Tour ramble

I'm back home from tour. It's been good to get some rest and re-charge a little. It's odd not to have to be at a station sometime in the afternoon to travel to a venue to sound check, get lost somewhere along the way and then play the gig whilst drinking as much cheap and/or free booze as possible. It's been great to come back to radio play from Steve Lamacq on Radio 2 and also on woxy.com. If I ever meet Steve I'm possibly going to try and do something indecent to him though, what a legend. Great news to be getting my songs over to the US.

The tour, in general, was excellent. I feel it's been two months, on and off, very well spent. I've met a lot of great new people, spread the word about what I do and played some good venues with brilliant artists/promoters/audiences. On top of all that releasing my own record too in that time period, it's been good times all round.

The Leeds gigs I did were really good including getting to hang out with Matt at the Cardigan Arms. Whiskers (formerly of Forward Russia) did my sound too, how scene am I? Not very is the answer. But yeah, we got very very drunk that night and I ended up pretty much getting molested by Matt's dogs drinking wine till 4am or something. I latterly developed a very bad habit of eating two meals a day: one around 1am whilst drunk wherever I was and a sandwich around lunchtime. Not exactly nutrition central. I probably need to work on getting better at not drinking six to eight pints a night on an empty stomach!

When playing in Leicester and Derby I got to stay with some friends which was amazing. Thanks to them for having me to stay and eat all the cheese in their fridge. The weekend of Cambridge, Birmingham and Leicester was really fun as again I got to see some of the dearest people to me, including my cousin and my unofficial manager/bodyguard/life coach, James Taylor. Not THE James Taylor but nearly as good.

I met some pretty interesting characters too and playing to a room in Leicester where the average age must have been about 65 was pretty challenging. Still, the guy who's first words we overheard when we arrived were shouting at his daughter "You can get REALLY fucking aggressive when you're drunk!". Then calling the barman a c u next Tuesday before admitting his dismay at being hammered despite it only being 8pm and leaving. It was one of those moments where you think "I don't know how my life's gonna work out but holy crap I want to choose the path that doesn't turn me into that!"

I found it quite hard going at times but at the same time when you talk to other people about towns/venues people have contrasting views and experiences. I've got the mentality that, even if somewhere might not totally appeal the first time you go, it's probably worth another shot. Sometimes you can catch places on a night which doesn't totally suit you. The bill might be wrong, the venue might be unsuitable but there might be other places nearby more appropriate etc. And also without being funny about it, it's sometimes as much about you as it is the place you're playing. After all, you can't blame anyone else for a gig you've booked.

Either way, thanks so much to everyone who's helped over the last few months. I've felt really bad about becoming a person who asks and feels like he's not giving anything back in return. I hope all the people who have given me a floor to sleep on, bought me a drink or food and travelled (sometimes FUDGING MILES!) to see me play know how much I appreciate their support. I'd have been screwed without you. So I hope you're up for next year because it's probably going to get worse on that front!

Note: The photos from top to bottom are:- Me playing Birmingham in THE one t-shirt I own seemingly. What? It's only been on seventeen photos of me in the last five months. That's normal, right? The one down from that one the left is Dave, Chris and I doing the claw in Chris' new car on the way back from Birmingham. We called a pizza on the way to arrive in Nottingham when we got back, they takeaway mentioned are obviously perfectionists bearing in mind it's a 50 odd mile journey. The next photo is of us on the train to Leicester and the answer is yes, my head IS that massive, pale and grotesque in real life. And finally we have the pièce de résistance; a regular site for anyone who travels in style...the MM's Bar coffee on East Midlands trains. I did finish this I regret to inform you, much to the dismay to my wonderful girlfriend who took all these photos. Hmmm...ready made cappuccino, the drink of the Gods.

What a difference a week makes...yada...cliché...blah...

Last week when I wrote I wasn't, shall we say, on top form. But the last week has gone a long way to actually shatter a lot of what I was thinking. Firstly, I went to Scotland for two days to Glasgow and Edinburgh where I had an amazing time and met some absolutely wonderful people. It was just what I needed, it kind of felt like a holiday where I got to play twice. Awesome. It gave me time to think whilst away and get things in perspective. Also, I got to just concentrate on just playing, nothing else. Which was great. I've become a little bogged down having so much to do at home for the record. It was great to just get away. As I said, I met and played with some brilliant people too, which was a massive bonus. Extra praise must go to everyone at Bar Bloc, Colin Hunter & friends, all at Wee Red Bar, Miles Mayhem and Saint Jude's Infirmary. The nine hour journey back from Scotland to London in the middle of the night to get back for Saturday's London gig wasn't much crack though. Mental note: Edinburgh to London ISN'T a good piece of tour scheduling!

