July

Day 269

Posted on by Sibylline

Tuesday June 30

I’m working a 10 till 5 shift today and plan to get home at a decent hour and get stuck into some song learning and maybe a diary catchup as I’ve managed to get myself quite far behind. I’m also expecting a relatively easy shift because it’s a Tuesday day and nothing happens on Tuesday days. The evenings can be the most unpredictable shifts of the week, either nothing happening or very busy but you can be safe with a day. Now, the way it works is that there generally should always be something to do; if there are no customers, you don’t just stand at the bar checking your phone or chatting away drinking tea. It’s a big bar. Something somewhere needs cleaning or organising. The quiet day shifts are when this kind of stuff gets done. But that often means you can have a bit of a chat with a customer or workmate as you just gently tidy away something in the same area and be social with it at the same time. Today is not like that. For some reason, every man and his dog has chosen today to deliver stuff and stock is piled high and someone has to take it all downstairs to the cellar. Oh. I wonder who that someone could be. So there I am, most of the day on the bar on my own, also looking after the occasional customer we get in the restaurant over to the left. Added to that I’m looking at this mountain of stuff we’ve had delivered. It’s turning into a busy Tuesday day shift.

But I’m still able to keep up with the people at the bar who want serving. One guy comes in and introduces himself to me. ‘Hi. I’m Andy. I’ve just moved in here and you may see me from time to time. What’s your name?’ ‘Mark. Pleased to meet you and hope to see you again.’ Five minutes later, the same thing happens again. ‘You must be Mark. I’m Paul. It’s great to meet you.’ ‘Oh. Hi Paul. Nice to meet you too.’ What is this? Introduce yourself to a barman day? Oh. Stop. This guy knew my name. What’s that all about? He must notice me looking at him a bit strange as this realisation that he knows my name has hit. I’ve got that, ‘Why do I know you’ look. ‘You know me otherwise as Moosebass,’ he says. Moosebass. Moosebass. That’s familiar. Come on. Where do you know that from. This feels like it takes quite a long time but it’s surely only a second or two. Then it hits. ‘Ah. From SBL. Bloody hell.’ Then I find myself shaking his hand again, only a lot more enthusiastically this time. Wow. It’s finally happened. A diary reader has found the bar and wandered in off the street to say hello. I know people have come close but this is the first time it’s actually happened. We won’t count Kevin because that was all arranged. But now, while I’m working, I have a real life SBLer in front of me. Brilliant. We have a brief catchup but I really am busy and have a lot to keep up with so, initial introductions aside, I have to keep running round the place while snatching glimpses of conversation with him. I really feel quite guilty. Any other dayshift and I could just stand there polishing wine glasses for example, or doing any other similar light job, and having all the time in the world to chat. But no. Today’s the day I’m running from one end of the bar to the other as well as downstairs and up again. Still, it’s a rare chance he’s caught me at all. This is my first day back after a week away and I really don’t do that many day shifts as it is. So I guess I’ll take it.

Paul’s in town for the day and asks if there’s anything happening tonight. It’s a Tuesday. What happens on a Tuesday? Nearby? I umm and ahh then I get it. The Blues Kitchen. They proudly advertise two shows everynight and the Sunday jams. There must be something going on there. So that’s what I suggest. Great, says Paul. He’ll head in there about eight O’Clock. I’ll do the same, I tell him. He doesn’t want to put me out he says. Absolute nonsense. I don’t say that, but I’m thinking, an SBLer’s in town. It doesn’t matter what I’ve got on. If I absolutely can’t get out of it, it’s cancelled – it did happen the last time Kevin was around I had a rehearsal. Oh well. So eight O’Clock it is. Paul has some lunch in here so he’s around for quite a while and we’re able to have quite a few small chats but really, I do have to keep cracking on. He leaves and I get on with finishing the rest of the day in here, finishing at five. The chefs do me lunch/dinner here when I’m finished and then it’s home to do a freshen up and chill from the day and then I’m off to the Blues Kitchen to hang out with Paul. I get there about twenty past and he’s already there and buys me a drink. He’s actually surprised to see me. After mad and frantic day he wasn’t sure if I’d make it out for the night as well, whatever I’d said. But no. I’m here and ready for the show. Yes, says the bargirl. There is a show on tonight. Two of them daily as advertised. Yet the first ever time I came here, there was nothing as both bands cancelled at short notice and they were unable to get anyone else in.

The music doesn’t start till a little after nine so me and Paul have plenty of time to have a good old chat about all things bass, London, his trip and everything else in between. As the bar fills up, we leave and go grab a table near the stage. Then the show begins. Two really good, lively bands, the second led by a piano playing singer. I much prefer the first which is more raw, rough and ready, but for me, more entertaining as they just lay it all down loose and dirty filling the dancefloor and generally rocking the blues. The second band is far more polished and, for me, doesn’t have the same excitement. But if they’d been the only band on that night, I’d have had no issues saying they were really great. It’s just that they’re a little unfortunate to be following such a lively, bouncing act. Paul is loving it, especially after the first band. ‘I could probably find something like that on a Friday or Saturday,’ he says. ‘But a Tuesday? And there’s still another band to come? You’re lucky to have this right on your doorstep.’ ‘No, not lucky. I say. I came to this doorstep. Deliberately. There was a reason I did and here it is.’ He nods in agreement at that one. Then I get a bit philosophical. ‘When you make the decision to throw yourself into the world, having no idea what you’re really going to find, nothing that happens can be truly called lucky. You deliberately went out there to see what could happen. If things do, no matter how fortuitous, you put yourself in the way for that possibility to be open. It can’t be called luck.’

As the second band comes to a close, me and Paul realise we’re both about ready to leave. A few pints have been sunk and quite a few things have been covered. And we’ve seen two really good bands. On a Tuesday night in Camden Town. When I woke up today, I definitely would have taken that as a result.

 

Day 270

Wednesday July 1

Today Jenn achieves a lifelong dream and I do something I’ve seriously wanted to do for a long time. We go to Wimbledon. We know that queuing for quite a while will be the only way in and we have no intention of trying to get into the show courts. A ground pass will do. But we are in no way prepared for the sight that greets us when we arrive at nine O’Clock after what we thought was an early start of leaving the house at seven. Well, by the time we were ready, it was really already half past.

What we walk into looks more like a luxury refugee camp than a queue. It’s a huge field full of people. Huge. When we ask where the back of the queue is, we’re pointed towards a green flag. I keep looking and looking and when I find it, it’s hard to comprehend. Surely that can’t be it. That tiny green dot in the far distance. But yes, apparently it is. We walk past what looks like a real queue and these people are still a long way from getting into the grounds. We hear one being asked what time he arrived to be as advanced as he is. Five this morning is the answer. Bloody hell.

Approaching the field, we see it’s not the chaos it appeared to be. Instead, People are arranged in lines of five hundred. By the time we reach the flag, we can see we’re at the end of line K. So that’s five thousand people in the field, not to mention the poor hoardes coming after us, and what we now know to be around two thousand people released from the field to be in the actual queue to get in. The grounds are full and we’re told it’s one in, one out. In other words, about seven thousand people have to leave this sporting event before we can get in. We’re told to expect to be in no earlier than five O’Clock. Why do we never see this on TV? All we ever see is the hard core campers who are trying to get the few hundred show court tickets that are released each day. We never see this refugee camp of a queue that everyone else is in. And oh yes. We will later discover that this is the hottest day of Wimbledon ever. Temperatures reach up to 38.5 degrees. Damn. Where is that sign on my keyboard? That’s a 101farenheit. And there we are in an open field in the blazing sun all day. And of course, the sun won’t relent once we get in because Wimbledon has very little cover or even shade. Jenn has a moment when she really doesn’t want to do this but my take on it is that this is the only way to get in and if we don’t do it today, we’re waiting until next year. Jenn could come back earlier tomorrow but it’s unlikely to be any better and this is the only day of the whole championships that I’m free to be able to come to.

