Melody Maker.


This week, for the first time in a few years, I got my acoustic out and played through some of the songs I wrote, and it felt like a light went on in my head.

Admittedly it was a little painful on the fingertips - which is embarrassing for someone who has spent the vast proportion of his working life playing the guitar for money, though to be fair, this could be partly due to how long it's been since I changed my strings, but though I was a little ropey and out-of-shape it still made sense to me, and felt like I’d neglected a massive part of myself by leaving it so long.

I guess it has a lot to do with absence making the heart grow fonder, as I had grown tired of the whole actor / musician thing for taking up the majority of my time while stifling my creativity…but it wasn’t just that. There was a sense of comparative simplicity compared to the frustration I’ve been feeling with my show as I remembered how music comes relatively easily to me and is more instinctive, and that I know what my voice is...though I may just be seeing it through rose-tinted spectacles (to use a shit image).

For years I’ve been embarrassed by how my songwriting had seemingly dried up, but strangely, the further I step away from this the less it seems to matter, or to even be a thing; today, I was grudgingly reminded that some of the songs I came up with I’m actually quite proud of, and that it doesn’t matter how long ago I wrote them, they’re still mine, and that by reclaiming them, I may be able to think about playing them live again and maybe even adding to my roster.

I’m not sure if I'll do it, but I’m considering whether my show’s "bringing about my own downfall” theme might open the door to including some songs relevant to my life in it to help strengthen my point. It might not work - I’ve certainly got no interest in actually writing comedy songs - but if I can find a way of using them without making the show too serious, it’s worth considering…though the downside to whole thing will be working out how to get my guitar to Edinburgh too, when I already have so much luggage to carry. Still, it’s something to ponder...

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce
Read more

Hoo-ray and up She Rises.

So much has happened since my last post in March that this blog risks sounding like an itinerary. The main news is that Hitchin Mostly Comedy will return in the summer at a new venue, the Queen Mother Theatre . The road to this decision was convoluted, though enough fell into place en route to leave me optimistic about this new start. The catalyst was a survey I ran via our mailing list a few months back, in which I asked, "If the club returned in the current climate, with tickets still around £15 (and with similar line-ups), would you still attend?"; the response to which, in simple terms, was a resounding yes. Nearly 250 mailing list subscribers responded in a single week, with around a hundred also taking the option to leave some feedback. And only two people were abusive, which counts as a win when you consider they posted their comments online anonymously. Imagine how many more insults we would have received if the comedy club was a woman. Particularly if she was Diane
Read more