After 33 years of performing across the county, one of Kent’s best-known bands will be taking to the stage for one final show.
Whether at an “awful” pub, a lively wedding or a sold-out show at The Marlowe Theatre – tens of thousands of people will have seen Rubber Biscuit in action over the decades.
But now the much-loved R&B group admit their “knees are knackered” and it is time to call it a day.
Put together for just one performance for National Music Day in 1992, the 12-piece cover band have gone on to play more than 1,000 shows, including at Leeds Castle and Herne Bay air shows.
Over the years, dozens of musicians have played as part of the Whitstable-based group. Its only remaining original member, Debi Lewis, says it has been a joy and a privilege.
“It blows my mind that I’ve done it for 33 years,” said the vocalist.
“It all got started because I was in a play at the Playhouse theatre in Whitstable and at that time the Blues Brothers film was really big and the director of the show had this idea to put together a big soul band with me and two other girls from the chorus.
“The name Rubber Biscuit comes from the name of a Blues Brothers song.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of the group since the very first gig outside The Old Neptune pub – I remember we were incredibly nervous.”
Following a great reception on their first outing, Rubber Biscuit booked a follow-up show, and another after that, and so on.
“When we first started, we were out every single weekend, every Friday, every Saturday – when you’re building up an audience, you have to go out and do the gigs,” continued Ms Lewis
“We used to do the Britannia in Margate – an awful pub. Back then you could smoke inside, so it was horrible, breathing in everyone’s smoke all night.”
Five years after Rubber Biscuit’s debut performance, Debi cajoled Whitstable singer and harmonica player Russ Mount to join the lineup.
“I was very reticent because I’d never done anything like that before,” recounted Russ, 62.
Unlike Debi, who had a background in theatre, Russ got into music as a hobby.
“I used to work on oil rigs, and I started taking a little blues harmonica with me and played it in my free time,” he said.
“I came home from a trip one day and Debi said the band was looking for a harmonica player and asked me to play with them, so I went along to a couple of gigs and I sort of fell into it by accident.”
Even before he joined the band, Russ said Rubber Biscuit had quickly earned a local reputation as crowd-pleasers. They booked their first big show at Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre on September 27, 1992.
“Within a year of the band starting up, word spread like wildfire because there hadn’t been a band on the local scene like it before,” said Russ.
“After selling out the King’s Hall in Herne Bay, they realised that Biscuit had enough of a following for them to take a chance booking the Marlowe.”
Gaining a reputation as “Kent’s biggest party band”, they sold out the theatre, and went on to do so another five times before returning years later to perform as part of a soft opening after the Cathedral city’s premier venue was refurbished.
The more Rubber Biscuit performed, the more high-profile Kent gigs came the band’s way.
The group has played Strode Park in Herne Bay, Faversham Hop Festival, the University of Kent in Canterbury, The Blue Reef Festival in Linton, near Maidstone, and countless weddings and private events.
Debi – who runs her own women’s boutique, Heart and Soul, in Herne Bay – says that for her, the larger crowds were actually less nerve-wracking.
“My favourite types of gigs were something like the Herne Bay air shows with 10,000 people in the audience – because when you’ve got more than 50 people focusing on you, you can look out onto the horizon, so I prefer a bigger crowd,” said Debi.
“I remember we did this fantastic wedding show at St Augustine’s in Westgate-on-Sea.
“There must have been 300, 400 people, and when people get up from the beginning to the end and don’t stop dancing – that’s the best.”
At different points in the band’s history, its number included as many as 18 members.
Some have gone on to play with major musicians and bands; others have been nominated for top music awards.
As well as Russ and Debi, Rubber Biscuit’s current lineup includes singers Mandy Reynolds-Scott and Phil Mace, guitarist Chris Newing, drummer Steve Pocock, keyboardist Daniel Johnson and Dave Crowley on bass.
The group’s horn section is made up of Nigel Bogue on trumpet, Martyn Kime on saxophone and trombonist Steve Mackintyre.
Russ says as much fun as the showbiz lifestyle has been, after 25 years, it has been tiring.
“Our knees are knackered,” he said.
“I’ve had weekends when I’ve worked a long day, then gone and done a show, slept in the car and then driven to do another gig.
“That’s part of the reason why it’s time to call it time – our wives, husbands and families want to see more of us.”
Debi added: “We’ve had a good run and fantastic time.”
Rubber Biscuit’s final gig, at East Quay Venue in Whitstable on October 25, sold out within 36 hours of being announced.
But there are two more opportunities for fans to see them before then – at the Brogdale Cider Festival in Faversham on August 23 and the following day at Herne Bay Pier.
