The Medway scene consists of the
bands and related cultural activities of the
Medway Towns, north
Kent, England. Main towns involved (from West to East) are
Strood,
Rochester,
Chatham,
Gillingham, and
Rainham. The Medway scene is typically dated from the punk era of the late 1970s, when the presence of the Medway College of Design (later
Kent Institute of Art & Design and now
UCA Rochester) influenced a "vibrant art, poetry and music scene."[1]
History
Of Medway musicians, the best known is
Billy Childish[2] (from Chatham) who formed
punk band The Pop Rivets in the late 1970s, and later formed Thee Milkshakes,
Thee Mighty Caesars,
Thee Headcoats, The Buff Medways, The Musicians of the British Empire and The Chatham Singers, among others. His inspiration has led to many other bands forming who now have a worldwide cult following.[3] Other notable bands include
The Prisoners,
The Dentists,
The Claim and
Thee Headcoatees. The music often draws heavily on the tradition of garage/punk/rock'n roll/raw-blues music from the 1950s and 1960s, hence references to the "Medway Delta".[4] Records have been released on
Big Beat, Media Burn and other small indie labels, as well as Childish's own Hangman Records and Hangman's Daughter, and latterly
Damaged Goods Records.[5]
There has also been an accompanying, though not so well known, poetry scene, started by
The Medway Poets in the late 1970s; Childish was a member of this group. There is also a crossover into art with the
Stuckists art group.
The music scene in Medway continued to thrive beyond the turn of the Millennium, with many bands (see below) based in the Towns. A large selection of recordings from this period is available to enjoy via
The Medway Scene (Post 2000) project hosted at
Internet Archive.