At the age of 11 Vicki Burke had already achieved Grade 5 on the clarinet! Her parents told her that she would be able to have clarinet lessons at the age of 12… but why should these limitations ever stand in our way?
Born into a liberal family of Romanian, Russian, Polish and Jewish heritage, she grew up in Bristol. Her father, a polymath by all accounts, traded in ladies’ knickers, eventually progressing to the ownership of a warehouse right in the heart of the Bristol’s Portland Square.
Vicki remembers a happy childhood and a time where Bristol bands such as Massive Attack rehearsed in the basement of the warehouse and ‘For The People Radio’ (later on becoming Galaxy Radio) occupied one of the upper floors, whilst Vicki rehearsed with her bands on another floor.
Her father had no idea of the cult status of his tenants, but Vicki certainly revelled in close proximity to such talents, especially considering her own musical ambitions.
The Burke family (an abbreviation of the Romanian Berkovitch) were a creative bunch; both of her sisters are artists, the eldest a painter and her middle sister an artist/musician.
Vicki describes her father as a man who could turn his hand to anything creative and her mother as a writer who sang and loved the clarinet (Vicki later taught her Mother how to play).
Vicki remarks that she defiantly chose not to study music at O Level which surprised and irked her teachers, but why follow the expected path when you can carve out your own? Giving in to study music and drama at A Level, she still favoured drama until leaving school.
Vicki’s musical journey began when she was given a recorder at the age of six. When her sister, then aged 11, started going to an informal musical gathering, their father asked if the young Vicki, at the age of seven, could join in.
For two years she had no lessons but just played along on the clarinet; a time when there were no formal lessons and no rules to be broken, perhaps helping to form her into the unconventional musical artist she would become in the future.
The 16 year-old Vicki was drawn to a group of friends, some of whom formed a pop band, but she was more interested in collaborating with the robotic dancer who was part of the group.
Their collaboration together led on to many performances, not least of which was one to help launch a new Peugeot Car for a Bristol Garage.
By now she had progressed to saxophone and was offered an opportunity to go to Hong Kong with a band for a long term contract. What ensued was a life experience in which she learned a great deal about the pitfalls of the music industry. A three month contract turned into over a year, a time in which the band built up many debts and stress levels, eventually ending up in Singapore earning their crust as a covers band.
Since her early days in the music industry Vicki has built up an impressive CV, working in many bands over the years.
Doreen Doreen, a band, whose ethos was ‘If you’re having fun on stage then the audience will surely follow suit’ gigged extensively over a period of more than 23 years and in their time helped to launch the Playtex Wonderbra with Eva Herzigova strutting her stuff on the catwalk.
She played with many Bristol based bands over the years, working with such musicians as Vivian Stanshall, Phil Beer and Liam O’Flynn (from Planxty) and collaborated with Ninja Tune signed to ‘Up, Bustle and Out’ for 3 years. Today she is a member of Flash Harry, a band who she watched many times when she was a 16 year-old audience member.
Now living in Frome, a town which she truly loves and invests in creatively, she has recently trained as a restorative justice facilitator which will see her working alongside the police and prison services. It is a system that is now being offered to most offenders where there is someone who has been affected as a result of their actions and would like to meet them to resolve any issues that might have come about.
She describes it as a “small window into people’s lives which can open huge doors”.
Wednesday 8th February saw the launch of Vicki’s band Sutura and album ‘Keys To The Golden City’, both a musical and spiritual journey which showcased her voice and affinity with the Irish harp.
This will be followed closely by the launch of her new book ‘Journey To The Golden City’ in March.
Most normal people would blanch at the prospect of taking on either one of these enormous projects at any time, but to create both at once is a great testament to a character who has always chosen to ignore the established rules and follow whatever path she so wishes. Not a bad plan when you consider her 30-odd years circumnavigating the globe performing on so many stages and following the creative path that she was so clearly destined to follow.
Vicki’s new single ‘Sebastian’, with a video made by fellow Fromie Howard Vause, can be found on Youtube under ‘SEBASTIAN: Vicki Burke’.
Visit www.keystothe goldencity.com for information on gigs and launches.
