Last night was the inauguration of this new monthly event featuring music from across decades and genres. We threw some shapes to the likes of The CBs, The Cure, King Curtis, Sly Players, Chuck Berry and The Clash, and a riot was had by all.

If you want to sample some geniune Newquay flavour, Eclectica will be reprising its success on 12 June, 17 July and 28 August.

Track listing
1. haven – asquith
2. ac-adapter – f.o.m
3. the river – ollie banks
4. floater – f.o.m
5. love lies bleeding – r.w. hedges
6. cross walker – f.o.m
7. 308 – asquith
8. that long – f.o.m
9. the wood & the trees – ollie banks
10. abyss – f.o.m
11. venetian masks – r.w. hedges
12. they say – asquith
13. free orchestra loop – f.o.m
14. swanage song – r.w. hedges

About the artists…
Friend of Mine was always about promoting other people’s creativity. Find out more about our films, photographs and music at www.friend-of-mine.co.uk.

Ollie Banks is a surfer, filmmaker, explorer of strings and things. He’s responsible for ‘900 Miles’, a unique film that chronicles the surf and scenery of Yorkshire’s east coast. Shot by this Scarborough local, this more than just a surf film, it’s a journey from one piece of art to another, a seamless transition from Super-8 water footage to high-quality digital images. Check him out on MySpace and Flickr.

R.W. Hedges – wandering old skool minstrel. Reviewed by Henry Baum:
“I read somewhere that a band should never sound like its record collection. Which is ridiculous. The Beatles sounded like their record collection. Also something entirely new. Same goes for this record. It’s 2007 by way of 66-68. R.W. Hedges’ record is as good as the Kink’s ‘Village Green’ or ‘Arthur’, while also having more post-indie rock melancholy, and not sounding at all like retread. It’s its own thing.”
R.W. Hedges album ‘Almanac’ is available on itunes, and you can follow him on MySpace.

Asquith – bearded barefoot barnacle boy. The tracks on this playlist are some dusty demos from the friend-of-mine vaults. All one-take wonders, they’re just a bunch of songs that were floating through our heads so we decided to lay it down! Excuse the clicks, sound upsets, scrapes, body releases etc… but we kinda like it raw for now, front porch loungin’ style!

Want to know more? It’s all on www.friend-of-mine.co.uk.

Our man in music Mr Bob Langdon has compiled the inaugural Drift playlist from a bunch of his favourite tracks on Honey Be Records, featuring the homegrown stylings of Matt Marr, Deltorers and The Sables. Check it out here and rock out while you’re enjoying your daily slice of lo-cal Drift goodness.

Keep checking back, because the plan is to refresh this musical fix every couple of weeks. We’ll keep you updated…

RW and I first crossed paths on a musical mis-match, and at the time – being a well-educated DJ of the crate-digging variety – I had a lot more knowledge of the old school than he thought! Comparing great breaks, 7’s and songs that people don’t really care about anymore, we educated and re-educated each other to a point where we knew we were on common ground. With RW, the history and influence of the old style and days gone by isn’t some retro movement to gain recognition among industry folk, but has been his upbringing, his security, and it shows in his music.

‘Almanac’ is his debut album and, in my eyes at least, it sits very well in this collage industry! Trust me, you will not be disappointed – it frequents my iPod and gramophone most days. I had the pleasure of singing on some tracks, so it’s close to my heart…

To speak to the man himself, for iTunes links and tour dates check out RW on MySpace.
There’s a great review by a superb author here.

Here’s the video for ‘Abe’s Dream’ – look out for the smallest left-hander reeling at the very end…

Lunch is on me next time RW!

With mist hanging low over the land and dawn’s light not yet capable of warming my skin, I wade out into the water, its chill toying with my toes and threatening to make me shiver as I contemplate submerging. I look around and nod knowingly at the other dedicated individuals venturing out to get a taste of the water before the day takes hold.

My early morning dip might sound like your average dawn session, but in fact last Saturday, in south east Cornwall, surf was the last thing on my mind. I was wild swimming at Port Eliot Festival 2009, wallowing in the refreshing pleasure of a dawn dip in the river before hopping into the hot tub, then wandering the stately home’s grounds in search of entertainment.

As you might have guessed, Port Eliot is far from your average UK festival. The latest evolution of the famed 80′s The Elephant Fayre, it boasts an eclectic programme of music, comedy, literature, theatre, dance and fashion – with a healthy dose of eccentricity thrown in. Organised by Lord and Lady St Germans it draws culture vultures from across the country, and I was one of them.

