Bring Back British Rail

Green Door Store, Trafalgar Arches, Brighton, Sunday, December 20

THE former social club under Brighton Station is the logical place to hold a benefit show for a rail re-nationalisation pressure group.

And when it comes to which acts to approach folk-punks Blyth Power – who took their name from a diesel engine – seem the likely choice.

Harrogate-based vocalist and drummer Joseph Porter formed the band in 1983, and is the only original member to remain.

The central feature of the Blyth Power sound has always been Porter’s drumming. Even the stage set up is unusual, with Porter’s kit front and centre.

“I used to be a really dreadful drummer when I played with [1980s anarcho-punks] Zounds,” he admits. “Then I started to learn how to do stuff. I would never have had a drummer in my band because they wouldn’t have lasted, I would have been on their case all the time, although when I started Blyth Power I settled down to not being a plonker.

“I can’t imagine not playing and singing now – I enjoy it. I don’t have any great stage presence – when I’m standing up I’m just a little short guy who isn’t sure what to do with his legs. When I’m singing I have to play drums – in the studio I have to air drum which is why I normally make sure nobody can see me in the vocal booth!”

The current line-up includes Brighton-based keyboard-player Annie Hatcher and bassist Ben Bailey, while guitarist Jerry Hellfire calls Gloucester home.

Porter didn’t find it difficult to say yes to the show when Bailey was first approached.

“I’ve always been a firm believer that the railways need to be renationalised,” he says while on a break from his day job editing Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine.

“I’ve been a railway enthusiast as long as I can remember. I’m a trainspotter – I’m not ashamed of the term – it’s something I have always done. My biggest frustration is I can’t afford to travel on the trains as the system of franchises and privatisation has priced rail out of my reach. It’s not a public service any more – which is why the campaign is so important.”

Porter’s love of railways has always run alongside passions for cricket and politics, with his dense and carefully crafted lyrics drawing on English history and esoteric subject matter to get his points across.

Many of his 1980s lyrics are getting more relevant today.

“I had a list of villains when Blyth Power first started,” he says. “People like Michael Heseltine, Jeffrey Archer, Cecil Parkinson and Sarah Keys. I was writing songs about how they were getting away with it again and again – stealing, lying and cheating.

“There are now amazing characters around that haven’t been there for so long. I’m not saying I wouldn’t rather they were not there, but I’m reading Steve Bell again and doing all the things I was doing 25 years ago. It has come full circle.”

He is enjoying the return of the Labour party too as a political force under Jeremy Corbyn – and the effect it is having on the media and the mainstream. He joined the party after voting Green at the last election.

“Labour is achieving more in opposition than they did in the last two parliaments,” he says. “Rail privatisation is a key part of that – how was there a Labour government in power for so long that didn’t re-nationalise them? Now there is a focus on what you can do if you try – I want to be more involved.”

The band has a dedicated cult following across the country, which almost doubled a crowd-funding request for £4,500 to make last year’s album on own label Downwarde Spiral: Women And Horses And Power And War.

And the band connects with the fans through the annual Blyth Power Ashes bank holiday weekend, which combines a festival of like-minded acts with a chaotic cricket game.

At each event the band has begun to explore its back catalogue, with this year’s event focusing on the 1993 album Pastor Skull.

“Next year we’re doing [1990’s] Alnwick And Tyne,” says Porter, who admits he loves hearing what his current guitarist Jerry can do with the old songs.

“He’s the best guitarist we have ever had. Neil Keenen from our first line-up had a four-string guitar in an open tuning so he could play it with one finger.”

As for the future Porter has another 12 songs ready to go for an album.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff piled up,” he says. “It will come out in due course – I’m a slow writer, and I’m now writing novels as well. I’ve self-published three, and the fourth has gone for its final revision. I want to have it ready for the Christmas rush!”

*Bring Back British Rail also features John Hegley and The Lovely Brothers.

Starts 8pm, tickets £8. Visit www.bringbackbritishrail.org or www.wegottickets.com/event/339233