Sixty One and Playing Punk Music

Re-stack for August

I recently graduated (class of 2024) with a fine art degree from De-Montfort University’ Leicester, age sixty-one. I am a neurodivergent woman with ADHD, Dyspraxia plus Dyscalculia. I am married to Richard a ceramic artist with a PHD in computer scienc e(retired). I have an adult daughter, Elen, also a ceramic artist, married to Matt, a rock guitarist. I am the proud grandmother to their talented children Freya and Evie-Rae aged fourteen and ten.

I love many genres of music – and music is my lifeblood, like many people I cannot live without it. In my case, unless I am ‘out there’ playing music regularly (or at least hearing it, especially 'live' ), I can feel suppressed, unhappy and restless. Music and playing music have been a constant companion throughout my life. I am incredibly lucky to be part of the large and wonderfully varied music/arts community – Riotous Collective - of all ages in the multicultural city of Leicester.

I have lived in Leicester for thirty-six years, arriving from Wales aged twenty-five (with my now ex-husband our then bass player), hoping to make ‘a-go-of-it’ with our hippy hobby band Chloe and the Grownups. My daughter Elen was three years old. I was incredibly naïve, a little idealistic and very used to the male-dominated music scene everywhere, and things were (mostly) no different in Leicester, but I did manage to find many brilliant, talented generous musicians of all genders too.

Some of the original band members didn’t join us in our move to the Midlands, so new members were sought and found - we got onto the working men’s club scene playing covers for around eighteen months. I was initially resistant to this idea as ‘boring and not playing our original music,’ but we set out into this unknown territory. The clubs did teach me a lot about stagecraft and toughened me up fast, but the usual ‘mini-skirted eye-candy role’ of ‘Ain’t she got lovely legs ladies and gentlemen’ moments often the prevailed - and singing The Banks Of The Ohio between the bingo and tombola was not quite the musical nirvana I had visualised. I did enjoy performing for its own sake, but touring, and playing the clubs eventually killed our aspirations to play original music.

Raising our daughter and getting a proper job took over and it did not take long before our marriage ended, sadly, after 13 years. However, as this marriage was ending, I began attending Leicester’s City Acoustic Club, hosted by The Musician Pub a now famous music venue that has supported many famous acts among its more perennial local heroes. With my newly purchased acoustic guitar - bought with scrimped money - I attended every Monday night for several years playing my material to a supportive crowd of fellow musicians and friends.

I had so little money, I drank thirty pence glasses of blackcurrant and soda plus I walked the mile or so into town as I could not afford the bus fare, which looking back, really highlights my commitment and determination!

I then joined The Freestyle Collective presided over by Adrian Blissett - may he rest in peace he became a beloved friend - a regular Monday in a night club where I and other vocalists improvised lyrics freestyle and sang standards of disco/funk/reggae/roots/ska hip-hop and jazz, with a band led by Adrian on bass. Here too were many female vocalists who I made friends with and learnt from. By this time, I was almost forty and felt secure enough to play an acoustic set on a small stage at The Big Chill Festival and at The Big Chill House on Pentonville Rd which went well.

I did a vocal session for a Leicester club DJ, Aaron Taylor with his song Let You Go on Café Del Mar Four an album which was well received in Ibiza.

I participated in quite a few music projects during this time. Around 14 years ago, I joined an all-female Gospel choir with my daughter Elen (a Monday night again) as a way to keep singing and performing. We enjoy this wonderful family of women.

I met my husband Richard too just as I began performing with the Freestyle Collective, and we have been together ever since.

I began my Fine Art degree part-time too, in 2016 while being a carer for Richard, who has physical disabilities, and his elderly father Ray (who we lost a few years ago). Life is, and was full on so why not add more things to do and spice things up! In the final year of my degree (2023/2024), I joined The Unglamorous Project, the fabulous punk music workshops for women - 66 days to your debut was the enticing strapline and it was hosted by Stayfree Music rehearsal rooms. Despite being experienced in music, I was nervous, but I need not have worried. Playing electric music and learning the ropes like a novice appealed to me. Also I realised that over my forty years in music, I had constantly left it to the men to sort out the technical bit. I did not try to learn about even the simpler aspects of plugging in instruments, so felt really out of my comfort zone. However, being taught by Ruth Miller and her volunteers/band members from the first cohort allowed my confidence returned –everyone was incredibly helpful and lovely.

I began learning to play my newly gifted electric guitar, a vastly different ‘beast’ compared with an acoustic one, but very enjoyable and loud! Pretty soon I found myself in a four-piece band Mental Load - we wrote a few punk songs, and I even played drums on one of them. There then followed several gigs for Unglamorous - all women band gigs which sold out every time, in fact people were turned away at the door. That was an incredibly bonding and exciting moment. Film crews from German TV came and went, they were making documentaries about Ruth, her life and positive impact on us all. There were interviews for UK TV, punk-inspired exhibitions, talks and films about the iconic Poly-Styrene with live stream interviews from her daughter, organised by Ruth and Leicester Museums. It was so exhilarating. The main feeling was that of making a large amount of new female friends and creating and hearing others loud, brash, sometimes funny songs with bold beats, wild guitars and powerful lyrics reflecting feelings around misogyny or day-to-day mundanity in relationships, female empowerment, and political themes. Many of us changed our style, dyeing our hair and wearing unusual outfits reflecting our strong feelings of becoming part of this all-female movement, printing and wearing our band T shirts too. The gigs were pockets of pure joy for us all and we often discussed our amazement at how it had changed all our lives.

Then shockingly, we were told - by her family - that Ruth, our beloved founder, was terminally ill, and we sadly lost her to cancer in October 2023.

Ruth Miller, her family and her helpers had selflessly delivered her Unglamorous Workshops to Leicester with such a beautiful anarchic and can-do spirit, encouraging us all to pick up instruments, (some of us for the first time) and form a band as women - mostly over thirty, some in their seventies - no matter how old we were or felt, and that inspired those left behind to continue the Workshops.

Unglamorous Music was renamed The Riotous Collective recently, to continue the spirit of Ruth’s legacy, but with a new name to mark this new era. I played at many of the packed-out gigs with ‘Mental Load and got good local reviews, but we decided to disband after a year, as the bassist and drummer wanted to play more hard-core music and joined other bands. I and the other guitarist, Libby, are more inclined to more melodic and vocal harmony style music but still with an edgy feel. We were joined by Kitt and my daughter Elen respectively on drums and bass and we played our first debut two song gig on International Women’s Day 2025 at Firebug, Leicester.

As I write I am anticipating the next cohort of bands and processing all the feedback so far – I feel like Ruth Miller is watching over all of us with an ‘Oi Oi ! Less talking, more playing!’ I I feel proud to be one of the Riotous Collective, and you could be too. There are Riotous Collective inspired groups starting up even as far away as Australia, and tonight one of the first bands, Boilers, are playing in Tampere in Finland!

Joining this collective has rekindled my love of collaboration in music, given me a new lease of life to perform again and I also had the hugest hug from my daughter after we all played together. It is only the beginning for our new band Celestar Coco, watch this ‘Riotous’ space!!

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