Bands come together for Medway Foodbank
Plus Medway artist illustrated David Lynch analysis, Independent Bookshop Week, we review Sotto Lounge, our weekly events guide, and more
Later this month, eight bands will come together to play an all-day music event to raise money for Medway Foodbank. We’ve been talking to the team behind it at Careful Now Promotions to learn more. Further down, we have news of a Medway artist’s book and exhibition that tackles David Lynch’s Eraserhead, we talk book clubs with Patrick Fysh from Store 104, we review Sotto Lounge in Chatham, and we have our weekly events guide. Let’s get to it.
Bands come together for Medway Foodbank
Medway’s premier music promoters, Careful Now Promotions, are hosting their first all-day music event on 28 June to raise money for Medway Foodbank. We caught up with Colin Chapman and Robin Halls to find out more about it…
Careful Now Promotions was set up by “two idiots to put on gigs for bands we like,” says Colin. “People always say we're promoters,” adds Robin, “but that always sounds too grand.” They are ‘promoting’ their first all-dayer (“we say all-dayer, but it doesn't start till two”) on 28 June at the Oast Community Centre in Rainham.
“Like everything we do, it's because we fancied it,” says Colin. Colin freely admits to nagging Robin into agreeing to put on the event, “because they're good fun to go to.” They have discussed putting on similar events before at outdoor venues. “Were we going to go to a Donkey Sanctuary at one point?” asks Robin. Colin laughs, remembering the plan to do an event at an animal sanctuary that sadly did not materialise.
For Robin, a standard evening out, which features seeing two bands, often leaves people with a feeling of “if only this went on for a bit longer.” They are also raising money for Medway Foodbank and collecting food on the night. Colin explains that “a few days before the gig, we will highlight suggested items that Medway Foodbank are particularly interested in. We don't really want people to bring 48 tins of beans. They could bring another packet of toothbrushes because that's probably a bit easier to transport.”
Tickets for the event are £18 in advance and £21 on the day. “Sounds a lot,” says Colin, “but you get eight fantastic bands for that. The actual price per band is cheaper than our normal gigs.” Ever the teacher, Robin suggests, “Maybe we should have put the formula on the website. Put the maths out there for people to see.” As well as donating money to charity, Careful Now is also paying bands for their time. “Probably not as much as we would normally pay bands at this level,” says Colin. “They know there's not much money around.” Thankfully, all the musicians taking part are supportive of the event and keen to take part.
The event kicks off with The Love Family doing an acoustic set, followed Little Storping in the Swuff, which is “Dave Goggin doing his great stuff that we've had before.” They then have new band Tomboy Grandpa, “who feature people who've played for us before.” Then there is Caleb Nicholls, who has never played a Careful Now gig before. “We've not been able to work it out before with him”. Then is the all-important dinner break, “because we've been to an all-day festival and there's no time to eat,” says Colin, “but we want people to drink beer as well because that's how the Oast raise their money.” Feeding people is probably a good idea.
They are still working out the finer details of how food will be available. They are hoping to be able to offer food at the venue that people can buy, but at the time of our conversation, they had not heard back from the catering company. If food isn't available, “there's a chip shop at the end of the road that does good business when we do gigs there”, says Colin. “Some bands really like that.” There are a few places around that people will be able to go and get back within the hour. “We just thought it'd be quite nice if we could provide something on-site,” says Robin. “We will try”. Colin suggests there might be an app that people could use to order something to have it delivered, but that sounds like witchcraft.
After the dinner break, there are more bands, including Ski Lift and Sassyhiya, alongside the return of Ascoyne d’ Ascoynes, “who've not played for us before because they haven't played any gigs for 30 years.” Topping the bill is Tugboat Captain, “who just released their fantastic second album.” Overall, it’s a mixture of old friends and new friends, of Medway bands and musicians from mysterious other places.
An afternoon and evening to support small music venues, smaller bands and food banks. “There's going to be music and beer. what else do want to do on a Saturday?” It will also be the first gig at the Oast’s new and improved refurbished bar, with new flooring and a brand-new stage for the bands to play on. “Even people that have been to lots of our gigs, there's something new for them.”
You can buy tickets for the Careful Now Promotions all-dayer via WeGotTickets.
Medway artist illustrates analysis of cult Lynch film
Medway artist Darryl Hartley has written and illustrated an analysis of the David Lynch surrealist film Eraserhead entitled In Heaven. His illustrations will be displayed at Analogue Music as part of Medway Open Studios, so we spoke to him to learn more…
Like many recent creative works, Darryl’s book started off as a lockdown project. “I've always been a bit of a fan, not necessarily of that film, but a David Lynch fan,” he says. Eraserhead has been open to interpretation and analysed extensively since its release in 1977. If you haven’t seen it, the plot is something like: Henry, played by Jack Nance, lives in a bleak apartment, troubled by a disfigured lady who lives inside a radiator and surrounded by industrial dystopia. When a fling with Mary X leads to pregnancy, they move in together. Then the baby is a bizarre lizard creature that won’t stop crying.
