This was a rescheduled gig from before the pandemic, and was an absolute pleasure to do. Guy and Matt, two lecturers at the University of Westminster, have made the decision not only to document the music heritage of the former Polytechnic of Central London, but also to revive its live music tradition.
Back in the day there was a thriving University music circuit, predominantly run by Student's Unions. Even when I started lecturing, the neoliberalisation of even Student's Unions had started- sharing websites and communications, for instance. Gradually, the live music circuit on campuses has died and an outlet for live musicians has dried up.
So here, in this tiny venue, is a real grassroots initiative, supported by Independent Venue Week in this case. In the 1980s, Helen and the Horns played at PCL and I think The Chefs might have done too (must check with James!). Yes and Jimi Hendrix plus a host of other musicians. Apparently Pink Floyd used this room for rehearsals, and there was once a miniature theatre here too.
Guy and Matt are putting on a lot of events here, mostly with a focus on ex-students and staff. On Monday Sherika Sherrard played to a full house. When I was a lecturer there, I entered Sherika in the Musicians' Benevolent Fund Songwriting Competition and she quite deservedly won. I've watched her career progress on her own terms since then; she is a proper grassroots performer and still busks alongside her more formal career as a singer songwriter.
Well, we got there at 12 to set up and plan the flow of the afternoon. Film 1 p.m., Q&A after the film for 15-20 minutes, short break, then live music till 3. Would anyone show up? Late lunchtime gigs are a new thing for me. But the first two people who came in both had copies of The Lost Women of Rock Music and asked me to sign them, which was a good omen. Then Kate Hayes from the Brighton punk band The Objekts arrived all the way from Norwich, and the room started to fill up. There was Yen, an ex-student from the Westminster music course and now teaching Creative Writing; there was my Champagne Friend, and there was Chris Plummer. It completely filled up, mostly with people I've never seen at my gigs before.
I'd hoped to nip out for a coffee before the film started, but was trapped at one side and sat through it again. Actually, though I've watched it scores of times I still like it. There are bits I wish we'd done differently, but it is a product of its time and place and I still can't believe that we managed to get it off the ground with so little money behind us. Proper DIY, just like punk. I am proud of what Gina and me did.
Afterwards Guy chaired a quick Q&A of really perceptive questions from audience members that gave me a lot of food for thought. At the end, he asked me if I was going to make another film. No I am not, though Gina is making a film about The Raincoats. I think I'd like to make some radio shows, using the audio from our interviews; I'd also like to do the same with the interviews from She's at the Controls, but 'no' to podcasts. I don't listen to them: I like the idea of radio being a medium where information is contextualised and frequently presented live. Podcasts: life's too short to stuff a mushroom as the late Shirley Conran said.
Then it was music time! They haven't yet got monitors, and I had to keep an eye on my guitar playing to make sure that my fingers and hands were in the right place on my guitar. That's one of the drawbacks of playing electric: there's no ambient sound around you to tell you what's happening with the music. However I soon got used to it. I'd thought people had only come for the film but they all hung around for my set too, and I got a really great reception which I really wasn't expecting. I played Women of the World, which I rarely do live. It turned out later that some of the people in the audience had been Helen and the Horns fans, and chatting with them afterwards was really fun. At the end a few of us went off for coffee and more talking, What a lovely afternoon! I really hadn't expected so many people, and such a positive reception. It was grey and miserable out there, but warm and cosy in the venue.
Guy and Matt, you're doing an amazing job. It was well worth the planning, and proof that it's possible to put events on even in the middle of London with all its distractions and Better Things To Do going on. I was also blown away by the travelling some of the people had done- Norwich, Colchester, Brighton, Littlehampton and another faraway place which I can't remember because of all the talking.
January, I love you.
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