- 2 days ago
This video chronicles Rob Redhead’s time in London in 1996, when he returned to the UK after a summer in Spain. Seeking to join a band, he immersed himself in London’s vibrant music scene as Britpop was exploding across the country."
#britpop #music #london #1990s
#britpop #music #london #1990s
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00:00After Driftwood ended and my university course ended, at the end of 1994, no it was the beginning of 1995, once all of that had finished, I went to Spain and I was in Spain travelling and then I came up through France and then into Holland.
00:23And the whole time I was travelling with my girlfriend, she was a Dutch girl and basically this girl was, we were together for two years back in Sunderland, so the whole time I was doing Driftwood, I had this Dutch girl on the back of my scooter.
00:46So, I'd done that travelling. Now, you know, I was looking at, I was in Holland, I was looking at this MTV and it was all happening in Holland, it was all happening, sorry, in London, I would see it back in Britain it seemed anyway.
01:05You know, Oasis, Blur, it was all on MTV, it was all kicking off. I thought, I've got to be back, I've got to go, I've got to at least try London with my music, I've got to go to London and try to become a rock star, one last time.
01:19So, it's all just seems to be happening, it's definitely not happening in Holland. So, that's what I did, I went to London in the end of 1995 and that relationship ended.
01:35When I first went, when I first, I literally went, I can't remember if, it must have been on the ferry, but I arrived in London and I had, I didn't have much money, I didn't think I hardly had anything, I hardly had any money.
02:00And I had a tan, at least I had a tan from Spain, I had some hippie beads in that, like a hippie top and, you know, and I had an acoustic guitar and I thought, I'll go out to London and become, you know, sickly fame, fortune, big pop and all that.
02:21And I went, and I went with this acoustic guitar, the first day, I don't, when you're young, you don't know how all this happens, like, how you do it.
02:32But literally the day, I must have got to London on the morning, I went straight to Tin Pan Alley, Denmark Street, because that's, I knew that was where all the guitar shops were, through having great knowledge of the 1960s, you know, all the music, you know, you get a lad with Tin Pan Alley.
02:48So, and when I went there, so that's like 1990, the end of 95, there was still a lot of guitar shops there and I still don't know what it's like now.
02:59You know, so, I went in one of these guitar shops and I said to the fella, I want to sell me, do you want to buy me a acoustic guitar?
03:07And, he said, he's on the phone, he said, well, just sit down, you know, I'll be with you in a minute.
03:18So, I sat down and I just picked up an electric guitar and so it was quiet, I was just jamming away.
03:26And then in comes three musicians, right, and like this fella as well, I think he may have been the manager,
03:38but it was, it was Cast, right, and the singer from Cast, John Powers, I recognised them, I recognised them straight away and I thought,
03:48I thought, fucking hell, I thought, fucking hell.
03:52So, here's me coming to see me fame and fortune and then he's walking.
03:56And, the two, the two of the lads, I sort of sat down next to us and I was just chattering away there, you know,
04:05and I was asking what they're doing, you know, and they said, oh, we're just going, we're doing, we're just off on a tour around Europe
04:13and we're getting some guitars in that boat, you know, and I was just telling them about how I'd been in Spain and all that
04:20and I didn't even mention me past, like, so I said, I'm here to try and get in a band, you know, and, you know,
04:27so it was just, and I remember looking at John Powers and he was like, looking at us like, like with a sort of like,
04:34who is this guy, you know, who is he, you know, where he had to get guitars, what's he sort of tacking away with me,
04:41me band members for, you know, and, so, you know, they were, they were off doing that,
04:50and, uh, milling around the shop and I, you know, I went and fell out, yeah, he bought me, bought the acoustic guitar,
04:57I go, now what, I probably got about 40 quid for it and, uh, I went, good luck, you know, all the rest of it,
05:03the lads were saying and, uh, I walked out the shop, you know, and I think, I think, and then I think,
05:13I don't know if it was like a week later or whatever, it was, I might have been straight away later
05:19as soon as I walked out the shop, but I remember thinking, God, this is, this is quite a steep mountain to climb,