So we slap on the suncream and make the most of it. It’s really not so bad. The lines in the field don’t move. More, they stay where they are until the queue is ready to receive them and then they move on, one line of five hundred at a time. In the field, everyone has been given a voucher with a number on it and this is your place in the queue. Ours is somewhere in the mid nine thousands. It’s politely requested that you leave your place for no more than half an hour at a time for refreshment breaks or whatever. Within the lines in the field, people sit in their groups and are variously well supplied according to, I guess, their experience. Some have brought games, others balls and there’s a real party atmosphere all around the place and plenty of food vans that, considering the circumstances, aren’t outrageously priced and there are large, clean toilets. It feels just like a big day out in the park. We’ve not done too badly on supply front but I still make a trip to the local supermarket to do a little stock up. Before that we get entertained by a roving magician filming for some show or other who does tricks/illusions which have us questioning the realms of the possible. As diversions from waiting in the biggest queue in peaceful civilization goes, it’s really quite a good one.

With the one in one out rule, it’s incredible how quickly the field empties out and by around one O’clock, we find ourselves moving to the actual queue, and from there we enter the outer part of the grounds. We’re still far from in but now we have TVs showing the action and build-up and small activities about the place, like a mini tennis tournament that anyone can join in and which is complete with commentary and an umpire. Actually, they’re the same person which only adds to the fun. First on centre court is Djokovic playing his second round match. This is significant for us because he dispatches his opponent in the superquick time of around an hour and a half. What that means is that people with tickets for that match will now probably leave. They could stay in the grounds, but they’re centre court people so it’s expected that most won’t. This proves to be the case and the queue starts to see some movement; they don’t let in one at a time. Instead, a period of half an hour or so is allowed to elapse between entries and the stewards here receive a message saying how many they can let in. This is done by the queue number we were given at the beginning, so they’re told, let in up to number such and such. As you can imagine, anyone who’s jumped the queue won’t get in at this point because their number will be higher than the last one the stewards are authorised to let in. We witness some drama of this when we finally reach the head of the queue and someone has a number at least a hundred higher than those around him. The police are quickly on the scene and we hear them telling the guy that this just isn’t fair and he’ll have to go back. We silently hope his number ticket is taken off him and he’ll have to go all the way back but that doesn’t happen. I’m sure it does in some cases though. When we finally arrive at the turnstiles to pay to get in – twentyfive quid and cash only, the announcements have been very clear on that – it’s just approaching four O’Clock. More than a whole hour earlier than we were told to expect. Play goes on essentially until it’s too dark to continue so that gives us five hours of live grand slam tennis to get ourselves into.

A ground pass allows access to any part of the grounds apart from the show courts of centre, court one or court two. And there is limited access to court three although queue for that and you miss what else is going on. This means you can meander from one game to another, joining and leaving them as you see fit. You can also get onto the famous Henman Hill where you can see the big screen for centre court action. We do that towards the end of the day having seen a decent amount of live tennis. And this being day three, a fair number of stars are on the outside courts. Some of the bigger players we manage to see include Victoria Azaranka, Ana Ivanovic, Madison Keys, Sam Querrey, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Laura Robson, Nicolas Almagro and Nicolas Mahut – the poor guy who lost the longest match of all time here a few years ago against John Isner. It has its own Wikipedia entry – Isner Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.

While watching a game on court seven or something like that, a ball comes flying over from an adjoining court. I’m aware of a bit of commotion around me and then I feel something under my seat. I reach down there and pull out the offending ball. Play might have resumed over there so I can’t just throw it back as is generally expected; at the US Open you get to keep balls that go into the crowd but not here. As a result, very few fans get to actually keep the balls they catch. But this one hasn’t come from our court so it’s mine. So now, sitting on top of my desk of drawers is a tennis ball emblazoned with Wimbledon 2015. I know now it was being used in a doubles match featuring Fabio Fognini, the Italian number one and world number nine ranked doubles player.

Towards the end of the day, we’re on Henman Hill watching a Serena Williams and thinking we’ve seen all the action we’re going to see. Then we discover we can buy resale tickets for court number two for five quid. Venus Williams is on there and there’s plenty of time to get in the queue and get a ticket for that. Yeah, right. You’d have thought we’d have queue fatigue by now. But no. We queue up, get the tickets and manage to see an extra fantastic match in a show court between Venus and a girl we’ve never heard of; Yulia Putintseva. She’s a relative newcomer and, at just twenty years old, really gives it to Venus, going down hard and fighting and truly getting people off their seats. For me, a star has just been born. We’ll see.

Day 272

Posted on by Sibylline

Friday July 3

It’s quite bizarre, but it seems as though going out and actually playing a gig is currently taking second place to other things going on right now. But yes, tonight I have a gig with Omater. It’s in the Sebright Arms, Bethnal Green.

When I get there I discover that not long ago, The Vaccines played here. And Pete Doherty is also quite a regular performer. It’s a compact, low ceilinged venue with possibly the best soundmen I’ve encountered so far in London. Soundcheck is very quick and required adjustments are made instantly and perfectly. Ready to go.

We get a decent turnout and play a really good, solid set which feels far shorter than the thirty minutes it is. There’s one minor hiccup when Omater, for some reason, decides to call an end to a song a little early. Not expecting this to be happening, I’m not looking up when she makes the signal to end so I go on playing the fast walking bassline I’m on. She and the band quickly cotton onto this, as do I. I don’t stop and Omater signals everyone to come in again which they do perfectly and we pick it up seamlessly before coming to a well rehearsed and clean end. I’m like, ‘What the hell just happened there?’ Did I just screw up? It’s only just when the show finishes and Omater apologises to me that I realise what happened. With no backing singers tonight, she carries it all alone and pulls it off fantastically. We notice something’s missing of course, but no-one seeing us for the first time would think anything was. Kind of like the horn player she’s started saying she’d like to have. I think if we do get one, it will be like, where’s he/she been all this time. But for now, we don’t think we’re missing one.

All in all, we give a very good account of ourselves in front of a well connected promoter who’s running the event and the soundmen who are always worth impressing. And I feel like I, and possibly we, make some new friends tonight in the form of Suffice, the band which plays after us. They’re a fantastic pop funk band with great melodies and rap hooks and beautifully worked details all over the place. I can very easily imagine them playing to over a thousand people in clubs around the place and, beyond that, who knows? I speak to them afterwards and end up hanging out with all of them along with Yannis, our guitarist. The band includes two brothers – Rory on bass and JT on guitar. They’re about to go on an unfortunate hiatus for a while because Rory’s off to LA to work on instrumentals for TV shows and the like. Bad for the band, great for him. I get Suffice’s card and promise I’ll hook up with them online which I do as soon as I get home.