More reviews have come in which is great and they've all been really kind too. The coverage, for the stage I'm at, I think is pretty good. To say I don't have a bone in me that's any good at PR I've not done bad! Still, there is something which has made me incredibly happy. As a kid I used to listen to Steve Lamacq on the Evening Session and I found out about so many great bands through him. Without Steve Lamacq I wouldn't have got into Depeche Mode, Magazine or the Smiths...well...at least not for a while! C'mon, I was only twelve at the time. So I was pretty darn amazed/elated/in a state of disbelief when my mate Matt Abbott (check out my name dropping ways) called me this afternoon to tell me I'd been played on 6 Music yesterday afternoon. I will try and simulate this conversation:

Matt: Mate, you were played on 6 Music yesterday
Me: Bollocks
Matt: No, you were
Me: Double bollocks
Matt: Look up his 6 Music page, you're on there under 'Monday's extra tracks'
Me: Matt, didn't you hear me? I said...OH HOLY FUCK HE DID!

Praise goes to Matt for putting up with me for this. But yeah, I'm well pleased about that. It obviously doesn't mean I've conquered the world, am any better or worse musician or am about to be knighted for services to music but it's still a real step forward for me. Getting played at 6pm after the Beatles and the Cure on the radio by one of the best respected DJ's in the country will do for me. I'm still a man with no label, no money and no way of being on time to get to venues on time but I am a man who's been played by Steve Lamacq, which is frankly amazing.

Either way, it's all starting to at least make a little more sense and I'm having a great time at present too. Long may this continue.

EP

It's out. This is a photo of my brothers copy delivered from Rough Trade. Awesome. Took a long time to get to this stage. Worked my short and curlies off for the last few months and now it's here and it's time for it to be evaluated and/or in certain corners ignored. Some more press/airplay might come in later in the week but at the moment it's fairly modest in that respect. Still, I'm a man with no label and no reputation so realistically what did I expect? Maybe I can't do everything by myself. Maybe if I choose to do it this way again it'll be easier. Maybe I just need to stop thinking about stuff like that. It's out there. I'm still really proud of it, I think it's great and I think if more people get to hear it then the numbers of people who like it will increase, dare I say it, dramatically. I guess it's all clechéd load of bollocks about winning the war and not the battle. Time will tell. That said, I've put too much in to not end up winning. As you know, it's all about me winning. And whinging tonight seemingly.

I guess the thing being that would I have made a better, more passionate, more heartfelt and more honest record if I'd have had money behind me? Probably not. Would it have been easier to get eye catching magazine and website features, substantially more reviews, daytime airplay and major distribution with money behind me? Well, yes, probably. But who knows. Maybe it wouldn't. I guess the one thing I have learnt is that I do need help at times, regardless of how much I struggle to accept it or to trust otherwise with my pride and joy. Still, bad decisions have been made in the past where I've trusted the wrong people with something so crucial to my very being. Perhaps I needed to do this to exercise those demons and prove to myself what I can do alone and that, as much as this has been difficult, it's better it being done my way and being done properly than others interfering and fucking things up for me.

On the positive side, the people who have actually given it the time of day and given it a couple of listens have loved it and frankly getting Organ's single of the week was a) unexpected and b) something very hard to come by. I can't thank the people who've helped me over the last few months enough because, although I do bang on about doing everything myself, there have been some wonderful people behind the scenes who have made things much easier and have ultimately improved what I've been doing 100%. I'd like to single out Emma Hamshare, Dave Clarke, Rob Dix, Matt Barnes, Jonathan Walker and Dave Carlill for all their help because without those people I wouldn't have a record or any sanity. Thank you to you all, I owe you all a pint or in Emma's case, a tea.

