So, that was 2011

In the words of Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler, 'I can't believe it's been another year...'

This will be my last blog post of the year I think, unless something dramatically amazing (or so dreadful I feel the need to write about it here) happens in the next week or so. And besides, this is my 110th post of 2011; I've gone on a bit. Anyway, it's been a good year I think. Like last year when I wrote a similar piece about 2010, this more of a justification for being so busy all the time, prepare yourself for a bit of a Paul Richards self-indulging session. Or of course you could just stop reading. Either way, here's what I did in 2011...

After what was a rather lovely end to 2010 (a year in which I was nominated for two small awards as a playwright (didn't win either), played on an 'iTunes Single Of The Week' and had some coverage on BBC 6 Music for a song I co-wrote), I entered 2011 with much excitement but a slightly blurred vision of what I wanted to achieve. I found myself making notes, playing the odd radio gig and writing a show with Heather (a project that never happened for various reasons) but then at the end of January it was my first show with DOWSING FOR SOUND. It's hard to think that the incredible Dowsing show at Great St. Mary's Church was 11 months ago because it is still at the forefront of my mind. It was simply one of the best nights of my life; a hugely ambitious project, with 40-odd singers, a live band, a complicated set and a huge audience. The expectation was frightening, the venue was beautiful, the rehearsals were both inspiring and worrying, but the show was jaw-dropping - nothing has come close to this as a drummer for me in all my years of playing, I feel incredibly grateful to be involved in such a mesmerising occasion, especially as I wasn't that keen in the first place but Andrea (band leader) was very persuasive and I'm rubbish at saying no. I still smile thinking about that gig. Also in January I played in London with LU, the first of many gigs of the year with AIDY and FLAMING JUNE and rehearsals started for my short film. February was mostly spent writing new material with Edinburgh in mind, my play IF YOU CAN'T MAKE ME HAPPY ended up at the Leicester Comedy Festival and a radio version of my play GONE MIDNIGHT was recorded by a company in Essex. The film version was also made, but despite a fair bit of work, I still haven't seen the final, final cut yet, maybe that will emerge in 2012? I have a horrible feeling it's been forgotten about, which is a shame because there was a lovely team working on it. There was also the AIDY/EUREKA STOCKADE gig at the Portland which culminated in the best aftershow party ever, ever, ever. It was in March when my year started to take shape properly, with recording sessions with LAURA TAPP (double a-side single release) and FLAMING JUNE (EP), I organised a benefit concert for the victims of the New Zealand earthquake (and played it with three bands), and had a first reading of a play I'd written called IS IT TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? - a show that would end up taking a fair bit of my time as the year progressed. It was the first time I'd worked with IZZY NICOLSON, an outstanding actress who instantly understood the somewhat quirky timing of my work and somebody I'd end up working with a lot this year. Alongside other gigs both in and out of town, in April I found myself playing a one-off gig with THE TREVOR JONES BAND in a huge gig at the Bedford Corn Exchange. I enjoyed the show so much I'm still playing for them now, Trevor's an awesome songwriter. We filmed the promotional video for EUREKA STOCKADE's single, All Alone, and I found myself in the studio drumming on a hip-hop project with MICHELLE BESSANT and playing congas for a new album by THE PRISONER OF MARS. In May I turned 30, which felt like the end of the world at the time; recently single, 7 grey hairs, not really in the best mindset. Which is probably why my 'crisis play', IS IS TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? worked so well for it's first couple of performances. The play is virtually a true story, to the extent it's painful at times, and the first couple of performances (which were in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust) found me on stage - being me - opening my heart to sold out audiences, and one point partially nude. It was my first time as a leading actor, or you could argue, a 'proper actor', and I'd spent months stressing about this, which coincided with my own 30th birthday as well as that of the title character's. But the director, MICHELLE GOLDER is an amazing talent to work with, somehow she pushed me through this, and alongside KATE MADISON, KEVIN WRIGHT and Izzy it worked an absolute treat. Probably my best bit of writing in years, too, I say somewhat arrogantly. That show pretty much took up my whole month with rehearsals and that, although I did find time to play a few more gigs, including a particularly excellent one with Trevor at Native Tongue in London, my first of many festivals this year with the Eureka chaps and also spend a day recording with PAUL GOODWIN. Ah yes, and turning 30 wasn't so bad after all, and my celebrations took place at The Haymakers in which good friends played songs and I got stupidly merry. In June, Oscar Pike ended up at the ADC Theatre bar for a couple more performances but I just don't think these were as good, played more festivals with EUREKA STOCKADE, recorded a live album DVD with TREVOR JONES, played a radio show with FLAMING JUNE, and tried out three brand new plays at CB2 in front of an audience who were really too kind considering most of it didn't work. I found myself on tour in July with AIDY (and Dave the bassist) playing 7 shows across the country during the first week of the month - Watford, Norwich, Leeds (twice), London, Brighton and back home to Cambridge. It was a short tour but a real eye-opener on how the process works, we played to some lovely audiences, made lots of friends and drank far too much. Aidy, Dave and I continued to gig out of town when ever we could for the rest of the year, realising that Cambridge is bit dull sometimes. I'm really happy we toured, it's been on my to-do list for a while, and it was so nice to do it with people I actually like. Looking forward to doing it all again next year. Also in July my play PROBABLY THE GREATEST GOAL EVER SCORED was performed by WriteOn at the ADC Theatre bar by GRACE WILLIAMS and ALAN STEWART - two wonderful actors whom I intend to see a lot more of in 2012, played at the amazing SECRET GARDEN PARTY festival with EUREKA STOCKADE, recorded congas for EMILY BLICKEM's charming EP, and played another truly memorable gig with DOWSING FOR SOUND - this time at the beautiful Ickworth Park. The month ended with me back in acting mode, playing a chip-shop worker called Billy in a promotional video for a song by the brilliant FRED'S HOUSE. The video seems to be pretty popular, and rightly so - it's a great track, and it was a lovely day of filming with some really nice and talented people. August started with a couple more festival gigs, and IS IT TOO LATE TO SAVE OSCAR PIKE? ended up at the EDINBURGH FRINGE for a couple cheeky performances. I love the fringe, and although we lost Kate from the show, Izzy played all the female characters somewhat remarkably and we did alright I think, in a really understated kind of way. Bit like touring though, I've got the fringe bug, next we'll proper storm it. I also started to felt really comfortable with playing Oscar on stage, to the extent that by the end of our short run I wanted to do more with that character, we will. The rest of August was spent writing a musical, and playing more gigs, the AIDY show at The Stockton Underground Festival was a highlight. In September I returned to my role as 'Director Of Theatre' for LODESTAR FESTIVAL in Cambridge, and having booked all the non-music acts for the second stage, the festival was a bit of a treat for all concerned - I had no reason to worry at all, Lodestar is amazing, and the comedy acts were welcomed by lovely audiences throughout, despite the rain. During that festival I wrote and produced two plays - a comedy called HOW ABOUT YOU? and also a musical for the Dowsing choir called RELATIONSHIPS, EH? Again, another big moment in my year. Writing the book for a musical is no easy task (especially as I had four days to bash something out), and with really limited rehearsals but loads and loads of singers...but somehow it worked out, I've got the whole show as an mp3 and I'm thrilled with it, once again it's all about the magic of DOWSING FOR SOUND. I'm already looking forward to Lodestar next year, I love being part of this festival and it's become a regular meeting place for good friends too to catch up over beers in a field. Also in September played a random gig for the Institute Of Videography, recorded a live album/DVD with EUREKA STOCKADE at the stunning High Barn in Essex, played at the excellent TRYSTONBURY FESTIVAL with AIDY, and then felt the need to physically calm down. Relaxed and refreshed, October was gig heavy with shows with all my bands including a headline slot at The Troubadour with Trevor in London, and recording sessions started with LAURA TAPP for her brilliant debut album, which is to be released next year. I also wrote a novel called BIG HOPES IN LITTLE WINHAVEN, which I spent nearly five days on, and will be spending the rest of Christmas editing and probably re-writing. I'm actually really proud of it, and am pretty excited about releasing it next year, just needs a bit of tweaking but that was a great way to spend a week out of the office. In November I tried out yet more new play material and absolutely none of it worked whatsoever, but my faith in my own writing was restored thanks to a performance of my new play, TO THE BRINK at the ADC bar which fed my ego nicely because they did it so well. More gigs, including the launch of REES GUITARS and a London showcase with EUREKA STOCKADE dominated my month, as well as writing the Christmas show, promoting a festive tune I'd co-written with THE PRISONER OF MARS called 'I Don't Care If Santa Comes Around' and also my first foray into drum teaching - working with Grace in a primary school for a day demonstrating African drums to a bunch of kids. Not sure if I'm teacher material, but I felt very welcome. And so here we are; December. A month that offered two more challenges; writing 12 short plays for an online release called THE TWELVE MONOLOGUES OF CHRISTMAS - I wrote the whole lot in three evenings, and then Izzy and Grace came over to record them, my mate Steve did the website, and it was a lovely little project that we've not really promoted properly but has made us feel Christmassy at least. My final out of town gig of the year was back in Stockton with AIDY, which we enjoyed a lot, and the year has ended on a decent note with our yuletide show, THREE ELVES, A SNOWMAN AND A FUNERAL.

Looking back, that was quite a busy year then, but it didn't always feel like it. I vowed at the start to do less and focus more on set projects, I think to a certain extent I have done that - the Oscar Pike stuff for example took a lot of time and I did find it difficult being tied to one project. But my creative CV is considerably better thanks to a lot of these things I've done this year I think. I said to Heather last night after the show that I don't think I've done enough this year, it's only when you look at it all written down that actually I realise that statement may have sounded a bit silly now.

And some stats:
This year I've played 83 gigs with 10 different bands
I've drummed on 5 albums, 2 EP's and 3 singles.
I've written 11 plays (plus a series of 12 monologues for audio release) and have had my work performed publicly 20 times, as well as signing two independent publishing contracts.