Day 273

Saturday July 4

I get home from work today and get talking to Alice, one of the girls in the house who I’ve decided may well be one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. Although I don’t think she knows about any inner strength she possesses; whenever I throw a compliment or two her way it seems as though whatever I’m saying has never occured to her before. While the guys in here are great friends, I think she’s the glue that holds it all together. And I think she’d be very surprised if I was to tell her that. So it’s to my surprise tonight that she tells me she’s leaving to go back to Italy in a few weeks. That really will be a wrench for everybody. Will it be the same place with her gone? I’m really not so sure.

Day 275

Monday July 6

For the past week or so, a guy’s been coming into my bar who’s the frontman of quite a famous band. Not huge household names now, but big enough that a few years ago they were a main attraction on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage. It’s not a band I’ve paid huge attention to, although I’ve heard of them, so I don’t recognise him but he’s clearly someone who stands out. Then a few days ago someone told me who he was and today, he introduces himself to me. We have a good bartender to customer chat while I serve him and we continue to talk on and off through the night. We don’t talk about music and I don’t let on that I know he is, in any way, famous. So it’s a little sad when he tells me tonight’s his last night in London. Well, a few people in here seem to know him quite well, which is why he’s around I guess. Maybe he’ll be back. He was a really cool guy to meet and I mean that as just being a guy.

During this same shift, I get a group text from Omater today saying that she’d like us all to get together in the next week or so to listen to live and rehearsal recordings and choose some to start promoting ourselves with. A good step in the right direction.

Day 276

Tuesday July 7

I call Omater today having been able to confirm the day I could do the band meeting which is the same day she’d suggested – next Monday. I call simply because I’m at work and don’t want to spend time texting back and forth. But this conversation gives her the opportunity to ask if I can do a show on August 14 she’s been speaking about for the past week or so. This would be in Spitalfields and with an agency connected to a lot of festivals and other venues. She says they contacted her through Facebook after the show we did a few weeks ago in the Wenlock And Essex in Islington. We could actually get paid for this show but that’s another story.

I’m on the early shift so finish at five and call Jenn inviting her to come down and watch the tennis. She does and we stay there till late, with her meeting the regulars and generally having a fine old time in Kentish Town. I’ve still got a ton of learning for John (name has been changed) to catch up on but I’ve got three days off starting tomorrow. I’m not in bad shape with it but seeing as I’ve not had much time to get to the songs, I really intend to do a blitz on them first thing in the morning and see where I go from there. I think after a session or two I should call him and arrange a get together. The first gig with him is in the diary for July seventeenth and he’s already called to ask if I could do another on the thirtyfirst which he says pays quite well. Things could really hot up in that period especially if that first gig goes well and he decides to go into overdrive with the booking.

I get back from the bar and my phone goes. It’s John. He’s asking if I’d be available to rehearse three days in a row. I tell him I am, thinking he wants to begin on Thursday which would give me tomorrow to get stuck in as I wanted. But no. He wants to do tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. I ask if we can’t start this on Thursday but he says that doesn’t work for him. OK. So tomorrow at midday it is to start three consecutive days of rehearsals. I have absolutely no doubt they will be intense. It will be really interesting to see where we are after that. And where I am to be fair. Alright, I’m not as prepared as I’d like to be. I have sat down to learn stuff a few times in the past few days and then not followed through with it for one reason or another. Maybe that has something to do with the six hours preparation I did for the last session which it turned out I hadn’t needed to do. When I think about that, I don’t feel so guilty.

Day 277

Wednesday July 8

I did try to do a little session last night, just to get myself back up to speed but John caught me so much by surprise and quite a few drinks had been sunk during the tennis session that things just weren’t working right. So this morning I’m up and ready relatively early and play through all the stuff I’ve recorded so at least that’s back in my head in case we revisit it. As for all the other songs we’ve not done yet, they can take care of themselves. I have learnt and played versions of everyone of them but they’re not totally internalised yet. I’m expecting quite a difficult day today as all that stuff comes together, along with the theory of why what is what. After that I think we’ll settle into a good rhythm for the next couple of days. Then, by Friday I reckon we’ll be fighting fit and practially ready to go. He’s told me he has a good drummer lined up and it will be great to see how it all works when everything’s up and running.

I’ve not been to his house before but I know the area. Still, I’m not entirely sure how long it will take to get there as it’s a little off my own beaten track so I leave a little early just incase things go pear shaped on the way and I take a wrong turning or something. As it goes, I have an easy walk and find myself at his door at seven minutes to twelve. It’s a small apartment block so I have to ring his buzzer. I do that and he comes on. ‘Hello?’ ‘Hi John, it’s Mark,’ I say breezily. The tone that replies is anything but. ‘I told you to come at twelve,’ he snaps. ‘Not ten to.’ ‘John, it’s five to twelve.’ Alright, seven minutes to by the clock but that means it’s six minutes and a few seconds to twelve. Practically five to. I mean, what you tell someone the time was if you were asked in the street? His reply to this is just as harsh. ‘I told you to come at twelve Mark. Not five to. You’re going to have to wait a few minutes.’

Is this how it’s going to be for as long as we work together? If he’s like this when I’m five minutes early, how will he be if I’m two minutes late? How much longer can I take this condescension and big reaction to the slightest thing that isn’t quite right. Is every dealing with him going to be a drama and can Jenn take that much of me talking about it? And do I really need to be spoken to like that for arriving early? Or for anything come to that. So much goes through my head in a split second. I speak loudly and clearly into the intercom. ‘You know what John? I really don’t want to do this anymore.’

It’s a very easy decision to make. It comes instantly, without regret and with a lot of relief. I turn round, walk home and tell Jenn what’s happened. ‘I guess we can go to the tennis now,’ I say. She thinks that’s a great idea so we go to The Scoop for the men’s quarter finals. Through clever planning on her part, we find a different route home afterwards, managing to totally bypass the tube strike.

There are subsequent phone calls between me and John but they’re respectful, if not quite full of agreement and shared sentiments. Right now I’d rather keep them, and the circumstances of them, private.

I think the biggest thing to come out of this is finally having confidence in myself to not worry about the ramifications of upsetting or splitting from someone who, on the face of it, represents a good opportunity. It’s something I’ve found very difficult to do in the past. There’s always been this thought of, ‘Oh no. I don’t have their help or contacts or possibilities anymore. And what will they say about me? How will that damage my repuation?’ Well, my reputation starts with me and what I can do and how I deal with people. I can’t worry about what someone else might think or say when staying with them could be so much more damaging or not a good idea in the first place.

I once worked with someone with a great energy and business track record who had very high hopes for me and what we could do together. In fear of losing that support, working relationship and possibility, I jumped through every hoop and over obstacle he asked me to and completed every task he demanded, even as my health and sanity started evaporating. This was when I was in the tight grip of fibromyalgia which I’ve spoken about here before. This relationship brought it on with an absolute fury and I all but lost myself because of it. I’m not saying that with John I was in danger of it happening again, but what I am saying is that once-upon-a-time I allowed myself to be driven to the absolute edge by someone hellbent on making me their  mini-me. Even as I knew it was happening and grew angry with it, I said and did nothing to stop it until it was too late and very little of what I recognised of myself was left. And I did it all in the name of opportunity. This might not be comparing apples with apples but it’s all the same fruitbowl. I ain’t going there again. All the warning signs were there. I don’t think I’ve run as close to the wind as I could have but I have no intention of waiting around for a storm I just know is going to come. John, thankyou very much for the opportunity, belief and lessons. But really, no thanks.

