Of Amdelyn and Its Realms
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 7 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »Of Amdelyn and Its Realms
JohnnySamson
Second Breakfast
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 6 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »Second Breakfast
What are you doing and where are you going?
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 5 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »What are you doing and where are you going?
A Journey in the Dark
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 4 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »A Journey in the Dark
So I imagine this is just a ceremonial position?
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 3 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »So I imagine this is just a ceremonial position?
Not the beard!
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 2 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »Not the beard!
I’m going on an adventure!
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 1 A series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The… Read More »I’m going on an adventure!
The Birth and Impact of Britpop
I recently finished reading Paul Laird’s book, The Birth and Impact of Britpop. It’s a wonderfully engaging memoir – a very personal love letter to an era, and one that… Read More »The Birth and Impact of Britpop
Spotify Shenanigans
It’s been a while since I released any music. One of my old bands, active between 2001-2015, had released all sorts of stuff in a variety of formats but all… Read More »Spotify Shenanigans
Video Shoots & Trespassing
Video clips for unsigned bands are difficult projects. A complete lack of money is of course the major stumbling block, so when the offer came along from a senior film… Read More »Video Shoots & Trespassing
The Best Manager I Ever Had
Booking gigs is a bloody nightmare, and a hugely time-consuming business. Of course, from a fairly young age you’re aware of the concept of managers and the notion that they… Read More »The Best Manager I Ever Had
The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 4 – More Postage Predicaments
Readers of Part 3 will recall that we left off with me spending an hour or so entering all the addresses, dimensions, weights etc for my 20 books into the… Read More »The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 4 – More Postage Predicaments
The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 3 – Postage Predicaments
Well, I’ve got the books, sorted the packaging, so let’s head off to the post office… My initial distribution run is going to be 20 books, split betwixt Europe, Hong… Read More »The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 3 – Postage Predicaments
The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 2 – Packaging Ponderings
More reflections on the process of self-publishing that I’ve been through this year… Well I got the test pressing of my printed book, and very pleasing it was too. Looked… Read More »The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 2 – Packaging Ponderings
The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 1 – Producing the PDF
I’ve been reflecting on the process of self-publishing that I’ve been through this year, and this was where I was at a few months back!Well, as I finally return to… Read More »The Perilous Pitfalls of Self-Publishing: Part 1 – Producing the PDF
The Road To Nowhere – Out Now!
Well, I can’t quite believe it, but The Road to Nowhere is finally out as both print and ebook! It’s taken a while to sort this out, but the company… Read More »The Road To Nowhere – Out Now!
Yeah!
Delighted to have received a test print of the book! I suppose I better proof-read it again before ordering a whole bunch of them. Here’s a little look, including a… Read More »Yeah!
The Road to Nowhere – out soon!
Writing and rewriting and then rewriting again, followed by numerous more rewrites and some more rewriting has taken a while, but The Road to Nowhere is finally going to press!… Read More »The Road to Nowhere – out soon!
That Time I Joined Jesus’s Band
Thanks to an unlikely chain of events involving a Kiwi, a drug dealer, a reservoir, Paris, a wedding, a deportation, a grass, and a serve of spectacular naivety, I ended… Read More »That Time I Joined Jesus’s Band
Horrible Gigs (#2 in a never-ending series)
Sometimes a gig is simply cursed, and absolutely nothing you can do will make it better, or indeed remove the searing burn of it from your memory for the rest… Read More »Horrible Gigs (#2 in a never-ending series)
Horrible Gigs (#1 in a never-ending series)
One lesson you will learn repeatedly early on in your career is that there are always better bands than you, and it’s no fun when you have to follow them… Read More »Horrible Gigs (#1 in a never-ending series)
The Set List
An intrinsic part of rock’n’roll is the humble set list – that is, the list of songs that each band member has onstage, so that they all know which songs… Read More »The Set List
Selling Your Band Merchandise
Selling your band’s merchandise is vitally important. And an average gig can soon be made to feel like a great one if you manage to sell a whole bunch of… Read More »Selling Your Band Merchandise
The Highs and Lows of Bass Players
One of my bands desperately needed a new bass player – we’d fired one guy, Mark, essentially for being a miserable bastard that couldn’t take a joke, and for refusing… Read More »The Highs and Lows of Bass Players
The Great Facebook Rock’n’Roll Swindle
Social media for bands meant one thing and one thing only at first – MYSPACE. It was new, fun and practically useful, despite one glaring drawback (i.e. the way you… Read More »The Great Facebook Rock’n’Roll Swindle
Finding a New Band Member
Finding a new member is a real minefield. If you’re lucky, you already know someone you can ask, perhaps from another band. Poaching feels pretty shitty, but on the Swiss… Read More »Finding a New Band Member
The Band Photoshoot
Photoshoots are fun. Sort of. Dressing up in your finest, going out to a good location and then posing like a bit of twat is not exactly hard work, although… Read More »The Band Photoshoot
Your First Rehearsal Room
Most of us have started off rehearsing in the same sort of space – a parent’s lounge room or garage being the beginners eternal go-to favourite. This is not a… Read More »Your First Rehearsal Room
Forming a Band
There’s a very good chance your first band will be you and some close friends. There are few more exciting things to do as a teenager than forming a band… Read More »Forming a Band
When Are You Going To Get A Real Job?
One question that all musicians have been asked on numerous occasions is “when are you going to get a real job?”, or perhaps its younger sibling “so what do you… Read More »When Are You Going To Get A Real Job?
Hello Cleveland!
Hi. So, I should probably introduce myself. I’m a middle-aged commercial failure of a musician, and I’ve been playing in bands in England and Australia for the last 30 years…