Roughler

Roughler was a West London counter-cultural magazine associated with Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill and the creative communities surrounding Portobello Road. Founded and produced by Ray Roughler Jones, the publication chronicled local life from 1983 until 2004, focusing on the area’s bohemian, artistic and politically unruly character during the 1980s and 1990s. Its subject matter included the people, parties, conflicts, performances and informal cultural institutions that shaped the neighborhood before many of the last Bohemian residents and venues were displaced. The magazine was unusual in being effectively a one-person operation. Jones, originally from Swansea, wrote, edited and produced Roughler while working as a participant-observer within the local scene. The publication combined journalism, memoir, cultural reportage and an insider’s archive of a rapidly changing district. Contributors associated with Roughler included members and collaborators connected with The Clash, Will Self, Jock Scott, Shane MacGowan, Neneh Cherry, Joe Rush of Mutoid Waste, Keith Allen and Kevin Allen, alongside local figures such as Steve Underground, John The Hat and Ian Bone of Class War. This range reflected the publication’s broad relationship with music, performance, radical politics, visual art and neighborhood folklore. Roughler also functioned as a wider cultural platform rather than merely a periodical. One offshoot was the Roughler Gallery, established in an abandoned Chinese takeaway in the area known as NoGo, north of Golborne Road. The project documented and participated in the rise and fall of the Portobello Panto, including the so-called Panto Wars of the early 1990s, when competing productions emerged in the local theater and social milieu. Through these activities, Roughler helped preserve an account of a community whose cultural identity depended as much on improvised spaces and personal networks as on formal institutions. The brand later extended into moving image and live art. RoughlerTV launched at the Portobello Film Festival in 2007 with a daily webcast. In 2008 it presented psychogeographic installations at the Louis T. Blouin Institute in an event titled “It Happened Here,” part of the opening program for “Art After Dark.” It returned several weeks later to stage “A Quality Shambles,” described as a post-Situationist happening. These projects translated the original magazine’s local documentary approach into web broadcasting, installation and performance. Ray Roughler Jones continued to develop related work after the magazine’s publication period. Tangent Books published his memoir Drowning on Dry Land in 2010, covering his experiences in Swansea, Ladbroke Grove and San Francisco. In 2011 he was voted Notting Hill Local Personality of the Year by the mynottinghill website. In 2014 he became spoken-word director at Portobello Live Festival. His photographic book Rays 3000 Hangovers Later, documenting the Warwick Castle pub on Portobello Road during the 1980s, appeared in 2015. Jones also appeared as Dai Bread in Kevin Allen’s film adaptation of Under Milk Wood. In 2016 he formed the country-rock band Glory Bound, which released the 10-inch EP Hey Cowgirl (Which Way’s the Rodeo); the band subsequently recorded the single Let’s All Get Drunk. Roughler is therefore best understood as a locally rooted publishing and cultural brand whose activities expanded across magazines, galleries, web television, books, festivals, photography, film and music.

Roughler emerged in 1983 as a locally produced magazine chronicling the cultural and social life of Ladbroke Grove and the surrounding West London area. Its producer, Ray Roughler Jones, was a Swansea-born figure who documented the neighborhood from an insider’s perspective. The magazine’s main period ran through 2004 and covered the district’s creative networks, local personalities, performances, political disputes and changing social conditions. The publication developed a distinctive counter-cultural identity by bringing together material from musicians, writers, artists and activists. Associated contributors included figures connected with The Clash, Will Self, Jock Scott, Shane MacGowan, Neneh Cherry, Joe Rush of Mutoid Waste, Keith Allen, Kevin Allen and a number of local personalities. Roughler’s importance lay less in conventional scale than in its role as an informal record of a community whose cultural life was frequently organized through pubs, temporary venues, street events, independent theater and personal relationships. The Roughler project expanded beyond print. The Roughler Gallery operated from an abandoned Chinese takeaway in NoGo, north of Golborne Road. The magazine also recorded the Portobello Panto and the rivalries surrounding it during the early 1990s, a period remembered as the Panto Wars. These activities connected Roughler with the improvised arts infrastructure of the area and made it both an observer and participant in local cultural life. In 2007 the brand entered online broadcasting through RoughlerTV, launched at the Portobello Film Festival with a daily webcast. In 2008 the project presented psychogeographic installations at the Louis T. Blouin Institute during the opening of Art After Dark and later returned to stage A Quality Shambles, characterized as a post-Situationist happening. The move into video, installation and live events extended Roughler’s original interest in place, memory and unconventional creative communities. Jones’s later work continued the archival and autobiographical aspects of Roughler. Tangent Books published his memoir Drowning on Dry Land in 2010. He was recognized as Notting Hill Local Personality of the Year in 2011 and became spoken-word director at Portobello Live Festival from 2014. His 2015 photographic book Rays 3000 Hangovers Later portrayed the Warwick Castle pub on Portobello Road in the 1980s. He also acted as Dai Bread in Kevin Allen’s film of Under Milk Wood. In 2016 Jones formed Glory Bound, a country-rock band that released the EP Hey Cowgirl (Which Way’s the Rodeo), followed by work on the single Let’s All Get Drunk. The available record presents Roughler as a hybrid cultural imprint centered on independent publishing, neighborhood history, performance and the continuing creative work of its founder.

