MONTHLY PLANET – No. 7 Art Beat builds a republic image: Deptford Arms Beer Garden by Chris Getliffe

Midsummer Madness please. Away from the world on the news, there was Uniqulture in the air from the Peace & Love Festival in Sweden where the sun never set to the virtual republic of Rocklands in South East London. (image: Deptford Broadway. Across the road from Lewisham Arts Advertising is The Institute Of Music Technology. Many music studios, musical courses, production companies and creative industries in this locality as well as the wealth of art studios, galleries and acclaimed educational establishments). A good place for a community to strive for an alternative economy to benefit real people).

04-Jul-009 was a Day Of Independence celebration – Today Deptford - by and for the people then 11-Jul-009 was the annual 30,000 strong festival People’s Day Festival. Take hope. There’s a lot of positivity about. New friends and contacts were made, making both Uniqulture and the new holiday destination, Costa del Thames a reality. As per the usual sixth sense magic, the organically related family of Playing Class Friends grows... And yes, this Year Of New Rock continues to go from strength to strength as part of all that.

Minxy McNaughty

TEN CITY NATION live at FoxFest 009 definitely one of London’s best

and most geniune alternative festivities on the real and fun calendar. The band have been calling in at some of the country’s new-talent-supporting fests this summer and are going from strength to strength with the songs from their new album, AT THE STILL POINT which is available from August.

The Fox & Firkin, Lewisham, Rocklands SE13 – hats off to Carl and the 2bob family

I know! Let’s build a republic from friendship. Bartering talent, sharing spaces and ideas. This year, whatever the future holds, at least America got to legally elect a president. Imperfect but at least striving for change, it warranted not playing ‘I’m So Bored Of The USA’ as a protest, but as a celebration on the 4th of July. And even making a weekend of it. South East London has always had a mind of it’s own. A down to earth working class, wish-we-were-working class and non-working class mix of humanity’s spectrum, DJs, students, friendly nutters, road crew, poets, classy chavs (like my dear self) and a wealth of uniting talent. Take Polstar for instance, pictured above.. We found ourselves arrested at The Cop Shop on the first Friday night of July. Arrested by how fab a venue The Old Police Station is, how friendly people were and how many ideas they had, how entertaining the band, Big Mac & The Happy Meals were and danceable DJ Conk was. Bumped into various members of Edit/Select and Jimmy & The Band, discovered a Music TV Show in the basement and some fab projections in the cells, graphic design of excellence in the gym and some very funny revellers. So there we are, just before the festivity begins, in the interview room where they’re gonna have a gig. As you do. The whole Open Studios weekend at Today Deptford on 3rd & 4th July was such a massive success that this wonderful, inclusive, DIY Art Centre is so popular that just about everybody wants to do something there. Just what the local community needs. Somewhere cheap, cheerful and encouraging for all kinds of people.

Polly (a star) Yuill’s rock photography exhibition, First 3 Songs No Flash, is exhibited at The Albany in November.

Proper punkin’ out in the Interview Room and makin’ friends in the yard. The Old Police Station, Amersham Vale, Rocklands SE14 – hats off and thanks to everybody there for the

warm welcome to Music Tourist Board randomness. Definitely a Planet Water Place.

Images by McNaughty

The thing with starting a revolution or a republic in South East London, is that people like to join in and create things. What started with the amazing Urban Village Fete by Madcap Coalition, who have become the favourite entertainment providers, locally, blossomed into people making exhibition and entertainment for other people.

There is a very good reason why the word Uniqulture (i.e. multi-culture without all the

divisions) was born in Costa del Thames, Planet Water.

A massive thank you to Propoganda Radio for previewing the weekend on their

Thursday Nights extravaganza of new music, new anecdotes and new news.

It was a local love pirate, Anita McKeown of ASU that introduced Music Tourist Board to

the Old Police Station. As the purveyor of the Deptford Tourist Board and the fabulous

Deptford 45 Films, Anita is the artist in residence of Fun City and was a great fave at the

annual Deptford X Contempary Art Festival 008.

