I remember a crisp November evening in Rye. The sweet smell of candy floss wafts through the air, mingled with that of caramelised onions and hot dogs. You see the occasional Victorian lady, the dressed up fireman, the goth, the pirate merrily clinking his tankard. You smile at them, not your usual sighting in a day.
Come 7pm, you hear the not so distant drumming. The low thrum travels over the old roofs of Rye and makes its way to you, no matter where in the town you are. It gets closer and closer and as it does, in the distance you can see a haze of torches, all glowing as one long sea of fire, till you see the various bonfire societies holding up their banners, Battle, Lewes, Hastings, Rye, Northiam and many, many more. All the members dressed in colourful costumes with even more colourful painted faces, holding up torches, setting off fireworks, and generally having a merry time as part of the Rye Bonfire parade.
The heartbeat of this parade is drummed by Ryebellion.
During bonfire season our ancient town of Rye shines brighter under flame-heavy torches. This south east corner of England is best known for these fire celebrations and for its unique pull for both locals and visitors at this time of year. This festival with its pagan roots comes to life on these crisp autumn evenings, but it is underscored and elevated by the constant, visceral, all encompassing drumming as if to announce the presence of the parade that celebrates fire. This was 2010 and I was hooked. Rye became not just a destination to be visited once in a while…I ended up living here.
More than a decade later I find myself a part of that incredible drumming group, dressing up and marching with my fellow drummers through various high streets in our part of the world that celebrates Guy Fawkes night. I am now part of Ryebellion. And this incredible group of drummers is led by Robert Draper, stalwart of classical music, along with a community of others who have kept it alive by meeting to drum together every Monday since 2017. January 9, to be precise, as I learned in conversation with Robert.
Robert’s boyish energy is palpable, as he drums his fingers on the edge of the seat, as if he is composing music as we speak. He began his musical career as a graduate at Goldsmiths (1989) studying Classical composition. From his early teens through his twenties Robert was drawn to music and performance. Although today he is a trained commercial and corporate property lawyer, which is the profession where he also found his lady love Caren, he wanted to belong to and play with a variety of bands. His first instrument was the piano, which remains a love, especially for his classical compositions, which he continues in his pastime.
His journey as a Rye Bonfire Society member began in the summer of 2016. But it was with a bunch of other Rye Bonfire Society members that Ryebellion was formed on that foggy January night, in the backroom of the Queen’s Head pub. Ruth and Ray Palmer, who used to play as the informal club of Rye drummers before the team became a recognisable band, suggested the name Rebels. Robert tweaked it, as he tweaks tunes in his head, to Ryebellion. Dave Rook uses cymbals and a variety of drums depending on how his mood takes him was there that evening, and still plays with an undeniable gusto. Sandra and Chris, and Stan and Barbara, were among the first to join and are now our most senior members who still play at the parades.
The group practised and performed in many pubs in Rye while hunting out the right spot to practice until Robert settled on the acoustic excellence (and affordable rates) at our local community centre. Each weekly practice is essentially for the neuron-training method of repetitious muscular movement. This is how we learn the rhythms of new tunes, which are are spontaneously composed with input from members, but mainly by Robert Draper. He says he feels like he is “upholding tradition of the Bonfire Society spirit”, and he is right. There is a deep sense of the Druidic tradition, strongly linked to the geography of where we live in Sussex, and that is linked to the medieval musical tradition as well.
In 2023, thirteen years after first watching the Rye bonfire parade, I decided to join the drummers that hold our small community in thrall each bonfire night, but also at various civic festivities around town throughout the year. I had not realised the commitment and bravery it takes for this eclectic group to survive. We have members ranging from 10-year-olds to those in their 80s. There are too many to name all but there is Leonard Platt who joined in 2019 and is an artist, Sarah Givertz who played at Staplecross last Saturday despite a bleeding finger, Barry Stephens (bass drummer), Mary, Anna, Seana (who introduced me to this wonderful world of Ryebellion), James Austen (professionally trained drummer), Terri and many, many more make up our motley bunch.
Drumming is also good for the heart. Both to hear it beat out in a pentameter of musical rhythm, and to play it. Recently I was diagnosed with an ischemic heart, and yet when we gather together to drum on a Monday at the Rye Community Centre, everything difficult is forgotten. We seem to connect on a visceral level, each member gaining something unique, yet tangible from playing our drum.
Apart from fulfilment and self-expression there is a je ne sais quoi about playing the drum. It is a palpable thing. At practice there is laughter, and tiny asides, but we all firm up our fingers and get in formation in a huge semicircle flanking our leader on each side. Sometimes in summer we practise out on the Salts, where the bonfire is lit in November. Whatever the weather, this troupe of players gather and drum like our life depends on it, and it does. Our hearts are drums of a sort, and it is the beat of that organ of light that keeps us rooted to the spot when we hear a drum strike up a roll. According to Dave Rook, our drumming routine is almost an MOT for the members.
The history and reverence for fire is unsurpassed. It is tradition at its best. There is a unique communal camaraderie on display in the numerous parades that are put on show nearly every weekend, beginning as early as the end of September right until Guy Fawkes night and beyond. Even before clocks turn back, the celebration of light is spectacular.
In Rye, they march to the beat that rings out beckoning watching crowds that in 2023 swelled to more than ten thousand.
That beat is Ryebellion.
If you haven’t heard it yet, we will be drumming up a storm through Rye on November 9 this year.
Image Credits: Kt Bruce , Mary & Mick Design , James Ratchford , Kt bruce .