05:26this like, because I've just arrived in London, I've got to, like, get, get somewhere to live,
05:32get a flat, um, you know, get in a band, get some songs written, get some gigs done,
05:38get all of this, and then, um, maybe, you know, maybe we're cast or, you know, it's a,
05:46it's a tall ask, like, you know, but, you know, Britpop was all over the place, it was like,
05:51this is where it was happening, you know, so anything's possible, like, say if it was the
05:541960s and it was 1965, you know, it went on for a good few years, you know, and, you know,
06:00that's what, you had to, you had to be in London in the 60s, so maybe you have to be in London in
06:04the 90s, or the Britpop thing, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's, and that's why I went,
06:11because of, the 60s was my thing, you know, I was always in the 60s, and, God, it's happening again,
06:17it seems to be happening again, that's what it looks like on MTV, back in Holland, and, you know,
06:22I've come here, literally the first moment I've, that was a thing as well, it's a coincidence
06:28happened, like, when I went to, when I went to the States, America, when we met Steve,
06:33you know, we landed in the plane, at JFK, and then we went to stay in a hostel on that night,
06:39the very next morning, like, it was half nine in the morning, I went, I says, Steve, we're
06:44going to the Dakota building, he says, what's that, I says, that's where John Lennon lived,
06:48Ryoko, he's where he got shot, it's out there, he says, we're going there, it's right,
06:52all right, and so I went there, and I was, sort of stood inside the Dakota building,
06:56and, you know, this fella goes, you know, if you come back at 12 o'clock,
07:02Ryoko turns up in a limousine, and she comes out, and she goes into the building,
07:06I says, really, aye, so, I went into Central Park, and just had a look at boot,
07:11and then I came back at 12 o'clock, and that's exactly what happened,
07:13she came, she got out of the car, I said hello to her on that, I says, can I get me photo take
07:19with you, she says, yes, I says, brilliant, and then she giggled, and she said, brilliant,
07:25brilliant, the word brilliant as well, so that must have reminded her of John,
07:29and I got me photo taken, with, and, you know, give her a little cuddle and that,
07:33and off she went, so, these, this thing with cast, when I was, you know,
07:40these sort of things happen to me, like, you know, it's literally,
07:43it always happens on the first day, so, they, you know,
07:49was it a week later, I maybe started thinking,
07:54erm, it's a bit of a mountain to climb,
07:58but I did sort of remember thinking,
08:02you know, if, maybe I have had me time, you know,
08:05maybe it's me time with being with Attencroft, you know,
08:08maybe it's that, because I was young in Attencroft,
08:10erm, I was only the same age as, as these lads out of cast,
08:17you know, and John Powers, and Noel Gallagher's,
08:21and Damon Alburn's, I was their age,
08:24well, I think because I'd done the Attencroft thing,
08:26and the heavy metal thing, in, in, in, what, 16, 17, 18,
08:30felt like, you know, maybe, you know,
08:32I was, but I was, I was just, just, because I got to do that
08:35young, but, you know, I wasn't trying to do Britpop,
08:39and be in a Britpop band,
08:41as an older bloke,
08:43a helicopter going past,
08:46as an older bloke, I was their age,
08:49that, that was my generation,
08:51we're in the 60s,
08:52but I remember thinking that, like, maybe, you know,
08:57maybe I've had my time,
08:59and then, you know, years later, I look back,
09:03erm, I wonder how John Powers is doing,
09:07and of course, this is with 10 years ago,
09:09I'm looking across, he's just, you know,
09:10he's got the big biad,
09:12he's sitting, banging away on acoustic in pubs,
09:14with about 10 people watching, you know,
09:17oh, well, it comes, it comes,
09:19it comes around for all the way, you know,
09:21but as I, as I'm recording this,
09:23like, Oasis have just started doing tours,
09:26they've just started doing a,
09:28sort of, kind of a European tour,
09:29have 20 shows or something,
09:30and they've got cast,
09:32and the Verve supporting them,
09:34so, I've, I've seen some interviews,
09:35with John Powers talking,
09:37so he's, he's on a high at the moment,
09:39I mean, you know, he's doing that,
09:42I mean, you know, fair dues, you know,
09:44but, you know,
09:46it was a fairy across the mercy,
09:50I always, I always thought he was like that,
09:51you know, you know,
09:54that's, he wasn't like,
09:56you know, that's, that's what he was,
09:58like, that sort of standard of songwriting,
10:01and, um,
10:03God, what's, what are they called again?