Day 278

Posted on by Sibylline

Thursday July 9

Back to a bit of normality now whatever that’s supposed to mean. But really, that’s just an illusion because I now have to start thinking about what my next move in this giant game will be. I thought I was onto something with Francesca, then when it was clear that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, I hooked up with John and really thought that was going to be something. Not just the gigs with him, but I was sure that being in that scene in such a way was bound to lead to other things. Now those other things aren’t going to happen, at least not in the way I thought they might have done. So I’m back to keeping my eyes open and seeing what’s next.

At least having a day off and not having a marathon rehearsal means I have time to catch up on the diary which I’ve not touched for about two weeks. That may well be the longest time I’ve gone without writing it, unless you count the time back in Madrid when I thought I was all done with it. So that’s what I do. All day. Half an hour to forty minutes at a time until I literally can’t write anymore. I even keep going back to it but each time I do, a little ache in my hands or a twinge in the eyes tells me to stop. I eventually admit I’m going to go no further with it today and will just have to get back to it tomorrow. Still, around six thousand words isn’t a bad return for the day.

And today is a year from the first diary entry back in Costa Blanca. Although I did write an entry for this date, it was the next day I called day one as that was the day I saw myself as really starting. The ninth, I guess, I saw as just arriving in the place.

 

Day 279

Friday July 10

Another day off and me and Jenn really make the most of this one going down to the Scoop to watch the Wimbledon men’s semi finals. Two great matches in the fantastic London sunshine with around a thousand people packed into the amphitheatre and many more around the edges trying to get a look in. It really is a spectacular sight. TV crews and news photographers are all over the place.

Once that’s over and Andy Murray has lost a thrilling straight sets match – not words you use very often – we decide we’ve still not had enough sport related activity for the day and decide to go off and have a look at Arsenal’s stadium – both the new one and the old one. Checking out football stadiums is something I like to do whenever I’m in a new city and I’ve strangely not been to a single one in London yet. So this is the first.

The Emirates looks fantastic as you might imagine but, talking to a local, we discover that the main structure of the old ground has been left and converted into apartments wtih a park in the middle where the pitch used to be. This has to be seen. When I do, although not being an Arsenal supporter, I very much feel a sense of history and a weight in the air that I hadn’t felt at all looking at The Emirates. It’s also kind of fun to recognise the streets from the film Fever Pitch.

 

Day 281

Sunday July 12

I go to The Blues Kitchen tonight with no expectation of playing. It’s after a late night at work but the real reason for going is to see Adam and let him know what happened with his recommendation. The band is just finishing when me and Kieron arrive so we get a drink and hang out at the back. Adam’s on stage with them. After a while he comes by to say hello and I let him know that it didn’t work out. I keep it brief but do tell him about earlygate. He says there’s absolutely no problem and that he really wasn’t sure how it would go. Yes, he says, he was asked to play with him a while back but they both had different ideas of how to go about things. In the end, Adam had felt that too much was going to be asked of him for the sake of filling in for a few shows so he stopped it before it went very far. An interesting assessment and something of a vindication I think. I was concerned about a little fallout, but continuing would have created its own fallouts so you have to make a decision one way or the other.

 

Day 282

Monday July 13

Rehearsal with Omater tonight. She plays us some more of the tracks she’s been working on with her producer and they’re songs we’ve been playing but very different versions of them. Our next mission, she says, is to start coming up with our own individual hooks to put into the songs. In particular, the two we’ve heard tonight which will be sent for us to work on during the week. She also confirms a couple of shows, one next month and one in October. It’s hardly something to set the gigging diary alight but we’ve been invited to play them by what we’re told is a well connected agent. There’s even a possible show on the cards that I can’t talk about right now. So here I am not talking about it. I’m sure more will come online as well. The rehearsal is in Pawel’s house in Mile End, east London. Quite a trek for all of us but a really nice facility to have.

Me, Omater and guitarist Yannis all set off in the same direction to go home. We split after the first tube journey and I prepare to go and change at Bank station to get the northern line to Kentish Town. Only there’s been a fire at Bank and the train isn’t going to stop there. Balls. I get off at the next stop wondering what route I’m going to use to get home now and decide screw it. I’m not going to go home. I’m going to detour myself and have a leisurely drink in the Blues Kitchen and catch whatever show’s on in there tonight.

I go in and it’s a solo singing guitarist doing the blues quite well and lively. Bloody hell. I know him. It’s Ollie, the guy who runs the jam session at Aint Nothin But. I wasn’t going to stay long but now I think I should at least wait till he has a break so I can say hi. When his break comes, we do end up having a brief chat at the bar and are joined by Sam the barman who I’ve played with a few times here. I introduce them both and Sam tells us there’s nothing like getting the girls’ attention than talking to them from behind the bar and then going up on stage to do a session before returning to the bar again. Ollie’s back on stage before I know it but it was cool to meet him away from the pressure situation I normally see him in while he’s running the jam session.

Because of all this I’m still at the bar when Carmen comes in. I’ve seen her play a few times at the jams and she briefly met Radiotrib Kevin on his last visit here. The first thing she says to me is that I should come and see her band Bones tomorrow in The Monarch in Camden. I’d love to but I’m working. Oh well. Next, she says she’s with some friends from Nashville and I should come over and say hi in a while. I leave it about twenty minutes, finish my drink and start to make my way over. But damn. Carmen’s sat at a full table and they’re all animatedly talking so I decide I really don’t want to intrude the party. Instead, I go to the booth behind them just to tap Carmen on the shoulder and say hi and bye. But when I do that, she introduces me to everyone and insists I stay. Oh OK. So it is I meet two members of the sister group Shel, over here playing a few London gigs with their own soundman in tow. They’ve been playing tonight but that’s it for their London adventure and it’s soon back to America. I’ll fast forward here and say I’ve youtubed them since and they really are quite brilliant and have music featured in ABC and CBS shows so they’re well off the mark.

I’ve joined them now and, as well as Shel and their friends, Carmen’s friend Linda is also there who I now meet for the first time. She tells me about a rock jam session they run together in Finsbury Park and also about her own band, Echo Boom Generation, another one to check out I think. The venue of the jam is The Silver Bullet which I have heard of so I tell her I’ll definitely check it out. The next one is this Sunday. I’m there. After a while, everyone gets up to leave and I think I’m staying here before continuing on my leisurely way home. They won’t hear of it. Everyone kindly helps me finish my beer and we’re on our way to The Elephants Head down the road. On the way I learn a little more about Shel and how the sisters have been playing for about nine years but there isn’t a trace of the big time about them. If anything, they’re just very happy to be being taken around London while playing a little at the same time. We get to the ‘Head and find a good big spot for ourselves by the door and the party’s well and truly swinging when the door opens and in walk a whole bunch of guys I know led by Kieron. I went out for a quiet drink on my own. Now there are at least twelve of us dominating the place as the music gets louder and the drinks pour faster. My little detour has led to me hanging out with a notable touring American band, getting invited to a new jam session and a gig, introduced to a new band in town and basically just ripping it up in Camden. And all that from an ordinary Monday night.

