Rest & Relaxation

Recently I’ve been reading a lot, and I’ve found some inspirational ideas and quotes. Through my quest to find more inner peace and become a little more ‘Zen’ (spiritual beliefs notwithstanding), I’ve learned a lot about my personality, my goals, and the things that make me tick.

I personally find something there’s something magical about taking time out to enjoy your surroundings, and the arrival of a Kiwi friend-of-a-friend has given me the perfect excuse to become a tourist in my home county.

A couple of weeks ago I also had the pleasure of entertaining my mum for a few days in Newcastle, so we went on a whistle-stop tour of Northumberland, taking in the Tynemouth Longsands, Cragside, Alnwick castle and treehouse restaurant, and the ever-popular quayside market.

All these experiences have helped me to become more relaxed, focussed, and energised, and I recommend them all for anyone suffering from depression, or even mild winter blues. Just today I have been out in the garden, taming the wild lawn and preparing to make it into the sunny hangout is deserves to be.

Rock 'n' Roll!

I’ve had an excellent few weeks, and an interesting dichotomy has presented itself between two major areas of my life.

My day job is going rather well, and the part-time hours have allowed me to focus on some of the things that I really care about.

I’ve kept the promise I made to myself last month to be more mindful, and it has led me to take care of little details like the About Me and Services pages of this site.

I’ve also been taking care of drumming practice; something which I had previously lost the enthusiasm for. It helps having new projects to focus on: the bands with Tony Bengtsson and Ebby have both been busy rehearsing, and Tony’s album launch looks set to be a really great night with some excellent support from Liam Fender.

My promotion moniker Something Else got its second outing this week when I put on touring punk bands Fighting Fiction and Still Bust at Newcastle’s Hancock. Unfortunately this busy student bar is surrounded by posh flats, and the headline act got shut down by the police halfway through their set. But hey – how much more punk can you get?!

Aside from my own musical output, I’ve recently taken the time to check out the RGR acts that I used to play with. I am really impressed by the new Soviets tunes, and excited to hear the debut album when it’s done. Hattie Murdoch now has a full band on the go, and has recently been booked for the Evolution festival, which will be great exposure for them and I can’t wait to see how it progresses.

As for the aforementioned dichotomy, more in part 2.

Elsewhere, my writing skills and social media knowledge have led to the offer of employment from Portable Magic (a NorthEast-based pop music label) and Newcastle Drum Centre (with whom I did some part-time shop work before Christmas). However, a few days after accepting these casual positions I was offered a contract with a large retailer – so I’m currently working part-time, while contributing to the NDC blog with my ‘Drum Shtick’ column (the title for which I must credit to my housemate Darren). Unfortunately I’ve had to let the position at Portable Magic go, but I’m still in contact with them and I’ll be helping out where I can in future.

Never content without a host of active projects, I’ve continued to focus on a few different musical endeavours. The Monday jam night at Hyem is going from strength to strength, and with continued support I’m hoping to keep that as a weekly night for as long as possible. I’ve also been back in the studio with Ebby, recording some interesting and tricky songs (with plenty of tempo and time signature changes!), as well as writing and recording a series of video drum lessons and covers to bolster my profile over on YouTube.

Happily I’ve found plenty of time to spend a few evenings reading and watching films, and spend time with Rachel. We recently took a trip to the Lake District – which is beautiful and soothing even in the pouring rain – although unfortunately my car kept overheating on the way back. There go this month’s wages…

With time flying past, I’d like to pay more attention this month. In the words of Ferris Bueller, ”Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

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.

Around this time in 2010 I made a few resolutions – which as I said at the time is not something I am used to doing. A year on, I’m proud to write that I’ve completed the following (yes, all of them) to varying degrees of satisfaction.

1) Play as many Jam nights and gigs as possible: With the weekly jam night my function band Soultrane run at Sunderland’s Bar1, I’ve been challenging myself playing solos in a range of styles on a weekly basis since the summer, so I think that counts.

