Helen McCookerybook may not be a
name that you instantly recognise, but, she has been the driving force behind
several important UK bands from The Chefs to Helen And The Horns. She is also a published and well-respected
author of music related literature including The Lost Women Of Rock: Female
Musicians Of The Punk Era, and, her musical teachings have inspired the musical
community in the UK for over ten years.
Holding
a doctorate at the University Of Westminster and being a lecturer at the
University Of East London, she frequently holds musical workshops in
collaboration with her partner Martin Stephenson and continues to release fine
music via the Barbaraville label.
I
recently caught up with the lady (in waiting and waiting and waiting) for what
turned out to be a fascinating article and my 100th for Louder Than
War.
Do I call
you Helen or Doctor?
You
call me Helen, unless you are trying to do a put-down when selling me some
guitar strings in a music shop and say ‘Is it Mrs or Ms?’ in a snotty voice while
looking at my bag of grocery shopping. Then it’s Doctor!
How’s life
treating you at the moment?
Life
is treating me well, after a bumpy time a few years ago. I feel like I’ve had a
second chance at everything- music, love, you name it.
Who is Tracy
Preston?
Tracy
used to be in a band called The Smartees that I was in many years ago. It was a
big group of people with lots of songwriters and a very uppy vibe. We wrote
‘Let’s Make Up’ together, which was later recorded by The Chefs.
You seem to
have connections with many people. The
ones with the Monochrome Set and the Stray Cats intrigue me.
I
met Lester Square through Mike Alway, A&R at Cherry Red, after The Chefs
split up. The Monochrome Set had also split temporarily and I suppose Mike must
have looked at a couple of people feeling sorry for themselves and suggested we
collaborate. I was a huge fan of the Monochrome Set and was slightly in awe but
sang some songs on to a cassette (remember them?) and posted them to Lester,
who lived on a houseboat at the time. I didn’t hear back and resumed my
post-band sulk until the Notting Hill Carnival, where I was sloping about and
his then girlfriend came bouncing across the road and shouted ‘WE LOVE YOUR
SONGS!’. So we started rehearsing with a guy called Mike Slocombe (who now runs
the massive Brixton political website urban75.com) on drums and started looking
for a trumpet player. I met Dave Jago, a trombone player) at a gig and he
offered to play, along with a sax player he knew called Paul Davey. Because it’s
expensive to get a drum-kit around town, I decided to rehearse with the horn
players only while we learned the songs; the Monochrome Set offered us a gig at
Kingston Polytechnic in that format and we went down a storm- so we kept it
that way, and added a trumpet player. Helen and the Horns was born! I have
worked with Lester on sound track projects too.
The
Stray Cats- we ended up with their PR when The Chefs signed to Graduate
Records. I got to see them a lot because of that- they were an amazing live band.
And I have sat on Brian Setzer’s Harley Davidson.
I adored
Voxpop Puella. What was the influence
behind the album?
I
hadn’t written any songs for years and I had forgotten how to play guitar (or
so I thought). I used to go to the University studios and doodle about with
programming in my lunch breaks; I ended up writing quite a lot of
instrumentals. Then one day I was in a shop and I heard a track that I really
liked and they couldn’t tell me what it was. I felt inspired and decided to try
to make a similar piece of music; at the same time I’d just hit 40 and felt
that it was a significant age to look back from and look forward from- I felt
like the picture of that Roman god Janus with a face looking to the past and
one to the future. And I thought about the fact that nobody ever really
addresses the idea of ageing in pop music. So I started to write lyrics- and
then tried to make all the music sound a bit ‘big band pop’ because that’s what
the mystery record sounded like; and honestly, lots of the sounds on the sound
module were awful but things like the Double Bass and French Horn were great!
It was really enjoyable doing the arrangements but so much fun that I
over-arranged a song and had to dump it because I couldn’t work out what to
take off it. I thought of the seven ages of woman, from birth to death, and
after a while I decided to contact a few of the film-makers that I’d done music
for in the past plus some female friends ( Joan Ashworth, Akiko Hada, Gail
Pearce, Rachel Davies, Charlotte Worthington, Gina Birch and Jane Prophet) and
I asked them to make short films about the seven ages- they all said yes, which
was amazing, and I ended up taking it on the road and touring with Gina Birch,
who also had a film project on the go, supported by an Arts Council grant!
All
that from doodling in the studios with an idea about the past and the future.
Tell me
about Claudine?
Claudine
was the energy behind the Stray Cats’ press success. She and her colleagues Chris
Carr and Gaylene Martin looked after most of the unusual artists in the 1980s-
The Associates, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Birthday Party, Depeche Mode
(‘depressed mood’ as she called them), Misty in Roots, Hugh Masakela... She is
a very kind woman and expert at band psychology. She would collect the poorer
artists together and cook us dinner or buy us breakfast and when I became ill
after the Chefs split up she gave me a kitten so I’d have to look after
something and therefore look after myself. She is utterly French and made us
all roar with laughter once; ‘Elene, can you tell zat I am Frenshe from ze way
zat I speak?’. They were all great people to be around, magical, and Claudine
was very upfront about the way the music industry worked. She managed Helen and
the Horns for a while too.
