Celebration of literature, travel and music to boost music co-op campaign

An acclaimed screen, stage and radio writer will next week bring tales of his time travelling across Europe in the 1970s to Lancaster University for a special evening in support of Lancaster Music Co-op.

Jeff Young will be joined in conversation by Andrew Barker, the university’s director of library services, to talk about the travels he documented in his book Wild Twin.

Following the conversation, co-op bands Guerrilla Biscuits and The Owlys will perform sets in the atmospheric Great Hall Complex which has welcomed such legends as U2, New Order and Dire Straits.

The collaboration has come about through Jeff’s friendship with co-op director Derek Meins, forged when both lived in Liverpool.

It will help the co-op raise funds to fit out its non-profit rehearsal facility, recording studio and music space on Lodge Street in Lancaster, which has been undergoing major structural repairs.

The event, which runs from 7-10pm on Friday May 23 in the Great Hall’s Jack Hylton Room, will see Jeff Young talk the audience through his physical and emotional journey across multiple countries, reflecting on the music that accompanied his travels.

Jeff’s story begins in the 1970s, when he slips out of his parents’ home with the intention of hitchhiking to Paris in search of a version of himself he calls the ‘wild twin’.

What follows is a fever dream of dive hotels, rough sleeping, getting lost, violence, poverty, thieving, illness and madness before Jeff returns to present-day Liverpool. There, he cares for his dying father in the house he ran away from 50 years before, remembering the past with a man who can no longer remember.

The conversation will be followed by the musical double-header.

Guerrilla Biscuits is the solo electronic project of Dave Shooter, who also runs Hymns for Robots - a monthly live electronic music night in Lancaster. Expect glitchy beats with dub-by basses, ice-cream van leads and snarky percussion - delivered through a laptop and performed on an array of controllers. Also likely are some pads and warped vocal samples taken from the likes of Future-Economist Kate Raworth, Rock Against Racism fanzine editor Red Saunders and/or Philip K. Dick. All performances are pretty much 100% improvised - so the immersive sonic journey begins anew at each outing.

The Owlys were formerly known as The Arcane Hope, a Lancaster pop band with 25 collaborating members who perform live as a six-piece with collaborators ranging from five to 78 years old.

Drawing on the inspiration of singer songwriter Alice Evans, they are regulars on the Lancaster scene and heavily inspired by the local area.

Starting as a sound and music art project in 2020, the band was originally formed in February of last year in preparation for Lancaster Music Festival. 

Andrew Barker said: “It is fabulous to have Jeff Young joining us to discuss his books and to delve into a discussion about how place and music connect and collide to create memory.

“Lancaster University also has a proud history in presenting live music and we are delighted to be partnering once again with Lancaster Music Co-op following our successful event last year, 'A Night at the Great Hall'.

“The co-op plays a really significant role in bringing new music to our city, so it is fantastic to be supporting this while also jointly curating a very special evening which will appeal to fans of literature and music alike.'

Derek Meins said: “We are thrilled to welcome my old friend Jeff Young to Lancaster.

“Jeff is extremely supportive of Lancaster Music Co-op and our ethos, and we hope the exciting local music we have on offer will prove a fitting complement to his compelling storytelling.

“This promises to be an evening not to miss for fans of literature and music.”

Jeff Young said: “Lancaster Music Co-op is a great asset to the city’s culture. Grassroots organisations such as co-ops and arts labs contribute so much to the artistic vibrancy of cities and Lancaster’s is up there with the best.

“My friendship with Derek Meins led me here and it’s great to be part of this exciting university and  co op collaboration. I can’t wait to talk to Andrew about my books and the music that accompanied me on my journeys.”

Lancaster Music Co-op has been homeless since 2018 when building owners Lancaster City Council deemed it unsafe, but now has a long-term lease, with repairs to the roof and exterior almost complete and the interior rooms slowly taking shape.

The project has been spearheaded by Carnforth-based Duckett Building Services and funded by £1.2m from the government’s Community Ownership Fund, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Lancaster’s High Street Heritage Action Zone and Lancaster City Council.

Tickets for next week’s event priced £10 are available here