2) Keep a daily journal as a note of my daily activities: Although I may occasionally leave it a couple of days, and struggle to remember exactly where I went & who I saw, I have kept a record of every single day this year – and purchased a new pocket diary to do the same in 2011.

3) Write an album of 10 songs (in the spirit of NanoWrimo): This was a task I set myself to see whether I could transfer my skills for writing blogs, reviews, and articles into the poetry required to write songs – after all, I knew I could play guitar well enough to give it a go. After making a few notes and cracking to it early in the year, I came to the realisation that I simply don’t have enough experiences to write about, outside of the clichés of love, heroes, and religious conversion. However, I’m confident in my abilities to form words into verse & chorus format, having written 3 or 4 songs that I may finish off and record if I feel like it – and the experience taught me a lot about myself, my likes, dislikes, and the extent of my talents.

4) Join a gym or martial arts club: After looking round a couple of gyms I quickly decided that pumping iron really wasn’t my scene, and instead focussed on finding a martial arts centre that may suit me better. Luckily a friend of mine from the open mic circuit is a Taewkondo enthusiast, and introduced me to JC Martial Arts, where I’m more than happy.

Therefore, I have a few more projects to work on during the coming year, following on from the success of 2010.

1) Double grade at the Easter JCMA grading, taking me from the beginner 10^th Kup (White Belt) to 8^th Kup (Yellow Belt).

2) Take a more proactive approach to my moneymaking band Soultrane, and start a pub/club band for the other end of the market (I already have some ideas for this…)

3) Eat healthier and cook more meals from scratch, as I tend to eat too many pizzas through laziness rather than a lack of expertise or time.

4) Focus on nurturing inner calm, focussing on the 3 areas of Happiness, Health, and Wealth. I’m already in counselling from my depression, and regularly listen to various podcasts and meditations on Body & Mind, so I’m aiming to keep myself in a positive headspace in 2011.

My writing hasn’t suffered complete neglect, however, as I continue to write for Newcastle Music Chronicles, Floatation Suite, and most recently the new comedy site GiggleBeats. I’ve seen some great music and comedy gigs through those exploits, including Gaslight Anthem, Tim Minchin, and Sunderland’s Laughter Live. Of course with so many friends in the music world I’ve seen a few local bands as well, including the final performances of the BMus I completed last year.

Dear the South, this is what snow looks like.

I’m still contributing to the nation’s unemployment problem, although I did get a few more hours at Newcastle’s DrumCentre, on a very casual basis. I’ve been back in the studio, recording demos with Ebby and the Hecklers, which I think will enter some serious pre-production in the next few weeks. The Soviets’ second EP is still in production, but the guys tell me it’s sounding great and I can’t wait to hear what John & Andrew have done with it. Speaking of Trafik, they’ve gone & got a track on the European commercials for Gran Turismo 5, which is fully deserved.

Outside of what I would call ‘work’, I’ve been indulging my interests in film and martial arts (and occasionally both) in December. Thanks largely to the sub-zero temperatures in Newcastle, Rachel & I have been spending our evenings & weekends tucked up in the warm watching DVDs, and I’m confident that by the end of next year we will have seen every film ever released. As for the martial arts, it’s something I’ve had a layman’s appreciation for over the years, and I finally got around to trying out some Taekwondo, which I’m currently loving and hope to continue in the New Year.

Anyway, I’ve finished my Chocolate Orange (Yes, I know. I have a very sweet tooth), so I’m going to go and make myself of cup of tea.

Post-RGR, my playing experiences have been wide & varied. I’m still working with the function band Soultrane, and I’ve had the first rehearsals with Ebby & The Hecklers. I’ve also been jamming with a good friend & great bassist Kurt. Those jams will hopefully turn into some acoustic/electro synthy type nonsense, which may warrant its own blog in time.

