Being ... Wolf Howard

With some oil on canvas in residence at Nucleus, Rochester, and the Paintings and Pinholes of a Gentleman Amateur just finished exhibiting at The Brook Theatre Art Gallery, Wolf took time out for a Q&A with Rochester People.

Wolf became a drummer at 16, a painter at 25, a poet at 30 and at 34, a pinhole photographer and Super 8 cine film-maker. A member of the Stuckist art movement, he also plays drums alongside Billy Childish in The Buff Medways. He tells us about his memorable first gig (I suspect the headlining band won’t have forgotten it either!) reliving Rochester’s history, and how working in an icy shed can focus the mind!

RP: Where and when was the first exhibition of any of your work:

WH: It was a joint show with a group of artists called “The Stuckists”. The exhibition was called “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” and was held at 108 Gallery in London. My well-off uncle attended and said to me “I’ve put a red sticker next to one of your paintings”, and I said “That’s good! … why?” Such was my innocence.

RP: Who were you inspired or influenced by:

WH: I was very keen on Van Gogh, but the painters that actually made me want to start painting were my friends – Billy Childish, Sexton Ming, Joe Machine, Philip Absolon (all from the Stuckists) and Mick Hampshire (in a band from the old days with Billy called The Milkshakes).

RP: Do you still have your very first self portrait (and if so, can we see it?)

WH: I do still have it, I’ll try and get a photo of it for you later on.

RP: You were also a drummer for many other bands and The James Taylor Quartet  (no relation to the American singer-songwriter of the same name!) what made you then begin to paint, write and photograph?

WH: I wasn’t made to have a real job, so it seems I had no choice but to fill my time with a number of hobbies (that, collectively, hardly made money). Painting and writing was because a number of my (older) friends already did it and I remember being in a small gallery above Baggins bookshop in Rochester High Street, looking at paintings when it suddenly dawned on me that these people were being generous by letting us have an insight into their private thoughts. Showing us snippets of their lives that they perhaps wouldn’t particularly talk about. The photography came later and is just another hobby really. Of course I do try to flog the stuff too!

RP: What was your most memorable gig as a drummer? And when’s the next one?

WH: The most memorable gig in a way was my very first one at The Medway Little Theatre in Rochester. We (The Daggermen) were supporting a band called The Dentists and we didn’t really know how to behave (I was about 17 and it was 1985). We set off fire extinguishers, I put my foot through a painting as I slid down the stairs, we unplugged The Dentist whilst they played and their bass player chased our guitarist around with an axe. Needless to say we were very, very drunk. I don’t actually know when my next gig is.

RP: Why do you paint in a freezing shed? Does it focus you more? (I can ask if hubby’ll let you have our portable fan heater, if you want it!)

WH: I do want the fan heater! Although I am very lucky to have The Ice Shed (an outbuilding in my back garden, left over from when my house used to be a greengrocers) I do need to wear five layers of clothes and a balaclava to paint during winter. It does focus my mind in the sense that I am very keen to finish the painting and get back in doors where it is marginally warmer.

RP: Currently listening to, watching and reading?

WH: I have just had my record player fixed so I thought I would listen to my old records. However it turns out that they are all scratched to bits – I had forgotten that. Mainly I listen to classical and am very partial to a bit of Vivaldi. I have been watching the World Cup, Wimbledon and Peppa Pig (with my 16 month son on my lap). I have just finished a book by Sebastian Faulks called Birdsong which I couldn’t stop reading, even though I thought some of the writing was like Mills and Boon. I have to confess that I did enjoy it.

RP: Fave thing/place about Rochester?

WH: I very much like the area around Rochester Cathedral and Rochester Castle. I like the bridge too. Local history interests me, so I walk around thinking ‘that’s where that old woman was murdered in 1880, that’s where King John stabled his horses, that’s where the medieval prostitutes used to hang out.

RP: When did you last wash your own socks?

WH: Five hours ago. Oh yes, I must go and see if they’re dry.

RP: Do you prefer ... tea or coffee? Bright colours or pastel shades? Sweet or savoury?

WH: Tea, pastels, sweet.

RP: Can’t live without ...  WH: sugar. Which is a shame because I’m diabetic.

RP: Can live without ... WH: noise. Next door’s barking dog. Cars, everywhere, music everywhere, having to hear people’s mobile phone conversations on the train or in the library, lawn mowing, drilling and hammering on Sundays and so on.

RP: And what’s the best thing about being Wolf Howard?

WH: It used to be having the day to myself in which to muck around with the painting and so forth. Now it is to have a little Wolf Howard (George Louis Wolf Howard to be precise) running around. Who needs sleep anyway?

For a complete list of Wolf’s written work and to see his paintings and pinhole photography, visit his website here.

Thanks Wolf!