Next batch of lounge shows, final scenes filmed

It's been an interesting few days, getting to grips with the new show. I've performed, 'Getting Lost In My Hometown' three times as a lounge/work in progress piece over the last week and, whilst I'm happy enough with it, it's clear I've still got a bit to get my head around. The performances were at Michelle's, Inge's and Lee's - the latter two were in front of audiences pretty much of complete strangers. The performance at Michelle's felt good, eventually - I was very comfortable, if a touch rusty, in front of such lovely people. It worked at Inge's and Lee's and the performances were very similar; by the end of both performances everybody I spoke to had nothing to say but positive things about it, there was plenty of laughter - in theory this should be a case of 'job done.' But the opening of the show feels like a problem still; it takes about 10 minutes for things to settle (although tonight I got an unexpected early laugh about me being a generic man because I like "breasts and Pro Evo"). Yet, on paper, I'm really fond of the material and I think the start is snappy enough, so it must be my performance that's the problem here...and it is; it's a composure thing. I appreciate there's a certain element of the audience needing to get used to me, they have no idea what to expect, but it's kind of my duty onstage to make them feel comfortable a bit quicker. Of course a key factor in all of this is that lounge shows are, as a concept, challenging...it's weird, for the audience, for the performer. It's thrilling when it works, it's a unique thrill but I look forward to them all with both equal excitement and dread. The biggest bonus is that these shows will be a lot trickier than anything I'll face on the tour or at the fringe, so I'll be heading into those in good form I reckon.

Also this weekend I played with Fred's House in Hemel Hempstead - I'll confess to not being fond of Hemel (understatement), but the venue was a brilliant theatre where the likes of Eddie Izzard had previously performed. We did well, we're in really good shape at the moment. Got lost on the way home, but we all expected that by now - the M25 junction was closed and I ended up in Enfield. Earlier on Saturday I popped in to London with my old chum Jack to see the outstanding Chris T-T play an afternoon concert at Union Chapel. Chris T-T's new album is brilliant, it was a cracking gig.

This morning, just before a meeting about a show, I was up early to busk some French reggae. This is all of course for the Oscar Pike film, these were the final scenes that needed nailing. Guilliame was back in character, and we were joined by Gaf from Fred's House on bass who really, really enjoyed it (to the extent he even added French backing vocals). The busking felt less intimidating than the open mic slot a few weeks back, people are generally used to seeing oddballs busking and we could do whatever we wanted. We made £2.10 in half an hour, but more importantly; we got some cracking footage. That's the film all done then - just need to nail the editing of it, and then work out what the hell we're going to do with it. I'm quite proud of how it's looking - it's a lo-fi film that doesn't really go anywhere, but it builds into something rather moving and there's a few chuckles along the way.

Anyway, sleep I think, haven't really done that for four days.

Dowsing, more filming, remarkably good gigs

I really should be sleeping; it's been a frantic weekend. But things are happening - things are moving in the right direction, you can just feel it sometimes, sleep isn't really a priority.

The weekend started in spectacular fashion with The Dowsing Sound Collective show at Trinity College. A sellout show, and not long after our Christmas gig, this was an acoustic show but with full choir, strings and stripped-down band. The set featured material we were confident with, the venue a stunning setting for those beautiful voices. I ranted a bit before on here, and to anybody who would listen, about how unhappy I was with my performance at the Christmas gig, but this one worked out really well - it felt tight but spirited, in control but rousing. Magical. It's an epic project, Andrea's vision is completely unrivalled. I'm a cynical git at heart, often leaving the stage with a niggle or two and totally wrapped up in a world of percussion whilst missing the bigger picture but on Friday night I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the joy in the room. A thrilling night.

The next night I was playing another acoustic gig, but of a very different nature. CB2, an intimate venue where I've performed literally hundreds of times (with comedy projects, plus the odd gig) was the home for Fred's House on Saturday. Sold out show, hosted by the wonderful and friendly Acoustic Routes team, we were informed beforehand that the show could have easily sold out twice over. On paper it's a small gig, we play a lot, we're exceptionally well rehearsed and very comfortable with what we do, but Saturday felt different - there was a sense of expectation in the air. The audience crammed in - all seated gig but with a lot of people standing at the back, there seems to be a buzz about the band at the moment. It was a gem of a show - that audience wanted it, we raised our game to match the occasion. Best gig of the year so far? Hhhmm, it's up there with...well, Friday's gig.