 

Day 283

Tuesday July 14

Finally back to reading today and in the last pages of Stuart Clayton’s beginner book. Not too long now and I’ll officially be able to call myself a lower intermediate level reader. I wonder if that will open any doors as I get further into it. I’m able to get back to this because I’m no longer having to spend all my shed time learning songs. I’ve had the Francesca disappointment and then the John debacle. But both took up a lot of time in the song learning department. It’s all good and all connected as I always say, but it can take you away from some of the other things you were spending time learning, in my case, reading. I remember reading a quote from Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. At least I think it was him. Anyway, what he said was that whenever he got off tour, he had to learn to play guitar all over again. Strange, you might think, considering he’d been playing guitar for an hour or two every night on stage. But the problem was, he said, that all he did was play the same songs using the same chords and licks that the fans expected to hear which meant that his actual development and even musical knowledge suffered. I think I’m in danger of a watered down version of that from all the fevered song learning causing me to abandon so much of what I was working on so it’s time to get back to all that.

I’m also now starting to think what my next move will be. I thought I was going to do make some real professional progress with Francesca and then some serious progress with John. Now they’ve both led to blind alleys, I have to start working on what the next thing will be. I definitely want to stay with Omater and I think that could be really good but I need something else on the go as well.

I also get confirmation of a little sad news today. Alice, one of the girls in the house and, for me, the key personality in the house, is leaving in a few weeks to go back to Italy. That could be the beginning of the breakup of our happy little house. Oh well. Things change and we move on.

 

Day 285

Thursday July 16

An incredibly frustrating day. As a microcosm, it takes me nearly an hour to do ten realtime minutes of practice due to messing about with computer malfunctions, MP3s not working and the like. The whole day seems to go by like that. In the end I forget all about bass and go and tackle the weeds in our backyard. Not quite the stuff of great litterature but they’ve gotten seriously out of hand all over the place and I’m able to get practically the whole lot down using just a pair of office scissors – I was too frustrated and impatient to go to the shop and buy actual gardening shears and gloves. Well, I didn’t need them. It turns out to be a very therapeutic exercise but when I try to get back to the bass practice, a whole new battle ensues with the computer and connections and it’s clear this isn’t going to be my day.

It all gets so much that by the time we reach the fun activity of the day, I genuinely don’t feel like going. This is a trip to Upton Park with Jenn to see West Ham play in the Europa League qualifiers. Hardly a classic of the football season but it is an opportunity to go and see a real Premiership team in competetive action and tickets were only a tenner each. As a result, the ground is full and the atmosphere’s everything you could ask for even if the game is a bit of a letdown but we weren’t expecting a rumble in the jungle or anything so quite a successful trip.

However, there’s a little sum up of my day on the way to the stadium. We’re both hungry as we had plans to go for dinner somewhere before going but time caught up with us. So football day burger van it is. Yeah. I know. The height of London gastronomy. I go for the half pounder cheeseburger which is two burgers in the one bun complete with onions. So far so good. I take it, go to the side of the van to put some sauce on, lift the top bun and a whole burger with all the cheese and onions slides effortlessly to the floor. Five quid and all I have is one little burger and two bits of bread. I don’t even react. I just look at Jenn and say calmly, ‘Yeah. Makes sense with the day I’ve had.’ ‘Well at least you should go back and ask them to put some more onions on it.’ So I do and the guy says, ‘I just gave you onions.’ ‘I know but I dropped the whole thing.’ His attitude completely changes. ‘Oh, we’re not having that,’ he says jovially. ‘Give it here.’ And with that he puts on another burger topped with cheese and then piles onions all over it. ‘There you go. Good as new,’ he says. I thank him profusely. He has no idea how much better he’s just made my day. Now, fully refuelled, we have a football match to go see.

Day 288

Posted on by Sibylline

Sunday July 19

I really haven’t done much the past few days so now I have a day off I’m planning to get stuff done. It was a late work night last night so I’m taking it easy this morning and am only just waking up a little past 11 when I see a text from work. It reads exactly this: ‘Sorry folks but … hasn’t turned up for work and we are fairly desparate for cover over lunch today. Look deep into your soul and say yes. Or no. I totally understand. Look deep.’

I decide I don’t need this at all. A little part of me thinks back to just this last Wednesday when I was in alone with Dan after two people hadn’t shown up and the place got properly busy. The next day, even the unrufflable, close to zenlike Dan was calling it horrific. No-one jumped in to save the day for us then so I’m not sure I feel like jumping in myself and saving the day now. As I start to wake up a little more, that negative way of thinking starts to dissipate and I start to give serious thought to answering the call. I mean, someone else has probably responded by now anyway. But brownie points never hurt, especially as the boss is still new and brownie points are exactly what I need when I want to be changing shifts or putting in days or evenings I can’t do when things pop up. So I make the call. ‘Hi. How are you doing.’ ‘I’ve had better Sunday mornings to be honest,’ comes the reply. ‘Understood. OK. I can be in in about half an hour. When do you want me until?’ I ask this question because I have plans for tonight – the rock jam session at The Silver Bullet that I heard about on Monday. I’m told three or four but I know I would have been OK for tonight anyway. It’s not as though I’d run in in an hour of need to be told I can’t leave at a reasonable time. That’s fine, I say. See you in half an hour. ‘Mark, I will love you forever for this.’ Ding. Brownie points.

Although I was hoping to get some practice in today, not to mention a bit of diary catchup, having got a little behind, I’m actually quite happy to be in. It’s a busy Sunday lunch session and I have to prepare for it and cope with all the madness practically on my own with a little help from the boss and Simon, the one other guy in the bar. You may hear more about Simon further down the line. He’s a new supervisor the boss used to work with and he’s supercool.

After a couple of hours I’m able to catch my breath and we clarify the finish time. Could I stay till four? Absolutely fine. Jackson, my Ecuadorian friend will be in at that time and he’ll take over.  Four comes, so does Jackson, and I’m done. There are also a few other nice benefits I’ve been promised from coming in today so it’s all worked out quite well. Jenn comes round when I finish and we share a free and fantastic Sunday roast then get joined by a few other people who help us oil the wheels for a while until I decide it’s time to get off, collect my bass and head on down to the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park.

I find it easy enough, helped by the fact that the band is already playing. It’s the usual format. The houseband plays for an hour or so and then at the break they invite musicians to talk to them if they want to play. It’s a small, dark rock bar with a decent sized raised stage and fairly packed. And the band is seriously good with a brilliant Robert Plantesque vocalist. The guys and girls on stage are in a constant whirl of activity with Linda on lead ripping it up and they have the crowd right where they want them in a great and vibrant atmosphere. As the songs pass by, I have a feeling that this is what it might have been like in earlier days with the likes of Billy Idol and the rest. I’ve recently finished reading his autobiography and the anarchic London shows he played and attended, I feel, might well not have been much difference to this one although there was probably a higher sense of danger in the air. One thing that really strikes me about these guys is that when they play a song or two I did with The Punching Preachers, they’re playing all the same notes at all the same times but there’s a looseness, rawness and pure energy about them that makes it all sound and feel completely different. Much more alive. Much more in your face and exciting but no less technical. This is what rock ‘n’ roll is all about.

