More projects, more London stuff, impossible deadlines

The next week or so could get slightly stressful, I think. It's my fault – not only do I have the 'yes man' attitude by accepting anything that comes my way, but I also suggest other things on top of that. It's been a busy week or so, I had the idea recently of writing a full radio series – a sitcom consisting of 6, 10-minute episodes, that will be on Myspace, YouTube etc, with two intentions: 1) to have enough demand for a second series, and 2) to enhance the reputations of those involved. I think there's room online for a new sitcom, and you never know – it could get heard by the right person. The show is called 'The Moderate Adventures Of Patrick And Cameron', and I've just finished writing the 4th episode, I'm happy with it all so far and have a pretty clear idea of casting, if those who I have in my head are keen. Once it's all written, and workshopped, I think recording it in front of a live audience would be in order, but writing the final two instalments has to be put on hold for a week as I have the small issue of writing a murder mystery show. It's being performed this Sunday, and I've secured the services of Robert Jezek (star of Eastenders, Renault adverts, Fat Boy Slim videos and many other things) to take the lead role, alongside the always brilliant Juliette Burton and Heather Yeadon. It's a great cast, and a great concept - I just need to write it. Murder Mystery's are generally the hardest thing to write, and due to other people being off I can't even take a day's leave, which was my attention, from work to write it. Evenings are looking pretty busy too – meeting with Jo Smythe (director) tonight to discuss my second Bury St. Edmunds Fringe show ('Some Plays About Indie Rock') which is creeping up soon and needs to be in rehearsals by now, plus band rehearsals for 2 bands, a charity gig with Jon, and then a wedding for somebody I've never actually met before. I'm going to have to write 'Death Of A Footballer' during my lunch breaks, it's a challenge and I like challenges – but even by my recent standards this is gonna be a tight one. In the meantime band-wise things continue to be looking up, heard the first track to be mixed from the Under The Streetlamp album earlier and it's sounding good – Rob Toulson (from Half Ton Studios, also my bandmate in Eureka Stockade) is a superb engineer and I'm excited about hearing the rest of it, and on Saturday I rehearsed for the first time with my old chum, Lu. She's been on my Cracking Tunes label for a while now as a solo artist, and we wanted to experiment how it sounds with a full band – and so Lu, myself and the always excellent Claudia McKenzie jammed a few of Lu's tracks in a small studio and it sounds rivetingly good – I mean, we always knew Lu could sing/play piano, but with a little light ride cymbal work and Claudia's deep-down groove it was taken to another level and we're all suddenly very excited, it's essentially jazz/blues but often dips into Gospel territory. We were only experimenting on Saturday, but all three of us were quick to agree by the end of the session that this simply HAS to continue as a band so we're already lining up recording and gigs. Another band, then, but another good band too and I feel very grateful to play with all these wonderful people. Yesterday I drove to London to watch my play, 'An Ambulance Stuck In Traffic' being performed at the Brockley Jack Theatre, for what was one of the more surreal atmospheres I've experienced recently. Firstly, I'm just chuffed that I drove to London and back without crashing, that in itself is an achievement (especially considering I have 2 slow punctures), a lot of that was made easier though by the fact I was joined in the car by Heather, and Lizzy Mace, who fancied the road trip and their good conversation stopped me getting too stressed. I was pleased to be there – I've been meaning for a while to do something with London producer Tanith Laindon and it was great to finally meet her after chatting a fair bit on email, and the theatre itself is lovely – a small space at only 50 capacity, but perfect sized performance area and attached to a pub/restaurant where we enjoyed good food beforehand. The quality of the acts on the bill – which ranged from comedy sketches to experimental art and then my play at the end, was exceptionally high again – although I said this about RADA a couple weeks back too and maybe this is because the standards of theatre in London are high compared to Cambridge where we can get away a lot (like putting on a murder mystery without even writing it until the week of the show). But the audience last night – well, they were well dressed, seemed educated – and just didn't laugh or enjoy anything. My piece got a few little giggles every now and then at the really obvious jokes, but all in all very strange – I laughed at a lot of stuff on the bill, I enjoyed it, but it was one of those evenings where people just seemed awkward, or over critical, and I came out feeling slightly negative about the whole thing. Still, Chris O'Donnell seems like a good director and a nice chap so I'll add him to my 'would like to work with again' list, which is getting rather long now, although sadly still nowhere near the 'avoid working with ever again' list, which is onto a second page.

Currently listening to: Emma Pollock (both albums, a lot, because she's brilliant), Elvis Costello: Live At Hollywood High, Okkervil River: The Stage Names

Currently reading: A book about how they wrote and produced Fawlty Towers, and also 'Complete Madness' – a surprisingly brilliant book about the band Madness.

Currently watching: Black Books – series 2 (DVD)

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ The Cornerhouse

Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge (support slot, acoustic)
Date: 19/03/10
Audience: Made us feel old
Set: Not sure, 7 tracks from our normal set
Notes: With our bassist Nathan having to pull out of the show due to last-minute work commitments, I decided to get back on the bongos for this one, as it kind of worked with the recent gig with Jon Orchard. To be honest, it didn't work at all in this environment. Out of tune bongos sound terrible when mic'd up, as Roy the very honest soundman informed me, and out of tune bongos don't really work with the Eureka Stockade set. Rob and Andy, both on acoustic, valiantly fought their way through it as I embarrassingly tried to add something rhythmically acceptable but it was just one of those shows that for me didn't work at all. The audience were polite enough though.