As mentioned in last month’s post, I’ve also been working on putting a gig together for Guy Page Trio, the new project from one of my Isle of Wight bandmates. That gig turned into Something Else Promotions – my attempt to build a night the way I thought it should be done. I gave each bands two 15 minute sets (so latecomers wouldn’t have to miss anything), I split all the money equally between everyone involved (so the bands didn’t play for free), and I tried to time everything as smoothly as possible (so the audience wouldn’t get bored or frustrated). Overall I call success – and I will be running another gig with the same format.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I tried out for jobs in 2 different music shops. My first was a trial day and formal interview at JG Windows.

The business has been running for years, and they’re known for their hard-sell attitude. As much as I tried, I didn’t really fit in there & wasn’t too put out when I didn’t get the job. Newcastle Drum Centre, however, is an entirely different matter. I’ve been a customer since I moved to Uni – and I’ve been bugging them for a job for almost as long. They were good enough to give me a week’s work, which I thoroughly enjoyed and I thought went very well.

I’ll admit that working was a bit of a shock to the system, mainly as I only had the evenings to do all the stuff I normally do with my daytime. I also went out on 3 of the 5 nights during that first week, playing the Bar1 Jazz night; supporting Theia’s EP launch; and then entertaining a wedding party with Soultrane. The weekend didn’t provide much of a change of pace as I threw myself into painting & decorating Ian’s house; rehearsing with Ebby; trips to the cinema and Liveoke; and last minute preparations for my promotional debut.

Having burned the candle at both ends the previous week; not really rested over the weekend; spent Monday recording with Ebby; and run the Something Else gig on Tuesday, I arrived on Wednesday morning surprisingly fresh-faced and enthusiastic. However by midday I was beginning to flag, and thanks to a mixture of ‘flu and depression, I really wasn’t firing on all cylinders. As things stand I’m waiting to hear about possible work this week, and I’m really hoping I get another chance to show what I can do – otherwise I may be back on the job hunt again.

For some unfathomable reason (or possibly no reason at all), October seems to have been a hellish month for a lot of my friends. It’s obviously not my place to publish details, but no less than 4 of my close friends have been in need of my support; and I’ve not been great myself. One thing I’ve realised this month, and am incredibly thankful for, is that I have some very loyal friends and family who have stuck by me and continue to ensure I’m doing OK – so thanks guys, you’re the best!

Aside from his legendary status and impressive musical prowess, the two things that really grabbed me about Steve Gadd in the flesh were his extremely laid-back attitude, and his surprisingly small repertoire. I’ve spent a certain amount of time beating myself over the fact that I don’t practice a squillion hours a day and I don’t have the stunning chops of some of the guys I know, but I realised at that clinic that it’s far more important to have your own sound, and I’m now working on getting really good at being “me”.

I had thought that would be “the event” of the month, but as it turns out, the rest of September was equally enlightening for me, in all sorts of different ways. For a start, it would be my last month playing for The Soviets, and it just happened that the last few gigs were some of the most enjoyable I’ve had with the band. Full sets at Hyem and The Riverside amidst various technical & organisational problems typified my lack of enjoyment, while reminding me that the band itself still holds a special place in my heart; an acoustic show at The Cluny rounded off the band’s ties with the venue and wins the prize hands-down for my favourite gig; and last night’s final farewell at Cluny 2 provided an appropriate end to the chaos as we hit the stage with a drunken bassist (we headlined after Russ had been at a free-bar work event) and no singer, as Micky had come down with a migraine earlier in the evening. Playing as an under-rehearsed 4-piece, our punk roots came out & we were determined to enjoy the set as much as possible.

So that’s the end of my involvement with Reckless General Records – but as one door closes, another opens… In this case, Soultrane. Formed rather haphazardly during the weekly Jazz night in Sunderland, my new musical pursuit is an R&B function band, newly named and poised to launch imminently into the corporate & wedding market. We’re still finding our sound and refining our cover set of groovy favourites, but with 3 gigs now under our belt (at Sunderland’s Plugged Inn, our home of Bar1, and Newcastle’s famous Monument), the band is starting to get noticed and booked for future events.