They finish and Carmen comes up to say hi and glad I made it. She reminds me of another show she’s doing with Bones this Wednesday but balls. I can’t make that one either. I have a rehearsal. Last time I said next time. Now it’s going to have to be next next time. She asks what I want to play and shows me a list of songs they do. I scan it quickly and pick out Seven Nation Army which I used to do with my band in Ireland. ‘Don’t mess it up,’ she says seriously. Thanks for the vote of confidence there Carmen. She also says they’ll do a blues with me. Fair enough. So far she’s only seen me in the Blues Kitchen so I suppose I’ve managed to get myself a little typecast there.

They get ready to go on stage and light the place up again and I sit back and wait to be called up. When I am, I’m told they’ve ended up getting a bit pushed for time so I’m only going to be able to do the one song and it’s going to be Red House by Jimi Hendrix. Fine. I used to do that one with Soul Mission in Madrid. But when we do it, while everything’s fine and as dirty as I imagined it would be, it’s still a slow blues number. Which means that while they try to tear the walls down with every other song they do, the one I get up and play is the slowest, least rocky number of the night. But it goes well and I get a good reaction when I come off the stage and resume my position in the audience for the rest of the evening.

I very much want to stick around and meet the rest of the band and maybe a few of their friends after the show but the whole day, the few beers I had after work and the few I’ve had in here, is all starting to catch up with me. It’s when I realise the band still has another hour to play, not to mention all the takedown before things relax a little that I can see it will be a good while before any socialising is going to happen. I feel fine but I’m not entirely convinced I’ll give the best account of myself by the time that comes around. So I decide now would be a good time to leave. I walk out of the door and into the night to the unmistakeable sound of ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ bouncing off the walls and out into the ether. It really is a fantastic night they’ve created there but I feel I’d rather go to the Blues Kitchen on a Sunday where I can play up to half an hour and often more than keep coming up here on the bus to play just one song. But I have a really good feeling about the people and musicians here. It will definitely be worth another shot another time.

 

Day 289

Monday July 20

I fell quite heavily in work a few weeks ago. I’d mopped a floor around a table and as I went back round the table I slipped. I mean comic book slipped. Both feet off the floor and straight back down onto the outside of my right elbow and inside of my left knee. I carried on as normal and have been ever since. But I’ve been feeling little twinges with just about every movement associated with the right arm including playing bass and typing. And any kind of lifting that involves the arm being away from the body. That includes answering and putting down my phone. Very not normal. Eventually, when the pain, or discomfort absolutely refused to go away I started to think that maybe I’d cracked a bone in my elbow. I discovered last week, during drinks after work, that the boss, Martin, and Dan had watched it later on on the CCTV footage and had a good laugh about it. When I said I thought I’d cracked it, Martin quickly said, ‘Oh we didn’t really watch it and have a good laugh.’ To be honest, I’m glad it wasn’t wasted. I just wish I’d been able to see it myself.

Well today I finally decide to see a doctor about it. I call first thing business hours and get an appointment for 11am today. The doctor has a look, says that yes it is swollen and that maybe a bone is or was cracked. I should go get it x-rayed. If that shows nothing, she gives me the number of a physio service I should call. So I take myself off to the hospital in Euston, all stocked up with books and sandwiches anticipating a long wait. Incredibly I’m in and out in about half an hour with no crack having been found. This is supposed to be good news but I just want to know what’s going on. Physio next then, I suppose.

I get home, call the number the doctor gave me and am given a phone appointment next Wednesday for an initial assessment.

 

Day 291

Wednesday July 22

Rehearsal with Omater tonight and the first time we’re trying the two new studio recordings as a band. These are songs we’ve been playing live but which Omater has recorded on her own with a producer so they’re very different to what we’re used to.

A few plays in and it’s clear not everyone has done their homework. Patiently, Omater plays the tracks a few times but that doesn’t really help a great deal. There are a few parts of the tracks that you just have to know. They can’t be listened to once and jammed out like a lot of what we’ve done so far. It’s very frustrating but calmness reigns although she does give a brief reading of a few chapters of the riot act. Before you come here, know your stuff. We settle for getting through what parts we can and having a run through the set. But this feels like a lot of wasted time and money. Not to mention wasted time learning the songs for tonight when others hadn’t. It’s very frustrating and not at all what I was expecting but it’s happened and we’ve just got to hope the message gets through and it doesn’t happen again.

 

Day 293

Friday July 24

Sixty-seven days to develop habits that will change your life. That’s the message of the new SBL challenge. First of all, practice everyday for sixtyseven days, ideally focussing on one aspect of playing. Well my bass practice is quite regular and it’s not habitual for me to go a day without playing but it does happen probably more often than it should. It’s also fair to say I’ve maybe lost a little focus on what I want to actually work on, mainly because I’ve spent so much time lately just learning different kinds of sets. I’ve really thought long and hard about what I want to properly focus on and was thinking jazz, but then that was too big a subject to just say like that. I might as well have said I just want to become better at bass. Fine but how? Tomorrow Kevin is in town and I’ve been thinking of chatting to him about it, kind of bouncing some ideas around. But today I get stuck into the modes again in a way I haven’t for some time. I’ve more or less kept up my knowledge of them and I apply them all the time in my playing but I’ve not been systematically practicing them. When I get to work and start mulling all this over again, it hits me. Soloing. That’s what I need to get right on top of. I can play a passable solo and have had quite a few nice moments doing so at jam sessions but it’s not something I’ve ever really properly laser focussed on. It’s always just been a case of existing technique added to existing knowledge. Which is what, I suppose, soloing really is. But I’ve approached it a more ad hoc/ holistic way/ casual way. I suddenly realise that working on soloing will open the door to so much other stuff I want to work on – the already mentioned modes and chords along with technique and, of course, jazz. As part of this, if I want to be able to solo over jazz standards, I’ll have to learn jazz standards. With this I realise I’ve actually already started and quite by accident as I’ve already done my first session of modes and arpeggios. This is quite a nice thought until I realise that tomorrow, Kevin is in town and I’m starting work at 10am. He’s coming to the bar around 5 and I don’t envisage much bass practice happening after that. So just to make sure I don’t break the chain of practicing everyday before I even start, it’s going to have to be a relatively early first session before work. Given that it’s now already 3am, that isn’t looking like a very attractive proposition. But it has to be done. Part of the new regime. Practice even when you really don’t want to. Get that time in even when it feels like a chore. But that’s the thing. If you do it everyday without fail, it no longer becomes a chore. Anyway, as Jeff Berlin says, it isn’t always necessarily about fun.

 

Day 294

Saturday July 25

I’m quietly going about my business in work when some kind of speaker appears on the bar in front of me. It’s just a little out of my focus range and I don’t really have any context in which to place it until I look up and see Kevin breaking into a little laugh. First of all, here’s Kevin come for a visit. Second, he’s brought a new friend with him to meet me – a Marks Bass combo. It’s always great to see him in town anyway, but this new addition breaks down a few walls of my reserve and completely destroys my work focus. Well, I say focus. It’s not as though we’re destroyed today. It’s been a relatively quiet Saturday and I have time to come round the other side of the bar and greet him properly. I say I’ve got another hour before I finish but that’s fine. He knew that. He had told me he might decide to drop in a little early. So he goes and takes a seat at a table with my new toy and I call Jenn to see if she wants to come down. She’s been looking forward to meeting Kevin but she isn’t ready to leave yet and will be here about five. Just as I’m finishing which is fine. Kevin can chill and see me in action. Except there is none. None. It’s the quietest Saturday I’ve known here and I’m able to go and chat with him plenty while he tells me a little more about the amp he’s brought with him. But first he says, ‘You’ve had us all on false pretences Mark. I come to see you at work for the first time and you’re not busy at all. I look around at the relative emptiness and have to admit, he’s got me there. ‘You should have seen the place when Paul – Moosebass – was here,’ I say. I didn’t have time to breathe that day. I felt so guilty leaving him practically on his own. And that was a Tuesday afternoon. Why so quiet today? I have no idea. It happens. But yes. It did have to happen the day Kevin came round.

