Babylon Revisited
What was Camden really like in its noughties indie heyday and what of its legacy? I went back to make sense of it all
“If you remember the sixties, you weren’t really there” goes the old adage, and the same could be said of the remarkably less glamorous but possibly equally hedonistic Camden noughties scene. Indie music was thriving, alcohol and drugs were flowing, and in 2005 I got the train to London from Berkshire and inadvertently plonked myself at the forefront of it all.
I have been thinking about those days a lot recently. There’s been the emergence of ‘indie sleaze’ nostalgia, skinny jeans are - gasp - making a comeback, and, of course, the film Back To Black, a biopic of the late singer Amy Winehouse, is due to open in the UK next Friday.
Amy and I moved in similar circles in those Camden days and had a number of mutual pals. I’m not claiming to have been close to her and I will leave the documenting of her legacy to her true friends and family but I will say that I found her to be sweet, with a mischievous sense of humour, and what happened to her was a tragedy. I affectionately remember Amy’s nickname for me, Tights, due to my enthusiasm for black (and occasionally coloured) hosiery. At the time I rarely wore anything else, mainly with short skirts but often, regrettably, with shorts. The nickname still tickles me.
I moved to London at 23, having successfully applied to a job ad in a newspaper (how retro) for an assistant at MTV to work on its partnerships team. There, I helped out making sponsorship bumpers that said things like “Pepsi sponsors Pimp My Ride UK!” Not particularly cool but whenever anyone asked what I did, I swiftly replied “I work at MTV!” which seemed to be good enough for people back then, most of whom were doing infinitely more creative things.