hello, my bloglies

I awoke with my alarm today and rose from my bed to eat breakfast, listen to the day’s news, and read my book. I got a song stuck in my head, a song I started on 11th March 2009 and decided to sit down and finish it. Now I’m at my computer, reviewing mixes from recordings and looking at photos from recent gigs and events. This may be the first time in weeks I feel like I’m sitting still, though – in reality – my pile of things to do is taller than my shoulders.

Start of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, just before doing a session with U105 Live

Where do I begin? I left Belfast last Friday in the middle of a terrific string of gigs and jaunts with the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. It was a great experience and I made a number of new friends. “I think this may be one of the only times I will regret leaving for Paris,” I said to my drummer as we boarded the bus for the airport. “I don’t want to miss out on a thing with the festival.” I was riding a wave of interesting gigs, playing for anything from 15 to 400 people whilst supporting travelling artists or headlining my own gigs. I was also fascinated by the adrenaline day to day running of such a well-respected festival, excited by the team’s coherency and variety.

So as I left Belfast, it was with a little bit of sadness. But Paris has not been known to disappoint, so we headed over to play a couple of gigs. We arrived and rushed across the city to the venue where the organisers were getting things set up for the event, a celebration of female fronted rock. We took a quick look around then headed out for some coffee. Hours later, we set up to play and headed into our set. In the middle of the second song, Fate took a swing at an air conditioning unit located over the mixing desk.

A sad goodbye: leaving Belfast, this is what I saw from the bus as we passed the Assembly Rooms

The electricity on the stage suddenly went out and the machine started dripping excess water, something it took a while to locate. I turned to my drummer and said: “Keep playing.” We finished playing Close, which is pretty rhythm and vocal driven. After a few minutes of silence, we hopped out into the crowd, armed with a plastic beer cup as a megaphone, a drumstick, a table, and a piece of paper. We played a live version of one of my loop songs, with Conor playing the role of the loop. We asked the crowd to gather in closer and started up. The MC (aka Gyraf) ran to his car to grab a Roland Cube amp, and in so doing saved our set. The crowd gathered in as we sweated through improvised versions of the tunes, including a loop version of No Surprises, our minor key Wonderful World, and new material off of Age of Reason.

Someone said to us later: “It was amazing what you did. You saved the night.” I put it back to them point blank: “We came all this way to play and I’ll be damned if we didn’t.” We had a great time and – in retrospect – learned a lot about playing with wild abandon. Not only that, but the rest of the night was a blast – including lots of whiskey (maybe too much?), long conversations heading towards the meaning of the universe, and many forgotten drunken promises!

Gyraf Stoots, MC and street performer, electrifies the crowd

I needed a change of scenery to assist in transitioning into the next bout of busyness, in the midst of which I currently sit. Which reminds me – I must begin to tackle my responsibilities. Thanks to everyone who made the last few weeks so memorable! It wasn’t without its losses (mostly due malfunctioning and misplaced or stolen gear!), but it was an amazing time fueled by the enthusiasm and support of friends, both new and old. A HUGE thanks to all of you who suggested me as an act for CQAF, and a massive thanks to the guys who book gigs for me in Paris. I hope to return there in the autumn.

Shot by Claudia Lopez Lucia

An up and coming photographer, Claudia Lopez Lucia, was at Mood’s on Friday night. She took some great shots at the gig of all the acts, including this one, which I leave you with and bid you adieu.

With love & warmth,

Rx