Now. A little about this amp and what it means. I have an amp, which Kevin previously lent me, with The Punching Preachers. It’s a wonderful Trace Elliot and has served me very well. But you wouldn’t get on the underground with it. I can just about get it up and down a flight of stairs on my own and then with huge effort. This new amp I can carry down the road, onto the tube, off at the next stop and then onto a gig. And then take it home again. And it’s 300watts. This has been made possible due to lighter magnetic material. Kevin explains it all in great detail to me but I know if I try to recount it, I’ll just mess up all the science. So for me, and any other lay person out there, bass amps have always been big and heavy because they’ve needed big and – by definition – heavy magnets. Lighter magnetic material means smaller, lighter bass amps. Game changing amps which you can comfortably carry around. This one will at some point need a set of wheels or a little trolley to make it truly portable without any kind of a struggle over distance but the essence of the idea completely remains.

Now, why have I got this little bundle of joy? When I finish work and Jenn has joined us, Kevin explains it to her. I’m going to paraphrase. You don’t get the gigs, and then go out and buy the equipment. You need to have the equipment in order to get the gigs. Can I afford it right now? Hell no. Kevin says it’s not a huge deal for him to buy an amp like this but it would be for me. He’s seen how much I’ve been doing to help myself but knows that a little push is needed. This amp could be that little push that could mean a great deal. It’s essentially a loan. One he offered me a few months ago after seeing the amp for sale, and he told me then not to go all, ‘Oh, I couldn’t possibly,’ on him. Even then, I still thought about it for the better part of a week before saying, thankyou very much and let’s do this thing. I have to say, it’s one of the most generous thing anyone outside of my parents has ever done for me. Fast forward a little and a day or two later he says that he wishes everyone could have seen my face when he walked into the bar with it.

Once I finish work and join him, along with Jenn, we don’t talk too much bass or SBL because she has to be part of the conversation too. At times I’m able to just sit back and watch them talk together. We have a really good time with a few pints and we all manage to order the same thing from the specials menu. Among the few bass related catch-up things we do talk about, I tell Kevin what my plans for the amp are. It’s something I’ve been discussing with Jenn the past week.

Since the John project, I’ve been thinking what my next thing should be, or what I should be looking for. I’ve decided to settle for nothing less than an up and running regular gigging well paid function/corporate band which I can run alongside Omater. No more plans to do this or plans to do that. No. A fully up and running professional concern who need a bass player to step in because they’ve just lost their last one for whatever reason. I’ve got my exciting, original, express myself, possibilities-all-over-it gig with Omater. As for, ‘We have plans to go corporate,’ I did that with The Punching Preachers and the day I left, they were no nearer to achieving that goal than they were when we had our first phone conversation.

With this amp, I can also stand-in gigs, something I’ve not been able to do until now. As for everything else, I just have to wait for the right opportunity to come along and make sure I’m in the best shape to take it. Kevin has just made that quite a bit more possible.

Day 298

Posted on by Sibylline

Wednesday July 29

I get a phone call from the physio today for the initial assessment. We go through symptoms, including the fact that the little finger on my right hand is a bit numb and has been for some time and she concludes that I’ve got some kind of tear in a ligament which was probably caused by the fall in the restaurant. However, she doesn’t advocate complete rest or a cessation of bass activity saying, ‘We now believe in the use it or lose it philosophy. Just be careful is the general message. That and plenty of ice. She gives me an appointment for September 2 which seems a bit silly but says I could get a cancellation appointment sometime before then which is a little more encouraging.

We have a special Omater rehearsal today. Just me, Yannis and Jesse, the guitarist and keyboard player, along with Omater. It’s in her house and we have to bring our amps so it’s the first outing for the little Mark. It’s doable but yes. I will definitely have to get a trolley of some kind if I want to be carrying it about any distances on a regular basis. But at least I can carry it about and that, really is the whole point.

Because this is my first time at Omater’s and I was with the amp, I had no idea how long it would take to get here so I arrive really early. It’s just me and her and a few cups of tea. She asks me how I’m getting on and what other projects I have happening right now and I tell her there’s been nothing since the last one died. She asks me about that so I fill her in a little and explain how it ended. Then she says, ‘What was this guy’s name?’ I tell her and her eyes go wide and her jaw almost drops to the floor. ‘No. Way.’ When she recovers a little, after a few, ‘Reallys?’ she says, ‘You want to stay well away from him. You made the right call to get away from him.’ Why? She doesn’t say too much, only that she was involved with him in a non musical capacity and decided enough was enough. ‘As you were talking, I had a feeling that’s who it was.’ She’s in a mild state of shock and every now and then through the rehearsal she has to stop and say something like, ‘Sorry. I’m still thinking about that thing from before.’

When the others arrive, I turn the amp on and something bizarre happens. I’m suddenly pulling all kinds of grooves out of nowhere. Yannis can’t help but play along and Jesse is just bopping and saying each time, ‘What is that?’ I have no idea. It’s just something about this amp is making me play like this. It feels wonderful and solid and trebly and bassy all at the same time. And I haven’t even got any volume going yet. I won’t tonight either as we have to keep things down but that is barely seeming to matter.

We get into the rehearsal and it’s mainly about getting these two new studio tracks working in a band environment. We play Everything and that’s fine once we get the speed right on it. Everyone knows their parts this time and the difference could not be more telling from our last rehearsal. Then we get onto Flame. This is much more disco orientated and proves to be a little more difficult. A few tries and Omater suggests we just play along to the recording so that we at least have some drums going on. We do that and, with a few of our own ideas added, it moves on enough to please her and have us feeling like we have something solid going on there. We revisit and slightly tweak a few other songs and then call it a day after around two hours.

Omater has a lovely little garden so we go out there to hang out for a while. When we do, it’s clear Omater is still reeling from the earlier revelation. We’ve clued Yannis in a little but Jesse missed the whole thing so it seems a bit rude to talk about it too much with him there. But then he asks who the guy was. Omater tells him and he says, ‘Are you kidding me? You guys worked with him too? That guy is impossible.’  At this stage Omater is just about ready to fall over as me and Jesse start swapping stories. Jesse was with him as a bass player too and experienced a lot of the same things I did. Songs in rehearsal bearing no relation to songs learned and a general impatience when you didn’t then pick up the thread instantly. I mention a few things he’d said and Jesse says, ‘Yeah. Exactly like that.’ Then Jesse recounts something and I’m like, ‘Yeah. It was exactly like that.’ He’s shaking his head all the time as he’s thinking about it, repeating variations on, ‘It just wasn’t possible.’ It’s kind of like that Nightmare On Elm Street thing. ‘What? You had the same dream too? Yeah. That was the guy.’ Except this was no dream. It seems like, in our own way, we’re all pondering a little about what might have been while being glad that it wasn’t.