Gig report: Jon Orchard @ The Carpenters Arms

Band: Jon Orchard (with Neil Cowlan and Paul Richards)
Venues: The Carpenters Arms, Cambridge (pub set)
Date: 12/03/10
Audience: Ranged from next to nobody, to polite gathering, to full-on enjoyment, then back to polite gathering
Set: loads of songs
Notes: One of the gigs I was more apprehensive about compared to other recent shows, simply because I'd never played live with Jon before - or even rehearsed with him. To make things potentially more awkward, Neil Cowlan on guitar was also in a very similar boat. Yet, somehow, eventually it works. I was on percussion, Neil is a genius, and as for Jon himself - well, I've not played with a more composed frontman before, and the songs are good too. By the end of the second set I felt we were really flying after a slightly nervy start. On the pub circuit there's lots on the cards with Jon, and we must have done something right on Friday as the venue offered us a monthly booking there, and with the original stuff - well, there's some very exciting things in the pipeline too...as for Friday, it was never going to be a classic, but in an unspectacular kind of way I came away feeling excited with life in general.

Winging it

This seems to be happening a lot lately; I'm taking on projects without really thinking them through. Tonight I'm playing a gig with my good friend Jon but I don't know any of the songs, nor have I ever rehearsed with him - and it's a long set too full of pub covers. That will be repeated a few more times in the forthcoming weeks as we have a good few gigs coming up. Also, in a couple weeks time I'm playing a set with my friend Rich - another gig in which I've not even heard any of the songs, and on top of those I've got a show with The Damsons (whom I've left, but still help out with on the bigger shows) and I've not played or rehearsed with them this year, and next week a gig with Eureka Stockade - less pressured but still, have not rehearsed for other a month due to other projects and the rest of the band nailing the album in the studio. Also, I've got a murder mystery night in a few weeks time called 'Death Of A Footballer' which I've not actually written yet, another sketch show with Alan Morgan called 'The Hedgehog Collective' in July which we've not written either, and my new production, 'Some Plays About Indie Rock' premieres at the end of April and although it's written we've not got a cast or a director for that one. At least 'Cat Food' is in shape (premieres in April, before Bury and then Brighton fringe festivals) - casting for that now confirmed and they're a lovely bunch. Should probably get more organised, and not having Internet in my flat at the mo hasn't helped things, but I'm flying at the moment - Monday's play has given me a new lease of life, I feel like I can achieve anything right now. And as long as I remain in this optimstic dream bubble of mine, we should be okay.

London, Brighton and other ideas

It's been a busy few weeks. The recording for the Under The Streetlamp album is complete (with Ali long gone on a plane to a much warmer place) and is now being mixed - it'll be about 6 weeks before it's mixed but a summer release for our first long player, aptly titled 'Ideal Mexico', is on the cards. In the meantime I've done a little more recording with Alighting, and last weekend I was also in the studio for another session with Bryan Shore. Generally I get the feeling there's going to be a lot of releases out there in the next few months with my playing on it, which can only be a good thing (for me). Next up is a few gigs with the mighty John Orchard (with the equally mighty Neil Cowlan on guitar) starting this Friday.

Theatrically things are equally busy. The weekend was taken up with auditions for our joint Brighton Fringe shows (myself and fellow playwright Gytha Lodge are teaming up for joint productions at the Ambassador Hotel) and the feeling was that too many good actors turned up, which only made things difficult for us. We're still undecided about who to use, but should probably decide soon because May isn't that far away. Last night my play 'Letters To Sparkle' was performed at RADA in London by simply the best actors, like, ever, and in front of the best audience, like, ever. I was thrilled, excited, terrified, awkward, and thrilled again by how it looked, I've not had a buzz like that about my own work for a VERY long time. I need to be in London more - this just wouldn't happen in Cambridge, I think I may need to move to London, it's the first time I've actually seriously considered it - last night gave me a glimpse of what I want on a very regular basis. The play itself is nice enough, with a nice enough twist, but the performance from Martin Allanson and Katie Hayes was immaculate, as was the direction from Mel Hillyard, and it was just one of those evenings when things just worked out. And everyone is just so NICE as well, I like that a lot. Hurrah, etc. Now give me more of this, please.

A little step in the right direction

It's all good, you know. Just generally. Last night I met up with our Brighton Fringe director, Gytha, who is continually impressive - she really knows her stuff and I think 'Cat Food' is in good hands, which is a great weight off my slightly burdened shoulders. Today, alongside playing a decent gig, I found out my short play 'Letters To Sparkle' is going to be performed at RADA, which is a huge leap forwards, I'm pretty excited. Which is not always a good thing because it's nearly midnight, it's a Tuesday evening and I have work in the morning, but I'm really moving in the right direction, I guess slowly I have been for a while, but for once it actually feels like the endless writing, drumming and causing mischief is going to get me somewhere. Perhaps. I'm happy at the moment, anyway.

Gig report: Under The Streetlamp @ The Haymakers

Band: Under The Streetlamp
Venue: The Haymakers, Cambridge (main support)
Date: 23/02/10
Audience: Sparse but responded well
Set: Sunny Rainy Tuesday, Do I Don't I I Do, Anything Nothing, I Never Win, What She Did To You, Last Excuses Of Summer, Honest Lullaby
Notes: Our last gig for a while as Alister 'Percy' Bunclark heads off to Mexico this week, he'll be gone for about 6 months which is a shame because we were really starting to fly as a band - both in the studio and on stage. Tonight's performance was fairly caffeine-based, a little brash and the jazziness was at times lost in the fast tempos of the set. Saying that, it seems to go down well this way - especially in a more 'rock' venue such as The Haymakers. I love playing in this band, nobody else lets me get away with some of the showboating I do with 'Streetlamp - and rightly so because normally it wouldn't work, but it does when I'm on stage with these rascals. A good gig.