This is my good friend Ian Aitken
Ian was born and brought up in Edinburgh. As a teen he and some friends got into Punk early on and used to come down to try and see bands in London.
Ian was a regular at The Roxy in Covent Garden and The Marquee in Soho where he saw bands long before they had contracts or became household names. For a while he used to help Bands out when they came up to Edinburgh.
He soon grew tired of British Rail sarnies however and before long had moved out of Scotland and into a squat in Islington.
The Last of the Mohicans?
Living in London allowed Ian to see even more of his favourite Bands. He pogoed exuberantly to The Clash, The Lurkers, The Ramones, The Damned, The Jam. Everyone it seems except for The Sex Pistols who somehow he missed.
He even played in a punk band for a while
Sad to report that in all those punk era days Ian never sported a Mohican (I and many other mutual friends would have loved to have seen those photos).
Ian worked in the bars and clubs around central London and music-wise drifted into Reggae & Ska. He once “got kind of involved with the Pogues” for a bit and as a result Celtic Folk has fiddled its way onto his playlists.
The Bayswater Years
Ian has lived in Bayswater W2 since August 1994. He has 2 daughters both born at St Mary’s here in Paddington. Londoners.
He worked in Social Housing for over 17 years in the Borough and now works in property management, usually as front line residential concierge.
We met at our local pub the Leinster Arms where like me he’s a regular. We talk music (I was never a punk but was a massive fan of The Clash & The Jam and like Ian have wide eclectic tastes today). The Six Nations Rugby is always big on the conversational agenda along with politics. Our politics are more aligned than our taste in Rugby Nations. They are always enjoyable conversations.
Today Ian listens to all types of music. He mentioned classical music to me once but would probably deny that in an ex-punks company. He still looks on Punk as his thing.
Long may this ex-punk pogo.
Steve Dunlop Photographer 