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Post Brexit Challenges for Touring Musicians.
Last night I posted about the possibility of turning down a European date due to Brexit. Lots of “Don’t be silly! Go for it!” type comments, which suggests a misunderstanding about how careers like mine work. If I don’t play, it won’t be up to me. So here’s a quick explanation of what I mean […]
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Berxit Means Berxit.
It’s such an unbelievable farce. Such a cynical move. Let’s spell it wrong. That’ll get them talking. It’ll game the algorithm. The Left will share the hell out of it. A deliberate mistake. Like Brexit. Today of all days, I’ve been asked to appear at event in Europe. First week of February. It’s a really…
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That Escalated Quickly…
So. I posted this video on social media a couple of days ago. It’s about the awkwardness that surrounds being a wheelchair user who can stand and walk (a bit). It’s gained quite a bit of traction for me; over 100 views within a few hours of being posted, which is a lot for me…
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Don’t Ignore The Day Job.
This. So much this. See the thread, Steve always has great stuff to say on this sort of thing (read: having a sustainable music career). My take on it is a little long for a tweet, so here it is. I’m in a very privileged position, I know that. Making my music is very much…
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+1 For Demos.
I started writing songs in an era dominated by cassette tapes. My little Sanyo tape recorder had a built in microphone, and my earliest songs were committed to tape (real tape) that way. It looked something like this: That worked perfectly well to get the ideas out of my head; chords, melodies, lyrics. But to…
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Sorting Through The Noise.
There’s a lot of online stuff that goes into a career these days. Facebook. Instagram. YouTube. Just making music isn’t close to enough to keep your head above water nowadays. Or so it seems. I’m less convinced. We’re always being told how vital social media is. Most artists I know and like play a huge…
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Tic Tac No: Vector in Red.
These probably all look the same to most people, but there’s a few subtle moves in this one that I’m particularly proud of. Created in Adobe Illustrator as a vector for ease of printing/expanding – more on why soon. Curiosity around this image continues to amaze may. It has a life of it’s own way…
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Lazy Guitar Jams (and Hand Issues).
I love this guitar. I’ve been playing a few different things lately, and forgot how spankingly clean and crisp this ageing shred machine can be. I was going for that Yvette Young clean crunch vibe. This video is also useful to see how Cerebral Palsy affects my picking hand. This type of playing definitely is…
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Zanshin: Exploring Movement
There’s much going on, but yesterday I was able to put in some more time with Ayaka Takai on Zanshin, the choreography/MiMu Gloves exploration we’re working on at the moment. Big thanks Arts Council England. It’s really exciting work. It continues to surprise me from all directions. One of the biggest things to get snagged…
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Songs as Containers.
I’ve always imagined songs as little boxes that I put feelings into. Once I’d written a song about something, I felt like it couldn’t hurt me anymore. I’m currently researching for my modest academic ambitions (a story for another time) and was really excited to learn that my theory about songs stands up to credible…
