The hKippers formed in Stoke Newington, Hackney in 1987
Why the silent ‘h’ ?
There is a Folk band called the Kipper family , known was The Kippers, Kipperfamily .co.uk
who parody the genuine Folk band The Copper family ‘ thecopperfamily.com .
By putting an ‘h’ in front it sort of hints at the music being rooted more in Eastern Europe than Eastern England.
The band was formed by Stephen Warbeck in 1987 as a means of courting Sarah Homer, ( clarinets) she was late to the first rehearsal so Stephen cooked her kippers.
They are still together and have four children and several ducks, geese and other livestock.
Paul Bradley ( guitar/vocals, sellotape) and Stephen ( accordion, piano, vocals) met at Contact theatre,Manchester where they acted in several shows. Stephen went on to write scores for theatre, TV and eventually receiving an Oscar for ‘Shakespeare In Love ‘ .Paul went on to be Nigel in EastEnders and Professor Elliot Hope in Holby City and is annually ignored by the Oscars Academy .
The band are garnered from various theatre pits and jazz bands.
Dai Pritchard clarinet ( The Dai Pritchard Brothers) and bass player Dave Berry have been stalwarts of The Pasadena Roof Orchestra, Dai also a member of Django Bates’s Loose Tubes with Sarah Homer, Richard Henry, Chris Batchelor and Professor John Eacott ( playing clarinets, Trombone, and trumpets respectively for the hKippers) Andrew Ranken ( The Pogues ) and Mike Pickering ( The Tiger Lilies) bash things.
Occasional hKippers include; John Etheridge and John Parricelli ,Finn Bradley ,Johnny Miller; Roland and Dylan Bates, Errolyn Warren, Martin France and Richard Lee.
GIGS ; Played various benefits e.g. Anti-Apartheid at The Hackney Empire supporting The Pogues, Cuba Lives ,Highbury fields, Rwandan Survivors Fund, Brompton Oratory and Miners benefits , once at Camden Irish Club ended up backing one of the Temptations !
Played residencies at; Sidoli’s bar ( gone) where The Tiger Lilies used to support us;
The Black Horse,Kilburn ( gone) the old Vortex Jazz Bar( moved) where once a leak fused the place and we moved the gig to Ryan’s bar along the street ! Supported; Norwegian poet Oystein Wingaard Wolf and Miss Norway, 100Club, John Otway, Waterman’s. Head-lined Marquee Club ( moved) Headed a Friday night at the CAMRA Beer Festival, Earl’s Court playing to 17,000 drunks.
Played gig at The Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1998, where sell-out audience on cue burst 1200 paper bags to the song Telephone & Trees.
Bizarrely topped the bill above Hank Marvin and the Nuno Bettencourt ( ex-heavy metal
band Extreme ) at Docklands Arena Mad About Music Festival ! The Millennium Dome; Hideaway., Vortex Jazz Club .Sell-out show at Ronnie Scott’s October 2018
Festivals include; The Big Chill; Cambridge Folk Festival; Sidmouth; ; Towersey; St.Ives;
; Trowbridge (where a woman stormed the stage and removed Bradley’s shirt; Walton-on-the-Naze-where the brass section bought see-through togs; King’s Lynn; Bradford; Cookson County Country Festival! ; Pontardawe; Tyneside; Enfield; Bradford; Darlington; Belfast and Margate .
TV Appearances; Top Of The Pops ( for Children In Need ) The Big Breakfast; The WOW Show; The Kenny Show (Northern Ireland); Smillie’s People. Weekending-Radio4.
RECORDINGS ; An earful of hKippers 1990 ( all cassettes nicked from the back of my car ) Gutted ‘96 ( on the fabled Babel label )
/Filleted ’99
4 Miserable songs ‘2005.
A Question of balance 2001 ( recorded in Montpelier, France but unreleased)
HIDEAWAY live 2025