The festival site stretches out across the entire Port Eliot estate, from the well kept lawn in front of the imposing ancestral seat of the St Germans to the boathouse down by the river. Every available building becomes a stage and tents are erected wherever the land lies flat, which means that it takes some exploration to find your bearings, but of course that adds to the fun.

First stop was the Telltales tent, where, alongside other Cornwall based writers, Dan Crockett – more commonly known to Drift readers for his surf writing – shared his adventures in creative fiction to a jam-packed audience. After enjoying the best of what Cornwall’s writing scene had to offer we hotfooted it up to the Bowling Green stage to hear from Jung Chang, international bestselling author of Wild Swans and one of the key players in raising the veil on Communist China. Her frank discussion of the incredible experiences that have  informed her writing over the years had us mesmerised.

Staying put, a change of key followed as the tent flooded with fans of The Wire all desperate to spend an hour with Dominic West, aka Jimmy McNulty, aka the coolest detective on earth. And he didn’t disappoint. His honest wit and mischievous nature had the whole audience captivated as he told tales of how he never quite got the hang of the Baltimore accent, how ‘Bunk’ really is great’ and how the city’s police put themselves at the show’s disposal -  boats, cars, helicopters and all. On top of that he spilt the beans on how he really felt about being in 300 and the scrapes not playing the fame game has got him into.

So after a delightful dose of McNulty, we headed down the hill for a slice of tongue pie courtesy of Byron Vincent. Poetry with bite, Byron’s cutting insight, raw talent and fresh delivery had us in stitches as we supped down Cornish cider and lay about in the sun – the key components of any festival day. Then it was back up to the Walled Garden stage to hear Jamie Brisick talk waves, cocktails and travel before heading to the cabaret tent to cackle at some of the funniest comedians on the touring circuit including Brian Gittins – tipped for the top at this year’s Edinburgh festival.

As dusk fell, words turned to music with Evan Dando warming up the crowd before The Magic Numbers got the whole festival dancing with their upbeat tunes, inclusive harmonies and big grinning faces.  Fired up and ready to dance away the last few hours of Saturday Gaz Mayall followed by The Queens of Noize had us waving our limbs wildly. And finally as we ventured back down to our tent we came across two strangers, one in a fluffy hat, the other bright pink, skintight trousers, carrying a beaten up old record player, aptly labelled The Shitty Little Disco which they promptly switched on and got us dancing to. Eccentric? You bet.

With help from an egg and soysage roll, Sunday morning saw us struggling back up the hill once again to the Walled Garden stage where Ross Sutherland made us forget about the rain with his ingenious poetry. Amongst the wordplay was his unusual take on Little Red Riding Hood, where he replaced all the nouns with the 23^rd noun below it in the dictionary, the result a warped yet wickedly accurate modern fairytale.

After some hair of the dog and lazy jazz from the Louise Parker Trio we checked out Allegra Huston - Angelica’s sister – as she read from her book Love Child and talked of her life growing up in Hollywood. A smile inducing Dulwich Ukulele club performance and a hog roast later and we were back with Ross Sutherland, Tim Clare and Joe Dunthorne for Found in Translation – an adventure into the world of the OULIPO which had us rolling in the aisles.

As the sun set on the weekend we left exhausted but smug in the knowledge that we could surely now count Jimmy McNulty as one of our closest friends, that we knew how many ukuleles it took to have a good time and that we understood the inner workings of one of the most exclusive literary societies on earth.

We arrived at Port Eliot in search of a spot of cultured eccentricity and we got it. Then some. Job done.

After three weeks of solid rain the charts for this weekend are looking good, though it’s not waves I’m hoping for. It’s sunshine and plenty of it.  Because I don’t want to be wading through mud as I listen to Dominic West talk about life as Jimmy McNulty on The Wire, sway nostalgically to Evan Dando strumming, bounce around to rockabilly records and laugh as the best spoken word poets and comedians including Luke Wright, Joe Dunthorne and Simon Munnery make magic with words at this year’s Port Eliot Festival.

And on top of that I’m hoping to pick Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s brain about cloud formations over the ocean, chat to Jamie Brisick about marrying writing and surfing and hear extracts of Dan Crockett’s creative fiction.

Who said surfing and culture don’t mix? I’ll let you know how I get on…

Rhiannon Buck: What made you start using Canadian Aboriginal vocals in your songs?
Xavier Rudd: The voice we use is the Aboriginal Chief who sang on the White Moth album; his prayer was to Mother Earth and was a part of the song and part of a whole connection we had going on.
He’s incredible; he should be running the world. He has an amazing scientific mind, on the subjects of anatomy, spiritual existence and reasoning, the reasons for our Universe, you know his philosophy is very broad. His Aboriginal background is what I draw from, as I come from that background anyway. But he has the scientific knowledge to back it up.

