This is just something I asked myself earlier today and it made me think for a moment. I've got a lot of things happening over the next few months. I have an experience day, holiday and then going back to Clarendon to study. While its all exciting being able to drive a few flashy sports cars around the track and that a nice break from work is always a good thing, it's more the little aspects of getting back into education that seems to excite me the most.
I still don't really know exactly what I want to do with my chosen subject but I already feel confident that at least this time when I finish my degree I won't be stepping out into nothingness. Last time, when I finished my level 3 course I found it difficult to get a job immediately after, in fact it took me almost a year to finally get one. At least for now I can live with the comforts of still working for ASDA part time and as long as I can handle it alongside my studies I'll always feel stable. I've been trying not to rule out any other options that I could go for when I finish but, I've also thought about what I really like doing, what I know I can do and whether I enjoy doing it enough to keep as a potential job. There are three main things really: Recording, Filming and performing.
With recording, I feel like recently I've really taken crafting sounds as a passion and in the process that has made me feel more at ease with music technology. The best part by far is when I manage to complete a song but, coming very close in second would be the very start of the idea for the song or melody.
With filming, I lean more towards making music videos because that is all I know. Even though I don't have much professional equipment to do so, I always manage to 'get by' fairly successfully. I manage to tell the story I want to and I've quite selective of the various takes I usually do.
With performing, its been a while but I certainly do miss it. I feel like it is easy for me to say that it is the thing that I miss the most because the last time I performed on stage was about two years ago. I'm still hoping to play an open mic with Lara soon to get me back into it before I go back to Clarendon.
It really is hard for me to choose out of all of these three as I know they are my main skill set and I feel like the opportunities given to me at Uni might be what makes the decision for me, that or I might just choose all of them because I can. I hope that going to Uni means that I will meet some great people that share the same or similar interests as I do and I really hope that they are not all younger than me, i.e. 19 (The age I would have been if I stayed at Clarendon after my level 3 to do my degree) and I hope I get to work with a nice mixed group. At the moment, I think it is fair for me to say that I am really excited for the welcome day at the end of September and generally starting the course. I can't wait to get back into those band practice rooms and get creative again.
Friday 22 July 2016
Tuesday 19 July 2016
Something Different...
Yesterday, I spent most (if not all) of the day working on a music video not for myself but, for my friend, James. We just about managed to film all of it in one day with a little uncertainty as to whether or not we will need any additional actors, even though in the end we managed without.
We had two different locations which were the subway/underpath in Ilkeston and under the A52 bridge near Stapleford by the canal but on the opposite side of the toe path. Once we were on location it didn't take long to record a few takes that we could mash up into the video. We shot all of the intro and verse one in the subway and focused more on verse 2 at our second location. I felt like the second location was a lot brighter because more natural light coming into the shot and seemed to give the video a more hopeful feeling.
You can watch the full music video on Youtube here:
One Last Time M.I.L.L.I.E. - JEM The Ruff Diamond feat. Ali
Check out 'JEM The Ruff Diamond' for photos of the shoot, tour dates/gigs and extra content.
We had two different locations which were the subway/underpath in Ilkeston and under the A52 bridge near Stapleford by the canal but on the opposite side of the toe path. Once we were on location it didn't take long to record a few takes that we could mash up into the video. We shot all of the intro and verse one in the subway and focused more on verse 2 at our second location. I felt like the second location was a lot brighter because more natural light coming into the shot and seemed to give the video a more hopeful feeling.
You can watch the full music video on Youtube here:
One Last Time M.I.L.L.I.E. - JEM The Ruff Diamond feat. Ali
Check out 'JEM The Ruff Diamond' for photos of the shoot, tour dates/gigs and extra content.
Thursday 14 July 2016
Two Years Of Employment
Two years ago, this would have been my first official day of starting work at the Esso Petrol Station. It does still feel like it was only yesterday (well, there abouts) and I can't quite believe that it has been two years already. I still vaguely remember my training shifts with Vicky, whom I still work with to this day at the now ASDA Petrol Station, and other training shifts working on my own where Ash, the manager would come into the store every now and then to check up on me. I had to be able to work alone because there was never anyone else working with me unless we had a special visit from Mr. Ronson who basically owned everything, bringing flash cars, many guys in suits/ body guards all the way up from London with him. He always took up a lot of space as he trotted around the forecourt, inspecting it and from what I heard about him and his ways I quickly took a disliking to him. I never got a chance to speak to him really, just be in his presence but he seemed to have these old sat ways where he would prefer one or two ladies working on the till to a guy. So, yeah a little sexist but that wasn't a problem for me and those days are over, for me at least.
I remember the the big announcement last year in the end of January that something big was about to happen and then having about an hour long meeting the next month with an ASDA lady. Before everything made sense, I remember a bunch of people walking around the site not quite like Mr. Ronson's but there was one that gave it all away. One of the men was wearing his hi-vis jacket the right way around and it quite clearly said 'ASDA' on the back of it. It wasn't long until one of the others told him and then he turned it inside out to cover it up. I didn't think much of it at the time, just that maybe that was the only hi-vis that he had but no, they we sizing up the place ready for the take over. Making plans and stuff.
