Rob and I were fortunate enough to have been invited to play at the Tenterden Folk Festival back in October 2012 (reported earlier in this blog). While there, we had the immense good fortune to meet up with Brian Hazelden of the Isle of Sheppey Folk and Blues Club. Over and above being an extremely friendly person, Brian is also an extremely good cinematographer (or is it videographer – sorry Brian!) and, in the marquee at Tenterden, under difficult live venue conditions, took the best film of na-mara in action to date and very kindly sent it through to us to view. We were both completely bowled over by its quality and were, therefore, suitably further impressed when Brian suggested that, under more controlled conditions, he could do even better and would be interested in doing some filming with us. We did not need a second invitation and it was with delight that we travelled over to a special evening of The Isle of Sheppey Folk and Blues Club to do some filming with the club and Brian.
The weather was not great, but the roads were clear. We set off in good time and the M25 was relatively kind to us. This was the first time on the Isle for both of us and we both regretted arriving on a winter’s evening and were intrigued to see the full view over the Thames Estuary on a clear day at some time in the future.
We made it to the club where Brian and friends were setting up and were made immediately welcome by the various club members who were helping out.
The evening proceeded as a normal club night – this was very much the atmosphere we were all trying to capture. Two singers from the club played brief sets – both of them excellent - and then Rob and I did two thirty minute sets which Brian was able to capture on the six cameras and bank of technical kit he had ranged around him. The atmosphere was relaxed and unlike the tensions of a recording studio, the ‘live gig’ feel was conducive to a certain ease of playing which suited us. Despite the cameras, it was possible to create a club ‘vibe’ and our material seemed to go down very well with club members and we had some great feedback on the night.
As I type, we have just begun to see some of the footage of the night coming back from Brian and can confirm that, as he predicted, he has indeed been able to surpass the terrific work he achieved at Tenterden. Our aim is to review all of the material Brian managed to capture on the night and then decide where best to place it on external sources and this web-site – so please be patient.
It is not our habit through this blog to promote business ventures. However, though his nascent enterprise gigfilm, we understand that Brian is thinking about developing a small business around filming promotional and other video material for artists and bands. If you have any such needs, we couldn’t recommend Brian highly enough for what he has done for us. We wish him every success with his filming and hope to share the fruits of his labours with na-mara followers as soon as we are able.
We would also like to thank the members of The Isle of Sheppey Folk and Blues club for coming out on a bitterly cold night and making us feel so welcome. We very much hope to return to the club to play more of our material, in due course.