RB: I hear you learned to play the didgeridoo by practising on a vacuum cleaner hose…
XR: Yeah, it works! It was one of the first instruments I tried to play – my mum was always looking for the thing.

RB: How did you get involved in the ‘Surfer Dude’ film?
XR: I did three days of recording for it. It was a pretty light-hearted comedy and it was cool for me to work on, you know, jams and things that I thought suited the film. I haven’t heard the outcome of it yet.
I knew what I needed to do: I laid down a bunch of grooves and then they cut them up and used them. It was sort of funkier than usual. I had a Hammond organ player with me, and you know it was kind of fun. I know they added some stuff to one thing that I did, which was weird, I wouldn’t expect that. I’ve never had someone add stuff to my music, I wasn’t that happy about it, I guess I was kind of disappointed, but you know… It was fun really.

RB: You’ve got a reputation as an activist campaigning for indigenous rights. How did that start?
XR: Well, I think it started when my great-grandmother had my grandmother and she was taken away. She was then raised by the Irish sisters of the father. I’m not entirely sure of her origins but she seems to be responsible for my journey, she had a very strong spirit. She comes through me, through my music, and shapes my whole existence. My passion and connection to culture is maybe the reason why I got involved in the campaign.
She’s not a figure that I see, but I feel her and I know she’s around. It gives me the strength of character I’ve needed at different times; it comes from another place, it’s hard to explain.

RB: Has your love of the ocean influenced your environmental campaigning?
XR: I guess my music is a reflection of how I feel. I grew up in the bush surfing, camping, spending time on my own, connecting with the energy of my country and home. My biggest appreciation is for the natural earth, and I guess that comes through in my music. Lots of the places I visit have environmental groups, and I see those groups voice growing over the 10 years I’ve been around. It’s good to see.
I care about the preservation of this planet and what time we have left on it and I get upset about how things are.

RB: Do you try to reduce the impact your travelling and the music industry have on the planet?
XR: It’s easy at home, we live in a carbon-neutral home with solar panels and we do all kinds of stuff with the sewage system and the like. But when we go out on the road I just feel like it’s really hard. We try, but it’s a pretty toxic industry. And in some places it’s harder to do than others. For example, in America we were carrying bags around with us trying to find somewhere to recycle. But in the music industry it’s really hard to have some kind of sustainable tour unless you’ve got a huge budget. If you have a huge team and someone dedicated to make that happen in each place, it will happen. I think it’s important that promoters and organisers in each place are aware of the impact they have – a standard thing that comes with all the shows seems to be plastic bottles and cups, it’s always there. At some of the festivals I play at, it’s not well organised, but I’ve noticed in Europe it’s getting better. Glastonbury was good this year, they had it organised. But the V Festivals weren’t.

RB: Do you bring your board on tour with you?
XR: Yeah, I usually do, but I blew it on this tour. I didn’t bring it and I bought a crappy one in Spain for way too much money. I think we finish up in Biarritz, so I’ll give to someone on the beach!

RB: Do you surf in the UK when you’re here?
XR: Yeah for sure, in Cornwall. I don’t remember where exactly. It was good, I had some fun waves, and it was warmer than I thought too. Although another time when I went in I was freezing!
It’s cool to see a surf culture here in the UK; growing up in Australia I knew nothing about it at all, so it’s really nice. There’s a good scene here, and there’s some good surfers too. They’re tough you know, kind of like Canadian surfers.

RB: Are you riding your way around this retro scene right now?
XR: Yeah I actually like twin fins and old single fins. You know I get on thrusters a bit – I guess you can perform better for today’s standards, turn vertical and stuff – but I grew up on thrusters, and it’s nice to ride something else. It’s like my dad, he grew up on old designs and then suddenly was blown away by the modern thruster technology. But I like the old slower boards, twin fins and stuff like that. I ride them back home and all my mates are on thrusters and are like “Get on the thruster you tripper!” but I love it.

RB: Does surfing feature in your music? Does it help you write?
XR: Oh totally, surfing is always there in all my work. I’ve always written a lot of my music in the water, since I was young. I still do now; a lot of inspiration is drawn from that.
Music is an experience that I guess humans have had since the beginning of time and so it’s a very sacred and old experience. Surfing is the closest you can get to Mother Nature out of everything I’ve done. You’re dancing with a pulse of energy from Mother Nature, it’s very strong, prevalent and it can be intimidating. And it only exists for a certain period of time before it disappears into the history of the universe, you may have been the only person that was able to dance with it, get inside it. For me that is as raw as it gets and my music has the same power for me, it brings me together with other people and this world.

www.xavierrudd.com

Photos: James Looker

Rhiannon Buck: What was the first instrument you learnt to play?
Mike Einziger: I studied the piano briefly as a child. But I learnt to play what I heard; I never studied classical music at all.

