Category Archives: Musings

When You Feel You Have Done Enough But …

What to do when you realise you have started repeating yourself and the inspiration has slipped away? That is where I am now. Its difficult. It’s a hiatus. Ho Hum. What if anything comes next.
At the time of writing I have also had a gig cancelled due to the weather. I was on my way driving and got a message but fortunately I had not gone too far. So on with the motley, but just not today. So I shall start working on a recording of a new song, though it’s an effort as I am not really in the mood but I need to keep occupied with something as its really flattened my mood not playing a gig today. Food may help 🙂

Mental Health Days

Yep, it’s a bit rocky again out of the blue. There’s a surprise. Not. I was reading an article about bullying and it reminded me of a lot of things.if you survive if, it’s difficult not to become that thing yourself when you misguidedly think your just trying to protect yourself. And I get triggered easily. I can often control it for a while. Months maybe then some random event sets me off, like an encounter with a footpad jumping from the shadows.

I make music for myself but also for people I will never meet most of the time. Maybe they get the best part of the deal as they can imagine me as a far better person than I actually am with out the stress of having to interact with me face to face. I get feedback from them and unlike me, my music travels around a lot of the english speaking world and also beyond it at times. It’s something that I may well still be able to do if I live past the point where I can comfortably stagger out to gigs if I dont go totally gaga. It makes me happier then I would be if I didn’t do it, so I have a bit of a sense of purpose to life. I suppose if I had actually got anywhere near the conventional idea of success I would have have been really insufferable, though I maybe in any case 🙂

I do keep a diary of my mood and what I do during the day too as it helps me keep a bit of a grip on things. its most useful when my mood is very low and I have routines to keep going when i have zero motivation to do anything at all. I do run the risk of staring into space if I am not careful when I am in that zone.

I wish I had the energy to start a band to do some of my own original music in a live format, but I just don’t have the energy to organise it now.

Getting out of bed and recording at home is nothing like having to:
#1 Convince people to play the music you write
#2 Find people that actually have the time and ability to do it
#3 Organise rehearsals at places that everybody can actually get to
#4 Convince people to play what you actually want them to play (not turning say a piano ballad into a blues tune because the song has too many chords)
#5 people that are good but only want to play in a very restricted and limited style, for example will play rock but not if it drifts in to say world music or jazz influence

The list could go to about a #100 but you get my drift. Also need to be local….
It’s the managing to make it possible rather than the playing that is the hard part.

Strange Days Again It Seems

Today I lost my temper out of the blue. It really scares me when that happens and it makes me feel bad afterwards. I think its the one remnant of childhood and being bullied. I can overreact although I try not to. It sneaks up on me like a thunderstorm out of the blue. it hasn’t happened so much recently, but it never goes away entirely. I do have techniques to manage it when it does happen, but I just wish it didn’t in the first place. I had a good day yesterday and was feeling fine. Paradoxically it often happens when I have been feeling good. It is it just electrochemical stuff going on in my grey matter? it’s not rational. Triggered by other stresses perhaps? Its weird and I could really do without it. I often go from being low and unenergetic to feeling good and uplifted but then I always get to a point where I start to tip in to mania. So a warning flag.

If I can keep my musical activities’ going I should be OK for company for a while. I can be very chatty given the chance. We are all a mass of contradictions. Interactions others might brush off as slightly annoying often catch one out and take the wind out the sails . On the other hand still have within me just a trace of spiv/gangsta/con artiste and ego tripper old ham (perhaps this is every performer ever). And a strong sense of self-preservation. And a ridiculous but mostly supressed libedo… I am a grade one loon. Maybe as mad as Liz truss 😉
I am introverted somewhat but not by choice (socially awkward at times). I like people but I can’t easily make small talk but with people of my tribe (musicians mostly) I am OK.

A song for you.

I am just a child shouting look at me aren’t I clever and sulking when I get ignored. Its the human condition.