The marquee outside the Curzon theatre in Soho, London announcing the Doc'N'Roll movie festival

I was in London to attend the premiere of What You Could Not Visualise, the documentary by Marco Porsia about Rema-Rema.

The anticipation for this film generated a large audience—so much so that it was moved into a larger theatre to accommodate all the attendees! I was given my ticket and I sat patiently waiting for the film to begin. To my left was Mick Allen – founding member of Rema-Rema, Mass, The Wolfgang Press, and Geniuser – and to my right was the widow of the late Vaughan Oliver, art director for v23 which produced some of the most iconic album art for the music label 4AD. She was accompanied by Chris Bigg and Martin Andersen who worked with Vaughan. To say that my anxiety was through the roof would be an understatement.

A still image of the film What You Could Not Visualise at the Doc 'n' Roll movie festival held in the Curzon theatre in Soho, London

This was my first time seeing the film, and I did not expect to see myself as much as I did in it. The director Marco Porsia intertwined me creating the fragrance REMA through the film as it explored the band’s history and its influence on other musicians. My anxiety was gradually replaced with an amazement of watching people watching me make the perfume. There was a Q&A after the film and I was given a round of applause for my part in the film. People kept coming up to me and telling me how much they loved my scenes in the documentary! Is this really happening?

There was an afterparty for the film in the theatre, and I had a lovely conversation with Mark Cox—I honestly could have spent the entire evening talking with him. I met the sound editor who shared how they managed to create the sound effects used during my scenes, I was beyond impressed with their sheer ingenuity.

Dorothy Max Prior who has long, blonde hair next to James Elliott, who has short brown hair

I also got to see Max again and catch up for a minute. You may know Dororthy Max Prior as the drummer for Rema-Rema, but she was also in Psychic TV as well as a solo artist in her own right. She wrote an autobiography and I was absolutely chuffed to find myself in her acknowledgements!

Gary Asquith was so impressed that I flew to London to attend the film that he made me a gift bag of his albums and CDs under the moniker Renegade Connection and The Lavender Pill Mob, respectively. “Don’t forget, Gary,” I told him, “you were the one that encouraged me to attend the release party for the fortieth anniversary of Rema-Rema!” When a rock star becomes your life coach, your life is never the same again.