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Square Roots: Medway Beat shakes up London at the Dirty Water Club

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Square Roots: Medway Beat shakes up London at the Dirty Water Club

Medway sign in Kent: Hollywood sign for Kent sparks anger

The northern Kent conurbation of the Medway Towns is a strange, obscure, or unknown place to most people, even in the UK.

Some will know of the Charles Dickens connection, or because of the castle and cathedral in Rochester, or possibly due to the birthplace of HMS Victory in the dockyard on the River Medway at Chatham (now a museum rather than a working shipyard). Football fans will know Medway from visiting Priestfields Stadium, home of Gillingham FC.

However, rock'n'roll officianados worldwide know of the Medway Towns as the UK's home of garage rock. Billy Childish kicked things off in the late 1970s with The Pop Rivets, before joining joining Mickey Hampshire in Mickey & the Milkshakes in the 1980s, followed by The Mighty Caesars and Thee Headcoats (and girl group spin off the Headcoatees) in the 1990s, then The Buff Medways and The Musicians of the British Empire. He's more well known today, though, for his art, including setting up the Stuckist group of painters in response to criticism from ex-girlfriend Tracy Emin that his art was “stuck” in the past. “Your paintings are stuck, you're stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” she howled at him, deriding his decision to stick to more traditional art forms.

Numerous bands followed in the wake of Mr Childish in the 1980s, with The Prisoners gaining a large following, and influencing many bands to come. Indeed, Kula Shaker totally ripped off... I mean took as their blueprint, the Prisoners' version of “Hush”, with which they hit the charts in the late ’90s. The Dentists more psych pop sound found widespread favour (starting with their “Strawberries are Growing in My Garden (And It's Wintertime)” single in 1985, The Claim (who had an album released by Bob Stanley of St Etienne), The Prisoners' keyboardist James Taylor Quartet'sHammond organ mod spy movie sound continued into the 1990s to great acclaim, while Armitage Shanks' punk rock style garage band continued the lineage into more recent years.

Childish has released well over 100 albums to date, and garage and rock'n'roll bands around the globe have followed his progress ever since the records by The Milkshakes made their way abroad in the mid-1980s. His influence is there to be seen, and heard, from Mexico City to Madrid, from Paris to Pretoria, from Tokyo to Toronto.

Dirty Water Records, despite being born in north London, has been part of the Medway scene from the very start. For one thing, a founder of the club and label was born and grew up on the Medway delta, the widening estuary of the river ever-present in the not-too-far-off distance, visible from his childhood bedroom window. And the Dirty Water Club was host to Billy Childish and whatever other local band he chose to support him for 15 plus years from 1996 onwards (until Billy quit playing live). So it makes perfect sense for us to put on a Medway night at the Dirty Water Club.

On Saturday 16 april at the M.O.T.H. Club in Hackney, the Dirty Water Club hosts a night of Medway music starring as headliners THE MASONICS. Featuring Mickey Hampshire (who was founder and singer in the Milkshakes alongside Billy Childish), John Gibbs (The Kaisers, The Wildebeests) and Bruce Brand (The Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats, Holly Golightly's band), their album In Your Night of Dreams and Other Foreboding Pleasures was released by Dirty Water Records in 2011.

THE GALILEO 7's garage-rock goes psych-pop went down a storm at the Dirty Water Club a year ago supporting American powerpop legend Paul Collins of The Beat. Former member of the Prisoners and Solarflares (and also current Forefather with Graham Day – also of the two aforementioned bands) Allan Crockford’s powerful combo mix grinding fuzz, power chords, swirling organ and Moon-style drum clatter.

Plus we have the return to active duty for the first time in more than two decades of 1980s Medway lo-fi indie garage-punkers THE MINDREADERS with Russ Wilkins (The Pop Rivets, The Wildebeests, Lord Rochester) and Sexton Ming (The Diamond Gussets, solo performer and also Billy Childish collaborator) along with third original member Rocking Richard (who also recorded with Vic Templar of Armitage Shanks for Childish's Hangman record label). They will be mostly known to fans around the world from the Medway Powerhouse compilation albums. Their Ban The Mindreaders album (named for some iconic graffito on the rear wall of Medway Hospital) came out on Empire Records (also home to Wreckless Eric's then band The Len Bright Combo).

The influence of the Medway sound continues in the current day with bands like Slaves and Fat White Family as well as Childish himself coming back to the live stage finally, after a six year hiatus, along with local bands like The Len Price Three and Groovy Uncle keeping the music going. The Medway Sound is perhaps under appreciated in its home country but it is most definitely here to stay!

Medway Night @ The Dirty Water Club, April 16th at the Moth Club, Valette Street, E9 6NU London, United Kingdom

Advance no fee tickets here

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The Dirty Water Club started in October 1996 in the Tufnell Park neighbourhood of north London, at a venue called The Boston. The club's name is derived from The Standells' 1966 hit 'Dirty Water' which glorifies the US city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Past performers have included The White Stripes (voted by Q Magazine as one of the top 10 gigs of all time, Mojo one of the top 30 and Kerrang one of the top 100!), The Gories, NOBUNNY, Kid Congo Powers (from the Cramps), The Fleshtones, Billy Childish, Radio Birdman, The Dirtbombs, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The 5.6.7.8's, The Horrors and The Brian Jonestown Massacre to name just a few. The club has also seen some original '60s performers, such as The Monks, ? and the Mysterians, Kim Fowley, Sky Saxon, GONN, Michael Davis of the MC5 and more grace its stage.

Their in-house record label, Dirty Water Records, is one of the leading garage/beat/(real) R&B labels in the world.

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Matt Hunter

Matt Hunter

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