Talking with Attila the Stockbroker – the man, the legend – is a glorious experience. He has been a poet and songwriter for 44 years and anyone lucky enough to get into one of his Fringe gigs will enjoy the benefit of pretty much all of that. I love it when you can just feel that someone has improved with age.
“Incomparably so.” he says “I started off as a pretty one dimensional angry young ranting poet: I’m now a multidimensional angry old one.”
He speaks fluent French and German, and has a degree in the former, along with politics
“When I was very young I saw a book with a picture of a dog and the word ‘chien’ underneath: I asked my mum why. She told me that’s what French people called a dog. From that moment I was fascinated by foreign languages”
Politics has been another life-long passion, and has involved some personal sacrifice:
“I was seriously targeted by the far Right in the 80s, because I believed that if you were an anti fascist poet the place to perform was where fascists were trying to recruit people, not just places where everyone agrees with you.” His dedication to the left led a gang of said fascists to smash his beloved electric mandolin over his head. “We gave the poor thing a Viking funeral down the River Stort in Harlow, where I was living at the time.”
Medieval instruments are also one of the great loves of his life. And his fusion of punk and medieval music just has to be experienced.
“In my teens I heard the great early music advocate David Munrow’s ‘Pied Piper’ programme on the radio, found about the crumhorn, cornamuse (basically a bagpipe without the sac) sausage bassoon and a host of other wonderful medieval instruments and was hooked. By that time I was also into T.Rex and the Velvet Underground – so when punk happened the three chord punk rock sound was completely logical for me and many of the simple progressions fitted early music structures too.”
Of course there is political activism here too.
“I am now founder and – so far – sole member of the Recorder Liberation Front, which demands that any child under 12 who gets hold of a recorder has to sign a legally binding document pledging to do as I did” ie, learn to play it properly, “ and if they just want to make a racket are given a ukulele, which is the veritable instrument of Satan.
Attilla (no that is not his real name, Google him) first came to the Fringe in 1982
“At the Assembly Rooms with Ben Zephaniah, Seething Wells and Joolz: it was run by hippies, very DIY, and we got a split of the door. It worked, I had fun, made money, venue did too, it was fair. Then came the era of ‘pay to play’, of fees for spaces, of corporate companies taking over the Fringe and I was never, ever going to be a part of that.
Then ten years ago I heard about PBH from my old mucker John Otway. Simple, brilliant idea: no charges, no tickets, venue makes money from food and drink sales, performer takes voluntary contributions from the audience. It is the true, real, original Fringe in all its DIY glory”
And it is there that you will be doing 14 different shows in 14 days ?
“The idea of turning my life’s work into a Festival show just came to me one day. I reckon I have at least 25 hours of material all told, so 14 hours is basically a Greatest Hits set, a chronicle of the last four decades in poem and song.”
So not just showing off ?
“That’s how my wife Robina describes my entire life: showing off”
Attila The Stockbroker, 14 Days 14 Completely Different Shows, 16.00 (times vary) PBH Free Fringe, August 5 – 18
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/attila-the-stockbroker-14-days-14-completely-different-shows
Attila the Stockbroker Early Music Show, St Cecilia’s Hall, 14.00, August 9 and 16
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/attila-the-stockbroker-s-early-music-show
