Diary of a touring musician: day 10
In September & October 2023, we took to the road in the UK to introduce our new album STARLITE.ONE. Margate, Cliffs Café, The Libertines & Albion Rooms. This is part 10 of the warts-and-all-account.
If you happened upon this episode for the first time, a good place to start would be to check out the other articles in the series by heading over to:
A day off
Today was a day off and we had made plans for a trip to sunny Margate.
Word on the street tells us it was the new up-and-coming area where loads of artists were moving to. Gentrification along with the inevitable boom in house prices had begun, but we were still full of hope and anticipation at discovering the hidden gems of this classic albeit tired British seaside town.
Walking to the car park it was a relief to see the van of rock still there with all our gear safe inside! Yes, we live to see another day. Goodbye Ramsgate.
Hello Margate
Unless desperate, we don’t do breakfast in budget hotels as generally the food is cheap shit and the coffee like dishwater - as it was our day off we decided to eat brunch in Margate.
After a quick search on Trip Advisor, we set off for the really cool sounding Cliffs Café in Margate - a café come hair salon come record shop.
We’ve started using the Waze app now for our navigation requirements. It feels like you are part of a kind of an underground, overground resistance group as it shows you the locations of speed cameras, police patrols and speed limits.
All this information is created by other users as the app permits and actively encourages you to add police patrols when you see them and asks you if that abandoned car is still there on the side of the road and other things to watch out for. Powered by the people for the people!!
We managed to park on the high street and found Cliffs easily.
As soon as we walked in we were hit with a great vibe and it felt like coming home: a kookie place with really friendly staff, a vegetarian wholefood menu a second-hand vinyl record shop!! Result!!
As we looked up at a shelf of vinyl Hugo said in a matter-of-fact tone “Oh, I played on that album”. We thought he was pulling our leg so we kind of mumbled a half reply “oh cool” as we were really hungry and more focused on finding a table and scouring the menu.
Ha! It turned out Hugo was not joking. So how can you travel all those miles and come across an album you have worked on with a Portuguese artist just sitting there looking at you? That was just the start.
We are really into album artwork - take a look at these classic badgers as well…
Music as messages
If you are familiar with The Transformers films you will know all about our hero Bumblebee. He refused to give up the location of his comrades and as a punishment, the meanie Decepticon Blitzwing destroyed his voice synthesizer, damaging it beyond repair, which prompted him to learn to use clips of audio from the radio to communicate.
So here we are in a café in Margate and suddenly we hear ‘A Minha Menina’ by Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes playing. It was really weird as it was the very first track on our bespoke ‘Six Friendly Monkeys Living Under The Stairs’ (yes, it’s really called that) playlist which we had compiled when we were about to start the writing process for our third album STARLITE.ONE.
We had only recently discovered the band and had bought a vinyl copy of their first album - it felt like we had chosen the right café.
Then I kid you not, within half an hour the second track from our playlist started blasting out through the café’s sound system - Oscillation by Silver Apples - it was a sign - it had to be a sign!!
Food Glorious Food
The coffee was excellent and the food delicious!! There is more to Cliffs than initially meets the eye.
When we went on a mooch around the shop we also discovered another floor upstairs with even more seating options and musical delights plus a hair salon!
We decided to stay a while longer and rest up. We also had some more tour housekeeping work to do and it was so good to just chill out and soak up the atmosphere. It felt so good to be home in the UK.
Headache money business
And so back to our issues with non-payment by The Whitham who were not forthcoming with payment for the gig they cancelled at short notice, despite our having a contract in place.
But there lies the rub! Our super-agent Graham Steel had signed and returned the contract to Stuart Laundy at the venue months before but the venue said they hadn’t received it. It also transpired that Stuart was no longer working for them but no one had bothered to inform Graham which is bad form as he was our point of contact.
Starlite went outside and called Graham as we really needed to resolve the matter and the stress of it all was something we could do without.
