The Royal Deer

The Royal Deer

The Royal Deer press cutting from Farnham Diary

We are losing 18 pubs a week. They are not dying, they are being killed by greedy pubcos (pub owning companies) that are screwing pub landlords with extortionate rents and drink prices often double the market rate, with the net result the pub goes bust and is then put on the market for redevelopment.

• Pubs screwed by greedy pubcos

For a pub to be brought back from te dead is a rare event, a cause for celebtration.

One such pub is The Royal Deer in Farnham.

But this will be more than a pub. Marios, who runs The Barn, a highly successfiul arts centre, plans to do the same with The Royal Deer.

Like The Barn, The Royal Deer will be a cultural centre, live music, theatre, films, excellent food, art exhibitions, yoga, art classes.

It is a development The Tumbledown Dick in Farnborough (currently earmaked for destruction for a Drive-hru McDonald’s) will be well advised to follow closely.

The earliest recorded publican or licensee for The Royal Deer is Henry Jouning in 1878.

Pubs screwed by greedy pubcos

Pubs are closing at the rate of 18 a week. Not because the pub landlords cannot organise a piss up in a brewery, though that certainly is true of some pub landlords, but because they are being screwed by greedy pubcos (pub owning companies) who are charging extortionate rent and above market prices for drinks.

• How zombie pubco Punch is destroying pubs

Essentially we have a mediaeval system of serfdom. Many pub landlords are struggling on £15,000 a year, or less. And no, that is not a typo.

The pub landlord goes bust, the pub is sold off for redevelopment.

This does not have to be. There is much that can be done locally.

Is the pub listed as a community asset? Is it listed by English Heritage or locally as a building of local historical importance? Is there a pub protection policy in place?

• Buildings of Local Historical Importance in Aldershot and Farnborough
• Last orders? How councils can protect local pubs from closure

Nationally, there is now such concern at the rate of loss of pubs, and the mediaeval serfdom in which pub landlords operate, that the government has launched a pub consultation exercise. Does your pub landlord know about this, is it being publicised to those who frequent the pub? Pass the word, participate, unless you want to find your pub closed and boarded up next time you pop down for a drink. The closing date for responses is 14 June 2013.

Please also support Fair Deal for Your Local, and ensure your local pub is on board.

• Landlady of historic Liverpool pub the Caledonia says closure is ‘a tragedy’
• Punters’ outrage after Eltham’s Dutch House pub eyed up by McDonald’s
• Pub tenants get new state backing
• Pub companies closing 20 village locals a month
• Greene King tax dodgers

Act of Terror – Arrested for filming police officers

When police carried out a routine stop-and-search of her boyfriend on the London Underground, Gemma Atkinson filmed the incident. She was detained, handcuffed and threatened with arrest. She launched a legal battle, which ended with the police settling the case in 2010. With the money from the settlement she funded the production of this animated film, which she says shows how her story and highlights police misuse of counterterrorism powers to restrict photography.

Photography is under attack. Across the country it that seems anyone with a camera is being targeted as a potential terrorist, whether amateur or professional, whether landscape, architectural or street photographer.

Not only is it corrosive of press freedom but creation of the collective visual history of our country is extinguished by anti-terrorist legislation designed to protect the heritage it prevents us recording.

This campaign is for everyone who values visual imagery, not just photographers.

We must work together now to stop this before photography becomes a part of history rather than a way of recording it.

Provided you are not a terrorist, provided you are not obstructing police carrying out their legitimate duties, you are free to take photos in public places.

• I’m a Photographer not a Terrorist
• Police Advice on Photography

Raul Seixas – O inicio, o fim, o meio

Documentary on Raul Seixas.

Raul Seixas (1945-1989), Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer, born in Salvador, Brazil, and died of pancreatitis in São Paulo.

Prior to being a writer, Paulo Coelho was in a song-writing partnership with Raul Seixas.

Thanks to Paulo Coelho for posting on his blog.

Synchronicity: Only a couple of days ago, I was discussing Raul Seixas with a Brazilian girl and the song-writing partnership he had with Paulo Coelho.

