‘Forget Zumba, we’re punk...’
Forget fitness classes or a trip to the National Trust, Ruth Miller explains why she is pogo-ing her way into 2022 in a punk band – and she don’t care…
When you get to a certain age, people assume you have a sudden interest in gardening, keep fit classes and visiting yet another National Trust property.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with those things – that’s just not the path for me. Instead, along with my four band members, I’m a punk and I have every intention of growing old disgracefully. Raise your eyebrows if you like – we don’t care. What have we got to say? Lots. Are we past our best? No. As older women, we believe we’re at our best.
The Verinos – our punk band – are Sue, Peggy, Jane, Kala and me. We’re aged between 49 and 64, with children and grandchildren, and between us we’ve experienced a lot of life.
It all started with my mum, Margaret. She was a good singer and I loved listening to her humming songs while she washed up.
My dad had always wanted to be musical and bought every instrument he could get his hands on, but struggled to keep up with the practising! He had everything – a piano, guitar, clarinet and even an accordion. As they were laying around the house, I’d learnt to play them.
My cousin showed me a few guitar chords, and everything else I got from books.
Originally from Newark, Nottinghamshire, I’d formed a punk band with my best friend Clare in 1978, then moved to Leicester to train as a teacher and never left. I’ve always been into music and was in various bands growing up.
I had my own record label in my 20s – anybody could make a record back then. We did everything ourselves, from folding our own record sleeves to delivering mailouts!
It was surprisingly easy to get The Verinos together and we formed earlier this year.
My friend Peggy had been the keyboard player in a Nineties band we were both in called Ruth’s Refrigerator and we toured Europe. She was the obvious choice for keyboard player for our new band. And Peggy’s friend Sue was really keen to join as our singer.
A few years ago, I met Jane at a birthday meal in a restaurant. Everyone was talking about the usual things – holidays, families and recipes and stuff. ‘Are you in a band?’ I’d asked. She looked really cool and punky.
‘No,’ she laughed. ‘But I’ve always wanted to play bass.’
We agreed we’d form a punk band after she’d bought an instrument and taken some lessons. And we kept our word – Jane’s our bass player.
Kala was already my friend, but I’d no idea she wanted to play the drums. She’d watched one YouTube video before playing with us for the first time. She’s proud of her heritage and likes to wear Indian clothes when we do gigs. We think she’s starting a new trend. I’m the guitarist and on vocals, too.
In most towns and cities,
there are rehearsal studios with drum kits and amplifiers that you can hire by the hour. It’s great because you can get started even if you don’t have all the gear. I bought my striking red guitar from an online second-hand site.
We practise on Mondays as most of us have the day off and Sue comes along after work. Most of the other musicians at the studio are young lads – they often do a double-take when they clap eyes on us grannies playing punk!
It would have been impossible for me to do all this when I was working full-time, juggling life as a single parent. My marriage broke up years ago when my kids were young, and I ended up teaching in primary schools for 27 years.
Life changed dramatically for me seven years ago when I got breast cancer. It was really hard going through chemo as a single parent and I really worried about my son, then 16, and daughter, 14.
To help me through my treatment, when I had the strength, I’d pick up my guitar and I began writing songs for the first time in 20 years. Looking back, they were probably a bit miserable because they were about the insomnia I experienced and how I had to stay in on Saturday nights while everyone else was going out and having fun. But writing and playing music really did take my mind off the effects of my chemo.
But I got through it and quickly realised I wanted to get more out of life than ever before. The ‘real you’ never disappears and I knew I wanted to go back to music and song-writing. So I took the plunge and packed in teaching.
Punk was very inclusive. It challenged everything that went before in the music business, when money and contracts were everything. Anyone can get into punk… you don’t have to be an experienced musician. The songs are usually quite simple to play, with a few chords. Older women are super cool because they don’t care what anyone thinks. And if you put that confidence together with great songs, punk is incredibly powerful!
Our plan is to encourage older women who’ve never played before to experience the fun and happiness you can get from learning to play in a band. The songs are specially written, easy to play and reflect our attitude to life. We’re not doing it to impress people, we’re here for fun and demystification!
I’m planning a New Year experiment where women can challenge themselves to learn an instrument in 66 days and perform locally on 8 March, which is International Women’s Day.
As for The Verinos, we may release an album, but I don’t think we will want to go out touring the UK, living in a van. We like our home comforts, while being able to fit the music in with our jobs, families and other interests. We’ll do more online gigs, which people can watch all over the world. We’ve already done one video, Up Yours, on YouTube, which was a lot of fun.
Now, we just want to enjoy ourselves. We’re not desperate to become stars or have people telling us to wear make-up or designer dresses!
This New Year’s Eve, I’ll be getting together with my musical neighbours and making some music! Something I intend to be doing for a very long time to come…
The Verinos will be performing at the Glastonbudget Jubilee Weekend in 2022. ● For more information about forthcoming gigs, follow @theverinos online
‘Now, we just want to enjoy ourselves’