Ageing and Applications
Posted by Elliott Clarke on February 3, 2011
So January’s been and gone then. I feel like I haven’t quite adjusted and may have missed something – like that groggy morning feeling before you’re fully awake. I’m calling it ageing and – coupled with my recent aversion to new music (especially that chart noise the kids are listening to) – proof that I have well and truly left my teens. Ah well.
I thoroughly enjoyed the company of friends and family over the Christmas period, although it seems like a distant memory now. I took the traditional “family on Christmas/friends on New Year” approach, and experienced my first New Years Eve in Newcastle, surrounded by my closest friends in a house I feel like we built. Ian’s house, which some may remember from previous blogs, is now both completed and lived in, and its rightful owner returned from Ireland a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been spending quite a lot of time there, largely watching Rachel sleep off the stresses of her new job as a high school English teacher.
When not drinking vast amount of tea with Ian, I’ve been rehearsing and recording with Ebby. He’s given me a songlist the length of my arm to learn and we’ll be recording most of them in the near future, with a view to getting a demo together and probably doing some live stuff too. I also had the pleasure of depping for a Big Band over in North Shields, which was a bit of a shock for my reading skills – but brilliant fun, and the post-rehearsal craic was excellent and I’ve made some useful new contacts. The weekly jam night that was previously at Sunderland’s Bar1 has moved into Newcastle this week, taking residence every Monday at Hyem. The first night was excellent, and would easily have been my gig of the month, even if things hadn’t been slower than usual.
I’ve been working on my production skills quite a bit too, with some remixes in the pipeline, including a Dubstep version of one of my favourite classical pieces (more on that when it’s finished). Kurt & I have had some really productive jams, and the bare bones of some tunes are coming together nicely.
I’ve also decided to upload some drum videos to YouTube to promote my private tuition, starting with a Kick/Snare/Hat demonstration. Over the coming weeks I hope to upload some more demos, some instructional material, drum covers, and other bits and bobs – so please subscribe if you think you may be interested at http://www.youtube.com/user/EltonBear
Unfortunately I’ve yet to find a “proper job”, and having signed into JobSeeker’s allowance in December, I have just received payment in the last couple of hours. I have had to prove that Darren and I are not living together as a couple, due to the new equality ruling which says that same-sex households must go through the same procedures. Of course, this has been a source of great amusement to our friends.
Unemployment has at least given me time to appreciate more TV comedy, and I’m currently in love with Episodes – a new trans-atlantic sitcom/drama about a successful UK TV show being remade in America, and all of the pitfalls that involves. I’ve also been reviewing a lot of live comedy nights and gigs, and have two interviews to conduct next week, so I’m still busy enough.
Thanks to a 21st Birthday present from my Dad I was able to drive a V8 Touring Car around Rockingham Racecourse last weekend, which was an experience I will not forget in a hurry. Rach & I went down to make a weekend of it, and are both decided that we want to go back and drive all the supercars on offer. Looking at the childish grin on my face, perhaps I’m not getting old after all.
