I never sit down and write songs. I envy people who can. I have friends who can decide to write bangers about the taps in their kitchen. Friends who can get a commission and casually write a #1. But for me they're clouds that have to be snatched from the air before they disappear into the horizon - they come without notice, you grab them already more or less fully formed, let it flow out your fingers, then refine it later. The last few weeks have been overcast.
Last weekend I wrote yet another. It's probably my proudest work so far and by far? On one hand it's a shame it was written too late to make the album. But on the other, having thought I'd put all my musical eggs in one basket, it's reassuring to know the well's not only yet to run dry, but running stronger than ever.
This cloud I grabbed during a Nexus Leap soundcheck. We were checking the levels. It was a pub full of people. The guys were just grooving on one chord. The chorus came to me, and I had to use a spare hand to find the voice memo app on my Samsung. Later on, I was told people at the bar were like "oh I know this!" Which is a good sign. Unless I ripped it off from somewhere, which upon intensive research is thankfully unlikely.
The rest flooded out in one sitting the next day, and with the few who've heard it and generally speaking, my lifelong battle with self-confidence is slowly but hopefully being won with the help of the validations of people whose brains aren't my own, particularly those who I hugely look up to as people or creatives - surreally, at times, before I knew them.
Anyway, as is tradition, YOU CAN'T HEAR IT! That said I might have to launch shows with it, so you can. Middle ground and that. And that's what this song has told me it's gotta be. The live opener. At least for now. Perhaps it can open Album #2.
It's an exciting time at the moment. For the first time in my gigging life there's bands making serious movements. And they're my friends! Strength in unity is the one thing I've truly desired following an era where any attempts in gig-land have become united in apathy at best, one-sided at worst. There's actually a scene of new bands and artists now lifting each other up, rather than one-off's luckies amongst the disenchanted or those popular in school or college.
Plus weirdly, inspirations seem to be clocking my existence? I've been taken aback by some alerts I'm on certain radars, including Noel Gallagher comparing my playing to Jools Holland on a podcast last week - utterly exploding my inner formative self.
Pre-production is going well. I'm starting off with the foundations of the bottom end and it's an out of body experience to see players I admire not only digging but perfectly playing stuff I wrote - even making it better. The ideas for a launch are ridiculous and exciting! But firstly, I've gotta get everything right. With the candidates, I think I might be able to, providing the rehearsal space has somewhere I can lie down every 5 minutes of overwhelment.
Watch this space and see you out there x
