8.3.24
Linking to, and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio, in which we discussed Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the significance of the recent by-election victory in the UK of George Galloway, the continuing plight of the 16 men still held at Guantánamo who have long been approved for release, the global vigils for the prison’s closure, and the continuing plight of Julian Assange, who is still fighting in the British courts to prevent his extradition to the US to face outrageous and unjustifiable espionage charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication, in 2010-11, of classified US files leaked by Chelsea Manning. Chris also played ‘Warriors’, my recently released song about Julian and Chelsea, recorded with The Four Fathers.
21.2.24
Linking to, and discussing the significance of ‘Warriors’, the new release by The Four Fathers, which I wrote about Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, and which was released to coincide with Julian’s last UK appeal against his proposed — and grotesquely unfair — extradition to the US to face espionage charges relating to the files that he published, with some of the world’s most significant newspapers, which had been leaked by Chelsea Manning, including the Guantánamo files, on which I worked a media partner.
6.8.23
My report about, and photos from this year’s WOMAD world music festival in Wiltshire, where, as usual, there was some excellent music from around the world — with my favourites this year being Mokoomba, Souad Massi and Horace Andy, and with a non-musical highlight being an appearance by the great Michael Rosen.
5.8.22
My review of the WOMAD festival’s welcome return to Charlton Park in Wiltshire for the first time since 2019, and my reflections on the festival’s history, and my 20 years of attending and working in the children’s workshops, which culminate in a children’s procession through the festival site on its final evening.
22.3.22
My review of BAC Beatbox Academy’s ‘Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster’, the top-rated show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, which is back on tour after two years off the road because of Covid. If you get the chance to see it, don’t miss it!
4.11.20
My thoughts on the eve of England’s second Covid lockdown, set to last for a month from November 5, in which, as well as being critical of the government’s typically slow and muddled response, I also reflect on the importance of live music and other forms of culture, and how they have flickered to life, against all the odds, since Covid hit, as well as how they might resume when this lockdown ends.
23.9.20
Linking to a video of my band The Four Fathers playing at a small party in a park in south London on August 29, 2020, and my assessment of the changing rules regarding gatherings, which would now make this illegal — although whether or not the new ban on gatherings of more than six people is a proportionate response by the government to an increase in infection rates is something that, I believe, needs discussing.
27.8.20
Videos made using found footage by Bren Horstead, the drummer of my band The Four Fathers, to accompany the release of our most recent studio recordings, which we recorded in December with the great Charlie Hart (Ian Dury, Ronnie Lane): ‘The Wheel of Life’, ‘This Time We Win’ and ‘Affordable.’
3.7.20
Today, Bandcamp, the US online music service, is waiving its fees to help musicians, so please feel free to buy any of the studio recordings by my band The Four Fathers, including our brand-new online single, ‘The Wheel of Life’, a meditation on mortality and living in the moment.
24.4.20
Promoting the release of ‘This Time We Win’, the new single by The Four Fathers, which I wrote last year, inspired by Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, and which we recorded in December with Charlie Hart, who also plays Wurlitzer piano on it. Ironically, the arrival of the coronavirus has led suddenly to seriously reduced emissions, although our leaders are desperate to restore “business as usual” as soon as they can, a delusional position that we hope as many people as possible will resist.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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