Penny Rimbaud

Although the last rites of the Vortex in Church Street appeared to be read on 11 June when the lease ran out, it seems that there may be life in the old club yet.

The internationally-renowned jazz venue is moving to new premises in Dalston later this
year, and everyone thought that was that. However, a local pressure group is determined that, as well as going to Dalston, a version of the Vortex will remain on the Street, albeit perhaps in a somewhat modified form. They have organised a petition, signed by over 2500 local residents, which argues that it would be severely to the cultural and artistic detriment of Stoke Newington if the club was to disappear from the area altogether. Under the slogan 'It's our community, let's fight to save it', they have successfully opposed a planning application to turn the building into three upstairs flats and a change of use from retail premises downstairs to a café/wine bar.

The Council rejected owner Richard Midda's application for a downstairs A3 (restaurant)
licence, apparently on the grounds that there are enough restaurants in Church Street
anyway, and they also believe that the building deserves D1 status, ie arts / culture / entertainment use as a cultural centre to stage and promote events, meetings, concerts etc for the benefit of the wider community. Should Mr Midda wish to appeal, the process could take up to nine months, during which time the Vortex are seeking to promote
weekend gigs at the club and possibly open it up during the week for public events, if all
parties can reach agreement.

Good news, indeed, but who originated this this last-minute protest? Step forward, Penny Rimbaud. Penny (born Jeremy Ratter) is an activist of many years' standing. One of the cofounders of the Stonehenge Free Festival in the early 1970s, Penny divides his time between his anarchist/pacifist 'open house' Dial House in Essex and Stoke Newington, where lives his partner Eve Libertine. Penny was the founder of anarchopunk band Crass in 1977, and the band remains today a massive underground influence on younger anarchists, antiauthoritarian protestors, antiglobalisation campaigners and all attracted by its 'laissez-faire existentialism' stance.

Constantly in conflict with the police and the DPP during its existence, Crass became
notorious in the popular press during its seven-year existence (its dissolution in 1984 was deliberately chosen to coincide with Orwell's nightmare vision of the totalitarian state). The band has sold millions of albums, although workers at an Irish printing press objected to the lyrics of a song, 'Reality Asylum', on their first record. The band dropped the song and substituted three minutes of silence which they called 'Sound of Free Speech'. They were visited by the Vice Squad when they reissued the song - now titled 'Christ's Reality Asylum' - as a single on their own label but charges were eventually dropped. They again fell foul of the authorities when their anti-Falklands War song 'How does it feel to be mother of 1000 dead', containing classified information passed to them by soldiers in the Falklands, was quoted by a Labour MP to Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons. Penny's reasoning for why they were never prosecuted is that the State had too much to lose by putting the band on open trial. Penny's credentials as a free-thinking activist are obvious.

Since then, he has continued to help run Crass as a political information network (he was
heavily involved in the 'Stop the City' protests), record label (he produced Bjork's first
album with the band Kukl) and arts and community centre, operating mainly out of Dial House. He has also concentrated on writing, poetry and drama, and recently staged an Anti-War multi-media event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (at the request of the QEH), as well as numerous concerts, poetry performances and gigs across the UK.

Some of the musicians who have played the Vortex over the     years outside the building. Photo, Nick White

But why the Vortex? Penny (among other things, a jazz fan since he was a kid) has been a regular at the venue for the last ten years and has played a monthly gig there for the last two years as part of the 'Crass Collective'. In his view, it is 'the only club in London where musicians can play for themselves. It's such a creative, free environment and one of the last bastions of the old London Bohemianism'. A few weeks ago, he discussed the club's imminent closure with the Vortex's manager and guru David Mossman (like Penny, an enthusiastic mountaineer - a sure sign of a free, existential spirit) and they decided to launch the petition. 'It's a bit like tackling the Eiger', says Penny, 'you can only fall off'.

Their aims are simple. They want to remain in the building's upper floor, run the venue as a collective, and serve community interests, promoting local film, poetry, dance theatre and jazz as well as being a focus for local groups and concerns. The situation is complex and who knows what will happen. But, fuelled by all this energy, enthusiasm and commitment, it is clear that the Vortex will not give up without a fight.

To keep up to date on the Vortex campaign, log on to www.vortexjazz.co.uk . For more information on Penny Rimbaud, visit www.southern.com/southern/band/PENNY