Dressing Up and Going Out with Geoff Deane of the Leyton Buzzards

Geoff Deane was the lead singer with Modern Romance and the Leyton Buzzards. He’s a poet and a preacher and a very snazzy dresser. His new book ‘From Mohair Suit to Kinky Boots’ is a music biz memoir looking back on the time of our lives. Before he brings his new tome to Hastings for a personal audience at the Cactus Hound on Thursday 16 November, he answers a few questions by Jude Montague.

JM: You’re bringing a new book about your fascinating and fashionable exploits in the music biz to an audience that will certainly appreciate it. How do you think clothes and music intersect in your experience?

GD: THERE’S AN ESSAY IN MY BOOK ENTITLED ‘MUSIC WAS MY FIRST LOVE ALONG WITH CLOTHES AND MY HAIR OBVIOUSLY’ WHICH I THINK PROBABLY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.  FOR ME CLOTHES, IMAGE, MUSIC ARE ALL INEXTRICABLY LINKED. THEY FORM A WHOLE WHICH CAN BE A THING OF GREAT  BEAUTY.

JM: What’s it like actually being the lead singer in a band? For those of us who have often fancied it but who haven’t actually every experienced it, what would you bring out about it to share?

GD: IT MAY BE THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD. FOR A TIME AT LEAST. INSTANT AND DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH PEOPLE INTO YOUR WORK IS A WONDERFUL THING.  IT’S ALSO AN IRREFUTABLE YARDSTICK FOR HOW WELL (OR NOT) YOU ARE DOING. IF THEY DON’T DANCE TO YOUR TUNE, OR LAUGH AT YOUR GAG OR WHATEVER THEN YOU’RE GETTING IT WRONG. END OF.

JM: Your new book is a serious piece of work. What stories does it tell that have never been told before by anyone else?

GD: I TAKE MY WRITING VERY SERIOUSLY BUT IT ISN’T A SERIOUS PIECE OF WORK. MY AIM WAS TO WRITE THE FUNNIEST BOOK YOU HAVE EVER READ. I DON’T THINK ANYTHING ABOUT MY STORIES IS UNIQUE. OTHER THAN MY TAKE, MY STYLE. I’M A FUNNY WORKING CLASS BLOKE WHO CAN WRITE. NOT MANY Of US AROUND. LIKE COCKNEY UNICORNS.

JM: What are you most proud of about the book? And is there any element you would have liked to explore more?

GD: I’M JUST PROUD TO HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK PERIOD.  I’VE BEEN IN BANDS, WRITTEN SONGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE AND  MOVIES, WRITTEN TV SHOWS AND  MOVIES. I HAVE A LOW ATTENTION SPAN.  THE BOOK WAS SOMETHING NEW. I LIKE NEW.
I DIDN’T GIVE IT ANY THOUGHT  AT ALL. I JUST STARTED WRITING STORIES AND MUSINGS AS THEY CAME TO ME.    MY PUBLISHERS GAVE ME A FREE HAND SO EVERYTHING IS PRETTY MUCH AS I WANTED IT TO BE.

JM: Do you like and read other music memoirs? What ones have you read that have impressed you?

GD: I READ QUITE A LOT OF MEMOIRS BUT MOST DISAPPOINT. UNLESS SOMETHING IN THE AUTHOR’S HISTORY HAS A DIRECT LINK TO THEIR WORK (THAT I’M A FAN OF) I’M JUST NOT VERY INTERESTED. I READ BOTH CARL BARAT AND PETE DOHERTY’S BOOKS AS I WAS ALWAYS A BIG FAN OF THE LIBS. THE BEST MUSIC BOOK I HAVE EVER READ  IS ‘HOW MUSIC WORKS’ BY THE GENIUS THAT IS DAVID BYRNE. SHOULD BE COMPULSORY READING FOR ANYONE IN A BAND.  THE BEST MUSIC AUTOBIOGRAPHY I HAVE READ IS ‘MAN ENOUGH TO BE A WOMAN’ BY WAYNE/JAYNE COUNTY. IT’S AN ABSOLUTE SCREAM FROM BEGINNING TO END. ‘SO AFTER I KICKED METHADONE  AND HAD MY SEX CHANGE OPERATION I BECAME A HOOKER IN BELGIUM’. I’M PARAPHRASING. BUT THATS WHAT IT’S LIKE. A LIFE LIVED AND THEN SOME.

JM: I believe you’re from the East End and that area has a strong connection with the South Coast and Hastings. What’s been your experience of the town?

GD: I USED TO COME DOWN EVERY SUMMER WITH MY KIDS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG. I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PLACE REALLY. THERE’S A CERTAIN PIRATIC QUALITY IN THE AIR THAT APPEALS.
I ONCE WENT TO MEET A FRIEND FOR A PINT WHO HAD MOVED HERE FROM LONDON. WE WERE SITTING OUTSIDE AND HE WAS TELLING ME ABOUT THE NEW  JERWOOD GALLERY WHICH HAD RECENTLY OPENED. WE AGREED TO DRINK UP AND TAKE A WALK DOWN THERE. AT WHICH POINT SOME TROGLODYTE WHO WAS SAT NEARBY WALKED OVER TO US, LEANED OVER THE TABLE AND SAID ‘IT’S CUNTS LIKE YOU THAT HAVE RUINED THIS PLACE’.
ON SECOND THOUGHTS MAYBE I DON’T LIKE EVERYTHING.

Geoff Deane will be presenting his new book ‘From Mohair Suit to Kinky Boots’ at the Cactus Hound 33 — 35 Western Rd, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN37 6DJ on Thursday 16 November

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