West End Centre

West End Centre a cultural oasis in the cultural wasteland of Aldershot

upright piano in the bar

West End Centre is a cultural oasis in the cultural wasteland that is Aldershot, located in what was a former school, a few minutes walk from the dead and dying town centre.

They host music and comedy, occasional drama.

During the day, art, languages and other activities.

Tucked in one corner of the bar, a battered old piano, but on hitting a few keys, it does appear to be in tune and thus playable.

Their use of social media is at times dire, especially twitter, which is rather sad as it gives a total misleading impression of the venue, as you find it you pay a visit.

A rare exception, and a very clever idea, was retweet and we will put you in a draw for a free CD. An excellent idea and ought to be a condition for all acts when booked. Provide us with a few free albums, or a download code if on bandcamp (and if not, why not?) and we will offer to the punters. A win-win all round. Whoever is on gets publicised, their music gets spread around, the West End Centre gets free publicity.

Congratulations to @keithpp, @sarahmowat and @daveface86 – winners of a @DukeSpecial CD! Let us know how you want to receive your prize—
west end centre (@teamwesty) April 12, 2013

We have 5 copies of Duke Special album Oh Pioneer to give away to a good home before his gig here on Wed 17 Apr. Retweet to enter the draw!—
west end centre (@teamwesty) April 02, 2013

Amazing gig from @DukeSpecial at @teamwesty tonight, fabulous solo set complete with audience singalongs plus an encore on the bar piano!—
Matt Legge (@the_villain) April 17, 2013

@teamwesty @DukeSpecial Just got home, what a fantastic night! Especially the encore on the old Joanna in the foyer!—
Carl Pickles (@carl_pix) April 17, 2013

This could backfire if people did not like the music. But if not, hand back or pass on. But if people do like, more likely to tell their friends.

West End Centre is marking Word Book Night. This would be a good time to launch Westend Centre as a BookCrossing zone. Ask people to bring along books which can be left lying around for others to collect and release into the wild.

As a small venue, it would be of value to others if they contributed 360 words to The 360 Deal on what they look for when booking.

• Julia K at the West End Centre
• Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre

Ian Hislop explains Capital Punishment to an Idiot

To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice. – Desmond Tutu

Kids react to The Beatles

Pubs listed as community assets to protect them from developers

London’s pubs are a step closer to being protected from demolition or conversion into homes, shops or office blocks after Boris Johnson agreed to list them as “community assets” in his planning guidance for councils.

The Mayor told Tory Assembly members he would include a specific protection for community pubs to stop them being taken over by developers.

This would mean that the onus to protect a local pub would lie with borough planning departments rather than with the local community, as is currently the case.

More than two pubs are closing every day across the country and London has lost 1,300 in the past decade. Assembly member Steve O’Connell, a Conservative, said: “Good pubs are an asset to London’s communities. They deserve to be mentioned specifically in the Mayor’s forthcoming planning guidance to borough councils ­— at the moment they are covered as a broad generalisation.

“Unfortunately, a high number of these pubs are demolished or converted to other uses such as residential and retail services which radically alter community spaces and change the tone of the high street.”

A recent report by the Tories recommended that London’s boroughs should step in with stricter planning policies that favour protecting pubs as community hubs.

It also called for strict criteria when it comes to planning applications for changing the use of a pub or demolishing it. These might include the need to demonstrate that the pub has been vacant for at least two years, making sure the character of the street scene is not detrimentally affected, and retaining significant features of historic value.

It comes after a high-profile Chelsea pub was saved from redevelopment into a £20 million home after a huge campaign against its closure.

Residents including actor Hugh Grant and former footballer Sol Campbell were among more than 1,000 people who signed a petition against a planning application to turn the Phene Arms into a residence complete with steam room, swimming pool and gym complex.

Rodger Molyneux, director of The Hope in Carshalton, says that if a pub is lost part of the community dies.

“Listing a pub as a community asset helps to see off the property developers who are the main reason pubs go down. There’s plenty of help now but when we were doing it three and a half years ago, it was very different. A number of us stood around in the bar one night and thought we should get together and buy it. They pointed to me and said ‘you organise it’. It took months of legal ups and downs but we got it eventually. We’ve grown the business and made the place nicer. We made it how beer drinkers like a pub to be.