In between those shows I've been filming for the Oscar Pike film. On Friday I hit a problem in the sense that Izzy has a heavy, lingering cold and just needs sleep. Replacing her seemed like a daft idea - and 'replacing' is such a harsh word, because she is a remarkable actress, but given certain restrictions (one of the locations only available for a couple of hours on Saturday morning) I just felt the need to stick to the schedule. Unexpectedly, Vikki Jones was available and stepped in. Vikki is of course the singer of Fred's House, she's a trained actress - but in musical theatre which is slightly different. She read the script in the car as I picked her up, and completely nailed it. It was a great day of filming - her manic...loudness suited the character well, and worked nicely against my awkward rambling. My landlord Marcus even had a cameo role, he took it very seriously, he did his shouting very well indeed. Today more scenes were nailed - this time with Jess and Dan. These were difficult scenes to film - outdoors quite often, and other scenes which involved reliance on technology (washing machine, microwave). It worked - they did a great job, their scenes nailed in under four hours. With the exception of a little more French reggae footage (to be filmed next weekend), that's everything in the can for The Many Struggles Of Oscar Pike. A feature film, made on an iPhone (an iPhone 4, not even a good one), I need to put aside a lot of time for the editing, but it could work, I think it will.

Weekend ended with a show at The John Peel Centre in Stowmarket. Flaming June were supposed to be playing this but sadly Louise was poorly, so the replacement was Fred's House. A packed audience, but more on the attentive side of things, it was the perfect end to the weekend - nice and relaxed, lots of happy people chatting to us afterwards. A brilliant weekend.

Filming, more lounge action, drummin'

I started filming The Many Struggles Of Oscar Pike at the weekend - my solo scenes, and also scenes with Abi. It went remarkably well, but mustn't get too carried away with that. It looked messy, as intended, it's awkward, as intended. Abi's performances were spot on, as I expected. On Tuesday I filmed the French reggae scenes with Guilliame. Going to an open mic in a city pub, not telling the audience it's a spoof, and playing 2 terrible French reggae tunes is just...dangerous. I'm glad we got out without receiving too much abuse, but it didn't go down too well, it was really touch and go at times...

This weekend I'll be filming with Jess, Dan, Marcus, Izzy...if this all comes together as quickly as I want it to it will be a bloody miracle. But I feel, creatively, on good form at the moment - on Saturday night I performed the new show around Rob's house and whilst there were clearly bits that still need work (but that's the whole point of these lounge shows) it really is starting to gel. A couple people even called it "profound" - but that was possibly because it was I had such an amazing, creative, inspiring audience...other lounge shows will have a lot to live up to, audience-wise at least.

But it's not all about the poncing about on stage/camera, is it? Band-wise things feel focussed, really moving in the right direction this year. Fred's House have a drive and an ambition that appeals, the album sounds exceptional and the venues on the tour are proper nice venues too - I'm looking forward to it very much. And a sold-out gig with Dowsing tomorrow night at Trinity College, an unpredictable beast, as always, but as always I predict magic. Proper Dowsing magic.

The sweet randomness of life

It's been a great week or so, if a little weird. On Sunday night I played with Fred's House at the Cambridge Corn Exchange - it's a big old space, and the sixth time I've played there now. It was a rammed show and we were performing as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. We're not Chinese but were made to feel very welcome indeed, it was a slightly intimidating and wonderful evening with a dragon, lots of dancers and it ended with us joining all joining our fellow performers on stage for a traditional folk song. Still can't quite get my head around it, but happy enough. A night before that I met up with Grace and Ali to chat projects; Grace is buying a narrow boat soon and we're going to tour in it, as you do. A couple days before that I tried out my new fringe show, Getting Lost In My Hometown, in the living room of the house I live in, in front of my landlord/housemate and his girlfriend. That was an odd evening. That was quite a run of odd evenings, actually.

Things this week feel back to normal; outstanding session for the new Flaming June record on Monday night (she's gone all indie, it was a joy to drum on this), on Tuesday played in Nottingham at the wonderful Malt Cross with Fred's House and got very lost both ways (on the way back, due to an A14 closure, I went via Leicester (twice), back to Nottingham, Watford and then eventually home), last night I had a photoshoot for the new show in the capable hands of Distant Cloud photography - they make me look fairly reasonable, which is just how good those guys are. Today I've been getting my head around the scripts for the filming of my debut feature length, The Many Struggles Of Oscar Pike. I'm filming my scenes with the lovely Abi on Saturday, next week I'll be joined by Jess, Izzy and Dan. I wrote it early last year, it's amazing how much of it I dislike now though. Ah yes, and there's another project, which involves meeting lots of former Spurs players, but I'll tell you more about that another time, I have proper good backing from a proper established publication for this one now, which is exciting but equally means I have to do this properly. I could just do with a little more time, you know?