Talking Style with Tour Manager and Artist Caron Malcolm
We’re chatting with Caron Malcolm about life on the road as a tour manager for major bands, her love of photography and art, and how Ops&Ops have made her life easier. Above, she’s showcasing our Lurex No10s at her fine art degree show.
Hitchhiking and night trains
Caron grew up an “army brat” – Lincolnshire, Singapore, Germany – before landing at a boarding sixth-form college in Rutland. It’s here where music and photography became the passions that would shape her life. A Jam concert lit the flame. Then a half-term trip to Sheffield to see The Truth in a tiny club catapulted her into full obsession.
“It was the most exciting thing I’d ever done, being in a small, sweaty club at the front with my Instamatic 110mm camera”
Whenever she wanted time off for a gig, she’d forge a permission note from her dad and hand it to the head. Then she’d be off – hitchhiking to venues, catching the night ‘milk train’ back for morning lessons.
A “proper” camera for her birthday and access to the college darkroom turned trial and error into a lifelong skill. “I’ve had a camera ever since. It shields you if you’re not super confident. The photos talk for you and it’s a way into a conversation.” Work experience in the summer holidays with a Daily Mirror photographer meant practice – and handfuls of free film!
By the mid-80s, she was in London helping out bands – booking ferries, travelling in vans, always taking pictures. “I was tour managing before I even knew it was a thing.” She set up a cycling tour for indie band Brotherhood of Lizards and, thanks to the now-defunct Enterprise Allowance Scheme, landed a job at Captain Sensible’s record label, Deltic. “I already knew the Captain. I’d worked with Red Wedge and he toured with them. It was basically the musical branch of the Labour Party at the time, and was totally brilliant.”
Over the decades that followed, she’s tour managed The Charlatans, The Verve, Spiritualized, Siouxsie Sioux, Johnny Marr, The Libertines, Napalm Death (“That was a shock to my mod sensibilities, but it kept me in loafers”), Bebel Gilberto, Roisin Murphy, Baxter Dury and many more – an impressive roster spanning post-punk, indie, bossa nova and extreme metal.
Life on the road did not mean sacrificing her style. Caron considered herself a mod and always hung out at mod clubs, but felt uncomfortable “dressing up” in the full uniform. Instead, she wore mod-inspired knee-length skirts, dresses, pinafores and, of course (in the early days), a parka.
Then one day on tour, she found an online shop and emailed the owner, who was based in Minneapolis – Caron’s next stop. From then on, she went bespoke, collecting fabrics worldwide and having everything made to order. “I was able to use my imagination and she made my clothes for 10 years.” Trousers also came from the late George Dyer, legendary Threadneedleman on London’s Walworth Road.
From the road to the studio
What inspired you to go to college and study fine art? I took a step back from touring when my son was born and, in 2012, we moved out of London to Shropshire.
During Covid, my partner Nick (McCabe, guitarist from The Verve) home-schooled Casey in the morning with the boring stuff like maths, and I got to do art and fun stuff in the afternoons. I realised how much I loved and missed it, so I enrolled at Shrewsbury College and did a foundation course. It was brilliant, and by then I’d got the bug. I did a degree in fine art at Wolverhampton University’s School of Art, which is based in the most fabulous brutalist building. I found that so inspiring, I’m now doing an MA.
Caron’s degree show explored themes of movement, memory and space through works including the Spiro series (above, with her feet), Going Places (photographs in handmade frames) and the 40 Nights film with a Nick McCabe soundtrack. All pieces that reflect a life spent in transit, always with a camera in hand.
Caron on Ops&Ops
How would you describe them? Flexible, fantastically light and they feel incredible on.
What makes them unique? They’re versatile, comfortable, portable, and also so glam! I love the toe shape of the No16 boots.
How do you style them? With everything in my wardrobe. I always take them on tour – they’re great for taking on and off at airports, and even to weekend festivals. They’re lovely to wear to breakfast before you hit the mud again. I often carry a pair in my computer case.
What’s your personal style? When you pack a suitcase for a living, a colour scheme and practical are essential. My wardrobe now is mainly black (I’ve got a few ‘stage blacks’ as you can’t be at the side of the stage in a bright colour), red and stripes – grey and cream. Black jeans or trousers and dresses. I’ve still got the mod aesthetic.
What’s your favourite
Record This is super hard! The Jam’s That’s Entertainment, and I love an uplifting anthem, like Style Council’s A Solid Bond in your Heart, and The Zombies’ This Will be our Year, which is full of hope and optimism.
Book The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin and Eddie Piller’s Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances: A Life in Mod — I took the front photo!
Decade 1960s.
Film A Hard Day’s Night, you see the 60s in real life, and Yellow Submarine, which I watched endlessly with my son when he was little.
Night out My camera club on a Tuesday night. Or, cocktails, a gig, and a mod club in London in 1965.
City Venice.
Holiday destination Rome, where we recently had a great family holiday.
Next move? I’m working on my MA in digital and visual communications, and will be back touring with The Charlatans for the rest of the year.
Caron is wearing our latest No10 Lurex Black flats, No10 Lurex White and No16 Classic Black boots. Her red patent flats are no longer available, but we have two lovely reds: No10 Lipstick Red and No17 Ruby.
