Moving to London was a culture shock for Alfie Jackson, and not a pleasant one. But the capital did give him what he had always dreamed of: the chance of making it as a professional musician.
Following in the footsteps of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of young men and women Jackson, who has played guitar since he was a teenager, moved to London after university.
His day job was a broadcast assistant and scheduler with ITV. But by night he hung out at pubs, clubs, and music venues, networking and listening to as much music as he could.
Having spent most of his childhood in the market town of Melton Mowbray – “the home of pork pies” – he found the hectic rush and crush of the city hard to handle.
It was a complete shock to the system,” he says. “The lack of friendliness, and of everyone knowing each other and having time for each other, was completely opposite to what I was used to.”
Luckily he found his feet, made friends, and started to appreciate London life.
“I guess it was this feeling of endless possibilities, it felt like a massive playground where you could meet new people and do something different constantly,” he says.
In 2004 Jackson formed The Holloways, recruiting its members by handing out fliers in clubs asking for “insanely dedicated musicians” to join him.
The band toured extensively, and released two albums and seven singles, five of which reached number 1 on the UK Indie Charts.
“It was amazing – until it wasn’t,” says Jackson, now 47.
The band’s Annus Horriblis came in 2008. A couple of original members left, they lost all their gear when the pub they stored it in burned down, and their record label went bust.
Jackson and his remaining bandmates tried to keep things going but eventually gave up and called it quits in 2011.
His life changed even more when he met his now-fiancée Simone Brünner, 33. Brünner was in London working as an au-pair but had no plans to settle in the UK. Her biggest issue, says Jackson, was how extortionately expensive housing was.
In 2015 she decided to return home to Austria. The following year, after 16 years in London, Jackson gave notice on the £1,100pcm one-bedroom flat he was renting in Archway and joined her.
Home is now a self-built house close to a tiny village, a dot on the map near to the town of Fürstenfeld, which is close to the border with Hungary.
The land was gifted to Brünner by her parents, who live next door. There are no other immediate neighbours. “All we can see from our house is fields and trees,” says Jackson. “It is paradise, really.”
Jackson now works as a songwriter and producer. The Holloways reformed in 2017 and have just finished a UK tour (@the.holloways).
Back in Austria Jackson has formed another band, just for fun, and is a member of the local tennis club.
He has only tried out Austria’s national pastime, skiing once, even though there are slopes an hour’s drive away.
“I didn’t really like it,” he says. “I could turn left, but not right, and someone always ends up breaking an ankle or wrist.” He does, however, enjoy walks and cycle rides in the beautiful local countryside.
Jackson’s German is improving and he has a local network of friends, although keeping the banter going in a foreign language is much harder than it is with his old mates back home. “You can feel a bit like an outsider,” he says.
He also misses being plugged into a thriving music scene: “I miss going to gigs and chatting to other musicians and finding new places and new artists.”
On the other hand he appreciates how safe his new home feels, and the friendliness of the locals reminds him of being back in Melton Mowbray. “In a way it has been like going back to what I had before London,” he says.
