Ladies, gentlemen and fellow space cadets, may I present the inimitable Julie White Hawk, who will hopefully (gulp) be joining us in a couple of minutes or so. She first came into my life in the summer of 1987 and her influence is still felt greatly every day of it now! The original muse for "Zoen Nostalgia", one of The Three Witches casting the spell on "Bewitched", award winning website creator and serving City Councillor in Peterborough for the Green Party. That's a lot to get into an hour! Does she rock or what?

Magic Moments At Twilight Time And a very good afternoon to you, Julie, how's life treating you?
Julie Howell Good day.
Julie Howell It's too hot for my liking but otherwise very good.
Magic Moments At Twilight Time Impressed, that's been the shortest wait so far! So, such a long story is you and I, where do we begin? Well, let's go back to Camberley and those distant days of 1987, how did you first get to hear about the old Grain co-operative and what exactly caught your eye about it?
Magic Moments At Twilight Time For those interested in further info, massive article on The Grain and beginnings of MMATT and M&E on the website...

Julie Howell So, in 1987 I was 16. It was the year I did my 'O' levels. In fact, it was the last year anyone did any 'O' levels as they were replaced by GCSEs in 1988. Anyhoo... >
Magic Moments At Twilight Time > means more is coming, folks!
Julie Howell In 1987, a second-hand record store opened on the London Road in Camberley. It was called Rock Box and as the name implies it was very small indeed. It was a gathering place for people who appreciated 'alternative' music, and because it was so small, people would gather within its walls as well as on the pavement outside. It didn't even have sofas or somewhere to drink coffee (as we might expect nowadays) but it was the only place in town for alternative types to gather so it attracted an interesting crowd. >
Magic Moments At Twilight Time Ken Dudley at The Rock Box!
Julie Howell I used to go there A LOT.
Magic Moments At Twilight Time Remember it well. Of course, the first time we had any kind of contact, it's when I received an anonymous letter, kind of heart-warming and a bit sad all at the same time, just signed 'White Hawk', so we said 'hi' in the next issue of The Grain and it all kind of went from there. What inspired you to write to us?
Julie Howell Some time in Summer 1987 I noticed a free fanzine on the counter. It mentioned a band that I'd seen at the civic hall the previous year called The Charles. That experience had blown my mind and seeing The Charles mentioned on the cover of the fanzine (which was called 'The Grain') I picked up a copy. At the same time (I think) I also purchased a copy of a cassette called 'Live and Sorry...' because it featured The Charles. I cannot tell you how much I loved and still love The Charles. Chris Carter (aka Charles Remix aka Count Five) was a common sight in Camberley and me and my friends used to follow him. That was exciting enough. But the music and just the vibe that went with them... they brought a lot to my life, especially at that time. It's so important when you're that age to have something believe in and The Charles were that for me.

Magic Moments At Twilight Time Let's be kind and have a little listen to The Charles then, this is 1987 vintage "Professor Quest"...

Magic Moments At Twilight Time You'll note a few live soundbites from The Grain Festival at the beginning too, natch! :)
Julie Howell So I took these treasured items home, devoured the content of the zine and listened to the tape. I had not heard of MMATT up until that point so that was my introduction. Whereas The Grain was filled with pictures and gossip about people I recognised from around town. In particular local heart-throb Nick Morgan. At that time, Nick had pink hair and I thought his name was Anthony (because someone had shouted out 'Anthony' at that first Charles gig and Nick had turned round. Nick was as much a feature of the Camberley alternative scene as The Charles were.
Julie Howell You asked what inspired me to write to you. Well, I didn't mean to write to YOU exactly. I used to write letters a lot in those days, mostly out of boredom. I was 16 and anxious for life to start producing. My parents were quite strict so it wasn't easy to do stuff I wanted to do and I was very shy in some circumstances at that age. In fact, I would say I was young and naive for 16. When I wrote that letter I NEVER intended to then reveal who I was. It was purely by chance that that happened. >
Magic Moments At Twilight Time I was just enjoying that old Charles track, friend of Doctor Magic's was Professor Quest, brings back some happy memories. Anyway, next step was actually getting to meet you (courtesy of Anthony!) at Dingwalls. The oldest picture I have of you is this one, but I seem to recall you as having shorter hair and wearing a cap at the time?
Julie Howell So it was summer 1987 and I was shopping in Camberley when who should approach me but Nick Morgan (he had never spoken to me before this point) he asked me if I wanted to buy tickets to The Charles gig in Dingwalls, London (coach ride up to London included). That was really kind of Nick. He's a very kind person. I think he felt a bit sorry for me as I didn't fit in and he also suspected that I'd written that letter to you. So I bought two tickets from him and me and my friend Stella arranged to go to the gig.
Julie Howell The day of the gig came and Stella and I (only 16) got on the coach and that was the first time I clapped eyes on you, Mick. >
Sam Lancaster I remember Stella
Julie Howell During the journey up to London (and brief pause en route while Phil 'wee wee' Brown' earned his nickname, you came round to everyone and handed them a copy of the new issue of The Grain zine. 'UHOH!' I thought... 'I'm gonna be busted!'. I leafed through it and sure enough there was a piece addressed to me (my moniker was 'White Hawk'). I showed my friend Stella and told her that White Hawk was me. She SHRIEKED!!! 'You MUST tell them!!' she said. 'NO WAY!', I said. >
Julie Howell So the journey continued but I knew Stella wasn't going to let it lie. We got to Dingwalls and lovely Nick came and spoke to us. I cannot overstate how painfully shy I was at that time. I was a very young 16 and although I really wanted to be there I didn't have the social skills so I never felt comfortable around people. That changed as I got older but at that time I only felt comfortable around my immediate friends. I wasn't trying to be mysterious, I just lacked social skills. >
Julie Howell Stella kept on at me and urged me to tell Nick that I was White Hawk, so I did. He laughed and said 'I thought that was you, come and meet Mick'. And that's how I met Mick.
Magic Moments At Twilight Time My bad, ignored the >'s and posted out of sequence. Let's go back; "I was just enjoying that old Charles track, friend of Doctor Magic's was Professor Quest, brings back some happy memories. Anyway, next step was actually getting to meet you (courtesy of Anthony!) at Dingwalls, as you've just explained in remarkable detail. The oldest picture I have of you is this one (several inches above by this point, I figured she'd have to come up for breath sooner, but what do I know?), but I seem to recall you as having shorter hair and wearing a cap at the time?"
Julie Howell This is me around the time of the White Hawk letter.
Magic Moments At Twilight Time I'm keeping that one!
Magic Moments At Twilight Time Yeah, that looks much more like it. So, a mere half an hour into our chat, let's get to the song your letter inspired right at the beginning, this is "Us Weirdos Gotta Stick Together", not that I'm calling you a weirdo, you understand... ;)

Julie Howell Right so, a short time after we met at Dingwalls you were as good as your word and invited me to tea at your flat in Frimley, along with Shona, Kate and Jay. I recall watching some video of a previous gig, Shona being proud of the fact that she knew what The Charles' track 'Red' was about, Shona describing her forthcoming modelling assignment as 'standing about in clothes'.