#recklings

Horray, chest infection! I truthfully can't wait for the winter to be over. I've been holed up at home for the entire Christmas season. I haven't been able to rehearse, which feels pretty rotten. I have, however, been watching a great deal of quality films on Netflix (hah), some of which have been about bands. I'll watch anything about music, really; documentaries, films, biopics, music awards, reality TV. I find it all fascinating. In these films there's the usual group of boys who quit school, form a band and forge ahead into the unknown. At least most of these guys seem to have managers knocking on their doors and people coming to see them play. Ahh Hollywood. Oh wait, but it shouldn't really be that hard, should it?

Being in a band is one of the hardest things I have done. It has outlived a lot of my relationships. It has been the only kind of team activity where I felt like I had a place. Generally speaking I like to do things alone, I find that I am better suited to tasks where I'm uninterrupted. Sure, it was easy in the beginning... Write songs, shape them, make them good. The hard part came later when you want to actually do something with what you've made. In terms of structure there's probably three sub categories of your average band on the scene:

The band with one person who has a lot of talent amongst a group of hard workers. The talented member has the ideas and the other members are there to shape these ideas into actual plans. If they have a good direction and also the talented member happens to be a good leader, this is the gold standard of band. The kind of band everyone would want to be in, but couldn't because of the next sub category. The reason that I say the talented member ought also to be the leader of the band, is because his ideas will have had the most influence on the songs, be it lyrics, melody etc, and therefore the meaning of the songs and their message is built around them. 

The band of just hard workers. There is a saying that too many cooks spoil the broth. This is exactly what is going on here. What we have are four or five individuals with opposite ideas, all trying to vocalise at the same time, and what ends up happening is nothing. Of course, democracy comes into play here, you can still have a great band, if the lines are blatantly drawn in the sand. The trouble is once you introduce the M word into this equation you usually have a sudden grapple on your hands for who and what people are entitled to based on who has contributed to what. The point everyone seems to miss is that whatever goes into a band should always come out evenly at the end. 

The band of one hard worker, no talent and slackers. Well... Whatever. 

I was thinking a lot about a fool proof plan to getting your career off the ground. It's never been so easy as now to produce, promote and play music. The three Ps. You can produce music cheaply, it just may take some time. Promotion is at the touch of a button, with things like BBC Introducing, Soundcloud, Youtube, Facebook etc. These will also cost you absolutely nothing. Indeed even gigging only costs the fare you paid to get there plus how many drinks you ideally want to consume. Unless you've been suckered into those pay to play promotion scams (we've all been there, but ideally only the once.)

So where does all this money go? Before Enterprise Studios got demolished we had a pretty cheap rehearsal space, providing we all turned up. To be fair, even though the Recklings are still paying off our recording fees, that still doesn't cut much out of a well budgeted salary. 

I'm a little late in recording this event, but that's because I've been so tired since finishing the whole project. The guys and I were recording our three singles last week. I was off to a shaky start since I had offered (in a fit of stupidity) to drive most of the drum gear up to TAF in order to make life easier. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not the most confident of drivers... In fact, I'm not even convinced I know how to drive, I reckon I just have a lot of luck on my side and everyone else on the road is smarter than I. Fortunately for me and everyone else in the Lewisham and New Cross area, Dan was directing me. We got there in one piece and I parked up. I enjoy taking up my fair share of responsibility in the band and helping with the gear, as my instrument is with me always.

When we got inside my tension rose a little and apprehension began to set in. The studio was at the back of the building, and the vocal booth faced the control panel. The place was littered with acoustic guitars, cables and many panels and instruments with knobs and dials and buttons that I would never understand. We had our work cut out for us, I thought. It wasn't that I was disputing the ability of myself or anyone else in the band. On that plane I felt completely at ease. I knew that with what we have, and what else we will learn in the future, we can deliver. Instead I was wondering what the atmosphere would be like for the next five days, as I have never been with the guys in such an environment before. 

It was when all the gear was set up that Mat handed me a mic and told us to run through the songs, I knew I had come such a long way. A year ago if someone had handed me a mic and demanded a rendition of something, I probably would have clammed up and made an excuse such as having a sore throat or not being ready. So it was at that moment that I felt more confident than ever that we were, all of us, exactly where we were meant to be at that moment. That we were ready, and so I sang our songs. And after we had the guide tracks laid out, I relaxed, sat down and just watched the process. We got the drums done the first day, and I drove home feeling that the following day would be full of promise and creativity. 

I got there everyday around 10am. I don't like to be late for things, as I don't like to feel rushed. Mat was a real pleasure to work with, and I liked that he challenged the guys and myself to try things we had never considered. He had a level of knowledge and wit that surpassed my own by light years, but never made this overly apparent unnecessarily. In fact we talked a little about the drums, which is my latest passion, and he gave me some really useful tips. Ville would occasionally drop by too, to check on progress. The two are brothers, and so it made me think a lot of my own sibling, and draw my own comparisons about who, if situations were reversed, would be who. I envied their lifestyle immensely, because they have been able to set up their own business, and work with whom and what they choose. Not many people have that luxury. And of course I'm not disputing that it's hard work, but it's insanely cool, and that is it's own currency. 

A little nod to the father band.

I've been really busy recently. I went on holiday with some friends, and the band and I have been playing a lot of gigs. Work is going very well too. Nothing like a little romance gone wrong to put things on an even scale once more. Still, that's the beauty of experiences... If you don't have them, you've got nothing to write about.

I recorded a great deal of the highlights of Reading Festival on my sky box. I was watching Paramore and they had a power shortage towards the end of their show. Did they go off? No, they sat down at the edge of the stage and played The Only Exception. It occurred to me that anything can go wrong for anybody, even Hayley Williams. As a band we've had our fair portion of things gone to hell. I remember a gig at the Good Ship where somehow the strap to Steve's bass managed to unhook itself at both ends, and Paul kept knocking his microphone down, nearly taking me out when I tried to pick it up. Strings have been snapped, high notes have been haphazard. It's how you deal with these things that counts. If you have a paddy, cry and/ or call it a day then you're not what music wants.

Coming back to this relationship business, walking away knowing you did the right thing for you is what you'll remember when your chest stops feeling tight and your stupid mind keeps you up all night. I write a lot of songs during difficult periods of my life. Sometimes I write them wishing that the way I handled myself in the song is how I handle myself in real life. Of course, you're not at the ready with your notebook and pen when you've just ended a relationship with someone. Still, I find it comforting to listen back to something we have written, and remind myself that I've been there before, I'll probably be there again, and I made it through.