We are living in strange times…
I am writing after being quarantined in my house for a few months and I have definitely been keeping busy to maintain my sanity! I used one of my many socially distant walks to recreate a scene from my "Hypnotise" video...
Interviews
I had a long chat over Skype with Baruch from the Paradigms podcast in the US. I hadn't realised how much of my life has been spent talking to strangers and finding things in common to discuss. After a few months, it was nice to talk to someone new, especially someone who shares a similar perspective on the world in these strange times...
You can listen to the whole thing, including 3 live songs here.
10 Albums in 10 Days...
On social media, I saw there was a post going round where people put together a list of their favourite 10 albums across 10 days so I decided to do something a bit different…
To give myself a challenge, I planned to record videos of me playing a cover song from each of my favourite 10 albums and put it out on social media for the entertainment of anyone bored at home! It was pretty tough at times as I had to figure out a way of performing an Iron Maiden song on acoustic guitar… but it was an enjoyable experience and I was especially proud of the Pink Floyd cover below:
Acapella App
The reaction to the songs was great and it put me back in touch with another Mancunian musician, a fiddle player called Richard Sanderson. As mutual fans of The Levellers, we ended up collaborating on a couple of songs which reached a wider audience on their fan page. I am especially proud of our version of “Maid Of The River”, which we recorded together through the Acapella app.
Live Streams
As all my plans to play gigs have now gone out the window, I have also been experimenting with Live Streams on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. It has been a strange experience trying to communicate with unseen faces who are commenting as I play, but I have really enjoyed performing from the comfort of my own home… especially now we have done up the office/music room!
I will be sharing a lot more of what I have been up to over the coming weeks / months of lockdown but until then - take care and keep safe!
