I know I've got too much on. This is made evident thanks to various things; the flat is more than a bit messy (although I did clean the bathroom the other day, standards, see?), my car is rattling again thanks to the empty Red Bull cans behind the front passenger seat, my snare is still not tuned to my liking but I don't have a spare two hours to do it justice, I've not been out with my non-bandmate friends for a while (although the last time I did I fell down a ditch whilst drunk so maybe this is a good idea anyway), but perhaps even more important/worrying is that I'm starting to get behind with things. Like the final, final draft of the Edinburgh Fringe script. Obviously we've done Oscar Pike already here in Cambridge a few months back and technically speaking it was a hit (people laughed, we sold out all four shows), but there's a few things that need to be worked upon urgently we feel (we being myself and Michelle, our outstanding director) to raise the quality even more ahead of the forthcoming Edinburgh run. I really should have nailed the final, final draft by now but time is trickling away, I'm hoping to have it done tomorrow lunchtime - they're just tweaks after all, but important tweaks, and I can't leave the poor actors hanging like this. Other Edinburgh things need to be sorted too, just about there with the accommodation which was cutting it fine but it looks like we're okay now at least, need to sort the flyers, need to find out more details about our actual venue. And at some point I really need to get back into daily line revision sessions (probably with Jessica from work in the staff room as she's very good at these things), I looked at the script the other day, it all came back to me which is a relief, but I need to be in good shape for audiences that aren't littered with friends.
But these are good times, I came straight off the Aidy tour into rehearsals with various bands, and I'm excited by everything. I really need to lose a band or two at some point, but it's near impossible because all of my 'working' bands are really in good shape at the moment, I LIKE EVERYTHING, I'm going to do everything, it can be done. Eureka Stockade were brilliant at the Secret Garden Party I thought - the new songs are our best yet, the live album will be fantastic. Aidy seems rejuvenated thanks to the many successes of the tour and we've got more out of town gigs now booked up as well as a festival next week. Flaming June are consistently good, and the new forthcoming EP (which we recorded a while back) is sounding awesome. Trevor Jones Band continue to be one of those bands that actually play music that I really, really enjoy drumming to - big grooves, big spaces, room for Latin funky bits, top quality musicians, it excites me. And now there's even a gig coming up with Under The Streetlamp, a band I consider to be my 'baby', the band I decided to form all those years ago - it never worked out, but I can't wait for our little August gig, they're good tunes, I love drumming to them. I can't drop any of these projects, I just need time somehow to go a little slower for me, please? Ah, thanks. Before the Secret Garden Party stuff I managed to spare a few hours to record percussion for the quirky and charming Emily Blickem for her forthcoming EP, looking forward to that, and today we've just agreed vague times and dates for the recording of Laura Tapp's full album following the success of her EP earlier this year - she writes brilliant songs, I can't wait for this (and the gigs to go with it). As a musician alone I'm probably stretching myself a little, but surely adrenaline is enough to keep me ticking over?
As a writer things feel just the same - as well as finalising the Oscar Pike script, I really need to crack on with my projects for the Lodestar Festival - re-writing my new play, 'How About You?', and also finishing the musical, 'Relationships, Eh?'. Those make up numbers 3 and 4 on my to-do list (there's 18 things on that list at the moment, number 16 is 'sort my life out'). I've recently finished the lyrics for a spoken word album called 'High Casualty Route' and I genuinely feel it's the best thing I've ever written - now just need the right people to do it with, and to do it properly so it's not another rushed Richards production that 'had potential'. Yet whilst I'm supposed to be doing all these things (numbers 1-4 on the list), for some reason I've been working on my collection of short stories ('Money & Women') and working on a few skeleton (ie rough) scripts with actress Grace Williams in mind as she was so good in 'Probably The Greatest Goal...' the other day and we've been chatting on email about working on a YouTube series together. Sometimes it just feels like you can't control the creative side of your brain, and I never seem to be working on the project I'm supposed to. Which is a bit crap, really, because if I carry on like this things could get messy.
But then tonight, slightly tired, awkwardly early, I arrived at the Dowsing For Sound rehearsals for our dress rehearsal ahead of Saturday's big gig at Ickworth Park. Everything Dowsing For Sound do is big because things only really happen once every six months, and there's loads of people in that choir, and it's all very special. Last week the band and choir met again for the first time since the gig in January (which was one of the best evenings of my life, let alone one of the best gigs). The band has had just a couple rehearsals since reforming ahead of the next show, the choir have been rehearsing weekly, so as a result, somewhat predictably, it was a little nervy and I came away feeling a little uncomfortable. Tonight is started the same way - on a personal level I felt self-conscious that my drums are so loud and really struggled to hit my natural groove with a self-imposed restriction on my volume, and some of the new songs were a bit shaky. The choir sounded beautiful - as they always do, but it took an hour or so for us all to click with each other. But then it did - on the final, 45 minute, run through of the evening. Fuck yeah. That magical moment when it all falls in to place. Like the gig in January, I nearly forgot to play during 'The Book Of Love' because those voices are heartbreakingly good and I just want to watch and admire all involved, not drum all over it. The whole run-through felt electric, yet ironically it's the most organic we've ever been, I forgot about the stresses of my many other projects and got lost in the music. Yep, Paul Richards is full of cliches, but Dowsing For Sound is something special, and when it works like it did tonight, there is nothing like it, I wouldn't swap this for anything. One more rehearsal with just the band on Thursday to nail a few endings, and then it's the gig on Saturday, at a beautiful National Trust park - I never expect much, but I expect this to be one of those nights.
Currently listening to: Emmy The Great - Virtue; Randy Newman - Harps & Angels, The Dears - Degeneration Street
Currently reading: Grow Up (by Ben Brooks)
Currently watching: Him & Her, Not Going Out
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