Stephen ‘The Cobbler’

Tenor Saxophone (dep)

Although most people assume that Stephen comes from an Irish background, he is in fact a direct descendant of Hyyrdryck the Finn who sailed to British shores in 17th century.  Ostracised in his native Finland for being a vegetarian, he was forced to seek out a new life in England.

Having made his way south, he settled in Northampton and started earning a living making shoes from lemming pelts. His business grew until he had a number of shoe factories and shops. His influence continued to grow locally until he was put forward for the post of Mayor of Northampton. He soon realised that his name would not easily fit on the campaign billboards, so he dropped the ‘the’ and was soon elected as ‘Hyyrdryck Finn’.

Eleven generations on, Stephen mixes his love of ska music with his love of shoes by wearing brogues, loafers or Doc Martin boots at every Special Kinda Madness gig.

Fortunately, he has not inherited his ancestor’s herbivorous tendencies, but does struggle to find his much-loved reindeer burger on the menu at many of our venues.

If you do get to speak to him during the interval, please do say to him (in your best Finnish accent), “Flyyric owm shurien”. It’s a joke he never tires of hearing!