I’m coming
round for a meal, what are we having?
Whatever
you cook for me, thank you!
When you
were an art student and squatting in Brighton, where did you see your future?
Well,
as far as I was concerned, the punk idea ‘No Future’ applied. I lived life to
the max as did everyone else I knew. There were no jobs, the art world seemed
concerned completely with ripping people off and all the punks were scrambling
about with no plan- or so I thought! Quite a few people had seen it as an
opportunity to become successful financially; others joined the army and some
left the country. It is almost impossible to describe the general public
depression that hit the country in the late 1970s. Even though we are in a
recession these days, at least there is some colour in people’s lives. There
was a huge level of bile and spite from the older generation who had been
through the war and who seemed convinced we were just being lazy. But if there
are no jobs there are no jobs! I think there is a move by some newspapers to
make out that people on the dole are lazy these days but enough of my
generation are around to dispel that myth.
Looking
back on it, it was a blessing in disguise not to have been able to start a
career at that age. I was a complete misfit and so were all of my friends.
That’s what punk was about, not lots of uniformly black-clad teenagers with
spiky hair.
You started
out your musical career as bassist in Joby & The Hooligans. Why the switch to guitar?
Illness
after The Chefs split up. I played bass in The Chefs. But I had a couple of
months in bed and a friend had given me a Spanish guitar, so I started writing
songs on that, just by picking out chords that sounded nice. There was a guy in
the house who showed me a couple of other chords, and I had time to practice.
There’s
quite a shift in style from The Smartees to Skat. Is music the food of love?
Either
that or food is the music of love; I can never quite work that one out!
Your musical
teachings and workshops have become very popular. What drives you to do this sort of thing?
Well,
I started teaching because I had children and realised you need a regular
income for that! But I have always done songwriting workshops because when I
started playing in Joby and the Hooligans, the Poison Girls’ guitarist Vi
Subversa acted as a sort of mentor for loads of the bands in Brighton, whether
she agreed with their politics, liked their music or not. I realised that part
of being a musician or artist is encouraging other people to get the same
pleasure out of it as you- it’s actually politically empowering to create music
rather than just buying it. And the pleasure that I get when people feel proud
of a song that they have written is amazing.
Your home
seems to be out in the wilderness – any aspirations for the farm life?
Yes.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to live out in the wilds and have a rehearsal studio in a
barn that turns into a Sunday afternoon venue with tea and cakes, and passing
bands come in and play? Not big animals though- cows are horrible (they dribble
and poo all the time), sheep are silly. Perhaps some bantams- I like them
because they are coloured and look like little joke hens. And peas.
Tell me
about your old Jedson and Hofner Basses.
Ah
the Jedson- my first bass! Cream with a white scratch plate. Someone told me
that they have it in Brighton but I haven’t met them to pick it up yet! I used
to write the set list on masking tape and tape it along the top of the guitar.
It used to thud rather than boom like most basses do. I bought the Hofner after
someone spotted it in a shop in Worthing. I starved myself for 2 weeks to buy
it. It got nicked by Hells Angels after a contretemps at Sussex University and
I went and stood outside their pub for weeks afterwards willing them to give it
back. Then my brother was walking past the police station in Brighton and he
saw a woman walking in with it to hand it in! It had been dumped in the park
where she was sunbathing. He rushed to the pub with it and I could not believe
my eyes- I never thought I would see it again! I have now given it to Martin as
he was such a Chefs fan.
How
disappointing was it that The Chefs’ album for Graduate never
materialised?
I
didn’t mind. I was ill and couldn’t really sing. There is a version of it but
it’s very drum-heavy as the drummer got into tribal drums after hearing Adam
and the Ants. I did love Adam and the Ants’ sound but I didn’t want to BE them.
I think that might be why The Chefs split up; I’d always thought we thrived on
being original but the others seemed to want to fit into pop fashion.
Tell me of
your time with RCA.
Hmmm...
We were signed by a trumpet-playing A&R who promptly left to work for the
Eurythmics; our next A&R was a nice guy but he was a drummer (and we had no
drums in Helen and the Horns). The plugger was amazing and got us plays on
Terry Wogan at the same time as John Peel was playing us; but she left too and
went to another label (she bought me a roomful of flowers as an apology,
bless). Then RCA wouldn’t support our live gigs (I think we were a good live
band) and when they started hoovering up other bands at our level and our lawyer
also started working for the Eurythmics, I realised that a path was being
cleared for the launch of a major band and we were going to be left on the
shelf. So I went in and asked for a release from the contract.