After a frank discussion, it was agreed that we would have to settle for 50% of the agreed fee instead of the 75% we were due because Graham didn’t have a copy of the contract. I’m not sure why the venue hadn’t chased Graham if they hadn’t received it - that didn’t add up - something was wrong about the whole affair but there was nothing we could do.
Wordsy
Back inside the café chilling out, the door opened briskly and in strode a cool-looking dude sporting a pair of shorts (in October in the UK = brave man) a pair of headphones slung round his neck and a four-legged hairy beast companion by his side. The man said hello to Maddi who was working in the café (so obviously a local chap) and proceeded to sit down next to us on the adjacent table.
We miss our girls so much when they aren’t able to tour with us and couldn’t resist saying hello to his doggo. Any opportunity for some hound connection is a tonic for our souls. It transpired that the little fella was a rescue dog and had been badly treated and was therefore scared around new people, so we just said hello and lots of loving things from a distance.
The conversation flowed between the humans and we discovered that our new acquaintance was called Wordsy and he was a DJ and performance poet. He sat head to head with Simon for ages and talked intensely and most enjoyably about the world, creativity, the scene, life stories, music - you name it.
Before leaving he recited a few poems for us and we felt honoured. A special moment!! We took a photo on the stairs (thanks Maddi) and chatted briefly about the fact we should collaborate on a project together!! We like Wordsy!
Starlite moved the van of rock to avoid the wrath of any traffic wardens - especially as we have a Portuguese number plate and more coffee was imbibed.
Maddi had looked after us wonderfully for hours with food and bucketloads of coffee! We asked her advice about where we should go next and immediately she replied you’ve got to go to The Albion Rooms, which is owned and run by The Libertines. Ask for Imogen and tell her I sent you. Deal!!
The Albion Rooms
It was only a short drive and there we were outside The Albion Rooms. It’s a hotel and bar owned and run by The Libertines and also houses a small recording studio in the basement - a perfect combination for us. We were excited to see what it was all about and as is our custom when visiting a new town, hopefully get a quick tour of the studio.
We went inside and it felt closed with no one around so we went exploring in search of humans and that’s where we found Imogen in a basement office. Would it be ok to have a drink - Maddi has sent us? Yes of course - I’ll be up in a moment.
We bought a bottle of wine to share (which stung a bit as it was fiendishly expensive - welcome to the UK) and sat down taking in the vibe of the bar - all be it devoid of people.
Soon a chap came in and sat down and Simon started chatting to him and discovered that he was the Studio Manager. Perfect!! They had a really good, long, geek-out about the studio and everything sound-related. Simon had missed this kind of conversation, especially in English.
It transpired that a band had booked the studio for a couple of days and he was there on stand-by for any technical assistance they may need.
We ended up getting a very quick tour of the studio which was ace!! Thanks!
Hello again - St. Albans
After a couple of hours, we set off for St. Albans where we would be staying the night with family Levy.
Tonight we were in for a treat. Pauline had offered to cook dinner and were totally spoiled when we arrived ‘home’ at 1900. We were so grateful for the love and support of friends on this tour; it has kept us going in more ways than one.
We had a right laugh over dinner, lubricated by a couple of bottles of Portuguese Red Wine from our dwindling reserves.
Pauline, who is an expert craft-maker, gave Hugo a pink crochet pig she had made as a present for his young daughter. Starlite was well chuffed to bits as she was given the three beans in a pod crochet version - superb!!
Time for some shut-eye! Really looking forward to a very special day tomorrow and another gig! It’s ok having a day off but we do miss playing!
Have to say that the costs in the UK are unbelievable. We simply couldn’t afford to live there again and appreciated that we had friends who we could stay with - especially when it also felt like we were home.
Next up a trip to Abbey Road studios, lunch with music industry legends and a gig at the Eel Pie Club.
"'Down to Margate,' where signs, portents and all things (within our own little universes) connect!"
As Chas & Dave didn't write; but clearly should have.
An upbeat and positive chapter of your rollercoaster UK touring travels - nice!