Anthea Neads, 33, is a singer and guitarist from Guildford. "My passion is my music - I sing and play guitar in a rock duo with my partner, bass player Andy Prince, ex-Sham 69. Andy and I live together in Guildford - although we're often on the road with music, so travelling troubadours really! We're both vegan - Andy's been vegan for about 23 years.
Last year, we heard about an event called VegfestUK in Bristol on the internet. We belong to a few vegan groups and I might have seen it pop up as a post on one of them. We saw there was live music and thought it was too good an opportunity to miss - combining our two main passions of music and vegan food. So we contacted them to ask if we could play a set. We enjoy playing vegan events and venues and had played at the London Vegan Festival the year before.
Andy and I had a fantastic time performing at VegfestUK - it was such a well-organised event and the crew looked after us really well. The stage and sound system were very well set up - Andy was especially pleased about the powerful bass amp! It was a lovely big stage to move around on. We both get really into our performances and do like to move around and interact with each other a lot! It's one of the signature elements to our performances, really. We have amazing chemistry and interaction on stage - people are always commenting on it.
We feel our mission is to share our love more widely through our music. We songwrite together, mostly uplifting songs with a spiritual or esoteric element. Andy used to play in the punk band Sham 69, and it's quite a change for him playing in our 60s-influenced rock duo, but with a little of the punk attitude. We got so much great feedback at VegFestUK from people who heard our set and from chatting to people who liked the sound of what we do.
Apart from playing, one main highlight of the event was meeting lots of like-minded people and we found that a lot of the stallholders we chatted to had a similar world-view. But it was also nice to see that veganism is becoming more mainstream as well - more embraced by the population at large. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to find out about different vegan products that I hadn't seen before and try lots of delicious foods I hadn't had the chance to try previously - the range of free samples was amazing.
I learnt a lot about the range of products available and that it is possible to be on a very healthy vegan diet without denying myself special treats like ice-cream and chocolate. I ate rather a lot of delicious vegan ice cream that day. The event awakened a real creativity in me. Looking around at the range of delicious food on offer and chatting to people really inspired me! I've always been a very keen cook, but I learnt about new ingredients and exciting ways to use and combine them. Seeing what delicious and inventive food other people can make with vegan ingredients inspired me to step-up my own recipe creation, and as a result I've now started a vegan food Facebook page.
Andy and I are also now offering workshops on vegan cookery, and we've decided also to offer an element of healing music therapy - as Andy composes stunning instrumentals on his Chapman Stick and I've experienced first-hand the healing power of his music. I found I lost nearly 5 stone through going vegan, which was an added bonus. I was very keen on maintaining a stable and healthy weight through giving my body really good nutrition to help me have sustained energy levels and to benefit my whole mind, body and spirit - not by eating damaging foods like refined sugars and saturated fats.
VegFestUK helped me find healthy, natural and delicious ways to incorporate more calorie-dense, but guilt-free foods into my diet - for example cheese-substitutes, raw chocolate, cereal bars, protein powders, nut "milks", hemp oil, alternative low-GI natural sweeteners, smoothies and more. I even tucked into a huge burger and chips with mayonnaise for the first time since being vegan - all totally animal-free! I've been vegan for over 2 years now.
I was inspired by my partner Andy, who's been vegan for 22 years! He has such a healthy diet and lifestyle and a real respect for himself - treating his body really well with yoga, veganism and a really pure health-food diet. I'd been vegetarian on and off and always enjoyed cooking vegan food, but seeing how easy and enjoyable veganism was for Andy inspired me to take the plunge.
My main reasons are to do with personal taste, wanting a healthy diet, and also to set myself the challenge of being extra creative in the kitchen, as cookery is my second passion after music. I also care about the environment and I've heard that veganism is one of the main ways to reduce emissions of harmful gases including methane and carbon.
I found it so easy, because I had Andy to inspire me, but I did also miss a few things that I used to eat a lot of - mainly cheese. I was a bit sceptical about vegan cheese substitutes, but at VegFestUK I tried some absolutely delicious ones which converted me. I was amazed at the flavours and textures. One soft cheese-substitute I tried was smothered all over a vegan digestive biscuit (again, a new discovery for me) and topped with a tiny blob of jam to make a mini vegan cheesecake - lovely! And the hard "cheeses" were amazing too, especially one with walnuts in!
Lots of non-vegans tell me they'd find it too hard being vegan, but with products like these and all the great milk-substitutes on the market I think they'd be surprised at how easy it is. VegFestUK has opened my mind to a wider range of foods that I can incorporate into my diet; it also whetted my appetite to be creative in the kitchen and ensure I'm having a balanced diet which covers the whole nutritional spectrum. We've just had a fantastic time at VegfestUK Brighton, playing a set and enjoying all the fabulous food on offer and now we're looking forward the Bristol and London events. See www.vegfest.co.uk for more information about VegfestUK London, Brighton, Bristol and the new Vegfest Scotland.
Anthea on her wedding day
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