I have met some wonderful people this year, and (CLICHE ALERT) I feel like I've really started to find myself; I've calmed down a bit, I've finally worked out what hairstyle suits my face. A lot of people have been really good to me this year - the gigs, the theatre stuff...at the end of the day I'm just a playwright and a drummer, we're pretty pathetic without bandmates, actors and directors. My friends deserve a lot of credit too, for listening to me spout on about all of these projects every week, and often navigating me to gigs when I get lost. Which is often. 2011 has been good, 2012 will be awesome. In the meantime, I've got presents to wrap, family to see and mates to get drunk with. Have a lovely Christmas and speak to you next year x

Three Elves, A Snowman & A Funeral

Just back from the second and final performance of this year's Christmas show. Titled, 'Three Elves, A Snowman And A Funeral', I have to admit I'm rather happy with the way things turned out in the end. I'm tired, and feeling slightly flat about things at the moment, but I know deep down that actually this was one of the better ones - probably our best Christmas show since the first 'Alex' one four years ago, no probably actually - it was. The thing I can't really get my head around though is that there wasn't any crisis at all - okay, so we lost an actor early on so I ended up being the narrator again, whilst Heather's directing debut was a smooth one, we all know her, she knows us, we respect her. This working team of Izzy, Kev, Vaughan, Elisa and Steve is such a solid one, the whole thing was put together in the space of three and a bit weeks yet there was never any panic, never any doubts that it wouldn't pull through nicely. Maybe that's why I'm flat about it all - previously there's been a sense of victory when we've pulled it out of the bag at the last minute, these days we pull things out of the bag at the last minute on such a regular basis it has become the norm. Or maybe, just maybe, we're actually quite good these days? Either way, lovely show - the first performance last night had a small-ish audience of 18 (capacity is 30) but they laughed a lot, even if I was a bit Red Bull-ed up so didn't deliver my lines at a reasonable pace. But tonight's I felt was an absolute cracker - in a solid, sturdy kind of way, the show sold out so we added extra chairs and sold a few of them too. Steve and Clare had a puppy with them, I liked that, I think it should come to our gigs. It's a quirky little show about Santa's daughter taking the reigns and trying to change things too quickly, before getting killed in an anthrax attack and then Santa saves the day. Amongst all of that there is three dancing elves, Elton John, a snowman called Nigel, a little donkey, a cracker joke competition, a little romance, live music from the consistently brilliant Louise Hamilton, and Vaughan in an horrifically short skirt. All the elements of Christmas then, with a big sing-a-long at the end. The two performances flied by, we turned CB2 into Santa's grotto, and filled the show with Christmas music. Script-wise one of my better efforts I think, with that and 'Oscar Pike' this year I feel I've hit some good times creatively, ignoring the other shite I've churned out in between these shows, of course. In between performances, Heather, Elisa and I went to watch 'Arthur Christmas' in the cinema in a desperate bid to make us feel festive. To be honest I've been festive since mid-September; as I write this it's now Christmas Eve but I don't feel Christmassy at all. But back to the show, cheer up, Richards, I know I'm supposed to be happy with this one.

Tunes and albums of 2011

As the year tumbles to a close at a frightening pace, as before I've gone and made myself a CDR of my favourite songs released in the last twelve months. It's been a good year for tunes I think, although I tend to say that every year in retrospect. Obviously a lot will disagree and spout on about ' the state of the music industry' but I just don't feel it's my place to join in; at the end of the day there are plenty of amazing songwriters out there, and even if they don't receive the commercial recognition we think they deserve it's very clear great songs are still being written, which is, literally, music to my ears. (sorry). Anyway - managed to squeeze 19 tracks onto my end of year compilation, so for no other reason apart from the fact I'm just a bit chatty, here's my favourite tuneage of 2011:

My favourite songs of 2011 in no particular order:
CHRIS DIFFORD: Goldfish
GRUFF RHYS: Sensations In The Dark
OKKERVIL RIVER: We Need A Myth
JENNY AND JOHNNY: Animal
BILL WELLS & AIDAN MOFFAT: The Copper Top
PAUL GOODWIN: You Won't Break My Heart
THE DEARS: 5 Chords
MATTHEW P: Medicine
GUILLEMOTS: I Don't Feel Amazing Now
THE BEES: I Really Need Love
I AM KLOOT: To The Brink
ELVIS COSTELLO: Sparkling Day
FRED'S HOUSE: Someone Else's Road
PAUL HEATON: Even A Palm Tree
SLOW CLUB: Never Look Back
JULIAN VELARD: Take The Money And Run
EMMY THE GREAT: Cassandra
YOUNG REBEL SET: Precious Days
WARPAINT: Undertow

A pretty awesome compilation, I'm sure you'll agree. What's that? You want to know what my favourite 10 albums of the year are, in order? Oh go on then, if you insist...

My top 10 albums of 2011, in order:
1. BILL WELLS & AIDAN MOFFAT - EVERYTHING'S GETTING OLDER
2. OKKERVIL RIVER - I AM VERY FAR
3. YOUNG REBEL SET - CURSE OUR LOVE
4. SLOW CLUB - PARADISE
5. EMMY THE GREAT - VIRTUE
6. CHRIS DIFFORD - CASHMERE IF YOU CAN
7. JULIAN VELARD - MR. SATURDAY NIGHT
8. THE DEARS - DEGENERATION STREET
9. GUILLEMOTS - WALK THE RIVER
10. GRUFF RHYS - HOTEL SHAMPOO

Normally for me these things are a bit closer, but there hasn't been an album released this year that has come anywhere near 'Everything's Getting Older' - it's beautiful, poignant, witty, it doesn't overstay it's welcome and the whole 40 minutes is virtually flawless. If I read this a year ago I would have been saying, 'what, the new Guillemots album, that you've been looking forward to for sooo long, isn't even in your top 5?' - but I just can't get into it, despite the standout moments. Okkervil River are my favourite live band of the year, and 'I Am Very Far' is a mostly brilliant album that I have listened to virtually on repeat. Saying that, I can see 'Paradise' by Slow Club becoming one of my favourite albums of all time, but in time. Anyway, that's my thoughts, there's certainly been some good stuff released in 2011, and I'm confident I'll be saying the same thing about 2012 when the time comes.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade, Aidy, Flaming June @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge

Bands: Flaming June, Aidy and Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 17/12/11
Audience: Nice, not too many of them, but festive
Sets: Flaming June - not sure; Aidy - Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Dirty Little Cannibal, Down Like That, 3 Years, Waiting, God's Front Porch, Miami Beach, Washing Machine; Eureka Stockade - Violence, I've Been There Before, Erotomania, Goodbye You've Gone, Caught In A Fire, Resistance, Without You, Heroes Fall, Through Every Darkness, All Alone
Notes: We've been talking about this one for a while - it was the great Christmas Jumper Extravaganza gig, in which the audience were invited to wear a festive jumper and if so were allowed in for just £2 (£5 if they weren't). There wasn't much seasonal clothing I have to admit - but then again there wasn't really a huge audience, but there was enough of them (twenty or so perhaps?) to make the relatively small venue seem lively enough and those who were there were pretty vocal in their enjoyment. I played this with three of my bands, and after the mighty Paul Goodwin (still the best songwriter in Cambridge - fact) opened the show I hit the stage with Flaming June. Played this as a trio as Clare needed to rest, but did okay I think. Of course we missed Clare (after all - she's a really good musician), but Louise, Steve and I bashed through half an hour of material, including the new track. I played much better than I did on Friday - was much sharper, and the alternative Christmas cover at the end was a bit of a treat. Next up was Aidy, in which I was on drums not congas, and I really enjoyed this - we're much more exciting when we play electric I think. The banter on stage was good and we were really tight for a majority of it, including the songs we don't play so often such as 'Waiting' and 'Miami Beach', both of which were rehearsed a few times earlier in the day. The slow-motion anarchy at the end made us chuckle, probably confused a few audience members, but is all part of the Aidy experience. 15 minutes later I was back on stage to drum for the headliners, Eureka Stockade. This time we were a four piece (our line-up changes gig by gig at the moment), with us regulars (Rob, Andy and myself) joined again by Claudia on bass. My energy levels were flagging somewhat towards the end - might have been something to do with the fact I'd been drumming all night, or might have also been something to do with the fact I was doing all that whilst wearing a Christmas jumper. As a result I made a couple slips in the performance, nothing anyone would have noticed but I was still a bit annoyed with myself. We played well though as a unit - Eureka Stockade have come on leaps and bounds this year, with new track 'Goodbye You've Gone' sounding lovely, on the whole I think it was a really strong set and there was a real sense of fun on stage. I know I said this after the London gig, but Claudia's bass playing is remarkable - she puts so much life into it, it's a drummer's dream - and as I was starting to tire her funky grooves really did drag me through the last few songs. Great evening, a good workout, but thoroughly enjoyable. And yes, I did secretly like wearing the Christmas jumper, I doubt that's the last we'll see of that.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 16/12/11
Audience: Friendly, half-full venue
Set: Not sure - the regular set with a new track thrown in
Notes: First gig with Flaming June for what feels like ages, and it's always a pleasure. The new track (I played this for the first time in the soundcheck) slots in nicely, the venue was decorated all festive which made me smile and we played with plenty of confidence. Hungover from the office Christmas party the night before (free bar, oh dear) I was a little sluggish at times, but the rest of the guys seemed in good form. Shame I couldn't stay to watch headliner Tom Copson play (my old mucker from Under The Streetlamp, Jess, sings with him) but had to dash off to Eureka Stockade-Andy's birthday curry just down the road. Nice evening, knackered.

The Twelve Monologues Of Christmas

Well that was a nice little challenge, mission accomplished and all that. Writing 12 monologues in four days looked easy enough to me, but then other things (play rehearsals, band rehearsals, beers with friends) suddenly got in the way and I wasn't so sure it was going to happen. Anyway - we have the site courtesy of Steve, we have a logo courtesy of Chris, and we have 12 monologues all nice and ready to be heard. Steve rightly pointed out that to end on Christmas Eve we'd actually have to start on Tuesday, not Monday, so that did give us an extra day, and I felt a bit silly regarding my lack of numerical ability.

Although most of it was written late at night, I'm really happy with a majority of the pieces. Izzy came over on Saturday to record the first seven - she's such a professional, I'm baffled as to how fluent she was with the material having not read it before, her range of voices is fantastic and she did really well bringing some of the 'lesser' pieces to life. Grace came over this evening to record the other five - there's a reason why I want to work with more with Grace and that's not just because she's the most enthusiastic and happiest person you could ever work with - it's because like Izzy she's a top-notch pro and tonight's session was so easy (in fact we finished so early we ended up reading through some other material I've been working on recently with 2012 in mind). Working with actors like this allows me to experiment - I know that a majority of 'The Twelve Monologues Of Christmas' is really twee, really gentle, but it does go dark (monologues ten and eleven, to be precise) - with lesser performers this wouldn't have worked, but my pieces 'The Silent Night' and 'The Silent Night 2' are not concepts I would have dared try before. Grace's performance of both of those this evening almost shook me up a bit, I was sat next to her during the recording of them and really believed she was an upset/nearly grieving girlfriend, shivers down my spine and all that, I nearly fetched her a tissue. Obviously as soon as she pressed stop she was back to her normal chatty self, these actors are clever, you know. And as for 'The Christmas Singer' - this is potentially the most uninteresting piece I've ever written but it sounds wicked because Izzy added a million new to dimensions to it with her performance.

Both days recordings were short (Izzy around for three and half hours on Saturday, Grace around for about two and a half tonight), it's hardly the most professional environment - a fancy dictaphone and my little flat which currently has a heating issue, but in a rough and ready, raw theatre kind of way I'm proud of this. Anyway - check it out - http://www.12monologues.co.uk/

Right, no more projects this year, I sense that could have been one too many, it worked out well and I'm glad I've done it, but no more. We've got the Christmas show next week which is looking brilliant (Heather's directing is top-notch), and before that the Eureka Stockade/Aidy/Flaming June festive party-gig, and before that two parties in a row which are likely to utterly destroy me. And then next Sunday it's Christmas. Where has this year gone?

My final challenge of the year

See, I often have ideas about projects I'd like to work on, but often I then go to bed, wake up, and decide they were rubbish. But I've had an idea tonight that I'm so keen on I've decided to write a blog post about it - because the chances are if I go 'public' with an idea I'll actually force myself to go ahead with it...

The other day I purchased an mp3 recorder off a mate, it was cheap and quite shiny. It's speciality is recording voices, and driving back from a Christmas show rehearsal a few nights back I joked to Izzy that I had a spare afternoon on Saturday 10th, shall we record a sitcom? As she's as nuts as I am, she said yes, and then I asked Grace if she too wanted to be involved, she also seemed keen, so we were going to spend some hours this weekend trying out my mp3 recorder on a new radio sitcom ('Technically Single') I've been working on the last few weeks. Tonight though I've had a better idea; sod the sitcom, let's do something festive... THE TWELVE MONOLOGUES OF CHRISTMAS.

12 festive monologues, released as a free download, one a day, in the run up to Christmas. Some short, some longer, some witty, some completely and utterly heartbreaking, but all very Christmassy. Having had this idea whilst eating my dinner, I looked at my diary and realised that if we get the first one out there on Monday, one monologue a day for twelve days means the final one will be released on CHRISTMAS EVE. PERFECT! I like writing monologues, I like analysing people, and Christmas is a perfect time for that - from the childish enthusiasm of a youngster to the anxiety-ridden fears of an old skinflint, there's plenty of stories to be told.

Anyway, have just had a nice chat on the phone with Grace and she's coming over on Monday evening to record six of them. I'm hoping that Izzy is still free on Saturday to record a good few then - hopefully the other six, and we can get moving with this, she may be reading this blog, not sure, but have emailed her as I think that's a more acceptable way of communication.

Right, I need a website for it now, a logo for the project, and...er, the scripts themselves. I'd best get writing then.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Sun Inn, Stockton-on-Tees

Band: Aidy
Venue: The Sun Inn, Stockton-on-Tees
Date: 03/12/11
Audience: Venue half-full, enthusiastic crowd
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Dirty Little Cannibal, Not Your Day, Edinburgh, Washing Machine, 3 Years (encore)
Notes: Following our success earlier this year in Stockton, we headed back up north for another performance in the town where we seem to be building quite a following. It's not that long a journey to be honest - just under four hours, and I think we were all happy to get back on the road again, personally I'm bogged down in projects here and welcomed the opportunity to get away for a day and a bit. Having checked in at the Middlesborough Travel Lodge as before (I swear it was even the same room, then again they all do look the same), we made a quick visit to the stupidly cheap CD store we found last time we were there (my purchases this time were mostly Britpop-based, with two albums from Space and one from Catatonia, plus a much sought-after Christmas compilation, the criminally underrated album from The Holloways and, ahem, the best of Simply Red as we like to listen to that in the Aidy car, ironically, of course, the whole lot came to £9 - as I say, ridiculous, in a good way) and grabbed a couple pints in a local pub with our Stockton friends whom we met for the first time at the last gig. Back to the hotel to dress and look like a band, and then we were picked up to make the fifteen minute trip down the road to the venue. The Sun Inn reminds me a little of The Portland Arms in Cambridge - it's a lively bar, with the music in a separate back room, perhaps slightly bigger than the Portland, but with an equally nice vibe. We were the opening act which, even though we have a nice little following in the area, we were happy with considering we're still an out-of-town band. The headliners, The Lemondrops, kindly let us use their drums and bass amp, and the kit itself was lovely - a nicely tuned Pacific set-up that was so comfortable to play. Having performed acoustically the last time, it was nice to rock out with an electric set this time, and that aspect of our set has really started to gel. The thing is, as well as becoming good friends over the year, Aidy, Dave and I have really got used to each other's playing too, not wishing to sound arrogant or anything but last night we were effortlessly tight and played as a unit, a real force, this is no longer just Andy and a rhythm section, this is a band. New song, 'Dirty Little Cannibal' - which we're currently working on ahead of recording the new album early next year (which is to be called 'The British IBM') was really good fun to play, and the whole set was generously received by new and old friends alike. After doing the mailing list round with Aidy (in which once again my cuddles are pimped out in return for an email address, one woman hugged me three times which I swear was against the rules), we drank the local beer and enjoyed the other bands before politely declining the kind offer of a trip to a late night rock club because we were tired and slightly jaded. A long day, but a most enjoyable one, and we felt incredibly welcome; I have no doubt whatsoever that we'll be back up that way again very soon.

Teaching drums

Yesterday I had my first foray into teaching drums (well, my first since Rocktech back in 2002 at least), when I was asked in as a special guest at a local school to show young children the basics of African drumming, as part of their African month. I haven't been this unsure about something in years - I am no teacher, I mumble, I probably don't listen as much as I should do, I'm a little impatient. But it was lovely, largely because of the way the primary school was run, there was a proper teacher there, and throughout the four lessons Grace was also in the class to teach the children dance and theatrics to my rhythms. The wide-eyed fascination in their faces at seeing a full drum kit (and percussion) set up for the first time was inspiring, and in every lesson we had a hell of a groove going with the whole class involved. This generally started with me playing an Afrobeat - and then a third of the class replicating my bass drum, another third playing my hi-hat groove, and another third playing my snare rhythm. They all had homemade drums, a majority of them got the hang of it really quickly, there's certainly a few future drummers in there. And it was nice to spend the day with Grace too - a remarkably talented and alive actress (and also a very kind young lady), just like our meeting in Bristol a couple months back much discussion was had about future projects and we're both a bit excited about what can be achieved. What was achieved in the school hall yesterday was something really nice I think, I hope it goes beyond a novelty of seeing a drummer show off a bit, I hope at least a couple of them will want to carry on playing funky grooves as they grow up. It wasn't a day without it's minor glitches (cutting up the school bus in the car park/accidentally ending up in their assembly and feeling very awkward) but I feel a new sense of energy after what was an exhausting day, and I'll treasure the generous drawings of thanks I was given as a present for a long time.

Gig report: Backwood Cam @ Rees Guitar Hut, Cambridge

Band: Backwood Cam
Venue: Rees Guitar Hut, Cambridge
Date: 27/11/11
Audience: Friendly, intimate
Set: Black Magic Woman, Walk On By, Fragile, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Love Me Like A Man, Waiting In The Wings, Whiskey In The Jar
Notes: This is what I love about being a musician sometimes - the randomness. Rees Guitars are pretty established now for the accomplished musician wanting a six-string that has been custom made, and as a result a new workshop/showroom has been built in a hut in Cambridge. For it's launch, a party/gig was organised, and I was drafted in to join in the fun as Clive Rees - the man behind all the instruments, is the father of Izzy Nicolson (a good friend of mine and a regular actress in my productions). I played percussion for Clive's band, Backwood Cam, just a few slightly unrehearsed but largely enjoyable covers, and we all had a jolly time - the vibe was lovely, with good food, chat and further jamming later on, I ended up staying for hours because I was enjoying it so much. Big credit to my old chum Mark Allum too - he turned up to try out a few electric guitars and ended up playing bass for the band at the very last minute, he did so brilliantly.

Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ The Missing Sock, Stow Cum-Quy

Band: Trevor Jones Band (full band acoustic)
Venue: The Missing Sock, Stow-Cum-Quy
Date: 25/11/11
Audience: Jolly
Set: Not sure - full TJB set, plus four songs (one of them a cover) I'd never played before
Notes: Back at The Missing Sock and as always felt very welcome. Seemed a lot busier than normal, and those who were watching were pretty responsive considering they were waiting to have dinner. Played well - the acoustic version of 'Alive' was remarkably tight and always a pleasure to perform, the new material (or very old, as Trevor wrote them a while back) was naturally a little hesitant rhythmically but nobody would have noticed. We didn't have a setlist, so accidentally played 'Badman' twice (at the beginning and end of the set) but it's a good tune all the same, and we realised later we forgot to play 'All I Am', which is usually one of the staple songs in the set. The Missing Sock staff were lovely to us and so grateful that we performed, they gave us each a fancy beer glass as a thank you and once again cooked us lovely food - this time it was ostrich for dinner as well as drinks. Great stuff, a decent evening with good company.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ HCRFM, Huntingdon

Band: Eureka Stockade (well, Rob and I)
Venue: Huntingdon Community Radio FM, Huntingdon
Date: 18/11/11
Audience: No idea considering it was a radio slot, but definitely four other people in the building and Andy from the band listened in online at least
Set: All Alone, Resistance + interview
Notes: Not even sure if this qualifies as a 'gig' as such, more of a promotional appearance, but either way it was nice enough. With our new single 'All Alone' released this week we were invited over to HCRFM to play a song or two and promote it. Andy (Brown) has a heavy cold so sat this one out, so Rob and I popped in and played this as a duo. This is, without question, one of the most supportive and friendliest radio stations you could ever meet - I've been there a few times to chat about projects and my newspaper column, and it's just so nice. See - when you're promoting something as a band you instantly feel (naturally) grateful for any coverage, but with HCRFM the station themselves are so pleased you're there as a guest, the team running it seem really passionately into the music you're playing and it all leads to a very enjoyable session. Alongside playing the single and one other track (very stripped down - Rob on his acoustic, me playing my little Sonor sub-snare with my hands) we chatted briefly about the album, summer festivals, that kind of thing. A lovely way to spend an hour on a Friday night and also nice to briefly catch up with my old mate Gav, who was there to talk about films. Home by about half 9, a chance to finally chill out after a pretty intense week of theatrics.

Christmas script (part 2)

Well, after my little rant on Tuesday - which I still feel was entirely justified as I had wasted a majority of the day and thrown away the many pages of extensive notes which had taken many a spare moment to write, I decided to get a grip. Thing is; there was absolutely no way I was going to cancel the Christmas show because certain people (actors, mostly) are looking forward to it - for them alone I couldn't pull out, but I was feeling flat and bored of my own writing. Anyway, a good solid lunch hour of writing yesterday tipped things roughly back into shape - and then an intense writing session from 6.30pm - 12.30am finished the piece. It was one of those glorious moments where I just hit my stride and remembered why I am doing this. The key I think was that a) I had developed a better understanding of the characters (I'd consequently changed the lead of Sophie from being a shouty bitch to a misunderstood control freak) and b) I was actually starting to enjoy myself again. Christmas is amazing - and once I remembered that, courtesy of my 'It's Christmas Time' album there was no stopping me. During the course of that last minute, six hour writing session I drank 2 litres of Pepsi and ate 8 bars of Tescos mint chocolate thingys and a pizza. Today at lunch I tightened things up a bit, and this evening we had the first read through. Yes, that was how late I'd left things. Excitedly reading the script in the corner of The Tram Depot pub in Cambridge, my outstanding cast; Izzy, Kev, Elisa, Steve and 'Vaughan Claus' thrilled me by bringing these characters to life. The beautiful thing is, they want to be in this, they want it to work, and yet tonight the read-through was effortless, they just fell into the characters. The tempo of the piece felt spot on, it times roughly around 50 minutes leaving a nice gap for a live band, everyone likes each other, the cast chuckled as they heard the jokes for the first time and rehearsal dates are in the diary. 'Three Elves, A Snowman And A Funeral' -written in a day and a half, stressed me out a great deal, but is probably one of my best scripts yet.

Christmas script

Seriously, why do I bother. I confess I've just signed in to have a rant, but I'm annoyed with myself. Last year I said I'd only do a Christmas show this time around if it would be a step up, a real revolutionary idea perhaps, something that was a stark improvement on 2011's mediocre offering. Suddenly I've found myself in a position where the first rehearsal is this Thursday, I'd taken today off work (Tuesday) and, despite planning a script meticulously, I scrapped it at 1.30pm and started again. It's much better now, but lacks any form of depth. I've got about 20 minutes worth good material in there, but there isn't too much millage left in this plot, it could easily be wrapped up in five more pages. Even tagging a live band in for the 'death scene' (a tradition of mine) the show itself would be a flimsy 40 minutes. Have I gone downhill as a writer? Am I no longer festive? What's the fucking point?

'To The Brink' at The ADC/Recording with Laura/A decent weekend

This was always going to be a bit of a manic weekend, but I've actually had a really good time. On Friday evening my old chum Rob came over for beers - the man's a legend and not in the country enough, we drank too much till the early hours and I think I've offended my landlady because our late night banter was perhaps a little too loud and unsociable. It's not like I do this every week though...

On Saturday and Sunday I had the pleasure of spending time in the studio with Laura Tapp as she continues work on her debut album with producer Marto Randle. It's sounding great - my drum parts were done last time, but it was nice just to hang out there anyway and watch it all come together, some of it is genuinely spine tingling stuff. Laura writes brilliant songs, Marto has brilliant ideas, I'm thrilled to be associated with it. 'Aching' is an extraordinary song, completely and utterly heartbreaking, but in a way that I'm glad it exists, this material deserves to be heard. Due to other commitments I couldn't stay till the end on either day, but Laura's just text to say it's virtually done and is now in the mixing, can't wait to release this album.

Saturday evening was the Eureka Stockade gig in London, but I went on about that in the post below so will leave it there except to say I really do enjoy the company of these people. With all these projects at the moment I'm lucky to be continually working with some of the nicest and genuine people you can ever meet. Yes, that's cheesy, but yes, I'm tired, okay?

After another day in the studio today I then popped over to Cambridge where my very latest play, 'To The Brink' was being performed by WriteOn at the ADC Theatre bar. I'd be the first to admit I had strong doubts about this - you know how a couple weeks back my new material evening just died really badly because the scripts felt underdeveloped? I felt this evening could easily go that way too. But it didn't, because Julia directed it brilliantly with some fantastic ideas (this, after I had real concerns after last week's rehearsal - I'm more than happy to take these concerns back though). The cast were awesome too - it's a real wordy piece, even by my standards, but they stuck with it and never drifted, and so did about 90% of the audience I think. Some very nice things were said at the end about the play, and one or two constructive statements (Robert Jezek - an actor friend, talks a lot of sense, I'm don't always take in feedback but when he says something I tend to believe him, he really enjoyed it which made me happy, apart from the slightly weak conclusion). I still don't think it's a particularly good piece of writing, and was expecting it to be slaughtered tonight, but the vibe was nice, I feel like a good writer again.

It's been a good weekend, my double life as a drummer and playwright not clashing too much despite plenty of activity. Next up - writing the Christmas show. I've left it VERY late this year, but the first rehearsal of 'Four Elves And A Funeral' is Thursday evening. Feel sad that I've not got some of my regular cast this year (first Christmas show without Heather for example), but I have put an awesome team together and I have a sneaky suspicion this will be our best festive show ever. See, one good weekend and I turn into an arrogant little bugger.

Currently listening to: Slow Club (both albums and the Christmas EP), David Ford - Live In New York, KT Tunstall - Have Yourself A Very KT Christmas, Elvis Costello - Mighty Like A Rose
Currently reading: Rob Brydon - Small Man In A Book
Currently watching: Him & Her (series 2 on TV), Family Guy (TV), early Only Fools And Horses episodes (DVD)
Currently drinking: Nothing that is good for me, be it beer or caffeine
Currently eating: Pizza, mostly

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Retro, London

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: Retro, London
Date: 12/11/11
Audience: A couple tables worth, mostly nice enough
Set: Caught In A Fire, I've Been There Before, Violence, Without You, All Alone, Through Every Darkness, Heroes Fall
Notes: For a London gig, this was remarkably easy to play. Rob kindly picked me up at 3.30pm, and by 5.15pm we had arrived at the venue - it seemed in a nice enough area, and there was parking directly outside. Nice performance space, very friendly place - a bit empty (especially for a Saturday evening) but we felt welcome. After a quick takeaway, we soundchecked and I actually felt incredibly relaxed about this one - the sound was good, the house drum kit - albeit a very cheap one, was tuned well and we never felt rushed which was nice. Another gig and another slightly different Eureka Stockade line-up, with us three regulars (Rob, Andy and myself) joined again by the ever brilliant Dave Greeves and tonight, for the first time, Claudia McKenzie on bass. I used to play with Claudia in a band years and years ago (from 2001-2003, this makes me feel very old) and she is an outstanding bassist - big grooves, fills the sound, she seems to feel every note and plays with jaw-dropping confidence. From a drummers point of view this is fantastic - so easy to lock in, it gives me the space to open up my playing a little and let go, and because we're both completely comfortable with each others playing (we've had a few other one-off sessions over the years, recording etc) it was easy to be a tight rhythm section despite only having the one rehearsal of these songs earlier this week. The billing was a mixed-bag, one band older than us, another much younger, and we were second on out of three. Wasn't much of an audience, but those who were there seemed to be into it, apart from one idiot who kept annoying Andy. In response, during the quiet bit of 'Without You', Andy told him to "go fuck yourself." I'm glad he did this (Andy retaliating, that is) because some people just need to be told - it was a free entry gig tonight, we sweat our arses off on stage, and one person shouldn't ruin that - if this stranger didn't like it, he didn't have to be there. The mood changed slightly perhaps at this stage, but that doesn't take away the fact it was a lovely gig; we sound great as a band at the moment, I think we have been for a few gigs now, and I'm feeling a renewed sense of enthusiasm for this project. Home by 11pm, that's pretty much unheard of for an out-of-town gig, I've enjoyed myself - had a few beers with my Eureka chums and a bit of a catchup, played a very satisfying set, all in all a nice way to spend an evening.

New material night

We tried out some new material last night. Was a bit of a strange one, it was co-organised by a comedian friend who pulled out during the week, the venue got changed at a week's notice due to a double booking and we also lost an actress for the show during the week due to a sickness bug. Still, a handful of friends kindly turned up to watch Vaughan, Kev, Izzy and Heather bash through my work - I'm grateful for those who did make it, although concerned that for friends such as Audrey, Michael and Olivia especially this was their first time watching a Paul Richards play it was by far one of the worst things I've ever done, hope they come back to a more polished effort. It was a long night, I didn't realise I'd written so much - we tried out five plays, four new, and a re-write of one of my favourite older pieces. They were 'shorts', but boy did they drag... 'Toxic Tornado' - the first piece, did work, if we can get the timing right on that and add a punchline I can do more with this one. 'What Will You Have Me Do?' - the second piece, was long and didn't go anywhere, I felt sorry for everyone in the room - just because it's named after a David Ford song it doesn't mean it's any good. 'My Life In C Minor' bounced along nicely - it was only about five minutes long, but got all the laughs - Heather was outstanding in this, I think this could end up being a short film. We then tried a re-write of my favourite and arguably most successful piece, 'Letters To Sparkle', which I've had for a few years now. I put this in because I wanted to try out a few ideas for it, and also because I was worried about the new material so wanted to throw something in that I knew would work - it did, it was by far the strongest piece of the night, as predicted. 'When Jimmy Became James' - an idea I've had for years about a nervous boxer, dragged, although the romantic ending (aided by a Randy Newman song) saved it, and I really like the punchline - that play didn't work on the night, but can do with a bit of cutting/tweaking.

Wasn't a total disaster then, but a really long show, I even mouthed 'sorry' at one person in the audience who seemed to be drifting. The actors were, as always, fantastic, I appreciate them a lot and am keen to reward them with a really strong Christmas production. My mate Alan reckoned it had a "60% hit rate", he was too kind. Still, it's healthy to keep the brain active - I've effectively written four plays in 9 days, but must learn that sometimes things should be left to mature rather than going public with them straight away. I should have learnt this years ago, really.

After the theatre my friend Rohan Leach performed a beautiful piece on the Bawu which everyone (including myself - I was on experimental percussion for him) loved, a quality end to a mediocre evening.

Gig report: Flaming June @ Oxjam - All Saints Church, Bury St. Edmunds

Band: Flaming June
Venue: All Saints Church, Bury St. Edmunds
Date: 29/10/11
Audience: Charming, lots of them
Set: Rejoice, Under My Skin, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, You Do Moody So Well, The Devil's Daughter, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Little Love In A Cruel World, Wednesdays And Weekends
Notes: My second Oxjam gig in seven days, this time with Flaming June over in Bury St. Edmunds. On arrival my first impressions were that this would be one of the strangest gigs I've played in a while, and in theory it still was - but also one of the nicest. It was an all day event I think (I'm not too sure - I turned up half an hour before the gig and had to leave shortly after our set), and it had a very Vicar Of Dibley vibe to it all, I mean that in a good way. The act before us was a bunch of Morris dancers, the audience were all seated and either drinking tea or real ale. There was lots of them, they were perhaps slightly older than our usual crowd, but also incredibly lovely - they seemed to pay attention attentively and really enjoyed what we did. Perhaps this is why I felt slightly uncomfortable at first - I'm just not used to this level of niceness. Anyway, despite a minor issue with the monitors we played well I think, haven't played with Flaming June for a few weeks but the songs are pretty embroiled into my head now and I thought we were pretty tight and everyone played well, came away feeling happy. I then went off to a Halloween party with Heather, dressed as Frankenstein and generally looking a bit awkward in my costume and unable to see out of my mask. Fortunately, on arrival, a small child was frightened by my appearance so I had to take the mask off for the rest of the evening, and apparently my real face isn't half as scary, which is always good to know.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Missing Sock, Stow-Cum-Quy

Band: Aidy (acoustic trio set)
Venue: The Missing Sock, Stow-Cum-Quy
Date: 22/10/11
Audience: At best, 7 of them, at worst it was just the bar staff
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Maybe, God's Front Porch, 3 Years, Guns, Not Your Day, New Song, Prettyish, Miami Beach, 22, Washing Machine
Notes: My second gig of the day, a quiet one this. We were well looked after by the venue - I genuinely like The Missing Sock; it's a bright and colourful place, the staff are friendly and it's very quirky. For example, there are games on some of the tables, so pre-show we played 'Truth Or Dare' because we're a crazy band like that, unfortunately for Aidy one of his 'dares' was to perform a glove puppet show with one of my socks. As I say, it was my second gig of the day - my feet were proper sweaty. They gave us lovely food (I may go back as a customer one day), and a beer, and it's always good to socialise with Dave and Aidy so I enjoyed that element of the evening. There was a swear box, which was not ideal considering some of the lyrical content of the set. It's just difficult playing a gig in a restaurant when the people are (obviously) eating in the room next to us, so we pretty much played to absolutely nobody. We played okay though, especially the stuff we really knew (this was the touring Aidy line-up so we know these songs inside out by now), and I was home by 9.30pm, just a bit of a weird gig really.

Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ Oxjam All Dayer - The Emperor, Cambridge

Band: Trevor Jones Band
Venue: The Emperor, Cambridge
Date: 22/10/11
Audience: Half-full, responsive
Set: Alive, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling
Notes: A late afternoon slot at an all day event for Oxfam, was nice to be asked and nice to be involved for such a good cause. We played this as a trio (Trev, Bill and myself) so without bass I took to percussion instead of drums as we all know full kit sounds rubbish without a rhythmic partner. Was only a short set, but it was all slightly rushed - I had dashed over from the other side of town where I had been watching the legendary Charlie Higson (Fast Show etc) give a fascinating talk about writing kids horror fiction as part of the brilliant 'Festival Of Ideas' - it's things like this that make Cambridge such a nice place to live in. Trevor himself was also understandably stressed, what with his wife Maddy due to give birth at any moment, so it was very much a case of run in, do the set, cheeky half pint to calm down and go again. It was good though, not too much of a crowd but you get that with a Saturday afternoon gig, but we essentially cut out the ballads and went straight for the uptempo stuff (apart from the cover) and came away happy enough.

Another glimmer of Christmas, Twitter etc

I've spent the last few days working on some new material - in fact lots of new little projects. See, this is what tends to happen when I don't drum for a few evenings in a row, I just get over-excited about the prospect of actually spending some evenings in for a change that I try to write three plays at the same time. Some bits and bobs are coming along nicely, some stuff for our new material evening that is on 4th November in Cambridge, some stuff for the Christmas show that is on at the end of December (still very much in the notes stage though), and also some content for a potential 'Awkward Christmas Live' show in London- although Helen and I are both so busy it's still very much up in the air. All good though, I can feel my creative brain slowly kick into gear, as much as I'm looking forward to a weekend of drumming.

Last weekend was great in the studio with Laura Tapp, her album is going to be fantastic - probably missed the boat for it being out in time for Christmas (unless we rushed it through, but what's the point in that?) but for an early 2012 treat it really will be something rather special. A lot of the arrangements are so simplistic, because she's a proper songwriter who uses melodies, and I'd like to think this album will help push her properly into the limelight. She was good on the radio too on Friday evening, and Martin's production on the album is already looking rather splendid. We're back again in a few weeks time to do more work on it, with hopefully an iTunes exclusive single coming out just before the festive season. There's a lot of good things coming out musically actually - Eureka Stockade are releasing our lovely track, 'All Alone' next month (it's always been one of my favourites in the set), the Christmas track I wrote with The Prisoner Of Mars ('I Don't Care If Santa Doesn't Come Around') is being released at the end of November, and we're evening plotting an Under The Streetlamp festive single...although given our history, the chances of all four of us being available at the same time to actually record the thing is unlikely, hope so though. Ahhh, Christmas is brilliant, even it does spell the end of another year in which I've not really achieved as much as I wanted to.

I've just joined Twitter by the way, no idea how it really works, but I'm here: @paulrichards30

Currently reading: Alan Partridge - I Partridge
Currently listening to: Carole King - Tapestry, Emmy The Great - Virtue, Julian Velard - Mr. Saturday Night, Paul Goodwin - Trinkets And Offcuts, Young Rebel Set - Curse Our Love
Currently watching: Match Of The Day, Family Guy, very little else

Gig report: Aidy @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Band: Aidy (full band)
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 15/10/11
Audience: Half-full, enthusiastic
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Guns, God's Front Porch, 3 Years, Edinburgh, Washing Machine
Notes: In between simultaneously writing three stage shows and also recording drums for Laura Tapp's debut album, this was a nice break for me to get out and hit things with sticks nice and hard. It was a Saturday night at the Cornerhouse, a regular venue that I've played (it feels like) a million times before, but it was a nice enough evening. It was our first Aidy gig as a four piece, with the outstanding Dave Simpson (from The Bomb Factory) joining the ranks as a lead guitarist. It changed things a lot, for the better I think, we certainly rocked out more than I've done in years, there was a snappy energy about it all but (as somebody pointed out) there was more than an element of early Elvis Costello to it all, which can only be a good thing. Decent night, could have done with a bigger audience but those who did make it down were treated to a diverse line-up, with last minute opener Rishi playing quirky songs about science, and headliners Buzzard King (featuring Aidy's bassist, Dave Martin) putting in a superb stint of proper old school rock, they were frighteningly tight, great to watch. Anyway, back to recording with Laura tomorrow/eating Pringles in the studio for endless hours, being a drummer is wicked.

Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ Troubadour Club, London

Band: Trevor Jones Band
Venue: The Troubadour Club, London
Date: 12/10/11
Audience: Busy, nice enough even if a few of them were engrossed in loud conversations
Set: All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, Alive, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, Roll On The Rain, She Was Me, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling.
Notes: Headline gig at the world famous Troubadour for Trevor Jones Band, we'd been looking forward to this one a while. Easy journey up, the stage was the perfect size for us and the soundchecks were excellent and lengthy. Good food kindly provided by the venue (pasta, chicken, salad and red wine) and a nice vibe throughout. We had three support acts, two of which were absolutely outstanding, and by the time our set arrived we had a nice big audience crammed in to the relatively small space too. Although, let's be honest, a majority of the crowd weren't there for us, we managed to grab their attention and our well rehearsed set was warmly received. In fact, we were even on the verge of an encore, only for the host to jump on stage and play his own songs on his acoustic guitar. For the sake of professionalism, I can't say much more than that, but rest assured he quickly cleared the place and we came away with a bad feeling about the whole thing which was a shame because there was a lot of positives to take from the evening.

Big Hopes In Little Winhaven

A week ago I set myself a challenge; to write a novel. In seven days. I say a week ago, but I had been rambling on about it for a while to friends, but having talked the talk for a considerable amount of time, my week out of the office seemed to come out of nowhere and I was less than prepared. Discussing this with friends at the Portland Arms on Saturday night, I admitted I wasn't sure what it was going to be about but somewhat arrogantly stated that my 'ideas' folder on my hard drive has 27 pages worth of notes and surely one of them would be usable...none of them were.

Finally clearing any emails and having written my weekly newspaper column, I started 'work' on Sunday evening. I'd stocked up the flat with pizza, Red Bull, snacks and just a couple cans of lager (alcohol can free the creative mind, but this wasn't a private social and I needed to focus). I closed the blinds, I'd locked the door, I'd surrounded myself with note paper for random scribblings, I'd downloaded 'Tapestry' by Carole King as it sounded like it would be awesome writing music, I'd researched what constitutes a novel (40,000 words or more, anything between 17,000 - 39,999 is a 'novella', anything below 17,000 is a short story) and then I stared at a blank screen for about three hours. I was clueless, and had a long week ahead of me.

I didn't sleep well on Sunday, I was frustrating myself; writing a novel in a week is a hard enough task but even harder when you just have no ideas. Things were bugging me - it reminded me of a difficult evening I had with my ex-girlfriend last month, in which she said I was destined to be 'a local hero' forever, I don't think she meant it as a criticism, she was just pointing it out. I took that remark badly, and it had bugged me ever since because I'm striving, pushing myself, but yes - trapped very much still in a local shell. It was bugging me on Sunday evening - I couldn't even think of an idea for a novel, I was destined to be small time forever. But then I realised it was a lovely concept for a story...

The rest of the process was remarkably easy - I conjured up several situations within a small market town within which our trapped, desperate heroes could gradually fall apart, added a very occasional overblown unrealistic element, a little fantasy, and offered hope for a resolution to their despair. It was written quickly - about 10,000 words a day, of course there were times when I got frustrated/went back to bed/kicked a wall, there were times when I looked at myself in the mirror and doubted that this was a good use of my time. But when I was really flying, it was like I was on a different planet. I started to believe, and care for, these characters, I wanted them to succeed but also didn't want them to because that would be too predictable.

I'm really happy with the way it's turned out - 4 and a half days, just over 40,000 words, 11 cans of Red Bull consumed. I left the flat just the once - when my mate Heather invited me out to the theatre on Wednesday evening, it was the break my head needed. I listened to 'Tapestry' in it's entirety about 30 times. It's called 'Big Hopes In Little Winhaven', I'll go back and edit it in a couple weeks time, and then try and find a home for it somewhere next year, will probably end up sticking it online myself.

I checked my emails for the first time in a week to see that I've been offered a small publishing contract for my 2009 play, 'With Arms Outstretched', from a publisher based in Canada. That made me happy, giving a hint that I'm not too trapped in this local shell. I then had a frustrating evening out, confirming in many ways that I still very much am. Bugger.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Wish You Were Here Festival, Cambridge

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: Wish You Were Here Festival @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 01/10/2011
Audience: Crept into double figures at one point I think
Set: Heroes Fall, Without You, I've Been There Before, Sharks, All Alone, Through Every Darkness
Notes: In it's second year, the Wish You Were Here Festival is basically the Cambridge equivalent to America's popular South By Southwest, with several bands stretched over a number of venues and the audience paying once (in this instance for a wristband) which allows them entry to everything. It's a lovely concept and full credit to Green Mind Promotions who put this on, it was fantastic fun. Our set was at 5pm, which was the perfect slot for us - not too early so we would have an audience, but not too late either so we could enjoy the rest of the festival. Another gig and another slightly different Eureka Stockade line-up, our first ever show without bassist Nathan who has sadly moved on to pastures new and our replacement wasn't available for this one at such short notice. But we did have the ever-brilliant Dave Greeves on lap-steel guitar, Dave has guested with us a few times for the 'bigger' shows as well as playing on the album and he's fast becoming a regular member of the band now, socially as well as on stage and he's a bloody good musician who fills the gaps nicely. With not the biggest turnout (but then again who would want to be inside a small venue when it was scorching hot outside?) but lots of neutrals, requests for CD's etc and we went down well. If our regular supporter Jack Whelpton's opinions are anything to go by that was the best Eureka Stockade gig yet, I'm not 100% sure but it felt like a goodun - we were warmed up from a morning rehearsal then little radio slot, the sound quality was excellent on and off stage, the four of us gelled really nicely. Top day that was, saw some excellent bands later on and then enjoyed many drinks with good friends in the Portland Arms courtyard until closing time. More gigs like this please.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Cambridge 105 Radio

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: Cambridge 105 Radio Station
Date: 01/10/11
Audience: No idea
Set: Through Every Darkness, All Alone
Notes: I didn't realise we were doing this one so it was a nice extra bit of promotion ahead of the gig that was to follow. We did this as a trio (leaving our fourth band member for the day, Dave, in the pub to watch his beloved Everton on TV), so it was Rob, Andy and myself. Really chilled, nicely presented show, we sounded okay I think.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Missing Sock, Stow-Cum-Quy

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Missing Sock, Stow-Cum-Quy
Date: 30/09/11
Audience: Small, but very nice
Set: Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, The Devil's Daughter, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Little Love In A Cruel World, Wednesday's And Weekends
Notes: One of the quirkiest venues I've played, The Missing Sock is a restaurant oozing with character - the venue even has it's own bus outside. It's been the hottest whatever since whatever (I'm rubbish with actual facts) so a lot of people ate outside, and we played inside, so not the biggest audience but equally more people seemed to hear us than we could see as after every song there was audible applause from other parts of the restaurant. I enjoyed this, we played well, I liked having two congas again rather than one (I've been a bit lazy recently), the set was the perfect length, and a general feeling that we went down well. They gave us very nice food after the set and I was home by 10pm, lovely.

New projects, and the first glimmers of Christmas

It's been a while since I've updated this properly (apart from the regular gig reports), but I'm now feeling a renewed sense of creativity after the inevitable post-Edinburgh/tour/Lodestar slump. Gig-wise things have been reasonably busy, I keep telling myself to perhaps free up some time and lose a band or two but every time I play live I genuinely enjoy myself too much and it would be impossible to let go of any of these projects. I do wonder though where the time will come from though for my new ventures, and there's a few exciting things in the pipeline.

On Friday evening I went for a particularly brilliant meeting with my mate Jon, I really can't say much more but in short I've accepted a business offer for an idea that could grow into something really rather special - both creatively and financially, it's a wonderful prospect and I'm flattered I've been approached to be a part of this. It does mean a fair bit of work though to be done by the end of January, I know I write quickly but this involves a lot of writing, but if certain industry types sign up (and there's a good chance they will by the sounds of things) this could really be the making of all of us. We'll see though, in the meantime though I'd best get the Red Bull lined up as manic times are ahead.

Last weekend I drove down to Bristol to meet up with Grace, an actress I met here in Cambridge a few months back when she took the lead in my short play, 'Probably The Greatest Goal Ever Scored' that was put on by WriteOn at the ADC theatre. I knew then that I wanted to write more for her - there's an energy about her that makes it very easy for a playwright, and her timing is spot on. We discussed lots of ideas, she initially called to suggest meeting up because she has ideas of forming a film production company (with her brothers and myself in mind), so we chatted about this in great detail and there's a real possibility something creatively adventurous will come out of this. We also went over various film and radio ideas I've had brewing for a while now and we instantly clicked on several of them, just from the initial plot suggestions she was suggesting great things and the more we discussed the more we realised we have much in common (both big admirers of the amazing sitcom 'Him & Her', the love of Christmas etc) so when she's back in Cambs next month we'll get straight down to filming, recording, stage shows, whatever we can squeeze in. I started writing a radio sitcom for this new collaboration last week, it's called 'Technically Single', I've bashed out two rough episodes so far and aim to have the other four done within the next few weeks. After that I went to a party with my legendary mate, Matt, who lives in Bristol, it was fancy dress, we got drunk, met some lovely people, I drove back the next day feeling more creative than ever. I've even booked up the cellar of CB2 for a Friday evening in November to try out some new stage material, most of which is far from ready at this stage, and I'm also meeting Izzy (who played 'Maddy' and other characters so wonderfully in our fringe show this year) next week to discuss all things Oscar Pike as she has some ideas for future development. Exciting times, but so much going through my mind it is stopping me get a decent nights sleep, but it'll all be worthwhile I reckon.

Christmas seems to be very much creeping up at the moment, I've co-written a song with The Prisoner Of Mars (also known as Bryan Shore) called 'I Just Want A Happy Holiday' - it sounds lovely now, big Phil Spector-esque production but also very lo-fi at the same time. We'll get a little video made for it and get it out in good time for the festive season, I just need to finish the lyrics for the b-side now. For the last three years I've put on Christmas shows in Cambridge ('On The 12th Day Of Alex', 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill/Goldilocks And The Beanstalk' and 'Santa Claus And The Unfortunate Allegations/Dawn Palmer Just Wants To Be Lonely This Christmas') but I didn't enjoy last year's much at all and was planning a break. But it's Christmas, and as always, even though I said I wouldn't do another one, I'm so doing another one this year, especially as so many people (admittedly most of them being my regular cast) have asked me about it. I think the key for me here is that it has to be different - the reason why last year's show didn't work for me is because it was all a bit routine, time to push the boat out this time. The ideas are brewing, and it's an excuse to listen to merry tunes in September. There's also a chance that Helen Arney and I will be putting on a stageplay version of our successful yuletide album, 'It's Going To Be An Awkward Christmas, Darling' in December - we'll see, we're just waiting on the availability of our preferred London venue. If not, we've vowed to definitely do it next year. Either way, the mere thought of it excites me a lot. Christmas excites me a lot.

Currently watching: Him & Her - series 1 DVD, Blackadder The Third, Match Of The Day
Currently listening to: Slow Club - Paradise, Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman, the many entries to the Hunts Post song competition
Currently reading: The Masters Of Sitcom - From Hancock To Steptoe (by Christopher Stevens)

Gig report: Aidy @ Trystonbury Festival, Windsor

Band: Aidy
Venue: Trystonbury Festival, Windsor
Date: 24/09/11
Audience: Scattered but nice
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Maybe, God's Front Porch, 22, I Don't Even Know Your Name, Edinburgh, Washing Machine
Notes: Our second trip to the charming Trystonbury Festival after also appearing last year, this year was notable for the fact that it had sold out in advance. I really enjoyed this - nice relaxed vibe; with the age range in the audience from kids to much older adults so it all felt very diverse. I liked the choice of material our set from this one, some of the songs which are newer to me ('Maybe' and 'I Don't Even Know Your Name') feel fresh and have given it all a bit of a kick, although due to the fact that we were enjoying the good weather and company of friends Hodge and Stuart I think we (well, certainly Aidy and myself, Dave had to drive straight back to Cambridge though) were a little drunk on stage. As a result it was perhaps a slightly more raucous performance than normal, but we'd like to think that just added to the energy of it all, as much as I was concerned that the swearing might not be suitable for a family audience at times. We ended the set by joke trashing our equipment really slowly, no idea why or where that idea came from but we enjoyed it and will probably do that again at another gig. In the audience were celebrity couple Rhys Ifans and Anna Friel (both bonafide movie stars), I saw Rhys' foot tapping along to our set so Aidy and I gave him a free CD later on, he was a nice man, very approachable and not at all annoyed by us. I like Trystonbury, I like the fact that during the course of the evening several strangers started conversations with us, and there was some nice random moments such as a woman climbing up a posh rope thingy to very high levels of a tree, and the whole setting is beautiful. I also really appreciated the fact that it's over a small site, so even when I went for a late night wee I didn't get too lost finding my way back. The food was good, and when we'd finished our rider the bar was cheap anyway. On a personal level that was my tenth and final festival of the summer (to play), and I actually think I've enjoyed them all, as much as I don't like waking up the next morning with a stinking hangover in a tent in the middle of nowhere, me and nature generally aren't friends.

Flaming June @ Cambridge 105 Radio

Band: Flaming June
Venue: Cambridge 105 Radio Station
Date: 21/09/11
Audience: No idea
Set: Rejoice, Rumplestiltskin, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, The Devils Daughter
Notes: Well that was an odd one. We (Flaming June) were guests on the 'Acoustic Sofa' programme this evening at Cambridge 105 radio. The show itself ran for an hour and they dedicated a majority of it to us, with four live songs, some chat, and two tracks from the new EP. It's a madcap show, there's an occasional flurry of panic, some of the equipment breaks, there's mobiles ringing during the show...but it's full of such character you can't fail to like this programme, it's so quirky and fast-paced and we were made to feel so welcome. We were without Clare tonight as she was babysitting (well, they're her (and Steve's) children, does that still make it babysitting? Probably makes her just 'mothering' as Louise pointed out) and we missed her - there was something missing in the tunes, even if we tried to compensate for it. But still, tight performance, and alongside all the craziness of the show it was a typical FJ gig really - I get called 'the happiest drummer', Louise breaks a string etc, the usual.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ High Barn, Essex

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
Date: 14/09/11
Audience: About half-full, sat at tables, nice
Set: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, She Got Good, I've Been There Before, Heroes Fall, Sharks, Caught In A Fire, Broken Pieces, Without You, All Alone, Erotomania, Violence
Notes: High Barn is my favourite venue, I know I say that everytime I come back from there but I mean it - it's a crime more people don't know about it. The acoustics are magnificent, the whole high wooden ceiling thing is beautiful, the stage is the perfect size for being both roomy and intimate, the decor is incredible, the smell of the place...ahhh, it's all wonderful. All of these things made it our number one location to record the live album/DVD, headlining with the oustanding (fellow Cambridgeshire band) Willows also playing and recording their set too. This was the 6-piece version of Eureka Stockade and my favourite - with the four of us joined by Anna on cello and Dave on pedal steel guitar. They add so much to the sound and take it away from the standard indie rock format, and they're both lovely people too so it's always a pleasure. This gig was also sadly our last show with Nathan on bass - he's been with the band for a couple years now but has decided to move on to pastures new, but he ended it on a high - this is the best I've heard him play these songs in a long time. All in all a good gig, I'd be concerned if the whole show was released as there may have been a couple less than perfect moments (the ending of 'Caught In A Fire' for example), but when we hit top form - which we did sporadically throughout the performance (I don't think the ballads, 'Broken Pieces' and 'Without You' have ever sounded so good), there is a real sense that we should be showing people these recordings. I await the final mixes with much anticipation, in the meantime just the thought of being sat behind the kit looking at that beautiful venue in all it's glory is enough to keep me happy.

Gig report: Aidy @ The Jolly Brewer, Lincoln

Band: Aidy
Venue: The Jolly Brewer, Lincoln
Date: 10/09/11
Audience: Passive for the first half, but seemingly really into it in the second
Set: First set (acoustic) - Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Guns, God's Front Porch, 3 Years, 22, Magazines, New Song, Washing Machine. Second set (electric) - Not Your Day, Maybe, Miami Beach, Life In Monochrome, Prettyish, I Don't Even Know Your Name, 3 Monkeys, If That's All That There Is, Waiting, Bored.
Notes: Interesting gig that one, nice venue and very friendly, bit tight for space on 'stage' but no issues with volume as the venue itself is a fair size and we had an excellent soundman who seemed to genuinely care. For a Saturday night it was a little quiet at first, and at times I felt I was struggling to get totally into it during our acoustic set - yet as we've played these songs so much recently I still think we sounded pretty sharp as these tracks are pretty much cemented into our subconscious by now. After a short break we then went electric with full drums, electric guitars and everything, and the whole vibe seemed to change. Perhaps it was because we haven't played many electric gigs recently and it all seemed fresh, or the fact that as the evening progressed the audience seemed more interested in what we were doing. There's a few songs in the second half that I'd personally never played live before and had only rehearsed for the first time on the morning of the show - such as 'Maybe' and 'Bored' - the latter actually being one of my favourite Aidy songs now and I'm keen to have it as a regular in the set. By the end of the show, with Dave rolling on the floor (a regular occurrence at gigs now) and with CD's being sold I felt we really won over that audience and it was a long but hugely enjoyable evening. Turned down the kind offer of going to 'Cubes' nightclub with the rest of the band and Dave's old university friends, instead sticking to my very sensible 'if the venue is under two hours away drive home that night' rule, so instead of the usual drunken fun I found myself in a 24-hour drive-through McDonalds with my good mate (and navigator for the evening) Rachel. Perhaps I am getting too old for all the rock and roll, but at least I still feel young enough to get excited about fast food.

Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ The Ferryboat, Holywell (gig for The Institute Of Videography)

Band: Trevor Jones Band
Venue: The Ferryboat, Holywell
Date: 06/09/11
Audience: A handful of mature students
Set: First set: Badman, Shine A Light, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Alive, Roll On The Rain, Old Fashioned Woman. Second set: Solid Ground, She Was Me, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling, All I Am
Notes: Peter and his brilliant team at Harrier Digital have done a fantastic job with the Trevor Jones Band live DVD, which was filmed a few months ago at the (now sadly gone) Haymakers. To return the favour, we were the band tonight for his class as the Institute Of Videography were shown how to record and film a live act. It was a slightly surreal evening, but we were made to feel very welcome, and the acoustics at The Ferryboat are pretty good too. After a slightly slow start (me, mostly) we were firing nicely tonight and it was all very pleasant. Although there was only a handful of people in the room we went down incredibly well, and in between our two short sets (and the chats with the tutors) Trevor even sold out of CD's so we must have been doing something right. Lovely gig, then the A14 was closed and I got a bit lost going home, which angered me greatly.

Lodestar Festival 2011

Lodestar Festival returned at the weekend, and for the second year running I was booking the theatre/comedy/non-music acts, this year I even had a title - 'Director Of Theatre', which I liked very much. I'm not sure why I had any doubts this time around, possibly because I've been so busy this summer with the fringe, the tour, the gigs, so coming into the festival I was a tad worried that I just wasn't prepared enough. No need to worry though - Lodestar is an amazing place to be, run by amazing people. I will even go as far as to say this has been my favourite weekend of the year so far, and I'm not sure how it can be bettered. Arriving on Saturday morning, I was instantly handed a walkie-talkie, with my additional role of stage manager for the stage I'd booked the acts for suddenly kicking in. Our stage this year had moved to another part of the site, partly I think because of my request after last year (in which the noise from the main stage was overpowering) but also because Doug the organiser is a bright man and probably knew this himself. Although our stage was a fair walk away from the main attractions (it was in it's own field), it was easy enough to find and had it's own bar, so we were never short of an audience. Alongside the general walking around, getting confused about who is allowed backstage wristbands, and trying to look important, my first performance of the day was with Flaming June, who were the second act of the day on our stage. Fresh from our performance the night before, this was the Flaming June I love - the fiery, slightly manic at times even, the night before we were all a little drained from the excessive heat of the venue, but in the open air in front of a quickly gathering crowd we played our regular set, but played it pretty well if I may say so. Next up was Laura Tapp, one of my label artists. Laura's great - very confident on stage, perfect for the festival vibe, and it was nice to join her on stage for to play congas on three tracks - the three we recorded earlier this year. My old chum, Tracy Harris, then put on another fantastic play, performed by the dude from the Kitkat advert, and then another friend, Paul Kerensa, proved that stand-up comedy can work in a field. I'm genuinely amazed at how into comedy/non-music this audience were, it was a hot sunny day but instead of watching bands on the main stage it felt like we had a good majority of them in our field. Paul has writing credits including 'Not Going Out' and 'Miranda' for television so there's no doubting his credentials, and his performance was perfect for the hot summer's day, it was no exaggeration to say he went down very well indeed. Next up was my final performing commitment of the day - and the one that perhaps I was most apprehensive about, 'Relationships, Eh?' - the musical. Written in about three hours, aided by a four-pack of Carling on a Friday night a few weeks back, I'm shocked how well this came together. The concept was simple enough - take the most inventive choir in Cambridge (Dowsing For Sound), put a storyline around the songs (tried to keep it light and fluffy, failed, it went a bit dark at times, especially the bit about liver failure), bring in two top-notch actors (Angela Rowlands and Vaughan Allanson), a confident and talented narrator (Michelle Golder) and then rehearse...er, once with the actors (none with the narrator) and twice with the choir. The fact that it worked so well says a lot about the talent up there - the choir seem to hang off musical arranger Andrea Cockerton's every move, they're so responsive, they seemed to passionately enjoy being part of this. The band (Andrea, Gav and myself) were fairly tight too if I may say so myself (apart from the odd drum blip, but I was preoccupied with the script/my backstage duties/life in general) and the cast/narrator performed like they'd been doing this for years. Even when Angela was briefly taken away by a security guard who wrongly mistook her acting as troublesome behaviour, things didn't fall apart, the show kept going. The audience - plenty of them, stuck with it, and I'd like to think they felt rewarded by the happy ending. It all felt like a happy ending to me anyway. The excellent Cambridge Improv Factory were next up, Tracy then put her play on again, and comedian Peter Buckley-Hill went from having only an audience of a handful to a packed field laughing at his every word, there was even demands for an encore - again, this is in the middle of a field, it was all brilliantly surreal and probably couldn't happen anywhere else. With my work for the day done, we had burgers, watched the headliners on the main stage (The Datsuns), and drank till the early hours of the morning, good conversations with some of my favourite people in all the world. Woke up feeling rubbish (hangovers, sleeping in a tent, the usual), and a slightly more relaxed day over at the Arts stage ensued. The Gamlingay Players (a generous and warm bunch of people) performed a great little show as the rain poured down making it difficult for audiences (unless, like myself and Clare, Heather and Vorn, you wanted to sit under an umbrella), my new play, 'How About You?' was nice and gentle for a Sunday afternoon (the script was aided by some wonderful acting from Alan, Jules, Kimberly, Steve, Vaughan and Clare), and then my good friend Andy Higson put on his sketch show, 'Firenado', which was rather amusing. I had a small role in that too, I enjoyed myself. With the rain clearing, the Arts stage concluded with another superb performance by the Cambridge Improv Factory, and I could finally hand back my walkie-talkie (big thanks to Amy for looking after it overnight for me in her handbag, guessing I was getting a bit drunk) and enjoy the Sunday headliner - the surprisingly fantastic Magic Numbers. More than fantastic - 'Love Me Like You' is currently my favourite song in all the world, they were heartbreakingly good, and a perfect way to end what was a frankly amazing weekend. Amazing for it's creativity - okay, so I'm knackered now, but my brain is buzzing from the success of it all, and the realisation that all art can work at music festivals if done properly. I was all over the place at the weekend (having written two of the plays, drummed in three bands, cameoed in a sketch show and ran the stage) but I enjoyed every second - probably because I had the pleasure of doing this with some of my best friends in all the world. I was pretty stressed in the run up to Lodestar about how it would all work. I miss the stress now, I'm already looking forward to doing it all again soon. In the meantime, time for some new challenges...

Gig report: Flaming June (EP launch) @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 02/09/11
Audience: Busy, nice
Set: Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Rumplestiltskin, The Wizard
Notes: We launched our new EP tonight at the Cornerhouse in Cambridge. The EP, 'Nerves Of Steel' is a lovely little release. The gig itself was hot and sweaty, but the audience stuck with us and we went down very well, a great turnout actually. It felt like a bit of a battle at times because of the heat but we were really gelling I felt, as the energy was seemingly being sapped out of us - we even dropped a song from the set because it was getting pretty unbearable up there and we have Lodestar Festival tomorrow so need to be at our best. A good night though, as most Flaming June gigs are.

Gig report: Aidy @ Stockton Underground Festival @ Stockton-On-Tees

Band: Aidy
Venue: The Vault, Stockton-On-Tees
Date: 28/08/11
Audience: Busy, enthusiastic
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Guns, God's Front Porch, Edinburgh, Washing Machine
Notes: This was great fun, as much as I like living around here I'm starting to enjoy gigging out of town more and more these days. It's also nice to be doing gigs like this with Aidy and Dave as, after the tour last month, we're pretty used to each other now so travelling fairly long distances for gigs is never a problem. Got picked up at 8.30am which is a bit early for a Sunday for my liking, and then made the long trip up to Middlesborough. To be honest we made it in pretty good time, just after midday I think. It's nice hitting new places with plenty of time to spare as we had an opportunity to explore the town centre a bit, grab some food and a cheeky pint and browse the ridiculously cheap music shops. After a quick rehearsal in our hotel room a taxi was sent for us by the promoter to get us to the venue, The Vault, which was about ten minutes down the road in Stockton. The Vault is a nice space - it's downstairs, it has a slight wine-bar feel to it but certainly not pretentious, small stage but good fitting for all of the acts booked. The Stockton Underground Festival is the first of it's kind - and the promoter, a young chap called Matt, did an outstanding job - he seemed stressed for most of it but he didn't need to be, he'd booked some excellent bands and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. I like being in the out-of-town band, there's a certain kudos about it sometimes, the fact that we were willing to travel for hours to play at their event. We were treated so well - probably the best hospitality we've had anywhere this year, with our drinks requirements met (including cans of carbonated caffeine for me), there was just a sense that we were being looked after. Three hours, a few complimentary beers and a even a cheeky Jaggerbomb later and we hit the stage at 8pm, on just after the brilliant Broken Broadcast, a band we met in Leeds on the tour. By now the venue was filling up nicely and we played good enough I think, it was one of our safer sets and we all know these songs very well by now, the Aidy trio feels like a well-oiled indie-rock machine. Doing the mailing list run after the gig is always a nice way to meet the audience despite the fact that Aidy pimps out my cuddles (for a while now I've had the nickname of 'Cuddly Paul' whilst in this band, due to the excessive length of my arms), but it's all part of the banter, CD's were sold, new friends were definitely made. The people in Stockton are the friendliest people I've met in a gig situation in a long time. Back to the hotel just after midnight because we were all knackered, probably not as rock 'n' roll as we have been recently, but that was a long, if brilliant day. Up at 7am, back in my little Shepreth pad by midday, was a lovely little jaunt up north to play in front of some lovely people. Wicked.

Gig report: Trevor Jones Band @ Tony's housewarming, Brampton

Band: Trevor Jones Band
Venue: Tony's new house, Brampton
Date: 27/08/11
Audience: Friendly - obviously
Set: All I Am, Badman, Shine A Light, Roll On The Rain, I Don't Wanna Talk About It, Old Fashioned Woman, Alive, Can't Take This Anymore, Falling
Notes: Tony, our bassist, has moved into a new house with his family and he's spent months making it look fantastic - it's really rather impressive. Hungover from Chris and Kelly's engagement drinks last night, I arrived in the early afternoon, feeling disheveled and slightly uncomfortable with my new haircut, to be greeted by some of the nicest people I've ever met. Our set was in Tony's garden, those nice people were very nice about it, I wasn't at my sharpest performance-wise today, 'Alive' and 'Can't Take This Anymore' were pretty awesome, but I was a bit ploddy at times for the rest of the set. Still, was good fun, and enjoyed the socialising afterwards.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Hidden Rooms, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Hidden Rooms, Cambridge (supporting John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett)
Date: 23/08/11
Audience: Seated, lots of them, lovely
Set: Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, The Devil's Daughter, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Wednesdays And Weekends
Notes: Seriously; it's gigs like this that remind me why I play live. Why I get so much pleasure being in a band, playing original material. Just one of those evening's when all the slogging around suddenly seems worthwhile. We were supporting the legendary John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett tonight, the final night of their 40th anniversary tour. It was a charity show, in a venue which I thought would be slightly unconventional but for the nature of the event it worked a treat - seated, capacity of 70 (nearly sold out), for a really good cause. Having Jo from the Cornerhouse do our sound worked in our favour too as she knows her stuff, and that was, in my opinion, without question the best we have played. The venue was hot, sweaty, the audience sat fairly close watching but completely getting it, getting the humour, getting the fact we were literally sweating ourselves senseless up there to entertain them. Our performance was fiery, very tight, it was a proper show, it was brilliant to be part of. With the single being released yesterday and the EP coming out next week there's a nice vibe to the whole FJ thing, we hit total top form today, I drank excessive caffeine beforehand but every drop of it seemed to be used in a fast and often furious set. Otway and Barrett then played two incredible 45 minute sets. I'm not sure I can even begin to describe the madness of what these two can create. They're the perfect comedy double act; Otway is the awkward one, Barrett is the confident one putting him down, Barrett is a truly magnificent musician, Otway shouts his way through the set and plays terrible electronic drums but then surprises everyone with a violin solo. Yet together it works so well - they've been around 40 years, it shows, I've not laughed this much in months and I only came back from the Edinburgh Fringe a few weeks back...they had an amplifier in a bin mic'd up on stage, they had songs - good proper songs. The gig ended with Barrett seemingly getting bored of the last track and cutting up his guitar with a saw, and then smashing it to pieces with a hammer. It's been done before, but the timing of it was impeccable. He then started playing bagpipes as Otway awkwardly finished the vocals...mesmerising, top notch entertainment. They're nice people too, managed to grab a quick word with both of them, they were really great. It was a really great evening all around, it's late, it's now technically Wednesday morning, I'm still buzzing from it.

A productive weekend

I've enjoyed this weekend. I've barely seen anybody at all, which is not the reason I enjoyed it as such but after the hustle and bustle of the last few weekends - the festivals, the Edinburgh Fringe, the gigs, it's been nice to have some Paul Richards time, a chance to actually catch up on things and write the plays I've promised people I'd actually have ready soon. In fact, if it wasn't for this weekend I've just had I've be totally screwed because it's two weeks until Lodestar and I've got two new plays going on there. One of them, a one-act play called 'How About You?' has been half in the bag for a while, but a couple of hours of re-writing yesterday afternoon soon kicked that into shape and it's all good to go. It was the other piece that was concerning me somewhat though - the musical for Dowsing For Sound choir. It's become one of those projects that I've been so excited about but never got around to doing - until Friday evening when my mate's dog got ill so she couldn't come over for beers so I had some time to get started on it. The songs are already there - pretty much the Dowsing set from the gig last month, and I foolishly thought doing a Ben Elton and sticking a plot around it would be easy enough. But listening to the songs again, I soon started to get worried as they didn't fit my original concept that I'd been making notes for during the last few days. But in some strange kind of way, they nudged the plot into a whole new direction, a darker direction, and it's been a nice challenge. It's a really good challenge for a writer to have to work with tools you're not used to - I found myself with three songs left to fit in somehow convincingly as if they were supposed to be there in the first place. In the end I got a bit carried away and, after a little sleep, carried on writing it on Saturday evening, completely forgetting to attend my mate Ben's birthday party in London because I was too wrapped up in the script and lost track of time. The songs are long, and our slot is only 50 minutes at the festival, so I've had to go back and cut a load of dialogue, so the actual script itself is only 7 pages. But I think they're a good 7 pages, I feel very relieved this one has worked out and I can't wait for the rehearsals to begin. Next up; casting. Spent a couple hours today emailing the actors I have in mind for both plays, 2 responses so far - both positive, I love that feeling that things are falling into shape nicely. The weekend concluded with a mixed grill with Aidy and Dave, a perfect mix of good conversation and excessive meat. Next week I'm drumming literally all week, after what feels like a silly amount of time sat staring at a screen on a weekend, I can't wait.

Currently watching: Match Of The Day, How Not To Live Your Life (series 3 DVD)
Currently listening to: I Am Kloot, Young Rebel Soul Club, Joe Jackson
Currently reading: Pauline Black - Black By Design