Unexpectedly, the film is not widely available on streaming, but it can be rented from Apple TV. You should, however, find it and experience it. Ed’s mum says that it is “exceptionally good.” Darryl backs her up. “It's a classic cult movie.” Having spent time writing his analysis of what the film is actually about during lockdown, he then decided to illustrate it. He considered self-publishing it via an online service before Spinout Nuggets’ Lee Grimshaw agreed to release the book.
It was one of Stanley Kubrick’s favourite films, who said it was the closest he had seen to a nightmare on screen. Darryl acknowledges that what he thinks about the film has changed since he wrote the book. “I think that really is, in essence, what's supposed to happen anyway with a film like that, or any films that David Lynch has directed and written because they're very personal and they're very much open to interpretation. Whatever you think they're about, someone else will have a different kind of meaning.”
The book is Darryl’s explanation of what he believes is happening, what things mean and “probably could be right, probably wrong.” Darryl says that he doesn’t think “there really is any wrong answer to what you take from it.” Not only is this the first published analysis that Darryl has done, but it’s also his first published book of any kind. “I'm a bit of a geek boy, and I like films that challenge, that some people actually find infuriating.”
Darryl has considered doing a follow-up for other David Lynch films, but at the moment, there is just this one, which he is proud of. Copies of the book will be available at Analogue Records in July while the original artwork is exhibited.
It’s Independent Bookshop Week!
Saturday is the start of Independent Bookshop Week, undoubtedly one of the most important weeks of the year. As well as highlighting that bookshops play a vital role in communities, they are also a great place to find the best things to read this summer. An excellent way this Venn diagram crosses over is through book clubs, so we spoke to Patrick at Store 104 about their successful book club, which has been running since their first year…
“We meet on the first Wednesday of the month in the café, Leonard’s,” says Patrick. They are currently reading Bellies by Nicola Dinan, and each month the group choose from a shortlist on a theme. They are also starting an LGBTQ+ book club in July, where they will be reading Carol by Patricia Highsmith.
”People love our book club because we read a wide range of genres. We read a lot of work that people would otherwise not pick up and that the discussion sticks to the book, not just gossip!” If you’d like to join 30 regular members and others who appear ad hoc or use the group as a reading suggestion each month, then head down to Store 104. “No one is required to talk, but everyone is welcome to if they'd like. All we require is that you buy the book from us if you're able to.”
Out to Lunch: Sotto Lounge in Chatham
Chatham Dockside’s new place to be, Sotto Lounge, is a corner unit opposite Starbucks and Wagamama. It is large, spacious and welcoming, with friendly staff, a book swap corner, and you can choose between sofas or chairs. What makes Sotto Lounge stand out is unlike an increasing number of venues, you do actually feel welcome to stay. To lounge, as it were.
There is an app-based ordering system as well as bar service, though thankfully, as you are lounging, they serve to the table. As has been well established by now, I can’t ignore a small plate offering, even if they call it tapas and charge extra. I ordered patatas bravas with roasted garlic mayo, Louisiana fried chicken tenders with chipotle mayo, and Korean king prawns.
The patatas bravas is as nice as you can hope for when its cubes of fried potato. The chicken tenders were delicious, so nice it made the fact they only served two feel quite dispiriting. The Korean king prawns were meaty and full of flavour, and I don’t mean to be Goldilocks about this, but there were maybe too many of them. Swap me a prawn for a chicken tender.
Overall, I was happy with the food I ate, the service I received and the price I paid. I won’t lie, I was so happy that I ordered the chicken tenders again, but this time from the main menu so I could get more. Maybe too many…
Events this week
🛍️ Sat 14 Jun - Rochester City Artisan Market // Traders selling a variety of unique gifts, crafts, and vintage items. Rochester High Street. Free.
🥕 Sun 15 Jun - Rochester Farmers’ Market // Wide range of traders selling food and gifts. Blue Boar Lane car park, Rochester. Free.
🎨 19 Jun - 2 Jul - Apart // New exhibition by collective of Rochester artists. Halpern Gallery, Chatham. Free.
More Authority
We dispatched our music correspondent Stephen Morris to the Masonic Hall in Rochester to write about a night of Medway music headlined by the Masonics. We think it’s safe to say that he had a good time.
A night at the Masonic with the Masonics
It’s a Saturday night in the Medway Towns and everyone is out for a good time. There are at least three gigs on tonight. The Alexandra in Chatham is playing host to The Sleepers, Broken Banjo and Brow-Obles and Poco Loco has Puppits, Smile Wide and High Frequency.
Footnotes
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I might go to this.