SYLVIA PATTERSON in conversation: I'M NOT WITH THE MAN

What a treat to have SYLVIA PATTERSON with us at #Louder2026!

Sylvia joins us with her excellent new book: I’m Not with the Man - A Writer’s Life with the Music Mavericks

Whatever happened to the weirdos? The rock'n'roll rebels? The children of The Revolution who not so much raged against The Man as barely acknowledged the concept of authority?

Sylvia Patterson remembers them. The freaks, geeks and oddballs who picked up microphones and instruments not to become rich or famous but because they were too mad (or unemployable) to do anything else. I'm Not With The Man celebrates the era of 'the rock 'n' roll nutter' through her own encounters with some of music's most uncompromising mavericks. From a cursing Adam Ant to a formidable Chrissie Hynde, from a carousing Liam Gallagher to a coruscating Sinead O'Connor, from a comedy Wu Tang Clan to an unrepentant Marianne Faithfull, and many, many more.

From one of Britain’s best and most influential music writers, I'm Not With The Man heralds a farewell fanfare to the heroically unhinged; those who lived on the edge of not only society but their own precarious sanity. We will not see their like again.

Copies of Sylvia's book will be on sale at the Festival and there will be a dedicated book signing directly after her event.

About the Author:

Sylvia Patterson is one of pop journalism's best-known voices. Born in Scotland, she moved to London aged twenty, to join Smash Hits as Staff Writer, going on to freelance for NME, The Face, Glamour, Q, Sunday Times and many other publications across the UK and US.