Peter Clitheroe, worked with a load of bands in his time at Island Records in London and Los Angeles and elsewhere during the 70s, from Free to Genesis and Bob Marley to Vivian Stanshall. He was initially one of those sweaty blokes wearing riggers' gloves and mucky jeans, but progressed to twiddling knobs and pressing buttons. To this day he gets a cheap thrill from the scent of hot leatherette and can't help carrying things in and out of buildings.
To avoid burn-out and worse fates which befell some good people around him, he dropped out to the country (man) and has been working freelance, mostly writing, but with some video and audio production, ever since. Inspired by the possibilities inherent in the digital revolution, he started producing Suffolk'n'Cool on 1st February 2006.
He probably also harbours latent ambitions for world domination but, thankfully, hasn't discovered them yet.
Peter with Superlungs himself, the legendary Terry Reid
We spend a very convivial afternoon and evening in Southend-on-Mud!
FUTURE
Above that though, I'd like Suffolk 'n' Cool to become a natural meeting point for all of us who are interested in giving our ears something new to listen to.
Parts of the road map include more Sessions at the Barn, more location reports and more gigs!
I sincerely hope we'll be part of that future together.
... so, just a bit of world domination then!
Terje Nordgarden has recorded two Sessions at the Barn
Nordgarden has to be one of the hardest working touring artists we know - and a great talent.
Suffolk 'n' Cool feels like coming home to the music after a long absence. Sure, I've been listening; but this is different. For me it's about the buzz of discovering and promoting the fantastic variety of really good new music that's around. It's also about fostering relationships with listeners and musicians. But most importantly it's about enabling relationships between listeners and musicians from different post-codes, countries and cultures around the world.
It all sounds a bit worthy, but I'm so excited by the way this fantastic technology (which is often seen as being impersonal and isolating) gets better and better for connecting people who would otherwise never ever have come into contact with one another. Starting really close collaborative relationships that make national boundaries irrelevant. Hmm, there's a song in there somewhere... "Imagine there's no ..."
I think that's the spirit of where independent podcasters, musicians and listeners are at right now; building a truly international network, and even getting something like a "fair trade" system operating, to help musicians get a fair return without 7% contracts. If we can dispel a few racial and cultural stereotypes whilst we're about it, all the better.
What an amazing time to be back into the music.