Geez...

When the hell was the last time I posted????

Apologies, avid reader [cough]. Busy, busy!

Last post was about band practice, eh? Okay, catchup time then.

First up, had Rockschool the following day (last Thursday). Had our first little exam. Did okay. I think I scored 80%. Most of it was about chord construction, what chords are in the major keys etc. Some was practical 'play this scale in this key' stuff. I pretty much goofed on 2 out of 10 in each section. I was really distracted that night, I can tell you. I even had to ask for one question to be read out again as I'd zoned out completely, thinking about work.

For homework we were supposed to learn our study-partner's song, then learn and tab out the chord structure for the first song in our 'easy' songlist. Mine was "Mr Tambourine Man" which has a structure, albeit a rather changeable one depending upon how many lyrics Mr Dylan wanted to throw in. We were also given a number of pentatonic hammer-on exercises, which, for some reason, have been giving me trouble. They shouldn't be hard, but my issues arise on the high B/E strings. I can't seem to get the notes clean and switching from the 2 semi-tone to 3 semi-tone interval from the G to B-string trips me up every time. Not a clue why. I used to think I was pretty good at that stuff!

I actually didn't work (real work) at all over the weekend. My excuse was that I was stuck at home waiting for a plumber, who didn't come on Saturday then didn't turn up on Sunday until late... and who's supposedly coming back tomorrow morning to try to fix our boiler startup problems, though he doesn't come across as particularly convinced that he knows what the issue is. The upside to that was that I got to wail on the axe for a bit, both acoustically and with some electrification. It felt good. Very good.

Band practice this week is on Thursday, overlapping with Rockschool, so I'm going to have to cut out of class early and arrive late at the studio. I used to complain that I didn't have enough guitar going on... now I'm having scheduling conflicts! Quite the change. I still don't know how I'm going to juggle Rockschool and The Band and still do both justice. Frankly, though, The Band comes first in my books. It's what I want. In many ways it was the reason for signing up to RS in the first place. It just so happened that, like London buses, I waited forever then the two came along at once.

Tonight I have to write out the structure of "Mr Tambourine Man" properly so that I can perform it in class on Thursday. Any more playing than that is a bonus!!!

Oh, and as Tim's away on a residential course this weekend I should have lots of time for practice. If I can I'm going to head down to the Magic Ship (supporting) gig in Barnes on Friday night to hopefully kick of a rockin' weekend.

Band Rehearsal #2

Okay, before I forget, The Project's now into its last 50 days. That's not many shopping days 'til Xmas, campers! I guess come New Year's I'll reflect on where I'm at, what I'm doing and where I'm going. I'm tempted to do so now... but 50 days is 50 days (except it's actually 48 now). Anything can happen.

The other thing I want to say up front is that I'm shattered, mentally bunged up and about as stressed out as I've been in my life. Work. Why do we have to do it, people? Why, I ask you? Would civilization really crumble if we all just stopped?

[Don't answer that. I know what you're going to say]

I remember the days,
Free and clear,
The world so small,
Was big enough for me.

So, work, stress, ugh.

Outside of that little arena I have the two major things going on. Band and Rockschool. It's too early to write off Rockschool completely (and I'm not going to), but damn, it looks like it's going to be hard work and I don't currently see where all this practice time is going to come from!!! Maybe after the contract I'm working on is done I'll have more time but right now juggling all these balls is getting to be a challenge. I can't even goof off much because a) we get tested on it and b) we're working with partners. I'm not going to complain, though. I signed up for it and the value for money quotient is super high.

That leaves band news. We had rehearsal #2 last night. Everyone turned up, plugged in and played. If I'm being 100% honest I didn't feel like I acquitted myself well last night. Not enough practice time... preoccupied... stressed. I did okay, but only 'okay'. The three hour session went in a flash. Scary.

As with last time I really enjoyed the moments I got the room to myself while everyone else was off for a fag break. It meant that I could just close my eyes, crank my amp and lean into my very own wall of sound.

[Note: the amp I got last night was an old Peavey combo... which really, really sucked]

If anything, the highlight of the evening was running through "I Wanna Be Your Dog". It's not hard to play but I got to take out a lot of my current frustration, really just letting go and surrendering myself to the moment.

We ran through the other songs we'd played before, including "Supersonic", "Strange Brew" etc. On "Strange Brew" I do the groove-rhythm. Boy did I suck the first couple of times!!!! Finally I started getting it, but my fingers were just not working early on.

We did some Hendrix stuff, too, and also had a go at revamping "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads. It has potential to be rocked-up.

The surprise addition to our playlist was a song that the other guitarist, Bo, had written. It sounded really good. Most of it was just a vamp on E and A5 with some pinky 'add' notes and some low E runs. I think it may end up being worked up into our first very own original.

I have to say that I'm actually really impressed with everyone in the band. They're good guys, open to stuff 'n' all, all bringing something to the table. If anything I feel I'm lagging behind as I just haven't had the time and energy to invest in it this past month.

