Yesterday, I went to see a couple of old school mates of mine play at The Boogaloo Bar in Highgate. By a strange coincidence, I went to Finchley Catholic High School with Sam Sproule and Orange Hill with Paula Marks, whohave got together to form an absolutely brilliant Country/Americana/Rockabilly band called The Midnight Crawlers. They are absoluetely brilliant. After the gig, I had a chat with Sam about what the band was up to. He has some exciting gigs in the offing, and he told me that
he was enjoying life to the full. He said "The way things are, you don't know if some lunatic is going to end the world, so we' have to get the most out of every day".
I have a very similar attitude to life. I had a period when my children were small, when they were my absolute priority. Now they are all adults, I have thrown myself back into performing with a passion. My kids are fully supportive and are amongst our biggest fans, dragging their friends along and making things a lot of fun. I dearly hope Sam is wrong about a looney ending it for us and long after I am gone, they will have memories of fun times. I've always encouraged them to make sure that they have some fun in life.
I was recently asked by a friend of mine, Tony Lloyd, who does a podcast giving advice for people looking to get on in the music industry, to feature in an episode and pass on some of the lessons I've learned over 45 years in the music industry and also a few of the stories of along the way. Tony has just released the podcast on Spotify. Tony asked me to have a listen, just to check that I was happy. It is interesting listening to yourself talking. I am really happy with the podcast and I do hope that for up and coming musicians it might be helpful and for those that just want to listen to something about music, it is fun.
Have a listen.
Today is a bank holiday, a day off for many, when we can chill, enjoy ourselves and also to take stock. A year ago, I was reeling from getting the results of a biopsy, that revealed my prostate cancer was aggressive and required some very invasive treatment. My life was effectively put on hold. I was in a state of deep emotional turmoil. Within three months I'd be having life changing (not in a wonderful way) surgery. A year ago, despite trying to put on a brave face, my horizon was my treatment. I could not see beyond it. I was very angry and very upset. However, there was one light on the horizon. Immediately after getting the news, I flew out to Portugal to finish off the new album by The False Dots. I didn't appreciate at the time what a good move this was. It lifted me, albiet temprorarily, out of the mire of self pity I found myself in.
A year on, I am hopeful that I've pu the prostate cancer behind me (although only time will really tell). I'm focussed on the future. I will soon be 62. I don't feel like it. I don't know if what happened last year had a factor, but as many mates are talking about retiring, taking up golf, moving to the seaside, I feel more energised than ever with my music. I am genuinely excited by what we are doing. Realistically, I have ten-fifteen years of being able to fully do what I want with my life. When I was a teenager, I thought that by the time you were 30, things like music would no longer be something you cared about. For me, the opposite is true.
One of the things I started to do last year, in a very dark moment, was when I wake up, I say "Today is the first day of the rest of my life, so make it count". I then shut my eyes and think of what I have to do. I do a mental stocktake for the day. Today was the first time since I started that I realised I had no plans at all. It really was a day off. No work, not meeting friends, not going out. I hadn't even planned to go to the gym. I had not planned to write a blog, but then Tony Lloyd sent me the podcast. As I listened to it, I thought of Sam's comment and also the talk on the radio news this morning. Rishi Sunak is proposing reinstating national service for young people.
I have to say, this horrifies me. I feel I am uniquely priveliged having had a life where I've been able to do what I want and play in an amzing band. What bothers me more than anything about Sunak's scheme is that it does not seem to be about inspiring young people. Tony Lloyd's podcasts are designed to inspire people and give them the faith to realise their dreams. I set my studios up, to give young people a place where they could realise their dreams by rehearsing. I hope that anyone who see's my band leaves feeling happy and possibly someone may look at us and think "I could do that". Having said all of that, what inspired me most when I set up my band, was the fact that my mates were as well. When I was at school, it seemed like everyone was setting up bands and trying to make great music.
My advice to Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, Ed Davey and every other politician trying to persuade us to vote for them. Give us all, especially the younger people, something to believe in and some inspiration. If you look at the world today, what we need is people to put down the guns, stop killing each other and start communicating. Every day that people are killing each other things get worse and more innocent lives are ruined. Sooner or later, be it today, tomorrow, next week or next year or even a hundred years time, people will have to talk to each other. Today is the best day, because the sooner we talk, the less people have their lives ruined. I get all of the "yes but,this lot are terrible and we can't talk to them". Until the monsters who commit atrocities are forced to face up to the human, compassionate side of their nature, all we have is pointless conflict. In truth, the hardest thing of all is to make peace,compromise and forgive. It is also the only way that, as a race, we can move on. I dream that by the time I depart this mortal coil, there will be peace of earth. I also beleive that music is fundamental to this, as it is something that brings us together. That is why I've dedicated my life to the making of music and why I think it is important.
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If you enjoy reading this blog, please give my band, the False Dots a follow on Spotify and a listen to our music. If you live in St Albans, please nip down to The Horn on Thursday night to watch us. It will be fun, I promise you.
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