So… the other day I was browsing Facebook. A post appears which grabs my interest. Efa Supertramp is plugging her tour fanzine which is for sale. Efa is an acoustic singer songwriter who I have never met nor heard her music. Still I decided to add her on Facebook a couple of months ago. She kindly accepted my request. I rarely request friendship from people who I have never met. Efa is different though. I’ve more than heard her name in passing. I’ve toured The Netherlands twice with Johnny Campbell and once with Bettie Akkemaai. Efa has also toured with these two troubadours. Now, when you spend time on tour with just one or two people you tend to talk. A lot. Not in a gossiping bitchy manner. More just about experiences. A good chunk of the time you tend to talk about other musicians you have toured or played shows with, funny stories, weird quirks, moments of excess. That sort of thing. On my last tour with Bettie she was talking about her tour with Efa. She would tell me stories about the venues they played together or how they hitchhiked across The Netherlands from one show to the next. Bettie had nothing but kind words for her. We also talked about Johnny. When you talk about Johnny there are many tales to tell, I’ll keep the best stories offline. For example Johnny had recently toured with Efa in Scandanavia. As usual with Johnny I was following his tour through Facebook. He tends to keep an interesting blog. One of the best posts he made was when he returned home from the tour. It read something along the lines of. Thanks to everyone in Copenhagen (I think he said Copenhagen, I could be wrong) for the show last night, does anyone know whose shoes these are? and does anyone know where my shoes are? I’d like to have them back please. It turns out he had woken up after a show and accidentally put someone else’s shoes on and left to go catch his flight home. He didn’t realise until he got to Manchester. The next time I saw him was a few weeks later in Huddersfield where I was playing a show. Naturally I asked him about his tour. He told me lots of great stories about his adventures with Efa. He asked me if I knew her, I said no. He said I should look her up. Taking his advice I dropped her a message and we become online friends.
So anyway. I like reading Punk/D.I.Y. Fanzines. Sometimes they are educational, sometimes hilarious, but more often than not I just appreciate the art. Each one has their own identity. So for a mere £2 plus postage and packaging I take a punt on Efa’s tour fanzine. A few days later it arrived. ‘Give Me Space’ a 56 page booklet covering her six week tour through eight countries. I read every page. I grinned from ear to ear whilst doing so. Especially the first section which covers The Netherlands. Nearly every squat she talks about I have either played in or am playing on my next tour. I often try explain the squat scene to fellow folk punk musicians in the UK. Even to my own band. This fanzine does it with such accuracy that I’m thinking of purchasing extra copies that I can dish out to friends to educate them on the subject. It’s also great to hear that Efa and her tour buddies behave in a similar manner to the people I’ve toured with. Things like washing own dishes, helping prepare food, rotating the order in which everyone performs to give everyone a chance to go on first and last, sharing instruments and looking out for each other. After all we’re all equal.
The fanzine is not just about tour stories. It’s also a guide. There’s tips on how to get around cheaper, recommendations of Vegan cafes, recipes, and a basic introduction into the legalities of squats, social centres throughout different regions. The but the main thing for me is how inspirational it is. I’m even thinking of doing my own zine or something similar sometime next year. Maybe I’ll use some of these blog posts as content.
At the start of this post I mention that I have never heard any of Efa’s music before. Whilst writing this blog tonight her album has been playing in the background. I’m very impressed. She’s the real deal. Buy her magazine and listen to her music. The links to everyone mentioned in this post are below. Enjoy.
Pick up your copy of ‘Give Me Space’ from here http://efasupertramp.bigcartel.com/product/give-me-space-a-tour-zine-by-efa-supertramp
Check out here music here https://afiach.bandcamp.com/
Johnny Campbell’s latest album is here https://johnnycampbell.bandcamp.com/album/hook-line-and-sinker
and Bettie Akkemaai’s website is here http://bettieakkemaai.nl/