10:05I can't remember the name of him, anyway,
10:07but, um, yeah,
10:09you know, like I've said,
10:10I've said before in other videos,
10:11you know, that Britpop needed the shapes,
10:13like, you know,
10:14it needed, it needed,
10:15what I'd done involved in it,
10:18like, it would have made the whole thing,
10:21it would have added a lot to that whole
10:23Britpop movement,
10:24to have had that band involved,
10:27and gotten some fame,
10:29recognition, like,
10:31would, you know,
10:31that's the world's loss, like,
10:34um, we're certainly
10:35fucking light years ahead of the cast,
10:38that's for certain, like,
10:40you know,
10:40you know,
10:41all nice little pop songs,
10:42but that's a good,
10:44uh, so,
10:45but the lads were talking to,
10:46you know,
10:46they're still good lads,
10:49like, you know,
10:49good lads to talk to,
10:51and, you know,
10:51I wouldn't take anything away from any of them,
10:53you know,
10:54shh, you know,
10:55you get lucky,
10:56and you just,
10:57you ride the wave,
10:58you know,
10:58you go for it, you know,
10:59and then you end up with a big beard,
11:01sat in the bar,
11:02playing in front of 10 people,
11:03although he's playing,
11:04like I say,
11:05he's playing in front of a lot more now,
11:06but, uh,
11:06well, fair douche to him,
11:07you know,
11:09so I knew it was going to be a bit of a,
11:11back in London now,
11:12I knew it was going to be a bit of a climb,
11:13but I went for it anyway,
11:15you know,
11:17the relationship that I was,
11:18that I had been in,
11:19it had finished,
11:20so,
11:20I needed to concentrate and move on,
11:26and,
11:27you know,
11:27better place than busy London,
11:29to be,
11:29to be doing all that,
11:30like,
11:32that was,
11:32you know,
11:33an experience as well,
11:35just,
11:35uh,
11:36basically 18 months,
11:38maybe a year and a half or something,
11:41to two years,
11:41that I lived in London,
11:43you know,
11:44and,
11:44um,
11:45I was,
11:45I got a job as a motorcycle courier,
11:48you know,
11:49it was kind of my first proper job,
11:51really,
11:51and,
11:52um,
11:52very dangerous,
11:54but I,
11:55I loved it,
11:55like,
11:56flying about in a motorbike all day,
11:57I thought,
11:58you know,
11:58I'm getting paid for this,
12:00I wasn't getting paid much,
12:01like,
12:01but I was getting paid,
12:02but it was dangerous,
12:03like,
12:04well,
12:04as I was doing that,
12:06I,
12:07um,
12:08there was,
12:08there was an advert,
12:10in,
12:10you know,
12:10in the,
12:12in the,
12:12in the sort of,
12:13local paper,
12:14you know,
12:15it's still before the internet,
12:16like,
12:16it's 95,
12:1796,
12:19er,
12:19wanting a guitar player,
12:21so I turned out to be,
12:22like,
12:22an Australian couple,
12:24a lad and lass,
12:25he was,
12:25like,
12:25the manager,
12:26and she was a singer,
12:27and,
12:29they were wanting to put,
12:29like,
12:30an indie band together,
12:31and,
12:33so I joined them,
12:34and in that band,
12:35was a,
12:36a Scottish lad,
12:37a lad called Steve,
12:38who was basically,
12:39well,
12:39the same age,
12:41and,
12:42er,
12:42you know,
12:42me and Steve sort of,
12:43hit it off,
12:43you know,
12:44because Steve's background,
12:45was like,
12:46well,
12:47well,
12:47in the 80s,
12:48Steve had been,
12:49been into all the sort of,
12:50more the hair metal,
12:51and that,
12:51you know,
12:52although we both had the short hair,
12:54by then,
12:54obviously,
12:56so me and Steve,
12:57were sort of buddies,
12:58in this band,
12:58like,
13:00and,
13:00we'd done gigs around,
13:02em,
13:03I think,
13:04Ding Walls were done,
13:05you know,
13:06we'd done gigs in Camden,
13:08around London,
13:09but it was,
13:10it became obvious,
13:11just straight away,
13:12that,
13:13you know,
13:14I mean,
13:14the band was,
13:15I created all the,
13:16the background,
13:17ground,
13:17you know,
13:18the music,
13:18the riffs,
13:19and all that,
13:19because this fella,
13:20the manager,
13:21who was the girlfriend of the singer,
13:23he had his,
13:23a home recording studio,
13:25which was,
13:27you know,
13:27one of the first ones,
13:28really,
13:29at the time,
13:29that was still,
13:30still a rare thing,
13:32your multi-tracks hadn't really,
13:33came out yet,
13:35em,
13:35but,
13:36you know,
13:36no problem,
13:37coming up with all the riffs,
13:38but the,
13:38the vocals were a bit,
13:40bit poor,
13:40and,
13:42it was never going to get anywhere,
13:43like,
13:44you know,
13:44because the,
13:45basically the singing wasn't good enough,
13:48and,
13:48me,
13:49so,
13:49you know,
13:50my heart wasn't in it,
13:51because,
13:52you know,
13:52I was,
13:55by then,
13:55I was sort of thinking about,
13:57maybe he's just not,
13:58not in the music on the head,
13:59for a bit,
13:59you know,
14:00and,
14:02em,
14:04one day,
14:05at rehearsals,
14:06I says to Steve,
14:07I says,
14:08the guitarist there,
14:10I says,
14:11you know what Steve,
14:12he says,
14:13I've always fancied Gant and America,
14:15never been in the States,
14:17do you want a Gant?