Energy. I need energy. I've been at work pretty much every day for as long as I can remember now. We have a major milestone on Tuesday and then another the end of the month. It'll be done, because it needs to be, but I really just want to NOT work this weekend, hang the consequences. I've spoken with my boss to try and 'manage his expectations', so we'll see how that goes.

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

And it's Rockschool tonight, so I can't work late. The positive spin on RS is that it gives me a chance to escape real life. For those two hours every Thursday I get to step out of my day-to-day situation and relax. I just hope I don't end up being the guy who comes to class but never does the homework. That'd be a major waste of time.

Venice Day

Okay, so this is going to sound like I broke my 'never drink before lunchtime' rule... which doesn't apply when one's in New Orleans, obviously... but for some reason I really felt like I should be in Venice today.

I think it started this morning when I climbed onboard my gondola... erm... scooter. The blue skies and crisp cold air were strangely reminiscent of the last time we were in the city of fallen angels, almost two years ago.



Two years. Wow. It doesn't seem that long.

I know it sounds weird, but I'm sometimes hit by 'spirit of place' moments. Some days I feel like I should be on a greek island... sometimes in Paris... quite often in Amsterdam. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to feel like I'm centred in London. On days like that I feel a real connection to the city, seeing it with the fresh eyes of a tourist.

The love of travel is both a gift and a curse. Some days you wake up to the city in which you live, knowing deep down that at that precise moment in time you're 'supposed' to be somewhere else.

Shit, maybe I just need another vacation. At least in a few weeks we're off to visit friends of ours in Paris to celebrate Thanksgiving. The benefit of being one half of an anglo-american couple. You get two turkey days a year!

I think that sometimes feeling displaced like this is a good thing. It often signals the start of a creative patch... let's hope that's the case this time as my creativity has been running at an all time low.

It's band practice #2 tonight. Maybe I'll be inspired to start writing some original songs for the guys. Right now all I'm shooting for is to be able to find my G-string with both hands.

The Band With No Name?

Actually, we may have a name, but it's a working title so no hints right now.

This is us... the motley crew!

Let me introduce you. From right to left we have:

Rich: bass
Jo: vox and Pretty Kitty slinger
Jonathan: drums
Bo: guitar
Ken: guitar

Last night was our first time playing together so none of us knew what to expect. Overall it didn't go too badly. It became pretty clear early on that everyone else has put lots of work into practice, learning the songs in terms of chords, leads, changes and so on over the past week. I hadn't had the time to nail the changes so I was playing catchup. I also hadn't had time to learn "Strange Brew" so Bo stepped up and taught me how he plays the song on the fly then took the lead.

Let me just say that I needn't have had any worries about whether the other guys could play. They certainly can.

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges) went well from the get-go. "Supersonic" (Oasis) took a couple of run-throughs but wasn't too bad overall. "Wild Thing" (The Troggs) was a fun interlude. Even though I'd not learned it, "Strange Brew" went strangely well, as did a few little jams we had along the way.

I was really not in the zone when I first got there. About 30 minutes into the session, though, the other guys took off for a fag break. I stayed behind, closed my eyes and just noodled. Click. Found it. Things started to work.

Looks like everyone was happy with the band so we're going to keep at it!

Rock-stardom on the horizon [cough]? Don't know. What I do know is that I'm a million miles from where I was at the start of The Project, holding my own in a band-type-situation. For once I'm actually kinda proud of myself!

All Work...

And no playing, makes Ken a very frustrated boy.

Work is sucking so hard right now. No time for any fun. Companies who release software with so many bugs that it makes us poor saps want to go postal should be held accountable!

First band practice tomorrow. Haven't played since the weekend.

Wicked...

Yes, I know, hardly Rock & Roll lifestyle but...



...went to see "Wicked" last night. Surprisingly good show! Can't remember most of the songs but I don't think that's the point with this kind of narrative musical. The performances were great, especially by the two witches... Es... Esmer... Esmeranti? And... [cough]... Blondie?

Anyway, names aren't important. The important thing is that it was a good night out. A veritable spectacle!

I'm not going to go into details, but "Wicked" is actually the reason that I have less than six degrees of separation from BRITNEY! It's your typical family to friend to room mate to celeb type of thing. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I'll come home to find the place overrun by paps...

Just heard from my Heavy Metal crew that band practice is on Saturday this week. Not only am I supposed to be at a rugby match in Reading (of all places) but I should also have houseguests that evening. Scheduling conflict! Something's going to have to give... Note to potential bandmates: PRACTICE DURING THE WEEK, PLEASE!!!!

...except Thursday nights, that is. I decided that I got so much out of the last guitar course I took in terms of keeping me focused and progressing that I'd sign up for another one, organised by the Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES). It's on Thursday nights and is basically a Rock Techniques class. We'll see how it goes... right now I'm not 100% sure that they've got enough people signed up to run the course, so it may be a non-starter. It's supposed to kick off next week. Watch this space!