Chav Brass - Wots that all about then??

The Bandsman Speaks to Aidan Smith, the genius behind the ever more popular highlight of Whit Friday, never a dull moment when Chav Brass are about. Looking at some top Chav words, there is no doubt that Chav Brass are the 'GOAT' and totally 'Lit' and 'Snatched' - ok i'll stop there... over to Aidan.

'Aight yo!

As with all the best ideas, this one came about through a conversation in a pub!

The idea for Chav Brass first came about in 2006. That year my band at the time (YBS) were not attending Whit Friday, so together with a few of the guys at band and roping in some friends from Salford Uni and Young Ambassadors Brass Band of Great Britain (YABB) we put together a scratch band named BOC Brass, with a Blues Brothers theme and marching down to ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’. We had a great time, the relaxed feeling of the day – having a few drinks with good friends combined with the pressure of trying to keep it together on the contest platform had a real pull for players like myself. Afterwards we began almost instantly brainstorming ideas for a new theme for the following year – thus Chav Brass made it’s first appearance in 2007.

I think it’s fair to say that reactions were fairly mixed in the beginning! Around that time, there had been an influx of scratch bands onto the Whit Friday circuit, and many of these were just there for a good time and perhaps especially towards the end of the day I think it’s fair to say that they maybe didn’t do themselves justice musically!! Many people were against scratch bands as a whole because of this and we were determined not to be tarred with the same brush.

On the march we were playing 90’s bangers such as ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’ and ‘No Limit’. I think the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ theme even made an appearance one year!! So when we reached the contest, the crowds were having a good time but had pretty low expectations of us which made it all the nicer to give them a pleasant surprise with some quality playing on the contest march.
We were however, still being asked where in the country Chav was.. and unironically told that it was “nice to see a band turning up in their own clothes”!!

There have been many highs over the years but also lows. In 2010 whilst the band was further down the village, our coach was tragically involved in an accident that ultimately took the life of a local resident and avid brass band fan in Greenfield. The incident cut our night short but we didn’t find out until the following day that the gentleman had passed away. We were all absolutely devastated.

Out of respect we didn’t take the band back to Whit Friday for another 5 years, and it was 8 years before I felt comfortable going back to Greenfield again. Since then we’ve had several lovely messages from Greenfield residents saying they respected why we hadn’t been there but that it was nice to have us back. It’s always nice to receive those kind of messages.

The last couple of Whit Fridays especially have really escalated the status of the band a lot with the general public. We’ve had videos going viral with over 4.5 million views on facebook, over 1.5 million on Tiktok aswell as doubling our instagram following and there’s a video with a lot of traction on Reddit this year aswell. It’s quite bizarre for us but very welcome!

The best thing for me personally though is that it brings a lot of attention from (far!) outside of the banding movement. The amount of people who message and comment wanting more details about Whit Friday is quite overwhelming, they span the whole nation, and they actually show up!
We’ve had multiple messages from people telling us that it was their first Whit Friday, they came to hear Chav Brass, but had a great day out and enjoyed watching all the bands. That’s a win in my book!

Results-wise I think we have stepped our game up in recent years. The band is nearly exclusively made up from people who either play at, or who have played at the top level of banding. So naturally we have a bit of a competitive edge. I really enjoy the focus of the contest march and the fact that despite us having a great day out, we are able to push our very sober, very serious peers in the championship bands and take some scalps along the way – that’s fun for me!

We’ve gone from having no rehearsal whatsoever, to having 15mins at a service station on the way, to this year actually having a room for a quick rehearsal! Though admittedly, I think we spent more time testing new arrangements for the road march and figuring out where to start and stop than we did rehearsing Knight Templar! We were effective though, everyone wanted to put on a show, and despite it being a band full of great players I don’t think anyone took offence to getting a bit of a roasting for lapses in concentration!!

We had a great night though, and despite some real tough competition from the bands on the Saddleworth circuit we came away with around £900. Just like the £1400 we won in 2019, this money will be donated back to the contest organisers.

They do an outstanding job organising these contests year after year, and despite funding from the local councils, they still operate at a loss as I understand it, so while the spotlight hasn’t quite yet faded from this year’s contest I’d urge anyone to contribute that has the capacity to do so.
 
I said it to the band on the day, but every Whit Friday we’ve always said “This has been the best Whit Friday ever” and meant it! This year was no exception so I’ve no idea how we’re going to top this next year! I’m sure we’ll find a way though!