The
band had saved the session fees that I had paid them over the years and they
got together and suggested that we should record an album on our own label,
which we did, distributed by The Cartel. It was a good solution. I like
independence; I am not a corporate person.
Last year
you performed in Hyde on the same bill as Viv Albertine, Pauline Murray and
Gina Birch. How was that?
They
are amazing. We had done a gig the year before that also included Pauline
Murray from Penetration, but she couldn’t do the Hyde gig unfortunately. I
don’t think any of us could have imagined getting to this point of being solo
guitarist/performers at this time in our lives. We have such different styles
and different songs, all pulled from that simple instrument, the guitar. It’s
such a pleasure to watch Viv and Gina play; they are very good guitarists, each
with a unique style and relationship with their guitar.
Was Papa
really a rolling pin?
Sure
was, and Mama is a measuring jug.
Damaged
Goods versus Barbaraville.
Discuss.
Damaged
Goods were very patient during the hiccups of releasing Records and Tea; the
Best of the Chefs; it took a few years to come together. It’s got the BBC
sessions we did plus all of the Attrix material and some unreleased tracks.
They are going to release the Helen and the Horns Peel sessions later this year
too. I am delighted to be on the same label as Billy Childish!
Barbaraville
is for now and the future; Martin released ‘Poetry and Rhyme’ and also ‘Take
One’ (which he produced) on Barbaraville and will I hope release my next CD
which looks as though it will be skiffle based. And maybe a bit of ska.
Skadiffle!
You have a
support role coming up soon for The Nightingales soon. How did that come about?
Last
year I did a gig at a venue called the Green Door Store with I Ludicrous and
the Flaming Stars promoted by Spinningchilli who put on bands who did Peel
sessions. I loved it- the other bands
were great and they are promoters with a vision (the best sort). I am a massive
Nightingales fan and when they asked me to do this one (it’s on 4th August at
the Prince Albert) I wrote back to say
yes almost before I’d read their email.
In your book
The Lost Women Of Rock, you interviewed John Peel. Was he the lovely chap that everyone says he
was?
That
afternoon he did what must have been one of the hardest things ever for him to
do. I got lost on the way to his house and arrived an hour late, in the middle
of a Liverpool game. He actually did the interview during the game, only
popping in to check out the TV screen every time the crowd roared. Now that is
a very gentlemanly thing to do.
Who’s the
better songwriter – you or Martin?
Martin,
of course. He has a direct line in to people’s feelings that completely
bypasses any barriers they might have. Not only that, but I have never seen
another musician groove as much as he does. And you should hear his new
material!
You played
Union Chapel a year or so ago, what was that like?
I
loved it! Again, five years ago if you had told me that I would be playing
there, like so many things I’m doing now, I would not have believed you. Our
tour manager made friends with an orange pigeon (yes, orange) who liked Doritos
(maybe that’s why it was orange). I got the Horns together for the gig and we
had a blast (quite literally). The place was full and there was a great
atmosphere: Daintees fans are the best! The Daintees played a really good gig
that night and afterwards we did a walkabout through the Chapel playing
Salutation Road, Horns and Daintees together.
How was
Glastonbury?
I
think there were around 5000 people in that tent. Never having gone to a proper
festival, I had imagined the acoustic tent as being a little white canvas
marquee rather like the ones in Miss Marple where they judge jam making
competitions. I was completely unprepared for the sheer scale of the whole
festival and especially the size of ‘the tent’! The whole operation was very
slick: unload van at one entrance, up the gantry, everything ready as preceding
act finishes, on to stage, set up, play for allotted time, exit other side,
down gantry and out the other door into the waiting van. Their set was short
and punchy and they chose songs with a lot of impact. Martin invited me up to
sing The Airship Song, an old Charlie Poole number. Glastonbury was a total
success for the band and I hope they get invited back next year.
Backstage,
Bill Wyman was floating around and I took his picture with Martin.
We
then went to see Tom Tom Club- I interviewed Tina Weymouth last year and it was
great to see the band strutting their stuff at Glastonbury.
Where does
the future lie for Helen McCookerybook?
I
have been setting up a little studio in my kitchen (of course) and plan to do a
lot more writing and recording. I have a Stageit show on July 14th from my
kitchen (that’s a live broadcast at 5.45 p.m.) and more gigs with Martin and
solo over the next few months which will be announced on my Blog. I am also
running a songwriting course at The Premises studio in late July with Ed
Harcourt as a guest songwriter, and one with Martin in October. I’d like to
co-write with some other artists. After that? Well, I’d like to play in San
Francisco, New York, Paris and Japan, and carry on writing and releasing songs
until the ideas run out!
Links
Published on Louder Than War 11/07/13 - here
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