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At the height of grunge – and the nascent Britpop scene – of the early 1990s, Levellers were the whipping boys of both the priggish weekly music press and pious anarcho-punk underground. The former, critical of success in which they didn’t have a hand, dubbed them ‘crusty’, the latter refused to have any truck with those perceived to be co-opting their scene for major-label commerce.
Formed in 1988 by vocalist/guitarist Mark Chadwick and bassist Jeremy Cunningham, Levellers grew out of Brighton’s punk squat scene. Named after the 17th-century political movement that campaigned for rule by the people and equal rights, the band were synonymous with the late-80s/early-90s free-festival milieu, the traveller community and associated counterculture.
Cunningham and Chadwick added drummer Charlie Heather and fiddle player Jon Sevink. Guitar and mandolin player Simon Friend chose Levellers over New Model Army, completing the line-up for Levelling The Land onwards. Consecutive gold-certified albums followed throughout the 90s.
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Levellers were influenced by the punk of The Clash, the ideology and DIY ethics of Crass and Zounds, the folk/punk of The Pogues and the folk rock of The Waterboys, but perhaps most closely by cult Brighton folkpunk band McDermott’s Two Hours.
Levellers’ profile exploded – from their relentless touring as much as record sales. First stepping outside of the local scene and then the student circuit, they eventually headlined Glastonbury 1994, playing to a then record-breaking audience of 300,000.
Reinvesting back into their scene and community, they bought disused Brighton factory the Metway for use as a co-operative recording studio and space for local musicians and artists. Philanthropic, they donated to charities and campaigned against the Criminal Justice Bill. In 2003 they established the anti-sponsorship and anti-branding annual festival Beautiful Days.
Negotiating the pressures of initial rapid success, the resilient family-like band have stuck it out for almost 40 years. Sometimes mistakenly written off as a 90s band, recent albums demonstrate not just a return to form but also masterly songwriting. Total record sales have now reached six million.
“I identify with the Levellers,” said fellow British folk artist Billy Bragg in the 2014 Levellers documentary film A Curious Life. “I feel we carry on a tradition of music that says something and means something.”
…and one to avoid
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