14:19And,
14:20without the,
14:20within the,
14:21blink of an eye,
14:22Steve Gant's,
14:23aye,
14:23alright,
14:24and I says,
14:26what really,
14:26he says,
14:27aye,
14:28I says,
14:28right,
14:29mission,
14:30this is the mission,
14:32I says,
14:33give us six months,
14:35and I'll,
14:36I need to get the money,
14:38money together,
14:40and,
14:40we'll,
14:41we'll go,
14:42and of course,
14:43you know,
14:43Steve was like,
14:44oh,
14:45of course,
14:46of course we will,
14:46of course we will,
14:47but,
14:47you know,
14:48I mean,
14:49Steve had,
14:50Steve had money,
14:51because he'd been living,
14:52he'd been working in,
14:52in,
14:54in,
14:55as a painter and decorator,
14:57I think,
14:58in London for a few years,
14:59a good few years,
15:01he'd been down there for,
15:02a few years,
15:03and,
15:04but I didn't have any money,
15:05in the bank,
15:05so,
15:06I had to get the money together,
15:08so that,
15:08the,
15:09on the motorcycle,
15:10courier job,
15:11would enable that,
15:13and,
15:15that's,
15:16that little chapter,
15:18what happened then,
15:19is,
15:21which I'm going to do,
15:22a separate video,
15:24I need to think,
15:25I want to,
15:26because it was such a big thing,
15:27the American thing,
15:28the American,
15:29Robin Steve's,
15:30amazing American adventure,
15:32of like,
15:331997,
15:35I need,
15:35I want to,
15:36I need to think about that,
15:37I don't know how I'm going to do that,
15:39in the future,
15:40it would be a fantastic movie,
15:42like,
15:43and probably,
15:44EI can do that,
15:45you know,
15:45so,
15:47I mean,
15:47from start to finish,
15:48that was a,
15:48that was just,
15:49just,
15:50just a road movie,
15:51you know,
15:52a hell of an experience,
15:53but,
15:54you know,
15:54that would be me,
15:55the best experience I've had in my life,
15:57like,
15:58just because the backdrop,
15:59was the United,
16:00the United States,
16:01you know,
16:02the whole time,
16:03you know,
16:03riding,
16:04riding Greyhound buses,
16:05hitchhiking,
16:06going up to Canada,
16:08and,
16:08doing the world's most dangerous job,
16:11crab fishing,
16:12off the northwest coast of,
16:14British Columbia,
16:15Canada,
16:16er,
16:18you know,
16:19er,
16:20well,
16:21it is officially the world's most dangerous job,
16:23so I've gone from hardly doing any jobs,
16:25to doing the world's most dangerous job,
16:27officially,
16:28that's very typical of me,
16:30you know,
16:31meeting the owner,
16:32going to Elvis's,
16:33er,
16:34you know,
16:35the mansion there,
16:37er,
16:37the Grand Ole Opry,
16:38went there,
16:39just,
16:40cycled across Alabama and Mississippi,
16:43all the people,
16:44you know,
16:44they just,
16:45I mean,
16:46literally,
16:47with the backdrop,
16:48it was a complete,
16:50road movie film,
16:52and,
16:55you know,
16:55I suppose,
16:57as a kid,
16:59you know,
16:59you think,
17:00oh,
17:00you become a rock star,
17:02you know,
17:03and go on tour,
17:04and all that,
17:04that's,
17:04that's the ultimate,
17:05but,
17:05you don't,
17:06I realise,
17:07you don't have to become a rock star,
17:08to have,
17:10like,
17:11ridiculously,
17:12you know,
17:14amazing,
17:15you know,
17:17adventures,
17:17like,
17:18you just,
17:18just buy a plane ticket,
17:20and go,
17:21you know,
17:21and it'll,
17:22it'll work itself out,
17:23you know,
17:24the script,
17:25the movie will play out in front of you,
17:27and you'll just go along with it,
17:29and,
17:30the timer was perfect to do that,
17:32and,
17:33that was,
17:33that was,
17:34like,
17:34just completely amazing,
17:35that,
17:37er,
17:37so,
17:39went to London,
17:42tried the Britpop paint thing,
17:46realised,
17:48in Camden,
17:49and all these places,
17:51when this,
17:51this band were,
17:52when we were doing these gigs,
17:55there was not,
17:55there wasn't really much of a scene happening,
