Breathin' Air with Howard Marks and John Sinclair

For the first time ever in front of a live audience, living legends John Sinclair (American political activist, poet & former manager of MC5) and Howard Marks (best-selling author, former international drug trafficker and all round roguish charmer) will be teaming up to share their fascinating and, at times, truly incredible stories with each other at the Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre this May.

The two veteran raconteurs will delve into the haze of their era-shaping pasts as Howard, a vigorous advocate for the legalisation of recreational drugs, interviews John about his own lifelong activism and how he became a figurehead for counterculture the world over. From John's recent involvement with Meltdown festival, curated by Massive Attack, and the launch of the Music is Revolution Foundation, to reflecting upon his part in founding the revolutionary White Panther Party, managing the MC5 and sparking the legendary 1971 "John Sinclair Freedom Rally", you'll see why it's not just anybody who could have inspired John Lennon to write a song about him!

This unique opportunity to share the experiences of an outlaw icon who knows what it means to stand up for what you believe in will reveal just what life is like campaigning for social justice and speaking out against an oppressive establishment, and the price at which that comes.

Breathin' Air with Howard Marks and John Sinclair will be a trip you won't forget!

HOWARD MARKS
A nuclear physics and philosophy graduate, Howard Marks has worked with the British Secret Service, been connected with the Mafia, the IRA, MI6 and the CIA, and was sentenced to 25 years at America's toughest federal penitentiary; Terre Haute, Indiana. He was released on parole in 1995 after serving seven years.
In 1996 he released his best-selling autobiography, Mr. Nice, and in 1997 he performed his first live show, discussing his life as a marijuana smuggler and his views on drug use and legalisation. His now legendary one-man comedy show, An Audience with Mr Nice, continues to sell out at venues throughout Britain and Europe. Howard is currently writing the first of a series of crime fiction novels called Sympathy for the Devil.

But writing is not enough... Howard’s musical career, which was kick-started in 1996 by the Super Furry Animals’ track ‘Hanging With Howard Marks’, has flourished. He is a regular on the DJ circuit and launched a label, Bothered’, in the late 90’s. His TV and film career includes a cameo in Human Traffic – The Movie, as well as, of course, his own movie Mr Nice, starring Rhys Ifans. He’s also presented the news (Channel 5), directed the Welsh Celebrity Soccer Six team and has become known as one of the country’s leading political activists, standing for parliament in four separate constituencies (Norwich South, Norwich North, Neath and Southampton Test).

JOHN SINCLAIR
Author, poet and activist John Sinclair mutated from small town rock’n’roll fanatic teenage disc jockey to cultural revolutionary, pioneer of marijuana activism, radical leader and political prisoner. A jazz poet and founder of the Detroit Artists Workshop, John brought the band MC5 to national attention in the 60’s, who went on to form the White Panther Party, the only political party ever formed by a rock’n’roll band and named ‘potentially the largest and most dangerous of revolutionary organisations’ by the FBI.

Imprisoned for 9 ½ years in 1968 for giving an undercover policewoman 2 joints, Sinclair continued to write and work with the White Panthers, and his legal appeal challenged the constitutionality of Michigan’s draconian marijuana laws.

In 1971, the likes of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Stevie Wonder gathered to perform and speak for 8 hours at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in front of 15,000 people. Lennon wrote and performed his song John Sinclair, and Sinclair was consequently released three days later and promptly returned to the music and journalism industry. He can be seen today performing throughout Europe and the U.S.