Midnight Moon Arts Beer
22nd August 2024
The Moon's out...
We are pleased to release our new Arts collaboration beer, Midnight Moon, supporting the arts and raising funds to help refurbish an iconic piece of British Music history, the Ross Revenge, home of the world famous Radio Caroline.
The Story
We firmly believe that things are always better when people and organisations work together and support each other and as musicians within a band we are naturally working together on new songs and new ideas and are always keen to collaborate with and support others. As older musicians, we were very fortunate to have grown up in the golden era of radio with fantastic stations introducing us to exciting worlds of new musical talent and songs. Top among those was Radio Caroline with its iconic history as an innovative and rebellious pirate radio station introducing many new and amazing acts that we might not have otherwise discovered. Many years on, we ourselves were over the moon, so to say, when we had our songs played on Radio Caroline and with the ongoing support they have provided to our music in helping to get it discovered by new listeners in new places. It is always great when we receive a new message or e-mail from someone letting us know how much they enjoy the music that we have spent time crafting. Being very grateful for the support we have had from Radio Caroline, we also wanted to be able to give something back to assist the station so when we heard about the fundraising drive to repair this unique piece of music heritage we wanted to also come up with something unique to help. Thus was born the idea for a Midnight Moon Arts Beer collaboration that helps raise funds for the Radio Caroline fundraiser with 10% of the sale price of each pack of beer sold going to the fundraiser. So we pulled together a dedicated group of collaborators to make it happen with the bespoke artwork design by local artist Nick Stephenson and the beer crafted by Frank and Jon at the Wheatsheaf Brewery.
The Name
The Beer
The name of the beer, Midnight Moon was chosen from our song of the same name. This was the first song that we had playlisted on Radio Caroline and we also felt with its more chilled, bluesy vibe ideally reflected the nature of the beer we were intending to create.
The Wheatsheaf Brewery was founded by Jon and Frank Gillham who are passionate about crafting unique, full flavoured, traditionally-inspired beers in small batches in their Huntingdon-based microbrewery. In order to make their beer as accessible as possible, they choose not to add finings to the beer, leaving it naturally hazy and free from additives and animal products. Jon and Frank did a fantastic job of bringing the vision of a high quality, light, citrusy, golden session ale to life. We wanted something that could be a great beer to relax with at anytime. Their attention to detail and relentless pursuit of the right taste has resulted in a very special beer created from a unique blend of Admiral, Mosaic and Target hops.
The Artwork
For the artwork we wanted something really special, created by an artist who had a uniquely personal connection with the subject matter. Nick Stephenson became our perfect artist for this and we were delighted when he agreed to the comission. Nick has held a lifelong passion for both art and rock music, which was discovered whilst secretly listening at night under his duvet at boarding school to Radio Caroline via a radio that his father had hand made for him out of a soap box. The station was so influential on the young Nick it even inspired him to hitch hike at the time in 1970 with twenty six others 400 miles to England's answer to Woodstock. When he was a student, Nick designed six animal based cartoon Christmas cards which he printed in monochrome and was selling over 2000 a week at one point to fund concert tickets and related bar bills!
The artwork for the bottle was designed using acrylics and in an impressionist style reminiscent of Van Gogh's Starry Night. Bringing together key elements related to the band, the Midnight Moon, the Ross Revenge and the music of Radio Caroline, the image draws you in through the clever use of both striking colour and ranged perspective from multiple distance dimension points within the picture.
The Ross Revenge
Image: Radio Caroline Dramatics by Stacey belbin
MV Ross Revenge is a radio ship, the home of Radio Caroline, as well as having supported Radio Monique and various religious broadcasters. Funded by the Icelandic government, she was constructed in Bremerhaven in 1960 and served as an Icelandic commercial trawler until 1963 when she was sold to the Ross Group fleet, notably taking part in the Cod Wars of the 1970s. Following her decommissioning, she was purchased by Radio Caroline and outfitted as a radio ship, complete with 300-foot (91 m) antenna mast and 50 kW transmitter. Her broadcasts began on 20 August 1983; her final pirate broadcast took place in November 1990. She ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in November 1991, bringing the era of offshore pirate radio in Europe to an end. She was, however, salvaged, and is now maintained by the Caroline Support Group, a group of supporters and enthusiasts.
The Ross Revenge is a remarkable ship with a fascinating history.
It is one of only a couple of surviving British super trawlers, the pride of a fleet of distant-water vessels that once plied their trade in the cold and turbulent seas of the North Atlantic from ports such as Grimsby and Hull, but were wiped out when the fishing industry went into steep decline in the late 1970s.
It is the only remaining “pirate” radio ship, having avoided the cutters torch when sent to the breakers yard to become the floating broadcast base for the legendary Radio Caroline in 1983. This was the most famous of all the “pirate” stations, challenging the British Establishment and the BBC broadcasting monopoly and was at the forefront of a revolution in popular culture. Anchored in exile far out in the North Sea, Ross Revenge survived many dramas.
No other ship can claim such a history. It is truly unique. But now it needs our help.
The significance of the Ross Revenge is already officially recognised. It has been placed on the National Historic Ships register, a government-funded independent advisory body that promotes awareness of ships that have played a major role in Britain’s maritime past.
But that does not guarantee its survival. For this to happen, money needs to be raised. For years, volunteers have done their best to keep Ross Revenge afloat. The task is immense. Now a charity has been formed in a bid to secure the ship’s future.
The Charity is called MV Ross Revenge (Home of Radio Caroline). The ship belongs to a trust in the same name.
All donations help the charity get Ross Revenge into dry-dock, overhauled and, in the long-term, put back into working order. At the same time, it is planned to turn it into a heritage visitor attraction so that new generations have the opportunity to discover and experience first-hand two remarkable chapters in Britain’s long seafaring history.
Special Launch Hot Rocker Offer
To celebrate the launch of our new beer and give you an extra kick we are giving away a free bottle of our super hot Hot Rocker sauce with every six pack of our beer sold until Midnight of the next Full Moon on 18th September. To find out more about this offer and place your order, click on the link below:
Do take note, as a very hot sauce (6 million Scoville Heat Units) Hot Rocker is recommended to be used with care and as an ingredient only! Look out for our menu videos and recipes with Chef Frank Boddy showing you how to make the most of the sauce - coming shortly!
If you would like to donate directly to the Radio Caroline Dry Dock Appeal fundraiser, click on the link below: