So, that was 2010

This will be my last blog entry of 2010, unless something spectacular happens in the next couple of weeks. I was planning to write this in a couple days time, as my last thing on my to-do list before switching off from any projects for the rest of the year, but I suddenly have a free evening tonight due this country's inability to deal with the snow (thus cancelling trains, and meaning I couldn't get to play at the very special 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling' show in London). So this is all very self-indulgent, kind of like a justification for being so busy, but hopefully by the time I've finished writing this I'll be proud of what I've achieved this year, or just ruing a wasted 12 months.

The year started slowly, with big plans of touring, which never actually materialised (both with Matt Corrall Band, and with the play, for different reasons). It was a typical start to the year though, making plans and setting the ground for projects that would later emerge, also leaving THE DAMSONS and reforming UNDER THE STREETLAMP in the process, I'm glad I did the latter, and sad about the former but had to be done. The end of January found me organising a charity gig for the Haiti victims, which was a nice event, and we did well I think, and I failed to grow a beard. February was spent writing new material, and we recorded the UNDER THE STREETLAMP album, IDEAL MEXICO, which was eventually released in December. In March I recorded some drums for ALIGHTING, and my play LETTERS TO SPARKLE was performed at RADA, a performance of my work which I'll never be more proud of - a magnificent night for both myself and my ego, and one of the highlights of the year. That reminds me...I need to facebook those actors involved again, for a project next year, they were awesome. March also saw me start a short run of gigs with JON ORCHARD and the first shows of the year for EUREKA STOCKADE, my play AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was performed at the Brockley Jack Theatre in London to a packed crowd, and my murder-mystery play, THE MURDER OF THE RAZZLE DAZZLE ROSE QUEEN was performed in Cambridge to an audience of 4 people. In April I purchased some congas from my works bonus, a gift to myself which would be extremely beneficial for the rest of the year (even if I didn't realise this at the time), and then there was great panic when our leading actor for our Brighton Fringe show pulled out due to transport issues, with just 8 days to go. I quickly learnt the lines and took the lead role in CAT FOOD, which opened that month in Cambridge. April also saw the launch of a continued music collaboration with RICHARD CONWAY with a modest gig in Histon, and AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was performed three times at The Horse in Waterloo, and it was another one of those spine-tingling moments, seeing my work done so well. In May, CAT FOOD headed to the Bury Fringe where it was performed in front of barely anybody alongside my new comedy, SOME PLAYS ABOUT INDIE ROCK, and then to the Brighton Fringe festival where it felt like it died on it's arse and I put aside any thoughts of me becoming an actor. Back to the gigs, I played congas for TOM TILBURY, and then drummed for hours at MATT CORRALL's 30th birthday gig, and the month ended with me turning 29 and LETTERS TO SPARKLE being successfully performed at The Old Kings Head in Islington, my faith in my writing ability quickly restored. June was spent largely watching the World Cup whilst working on new material, and then recording (with Richard Conway and Chris Lilley) the debut TRIP 35'S album, which still hasn't been released yet but we will get around to it soon. In July things started to get proper busy again, playing live and recording an EP with LU at the amazing High Barn studios in Essex, the sole performance of a sketch show I co-wrote with Alan Morgan called THE HEDGEHOG COLLECTIVE for the Cambridge Comedy Festival which went down a storm but neither of us were happy with it, and then a day to record all 5 episodes of my radio sitcom, THE MODEST ADVENTURES OF PATRICK AND CAMERON, which launched last week on Cambridge City Radio. Also in July I was back in the studio, this time to record with ETHAN ASH, the resulting tracks were released in November as an EP, and lead single, 'Tried To Get Rid Of Me' was iTunes single of the week, which is a handy CV note. August was spent rehearsing new shows, re-writing new material, and generally feeling bitter that I wasn't at the Edinburgh Fringe. The end of the month saw the preview performances of two new shows, the much-talked about (by me) spoken-word musical, CLOWNS, which surprisingly worked very well, and the messy but very much a return to form comedy, YEAR OF THE RAT. Both of those pieces ended up at the Lodestar Festival a week later, which was at the start of September. That month saw the mixing of the radio sitcom, lots of Under The Streetlamp action, and my first live show with the fantastic FLAMING JUNE, whom I've been playing with a fair bit since. In October I started playing congas for AIDY, and I still enjoy playing live with him now, I launched a comedy club, THE CORNERHOUSE COMEDY COLLECTIVE which failed instantly, got stressed out when my dad got seriously ill, then got happier again when he started the long road to a full recovery, and spent time in London/Cambridge writing with HELEN ARNEY, the result being our much acclaimed Christmas album, IT'S GOING TO BE AN AWKWARD CHRISTMAS DARLING, which we recorded over three intense days with the genius that is Martin Randle at the end of the month. It was released at the start of December, with Dave Gorman praising it, Chortle coverage, and airplay on BBC 6 Music, it's been one of the finest things I've been associated with. Also that month, played live with THE TRIP 35's for the first time, and my monologue, SLOW PUNCTURE, was performed in Cambridge. In November I played plenty of gigs, got stressed about the mixing of the Christmas album, wrote both Christmas shows and played live for the first time with ETHAN ASH for the EP launch show. Also, AN AMBULANCE STUCK IN TRAFFIC was nominated for an award for the performances in Waterloo earlier in the year, which it didn't win. And so here we are, December, the Christmas album released, Under The Streetlamp album was released, the debut self-titled album EUREKA STOCKADE was released, we recorded my Christmas radio comedy, THE CHRISTMAS COLLAR INCIDENT which will be broadcast on Christmas Day, played more gigs, and then our Christmas double-bill, (DAWN PALMER JUST WANTS TO BE) LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS and SANTA CLAUS & THE UNFORTUNATE ALLEGATIONS was performed 4 times in Cambridge to good, satisfied audiences, but it was a show which left me feeling a little flat, probably because I had to play the lead role in it. The year was supposed to end on a high tonight with the Awkward Christmas live gig in London, but the treacherous weather has put a stop to that, but looking back I think I've done enough to be proud of in there anyway. It's been a strange year - it started with my writing getting really noticed on the London scene, without me necessarily pushing it as such, but my biggest successes have come as a drummer (iTunes single of the week, 6 Music, festivals, some really good gigs etc). I've probably spread myself too thinly, but I think my list of credits is in a much better shape than it was 12 months ago.

And some stats:
This year I've played 49 gigs, and have played live with 15 different bands
I've been the drummer on 4 albums and 2 EP'S that have been released, with another 2 albums and 1 EP ready for release next year
I've written 15 plays (many of which haven't made it further than private performances for my own benefit), have had 13 different stage plays performed publicly, totalling in 29 performances of my work as well as (by the end of the year) 6 radio plays broadcast.

For every gig there's a story, whether it be simply one involving me getting lost finding the place, an on-stage assault on the singer, or even that magical glimmer that suggests things are actually going to plan. For every play performance there's a crisis, and a solution, and generally a happy ending, the above stats don't really say anything. My favourite gig of the year has to be Flaming June @ B-Bar, my least favourite was the festival in Windsor. The best performance of my script material is the stuff at RADA, my least enjoyable being the opening night at the Brighton Fringe. I've got much to be thankful for, and I'd like to think I deserve the rest I'm about to give myself, especially considering 2011 is already looking busier than ever. There's been a lot of people who have been very good to me this year, you know who you are.

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year x

Christmas play - performances 3 and 4

I'm knackered, again. This is why I'm not an actor. As I type this, the smoke alarm in the hairdressers attached to my little flat is going off to say it needs new batteries. It's going to be going all night, isn't it? And the hairdressers bit is basically the other side of my bedroom wall. Ah, bollocks, another sleepless night then. It was probably going to be a sleepless night anyway as I'm analysing things far too much. I really enjoyed Friday's Christmas shows - I felt the sudden nature of me being pushed into the role what with Kev stranded in Amsterdam added a sense of excitement to the proceedings. Tonight, with a days rest and a couple hours rehearsal, I just didn't like it at all. I was annoyed at first that hardly any of my long-term friends could be bothered to make any of the performances (and there was 4 to chose from) apart from Rachel, Andy P, Andy H, Amy, Michelle, Julia, Rob, Andy B, Vicky, James, Jack and the lovely Emerald Sky girls, but then again - why should I expect people to come to things all the time - it's time for this to move on from me putting on shows and then friends and family come to watch it, I've been doing that for 5 years. I think that is what is bugging me about the whole thing - it's the third year of the Christmas show, I know it's a tradition, but it's not as fun as it used to be. Yeah - so Paul can write jokes for sweary Santa Claus, he can throw in a loser and let him be unlucky in love and milk the audience sympathy, but it's nothing I haven't done before. Perhaps because I was in it this year I may have seen more flaws in the writing than I knew existed. Or maybe the stress of being an actor has disrupted my enjoyment of the whole thing. Tonight's shows were pleasantly ramshackle, with lots of jokes, and I was really proud of the rest of the cast - Heather, Vaughan, Cara, Steve, Clare (in at the last minute as narrator - a wonderful performance), Aidy - they were on fine form and I think they enjoyed it. The audiences did - lots of compliments, lots of laughter in the right places, everyone came away happy. Apart from me, the man who puts this all together, and is frankly a bit bored of it all now. I need new challenges, I need to push myself - so much of that material that was on display tonight didn't work. Let's be fair - if you smother that dodgy material with jokes you can get away with it. But that won't stop it being not all that good at the end of the day. I was chatting to Heather, and Paul Malpas (a soundman/actor friend who also came to the show tonight) about how to get further, how not to be here, in this venue, this time next year, putting on a show to four charming but half full audiences. I really like CB2, it's a cracking venue run by generous people, so this rant is by no means anything against the space - it's what we did with it. Paul was very generous about my writing, explaining that there are often "slices of comedy genius in your work" and that "tonight had more slices than the other shows I've seen you do this year" but was also very honest about lots of it dragging and/or just not working as well as it could do. Heather's rather intense reply was simply related to the fact that I need to slow down, and focus more on the projects, rather than bash them out and move on to the next one - basically be more serious about individual shows, rather than be serious as a writer. A valid point. I've got nothing to complain about really - we've entertained lots of people over the last 4 shows, many of whom laughed a lot, the actors have worked so hard for it to happen, it'll go down as a success. But come December 2011 I don't want to be writing another blog entry about another show at CB2 which "worked in many ways but..."

Christmas play - performances 1 and 2

I'm knackered. I've just experienced what I put my actors through on a regular basis...that was a long night. It was a nice day at work (secret Santa - I got a mug that's a boobie, and it made me happy) and curry, before the news started to trickle through that Kevin - our leading man for the play - was stuck in Amsterdam. The snow is really heavy over there, no flights or anything. We were left with an ultimatum - either I step into the roles (which were Tim, Jesus, Jason, Policeman, Journalist and Cliff Richard) or the show is cancelled. I've never cancelled a play in my life, and didn't intend to start tonight, so we just went for it. Naturally, a couple of Kev's lot didn't bother to come down as he's a popular chap, but we did 2 performances (a total of 3 hours of 'acting') in front of lovely crowds tonight. I wasn't crap - I thought I would be - especially after watching a DVD of 'Cat Food' from the Brighton Fringe recently and realising just how bad an actor I am. But these characters are easier to play - slimy boyfriends, nervous losers, bitter religious shelf-filler etc, and I actually got a bit into it. Let's get this straight - I'm not an actor. But I wasn't far off tonight, and with Kev still stranded and unable to take in the next 2 performances on Sunday evening, I can wing it again. As for the plays themselves, the first piece - 'Dawn Palmer...' was met with much warmer laughter than the messy, lively second play, which is weird as I only spent 3 hours writing it. Either way, I'm a knackered, happy Paul tonight.

Day of the Christmas show

Tonight at 7pm our Christmas show opens in Cambridge. As far as I am aware, my leading actor, Kevin, is stuck in the snow. In Amsterdam. I've never cancelled a show in my life, and don't intend to start tonight, but this far from ideal.

Bollocks.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge (supporting She Makes War)
Date: 13/12/10
Audience: Sparse, but enthusiastic
Set: As always with Aidy's sets, I'm not sure, but I think it was the same as Saturday's show
Notes: I've played the Cornerhouse a lot this year (and I'm back again on Saturday guesting with my mate Jo's band for their special Christmas show) but there's something comforting about that. Tonight's show was promoted by my chum Rich Conway, and he managed to get She Makes War down to the venue as part of the UK tour. We opened, in what felt like a very relaxed, informal, no-pressure kinda gig, and had a good time - the sound was excellent, the audience continually enthused by Aidy's sense of humour, and I played light drums rather than congas this time which made a nice change. She Makes War - by the way - is just one person, Laura Kidd, who was excellent and really enjoyed her set, and she's also incredibly friendly which was refreshing.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade album launch @ The Haymakers, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy, Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Haymakers, Cambridge
Date: 11/12/10
Audience: Rammed, lively, enthusiastic, brilliant
Set: Aidy - not sure; Eureka Stockade - She Got Good, Erotomania, Violence, Broken Pieces, Resistance, Without You, Warm Hands, All Alone, Sharks, Through Every Darkness, Heroes Fall
Notes: With our album released on Monday, we (Eureka Stockade) launched our debut long player with what is probably the best gig we've ever played. Firstly, I felt a little sorry for Aidy - I played congas for him (alongside the always excellent bassist Dave Martin) but the audience didn't seem to realise the set was starting so a majority of it was ignored - shame, as we played pretty well. After short break for middle act, The Morning People to do their lovely thing, Eureka Stockade's set was greeted by a rousing audience, many of whom surged to the front. We went down well - and that only enhanced our performance, it was without question the tightest we've been. All in all the perfect combination of good venue, solid set-up, well rehearsed band and a festive crowd who's energy was flattering. We were joined by the superb Anna Scott on cello for all the songs apart from the first three and she's an awesome musician who filled any gaps, and also Dave Greeves (from The Morning People) to add sublime slide guitar lines for 2 tracks. Both of those musicians helped make it a proper special gig, and the after show party was equally exuberant. I eventually succumbed to being old, and crashed out on Rob-Eureka-Stockade's sofa at 4am, today has naturally been largely unproductive.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Aidy
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge (Cracking Tunes Christmas gig)
Date: 10/12/10
Audience: Sparse, friendly
Set: Not sure
Notes: After we lost a couple acts from the bill, Aidy kindly stepped in to open the Cracking Tunes Christmas show. Okay, so he's not actually signed to the label, but he's a mate and I drum for him so...anyway, nice little show, sparse audience, could even say dissapointing turnout for an event we were plugging like crazy. But it was friendly enough, with some excellent acts on the bill, and our set itself was well recieved.

Tunes and albums of 2010

It's that time of the year again, where lists are being compiled all over the place. At some point I plan to go through my own personal gig and theatre highlights to see if I've actually achieved anything myself in 2010, but on a less scary/self-obsessed note I strongly believe it's been a good year for music. Every year I compile myself a 'best of' CD with my favourite tunes from the 11 and a bit months that has just flown by, and I have to admit that last year I was slightly disappointed - it was supposed to be my musical highlights of 2009 - a whole year - yet there was the odd filler in there. None of that this year though, it's all solid gold, a delightful mixture of favourite artists still doing the industry proud, sprightly young bands who have made me smile, and established acts whom have previously slipped under my radar. All in all, to fit on an 80 minute CDR for my car, I managed to squeeze 18 songs in, and just for the sake of it here they are:

My favourite songs of 2010 in no particular order:
ED HARCOURT - Haywired
VILLAGERS - Becoming A Jackal
BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Picture Window
SLOW CLUB - Giving Up On Love
JOHN GRANT - Where Do Dreams Go To Die?
MONO TAXI - Love Shows No Mercy To Fools
THE TRAVIS WALTONS - Millionaire
STORNOWAY - Fuel Up
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN - I Want The World To Stop
FYFE DANGERFIELD - High On The Tide
EMMA POLLOCK - Nine Lives
REVERE - The Escape Artist
BADLY DRAWN BOY - It's What I'm Thinking
CHRIS TT - Words Fail Me
DAVID FORD - Hurricane
ELVIS COSTELLO - A Voice In The Dark
LOCAL NATIVES - Aeroplane
THE DIVINE COMEDY - I Like

Listening back to the CD now, it's been an absolutely awesome year for music. Single of the year? Probably got to be MONO TAXI - Love Shows No Mercy To Fools, great single from a band equally as good live as they are on record.

And whilst I'm at it, might as well work out my top 10 albums of the year, simply because I have a night in this evening ahead of the crazy gig stuff, and all my writing deadlines have been hit so I'm actually a little bored. These are in order, simply because I personally think it's important to have a 'favourite album of the year'. Not sure why that's important, but it is to me.

My top 10 albums of the year, in order:
1. DAVID FORD - Let The Hard Times Roll
2. SLOW CLUB - Yeah So
3. BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Lonely Avenue
4. VILLAGERS - Becoming A Jackal
5. THE DIVINE COMEDY - Bang Goes The Knighthood
6. ED HARCOURT - Lustre
7. FYFE DANGERFIELD - Fly Yellow Moon
8. JOHN GRANT - Queen Of Denmark
9. STORNOWAY - Beachcombers Windowsill
10.BELLE & SEBASTIAN - Write About Love

In a different world, Elvis Costello - National Ransom, would be in there, but I'm still getting into it, and in about 2 months time I'm likely to be saying it's the greatest thing I've ever heard - but as with a lot of latter day Costello the joy comes from the time you invest in it. The top two in the above list are very tied - I've been playing Slow Club all year, they're a brilliant band that lull you into a false sense of security by fooling you that they are a twee folk band, but lyrically they are both honest and cutting, whilst tracks like 'Sorry About The Doom' are just beautiful. But David Ford pips it for me - the most complete pop/rock album I've heard in years, played with passion, energy and again it's the lyrics which steal the show. It's an album that got me through a tough month a few months back, and not many albums could have done that, this one summed it up perfectly for me whilst also offering fresh optimism at the same time. Saying that, I was obsessed with Fyfe Dangerfield's debut solo album for a long time in the first half of the year, and how many times have I had Ed Harcourt's latest blaring out of my car as I wished I was him? Lots of times. But then again Villagers could easily have topped my list, as it's probably the album I've played most in 2010. Ahhh, maybe having one favourite isn't such a good idea after all...

More festive good stuff

Dave Gorman said on Twitter earlier that he likes our Christmas album, that's made me happy today.

Chortle

The video for 'mince pie', from the Christmas album, is currently on the front page of Chortle... http://www.chortle.co.uk/?id_news=12320

Another proud moment :-)

A very satisfying weekend

After treating my car to two new headlights on Saturday morning, the weekend was creatively an inspiring one. BBC 6Music very kindly played 'Office Party' from our Christmas album, which was very lovely of them - it was played on the Collins & Herring show, both of whom are legends (I've been a huge fan of Richard Herring for a long time). Then it was a long old rehearsal with the full cast of the Christmas show - the initial fun stage is now typically put aside for the hard work, with the fun to follow again once the guys are all confident with their lines, but it's taking good shape. In the evening I finally got around to writing the Christmas radio script - writing it a day before recording is a bit tight, even by my own standards, but by 1am I had the half an hour piece nailed and went to sleep in a good mood. At 10am we were all in Martin's new studio to record the thing - Martin himself took a good acting role, alongside Juliette and Heather in the leads, and I really feel 'The Christmas/Collar Incident' is a nice play actually, if I may say so myself. It's a lively piece, aimed at younger children, but with some nicer cameo roles - especially 'Jeremy The Evil Greyhound'. The recording was nailed in three swift hours, and is now in the editing process, before being broadcast on Cambridge City Radio at 3pm on Christmas Day. I'm relieved I managed to write it in time - it's my last creative deadline of the year, and one which looked difficult for a while, but it's worked out well. After that I dashed over to Cottenham to start rehearsals with Dousing For Sound - an incredible new music project, which will culminate in a big show at the end of January 2011. The project itself features wild interpretations of relatively obscure songs (ending on a rousing version of 'One Day Like This' by Elbow), performed with an eclectic line-up...and a 40-piece choir. The choir have been rehearsing separately, but it was great to finally meet the band today having been on the books for this project for a short while now. The rehearsal itself was inspiring, an unprecedented level of musicianship on display, and I felt incredibly challenged by the music as it changed from light bongo work to full on drum kit tango grooves, it was incredible and I for one am very much looking forward to the fairly intense rehearsals in January because this could be absolutely amazing. Next year itself is already looking a bit manic, with offers for session drum work for more albums coming in, lots of gigs, an opportunity to write for youth theatre, talk of one of my plays potentially heading to the Leicester Comedy Festival, and the further development of the whole Awkward Christmas project with Helen. For the rest of this year though I suddenly feel stress-free, there's lots of gigs left to be played, there's much Christmas partying with friends in the diary, it's going to be a messy, but enjoyable three weeks or so...

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Haymakers, Cambridge

Bands: Flaming June
Venue: The Haymakers, Cambridge
Date: 03/12/10
Audience: Sparse at first, but fairly busy during the set and extremely responsive
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, The Devil's Daughter, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, Little Love In A Cruel World, The Wizard, The Boy I Knew Before I Met You, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Wednesdays And Weekends, Under My Skin
Notes: As with most Flaming June shows, I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. We were supporting touring band The Moulettes, and shortly after we started playing the audience seemed to get bigger and there was a really nice vibe to proceedings - the lively set met with people dancing and generally getting really into it. We were on the ball tonight as well, we're in good shape - I was a bit lost on 'Little Love In A Cruel World' but nobody would have noticed, the rest of it was pretty sharp. Flaming June put everything into their shows, every last ounce of energy, so whilst from a percussional point of view the songs are relatively simple, the force and speed in which they are played makes for a good workout and I always come off stage drenched in sweat. Which is a good thing. The Moulettes by the way were outstanding - I was going to go home early, but they were an incredible band and well worth checking out. On the way home both of my headlights went, which lead to a slightly concerning drive. The A10 is a very scary road when you're travelling on it in practically complete darkness, will get that sorted tomorrow me thinks...

Gig report: Under The Streetlamp album launch @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Eureka Stockade (acoustic support), Under The Streetlamp (electric headline)
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 02/12/10
Audience: A nice bunch of people from both the 'Streetlamp and 'Stockade camps, plus a random Christmas party
Set: Eureka Stockade - She Got Good, Warm Hands, Through Every Darkness, Broken Pieces, Without You, All Alone, Heroes Fall . Under The Streetlamp - Do I Don't I I Do, Anything Nothing, Sunny Rainy Tuesday, What She Did To You, I Never Win, Last Excuses Of Summer, Wicked Witch Of The West, Honest Lullaby
Notes: Looking back on the above sets, it looks like I played lots of songs tonight, but they just flew by. The debut album from my on/off band Under The Streetlamp, a band that frustrates me but whom I love dearly, was released a couple weeks back, but due to the hectic schedules of all in the group tonight was the closest to the release we had for a launch party. Tom Tilbury opened it with a sterling, honest set which was well received by the large-ish audience (okay, not a huge crowd - but it's a small venue, it felt very busy), I'm very happy I've signed him to the label. I then played congas for Eureka Stockade for our stripped-down, acoustic, trio set (we gave bassist Nathan a night off tonight) which worked really well - at times it was proper flying, especially on 'Through Every Darkness' - that works so well acoustically, who would've thought it? Then it was time for Under The Streetlamp to take the stage. For a band that hasn't rehearsed for months, I thought we were remarkably good - any lack of finnesse that perhaps the 'Streetlamp of a couple years ago had was replaced by good old fashioned energy and enjoyment for what we do. The kit wasn't ideal, so a majority of my fills were snare-based, which made me feel a bit bashy, I'm aware I'm capable of playing a lot better than this. But the songs are just such fun to play - the time signature changes, the humour, I love it and could do it all night, the audience seemed as into it as we were. With a few songs to go, some dickhead from the Christmas party, which seemed to be taking place at the same time as our gig, ran onto the stage and did something to our singer, Jess, which I'd rather not talk about again. It ruined the show, it upset her, it angered the rest of us, it marred what was great little gig. We dropped 'Mostly Twilight' from the set, finished early and went home. Jess did brilliantly to hold herself together after that 'incident', she's a strong girl. It all felt flat afterwards, there was a sense of closure about the whole thing. To me that felt like the final Under The Streetlamp gig, you can just sense it sometimes, it's hard enough getting us all in a room together at all but for the sake of the album we had to tonight. I loved a majority of the evening, and have no doubts that we'll all be drunk together before the year is out, but the ending of tonight was just weird, and a little sad.

The ambulance that just keeps on getting stuck

My play 'An Ambulance Stuck In Traffic', which I originally wrote about 4 years ago, is enjoying a bit of a comeback this year. It was initially written for WriteOn in Cambridge, and enjoyed a couple other Cambs dates before rightly being put to bed (well, sold to the publishers). This year though London Theatre group 'First Draft' have taken it under their wing, with 3 sublime performances in Waterloo, and I've now just been told they're performing it again on December 10th as part of their end of year cabaret show. It's also up for an award that night. Gutted I can't be there to find out if it wins or not, as that's the same night at the Cracking Tunes Christmas gig, but there's a tingly bit of excitement in me at least.

Christmas busy stuff

I thought that by now things would be starting to calm down a bit, but they're actually getting busier than ever, these are crazy busy times. But I like them, a lot, I'm well aware I put myself in these situations. Rehearsals for the Christmas show started alarmingly slowly (unlike last year where it just happened instantly) but I get the feeling, especially after tonight's session with the other play, that we're finding our feet with it. Kevin and Heather in particular are working so hard outside of rehearsals to make this work, and I think it will do. The two plays show both sides to my writing - the main piece, 'Santa Claus, And The Unfortunate Allegations' is the lively, silly one with a daft plot and lots of jokes, whilst the other piece, '(Dawn Palmer Just Wants To Be) Lonely This Christmas' is a gentle, awkward piece, with an honest scenario, and a few big lines but most of it is character-driven stuff. I actually think that '(Dawn Palmer Just Wants To Be)...' is my best piece of writing in years, yet I know full well it's the other piece that people will come out of the show talking about. If people actually turn up, and all those other negative thoughts that I have pre-show. Alongside those two shows, the audience will also be given a CDR of a festive radio comedy that I'm writing that will be broadcast a week later - on Christmas Day, on Cambridge City Radio at 3pm. It's a nice slot to be given. I've not written it yet, but I wrote 'Dawn Palmer...' very quickly, and if we go into the studio next week to record the radio one I'd best start writing it, probably tonight. Yes, writing on a Friday night with a four pack of Carlsberg, Mariah Carey Christmas album and a tube of Pringles. Sad, but this seems to be happening a lot with these deadlines...

Meanwhile all things band are equally busy - the forthcoming Eureka Stockade album is getting a LOT of attention, including festival offers for next year, we always knew it was good (I'm proud of it - a lot of work has gone into this from a lot of people) but this is very exciting. We have the launch gig of that in 2 weeks time, next week it's the launch of the Under The Streetlamp album which is on a much more reserved scale (because we're never in the same room as each other anymore), and then there's the totally massive issue of the Christmas album. The album, 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling' has been one of the most intense, but enjoyable process of my musical career, Helen and Martin are both geniuses, and although the release is now with the distributors there's still much to be done in the means of promotion, Helen and I have gone 50/50 with that side of things but it's going to take a fair old amount of time. It's Christmas though, and I love a bit of Christmas. You can hear half of the Christmas album here by the way: www.reverbnation.com/awkwardchristmas

With the 2 Christmas plays, but the radio play, creatively stretching me, I also have 12 gigs in December. I started this post as a moan, but actually - I love it, I totally love it - it's me doing what I do, and people accepting it. Maybe that's the Carlsberg/Pringles/Mariah Carey talking though.

Gig report: Flaming June @ BBC Radio Suffolk, Ipswich

Band: Flaming June
Venue: BBC Radio Suffolk - Broadcast House, Ipswich
Date: 23/11/10
Audience: It's being broadcast next week, so we'll wait and see I guess.
Set: Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, The Wizard, The Boy I Knew Before I Met You
Notes: Enjoyed that, as I seem to be enjoying most things Flaming June at the moment. I got very lost finding the studio, but was made to feel very welcome when I did get there a fair bit later than everybody else. We were recording a session for The Stephen Foster show, which will air on BBC Radio Suffolk next week at some point, with Louise and Steve also doing a brief interview with him. The fact that the session was pre-recorded ensured it was pressure-free, yet we still played with a fiery energy and confidence that sounded pretty clean on the listen back. Looking forward to hearing it, I felt we all played well tonight.

Artwork for forthcoming Christmas album...

Matt Corrall = genius.

Gig report: Ethan Ash @ CB2, Cambridge

Band: Ethan Ash (duo set)
Venue: CB2, Cambridge
Date: 20/11/10
Audience: Absolutely rammed, so packed it was uncomfortable - in a good way
Set: 10 songs altogether, 5 of which I had the pleasure of playing on (the 4 tracks from the EP - Take Some Time, Hushed Quiet Silence, Dawning, Tried To Get Rid Of Me) and a new track which I can't remember then name of, interspersed with 5 non-drum tracks which Ethan performed solo - 4 tracks from his first EP, and a new song
Notes: Ethan Ash has been the iTunes single of the week all week for his superb single, 'Tried To Get Rid Of Me', which I had the pleasure of performing on, and then releasing on the label. Half way through a mammoth tour of the UK, I was invited to play live with him tonight at the EP launch in his home town, basically playing the songs I recorded with him and one extra track. There's a real buzz about Ethan, he's building a good following, and the show tonight - which was organised by the consistently brilliant Living Room team, was a lovely event. Such is the small venue, it was completely packed, with many having to stand at the back, and there was a great sense of expectation in the air. I loved it tonight, I like playing to crowds that are really up for it, and Ethan's stage presence is top notch, it's very much a gig where I need to be out of the limelight and very much in the background and I worked hard to keep myself quiet, sharp, but funky, and all in all it worked out a treat. I'm knackered.

Christmas stuff

It's been a while since I've updated this properly (apart from gig reports), the last time being when I was struggling to finish the Christmas script. That script, 'Santa, And The Unfortunate Allegations' is now done, and the first rehearsal at the weekend suggested it was a winner - Heather in particular seems to enjoy her returning character of Hitler Judy, and Kev revelled as Jesus. That felt like a tough one to write, but as always a couple late nights, aided by a tipple or two and the 'Best Christmas Album In The World' and it was easy enough. But like my previous Christmas shows, I really want it to be a double bill, so I'm now quickly bashing out an opening play, kind of like a support act. It'll be a lead role for Heather, simply because she's keen, very good and more to the point able to learn it quickly - she'll have about three weeks to nail it, once I've finished writing the thing. It's called '(Dawn Palmer Just Wants To Be) Loneley This Christmas' and I'm very pleased with the concept, just need to do the idea justice - and more to the point - find the time to do so. It's been a crazy few weeks, with much to be done still before I can relax a bit. The 'Awkward Christmas...' album is nearly there - Helen's now back from Thailand and is going to re-record the odd backing vocal before it's mixed, ideally it'll be completely sorted this week so I can get it to the distributor in time for a festive release, but things are cutting it a little tight. I never thought I'd say this, but Christmas is coming a little too early for my liking. Both Christmas shows need intensive rehearsals too before I'd be confident enough to start selling tickets for them.

In the meantime, the Under The Streetlamp debut album was released on Monday after a couple scary hitches in getting everything ready in time - which is remarkable I left things this late since we recorded it in February. It's out now, anyway. And also Ethan Ash - who I drum for, and have on my label, is currently iTunes 'single of the week' all this week, which is a totally amazing thing, that I have known about for a while, but very happy it's actually happened, will be interesting to see how this affects sales. I'm playing drums for him at the EP launch this Friday and it's a gig I've been looking forward to for a very long time, and the rehearsals were great. The Eureka Stockade album is done, back from mastering, and should be set up for a pre-order before the end of the week in time for it's preferred release date. The 'Awkward Christmas...' album still needs a bit of PR work, as well as actually finishing. This is a stressful week - but in a good way, I'm buzzing from it all, whilst completely knackered. If I get all the albums sent to the distrubtor, and finish the other Christmas show, and make good progress on the radio Christmas special (which will be broadcast on Cambridge City Radio at 3pm on Christmas Day...must make it good then) by the end of the week, the rest of the year will just be plain sailing. But since when was anything that simple?

Gig report: Aidy @ The Punter, Cambridge

Band: Aidy (trio set)
Venue: The Punter, Cambridge (headline)
Date: 17/11/10
Audience: Just like the venue - lovely, and charming
Set: Not sure
Notes: I really enjoyed this gig, I'd never been to The Punter before and it's a lovely place that is remarkably easy for me to get to. The acoustic event, with 5 acts playing in the 'barn' area, found us play to a nice audience, on the bill with top quality acts, and everybody felt very comfortable. Aidy was on good form tonight, with the ancedotes well recieved by the audience and with enough humour for it to be enjoyable whilst never interfering with the songs. I came out of this one smiling, it was an easy gig, but we played well (on a personal level probably the best I've played for Aidy) and felt very welcome throughout.

Gig report: Flaming June @ B-Bar, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: B-Bar, Cambridge (house band for comedy night)
Date: 14/11/10
Audience: Frankly amazing. Seated, responded well, wonderful
Set: Not sure exactly, but 20 minutes at the start, 3 songs at the end of the first batch of 5 comedians before the interval, and then a 20 minute set at the end
Notes: Got back from this gig about an hour ago, and I'm still buzzing from it now. I really, really enjoyed tonight, probably because I wasn't expecting to. It had been a long day of Christmas play rehearsals, alongside a slight hangover, and carrying congas from the multistory down the road as well as helping my mate Alan carry the lights for the show meant I had dead arms before the gig even started, but it turned into an absolute cracker. We were the house band for the comedy night, which sees 10 new comedians do their thing. Originally I was supposed to be playing this gig with Lu, but sadly she's ill at the moment, so one of my other bands - Flaming June, stepped in at pretty short notice. The audience tonight, a packed house in the function room of B-Bar, were a comedy audience, but they took to us instantly and even when we played the final set after the comedy (when they really could have left and gone to the bar if they wanted) a large majority of them not only stayed for the whole thing, but really got into it. I'm proud to be in Flaming June, we were on absolute fire tonight - it was incredibly hot and a little uncomfortable with those lights (yep, the ones I helped carry) burning on us, we all came out of it drenched in sweat - but it was full-throttle Flaming June tonight, Louise in particular was in incredible form, fiery, witty songs, and the crowd really took to it. She even taught the audience a fairly complex chorus to a song I'd never played with them before, and then the whole room bellowed it out - it was a lovely moment, it was a top-notch gig all round. More of that, please.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ High Barn, Great Bardfield

Band: Eureka Stockade (with guest Anna Scott on cello)
Venue: High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
Date: 12/11/10
Audience: A fair amount of them, very respectful, seated
Set: (without cello) She Got Good, Erotomania, Violence, (with cello) Broken Pieces, Warm Hands, All Alone, Without You, Through Every Darkness, Heroes Fall
Notes: High Barn is and has been for a good while my favourite venue, tonight was the second time I've had the pleasure of playing there and the fourth time altogether I've drummed there (having worked on the Lu recording sessions at the venue earlier this year). We headlined tonight, which was a lovely thing, and the brilliant Anna Scott, who played on our album (to be released December 6th) joined us for most of the set after a successful rehearsal during the week. The support acts were all very young, making us feel very old, the audience were reserved but polite enough to make us feel welcome. The sound was great, we were a bit off the pace for the first tune, but by the time we were at 'All Alone' I felt we were really flying, and Anna's performance was consistantly great. I was a bit caveman-like in my playing tonight, far too bashy, but I doubt anybody noticed - in fact some audience members were extremely complimentary afterwards. Capped off the evening by not getting lost, which is a huge bonus and a first for me at that venue, although I did cheat and follow Nathan the bassist.

Christmas script

I just looked back on what I wrote on here exactly a year ago today...this time last year I was in a terrible mess, trying to write the Christmas show and struggling for inspiration. One year later, and it's an identical situation. I've been working on this script for a week now, it's a comedy called 'The Day The Carol Singers Stole Christmas', I've got every festive hit blaring out to the extent that I'm expecting my landlady to complain, I've tried caffeine, I've tried alcohol, I've tried sleep...the idea is a goodun, probably my best yet. But can I fucking write it? Of course not. The show opens on the 17th December, the cast want/need the script. I've got a million other things on the go. I'm stressed. I probably shouldn't be writing this and actually getting on with it.

Under The Streetlamp - album artwork

Excellent artwork for our forthcoming debut album, courtesy of Mr. Chris Boland...

Recording 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling'

Well, that was a manic three days. For the others at least, for me it was very much a case of working hard on the first day, and then sitting in the corner eating Pringles for the other two and watching the magic unfold. And some of it was actually proper magic - Christmassy magic, that is. It's very strange - I've been working on the writing of this album with the ridiculously talented Helen Arney for a couple months now after I saw her set at the Cambridge Comedy Festival and realised that any comedy songwriter who sings songs about Ben Folds and The Divine Comedy is somebody I have to collaborate with. It's very strange because here we are, just a few months later, after writing sessions in Helen's home of London and here in Cambridge, alongside the odd phone conversation and simply loads of emails, and now the project is actually coming to life. My role in this has been a bit different - I'm no songwriter, see, but from a playwright perspective the plots and concepts of the whole piece have then been built upon by Helen and together with the odd scribbling from yours truly she's built them into big, proper, amazing songs, which I'm thrilled and frankly flattered to be given a co-writers credit of. It's being promoted as a collaboration between the new Victoria Wood (Arney) and the new Alan Bennett (Richards). But for every Wood and Bennett there needs to be a Phil Spector - and in my old chum Martin Randle we've had that for the last 3 days. I've known Martin for years, he was my bandmate in Glowsticks going way back to 2002, and more recently he mixed my radio sitcom (which launches at the end of the month, by the way), whilst constantly being a very close friend. He's built a new studio and I just fancied recording this one there - I'm really glad we did. Without him, it would have been an acoustic-ish session, probably with ukulele and congas. But all of Helen's massive ideas for arrangements have not only been realised by Martin, but encouraged and built upon. Our album, 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling', is sounding huge - every arrangement carefully built upon, it goes from the beautiful 'Too Scared To Build A Snowman' (which reminds me of something from the Divine Comedy's 'Absent Friends' album), to the tango of 'Christmas 1994', the jazz of 'Only Monopoly', the Ben Folds-esque stomp of 'Microwave Christmas Dinner For One', the subtle acoustic 'Office Party' and then theres the single - 'Traditional Family Christmas Argument' which is the most Christmassy thing you can possibly imagine, it's very Slade, it's very Wizard, there's a hint of Mariah Carey in there...it's got a fake kids choir and everything! And there's more too - this wasn't supposed to be an advert, but I'm buzzing, the title track (which comes in 3 parts, ending in a good old fashioned family singalong around a piano) has been stuck in my head all day, and the bounciness of 'Only Way To Spend Christmas Day' not only trickles along delightfully in the same way that Simon & Garfunkel did with 'Cecilia' but it also manages to (potentially) offend major airlines in the process. Helen is a genius, Martin is a genius, I'm a scruff bag with the odd idea and a caffeine habit, together I think we've created something big and special. Not just us, of course, Terry Saunders guest vocal on 'Office Party' is a treat, Tom McDonnell's vocal on 'Only Monopoly' has enough clarity to make him the next Neil Hannon but with enough soul and spirit to suggest he's a modern-day Shane McGowan, Kat Arney's guest harp playing is shivers down the spine stuff. My brief vocal moments (including my high-pitched stuff for the kids choir) may need a bit of fixing. Of course it's been stressful, try recording 11 songs in 3 days with these arrangements, and of course there's been tension and points when people need space, and times when the playwright/drummer guy feels like he's in the way, but the result will be worth it. I'm back in the studio next week to add sleigh bells, and then sit around as the mixing begins. The album is released on the 29th November, I can honestly say that we've worked very, very hard on this one...

It's got me all festive, this has, and has reminded me that I have a Christmas play being performed on the 17th and 19th December in Cambridge. It's a typical Richards affair following in the decent success of the last two years ('On the 12th Day Of Alex' from 2008 is still the best thing I've ever written, last year's went down a storm but I still feel it was slightly below par) so in between watching vocal takes today I've been working on the scripts, and pity the poor actors who won't have long to learn them. But I really think 'The Day The Carol Singers Stole Christmas' is a shambolic comedy winner, I'm excited already, especially in casting Kevin Wright as Jesus as he SO looks the part. Before that though I need to have my record label cap on, with the Under The Streetlamp album, the Eureka Stockade album, the Helen Arney & Paul Richards Christmas album, the Ethan Ash EP and the Trip 35's single all being released on Cracking Tunes before the end of the year. It's going to be an awkward Christmas? It's going to be hectic Christmas...

Currently watching: Whites (best BBC2 sitcom in years), Reggie Perrin (top-class 2nd series of the remake, after a concerning first, I always knew Martin Clunes could pull it off)
Currently reading: first drafts of scripts in a state of panic
Currently listening to: David Ford - Let The Hard Times Roll, Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat

Gig report: Aidy @ Internet broadcast gig

Band: Aidy (with full band)
Venue: Internet live broadcast gig - in Aidy's house
Date: 30/10/10
Audience: According to the online statistics, we peaked at 10 people, but the average was 8 loyal supporters watching online
Set: Not sure, 10 tracks - 9 original and then a request (from one of the 8 audience members) for a cover of Novocaine For The Soul (by Eels) which we bashed through
Notes: Our big Halloween gig was cancelled a couple days ago, and with a lack of alternative venue to play we decided to play a show in Aidy's house - and broadcast it live to the entire world. Which in theory, could be the biggest audience ever, as the world is massive. Statistics show that we played to 10 people, and I was happy enough with this - those 10 people are sat at home on a Saturday night and have decided to give up half an hour of their time to login and watch us play some tunes. And 10 people is more of an audience than the Windsor gig last month, and we didn't have to travel or anything for this one (okay, Aidy didn't have to travel, the rest of us had to make the short distance to the street across the road from the Portland Arms). Performance-wise it was the first time I've played drums for Aidy, having previously played congas for him. I hadn't rehearsed, but I'm familiar with the songs anyway and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, especially as it came after a stressful studio session so it was great to let loose. 'Prettyish' is a really good song by the way, I realised that tonight, not sure what our Internet 'fans' thought, but the four of us in the room had a great time at least and I think that showed.

Gig report: Lu @ Troubadour Club, London

Band: Lu
Venue: The Troubadour Club, Earls Court, London
Date: 28/10/10
Audience: Lovely, lots of them too
Set: The Epic, You, Twinkle Twinkle, Beyond, Ain't Dancing, My Love
Notes: With all things family illness looking like they're on the right track (as of Tuesday, to be precise) I've thrown myself back into gig and recording commitments. Sadly last night's La Raza show with my mate Neil was cancelled at the last minute due to a double booking, but tonight it was good to get back on stage after a couple weeks out and play to a lovely audience. I had issues finding the venue - I was walking around for a very long time (although my thanks must go to the lovely newsagent who not only pointed me in the right direction, but then realised I was going the wrong way so ran down the street shouting "no, the other way you idiot!" several times before making sure I found the right street - although being called an idiot by a total stranger is never nice, his heart was clearly in the right place) and carrying a snare, cymbals, sticks and bass pedal around everywhere - including the tube, is never ideal and my arms now ache considerably. Any frustration though was soon forgotten as soon as I entered the venue, as the Troubadour is a lovely place, with lovely people, big enough to feel like it's 'somewhere' but small enough to feel intimate. Although due to being an hour later I missed the soundcheck, the soundman was good enough to make everything feel seamless, and the rest of the drum kit that was lent to me for half an hour by the support act was a decent Mapex offering so all in all very comfortable. It felt really busy tonight but the good thing was a lot of people weren't there for a specific band - they just turn up expecting good music, and I'd like to think we contributed well to that. We weren't that tight - lets be honest about that, one rehearsal in a few months is going to mean we're a little rusty, and the first track was a bit awkward. But by the time we hit 'Beyond' we had locked in and were flying. I might also add that Lu, despite recent throat problems (hence the lack of shows recently) was in exceptional voice tonight, and her stage presence is top-notch too. Good fun, exhausting trips there and back, but this is a review of the gig, not my evening in general, and the gig itself was lovely. It was also recorded, possibly for a live EP, but I'll have to hear how many mistakes I made first before seeing if it should go public...

Tomorrow (well, today I guess) we start the intense recording of the Christmas album. We're recording it in a studio that was only finished being built this week, and I'm still not sure if our engineer knows about the brass, strings and guest vocalists that we have booked in. Still, it's a challenge I guess.

Tough week, this

I was expecting to be writing a review of the second Cornerhouse Comedy Collective show this evening, instead I'm sat back at my parents' house reflecting on what has been a tough week. For the sake of my family privacy I can't go into details, but a member of my immediate family has been in hospital all week - having had a big operation a couple weeks ago which has gone horribly wrong, so this week the surgeons have been trying to fix things. It's difficult not to feel angry; that person goes in for an op, and two weeks later they have to go back in for a much bigger, serious op just to repair the damage from the first one. Human error - it can happen any time, in any profession, but when I cock up at work (which let's be honest, is plenty of times) it can't cause physical damage to somebody. That's probably why I'm not a doctor, I'm not brainy enough and certainly not brave enough, but human error scares me when one of the people I am most closest to in the world, if not the closest, has to suffer very badly when somebody gets it wrong. It's been a tough week. I've pulled out of every commitment, be it theatre or music, and if anything all this has reminded me that I probably have too much on - I've had to pull out of a lot, which ultimately just gets stacked up to next week, and I doubt I'll be at my best for much of it. Every thing I've pulled out of though has been met with great friendship from those who know the situation - people are lovely, people do understand I'm stressing a bit. Have no idea how the Cornerhouse comedy went tonight, although I must mention Michelle Golder who I called at 5pm realising we were both an act and a host down, she stepped in and took control for me - I owe her beer, lots of it, not many people could do that. A friend, who went to the show, text me "dude, you forgot to hire the audience", which suggested it was an awkward night for the comedians who have generously travelled a fair distance to do a gig in front of what is most likely to be (judging by the Facebook page) 3 people - I've promoted the comedy show a great deal, if people don't want a comedy night in Cambridge they won't turn up, it's as simple as that, so let's not bother in the future, it's just a waste of everybodies time. I got that text whilst visiting in hospital. The person I was visiting had come out of the major operation successfully and was even a bit chatty, next week we may even have them back home with us. I'm relieved, nothing else feels anywhere near as important right now.

Gig report: Flaming June @ High Barn, Great Bardfield

Band: Flaming June
Venue: High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
Date: 14/10/10
Audience: Folkie types, lots of them, lovely
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, You Do Moody So Well, Wednesdays And Weekends, The Wizard, Under My Skin
Notes: A really good gig this one, one of those proper good gigs that are fairly infrequent but are an absolute treat when they do pop up. I sensed it would be though because High Barn is simply the most beautiful venue I've ever been to, let alone played. It's not massive, but it's got a lovely big stage size, the whole barn thing they've got going on not only looks special but enables it to have great acoustics, and the whole vibe of the place is artistically inspiring. The sound quality on stage was great too, partly thanks to the venue but also thanks to the excellent soundman who was patient and worked with us to create the best sound possible. The gig itself was part of the folk evening - we were the guest band, before (and I assume after us but I left shortly after our set) everybody sat off stage and sang a song or two, it was joyfully gentle and good spirited. Then we took to the stage area for our invited guest slot and it really worked tonight - we're well rehearsed which helps, and on a personal level with it being my second gig with the band I'm now really comfortable with the set and can start to throw in the odd artistic flourish. The more I start to understand the songs Louise has written the more I like them, they've really grown on me - they're a tad eccentric, often quite narky, but always littered with a full-on sense of energy, at times it's like being part of some dark cabaret show. I love it, anyway, and tonight on a big stage in front of a receptive, large-ish audience, it all came together nicely. Drive home less fun - why can I never get myself home from somewhere which is apparently 32 miles away from my home? Well obviously I did get home eventually, but it took nearly an hour and a half and the route my Sat Nav took me on was just crazy, and I swear that wasn't an 'exit' I came off to get onto the M11...anyway, mustn't let those niggly things mar what was a top class show.

Gig report: The Trip 35's @ The Boot Inn, Histon

Band: The Trip 35's
Venue: The back room of The Boot Inn, Histon
Date: 12/10/10
Audience: Sparse, far too polite
Set: A Good Storm, Free Parking, 4.59pm, Jim's Routine, The Simplest Of Things, Missing Each Other, Teddy Sheringham
Notes: Our first ever gig as 'The Trip 35's', and by 'we' I mean Rich Conway (vocals, guitar), Chris Lilley (fiddle, vocals) and me (congas, spoken word stuff). Having recorded the album in the summer we've been besieged by various problems, such as family illnesses and all of us being far too busy, so went into this gig with merely one rehearsal. It showed. We were certainly more than a bit rough around the edges, and the spoken word stuff I do on two tracks only confirms that some things are best left as audio projects as those bits didn't work at all. Saying that, the songs are nice, and little glimmers of real energy (such as when Chris went into a fiddle tangent at the end of 'Teddy Sheringham' and raised the tempo considerably) suggests that with 3 or 4 rehearsals we could be a really good live act. On Tuesday, sadly, we weren't, but the audience were still lovely. All 7 of them.

Slow Puncture @ WriteOn/ADC Theatre

It's been a while since I've submitted any new material to WriteOn, the Cambridge theatre group who do lovely things for new writers such as give their work performances. The main reason behind this was because I'm keen to avoid routine, I am getting routine at the moment - and I think this could be dangerous for my creativity. At the last minute before the submission deadline though I couldn't help myself and sent over my very latest short script, I think just to keep my name out there, just to see this piece performed and - perhaps more truthfully, I just love the nervous tension of watching my own work on stage. The piece itself was a monologue called 'Slow Puncture', it's about a slow puncture (oddly enough), and a man who can't change a tyre and accidently gets himself into a bit of a tangle by thinking that the girl driving in front him think's he's following her. He's awkward, thinking far too much, spirals off into brief moments of fantasy and panic, before there's a polite modest conclusion. Typical Paul Richards play really, and perhaps my fears of writing with a sense of routine are fully justified, but I've certainly nailed that akward young man character totally now, having written for 'him' about 15 times in the last couple of years. And the audience all seemed to love it, one person even said it was the best thing I've ever written. I asbolutely don't agree at all, but I'll happily take the compliment anyway.

First ever 'Cornerhouse Comedy Collective' show

I didn't really want to be the producer of these shows, I say that in all honesty - I commit to a lot by accident, and this one suddenly ended up being something I've ended up doing. But the need for a new regular run of comedy in Cambridge is needed, I think, after the demise of the excellent 'Lol-a-thon', organised by my mate Andy which was always something I enjoyed. Tonight was the first ever proper comedy show at the Cornerhouse, and due to the fact that I've been wrapped up in a family serious operation thingy all week I've not had time to promote, so it's a miracle anybody turned up at all. A couple of the comedians looked at the stage, and then looked at the function room around the back and suggested we do the show there instead; it's a tiny space, with no PA, but it worked. It really worked tonight. We had acts from East London, Yorkshire, Portsmouth, and a few more local people performing in front of an audience of 11 people. But it worked. Tiny space, friendliness all around, a really good vibe in the air, all 6 acts were amazing so those who did turn up were treated especially well. It shouldn't have worked at all, tiny audience, venue probably not suitable, but sometimes if people want to have a good evening, they will, and tonight both the audience and acts were on the same side and it was a lovely thing. Looking forward to the next one now, this could be the start of something both special, and time consuming.

Gig report: Aidy @ Oxjam, Cambridge

Band: Aidy (duo set)
Venue: Oxjam @ The Haymakers, Chesterton, Cambridge
Date: 01/10/10
Audience: Good crowd for an early set, enthusiastic enough
Set: Not sure
Notes: A very quick 20 minute gig to open at the very worthy Oxjam event at the Haymakers, raising money for Oxfam. Playing as a duo, with Aidy on acoustic guitar/vocals and me on a single conga, we briskly bashed out a few songs to kick things off. Nice easy gig, that one.

Gig report: Aidy @ BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Band: Aidy
Venue: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (studio 1)
Date: 31/09/10
Audience: Probably thousands (on FM radio)
Set: Pain In My Heart, Prettyish, 3 Years
Notes: Confused by the fact the BBC moved studios, I was a bit late for this and was lucky that I still ended up playing despite turning up as the radio show started. It was the last ever 'Audio Files' show to be broadcast on a Thursday, it's a show which has been great for the Cambridge music scene and one which I've had the privilege of playing with both Under The Streetlamp and The Damsons in the past. This one seemed far more informal than previous events, the atmosphere was nice and because of this we played pretty well I think. 3 songs, good vibe, much enjoyed.

Sitcom stuff

So the radio sitcom is finally done...written in February, recorded in July and then mixed in September. A lot of work has gone into this project, alongside the actors (Colin, Steve, Az, Vaughan), myself with the writing, the engineer (Alan) and then more recently our editor (Martin), and it's a lovely feeling to know all 5 episodes are completely mixed, with theme tune (a highly edited version of 'She Got Good' by Eureka Stockade from our forthcoming album) and lots of clever sound bits. The editing process is something which I found difficult in all honesty, and I wasn't even the one doing it. It was the cutting process, every episode now times in at exactly 13 minutes, making it perfect for the radio station that are going to be broadcasting it (and any online activity afterwards), as a result it's really sharp and at a nice tempo, and there's no rambling bits whatsoever. It's all good, I know it is, but considering the recordings of some of them were originally 17 minutes, it was clear we had to cut a lot of material from it and I can't help but feel we've thrown away some really good stuff, and some terrible jokes which needed to be cut anyway. It's a harsh learning curve for a writer, a frustrating but invaluable process. The results are good though (I hope), and 'The Modest Adventures Of Patrick & Cameron' will finally go public in November. One concern though is that the only person who isn't within the team who has heard it so far really, really disliked it for many reasons. Time will tell I guess if it's going to go further, or if it'll flop, or perhaps it'll just do what our show 'Cat Food' did at the Brighton Fringe this year which is never succeed or fail dramatically, but just get completely ignored by anybody with any kind of influence. Either way - I've been saying for ages I've wanted to have a sitcom out there, and even if this is starting on a relatively small scale, it's a very satisfying tick on the checklist of creativity.

Gig report: Trystonbury Festival, Windsor

Bands: Eureka Stockade, Aidy
Venue: Trystonbury Festival, Windsor
Date: 25/09/10
Audience: Sparse, friendly
Sets: Eureka Stockade - not sure of the order but it was identical to the recent Cracking Tunes showcase gig with one extra track, 'Sharks' added. Aidy - I've only had one rehearsal so not sure of the song names just yet...
Notes: A nice idea this one, and glad we did it. Long drive to Windsor, being delayed constantly by accidents and roadworks, Trystonbury is a very small - but equally very friendly festival that I felt instantly welcome at. Being the first and second acts on, both of the bands I played with played to next-to-nothing audiences, but even so those who were there seemed to be enjoying themselves and I imagine it was a brilliant atmosphere later in the evening (sadly I couldn't stay and get drunk with the others due to an important commitment back in Cambs). Eureka Stockade's set was tight and likable enough although we all know we can play a lot better than this, and I was very aware of the fact that I was so close to the edge of the stage and was extremely lucky not to fall of it on various occasions so I couldn't put every energy into it. Playing for Aidy afterwards found me on congas, not drums, so had a little more space and generally relaxed more into his wordy, itchy, guitar-led songs which I'm starting to get the hang of (a couple gigs next week with him and his band should see me really hit the groove running). Unlike some festivals I've played at over the years, the organisers of Trystonbury are remarkably friendly, and the setting is nice too, which suggests it could grow into something rather brilliant.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 21/09/10
Audience: Grew as the set continued, very enthusiastic, some of them were really, really into it
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, The Devils Daughter, You Do Moody So Well, Hit The Ground, Nerves Of Steel, The Wizard, Little Love In A Cruel World, Insane Ex Girlfriend Parade, Wednesdays & Weekends, Under My Skin
Notes: My first gig with Flaming June, a band I've had 2 rehearsals with - and a band I originally met many years ago when we shared the bill at the Boat Race (2002 I think, now I feel old). I really like this little four piece, I'm playing congas a lot at the moment but there's something about the FJ material that really lends itself to percussion, more so than most - although the band is deeply rooted in rich folk influences, Louise writes really angry songs in the vein of PJ Harvey and the whole thing culminates in a really exuberant (and when performing, knackering) set. I knew most of the set pretty well, there was a couple grey areas after the couple rehearsals we've had (the stops in Wednesdays & Weekends, and I completely missed the ending of Little Love...) but for a first gig it was really pretty strong I think and we all seemed pretty happy after. The lively audience helped a great deal, and the sound as always at the Portland was excellent, looking forward to our next show in a few weeks time now. Gutted I couldn't stay for the headline band but I've got a million (okay, 2) big writing deadlines that I just haven't had time to work on, this could be a long night...

Sitcom mixing

Yesterday we started mixing the sitcom and I have to say I am a very happy man at the moment; 2 episodes nailed in the 7 and a bit hours. It feels like we actually recorded it ages ago, even though it was actually July, but finding the time to mix and do this project justice has always been an issue. Yesterday though I took the short trip down to Martin Randle's lovely cottage and we started work on it - the man's a genius, I'd like to think the raw materials we gave him in the first place was pretty good, but now it's tight, the ambiance of the whole piece is perfect, it has a nice energy to it, I'm buzzing and am pretty clear the whole radio thing is the way to go. We've mixed the first 2 instalments; 'Anna' and 'Text With The Ex' and should have another 2 done this Thursday, with the dramatic conclusion next week. This should all be ready for the launch in November, very exciting stuff.

Otherwise all still busy here, was in London on Friday to start work on a Christmas album with the brilliant Helen Arney, the album is called 'Darling, It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas' and we've basically got about 5 weeks to write and record it but it seems to have started well, and I just need to nail the tour script for early November - it's called 'Robert's Room' and is taking shape nicely, but just a bit slowly and I sense the cast may be starting to get a bit worried about the timescale we're working to...

Gig report: Under The Streetlamp @ B-Bar, Cambridge

Bands: Under The Streetlamp
Venue: B-Bar, Cambridge
Date: 12/09/10
Audience: Seated, fairly polite, despite us being very much a sideshow to the comedy
Set: 3 short sets, a fairly unprepared range of covers and originals
Notes: This was a weird gig. We were on the bill of a new comedy night - where 9 brand new comedians, who have never before performed, bravely took to the stage after a weekend of intensive training. I might add, most of them were pretty good, particularly my old mucker Steve Matthew, who is a very surreal man. Under The Streetlamp performed as the audience walked in, during the interval, and 4 songs at the end. Due to the fact that we were only asked yesterday morning if we could do this gig, our bassist Chris couldn't make it, so we played acoustically - with Alister on the venue's upright piano, me on congas and Jess singing, we were a tad unprepared for this arrangement but got through it with relative ease - mostly because we felt so relaxed. Yes, there were times when we were very much the backing to people's conversations, but there was always generous applause and it was certainly one of the more easier gigs I've ever played.

Gig report: Cracking Tunes gig @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Bands: Under The Streetlamp, Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 11/09/10
Audience: Plenty of them, sweaty
Sets: Under The Streetlamp - Sunny Rainy Tuesday, I Never Win, Anything Nothing, Do I Don't I I Do, Mostly Twilight, Last Excuses Of Summer, Honest Lullaby. Eureka Stockade - can't remember, but it was 9 songs, opening with She Got Good and ending with Heroes Fall.
Notes: A bloody good night, that was. With my label, Cracking Tunes, starting to become more publicly prominent, I put on a night of some of the acts we've signed recently at the intimate, but lively Cornerhouse in Cambridge. There was four bands altogether, in between my bands there was a brilliant set from the ever consistent Tom Tilbury and a full-throttle set from the frighteningly tight Lost Weekend. Under The Streetlamp, appearing second, were unrehearsed (despite our intentions - although getting all four of us in a room at the same time seems to be an issue at the moment) but we've been playing these songs on and off for a couple years now and we just slotted back into them relatively comfortably. It was incredibly hot up there - which may have drained our performance slightly, but the audience took to us and we responded well I think, I still love this band very much. After the Lost Weekend did their thing, I was back up again with Eureka Stockade, who were marginally more rehearsed (ie; we rehearsed on Tuesday for a session that was nothing short of worrying) and we fought through the humidity, we were all drenched in our own sweat by the end of it. But it was a decent show - a little shaky at the start, but technically probably the best we've ever played. It was a longer set for us, but we're hitting form again after a bit of a break, and on a personal level it's really good for me to be back hitting drums in front of a good audience again after what feels like six months of studio work and light conga playing. Good stuff. I'm already thinking we should do another Cracking Tunes gig soon - there's something about the title 'Have A Cracking Christmas' that I like the idea of very much.

Lodestar Festival

It finished a couple days ago, yet I'm still feeling like I'm recovering from it. Yes, that's how good Lodestar Festival was this weekend, a creatively inspiring two and a bit days surrounded by lovely people, great bands and some top-notch theatrics. On a personal level, my own shows seem to go down very well - 'Clowns' didn't feel too good on stage as we felt we were being drowned out a little by the main stage which was diagonally behind us, but the audience didn't seem to mind, kept with it (and there was plenty of them too) and even said nice things after which was a relief. I wasn't comfortable being the narrator, a concern previously expressed, but with other options falling through I had very little choice - still not sure if it worked with me at the helm or not but if it goes further (which it looks like it's going to) we'll bring in a proper actor, leaving me to play the congas. On the Sunday things seemed much more peaceful, and our comedy 'Year Of The Rat' sailed by with a nice audience and everyone happy - I'm particularly happy that I wrote scripts of the more boisterous nature for this event as instant comedy seems to be the way forwards with festival crowds. I also played a gig with Jon Orchard whilst there - it's been a while, and we were a touch unrehearsed, but in keeping with the Lodestar vibe it was a nice experience and much fun was had, he writes some top tunes and it was great to be on stage alongside him. Outside of putting on shows, other productions which I had recommended/booked for the event went down a storm - my old mate from Wales, Tracy put on some excellent theatre, as did the ever brilliant Gytha Lodge with her award-winning 'Otherwise' production, The Gamlingay Players put on two top-notch comedies, and the finale for the Arts Stage was a comedy triple bill with three mates - Jen Spencer, Julia Bolden and David Trent all storming it. This on top of frighteningly brilliant bands all over the place, much social fun and banter till the early hours and wonderful hospitality from the organisers and I drove back from Lodestar with no voice, having had very little sleep, but the happiest I've felt in years.