“I would hope that every local authority in the land will use their new powers to stop unwanted and unwarranted attacks on a great British institution.”

Originally published in the Evening Standard.

Two Unsuspecting Guys Take The New Renault Clio For A Test Drive

A quite clever car commercial.

The 360 Deal

The 360 Deal — Andrew Dubber (ed)

360 as in “360 degrees”. The full circle. As in, we’ll take a piece of everything, thanks. — Andrew Dubber

Let’s all get wise, get educated, and help kids in poverty in India while we’re at it, yes? — Steve Lawson

The 360 Deal is what record labels are now offering, not content to milk musicians dry on recording deals, they now want to control and bleed dry every aspect of a musician’s life, touring, merchandising, publishing, management …

When the exploitative nature of the record labels is well known, bands reduced to little more than indentured slave labour working on the record label plantation, the last thing they need is those same record labels to control every aspects of their lives.

Amanda Palmer left her record label because they wanted to control every aspect of her life, what she wore, what she looked like, what her music sound like. She has never looked back.

• How Amanda Palmer Built An Army Of Supporters
• Amanda Palmer: The art of asking

James Taylor had accountants scrutinise his record label. He found he was being ripped of big time to the tune of millions of dollars.

• How big record labels rip off artists

A good management team gets you the best deal. They are on one side of the negotiating table, the record company the other. How can you get a good deal when the record label is your management team? This is like being in an in-house company trade union.

The 360 Deal is a book, an idea of Andrew Dubber and Steve Lawson with Andrew as the editor, to counter The 360 Deal promoted by the record labels. 360 people from all aspects of the music business, record executives, music producers, academics, rock musicians, classical musicians, techies, DJs, each give 360 words. The people giving this advice, may differ, but the one thing they have in common is experience and a love of music.

$3-60 is the minimum price, you can pay more.

The money raised, all 100% of the price you pay, goes to Music Basti, a music charity based in Delhi helping poor kids.

One of their projects, a joint project with New Music Strategies, was Monkey on the Roof. Street kids in India were pulled in off the street and taught music. They could not believe it when folks came from England and wanted to record them.

How do you measure success? Degrading yourself on X-factor, or having the privilege of helping street kids through Music Basti?

The 360 Deal is published by LeanPub as an e-book, with all proceeds going to Music Basti (LeanPub have waived their fees). Publishing as an e-book has the advantage that it can be published before it is complete, to get the advice out there, then continually updated until complete.

If you have 360 words of advice, then please contact the editor Andrew Dubber.

We need someone to advocate piracy and sharing, someone on crowd sourcing, why you do not need a record label, the importance of social media.

My own thoughts on contributors: Imogen Heap, Amanda Palmer, Zoe Keating, Yolanda Charles, Rudolf Schenker (founder and lead guitarist German rock group Scorpions, author of Rock Your Life), Paulo Coelho (writer and strong advocate of piracy, former record executive, producer and songwriter), Save the Tumbledown Dick (importance of small venues for live music), The Barn (hosting live gigs).

Rudolf Shenker was told he could not be a rock guitarist, he was German and only Brits and Americans could be rock guitarists, he ignored the advice and followed his dreams.

Paulo Coelho ignored the advice he was given and followed his dreams.

That is probably the most important advice you can be given. Follow your dreams, give it a try, or spend the rest of your life regretting your humdrum life. Play music because you love it, because it gives you a buzz, not because it makes your famous, not because it makes your rich.

The 360 Deal is a New Music Strategies project.

Another New Music Strategies project is Any And All Records, a rather novel if not unique record label, one that does not rip off the artists.

Excellent advice, money donated to a charity, is a much better 360 deal than that being offered by the record labels.

Steve Lawson and Andrew Dubber are co-founders of New Music Strategies.

Steve Lawson is bass player, and has been known to indulge in some excellent music and have some interesting views on the state of the music industry.

Andrew Dubber is professor of music at Birmingham University. And congratulations Dubber (as known to all his mates) for making professor.

• The 360 Deal podcast
• The 360 Deal – A Book Of Very Useful Music Advice
• Leanpub Podcast Interview #7: Andrew Dubber
• The Alchemist
• Rock Your Life
• Rock and Roll is Dead
• Music in the Digital Age