Peter Buckley Hill, is a Cambridge veteran. He has put in yearly performances on the folk stage and his diligence is rewarded this year with a Stage 2 set. Buckley Hill is arguably one of the last of a breed, with that breed being folk comic songwriter.
On the surface his material rounds up the usual suspects, sex, drugs, stoats, sex, Portillo, but their is a lot more to it than that. As with most comics, and ducks, it's an illusion. All that that appears surrean on the surface, is supported by frantic effort beneath the water.
Peter Buckley Hill didn't make his first professional performance until his early thirties. Perhaps if it wasn't for those lost years, he might be spoken of in the same breath as Carrot and Diggance.
As it is he has become a familiar face on the club circuit, where some of his songs have become cult icons. I caught up with him Friday afternoon for a chat about life, the universe and everything.
#P=Peter Buckley Hill #N=Neil King
#N First of all.
What brings you back year after year?
#P I can't stop myself. This is a temporary town. You meet people all the time, new people, the same people. More friends than a normal town. That, and let's face it, one of the biggest audiences you can perform to on the folk scene and that counts, that's important.
#N How far and wide are you gigging these days?
#P I'm based in London rather than East Anglia, though East Anglia's easy to get to. I go where ever they'll have me. I work on two circuits. I'm on the comedy circuit as much as the folk circuit. I do Edinburgh every year, which is quite far afield. Basically I like to be national but most of the gigs I get are in the South.
#N Do you see yourself more a comic that sings or a singer that performs comic songs?
#P Very good question. Basically I see myself as a comic songwriter with a bit of off the wall presentation. I don't know if I could say that, it's what people say of me. The comedians class me as a folkie. The folkies class me as a comedian, it's the way it goes.
#N You didn't do your first professional gig until you were thirty two, do you regret the lost time?
#P In a sense, yes, very much. In the Sixties, I would go around the folk clubs playing Dylan, until I realised that not only did he play it better, but everyone else did as well. It wasn't until I discovered comedy and comic songwriting that I was able to give the public something that wasn't amateurish. I regret the time in a certain way, but on the other hand, it's all experience. Age matters less, fine, I didn't want to be a boy band. Now it's all grey power.
#N Most of your comic songs, is it people that you know, stories that are told to you, or stuff you read in the newspapers?
#P A surprising number are based on people that I know, but they don't know that. If I ever told them I would lose them. Yeah, they get put together from a variety of sources. When I did "Torn Between Two Plovers", the concept tape, that was sheer songwriting. I knew I had to write a lot of bird songs. I went through lists of birds until something clicked. When I'm not doing that, it's more random. Sometimes you just get an image and you've got to work around it. No matter how a song starts out, I always find they turn out to be about love in some way.
#N So based on that, do you have any friends that aren't drug taking sex maniacs that drink?
#P Do I have any friends that aren't sex maniacs and drink, or not as the case may be.[laughs] I'd imagine so. I haven't counted them recently. It's exaggerated. Open brackets, for your readers, close brackets. I do not take drugs anymore...I just sing about them. It's a long time since I've done them. This may be hypocrisy, but it may also be growing old. After a while your body just doesn't react in the same way. I suppose I reserve the right well I would if it wasn't illegal. I'm sorry but I don't, got that officer!
I drink less than I used to. You asked me earlier why I didn't start performing sooner, well part of the reason was during my youth I was on the piss a lot. I still drink at festivals and the odd shandy after a gig is always welcome, but the truth is sometimes I can go days without drinking. That said, this is a festival..
#N And that's partly what festivals are for. Cambridge has a reputation for being family orientated, how much does that affect your set list?
#P I haven't done the list for Sunday yet. You've got to do the right set for the audience and that applies anywhere. Eddie has asked me to bear in mind that I'm on immediately after the kids show. If it was a later slot I would do different material. My act is my act. I don't say fuck on stage that often, unlike a lot of comedians I know, and I don't intend to say fuck on Stage 2. The songs are about love and love can mean sex and sex...Although it is possible to have one without the other. There's no need to offend anyone, I've more than enough material for all tastes. It'll be very nice to be back here next year, are you reading this Eddie.
#N You've often just turned up and played the folk tent.
#P I've invariably just turned up and played. For the first six years I was here I paid. Paid to come in. Did as many spots in the club tent as I could, `cause you were allowed to then. Then they started sending me free tickets and I carried on doing the same thing. Increasingly I played outside to impromptu audiences and this I enjoyed doing, even though my record is about two and a quarter hours. Frankly without a p.a. that's a bit too long.
#N Would you like to end up down the Jasper Carrot road of tv. shows and things
#P Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Undoubtedly. Radio 4, tv. yes. I like a lot of the people that do things like I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue are very witty, but so am I. It might be ego talking, but I think I could do very well. I don't know where I'm going, but I hope it'll be fun getting there.
#N Thanks