RB: And what do you play now?
ME: Piano, drums, percussion. I’m proficient but I’m not great at any of them.

RB: When did you realise you would have to take a break from the guitar?
ME: Well, I was injured recently and had to have surgery on my left wrist. I couldn’t play guitar for a few months – I had a two-month recovery period – so there was no choice. It was worrying, I had no idea what would happen. I’ve played guitar every day since I was 12, so it was a nerve-racking time.
I can play the piano with one hand, which is kind of a good thing – it forced me to be more creative. The injury actually enabled me to start this new work, because previously I wouldn’t have had the time or motivation to write the kind of music I am now. I’ve always wanted to write a concert piece and so I jumped on this opportunity. I’ve been playing music in a van for a very long time; it feels good to be doing something different.

RB: What inspired the symphony End.>vacuum?
ME: It’s hard, I don’t even know to be honest… I guess the same things that inspire me to write anything were forces in this symphony.

RB: How did you meet Danny Elfman?
ME: Danny came to see us perform. We met after the concert; we talked and remained friends. Over the years he’s been an inspiring figure for me.

RB: Do you think you’ll go back to Incubus?
ME: Oh definitely, playing with Incubus is the best experience of my life. We’ve been so fortunate, but it’s also important to explore other avenues of creativity. Everybody else in the band has artistic pursuits: Brandon [vocals] is going to study art, Ben our bass player is going to continue to make records at home and Jose [drums] has recently become a father, so now is a perfect time for us to take a break. We’ll resume next year and start a new album. This time is just going to make the reforming experience better.

RB: Will you go on tour with the End.>vacuum?
ME: It’s a great idea but it’s really expensive to go on tour, so I don’t know if it will happen. I guess if I make it through the first tour, I’ll see where it goes. I loved being in Europe, especially in the summer. Australia was amazing; Sydney was great. South America was fantastic too – Buenos Aires, Rio… It was an incredible experience to go there and play.

RB: And you’ve enrolled at Harvard…
ME: Yes, I’m starting university in the Fall, which is a huge thing for me. I’m moving to Massachusetts; it’s going to be freezing. The weather is brutal, but I’m not going for the weather. I love Boston and this is all about pushing my limits of what I can handle, my intellectual stamina. I’m studying music theory and composition, and hopefully physics and astronomy. Science is a driving force for me, my inspiration for everything. That’s where I got the name for the symphony from. I’ve done a lot of reading around the subject. It’s really interesting, it goes above a lot of people’s heads.

RB: Is there any surf in Massachusetts?
ME: Not that I know of. I live in Malibu and I’ve been surfing since I was a little kid, but I haven’t been for a while. Now that it’s summer and I’m home I’ll be getting some time in the water before I go off to Harvard in the Fall.

RB: Does surfing help you with the musical process?
ME: Yes, there’s something really amazing about being in the water. It’s relaxing and surreal. When I’m in the water I hear rhythmic patterns and different song ideas play out in my head while I’m paddling around. I usually keep them in my head then go into the studio and start playing. Once they get in my head, it’s just like shaking a bottle and then opening it up.

RB: Do you surf on your own?
ME: I much prefer to surf by myself; if I have the choice I’ll go on my own. I just don’t like dealing with other people. Sure, I’ll go with friends, but I prefer my own company. I don’t like having to fight crowds for waves.

RB: Do you have a preferred break?
ME: Tavarua in Fiji – no crowds, it’s a small group and I’m always with friends there. But back home Malibu is great, it’s crowded but you can find other spots like Point Dume; I love surfing in all those spots. Unfortunately I’ve been on the road so much it’s hard to stay active. We surf around the world when we get the chance – Portugal, South America, Japan – and it’s really been a great opportunity to travel, make music and surf.
I’m riding a 5’6” Channel Islands pod, a singlefin, and it’s a great board. It’s wide and thick and I love it. The older I get the less I want to ride thrusters.

www.enjoyincubus.com

Rhiannon Buck: What were your early musical influences?
Ben Harper: My family has owned a music store in Claremont since 1958. My grandparents started the music store; my Mom runs it now. My grandparents and my parents all made music, so I was around it quite a bit. It’s pretty well encoded in my genes.

