Singer Fred surfs wave of success
FRED Clark is a young musician on a mis- sion. He wants to get to the top. But for the time being, he is enjoying the considerable local acclaim that has come his way in recent months. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter has al-
ready played in front of 3,500 at Rochester Castle and organised his own gig at Maid- stone’s Hazlitt Theatre. He has no problems getting bookings -
quite the opposite. In fact, he is now looking forward to a weekend not performing for the first time since June. Fred describes his style of music as “surf- influenced acoustic pop”. He has just re- leased his third album, ‘Good Morning Sunshine’. It was recorded in his home stu- dio at Allington. Music is in his blood - his father Richard
is a guitarist and gran Margaret taught the boy Fred to play the recorder. “I decided that wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll enough so I took up the guitar,” joked Fred, who is studying music technology at theUniversity of Kent’s Medway campus. It was 10 years ago, when still at primary school, that he really turned on to music, regularly watching Top Of The Pops. “I bought ‘Misunderstanding’ by Pink and couldn’t stop playing it. It was that that starting me writing songs.” By Year 9, Fred had acquired some recording equipment and software, which enabled him to experiment with tracks. “I kept fiddling around with my record-
Take-away gets Sunday opening
CHINESE take-awayWok U Like has successfully overturned Maidstone Council’s decision to restrict its trading hours. The outlet was last September refused its application to over- turn a condition, dating back to 1997, specifying that the prem- ises in Sandling Road, Maid- stone, would be a Monday to Saturday operation only. Despite applicantMsWeiyun Xu’s claim that nine of the
11 shops on the road are open on Sundays and Bank Hol- idays, Maidstone Council argued it would lead to an in- creased level of noise and general disturbance for neighbours. At appeal, planning inspector Ken Barton sidedwith the applicant: “In the light of the domination of the noise from traffic on the A229, despite the operation of a number of A5 units on Sandling Road, the proposed extension of opening hourswould not cause any unacceptable harm to the living conditions of the occupiers of nearby residential properties in terms of additional noise and disturbance. “Indeed, some of those closest to the site are occupied by operators of the takeaway outlets and the council’s envi- ronmental health officer concluded: ‘I cannot find an ar- gument against this development being granted.’” The take-away, which trades between 11.30am and 11.30pm Monday to Saturday, was permitted to open be- tween 5pm and 10pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
KENT Police have launched a new way of responding to calls about anti-social behav- iour. The aim is to ensure the most vulnerable people receive a priority response and do not become long-term victims of threats, bullying and abuse. A spokesman for the force said each call
will be graded and a response officer will be sent to callers identified as vulnerable or repeat victims for a detailed risk assess- ment. The new way of working follows an in- ternal review and draws on the lessons
ing technique, then I got the opportunity to play some gigs around town. My first was at the United Re- formed Church in 2007.” Two years later, he
had written enough songs to do a “proper” album. “I asked my music teacher if I could use the recording studio at Oakwood Gram- mar. ‘Open Road’ was the result. “It got some nice reviews and got me into play- ing festivals. I did Lounge in the Farm at Canterbury and I started to get really busy, and getting played on the radio.” Fred’s next high point came last year
when he performed at Manchester’s famous Hard Rock Cafe in a Battle of the Bands or- ganised by Waitrose, where he works part- time. This year has been a hectic mix of gigs, writing, recording, revision for exams - and an overdue haircut, after his girlfriend in- sisted! Hismusic showcase at Hazlitt was among
the highlights. “I thought I would be nerv- ous but it was one of the best nights of my
Family affair - Fred Clark with (l to r) his mum Anne, gran Mar- garet and girlfriend Lauren who can all be heard on his new album's 4th track, How Can Things Get Better Than This.
life.”
Other venues have ranged from the Kent County Show and Maidstone River Festival to a private party in Ditton - “a slice of Glas- tonbury in a farm field”, Fred observed. So where next? “I would love to be a pro-
ducer but I enjoy everything about music - playing on stage, mixing, organising shows. But I’d love to be in the charts, and to be on TV. That’s my big ambition.” Fred recently performed at the Hops
and Harvest Festival, Kent Life, earlier this month. He returns to the Hazlitt onWednes- day, October 12.
Good start for seaside Sunday service
ANEWSunday bus service between Sheerness, Sittingbourne and Maid- stone has got off to a good start. It is the first link on Sundays be-
tween the Isle of Sheppey and the mainland for many years. The service (334) is being run for a six-month trial period on a commer- cial basis without any financial sup- port.
Arriva’s publicity manager, Richard Lewis, said: “Most Sunday buses in Kent are run under contract to KCC and, in the present economic climate, it is quite unusual for bus companies to take the financial risk of introducing new services on a Sunday.
“We are, however, responding to requests from our customers for a link between Sheppey and Maid- stone on that day of the week and we hope that they will find it useful for getting to Maidstone for shop- ping, or for reaching Sheerness or Minster for a visit to the the seaside. “The future of this service de-
pends on it being financially viable andwe hope that the local people in Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Maid- stone will give it a try to ensure that patronage builds to a level where it can become an established part of our network in the future.” For further information call 0844 8004411.
Town fights on for new retirement bungalows PROPOSALS for two retirement bungalows close to SnodlandMedical Prac- tice will be considered by a planning inspector. Snodland Town Councilwants to build the detached one-bedroom homes
at Catts Alley, having reduced the number of dwellings in a recently refused scheme for three. But Tonbridge and Malling Council says the latest scheme is still unsuit-
able for the limited space, and would be out of character with the sur- roundings. There would also be noise and disturbance from the surgery car park. The town council has lodged an appeal.
Police pledge on anti-social behaviour – despite cuts
learnt from high-profile national cases such as Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her 18-year-old disabled daughter in 2007 after 10 years of harassment and threats from local youths. Where repeat callers are not vulnerable
then the neighbourhood officer or an agency will schedule a visit and resolve the issue.
Neighbourhood policing teams will re-
view all anti-social behaviour calls. All vic- tims will be kept informed of any police action, the spokesman added. Kent Police Authority (KPA) has been
helping to drive the changes and agreed the new way of working with the force, which faces making cuts of £50m in the next four years. The KPA – the police watchdog – has set
the force a target to increase the number of people who are satisfied with the overall service provided in anti-social behaviour cases. Ann Barnes, chair of KPA, said: “We have
set the force a stretching target to ensure a better service to victims of anti-social be- haviour and we will be watching to check they deliver this.”
To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330 Malling 31
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