Episode 7 of First Impressions features the writer and musical maven Gareth Stevens. Based in Saint Leonards on the sunny south coast of the UK, Gareth writes for Hastings Independent Press and in 2019 covered both the increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong (8:36) and climate justice in Mozambique (17:00) for Perfect Bound magazine. He is also a skilled conga player and drummer who has played with some of the best in the business, here and in Hong Kong (where he was part of Banda Orbita). Gareth’s son is the drum and bass maestro Workforce, half of duo SpectraSoul, and host of the Must Make podcast.
In the rich musical accompaniment to the pod, you will hear Workforce (37:45), the Mozambiquan hip-hop artist Azagaia (24:00), and Latin jazz from Gareth’s former bandmate Alonso Gonzalez (33:57).
All this and we haven’t even mentioned the ‘Frank Off’ that forms the middle section of the show between myself and another Frank Spencer impersonator (25:55), nor the extract from Look Twice Down Ladder Street (15:52), my crime yarn set in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, which was published as part of the Hong Kong Gothic anthology in 2014. Gareth also provides his book recommendations (43:00), an introduction to transcendental meditation (40:30) and relays encounters with the great and good ranging from Motorhead to Tony Adams. Pour yourself a glass of something nice, and enjoy!
Gareth’s writing in the Hastings Independent Press:
https://www.hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/?s=Gareth+stevens
Gareth performing with Banda Orbita in Hong Kong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyTU3AoouEw&t=34s
Richard Avedon (photographer)
https://www.avedonfoundation.org/the-work
Nicola Longobardi (photographer)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Nicola-Longobardi-Photography-472784846432249/posts/
Hong Kong Gothic (fiction anthology)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hong-Kong-Gothic-Edmund-Price-ebook/dp/B00Q9F6U8G
Justicia Ambiental (organisation campaigning for climate justice)
https://www.foei.org/member-groups/africa-2/mozambique
Mauro Pinto (photographer)
https://www.afronova.com/artists/mauro-pinto-2/
Gonçalo Mabunda (sculptor)
https://www.artsy.net/artist/goncalo-mabunda
Azagaia (hip-hop artist)
https://www.dw.com/en/azagaia-the-undisputed-hero-of-mozambican-hip-hop/av-52016880
Alonso Gonzalez (Latin jazz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE4OyMkGqMo
Workforce (drum and bass artist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2PnBnx6BVQ
Must Make (podcast)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkGGLJixmLLnUKzxqcN8tDQ
Maya Angelou (poet/writer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0
Frank Spencer (comedic creation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFLpwRMS00g
