Stop The Press! Kazoos In Camden

Stop The Press! Kazoos In Camden
Post Date October 18, 2013
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Category Camden, Press

Press Coverage of CKO Debut Protest in CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL

Published: 17 October, 2013 by PAVAN AMARA

COMEDIAN and political activist Mark Thomas joined pro-busking campaigners in Camden Town for a kazoo-playing protest on Monday.

Mr Thomas, best known for his Channel 4 show Mark Thomas Comedy Project, described Camden Council proposals for stricter busking rules as “draconian” and a kind of “social cleansing”.

He was joined by 60 people at the protest by the Citizens’ Kazoo Orchestra following a petition that has attracted nearly 3,000 signatures.

Under plans for new busking licences, which are in the consultation survey stage, wind and percussion instruments would be banned along with amplifiers.

Mr Thomas told the New Journal: “Busking is part of the fixtures and fittings of any city’s life. It is part of the creative eco-system.

At heart it is a wonderfully democratic form.

“The council might call this a licence but it is a tax, a tax on spontaneity, creativity and the ethos of having a go. Measures brought in against those without a ‘licence’ are draconian and bullying. It is a pleasure to support the fight against the council’s misconceived social cleansing.”

Jonny Walker, a Camden Town busker who organised the protest and petition, said: “It was a carnival atmosphere. People were passing by, picking up a kazoo and joining in.”

Kazoo-blowing protesters played Star Wars’ Death March, The Dam Busters theme tune,Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love.

Philippa Morgan-Walker, director of the Association of Street Artists and Performers, said buskers had been a part of Camden for hundreds of years, and was an “ancient form of Englishness”.

She added: “Part of our distinctive national character is having the right to speak and sing in the street. If we stamp down on busking, we are stamping down on Britishness.”

Mike Collins, who travelled from Yorkshire to the Camden protest, added: “Camden is a centre for musicians, yet the council is coming down harder on musicians than any other local authority.

“Many of us have come from the north and areas outside of London because we want to show solidarity to our fellow buskers.”

Lib Dem councillor Chris Naylor said: “What I hope is that the council agrees a policy that works for solo buskers, playing on their own without amplification – and keeps out the big boys, and gives residents a bit of peace.”

The Citizen’s Kazoo Orchestra’s Debut Protest

The Citizen’s Kazoo Orchestra’s Debut Protest
Post Date October 17, 2013
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Category Blog, Camden, Press

By Philippa Morgan Walker

On 14th October 2013 the pavement outside Camden Town tube station, where fleeting meetings usually occur, was the location for the Citizen’s Kazoo Orchestra’s debut public performance and peaceful protest against Camden Council’s draconian busking policy that would see all wind and percussion instruments banned. Instead of falling prey to such a ludicrous policy and standing idly by as Camden Council erected a wall of red tape around public space; musicians, comedians – Mark Thomas, Ben Van Der Velde, to name but a few – and those with social conscience hit the streets with instruments to send out a considered message to the council: DON’T TAKE THE MUSIC FROM OUR STREETS.

READ MORE ABOUT CAMDEN COUNCIL’S PROPOSED BUSKING POLICY and ASAP’s response

SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE POLICY

All photographs by Gavin Mills

Jonny Walker playing Here Comes The Sun, rather ironically, in the rain

Jonny Walker playing Here Comes The Sun, rather ironically, in the rain

The Citizen's Kazoo Orchestra tunefully played songs such as Star Wars Death March, All You Need Is Love and The Great Escape theme tune

The Citizen’s Kazoo Orchestra tunefully played songs such as Star Wars Death March, All You Need Is Love and The Great Escape theme tune

The Citizen's Kazoo Orchestra on the rainy streets of Camden, protesting against a draconian policy that would make playing wind instruments on the streets of Camden illegal

The Citizen’s Kazoo Orchestra on the rainy streets of Camden, protesting against a draconian policy that would make playing wind instruments on the streets of Camden illegal

Kazoos, voices, violins, morris dancers and trombones joined the throng of peaceful protesters

Kazoos, voices, violins, morris dancers and trombones joined the throng of peaceful protesters

Jonny Walker challenges Camden Council to rewrite a fair policy for buskers

Jonny Walker challenges Camden Council to rewrite a fair policy for buskers

ASAP's Jonny Walker in action

ASAP’s Jonny Walker in action

Camden Council propose to make morris dancing illegal on the streets of Camden, so ASAP invited...

Camden Council propose to make morris dancing illegal on the streets of Camden, so ASAP invited…

A morris dancer joins in the protest to Keep Streets Live in Camden

A morris dancer joins in the protest to Keep Streets Live in Camden

ASAP Director, Jonny Walker makes an effusive political speech about keeping public space open to creativity

ASAP Director, Jonny Walker makes an effusive political speech about keeping public space open to creativity

ASAP's Associate Director, Philippa Morgan Walker

ASAP’s Associate Director, Philippa Morgan Walker

Artists and musicians joined the peaceful protest and entertained crowds of smiling onlookers

Artists and musicians joined the peaceful protest and entertained crowds of smiling onlookers

Wind instruments would be illegal in the borough of Camden, if this legislation goes through...

Wind instruments would be illegal in the borough of Camden, if this legislation goes through…

The CKO performing the Star Wars Death March

The CKO performing the Star Wars Death March

ASAP! and the ‘Simon Cowell clause’

ASAP! and the ‘Simon Cowell clause’
Post Date July 30, 2012
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Category Blog, Press

Photo: pj_in_oz.

As the assembled crowd sang along at the ecstatic climax of Hey Jude, it was absurd to think that what we were doing was now technically criminal.

So observed Tom George about the campaign’s first ‘celebratory busk’ in a recent article in Seven Streets. Tom has been busy promoting the campaign, appearing most recently on Bido-Lito’s recent podcast to give his views. Skip to the 14:40 mark to listen:

Being the humble and obliging fellow that he is, Tom has given us permission to correct him on a small, but common, inaccuracy about the true nature of Liverpool’s policy: The so-called ‘Simon Cowell clause’ does not require performers to pass a formal X-Factor-like audition before they are granted a license. What the clause in question does state, however, is that police and enforcement officers are now entitled to stop performers on the grounds of taste alone. If they don’t like what they see or here, in others words, they now have the power to move performers on, potentially turning officials into a “poor man’s Simon Cowell”. Contrary to Ged Gibbon’s condescending insistence that the policy is about helping buskers, this clause would be the death of street performance in Liverpool.

But there was much truth is Tom’s article, much that we would do well to bear in mind three weeks after the policy’s introduction:

If we are to achieve a repeal of this law, it is vitally important for the campaign to build momentum from here on. A street performers’ group is being established that will give us the collective voice and weight to negotiate with council when they realise that street performers are not going to kowtow to their autocratic ways.

And what, you ask, is this group? The Association of Street Artists and Performers (ASAP!) launches this week.

Get in touch to find our how you can get involved!