Introducing the first band to play Hastings Pier

After the Jack-in-the-Green parade this year, Erica Smith found herself in the Royal Standard having a pint of Festival Ale, when a band of raggle-taggle musicians swept in, set up and played a blinding acoustic set. They were Matilda’s Scoundrels and if you haven’t seen them perform yet, then you are missing out on one of Hastings most exciting bands.

“The first band to play Hastings Pier, sorry Madness!” – how did that happen?
A few days before this year’s Jack In The Green we came up with a plan to busk three or four venues around the Old Town to raise some money for charity. The pier was a spur of the moment thing as we were heading to our first location. We played one song before we were asked to leave. All in all we raised £62 for the Hastings’ Fishermans Museum.

What’s the band line up?
Thomas Quinn: Mandolin and vocals
Jason Stirling: Acoustic guitar, tin whistle, banjo and vocals
James Baughurst: Bass
Jens Jensen: Accordion and vocals
Jon Gosling: Drums
Dan Flanagan: Guitar

How long have you been together? How did you get together?
We’ve been together for a little over two years. It all started on a drunken night out down the Dolphin after watching the Garry Blakely Band. We talked about it for months and months before we finally met up to jam.

Are any of you in other bands/been in other bands?
None of us are currently in any other bands. I think we’ve all been in other bands before. UK Terror Threat, Deranged Demeanour and Prisons to name a few.

Are you Hastings born and bred? If not, how did you wash up here?
Most of us are from Hastings and surrounding areas. Jon is from Tunbridge Wells, Jason’s from Portsmouth and Jens made it here all the way from Sweden.

What’s been your best gig so far?
This is a hard one but there are a few that stand out. Headlining this year’s Fat Tuesday launch night has to be right up there. This year’s Manchester Punk Festival and last year’s Pie Race Festival in Leeds have been some of our favourites.

If we can’t get to see you live, how do we get hold of your music?
There’s loads of ways to access our music. We have a bandcamp page which has all our releases to download/stream as well as a store to purchase our CDs and vinyl. We also have a Youtube channel and we’re on Spotify and Apple music etc. All are linked on our website.

What do you like about Hastings? (Venues, hang-outs, general Hastings life and attitude
Hastings has a great music scene and a lot of different venues offering all sorts. A thing we all love is the events we have down here that you don’t find anywhere else, Jack in the Green, Pirate Day, Fat Tuesday and more.

Why are you called Matilda’s Scoundrels? Who is Matilda, or is a Matilda’s Scoundrel some kind of medieval torture implement like a Scold’s Bridle?
It’s a question we always get asked and we would always try to make up funny stories about it, which we can never remember properly. But half the name comes from Mark Chadwick, he called us a bunch of Scoundrels after a show of his in Hastings. Matilda came from a list of random words we had taken from song titles we liked.

When and where are you playing soon?
Our next Hastings shows are in July. We’re at Flairz on Saturday 9 July as well as multiple sets at the Albion for Pirate Day on Sunday 17 July. You can find a full listing of our shows at on our website, or look at our Facebook page.

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