Denny Austin by Steve Hanson

'Fresh Milk' was the brainchild of the late Robert Heaton (Gardeners Of Eden, New Model Army) and local stalwart of the Bradford music scene Denny Austin. The whole Fresh Milk ethos was very much down to their absolute faith in Bradford as a city thriving with musical talent. They were frustrated by the 'doomed to failure' attitude and lack of 'get up and go' the downtrodden yet historically and culturally rich city seemed to install in its inhabitants.

John Gray by Steve Hanson

Fresh Milk started out life as a regular music event. The idea was to create a 'jam' situation where musicians were provided a platform to perform improvised music or original compositions to a crowd. This took place at a couple of venues - 'The Love Apple Café' and 'MacRory's Bar'. The sessions were recorded on a 16 track mixing desk.

These early sessions were varied and diverse. A good session would have musicians who wouldn't normally work with each other coming together in a fusion of sounds to create something new. The bonus was that everything was recorded and if something really spectacular happened, it could be listened to again and taken further. On the other hand, a budding band or artist would get up to do a few of their own numbers to a captive audience - in one swoop they'd get potential fans and a high quality live demo to use as they saw fit.

Eventually Fresh Milk became more of a showcase for Bradford's musical creative talent. With only a handful of live music venues in the city and those that existed running a 'pay to play' policy, it seemed this was what there was the loudest call for. It was not just musicians who were given a platform but visual artists too, with budding VJs projecting images on the walls, as well as artists, photographers and film makers using the events to create or display their own material.

Rob Heaton by Steve Hanson

On the fourth of November 2004 Robert Heaton tragically and suddenly died, leaving a wife, child, dear friends and many unfinished projects.

Since the passing of Rob, the co-organisers of Fresh Milk and all those who worked under the same ethos were agreed that it would be a further tragedy and a crying shame for Bradford if Fresh Milk were to stop altogether. But what next?