Rehearsals are underway for my recording début with Ebby, and Tony Bengtsson‘s album is well on its way to completion, after which I’ll be onboard to rehearse for the live side of things. Alongside all the drumming, I’m moving into promotion (for one gig only) as I’m hosting the Newcastle stop of Guy Page Trio‘s first UK tour, on November 9th.

As is evident from the above, after years of hope and dreams, my life is almost 100% dominated by music. However, I still found time for a trip down south for my Dad’s wedding, a weekend that proved the perfect break from balancing my musical goals with trying to find a full-time wage.

My only negative reflection of the past month is that, surviving on the basic salary of a self-employed musician, the possibility of travelling to Manchester for a Mice Parade gig, or to Doncaster to witness the amazing Benny Greb had to remain pipe dreams, at least for the near future.

University life is well and truly behind me, having both moved out of the temporary accommodation, and attended my formal graduation ceremony. I wrote about it briefly in my last blog, as the ceremony fell right in the middle of a tour of Scotland. I was really pleased that both my parents came up and helped to make the day really special. Formal things aren’t particularly my scene (I skipped my High School Prom in favour of getting drunk at a local football club), but I figured you only get one day to do the long-robe-and-mortarboard thing, and knew I’d regret not getting that cliche photograph to stick on the mantlepiece.

August has been a month of country-wide travel (I feel like I’ve written that in most of my blogs…), from the comedic delights of the Edinburgh Fringe – a birthday trip courtesy of my lovely girlfriend Rachel – via the fancy dress of mayhem of Cromer Carnival, to the Isle of Wight to witness (and play a bit of guitar at) the wedding of my two best friends, and finally to the Sunday of Leeds festival. As a confirmed festival fan I’m glad I haven’t completely missed out this year, but that’s the first and last time I go to a weekend event for just one day – it’s unnatural!

As has been well documented elsewhere, this month I decided to end my involvement with Reckless General Records, the business set up in my first year of Uni to promote The Soviets, Iain Crummie, and Hattie Murdoch. My time there has been incredible, I’ve formed my closest friendships, and I’ve learnt a lot about myself – both good and bad. I’m still playing the dates I’ve already agreed to, unless the guys find another drummer in the meantime.

What the future holds isn’t clear, but I’m taking every opportunity that comes my way, which includes playing for a few acoustic artists – the latest addition to my projects being Ebby. I’ve also replaced my dodgy recording interface, and as a last favour to The Soviets I’m recording All The People Want Is A Wage for a video release in the next few months. I’m hoping to get more production commissions in the near future, and I’ll be posting the results on my SoundCloud page (and on this blog) as I progress. I’m also returning to my roots as a promoter; hoping to migrate Dave’s success in establishing a weekly Jazz night in Sunderland over to Newcastle in the coming weeks, and I already have interest from a couple of venues. My final finger-in-pie is my continued involvement in a variety of local zines, including the increasingly popular Floatation Suite. I particularly like this because, although it doesn’t pay, I get to go to as many music and comedy gigs in the NorthEast as I fancy!

Between the reviews, opinion pieces, and the work I’m still doing on my ‘album’, writing seems to be the strongest trend in my life at the moment, so maybe I should blog more regularly.

Days before the tour kicked off, Simma was seriously ill and Jeansy stepped back in to cover the first leg on vocals and guitar, bringing with him the biggest bag and smallest guitar he could find. My suspicions are that he may be preparing for his round-the-world backpacking trip…

The 7 hour drive to the Isle of Skye really flew by, and in no time we were loading into the Haakon in Kyleakin. This was a new venue to me, although I had ventured in to see a ceilidh band during a set break on last year’s tour. Before the set started we were subjected to the Spain v Germany world cup match (apparently it was an important one). Jeansy & I sat taking the mick out of the players’ names & haircuts, while Martyn & Andy the born-again football fan discussed the various merits of each team.

