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Thursday 21st February 2008
I saw Giles today - it was good to chat to him and to see him safe and sound, it reminded me again of the whalers and the whales and the monkeys and the cows and the penguins....
We also had a four hour long Vessels meeting tonight, to sort out tour things, mixing things, money things, insurance things, royalty things, rehearsal things, naming things, and we very briefly discussed music...
Then on the way home, I swear I saw Szymon's face staring at me from the bonnet of a car.....
It is definitely he...
Tuesday 19th/Wednesday 20th February 2008
I have been unwell these past days - probably due to the excesses of the weekend, although in fairness, I drank no alcohol all weekend, and even though I stayed up every night, I caught up the following day, that was until Monday, when I worked out in the cold for seven hours straight on two hours kip, then did a three hour session singing in a recording studio..... ahhhhhh
Nonetheless, these things usually get the better of me, but this time, rather than fighting it and attempting to work, I have spent the last two days in bed, resting so that my body could fight these maleveolent invaders, and I seem to be getting the better of it. Although there was no escaping the fact that I had to play and sing with Vessels tonight in York. The gig went well, and although I expected myself to sing badly, I think that I just sang the same as usual, but with more of a sore throat afterwards.....
In the midst of this plague though, I have not even thought to take pictures, and there are certainly none of the gig in York, so you can have this picture taken when we got back home tonight, of Tom realising that the electronic beats that he left transferring over the web to Congleton earlier in the evening hadn't succesfully sent.....
Vessels, bringing the plague to a town near you sometime soon
Monday 18th February 2008
Today, on two hours kip, I worked all day as a ballot collector out in the frost outside of Leeds University Students Union. Dressed as a builder. Then I went straight to the College of Music studios and layed down some acoustic duets with the Geordie on flute - Andy Brothwell engineered, and we just made stuff up some instrumentals and some reworkings of my tunes. It was such a treat, and I'll post some of it on the front page when Andy sends me the mix....
Work again tomorrow, although I'll be doing it on a good night's sleep, which I feel may be commencing any second....
Ludicrous....
Friday 15th - Sun 17th February 2008
I watched the sun come up three nights in a row this weekend.
On Friday we went to Lawrence's techno night in York, a crew of about twenty transplanted from Leeds, then we sat up all night in Tim's flat listening to him DJ from his immaculate CD collection (I'll post some Berg Sans Nipple when I get some).
On Saturday we all went out for dinner to El Baretto in Chapel Allerton to celebrate Rachel, Simon, and Renton's simultaneous birthdays - a crew of about thirty, mainly from Leeds but with queefs of London throughout. Everyone came back to our yard afterwards and sat up listening to tunes until the dawn....
Then on Sunday, with my sleeping pattern shot to pieces and my mind racing wih ideas, I had a jam with the Geordie in advance of tomorrow night's recording, and then stayed up all night drinking tea, eating biscuits and trying to pinpoint my location in spacetime.
Some of my family are farmers further up North and probably get to see the Sunrise most mornings - I'm a musician in my mid-twenties living in a big city - The only time I ever see the sunrise is when we party, and it's always worth staying up for....
Thursday 14th February 2008
Today, upon not much sleep and the ensuing lack of memory function I recorded If I Ran the Circus.
Danny works at the HiFi Club, so we were able to use the room for the day for free, which was ace, because there were already mics, mic stands, cables, a mixer, and tasty beverages in the club - everything you need to do a session. The drums have come out sounding fairly sweet, although we may need to redo some of the guitars. I'll post it on the front page when it's done, although it could be a while before we can find the time to get together again for overdubs and mixing and stuff..
Then, tonight, on St Valentines day, I sat in with Martin, Lee, Tim, Tom, and some crisps, and we listened again to the Vessels mixes, attempting to finalise our comments to Congleton before round two....
It's late, again, the boys have all gone now - good thing I have to work tomorrow morning....
It's not like I'll get to sleep for hours anyway
Wednesday 13th February 2008
Tonight Vessels played at the Buffalo Bar in London - It was my favourite gig for a good while, the venue was ace, the sound was ace, the support acts were ace, and there was a great turnout who were lovely - an appreciative bunch....
Not so great was losing my favourite scarf in the venue. Gutted.
Also fairly challenging was getting home and unloading at 5am, with an early start and a long day planned for tomorrow - good thing me and four hours sleep are such good mates....
You can have anything, my kidneys if you want, just please return the scarf....
Tuesday 12th February 2008
Today the police impounded the Footprint van, which we'd loaned, entirely within the conditions of the insurance, to a friend to help move house. The police at first told him it was because the van wasn't insured, but then later changed their mind and said that it was because he didn't have his licence on him, and that because he held a German driving licence, he shouldn't be driving in England. They left him, and the contents of the move, stranded on the pavement and drove off in the van, entirely without precedent in law. They did not arrest him, nor give him chance to produce his licence at his convenience within the week. They have acknowledged by phone that he was legitimately insured, and yet it has still cost in excess of a hundred pounds to recover the van from them. Of course in principle it shouldn't have been paid, and the case should be argued, but this may have taken longer than the two week time-frame offered before they would then crush the van. And also, we need the van.
Then, to offset the seething anger imbued within me by the enormous bare-faced prejudice and extortion of the affair, we attended the opening of Rachel and her mother Edith's exhibition of paintings that they made whilst travelling through Tibet together. The image shows some of Edith's work on glass, hung upon the wall of the Carriageworks Theatre bar. Rachel's parents have put us up a couple of times already this year after gigs in London, and it's nice to return the favour and have Edith stop at the yard, although there's no way I could return the hospitality of her immense home cooking, she is after all, a mum.
Have you seen these men. They've been see stealing people's vehicles whilst disguised as law enforcers.....
Monday 11th February 2008
The first warm weather of the year. The sky was clear and the air was warm all day today. I took this picture as I walked home from work, only moments before calling Mordue, who was also out under the sky and the sunset, having an afternoon jog, and has since reported that he wasn't sure afterwards whether he imagined it or not.....
Perhaps best use email Steve, then you can use your inbox as evidence....
Sunday 10th February 2008
The Vessels album (Well the first mixes of it), altogether in one place. It isn't all sounding quite right yet, but there are enough of the tracks that sound fat and tasty enough that I'm sure the rest will come together...
Four Hours sleep and I are too well aquainted, I feel it knows too much about me and that our friendship has progressed too fast, whereas eight hours sleep and I just don't hang out enough these days.....
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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