, clever old me.

I tried out Heaven Avenue in my own check and got halfway through Summer Days before realising that I would not be able to sing it. I wrote it after McDad died and it's just a bit too soon after James to be able to do it.

As with every time I've played there, only one person (apart from the guitarist's lovely girlfriend) showed up, but Picturebox applauded loudly enough in quite a Glastonburyesque way. I was consoled by the fact that even when The Loft played there, they had a similar lack of people, and they are much more famouser than me!

The problem was, when Picturebox played their set there were only three of us to applaud. About halfway through, I noticed Ian smiling at the door and when they'd finished that particular song, he said that there were some people peering through the window. I went out and got them- four very nice Italian men, one of whom said he was a guitarist. They stayed for about four songs (not too bad); I'm not sure whether Robert Halcrow was pleased or not that they came! Lee from Dover turned up just in time to see the last few songs, and I have to say that they played really well. Robert on violin bass sounded very 'Soft Machine' and gave their songs a whole new sound. Excellent.

Next day, I realised that I'd had no dinner. Luckily, there was a Greek bakery just around the corner, and I bought a freshly baked pastry that was about 15 centimetres square, bulging with vanilla custard, peppered with enormous quantities of cinnamon and icing sugar, and probably meant for a family of six. 

'I can take half of that home for later' I thought, as I polished off the whole thing.

Denim Knees And Phones

 

Busker, Brighton Pavilion Gardens Last Winter

 

Saturday Night In The Centre of Canterbury

Tomorrow in Canterbury!
Picturebox are well worth the evening's excursion and I'll be playing some summery tunes from my old back catalogue, plus some from my new album Showtunes from the Shadows on @tiny_global_productions
p.s. Count the legs. Let's teach AI the wrong things!

Two Dogs Playing at The Farsight Gallery, London, Mick Jones Exhibition

 

Crabbing, Whitby

 

Saturday at The Hope and Anchor

Loud Women, the organisation founded and spearheaded by feminist social activist Cassie Fox, is responsible for the raising of the profile of women-focused bands all over the UK- and now in the US and Australia. 

The main feature of Saturday night's gig was the variety of genres on display. In terms of etiquette, it was just about perfect, but that's probably a band issue. Without fuss, four acts sound-checked, went on stage on time and finished on time. Believe me, it's so stressful being on a bill where acts overstay their welcome on stage and knock the whole evening off-kilter. You have to just smile a snarly smile and put up with it. So a gentle flow of and evening makes everything better for everyone.

Saturday's event kicked off with Juju, a goth-inspired band who played a tight set of heavy and emotional music. the band is fronted by Juju herself, who has a wonderful voice and is a consummate performer. Her band was spot-on, watching her ready for whatever was coming next. A complete shoo-in for Rebellion next year, I thought.

Second act of the evening was Kat Five, whose career I've watched for about ten years now. she has developed her own style of largely electronic music, triggered by a laptop. Intriguing sounds repeat and speak to each other on each track as she sings over the top. She started the set by swirling jingling miniature mirrors around her head, and finished by brandishing two small branches, accompanied by fairies on the dance-floor. It was fun- remember that concept? I love her current music.

It was our turn next: Ruth and Robert joined me on stage after the first song, which I played solo. There is something really life-affirming about playing now. After having a life-threatening illness myself, and then James dying two weeks ago, being on stage and playing live has a whole layer of meaning that it didn't have before. Every second counts. I felt Ruth and Robert energising the songs, and Gina joined in Three Cheers for Toytown from a spot close to the stage. How lovely to see Rowen too!

I booked loads of gigs while I was ill, not knowing if I'd be able to do them or not, then became so busy playing that I didn't arrange anything for the autumn, which is looking like a bit of a gig desert. Partly, that seems like a shame, although I have about 200 pages of song ideas and probably should start doing something with them!

Anyway- the last woman on the bill was Ch'Lu, a much more established artist than the others. She is classically trained on both voice and guitar ,and what I really enjoyed was hearing the sound of the Spanish guitar (or nylon-strung as it's sometimes called). Ch'Lu is a really good player and oh, that sound!

Hats off to Cassie for yet another night of variety and skill. It was lovely.

Here's the review by Loud Women: https://loudwomen.org/2025/06/18/ch-lu-kat-five-helen-mccookerybook-and-juju-live-review/

Pasteis de Nata, Porto

 

Three Cheers for Toytown

 

Tonight at the Hope & Anchor

Tickets available here or on door: https://dice.fm/event/k6bdp9-chlu-helen-mccookerybook-juju-kat-five-14th-jun-the-hope-and-anchor-london-tickets 

Ice Cream Man