Surreal moments are a strange aspect of being a musician. Especially considering nothing changes. Or realising those who've downright changed lives or even the world are just... normal people who are good at what they do. Late last night I had a curry with the Molotovs and most of it was spent quoting Peep Show.
I've been stupidly lucky to meet and spend time with contemporaries, inspirations, and those who are in bloomin' history books. At times my life has felt like Forrest Gump except with the hopes of a slightly higher IQ. Each time, I've found they're just normal people. And nothing changes in my life henceforth aside from the addition of a cool story.
For instance, yesterday daytime was spent with the utterly legendary Robbie McIntosh. Not only was he in The Pretenders which is woah enough, but he was Paul McCartney's sideman for nearly as long as John. Even more surreal, we struck an intense chemistry - ya know to the point where we'd make each other laugh in the language of funny music, throwing licks in to perk up each other's grins.
Reason being, tonight, I'm sharing a stage with Robbie amongst Nine Below Zero for a special '3 Kings' show, paying tribute to B.B, Albert, and Freddie. Not Carole or Mark - there's plenty of that in my solo shows. The Forge, up Camden Town.
Robbie's with us tonight, and tomorrow is the legendary Clem Clempson - of Humble Pie and Colosseum. Man he is WONDERFUL and a dream to work with. I could ask him about Steve Marriott (the answer would probably be 'just a normal bloke') but the wiser question would be "what key are we starting with". We're colleagues.
We're also being joined by Jesse Garwood, a tremendous young talent - Sister Cookie, a voice of gold - and Zac Schulze, who was handpicked by Clapton himself to play Crossroads in LA. The other day he not only brought up but STARTED PLAYING Another Guy out of the blue NOTE FOR NOTE. That was a serious out-of-body experience.
Talking to Nine Below bandmates earlier was emotional when The Beatles' 'Now and Then' came up. The song didn't do much for me (I knew the demo and the bridge that was excluded so had "demo-itis"), but the music video did. It made me furious. For the first time it registered John was just a normal kid like you and me who wanted to play guitar with his mates - then what happened happened.
Hence why I don't want to be rich and famous. Just rich! Imagine going to M&S without being hassled or your card declining and bringing it home to a semi-detached you own in the town you grew up in. Which is weirdly less feasible in this day and age.
In the meantime here's a photo of me and Levi Roots, of Reggae Reggae Sauce fame. Just a normal bloke who felt adventurous with spices one day. He's the only one I ever asked for a photo with. Aside from the Cheeky Girls. And some guy from Love Island. I only watched one episode. Enough.
I was 19 when this photo was taken. I'm very much aware I've not visibly changed since. Please advise.
See ya this weekend, maybe next, probably not the one after unless I either bump into you or you're one of two people I arrange social outings with, but perhaps after that.
The secret ingredient is crime x