I guess a bit like (bear with me, this is the worst analogy of all time!) when you're a kid and the night before the under-14's game against the top of the league in the Sheffield & District Junior Sunday League you dream of playing, having a blinder and then scoring the winning goal. In actual fact you're on the bench, come on playing like plops for the last time minutes and score an own goal and then you spontaneously combust (this is a true story, well, part of it's accurate) I'd dreamt it would be better than this in terms of coverage. There were three things that I really, really wanted like you wouldn't believe: I wanted Steve Lamacq to play my record, I wanted a review from Drowned in Sound (ideally a favourable one!) and I wanted to get the record stocked in Rough Trade. I manged to sort out the latter. Lammo may yet play me but I doubt it. DiS aren't gonna cover the EP at all. I knew I'd be heartbroken if any of these things didn't come off, so I guess I kind of am. Maybe I just don't realise I'm at the bottom of the pile? Right down there in terms of priority. Maybe I'm just not good enough for these people to give me the attention. Either way, I'll have to be better next time because I choose to take it that I'm not good enough for these people so I need to improve, which is what I'll do.

I will win. I have to.

I'm nearly there...almost...sort of...

So then, Monday is the day of all days. The EP's arrived earlier in the week and they look AMAZING even if I do say so myself. The beautiful artwork that my girlfriend very patiently put together for me looks even better in the flesh than it did whilst working on it. I need to buy that girl a Kinder egg or something to say thank you. Chocolate + toy = bonus. I hate chocolate. Anyway, I digress slightly. I've sent off the copies requested by the shops I've been in touch with. I'm hopeful over time I'll manage to expand that list. One thing I would note is that I'd be patient waiting for your copy as because the EP's arrived when they did and I didn't them sent out early enough they might be a couple of days getting into the shops physically. Sorry about that, it's my fault not anyone else's. But let's not be too down cos this has been a good week so far looking at it.

Yesterday I got a review through from the Organ which has me down at their Single of the Week! I think it's a superb review but I my logic isn't based on the fact it says just positive things about me. I like the fact that it mentions things like it maybe taking a bit of time to get into properly or you need to be in the right frame of mind or whatever and then you'll get it. I get the Frank Turner reference a bit too, which is no bad thing as I like a lot of his songs and he's very good at what he does. However, we do very different things when you get underneath the obvious singer-songwriter/social commentary/acoustic guitar thing. Either way, I danced around the room when I got this through, I felt like I was starting to win. It's all about me winning. And scrolling if you wanna read that review.

I also got this lovely review from There Goes The Fear through last week but haven't posted it yet. It's really gratifying that the two critiques of the EP so far have (obviously both been very positive, clear bonus there!) but they both have really spent the time to listen to what I've created. I think that's very rare in our music culture at the moment. So many people all clambering for their space in this industry. It must be a nightmare for reviewers/DJ's et al. Still, hopefully you'd like to think that the reason they've listened to it so much is because it's good. Well, that's what I hope anyway! Thanks to both Sean and Phil for those.

I just got an email through from Tom Robinson saying that he's gonna be playing 'Okay At Best' tonight on his BBC 6 Music Introducing Show. Awesome. You can tune in between midnight and 2am to listen to it live or listen back here.

Have you noticed recently I can't stop linking to things? Odd.

The tour has been going really well this week. Loads of traveling but I've been coping a little better with that aspect of things. I think because I've been getting a run of consecutive days playing I've been getting more adjusted to how my life has to work when I'm away. It's not always easy and there have been people I've really missed but as I said to a friend last night, no-one's forced me to do this. It's all been done of my own accord so I can't complain about any of it really. The gigs have been really good and I've met some really ace people who I'm hoping I'll be seeing again in the future. I'm pretty run down though and basically working on adrenaline but I'm making things happen and I'm really enjoying it on the whole. Last night someone said I was "living the dream" which I don't think I am really (National Express coaches AREN'T living the dream believe me!) but I'm having a great time and I'm sure things are just gonna get better as there are more gigs, the EP's coming out and more and more people hear about me. I don't have anyone helping me, other than people who are mainly mentioned in the EP sleeve. I don't have any backing from a label financially or to help with the release, I don't have a booking agent and I don't have a long list of contacts. I'm doing everything on the basis of just being good at what I do and trying my best to be a good bloke with every person I deal with and hopefully that will give me my rewards. Fingers crossed.

Next week: Andy takes on the world and wins! (Well, it's more like small venues in Scotland but you've gotta start somewhere)