AN OUTSIDER’S P E RSPECTIVE B Y ANDY HYLTON. . .
it’s a welcomed change from our normal scooter rally grub stops. Anyway, back to thee drinking and bands. We went to see what the last band of the weekend had to offer. These guys were funky and psychedelic. A four-piece from Colchester that go by the name of Surfquake, performing hit tunes and retro-style numbers in an effortlessly cool manner.
After this and just before hitting the hay, I decided to give the Northern Soul Room a go and managed to catch one of my favourite scooter DJs Dave Lloyd playing thee final set of the night. I’ve never seen anyone have a room change tempo so quick but then he did play the classic northern soul track Gay Bar by Electric Six.
As ever, a massive well done to Marcus, Marieke and the Spirit of 84 Scooterists for hosting another great rally. There really isn’t another like it. I will be back again next year for Scooterist Meltdown No. 8. Are you riding over, too? Words & Photographs: Jamie Godley Extra Photos thanks to Lit and Yo Leila ...the man behind the promo video for the new film The Scooterist.
If you attended the 7th Scootering Meltdown in Kalkar earlier this month, you may have noticed a couple of bearded fellas wondering between bars and custom show, and invading your personal space on the dance floor with our cameras and gimbals. Sorry if we got up in your face but judging by the smiles and friendly banter we think we were welcome. The best thing about scooter rallies is how much people want to talk about their passion for scooters with complete strangers.
The enthusiasm for the film within the scootering community has been massive. Not long after the trailer was released I was invited by Meltdown organiser Marcus Broix to attend this year’s event, giving me the opportunity to connect with the wider European movement. The film project has not yet been funded so maxing out all of our credit cards and searching for loose Euros in the glove box, we drove north from Croydon to collect Tom Jenkins, a Bedfordshire scooter boy who had contacted me to offer his help with filming in the future. With only 24 hours’ notice he was more than happy to jump on-board with us on the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam. Quickly moving to the ferry bar we met up with some more scooterists, including Scarborough’s Adam Collier from my old VW bug days in the early-90’s.
The next morning our stellar hangovers meant we were the last car in the ferry, and after a short stop for McD’s we were on the road again for the 100-mile drive from Rotterdam to Kalkar. The Wunderland location was more than a little surreal, being originally built as a nuclear reprocessing plant. We took a drone along to grab some aerial shots, but the wind was too strong, and we risked having the drone blown into the Rhine river. Instead we mainly shot the custom show and night-time activities, capturing the faces and spirit of the weekend.
The dance floors were heaving and finding our way through the Egyptian-themed corridors I finally found my oasis – Patrick’s Bar, with the non-stop ska and smiling skankers. We met some fantastic lads from the Armed Forces Scooter Club, who we would definitely be looking to interview in the future. There was even talk of a scooter rally wedding. These kind of shared experiences are what unites them and it is the central theme to my film. It is important the film retains authenticity, and being accepted into the madness means a lot to me.
My idea for a feature-length documentary film, The Scooterists, originally sparked from meeting and chatting to scooterists at northern meetings in my home territory of Yorkshire. Meltdown was just the same. The continuous alcohol was a major temptation during filming so thank goodness for auto-focus.
Our future plans for filming are to travel throughout the UK, reflecting the dialects, differences and values that unite and sometimes divide the community. Along the way some deeper themes may be revealed. Holding a mirror to their world and questioning what drives them to be part of the scooter community, why they got into it and why they can’t leave it.
Thank you Marcus, Mareike and everyone at Spirit of 84 for your hospitality and generosity. It was a fantastic weekend, and the one thing I came away understanding more clearly is how beneficial scootering is for retaining good mental health. For all those scooterists to travel such long distances from Europe and the UK with their mates is admirable and tells me a lot about what drives this passion for the scooter.