OK. Part of the time involved in getting this next recording out has definitely revolved around my saga-filled life. My relationship broke down about a year ago and I found myself questioning why I was working, trying to buy a house and all the usual crap we place on ourselves. For me it was a trade-off, I was happy, hence I’d put music and the real interests I have in life on the back burner to provide support for my child and her mother. When it all fell apart I found that any enthusiasm for work that I had, what little I had anyway, dried up and so I found myself less and less interested in getting to work, and to all intents and purposes suffered some depression as well, which has been ongoing my entire life, and so in the end I decided to leave work before they found enough excuses to fire me.
Part of the time taken to complete this record had also been trying to find the balance between work, home life and then using what little time is left at night to go into the studio and work. My usual nights finished at 2-3am, not surprisingly I took forever to get to work. Ever seen The Bad Lieutenant (with Keiitel not Cage)? – I was that guy – didn’t have anyone really overseeing me, kept my own hours, maybe 12 years ago the other side of the film would have also been prevalent but fortunately I’m way past that, but I was essentially the bad lieutenant, maybe with a good general dose of alcohol thrown in for good measure. Whatever, you need a vice in this world. So things were bound to change as I was pushing the boundary limits.
Right now I’m listening to “For Your Life” by Led Zeppelin off “Presence”. I seem to be the only person I know except one other who loves this album. I piss on anyone who doesn’t appreciate it – I think it’s one of their best albums. I digress as ever – anyway just before xmas my ex moved down South of Adelaide – if anyone is familiar with the layout of the place then they would know there is a Southern part of Adelaide, sort of over the hills that is predominantly surfer territory, very laid back, I guess you could also call it a lower economic estates type place as well, but one thing I like is everyone is friendly and wave. This is weird as in Adelaide you can normally expect to get yelled at from a car about once a day if you are just walking on the city streets. A lot of bands would comment on that aspect of Adelaide when they would come here. There would always be some story of someone walking down a street in Adelaide and getting yelled at. Adelaide is not quite what one would call cosmopolitan – the chardonay crowd would like to think it is with the Fringe and everything, but they forget the Clipsal 500 brings out the real side of Adelaide, as did the once coveted Grand Prix – was that ever a bad time to be in Adelaide…wild fucking in the streets, pissed and angry crowds out on a vengeance no-one really understood… Still you only have to be in Hindley Street as the clubs spill out and you can see our city in action. Only Adelaide would have a major entertainment strip that shares the same name as one of the most heinous killers in history. Still, I still live here with no intention of leaving.
Whoa, major digression. To describe Adelaide I say to anyone who has been to Los Angeles to think how Los Angeles is bordered by the sea and then by the Hollywood Hills etc around to its East. Once you go over the hills you get into The Valley, and as has been written and recorded by multitudes, the Valley has its own quiescence and tone – that is how I see the South here in Adelaide (no-one agrees with me though) – it’s like this other land over the Southern Hills as you go toward the Fleurieu Peninsula. Like most cities and settlements on the sea there is a street called the Esplanade that curves and follows the coastline and offers really great views further South and on a clear day you can sometimes make out Kangaroo Island (I always remember that place as wet and windy though one time only I experienced a hot summer there with my Dad – we saw a big white pointer that had washed up on the beach). So, I moved down South about 4 weeks ago so I could be close to my daughter who is now 5 years old and started school this year. Otherwise, it was an hour trip for her to be dropped off or me to pick her up for the weekends (an hour is considered a bit of a long drive here). Of course the move included selling the house I’d been buying for the last 6 years and that was hard to do considering all the time I spent sanding, varnishing all the wooden window surrounds and all the back lawn I put in etc etc. I just had to say good-bye to that part of my life and assume I’ll never again buy a house. It’s no big deal, it’s some stupid Australian dream thing we are brainwashed with that it is right and meet to own ones own home.
SO, I moved into one of those places that seem to be a maze of little streets that fold back on each other with culdesacs and names like Driftwood Way, or Sailmakers Row and the like. It’s very nautical here.
I bought myself a second hand Vespa, 250CC as I have always missed the one I sold off when I was about 22 years ago, which was a P200E I think. Then I got myself a 650CC Aquila as it’s so nice riding down around here it just asked for a bike with some guts.
So that catches me up – all alone as per usual but don’t you guys cry too hard for me as it has been a great factor in my writing the album. This might be the follow up to Ill at Ease which many people cited as a great split-up and getting-over-it album. I do think this next one will satisfy anyone who has been hankering for new TMOC stuff. John Stanier recently put in his comments on the mixes and we are probably going to tweak it in a few places, but really the album is ready to go apart from that. I think Tim, our manager at Feel, expects an August release. I am really looking forward to that. Most musicians always think/say that their most recent recording is their best – I can understand that as it’s the most tangible piece of art they’ve been close to, but also, I know in my heart that this album is the best thing we have ever done.
Thanks,
Regards
John