Three days…

On Friday I start a yearlong sabbatical. That means I have three days left of working with my dear friend George before one of the most fundamental decisions I have ever made jolts me out of my normal life and into something new. Right now my head is full of muddle. I’d go so far as to say I am scared.

I always set myself high standards but none higher than when I am doing my music / art. I am confident I will achieve a lot. I just hope I’m good enough to satisfy myself.

On Thursday night, I am heading to Brum to celebrate (join me?). On Friday, I have an exciting meeting and a tuba lesson, which has delayed my hitching by a day. So, on Saturday I set off on my random hitching adventure, ending up at Sonic Weekend. I hope to return refreshed and ready to roll!

Follow my progress here | Find out more / Get some Sabbatical Credits here*

*Sabbatical Credits no longer available after Thursday

Thanks for reading. Here’s to an exciting year!

To the people!

People, I need your advice!

I have made websites for a number of years now but finding the time and “headspace” to make my own great is often hard. I plan to address this though and I welcome any advice.

Firstly, I have this site, which is just a blog with some bits in the sidebar, such as a crappy audio player. I aim to add sections and richer content but I’d like to know what makes a good artist site a great one, for you! I’m keen to hear different perspectives, from fans, non/future fans, labels, promoters, publications etc. Obviously the likes of Sound and Music offer good advice in this area but I want personal feedback and comments. If you have something to say, please leave a comment below. Thanks.

This site is my primary concern for now but I also have: www.samski.net / www.midi-octopus.co.uk / www.glatze.co.uk / www.thereminday.co.uk. That may seem excessive but they all serve different purposes. I welcome any comments on these / consolidation etc…

BTW: I don’t do MySpace or Facebook.

Be my guest

Just a quick post to mention what a rocking good time I had playing a gig at a party to celebrate “40 years of Ben” at the weekend! I had my concerns about my set beforehand but I was in the right mood and the crowd were delightful. Moreover though it was my first gig where I featured other artists as guests and it added so much and relieved some of the pressure on me. First up, Graham Dunning did a fantastic spoken word piece over one of my tunes. He’d not realised that I wanted him to perform that night, so he’d written nothing in preparation. I had mentioned something in a Gil Scott-Heron drawl style might be nice, so he downloaded a Churchill speech on his iPhone and read that out, occasionally adding “The revolution will not be televised”. Inspired! Next up, Jen of Conway and Young fame played some trumpet over a track. She’s not been playing that long but she did a great job. It added so much to an otherwise pretty sparse tune. Finally, as an encore, the birthday boy himself (Ben Waddington) stepped up to the mic and we did an improvised piece based on him speaking in tongues! Bonkers stuff.

Anyway, the conclusion I came to is that collaboration is REALLY good! I have always avoided it in the past for live stuff, as I am a bit of a control freak, but it was great fun and really added a lot. Here’s to more of it!