NORTHAMPTON HERALD & POST MUSIC: Secret Affair at the Guildhall in Northampton

Mod heroes Secret Affair visited Northampton museum’s Mod exhibition prior to playing the Guildhall this Friday.

Original members Ian Page and Dave Cairns contributed various belongings to the exhibition including Dave Cairns very own guitar. The pair whos hits with Secret Affair include ‘Glory Boys’, ‘Time For Action’ and ‘My World’ seemed to be very impressed with the exhibition. Explaining how and why they got involved they said:

Dave: “We are very pleased to be involved. We supplied a lot of the materials you see here today, including my guitar and some of our stage gear and a lot of the memorabilia, we just helped out really.”

Ian: “Yeah, Dave got in contact with me and just told me a little bit about it and you could just see a lot of work had gone into it all. Dave then asked me, have you got any old stuff? Relics from back when we first did it all because we wanted to contribute, that was the main thing. We thought it was just such a great effort. I’m really impressed.”

Dave: “I like the exhibition space; it’s a very fresh looking exhibition isn’t it? I guess if you’ve just come off of the street into seeing something like this, Mod culture, it can be for some people quite an obscure topic. They may have never even thought about it or even come across it. I think it’s a lovely exhibition, the scooters are fantastic!”

Discussing the exhibition further, the very nature of Mod culture and its presence today cropped up into conversation, an area many will be pleased to read that the pair still seemed very passionate about.

Ian: “I disagree with, which fortunately isn’t on the wall of the exhibition, people saying “Mod is whatever you think it is” well no actually it isn’t, that’s exactly what it isn’t. Mod is actually a specific set of iconic points and different people pick up on different elements of it. I mean I never rode a scooter or wore a parka, there were things I liked about it. I think to an extent there are some things here that reflect the eclectic nature of the culture itself.”

Dave: “The thing with Mod culture is, looking at this exhibition, people without realising it are completely surrounded in Britain by it. It’s always been there. I hope this in some way pieces it together for people and shows them about all the elements to do with it.”

Secret Affair are due to play Guildhall this Friday and crowds can expect an exciting performance covering four albums worth of material, including their latest album after a thirty year gap ‘Soho Dreams’. After deliberating whether or not they had played Northampton before, the came to the conclusion “We’ve done lots of midlands gigs but maybe this is the first time we’ve played in the town here.” They gave an insight into what to expect on the night, saying:

Dave: “We’re moving stuff around all the time, we now have the luxury of choosing our own set. We have four albums to choose from now.”

Ian: “It does mean that no matter what set we play, I’ll always talk to someone after and they’ll say you didn’t play… and you have to explain that you can’t play four albums worth of material. We have a hardcore set but we’d never not play the singles for people, there is something different in every show.”

Ian digressed informing me of a local connection of his:

“As a point of local interest, my first interest in trumpet playing and the first nurturing of my musical interest when I was a seven year old kid was from my uncle who was the principle trombonist for the Corby steelworks band. Every month I used to travel up to this town somewhere between Kettering and Corby, that’s where I got my first music lessons.”

Summing up the exhibition, Mod culture and it’s continued existence today Ian simply remarked: “Given that there was so much opposition to it all both times around, I think we won.”

Secret Affair play Northampton’s Guildhall Friday as part of their Soho Dreams 2013 tour. Tickets are £15 in advance/ £18 on the door. Advance tickets are available via the Royal and Derngate Theatre. For more information about the band visit: www.secretaffair.info

Check out the full Secret Affair interview here: www.realbowman.com

To view the piece on the website click here.