Their TASTY (A Moveable Feast) events which mix gastronomic delight with

entertainment are a get-a-ticket quick or miss out success. And so was the Film Festival –

The Spirit Of Independence - which happened as part of Today Deptford, short films

from South USA, South Ireland and of course, South London. In fact it was so packed out that I didn’t get any proper photos after – couldn’t get in. Brilliant. What a load of amazing people there are, promenading up and down the high street, giggling in the market, drinking at the anchor, and coming together to make their own festival for their own community. Very inspiring.

Goodbye Westminster (a.k.a. Fagin’s Den)

INDEPENDENCE FROM THE WORLD ON THE NEWS SATURDAY THE FOURTH OF JULY, YEAR 009

Deptford Arms Beer Garden by Arofish Also responsible for the famed Cutty Sark painting that used to adorn the stage of the New Cross Inn And much more The beer garden would become a mini festival in itself all afternoon as local singers and songwriters gave impromptu performances. Deptford became one big stage.

Deptford Arms, 52 High Street, Rocklands SE8 4RT HQ of D.E.P.T.F.O.R.D. Army Deptford Art Cellar Gallery Call in to New Cross Gallery to get Involved.

The weekend after the people involved in Today Deptford declared independence there was was more partying to be done in Rocklands. A mile or two away where The Big Cat lives...

The Big Cat points to the direction where the people of Lewishambles gather annually... yep. It was PEOPLE’S DAY. 30,000 people in a park for free festivity.

A few images from London’s Costa del Thames in July

Josh Fisher at Unplugged Sessions, Today Deptford by Polly Yuill.

Images from The Urban Village Fete, Today Deptford by Polly Yuill.

Raw Fox live on stage, and Tristan of NX Boutique at the Rocklands Stage, People’s Day Festival.

The tallest cricketers in the world strolling across Mountsfield Park SE6

Dancing Ma Socks off. Some people get together and are gonna move it!

Dance Macabre on the Rocklands stage by Polly Yuill.

Anita Maj rocking out at Rocklands

Edit/Select got on stage early doors after a night and a half out at Guilfest

where they’d just played. Another local talent catching attention.

Andre of Short Skirtz.

The UK’s drummer of the year was also best dressed man and pretty popular with the ladies all day come to

think of it...

Dre and the rock ladies, Rocklands stage, People’s Day Festival. With Anita Maj and Polly Yuill Pix by McNaughty

And this is how we roll, right. Between the start of July when new friends and collaborations were made and ideas exchanged, something grew. At the end of July the vibe travelled to Central London. Get this as an idea for a club in the 21st Century...? You base it on a bus route. The 453 runs 24 hours every 15 minutes between Marylebone (near Baker Street) and Deptford Bridge. And, erm, that was it really. WHAT a fantastic night the first meeting of

the 453 Club was!. Friends came from all over (including Essex,

Cambridge and Wales) for a gathering in friendship with quality entertainment guaranteed. Massive thanks to Patrick Jones, who played a storming poet-band set and to the newer wave thrills of Edit/Select and The Shills. DJs The Heartbreakers soundteracked it brilliantly and the audience was a healthy mix of revelling, artists, band members etc. The call is out to do it all again somewhere, so look out along that bus route. The evening was rounded off extra special by a gang of Rock Chick Insitute getting the bus back to Rocklands together from the club – 229 Great Portland Street - which was a whole 120 steps from the bus stop.

Edit/Select (above) live at 453 Club, 229 Great Portland

Street, London W1, 30-Jul-009. Look out for clips from this show in a future video. Anita Maj, Chris from The Run-Up) and James Dean Bradfield are among fellow talents in the crowd. Check out the band that kicked off proceedings,

there’s a healthy buzz around The Shills

.

Patrick Jones holding court at his central London headline set (229 Great Portland Street)... the 453 Club was well and truly GO.

