This has actually been one of the most difficult of the series so far to compose and write a bio for. I felt I couldn't really go with my usual style of semi-ambient music for Nan, it just didn't work. And as for the bio there's two issues here, firstly is that I have 24 years worth of inspiration to choose from and secondly, is the opposite, I'll have forgotten such a vast amount of stuff from my younger childhood that I could have written about.
The reason I chose to film the kitchen (aside from the obvious, that I can’t resist an artsy mirror shot) is one memory and one ongoing thing: The memory - one of the times my brother and I stayed over at Nans we insisted that we would do the washing up after dinner (probably to get a treat), and in doing so managed to soak the whole kitchen so much that we were never asked to do it again for the rest of our childhood. Ongoing thing: The cupboard under this sink is an odd one, where the hinge is at the bottom instead of the side, so it opens vertically towards you (like a drawbridge). Ever since we were children we were always warned not to play with that cupboard because the door would fall open and land on your toes, an understandable warning for children. Except these warnings didn't stop after childhood. My Nan still tells whoever stands in front of it to be careful, whether me or my brother, or my mum and uncle who grew up knowing the perils of the door. As the hinge has worn over time it has got worse and worse and there's now a sign on the cupboard door warning people, incase my Nan isn't around to offer a verbal warning. There's also a serving hatch just to the left of the mirrors that has never used in mine or Danny's lifetime and we're still desperate to open one day.
We have an ongoing joke that whatever me or Danny asked for she'll say yes. At family parties she's easily persuaded to do a shot or two with us. When my old band organised a mini UK tour, we were funding it ourselves so needed to spend as little money as possible so my Nan let us stay in her house after the London gig. I know we weren't the most "rock 'n' roll" band ever, and after most gigs we would go home and eat pizza whilst re-watching Peep Show but still it was incredibly generous and trusting of her, especially when I wasn't actually sleeping there with the rest of the band because I was going on holiday the next day.
I hope she won't mind me saying but she needed to get her hearing tested for a while. The first day she got her hearing aids, she came round for dinner (as she always does on a Tuesday) and when my mum was taking her home after she said “weren’t Luke and Danny loud tonight?”. We were the same volume as normal (still probably quite loud), but it was just that she hadn’t heard us at full volume for so long.
There are so many more things that I could mention but will go on forever. One of my other favourites is the time she nearly broke her ankle when she fell over playing tennis with me in the garden. We all know she fell but ever since it happens we all agree that she was too competitive to let her 7 year old grandson win the point so dived for the ball.
Filmed in Chadwell Heath, London, UK.
Known for 24 years and 6 months at the point of filming.