Badger Reynolds
As Mr. Sting and his band put it so raucously, I was born in the 1950s. Which means that my life began in earnest in the ’70s when my school days were spent discovering the heady world of music and flunking everything scholarly, even art, which I loved - my efforts in this direction eliciting the words ‘he hasn’t got a creative bone in his body’ from the class tutor. By 16, I’d managed to scrape three ‘O’ levels together and left the education system in each of a wage. A wage that would hopefully give me independence.
At the same time, I’d managed to persuade my parents to buy me some DJ decks, an amp, and a pair of speakers. By day I worked as a sales assistant in a clothing shop, and by night I was a purveyor of tunes - heavily laden with my favourite genre of prog-rock - to an assortment of pubs and wine bars. I also discovered a love of motorcycles and upon turning 18 I decided to combine my quest for a few quid with my new-found passion and joined the Police. I spent 3 years on the beat, 2 on traffic, and a final fabulous 5 years as a traffic motorcyclist. It was a great job, right up to the point I got wiped out by a lorry - an experience that was fairly painful and led to the hospital-bed decision to search for a less dangerous job.
A confluence of circumstances and people saw me entering the world of video production, where I was thrown into everything from camera-operating to treatment and scriptwriting. As a freelancer, I gradually progressed to TV work but found my niche producing live events, which took me all over the world. I also got to write for a broadcast magazine and even became its editor for a year. And somewhere in amongst it all I discovered Camper Vans, and the joy and freedom they can bring to life.
These days, long of hair and wise of beard I have combined my creative skills with my love of music and divide my time between sound engineering at festivals and theatres, running my little Event/Sound business, and keeping my ‘telly’ hand in with occasional shoots and edits - though mainly for mid-to-high-end corporate clients. And somehow, amazingly I have found the time to write again, which is why I’m bashing out this biography. Which is actually quite astonishing, given that I also front a local rock covers band and can be found hooning out floor-fillers around the scene in Essex, most weekends.
Home, when I am there, is a small sett in the north of Essex which I share with Mrs. Badger, a devilishly clever teenage stepson, Mojo the rescue dog and a black ninja cat called Festival. I also have 2 awesome sons based in Bristol, who I’m proud to say have followed their dreams and work in the media industry that I love.
And book writing? No idea. I just sat down one day and started battering the keyboard. It transports me. And I feel creative, even if my bones are not.