 

Day 301

Saturday 1 August

Dan’s wife, Saffy, is an actress and is about to open a one woman play this week. She’s been learning it frantically for a while. Today Dan asks me if I’m working tonight. I’m not. So that’s me in then. Saffy wants an audience to perform the play to before it goes live. I’m going to be it. The piece is about forty minutes long and is a young Malaysian woman talking about her family life through food – Saffy’s Malaysian. While she’s talking, she cooking a curry. For real and mapping her life through her experiences in cooking. The idea is, at the end of the play, everyone gets a bowl of this curry – and some extra brought along just in case. Tonight, it’s just me. So that’s dinner sorted out for a few days. She’s hugely grateful that I came and she does a great job of performing it. She says she needed an audience, even if just one, to make her do a whole runthrough without being able to revert to the script. After, she asks me for a few pointers and criticisms as it was written and directed by a friend of hers and it’s being seen as a bit of a work in progress even though it’s about to get its first showing in London Bridge this week. I give my two pence worth which is very well received and she says my thoughts will go to the writer with thanks.

Afterwards she suggests we go out for a drink at the bar almost next door to hers and opposite ours – The Vine. This is ostensibly so that we can talk about the play. The Vine is part of the same group as The Oxford so I get cheap drinks there too and it has a lovely big beer garden out front. We go out there, but all thought of talking about the play disappears as person after person that one or the other of us knows turns up and sits down. Eventually we’re joined by the owner of the Italian restaurant I was in with Jenn a few weeks ago, then his staff comes and joins us and it all becomes a big party with him springing for a few rounds. When one of the waiters manages to spill his entire drink while being introduced to me and I go into the bar and get the whole thing replaced, I’m promised five star treatment next time I’m in the restaurant. I think I’ll have to make it sooner rather than later. I really quite fancy playing that particular card. Given that the restaurant guys often bring pizza to the bar, they’re able to stay and get served well beyond last orders. As we’re with them, why not? When it really is time to clear out, they ask me and Saffy to join them at a bar down the road. Dan’s just arrived so she’s going home with him. As for me, cool. It’s all about the networking and who knows who passes in and out of their doors? But when ‘a drink down the road’ turns into ‘We’re going to go to Camden and see what happens’ suddenly I’m not quite into that. Pennys is a little tight. And when I discover their first port of call is a great cocktail bar round the corner where I am known but where the cheapest drink is nine quid, I’m definitely out of the game. It’s been a really good night and I’ve had a private theatre show. I’ll take that.

 

Day 302

Sunday August 2

I get hit by a cold today. Nothing major but enough to make work a real slog. When I get there, one of the girls is just finishing and she’s proper under the weather and can’t wait to leave. We’re also a man down as someone has called in sick. So something’s definitely in the air. I really struggle to the end of the shift and, long before it’s over, it’s clear to me there’s going to be no Blues Kitchen tonight. I just want to get home when this is done. The boss is actually stunned when we get everything finished and I say I don’t want an afterwork drink. He’s like, ‘You’ve worked yourself into one. You’ve powered through tonight.’ So I do. There should be a law that forbids you from refusing a drink from the boss. Especially when you work in a pub.

 

Day 303

Monday August 3

Two days off now which is just as well. But I really didn’t want to spend them being sick. But I guess it’s that or lose money from taking days off so swings and roundabouts. What this does mean is that I’m not doing Aint Nothin But tonight either. I do think I’ll go at a few points in the day, but as the time I’ll have to leave for it grows nearer, it’s clear I’m not going anywhere.

It does seem, well, doesn’t just seem, it is the case, that my jamming and networking is basically being split between The Blues Kitchen and Aint Nothin But. Not bad places to be getting known in by any stretch, but I am very aware I need to be spreading the net. But, I think I can say this now, money has definitely been an issue in recent months and work shifts also seem to be interferring with a lot of nights I would have liked to have been out jamming and/or networking. I’ve not rocked the boat on that though. I’ve been taking the shifts that have been getting dealt to me and saving my ‘I can’t do this night’ thing for rehearsals. Let’s see if I can’t get to a few more in the coming weeks. Oh. Troy. I’ve not been there since forever. Basically because the new boss has put me on just about every Friday night for the past I don’t know how long. I’m sure I could get that sorted and I may look at it. I really really want to get myself to Caiprinha as well and have done for a long long time. And a few other places. I have lost momentum a little there I have to say but again circumstances have got in the way a bit.

 

Day 304

Tuesday August 4

I watch Cocktail today and there’s a scene there that serves as a bit of a warning. It’s a bit strange how the juxtaposition works with what I was thinking yesterday. Tom Cruise’s character is bemoaning not being rich when he says, ‘You get a bar job to keep your days free for your real gig. After work you’re so charged up, have a few drinks. You know, ‘Hey, it’s party time.’ The days get shorter and shorter, the nights longer and longer. Before you know it, your life is just one long night with a few comatose daylight hours.’ So there it is. In script and on film. From Tom Cruise no less. Kieron has spoken to me about exactly this. I’m not quite there but I have felt it happen and I know I have to be careful. It’s rare as to be practically unheard of that I finish work at 1am go home and go to bed. You don’t really have to guess at what a mess that can make of your mornings. I’ve heard plenty of people talking about working late and partying late and, although they don’t work until the next evening, still managing to lose the day and just be awake just in time to go and do it all again. Oh. And Cocktail. Not nearly as good as I remember it. Still a fun film but just about every scene can be picked apart for things that simply would not happen. I may not win the Pulitzer for that review but it had to be said.

More frustration tonight as we turn up for an Omater rehearsal and there’s no drummer. Been a mix up with dates and he’s not available. He is available tomorrow and tomorrow is when we were supposed to be rehearsing but that’s been ballsed by the Tube strike. We think this is going to be a waste of time – and money – but Omater is insistent it will be good to rehearse at a decent volume and with Marita on backing vocals. She’s right. We play through the whole set, paying particular attention to the studio recordings. With these, we’re able to play them through the desk so the drums are big and we put our own parts to them. Everyone now knows the ‘new’ songs and we’re putting ourselves into them. The only problem is, we haven’t yet played them with Pawel, the drummer. We are going to next week and we organise ourselves so that we can all do next Thursday. That’s the day before the next gig. Should be interesting.

 

Day 306

Thursday August 6

I enjoy tonight at work a lot. That is all.

 

Day 307

Friday August 7

I start looking round the internet today for gigs that could be worth looking at and find one. It’s a new events company looking for musicians to join their roster and, presumably, form new bands. They say the gigs will be prestigious and exclusive for extremely high profile clientele both nationally and internationally. They also say there’s the potential for high earnings. Bass players are on the list of what they’re looking for. I believe I have every quality they’re looking for but I am missing one – to have a high level of sight reading. But fortunately, I’m already working on this daily and have been for some time after dropping out of it for a little bit a while back. I’m currently on chapter four of ten of Stuart Clayton’s reading book and have stepped up my reading minutes in my daily practice. An encouraging part of it is that they say they’re simply looking for a high standard of performance coupled with a desire to work hard and succeed in the music industry. The deadline to apply is the end of August with auditions happening in central London in the first week of September. There’s then a second round of auditions a week later for people who pass through that. I think I’ve got enough going to get to the first audition stage. Beyond that, any number of things could happen and any number of better bass players could turn up. But the big thing, I think, will be the reading. Just got to keep putting in the shed hours.