Earlier this month, Longbarrow Press published Wealden, a collaboration between poet Nancy Gaffield and The Drift (musicians Darren Pilcher, Rob Pursey and Amelia Fletcher), inspired by the marshes, woodlands and shingle of southern Kent. This interview (conducted by Longbarrow Press editor Brian Lewis) took place in November 2020.

BRIAN:  Wealden is the first release from The Drift, and it also marks a new collaboration (with Nancy Gaffield).  How did you become aware of each other’s work, and how did the collaboration come about?

ROB:  Amelia, Darren and I had been making music together for a while as The Drift.  It was an ongoing experiment, but it was always focussed on the local landscape for inspiration — metaphorically, and literally.  Our experiences of the empty spaces of the marshes, the dense woodland and the deserted beaches were in our minds as we played.  We thought…