Lodestar preview performances

Feels like a good while since I've updated this, but naturally that only means that I've been too busy to sign in, rather than it being nothing interesting is happening. Generally, things are in okay shape I think - a lot of the releases I've been drumming on this year have stared to emerge - Under The Streetlamp's album is very exciting and will be released on November 13th, Ethan Ash's new material is also sounding decent and that will be released on the same day, and the Eureka Stockade album isn't far off either and what a treat that sounds - that's set for a 6th December release, so much musically about to erupt I think. That, and some nice gigs coming up too including playing for Jon Orchard at Lodestar Festival next weekend, a festival in Windsor with Eureka Stockade and High Barn with Flaming June, plus the London stuff with Lu, mustn't grumble. Will though, can always do with more of this...

Anyway, tonight was the Lodestar preview performance of the 2 plays I'm putting on at the festival next weekend. I really had no idea what to think ahead of today - the music for Clowns had been rehearsed twice but without all the actors apart from the brilliant Kimberly Dobson who very kindly stepped in to play Clown-ette Miranda to perfection. Our other show, The Year Of The Rat, hadn't been touched at all. I arrived at midday today, with the worst hangover in history courtesy of a party at Rob-Eureka-Stockade's house last night, and then spent five hours in awe of how good these actors are. I had a feeling for a while that The Year Of The Rat was a bit of a return to form on the writing side of things, because I've written a lot of shite this year, and even in it's loosest first draft sense I could see the ideas come to life. But it was the cast who made it - Marto, Heather, Colin, Vaughan - it's their energy and willingness to make the show work. It was always supposed to be a 'fun' show, and they just shared my vision completely - in many respects it's the silliest thing I've ever written, and there's no denying bits of it don't work (like the 'Short Horror Play') but when performed with so much wit and passion it was generally always going to be a good evening. Heather's performance of a character called Hitler ("Hi, I'm Hitler but you can call me Judy") is up there with some of my highlights of the year. After 5 hours of rehearsing that show, we moved onto Clowns in which Vaughan and Colin were joined by Kimberly and also the live backing band - Bryan, Marcus, Ali and myself. In what is an extremely ambitious project, we seemed to nail it in two quick run-throughs, I'm really relieved about this one and can sense the cast are too because spoken word musicals are a bit of a change of direction. Again, the energy was there, and although I'm not comfortable as the narrator (I have since made a move for another actor to do it), I'm pretty happy with how it all went tonight and am genuinely excited about Lodestar next weekend now. Tonight we barely promoted the show because I was a bit unsure of the material, we played to a small-ish audience (although always a pleasure to see those who come to every show I do support my work once again) in a venue which I love but we've worked at loads of times. It's not new territory, but my recent fatigue has gone straight out the window - creativity and the danger of live performance is a complex beast, but sometimes when it works it's a bit of a treat.

First 'Clowns' rehearsal...

...and what a relief that was, to know that the concept actually works. Musically at least. The show premieres officially at the Lodestar Festival on September 4th, but we've got a preview date coming up on 29th August. The cast themselves haven't been involved, but tonight myself and the musicians - Alister Bunclark, Bryan Shore and Marcus Hood pretty much nailed the music, now just need to tweek the script a little bit as I spotted one or two consistancy errors, and get the actors in for next week's session. Spoken word musical? Easy. Almost too easy. Plenty can go wrong yet though.

Currently listening to: Ethan Ash - new recordings, Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom, Chris TT's new album, Randy Newman - Harps & Angels

Currently watching: Shooting Stars, Gavin & Stacey, The Brittas Empire, Match Of The Day (welcome back, season, I've missed you)

Currently reading: Gary Lineker - Still Dreaming (an honest book about why England failed at the World Cup)

August 12th

August 12th 2000: picture the scene, if you'd be so kind. St. Ives: a small, reasonably friendly market town just outside of Cambridgeshire. 6 young lads have hired the Corn Exchange, the biggest public building in the town centre, they've hired bouncers and a bar, they've got a set of songs they've been nurturing in a nearby village hall for a good few months. There's been drunken chats of world domination, there's been sober chats of world domination. The world is there for the taking. Alighting; a 6 piece band, are playing their first ever gig, and instead of playing a support slot or crappy pub gig like you're supposed to for a debut, they've hired a big building and are headlining the thing. It takes remarkable courage, but the band don't ever consider this - it's a special night, it's a special time, the scale of it is fully understood but the daunting nature of the evening that was to follow is lost in adrenaline. On drums, a 19-year-old Paul Richards; scruffy, wearing a stupid hat, rubbish at office jobs, completely in love with drums. That night was the first gig any of us had ever played, thinking back now technically I doubt it wasn't much to offer, but sometimes technicalities don't mean a thing when the raw passion and energy of young men going out as a team for the first time comes into it. A special night indeed, including the after show party. 10 years later, a lot has changed, especially on a personal level. My writing aspirations have become more prominent with 4 Edinburgh Fringe shows and loads of other credits, musically I've played some amazing places and recorded in some great studios, I'm on a few albums and even as I type this it's been a week where I've been given the final masters of the Under The Streetlamp album, have rehearsed with a funk band, have rehearsed with a prog-rock band, have rehearsed with 'Streetlamp, and am currently listening to the mixes of the new Ethan Ash EP which I had great pleasure drumming on - and that boy has songs that can change lives, he's that good. But August 12th 2000 - one of those days that will forever stick in my memory, I was on stage for the first time, we were on stage for the first time. I needed the support of my friends to do this, we're all still friends, good friends, and I'm proud of this. 10 years later; when I look back, I'm not sure where I thought I'd be now. Part of me arrogantly always thought I'd be retired on royalties by now. A more down to earth part of me thought I'd be married with kids by now. I'm neither of those things, but I'm happy enough. But. 10 years later - a 29-year-old Paul Richards; scruffy, doesn't wear hats anymore, rubbish at office jobs, completely in love with drums. Ah bollocks. We've all changed, a lot. We've all been through a lot. But nothing has really changed that much. It doesn't mean I'm still not proud of that day 10 years ago though.

Deadlines, ideas and general lack of time

Exciting things are happening on the label side of things with one of my artists. And I actually mean exciting, not just the usual blind optimism which litters my existence. No, really exciting things, but I can't say anything until things are confirmed and it's such a shame because I'm such a blabbermouth I just want to blurt it all out. Hopefully in the next couple weeks or so though I can mention it, because it's a really exciting thing.

It suggests also that things may get busy soon musically, and admin-ee, and also Alister (Streetlamp) is now back so that means we can get gigging again soon, and Eureka Stockade are back in action too, and I've also just joined a folk band called Flaming June, and the Trip 35's will be mixing the album again in a few weeks time and...goodbye evenings, but I love it, and need it actually - too much time in front of a screen right now, not enough time in dark, smelly rehearsal rooms.

I have too many ideas, and too little patience at the moment. Currently working on the script for my show at the Lodestar Festival in early September - it's basically a month away tomorrow, so I need to nail the script sharpish. The production is called 'The Year Of The Rat', it will be performed rehearsed, but script-in-hand at the festival, but I want the cast to have as much time as possible with the material. It's basically a series of short plays, about people who were born in the Chinese Year Of The Rat - the definition of these people being ambitious, passionate but also thrifty and easily angered. Loads of material for that there. I've resisted the initial thought of re-hashing ideas from 'Some Plays...About Indie Rock' which was performed earlier this year at the Bury Fringe to a tiny audience, because I really like Lodestar and want to give them something totally new. At the moment, I want to cram 18 short plays into 45 minutes, and tick off as many genres as possible in doing so. We'll see how it turns out. I've also got my much delayed spoken-word musical, 'Clowns' being performed at the festival. Meeting my musician chums tomorrow night to work out how exactly we perform a spoken word improvised musical. Should be a doddle...

Have also agreed to help launch a brand new comedy night in Cambridge, starting in mid-September, after a meeting last night. We need a title more than anything, I like 'Rant & Banter Comedy', but nobody else does, any suggestions appreciated.

SGP and new material

Last weekend was very music based, although somewhat annoyingly I was being the journalist, rather than the musician. Reviewing mega-superstar Pixie Lott play in the tiny village of Pidley was certainly something different for a Saturday evening (my full review of the event can be found here: http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/review_pixie_lott_performs_at_cambs_charity_gig_1_549383), and the rest of the time was spent at the Secret Garden Party festival, which is fast becoming one of the permanent fixtures in my yearly diary. Was great fun, as you can imagine, the weather held out and I had plenty of time to just lie in a field jotting script ideas down whilst watching various bands do their thing. Plenty of highlights, but in short - Mercury Rev, Revere and Darwin Deez made the weekend for me.

Last night we had a new material session. I was grateful that most of the actors I invited turned up and gave up their time to read through some of my stuff, and also a few other theatrical friends who's advice is always invaluable. I made the point of inviting down some of my harshest critics, which sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable, and there were points when I felt very down about everything; of the 3 plays there seemed to be a little negativity expressed afterwards; 'The Lonely, The Poor, The Big I Am' doesn't really work at all, 'Falling Apart With Martin' needs to have a reason why the lead deserves his happy ending and 'Totally From The Heart' - whilst littered with lovely moments, needs to be less obvious to the audience. A pretty long night then, but these are all only minor tweaks and people seemed in mutual agreement that with a little re-structuring here and there I've got myself some decent new material on my hands. A productive evening, but not easy to stomach sometimes. I've got to have a new play ready in time for the Lodestar Festival in September, I was hoping that one of last night's plays would fit the bill but I think it's time to go back to the drawing board and work on something completely new - time is tight, but that's all part of the fun...

