24 Oct 2024

Sugar, Gravy, Pleasure: The grunge club scene in provincial UK

From Nights, 9:40 pm on 24 October 2024

Pete Elderkin lives in Auckland now, but he used to live in Peterborough, which has just been voted the worst place to live in the UK for the fourth year running.

When he lived in Peterborough, he ran grunge club nights in the 1990s, culminating in his pride and joy, the Sugar Club, blasting the Smashing Pumpkins, Cocteau Twins, Iggy Pop, and Pulp, among many other alternative heroes.

He's written a memoir recounting the music, the people, the antics, called Sugar, Gravy, Pleasure.

He joins Emile Donovan.

Pete sits across a table at a cafe, smiling.

Pete Elderkin DJed and hosted the Sugar Club in Peterborough, England, in the 1990s. Photo: Supplied