17:57and realising,
17:59the whole thing was just,
18:00television,
18:01and,
18:02MTV,
18:03hype,
18:03really,
18:04you know,
18:06it,
18:06the,
18:07it wasn't really a thing,
18:10you know,
18:10and if it had been a thing,
18:11it was long,
18:12it was dead and buried by 96,
18:15you know,
18:17they always reckon,
18:19like,
18:19if you're gonna,
18:19if you're gonna,
18:20if you're gonna be part of,
18:22like,
18:22a music movement,
18:23you've gotta be there,
18:25before the beginning,
18:27you know,
18:28it's,
18:28not like,
18:29as it's happening,
18:30because as it's happening,
18:31it's already finished,
18:32because that's,
18:33you've just got the top bands on the,
18:34the television,
18:36but,
18:36I think the whole thing was just,
18:38a manufactured thing anyway,
18:40you know,
18:41I really do,
18:41and it was,
18:44it,
18:45it basically ended up being the last,
18:47the last sort of,
18:48big thing,
18:49the Britpop,
18:51you know,
18:51in terms of,
18:53of bands and that,
18:54you know,
18:55what came after that,
18:57and,
18:59you know,
18:59the Arctic Monkies,
19:01you know,
19:02and,
19:03there was a lot sort of,
19:05second wave of bands,
19:07after Britpop,
19:08because the internet,
19:10just started kicking in,
19:12you know,
19:12the early 2000s,
19:15you know,
19:15the,
19:16summer bands,
19:17managed to get off,
19:18the feet a little bit,
19:20but,
19:21it,
19:21not for like,
19:22because the internet,
19:22was just,
19:23impacting the music industry,
19:25so deeply,
19:26you know,
19:26and it,
19:27it,
19:27you know,
19:27it turned out,
19:28it was pretty much,
19:30the whole thing was,
19:31done and dusted by,
19:32really,
19:34the year 2000,
19:35it was,
19:36you know,
19:37you know,
19:39years later,
19:40I bought the multi-track equipment,
19:42when I,
19:43around,
19:44you know,
19:442000,
19:45well no,
19:46around that time,
19:47as the internet was kicking in,
19:50you know,
19:50all this technology,
19:51the multi-track technology,
19:52was kicking in as well,
19:54and,
19:57you know,
19:58the whole,
19:58the whole hype of,
19:59you buy a multi-track recorder,
20:01you buy it,
20:02your home recording equipment,
20:04and then,
20:05you can get your music,
20:06on the internet,
20:06you don't need record labels,
20:08you don't need managers,
20:09you just get your music up,
20:10people listen to it,
20:11you make money,
20:12and then you can put a band,
20:13again,
20:14and get off,
20:14and people come to see you,
20:16I mean,
20:17it sounds completely naive,
20:18to say that,
20:19but that's basically,
20:20what everybody thought,
20:21was going to happen,
20:22like,
20:23but,
20:23you know,
20:24they go on about Napster,
20:26like,
20:27and all,
20:27you know,
20:27these other sites,
20:29you know,
20:29pirating stuff,
20:30but,
20:30I mean,
20:30there was,
20:31there's no more,
20:32there was no more,
20:33a bigger pirating thing,
20:35than YouTube,
20:37and,
20:37I'm still amazed,
20:40at how,
20:40like,
20:41YouTube got away with it,
20:42you know,
20:43you know,
20:44I managed to get all this pirated stuff on,
20:46and,
20:46it's just,
20:47I mean,
20:47the whole thing's bizarre,
20:49really,
20:50you know,
20:50and it's all still up there,
20:51and everybody just went,
20:52well,
20:52you know,
20:53that's just the way it goes,
20:53you know,
20:54very,
20:56very odd,
20:58but,
20:58back then,
21:01you know,
21:01done the London thing,
21:03went and had this amazing adventure,
21:06in,
21:08America,
21:11ended up in the country cottages,
21:13in Northumberland,
21:16beginning of the 2000s,
21:18started,
21:19started my Geffrin music project,
21:21and,
21:25done that for a few years,
21:27and then,
21:29the next thing that came along,
21:32which I'll talk about next,
21:33is,
21:34Arden Kast.
21:34Arden Kast.
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