Going solo

It's the piano player here, reporting for duty. Late as usual. Blame it on the fact that I've moved over a thousand miles away to Portugal. Quite by accident too. I came over in January and then lockdown happened and I've been here ever since.

Plans, paths, Journeys, destinations they are all at the mercy of change and boy did that change come, for many of us our lives have been put on hold, turned upside down and shaken to the core, but as the old saying goes, the show must go on, and indeed it must, it’s just a different kind of show now, where intimacy and social contact is frowned upon, spacial awareness is heightened and it’s Groundhog Day at the masked ball. This being said it could always be worst; it has most certainly been a worldwide tragedy and there is the small matter of an impending economic crisis, but at least the birds are happy, and I imagine the Planet must be doing a little jig to the sound of emissions falling by 7 per cent (too little too late I fear), and anyway enough corona talk I’m sure you’re all fed up with it, even if i am trying to put a positive spin on proceedings, it’s becoming the go-to ice breaker for those awkward silences now, replacing the weather. 

"Lovely day today, not many new cases!"

"Ooo I dunno, there's always a lag at the weekend!"

 

So Portugal, that's where I was when the bomb dropped. Chasing the Mediterranean dream with my partner, bright eyed and bushy tailed, holiday's on the horizon to Italy and Germany booked and a solo EP getting mixed up in the kitchen; life was good, even if we didn’t know where we would be living in the months to come, we were happy searching, that was until the big bad wolf came knocking at our door. The change had come and it threatened to blow our house down.

Once we stopped listening to the news and accepted we wouldn’t be going to Italy or Germany, we decided to get positive. Determined to tread the path of self evolution and growth, I dived deep into the world of music to understand how and if it was possible to make a living from it, although we as a band have been gigging for ten years now, other incomes are at present a necessity, but what if they didn’t have to be I wondered, what if i didn’t have to sell my balls on the street, paintballs that is, or what if i didn’t have to get up at 6 in the morning to bake beetroot burgers for a market of meat and fish lovers, or scrape seagull shit off the walls and paint houses. Yes i have had many weird and wonderful jobs but none quite as weird as music.

It’s definitely not the easy option; would i recommend a career in music to my future kids? Hmmm I’m not so sure, but hey it’s been an incredible ride so far; just gotta be prepared for the financial struggle and get ready to juggle your eggs as i’ve come to realise it’s not enough having just one string to your bow in this life, especially if that bow is as fragile and unpredictable as music; but knowledge is power and I intend to learn.

 

What did we learn during lockdown? That we have an amazing opportunity to share ourselves to positive effect, I finally understood what an incredible tool social media could be, if used in the right way, from the artist support pledge to musicians baring their souls, it’s amazing what we can achieve given a little extra time. Myself, I can proudly say that lockdown has been one of the most prolific times of my life, writing more songs than ever and trying, if not always succeeding, to upload something everyday, I realised we had a power to make people smile and that was the biggest inspiration of all. The Singer even wrestled some time away from being a full-time parent to release some lovely solo videos, and The Bass Player pursued his love affair with the electric guitar, writing some African grooves for our upcoming album. The Drummer became a prolific beer bread baker and The Accordion Player, the last of us to emerge from lockdown, more resembling Robinson Crusoe! 

Robinson Accordion Player

"Rumour has it you've moved to Portugal to go solo, is this true?"

Ha... I’m trying not to get too caught up in chinese whispers, if I believed everything I read in the press then apparently I have joined the circus to sing Fado. It’s a tricky one though, it's been a constant wrestle with mr. time, trying to juggle babies, jobs, life plans, not to mention the thousands of miles between us, and if I'm going to make a living from music then I'll have a better chance of doing it in two groups right? And some readers may well remember a BLOG The Singer wrote about the last time I tried this but it feels different now. And I will always continue to fight for this ship to keep sailing and hope to be aboard for many years but it is true that I also have a new solo ship and need to nurture that, and it may mean less time with TOF but unfortunately that’s life, you can’t please everyone, unless we figure out a way to clone ourselves. To deny this ride would be denying part of myself.

If want to find me then hop over here MAC P

Going solo doesn’t always work of course; Gene Simmons leaving Kiss was a disaster, Mick Jagger came swiftly crawling back into the stone circle and Victoria Beckham’s solo career went so well she gave up music all together! On the other hand you have the likes of Robbie Williams outgrowing Take That, Phill Collins move from the backseat of Genesis to the mic was inspired, not to mention a certain Michael Jackson leaving the Jackson 5, also Corona went viral after leaving China! Anyway lots to contemplate as I emerge from the comforting womb of The Odd Folk mothership; how will i get to gigs without my bandmates driving me? Who will pick up my trail of lost luggage? Who will I share the memories with? I’ll have to file for independence.

That being said I remain fully committed to the band and in fact I spent a chunk of the summer back in Cornwall trailing out some new songs in preparation for our new album, but just my luck I had to spend half my holiday in quarantine! But we did make a decent start on the record and wrote half a dozen new songs so for the first time in years we finally have some new material for you guys. 

So far we have a driving album in The Sweet Release, a lounge room creaker in Haul Away, the third will probably be a mix between the two with the added layer of a Paul Simon inspired afro pop vibe, all sewn together with an emotional heart stringed vest. Sound good? Still work to do until we're ready to brave the studio and some extra funds wouldn't hurt but it’s a solid start. I'm actually on my way back to Cornwall as we speak for our first gig of the year at The Acorn but another round of quarantine means it's touch and go whether I'll even be allowed out to play!

 

Hopefully soon life will return back to some kind of normal, cause when you take The Band away from us we all seem to drift apart a little. And every now and again The Singer will send us some amusing imaginary tour that we are yet to do; the latest one was a bicycle tour through the flat lands of Holland and Belgium, with the wind in our hair and our instruments on our backs, camping in tents by the side of dreamy canals. 

And although it is indeed a hard time for us musicians, we will never stop dreaming and planning our next adventure, and hopefully we'll get to live them again before too long.