Recording with Ethan Ash

Spent the day in the studio laying down some tasty drum parts for that ridiculously talented Ethan Ash fella today. I have to say, I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've done in the studio recently, and today was another brilliant way to spent a Monday. It was the perfect level between fun and hard work, with the songs fully taking priority. We recorded at Half Ton, where I spend lots of time, with Rob T producing/engineering, whom I work with frequently. Ethan's songs are superb - they're proper soul songs, and the challenge for me today was to be as laid back as possible, deep down in the groove and lay off any fancy fills. The fact that I'd only had 5 hours sleep really helped a great deal actually - a dozy Paul Richards is a relaxed Paul Richards, and we eased through the day with decent drum takes nailed for all 4 songs. I was booked for 2 days session drumming, but we got everything done today - yet, such is how much I believe in these songs, I'm still going to spend all tomorrow in the studio just seeing how they grow with more instrumentation as I'm keen to see how they develop. And I'll probably eat a lot of Pringles too, such is the nature of these things.

Radio sitcom

It's been a decent weekend, and I reckon the next couple of days are going to be decent too, although my caffeine intake may rise even higher. On Friday evening I rehearsed with Ethan Ash - he's got some top tunes that boy, and his family (who are old friends of mine) are just so nice, the food was good, his dogs are the friendliest I've ever met, and the songs sound great too. On Saturday I met up with a contact (who I can't say yet, because I'd be considered unprofessional and I know that more people than I'm aware of are starting to read this blog, which is totally lovely, I just need to stop being such a blabber mouth sometimes) to discuss all things radio and it looks like I've found an FM-shaped home for our sitcom, with online stuff all to follow too, it was a lovely meeting actually - completely littered with enthusiasm. In the evening I met up for a couple beers and pizza (which of course led to a couple more beers) with my mate Neil, and in the process signed his superb band, Shallow Falls, to the Cracking Tunes label - something I've been meaning to do for a while as I totally believe in the way they go about business, and it's nice that we could do it over beer and pizza - I might make this a rule for signing bands in the future actually.

Today we recorded the radio sitcom - which still has various names - it's either going to be called:

Patrick, Cameron And Their Reasonably Low-Key Adventures

or

Patrick And Cameron's Reasonably Low-Key Adventures

or

The Modest Adventures Of Patrick And Cameron

Probably the second one, but we've got a little time to decide. We started early, borrowing equipment from the mighty Rob Toulson, and setting up in Colin's very quiet flat - I'm happy we didn't use my flat now, which was the first suggestion, as Colin has everything a production needs - such as a balcony for well deserved breaks, and a Co-Op just down the road. We worked hard today - Alan our soundman worked ridiculously hard, and the cast were incredibly patient, responsive and above all they knew that we're onto a good thing with this. I've no doubt these are the bests scripts I've ever written, probably no coincidence that it's the longest I've ever spent working on anything, maybe this is where I've gone slightly wrong in some of my less successful projects...5 episodes, all wordy, but direct - it moves along quickly, and the exceptional team of actors pulled it off convincingly. The format themselves is very simple - with Colin (Woodham) and Steve Matthew playing the title roles, and Az Hussein and Vaughan Allanson filling in the gaps - the vibe was lovely, and full of banter, I like this working unit a lot. All 5 episodes (at 10-15 minutes in length) were recorded, including the very tricky final episode which, as everyone seemed to think, entered surreal territory (unlike the rest of the series which is very sitcom-ee), although ends the series on a satisfying note (or as Colin says: "It's like you've really thought this through, Paul" - he almost seemed surprised). 7 and a half hours later and we've got good takes of everything. Next step is the gruelling mixing session, which is going to take a very long time - Rob T is taking over that, and I'll have to sit with him with the script working out which takes from which scenes go in. Could be a very long process, but I genuinely think as a writer it could be the best thing I've done yet. We'll see, probably in a couple months time. In a dream world, the series would be launched on the radio station soon, and there would be enough public demand for a Christmas special. Just because I totally love Christmas. But that would be a dream, I think, but that's what dreamworld's are for, right?

Ended the weekend back at WriteOn, where the networking opportunities seem to have increased enormously over the last year or so. That, and the amount of people who go there who I genuinely consider to be good friends, and who I could chat to for hours. One of those people, Michelle, put some very big ideas into my head tonight, which got me thinking all the way home - I'm excited by certain prospects of the projects she mentioned, but I have to be careful about burning myself out, I've been on the fringes recently.

Tomorrow and Tuesday I'm in the studio with Ethan Ash laying down some new tracks with him, I like drumming to his stuff - it's all very Jack Johnson, controlled, but in the groove, should be a good session and at Half Ton Studios where I always feel at home. And then back into rehearsals with Lu, and then finishing off the scripts for my 'new material evening' in Cambridge on July 29th. And then, perhaps, the radio sitcom, and all these releases I've drummed on really, will be ready for public consumption, which is where the hard work really begins...

Currently listening to: Ed Harcourt - Lustre, Joe Jackson - Night & Day, The Travis Waltons - debut EP
Currently watching: Dad's Army, Shooting Stars
Currently drinking: Far too many energy drinks

Hedgehog Collective - Cambridge Comedy Festival

I'm knackered, I am. I think that's a pretty standard start to most of my blog entries, not sure - I'm not updating this as much as I should at the moment. Anyway, I engrossed myself in the Cambridge Comedy Festival this weekend - saw 6 shows in 2 days, one of which was mine - but more than on that in a second. Firstly - the Cambridge Comedy Festival is a bloody great thing for the city. Being positioned in early July makes it perfect preview time for Edinburgh Fringe shows - hence why the the calibre of act is pretty high. Also, due to the fact that the shows are previews, the ticket prices are particularly low - yesterday for example you could get to 3 decent quality shows for a tenner. By show 3 yesterday it felt like I was back at the Fringe, only I was about 20 minutes from home. James Sherwood, the third comedy act we saw yesterday, was stupidly good - I saw him last year in Edinburgh and his piano/witty song thing is an appealing prospect, but yesterday his new material was even stronger and he's certainly a rising talent. Today, after our show, we dashed over to the Junction to catch the ever amazing Pappy's, whom, even when trying out their new show which is so new I was told later on it only took them 4 weeks to write, were still fantastic - it's messy, disorganised but performed with such enthusiasm and good nature that you can't not like them. We also saw the much raved about Penny Dreadfuls, whose artistically impressive form of comedy took a little getting used to because it's so damn clever, but now, a couple hours later, I actually think they are fantastic and almost feel guilty for not showing much appreciation at the time.

Anyway - our own show, The Hedgehog Collective. Lots of tension today. Mostly because the dress rehearsal on Wednesday didn't fill us totally with confidence, and because the venue today seemed reluctant to let us in early to rehearse because of a communication error. The first run-through behind closed doors was very concerning, but a second dress rehearsal followed by a spot of lunch seemed to do the trick. We had a lovely audience - loads of them, which was nice. The cast, despite having issues with lines earlier in the day, turned it on and didn't disappoint. On paper it's all good; the laugh-to-audience-member ratio was higher than last year I think, everyone seemed to go away happy. Looking at what Pam Jenner - our director, has to deal with, what with everyone going on holiday at various points of the rehearsal period, it's a miracle she made the show happen and let's be honest about this - everyone has played a part in this show, but Pamela Jenner made it happen. There's nothing to be down about really, although I just had a niggling feeling in my mind watching the show in it's entirety today for the first time that some of it wasn't actually that good. There was lots of lovely ideas and moments in there and enough to make it worthwhile for everyone, but the actual material itself was a bit hit and miss, in retrospect. I accused myself of being cynical, and then realised my co-writer, Alan Morgan, completely agreed with me.

Still, onwards and upwards, even if I wasn't too happy with some of it, this show can be considered a success, if one that I'm happy to put into a box for now. Next week we record the radio sitcom, 'The Modest Adventures Of Patrick And Cameron', which I've had written for months now and can't wait to finally start producing it. A week later I'd very much like to premiere some new material in Cambridge, but should probably get myself a cast or something first before booking a venue.

It's all good really. I've laughed a lot this weekend, as you'd expect/hope to at a comedy festival. They say that laughing is good for you and helps you live longer, I reckon I've gained at least a day somewhere along the line.

Recording with Lu, Trip 35's, sketch shows

I don't know what's up with me right now, but I can't seem to stop doing stuff - like I have lost the ability to switch off for an evening. Either way, I'm happy enough - the sketch show is now finally starting to look like a show after a totally excellent rehearsal yesterday in which we even realised the show was over-running so had the luxury of dropping yet more material. The cast are great, the director is great, the scripts are looking better than they do on paper, my co-writer Alan and I can finally sit back and let the others get on with it. The show is next Sunday - it's a one-off performance for the Cambridge Comedy Festival and hopefully we can repeat the success of last year's show, which was surprised us all greatly.

Today I've been at the incredible High Barn Studios in Essex to record drums for Lu's forthcoming new release, with the ever-brilliant Rob Toulson producing/engineering. It's a lovely place to make music - high wooden ceilings, grand piano, that air of 'good people record here regularly' about it. And it's so much easier when I know the engineer - Rob knows my kit inside out as he's recorded it a million times before at his regular studio (Half Ton Studios in Cambridge) and as I drum for his band, Eureka Stockade, he also knows my drumming and if there's a better take in me. Also, it's helped greatly that Lu and I have been rehearsing like crazy over the last couple of weeks, as we know this material pretty well now. We're booked in for 2 days, the plan for today was to simply spend hours getting everything sounding top-notch, before recording tomorrow, but we're already ahead of ourselves as we've got one track down already - 'Beyond', which I reckon is the best thing Lu's ever written (certainly from a record label point perspective). The plan is to nail top quality performances of 5 tracks - although judging on how long we spent nailing 'Beyond' I'd be more than happy to come out with 3 or 4. All in all, a cracking days work - although my Sat Nav let me down a bit with the weirdest way home - and I swear the way I entered the M11 wasn't right/legal...

Just got back to listen to the first 3 tracks from the Trip 35's album that we recorded last month - that's the one that we did in a very DIY manner in Richard's girlfriend's lounge. The songs are wordy, experimental and as lo-fi as you can get, but I'm proud of them - 3 have now been mixed by Chris (our fiddle player), they can be heard here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/thetrip35s

I can't wait for the rest of the album to be done. Because by then the Under The Streetlamp album will be mixed, and of course there's the Eureka Stockade album (which I recorded my parts for last year) and whatever we record tomorrow on the way too - I knew all this studio work would eventually see the light of day. Good times.

Right, got to re-write a sketch, write my column for the Hunts Post, and organise a 'new material night' for my 2 new plays, and then sleep to prepare for the caffeine-led recording tomorrow.

Currently watching: The Worst Week Of My Life (DVD), This Life (DVD), The World Cup
Currently listening to: Ed Harcourt - Lustre, Divine Comedy - Bang Goes The Knighthood