1. 2016Glory Bound releases its first EP

   The country-rock band formed by Jones releases Hey Cowgirl (Which Way’s the Rodeo) on 10-inch vinyl.

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2. 2015Rays 3000 Hangovers Later is published

   Jones publishes a photographic record of the Warwick Castle pub during the 1980s.

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3. 2014Jones becomes spoken-word director at Portobello Live

   Ray Roughler Jones begins directing spoken-word programming at Portobello Live Festival.

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4. 2010Drowning on Dry Land is published

   Tangent Books releases Ray Roughler Jones’s memoir.

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5. 2008RoughlerTV expands into installation and live art

   The project presents psychogeographic installations and later stages A Quality Shambles at the Louis T. Blouin Institute.

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6. 2007RoughlerTV launches

   RoughlerTV launches at the Portobello Film Festival with daily webcast programming.

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7. 2004Magazine publication period ends

   The documented publication run of Roughler concludes after more than two decades.

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8. 1990Roughler covers the Portobello Panto conflicts

   The magazine chronicles the rise and decline of the Portobello Panto and the rival productions remembered as the Panto Wars.

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9. 1983Roughler is established

   Ray Roughler Jones begins producing the magazine in West London, documenting Ladbroke Grove and its surrounding creative communities.

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An independent, locally embedded counter-cultural publishing and arts platform documenting the people, conflicts and creative life of Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill and Portobello Road.

• Roughler magazineIndependent magazine1983

  The core Roughler publication documented Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill and Portobello Road through local reportage, cultural commentary, personal networks and contributions from writers, musicians, artists and political figures. It was produced by Ray Roughler Jones and appeared from 1983 to 2004.

• RoughlerTVWeb television and video2007

  RoughlerTV extended the magazine’s documentary and counter-cultural approach into online broadcasting. It launched at the Portobello Film Festival in 2007 with a daily webcast and later became associated with installations, happenings and place-focused visual work.

• Roughler GalleryIndependent art gallery

  The Roughler Gallery was an offshoot operating in an abandoned Chinese takeaway in NoGo, north of Golborne Road. Its temporary and unconventional setting reflected the project’s connection with informal arts spaces in West London.

• Drowning on Dry LandMemoir2010

  Ray Roughler Jones’s memoir recounts his experiences in Swansea, Ladbroke Grove and San Francisco, extending the autobiographical and documentary concerns associated with Roughler.

• Rays 3000 Hangovers LaterPhotography book2015

  This photographic publication records the Warwick Castle pub on Portobello Road during the 1980s and preserves a visual memory of one of the area’s local social spaces.

• 2008It Happened Here and A Quality Shambles

  Canada · United Kingdom

  RoughlerTV presented psychogeographic installations at the Louis T. Blouin Institute and later staged A Quality Shambles, a post-Situationist happening.

  Outcome. The events broadened Roughler’s identity from local magazine to multidisciplinary cultural project.

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• 2007RoughlerTV at Portobello Film Festival

  United Kingdom

  RoughlerTV was introduced through a daily webcast at the Portobello Film Festival, marking the project’s move from print into online broadcasting.

  Outcome. The initiative established RoughlerTV as a platform for subsequent audiovisual and live-art work.

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• 2016Extension into country-rock musicStrategy

  Ray Roughler Jones continued developing creative work beyond publishing, festival programming and documentary projects.

  What changed. Jones formed Glory Bound and released the 10-inch EP Hey Cowgirl (Which Way’s the Rodeo).

  Aftermath. The band returned to the studio in 2018 to record the single Let’s All Get Drunk.

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• 2007Expansion from print into web televisionStrategy

  After the magazine’s documented publication period ended in 2004, the project sought a new format for its local cultural and documentary work.

  What changed. Roughler launched RoughlerTV with daily webcast programming at the Portobello Film Festival.

  Aftermath. RoughlerTV subsequently participated in installations and live happenings in 2008.

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• 2016Glory Bound releases Hey Cowgirl (Which Way’s the Rodeo)

  Ray Roughler Jones’s new country-rock band Glory Bound released a 10-inch vinyl EP.

  Product launch
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• 2015Rays 3000 Hangovers Later documents the Warwick Castle

  A photographic book by Ray Roughler Jones focused on the Warwick Castle pub on Portobello Road during the 1980s.

  Product launch
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• 2010Drowning on Dry Land published

  Tangent Books published Ray Roughler Jones’s memoir about Swansea, Ladbroke Grove and San Francisco.

  Product launch
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• 2008RoughlerTV presents psychogeographic installations

  RoughlerTV exhibited psychogeographic installations at the Louis T. Blouin Institute as part of the Art After Dark opening program.

  Campaign
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• 2007RoughlerTV launches at Portobello Film Festival

  RoughlerTV began broadcasting with a daily webcast during the Portobello Film Festival.

  Product launch
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1. Roughler