Patrick’s new album Tongues For a Stammering Time is out now on Anhrefn Records. myspace.com/patrickjoneswriter

The Planet Water vibe continued a couple of weeks later when another star of the Rock Chick Institute, Heather Minx of Minx Media TV got together with friends and launched Playhard at The Borderline. Central London has become a very friendly place, again, courtesy of this event. Minx Media TV makes videos for rising stars like Jersey Budd, as well as having a great documentary in process – Meet Me In The Keith Moon Bar – The Story Of The Astoria and also films for TF TV at the increasingly legendary This Feeling, a sort of 21

st Century Hacienda and fave after-show

haunt of bands from Oasis and The Enemy to Kasabian... In short, fab creative talent at work, but time out baby... if Heather throws a party, it will ROCK. And it did. Got a great bill together where DJ Sid T Rotter played big tunes to riot to and The Dash, The Bibelots, Tape The Radio and then Officer Kicks incited a lively reaction from the dance floor with every set. Not only that, a good amount of industry and media were in the throng. Launch parties used to be this buzzy. Wicked. Bonkers. Definitely the place to be. Cheers to Minx Media TV for involving Rocklands. For an eye on when the next one is, keep an eye on Artful / Music Tourist Board / Rocklands pages online.

So what’s next? ARTFUL is next Year 009 is the fifth annual non conventional convention of entertainment and exhibition. Artful happens between October 1

st and 31

st.

The wavelength of Planet Water happens on land (London and beyond so far) and on line. The exhibition is of film screenings, photography, fashion, art, projections and installations. It is soundtracked by the entertainment. Bands with added oomph play. They come tipped and recommended by friends, promoters, zines etc Then everybody co-promotes and collaborates. Although this is the fifth Artful, it’s actually inspired by the original music tourist board meetings. New music photographers, writers, film makers etc work with bands and promoters to create something for future. By cross pollinating they help each other. With so many creatives involved, there’s an eye on keeping things affordable, inclusive and accessible. Something new is made each time. It’s a simple idea. In theory it’s possibly too simple for these times. But somehow it works. Somehow, more than one person mentioned in this zine will probably be involved. Magic.

009 has already been a great year for spotting some future

Classic Rock stars.

Quite a few of them have been calling into Rocklands town to

ROCK. (check out previous Monthly Planet issues for more

blarb on the subject).

It’s great to see the impact that the afore mentioned new Ten

City Nation album At The Still Point is having. It’s full

on from the get to. They quite literally rocked the boat at the

launch party on The River Thames and left people bawling for

more. The album has also been getting some pretty hot

acclaim in the national music press, which is no mean feat.

Ten City Nation

Album launch at Tamesis Dock

July 009

eThe mighty Bleechch are also no strangers

The mighty BLEECH are also a Planet Water favourite. Again, it’s great

to see the amount of praise piling up for their full on live presence. They may be skinny but their music is PHAT! Pix from London City Showcase Festival at Rocklands and Foxfest.

There’s a special place in the hearts of the Costa del Thames massive for Bleech. Here they are at Deptford Arms for the Today Deptford fest, having already played the BBC Stage at an event miles away and then still taken the time and effort to make themselves to London’s South East X. They are magnificient and if anybody missed this, shucks. Below: Kat’s on the dance floor, Jean-Genie and Joe Fox are among those rocking right out.

Along with Uniqulture (invented in the new year – but already a word of the day on a literary blog - along with the first coming of The Rock Chick Institute – the newer wave of classic rock is one of the tenacious focus points of this year’s Artful. At time of writing the first event has been confirmed. Got a great load of music photographers to exhibit, some electro/disco at the Pirate Awards and some on line TV shows in the bag. Sure, this whole Music Tourist Board thing is small and grass roots. The most common plant in the world is grass. It’s also one of the toughest. You can pull it up, mow it, walk on it, drive on it with a juggernaut and it’ll still get up. Grass roots is the DNA that future stars are made of. Keep looking...

The world class inspiration that is KATE TEMPEST

At Today Deptford Festival’s Unplugged Session

Above; One of the original Artful collages from No.1. the annual expo of Entertainment & Exhibition organically evolves retaining it’s authentic & cathartic wavelength. To be part of it, just create a bash and co-promote!

Below; LOVE at the Artful Episode 4 end of tour party in Shoreditch last year.