Jeansy’s decision to bring a travel guitar, over any number of piezo-equipped acoustics he has lying around his studio, swiftly proved itself to be a bad one. For the first set of rock & roll covers his guitar couldn’t be heard, leaving us to re-arrange the band. Tour manager Martyn watched from the bar as Jeansy used Andy’s Les Paul and Andy played bass in a full-on power trio jam. We ripped through Last Tain Running, Superstition, and Sweet Home Alabama and by the end of the night had a fair few people up dancing.

The following morning, our trip to Fort William was re-directed via Inverness to pick up a pickup for Paul. For those not aware of the geography of Scotland, that’s the width of the country & back, in order to get a £20 piece of equipment. We did get to chill out in a nice coffee shop, however – for about 30 seconds before we had to run back to the van and chase a traffic warden away.

Our two nights in Fort William couldn’t have been further removed in terms of atmosphere. The first gig was at the Ben Nevis Bar, a large town-centre pub with a rowdy crowd of dancing locals. With Jeansy’s new pickup, Andy was back on lead guitar, playing behind his head, dancing in the audience, standing on top of tables, and all the rest of it. The whole set was a loud funk-rock jam, and a lot of fun to do.

The following night’s gig was at the Ben Nevis Inn, a walker’s hostel half way up the famous hill itself. I was gutted that the weather was terrible, and would’ve quite liked to have climbed at least some of the hill in downtime, but there you go. We stayed in another hostel nearby as the Ben Nevis was fully booked, and met a few of the crazy people who do the 3 peaks (Ben Nevis, Snowdon, and Scafell Pike) in one 24-hour period. The gig itself was relatively quiet, with most of the audience having climbed that day, or heading for an early night to climb the next.

The Ben Nevis Inn was Jeansy’s last gig on the tour, as the band headed back to Newcastle for a wedding booking in Cornsay – a big marquee had been erected and seemingly the whole village had been invited to avoid any noise complaints. Simma joined us to perform frontman duties as Paul had a gig elsewhere, and though not 100% better, he was on top form & the band sounded as tight as it did the last time we’d played together. Joe also joined us for the first time, and I found it quite a refreshing challenge to play alongside another drummer.

In order for Simma to run his weekly busker’s night, we had a few days in Newcastle. Even a short tour is such a departure from the usual routine that I tend to crash when I get back, and I slept for most of our first day back. Andy & I found time to attend our graduation ceremony before the second leg, and then we were off in the van again. The first date was again in Kyleakin, this time at Saucy Mary’s. Traditionally this venue has been great fun, and usually ends in all kinds of carnage. This time was relatively uneventful, however, perhaps because we were finding our feet as a band. The manager had put the band in one room at the hostel, which led to some great banter & little sleep before we were up again for breakfast.

The following night saw us return to Harris, which truly is too far north. Yet again the bad weather put a bit of a dampener on my plans to enjoy the locale a little, but the gig was a laugh regardless. The bar was busy with people eating in the early evening, so Simma & Andy played a two man jazz-blues set to warm things up before the usual 3 full-band sets. The night’s hostel & its owners deserve a special mention for being incredibly warm & welcoming, and leaving me toffees in the room. Nice touch!

To get back to Skye for the final night we were back on a 2-hour ferry, which I usually fail to get excited about, having lived on an Island for 18 years. I did, however, get a little obsessive about a Safari shooting game in the arcade that Andy had discovered after winning on the bandit.

The final gig in Portree was at the Caledonian Hotel, the only bar in town with a late license. As expected, the place was packed and I think the dancefloor consumed at least as much alcohol as any of the audience. I ended up with a trophy blister, a sure sign that I must have been playing much louder than usual.

Amongst all the gigs and promotion we’re doing with the Soviets, it’s always refreshing to play something different, even if it is just a silly scratch band. Most of the time – especially if the audience are up for it – those low-pressure gigs are the most fun to play.