RB: When did you first meet Jack Johnson?
BH: Just before he put out ‘Brushfire Fairytales’. He used to come to my concerts; when I met him I didn’t know he made music. He was with a group that consisted of the Malloy brothers – Chris, Keith and Emmet – who would come and see me play at the Santa Barbara bowl, around 1999. We got on instantly on a personal level, rather than musician to musician. And when someone handed me a cassette tape of his songs, just him and a guitar, I was blown away. Our friendship grew from friends to musical partners. When someone talks about soul mates with a handful of crystals and a sitar in the background, you know you’re fucked, but when someone says it with absolute sincerity and means it, you don’t have to duck – you can say it and not have to cringe. Jack and I are definitely soul mates.

RB: You recently performed with Eddie Vedder at Live at the Garden. What was it like to share a stage with such an icon?
BH: You know, Eddie’s voice is so powerful and Pearl Jam’s one of the greatest bands on the planet, so you can’t step up there and not meet it. His voice is so massive, and I think that’s why we worked together well. He covers his register and then I fill in the upper register, and it just seems to fit. I’ve know the guys in Pearl Jam since 1995 – they’ve been having us open up for them – so it felt really comfortable and very musical. In 1995 I’d heard their music on the radio but I hadn’t invested my life in it, but when I heard them live I was flattened, and I immersed myself in their records and got to know them intimately. When I saw them it kind of gave me licence to ramp it up a bit.

RB: Did you always make a social statement with your music?
BH: That kind of thing has always been a response and a reaction to what’s gone on around me. There has been a shift to and from themes over the years. I would be not as motivated or inspired about music were it not for the changes it takes you through. It keeps me guessing.

RB: Do you surf?
BH: I love to surf – I’ve got a collection of boards, long and short. I love Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu; my favourite spot is Byron Bay in Australia. I’ve never met a surfer who wasn’t musical or who didn’t love music – I think there’s a connection between surfing and music in general. I keep a notebook with me so that I can write down ideas when they hit me, and if you look through it you’ll see that it’s all wrinkled. Often I’ll be sat in the line-up and an idea will pop into my head, and I have to frantically paddle in and write it down. I drip water all over that notebook, and I’ve broken so many cell phones because I often have to sing an idea into my message machine to record it, and I’m drenched and I short out the phone.
The sea has got something for everybody. It’s got a lifetime of inspiration if you can just tap into it. When I’m in front of the ocean my life is that much better. When I’m in front of the ocean I know that I am being fed in a way that is tapping into a source. There aren’t a lot of sources in the world. The source is where it’s all coming from. Calling it spiritual is almost an insult. Spiritual is something that you’re always trying to find, but true spirituality is something that comes and finds you, grabs you and informs you in a way that no single word can describe.

RB: Did surfing find you?
BH: It did. Life often provides you with what you’re supposed to have, whether you want it or not. It was my good fortune that what I was putting out the world – musically and personally and however else you can send that out to the world – was coming back to me. All roads led to being in the water and on a surfboard. A lot of people who surf ended up coming to my shows; I ended up surrounded by some of the best surfers in the world and it was only a matter of time before I made it into the water.

RB: Do surfers make a nice audience?
BH: I’ll take an audience of lumberjacks, an audience of mechanics, an audience of steel workers just to have an audience! But yeah, surfers make a great audience, that’s for sure.

RB: Do you have strong environmental beliefs?
BH: I do. There are a lot of things you can do to offset the damage done by touring, for instance. Contributing to reforestation, powering your tour with alternative fuels… but I’m still getting on a plane, and that’s going to put out what it puts out. It’s almost like human progress and development takes it’s toll on the environment. I mean, you can fly or you can drive from city to city, it all takes its toll after so long. It’s not like you can do it on a horse and buggy, but then if we were still on horses and buggies we wouldn’t be where we are right now.

RB: You’re part of the No Nukes group. Can you elaborate on your work with them?
BH: I think nuclear energy is a band-aid for a bigger problem. In the short term I see the benefits, but I feel the long term downsides far outweigh those benefits. It’s just a non-negotiable prospect for me. Go and Google ‘nuclear disasters’. From Chernobyl on down you can see how severe the toll it has taken over the years.

RB: Do you work with any other environment groups?
BH: My main contribution at the moment is working with a guy called Chad Pregracke. He works with a charity called Living Lands and Waters. He’s an extraordinary environmental hero. On his own he’s built his own barge and he goes up and down the rivers of America pulling out all kinds of trash from them.

RB: Are you working on anything at the moment?
BH: Yeah, I’m in and out of the studio, working on a couple of things. I’m working on being at home and not doing anything, and I’m also working on this tour we’ve got coming up.

www.benharper.com
www.livinglandsandwaters.org
Photos: Scott Soens