Tuesday, October 18, 2005
John Peel Day and A Quick Chat with DJ Lamp
Last Thursday was ‘John Peel Day’ and there were gigs, happenings and whatnots up and down the country, simultaneously commemorating the day of his last Radio 1 broadcast and celebrating the Great Man’s unfathomable contribution to modern music. You don’t need to be reminded that Peel had very little interest in musical boundaries or genres and indeed delighted in provocation and wilfully diverse playlists. No surprises then that he’s a bit of a Top 100 hero, so an honour it was to be invited down to Hector’s House (that’s a pub/bar in Brighton, by the way) along with five or so other fans, to spin half an hour of Peel inspired classics.
Hood, Jega, Tiger, Surgeon, Mogwai, Helen Love and Los Paranoias – inevitably - (Peel played ‘The Coolest Monkey’ our Soundclash debut single TWICE) featured in my set, and the likes of Stereolab, Eddie Cochran, Steel Pulse, Killing Joke, Roy Orbison, Leatherface, Ministry, Senseless Things and 2 seconds of Napalm Death cropped up over the course of the rest of the evening.
Much like his shows, there was ‘dead air’ every now and again, lots of buzzing and clicking as different decks got wired in and Bangers played his last record at the wrong speed. So if you weren’t a Peel fan or perhaps hadn’t ever caught any of his shows you were in the wrong bar, to be honest. There were plenty of confused students in there to say the least. One young upstart requested some drum ‘n’ bass and I took great delight in presenting him with Panacea’s ‘Day After Reality’ from German Darkcore label ‘Chrome’ circa 1997:
‘This was made when filthy scary drum ‘n’ bass was REALLY FILTHY AND SCARY’ I frothed, waving the sleeve above my head, spilling beer and spitting bits of roll up across the DJ box: ‘Dare me to play it!’.
‘Chill out Grandad’ read his withering expression and he ambled back to a pool game.
Nevertheless, WE had a great time and how refreshing it was to get to play some really gruesome, antagonistic records; knowing that maybe, just maybe, there was someone out there in the ether, really fucking digging them. Perhaps that’s how Peel felt?
The night was organised by seasoned jock and future Top100er DJ Lamp so I asked him some questions about Peel and his legacy.
Q - When and how did you first come to hear Peel on the Radio?
A - I first heard about Peel from a friend at school when I first started getting into punk in 1978. As I was only 11 or 12 at the time I had to listen under the bed covers or tape it (I still have a big box of tapes from around that time). You always imagine that you're the only one listening in this way! I just loved his style & his passion for music. His columns for Sounds at the time were unmissable too.
Q - Was there a particular period when you were most fervently listening to his shows and what sort of stuff was he playing around that time?
A - I think, for me, the time I never missed a show was between about 78 and 81- 2 when he was playing a lot of punk & new wave and also loads of reggae. From that time I discovered Joy Division, The Ruts, Killing Joke, Steel Pulse, Mikey Dread, The Cure, Captain Beefheart & loads more stuff that really blew me away.
Q - Out of all the stuff that he must have turned you onto, are there any particular artists or records that have radically changed the way you listen to / consume music?
A - It must be a lot of the punk records. You'd hear a record that wasn't fantastically played and when you bought it very often the sleeve would be just a photocopied bit of paper. This instilled the idea that anyone can do anything in me at a very early age and gave me the confidence to get involved with various things over the years.
Q - Didn’t he play one of your records once? What was it and did you actually hear it coming, like, out of the radio? How did it feel?
A - Probably the proudest moment of my musical career was winning the Festive Fifty in 1992 with my band, Bang Bang Machine's debut single 'Geek Love'. Hearing someone that you'd admired and listened to for years & years really enthusing about something you've done is a fantastic, but at the same time surreal, experience. Hearing him play it on the NME stage at Glastonbury was a big thrill too as well as doing a Peel session.
Q - You got to meet him too, didn’t you? Tell us a bit about that. What was he like in person?
A - I met John quite a few times, mainly at festivals, and he always remembered who I was, which I found staggering considering how many people he must meet in the course of a year. I spent a great afternoon with him one year at the Phoenix Festival just wandering around the site listening to his hilarious anecdotes. I found him to be a very passionate, humble, honest and intelligent man and the most genuine person I've ever met in the music business. He even bought me something to eat but refused my many offers to buy him a drink as he said he got a bit pissed after a couple of glasses of wine. I must admit the festivals did seem very empty without him this year.
Q - All Time Top 100 feels that Peel’s legacy is likely to be hijacked by the mainstream do you agree? How can we best remember him and honour his contribution without blundering into the kind of nostalgia or retrogressive sentiment he would have so hated?
A - I think the main thing is to just enjoy and play the music that you enjoy, unapologetically, but don't forget that he invented the mainstream that we know today by going out on a limb and sticking to his guns. That, for me, is John's legacy.
Catch DJ Lamp’s All Time Top 100 at The Sidewinder on December 16th
posted by: Jim Brackpool @ 11:10 AM
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