Kalibre

(c’84-’86) John Rice (vocals / guitar), Kevin Procter (bass), and Phil Ekins (drums).

This Godalming based three piece rock band started out as Caliber 360, which was soon shortened and updated to Kalibre. Ekins decided to depart and Procter moved across to drums, which he preferred to bass, and vocals. An ad in the local paper for a bass player got the attention of Nick ‘H’ Potter who joined the lineup. He’d actually been a school friend of Procter, but they had lost touch in the intervening time. The band were also joined, although he never made a live appearance with the combo, by rhythm guitarist Graham Nunn for a brief period.

They rehearsed in the small studio space of Catch 44 Studios, Godalming and recall meeting Liza Goddard, the wife of Alvin Stardust who also used Catch 44 Studios facilities at the time, on a couple of occasions at the studio. The band also used a rehearsal studio in Reading a couple of times, which may have been owned by Larry Miller’s manager at the time.

The band recorded a EP demo cassette of original material at the Catch 44 Studios. The demo did the rounds of local venues, securing a number of bookings. A copy was also sent to national press and Melody Maker printed a review that included the line ‘masturbatory lyrics and guitar’.

The band played around the local Godalming / Guildford area, and into Aldershot and further afield occasionally. Kalibre’s live set list consisted of mostly original material, but also included a few covers such as Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’, ‘Somebody’ by Bryan Adams and rock band staples like of ‘Johnny B Goode’. On 24 February ’84, Kalibre supported local alternative dance / funk band Zugang, along with Cow, at a charity gig for the Red Cross, held at the Borough Hall, Godalming. The following month, on 17 March ’84, Kalibre opened for Station 360 at The Royal, Guildford. Later in the year; Rice, who had been part of the road crew for The Larry Miller Band for some years – there is a credit to Rice on the back of Larry’s first album, ‘Right, Chaps’ – managed to secure Kalibre a support slot at The Wooden Bridge, Guildford on 10 August ’84. As the band held the note at the end of ‘Johnny B Goode’, Procter ran around from behind the drums and took a photo of the audience (below).

In April ’85, Kalibre embarked on the ‘Load n’ Live’ tour encompassing numerous local venues, including The Cranley Hotel, Cranleigh on 5 April ’85 and fifteen days later The Cannon, Guildford.

The exact circumstances of the bands demise are lost to the mists of time. Rice continued to played guitar. Potter reportedly was taking a musical degree at the University of Surrey, Guildford. Procter played bass in a number of bands on and off, culminating in gigs at Liverpool’s ‘Cavern Club’ and the recording of an album in 2019 and continues to write with a friend for a local band, or just for pleasure.

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