The Medway towns have produced its fair share of talented musicians. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing some of its finest, such as busker-extraordinaire Jordan Ravenhill and duo 2che for the Strood CommunityAd. One well worthy of a few column inches is Nick Foreman.
Nick is part of the Medway musical alumni, spending his formative years here. He joined the Medway Boys Choir after his Dad saw an advert in the local paper. Young Nick loved the choir and sang his little heart-out for eight years. Music and performing was always in Nick’s nature. At just two years old he’d tell his nan to “sit down and watch me sing” an affliction Nick admits he stills suffers with after a few beverages. Nick now makes up half of The Two Picks, I had the pleasure to talk music with the Medway musician who now bases himself in Thanet.
You studied music at university, what’s the one thing you learnt from being a student musician?
From going to university, I think the one thing I learnt the most was how many astonishing musicians there are out there. I was lucky enough to be taught by Jack Hues (of Wang Chung) for some lessons and his knowledge and musical talent is second to none.
The Two Picks, explain the name?
Basically, we use plectrums (or ‘picks’) on our guitars, and there is two of us. Sorry it’s not a more exciting answer! It was Will’s suggestion, I believe, and as soon as he said it, we thought it had a nice ring to it.
Do you recall the band’s first gig?
When we first started, we went out as ‘Nick & Will’, and I believe people assumed we were a couple our first official gig as a pairing was in 2011. We’ve changed our name but the rumours continue.
I’ve interviewed a few musical-minded people in Kent and they are convinced it’s a thriving scene, would you agree?
Absolutely. The music scene in Kent is exceptional. Medway has a host of fantastic venues which bring the crowds week in, week out. Now I’m based in Thanet which is just as good. You only have to go on Facebook realise how much is going on throughout Kent. We’re really lucky.
Where can our readers catch you performing this year, and do you have any particular plans for 2020?
Well, we had quite a summer planned, but now everything is all a bit up in the air what with COVID-19. We’ve already had a couple of gigs cancelled but we’re just keeping our fingers crossed for later on in the year.
You’ve been so kind to stream your gigs online, has the lockdown had any benefits to the music industry?
I think one benefit is seeing how people pull together in times of crisis. We, and many other musicians, are looking forward to performing gigs on Facebook Live, and we will be supporting as many of them as possible. It’s, of course, not very nice for anyone, but you’ve got to make the most of it!