LOCAL LIVE INTERVIEW Aug 03
BOOMING SOUNDS

From Worcester Park to Sutton, promoter Pete Feenstra has been responsible for bringing big bands to the borough. Lottie McNamara talks to him.

1) How Long have you been promoting bands?

I’ve been promoting for a living since about 1987, but first promoted back in the early 70’s.
After going to university I travelled for a few years and ended up promoting a few gigs in Goa, India, the Middle East and Denmark.
I returned to the UK, trained as an information scientist, worked in libraries, became part of an outreach team that organised films, concerts etc, and then joined Hounslow Leisure Services.

I ran several venues, notably Feltham Rox, and booked a theatre (Paul Robeson Theatre) for seven years. I subsequently joined The Shepherds Bush Bottom Line for 18 months and then ended up next door at the Empire. It was while at the Bottom Line that I fell on my feet, running everything from the bookings to marketing the place.. In the meantime I’d also started up the Worcester Park Club, which ran for more than six years.
All that was great but I then went independent and ended up in Sutton.

2) What do you think of the Boom Boom Club as a Venue?

I think it is great because it brings top quality music to your door step and everyone seems to know each other..
The club has a great station right next door, but the trains finish far too early..

3) What do you think of the Sutton Music Scene?

The Sutton music scene is part of the whole South London/Surrey scene, and can’t be seen separately. As ever, young bands have too few places to play and established bands have the same problem. It would be best if everyone worked together towards a live music circuit, that was properly supported by the local community and press.

4) Which band do you wish you had discovered?

Well, I’m just working on a re-issue series of six Family albums on Mystic records featuring Roger Chapman. Chapman has to be one of the greatest rock singers of his generation, and had I discovered Family, they might have still been around making great music, rather than calling it a day.
On a contemporary note, I’d also liked to have discovered The Coral. They seem to have the perfect balance between 60’s sensibilities and contemporary guitar bands.

5) What do you think of manufactured bands and programmes such a Pop Idol?

I hate Pop Idol, but manufactured bands have always been there. I started listening to music in 1963(!) and it was all pop back then. Forty years on we are back with the same formula and manufactured bands, almost as if The Beatles never existed. I hope our club helps fight that.

6) The Stones or The Beatles?

Beatles. I love the Stones because of their role in the counterculture. I also love The Pretty Things who were wilder, but The Beatles were just about the best band ever and have stood the test of time. I loved Lennon, but years later I met McCartney and realised here was a multi-millionaire, who unlike his contemporaries, was still making music, and is almost an ordinary person.

7) Are they any new bands at the moment whose music you enjoy?

Lots. My problem is had I not been brought up on The Beatles, for example, I would have thought Oasis were the greatest thing since sliced bread, as it is they sound a tad derivative. I hear loads of influences in contemporary music from the past. I loved Frank Zappa, and his humour is in so much music today. Specifically I like The New Radicals, Coldplay, the energy of Feeder, the angst of Radiohead (but again very derivative), quite a few guitar bands, and I even like The Darkness, who are retro, but cleverly combine humour and good playing. Finally I should mention the Dandy Warhols, who I suppose are Art Rock, and I always likes originality.

8) What’s the best and worst parts of being in the music business?

The best part is simply dealing with people, and the fact that, in spite of many pitfalls, marketing music can give you a great deal of job satisfaction.
The downside is the unsocial hours and the fact that dealing with musicians can be like being a school teacher with some errant pupils