It wasn't long from that point that we transferred over to the ASDA at Long Eaton so that they could host us while our store was in the process of being knocked down and then rebuilt. I spent most of my time there working on the produce section quite simply because it was the most fun and the most hard work, lugging vegetables around the place on what they called a 'Dolly'. It was like a trolley but, with a de-tactchable handle. I made some new friends over there, some who even joined us at the new petrol station. Of course, working at a store that just about qualifies as a 'Superstore' isn't the same as working at a tiny little petrol station so eventually we had to go train elsewhere. Woodville.
Woodville was rather nice, I really enjoyed my experiences there even though it was so far away and the tills were very easy to get used to. There was only a slight difference to what I was used to and they made a different kind of irritating noise when the pumps go off. A slight improvement to constant beeping, it was the sound of a males voice that said which number pump not so constantly. I made a few knew friends at Woodville too which I was a little surprised at with the short amount of time we was there. Did I mention that we got paid for travel too?
I had never prepared a brand new store for opening and I guess its one of those things that you just don't do every day! When opening week came, we had a lot of shelves to stick SELS on and then fill up once we had our very first delivery. I remember the first few days of that being literally just putting all the SELS out and then when we had our first Ambient delivery in the middle of the week, it was time to start filling. We got all of the fresh stuff last minute, I think it was the day before we opened so that the shop was all ready on time for its big day. We had photographers from the Ilkeston Advertiser and an adorable group of toddlers from a local nursery to be involved with the grande opening. Its not far off the store's 1st Birthday now (29th July) and I can't believe we've already been open nearly a year! Its been a crazy experience, yet alone with just the transformation of the site (I have still kept my other blog open with all of the photos, http://larklands.blogspot.co.uk ), how well customers have adapted to it. Some still come in through the exit but, we can let them off for that a few times.
I remember the the big announcement last year in the end of January that something big was about to happen and then having about an hour long meeting the next month with an ASDA lady. Before everything made sense, I remember a bunch of people walking around the site not quite like Mr. Ronson's but there was one that gave it all away. One of the men was wearing his hi-vis jacket the right way around and it quite clearly said 'ASDA' on the back of it. It wasn't long until one of the others told him and then he turned it inside out to cover it up. I didn't think much of it at the time, just that maybe that was the only hi-vis that he had but no, they we sizing up the place ready for the take over. Making plans and stuff.
It wasn't long from that point that we transferred over to the ASDA at Long Eaton so that they could host us while our store was in the process of being knocked down and then rebuilt. I spent most of my time there working on the produce section quite simply because it was the most fun and the most hard work, lugging vegetables around the place on what they called a 'Dolly'. It was like a trolley but, with a de-tactchable handle. I made some new friends over there, some who even joined us at the new petrol station. Of course, working at a store that just about qualifies as a 'Superstore' isn't the same as working at a tiny little petrol station so eventually we had to go train elsewhere. Woodville.
Woodville was rather nice, I really enjoyed my experiences there even though it was so far away and the tills were very easy to get used to. There was only a slight difference to what I was used to and they made a different kind of irritating noise when the pumps go off. A slight improvement to constant beeping, it was the sound of a males voice that said which number pump not so constantly. I made a few knew friends at Woodville too which I was a little surprised at with the short amount of time we was there. Did I mention that we got paid for travel too?
I had never prepared a brand new store for opening and I guess its one of those things that you just don't do every day! When opening week came, we had a lot of shelves to stick SELS on and then fill up once we had our very first delivery. I remember the first few days of that being literally just putting all the SELS out and then when we had our first Ambient delivery in the middle of the week, it was time to start filling. We got all of the fresh stuff last minute, I think it was the day before we opened so that the shop was all ready on time for its big day. We had photographers from the Ilkeston Advertiser and an adorable group of toddlers from a local nursery to be involved with the grande opening. Its not far off the store's 1st Birthday now (29th July) and I can't believe we've already been open nearly a year! Its been a crazy experience, yet alone with just the transformation of the site (I have still kept my other blog open with all of the photos, http://larklands.blogspot.co.uk ), how well customers have adapted to it. Some still come in through the exit but, we can let them off for that a few times.
Monday 11 July 2016
Trying To Get Back On Track
I currently feel like these next few months are going to be a lot different from all of the rest for many reasons. I recently received my welcome pack from NCN (07/07/16) inviting me to welcome event at the Broadway Theatre. Now I have the chance to get all excited again about actually going to university... well, college again but it is the same thing. As an addition, I've been trying to eat a little better and have been going to the gym more frequently in the past week. I'm doing fairly well so far as I've lost a little bit of weight, I don't need to loose much really but I really want to be back at a weight where I feel comfortable in time for going to Uni, so that when I meet my fellow students I might have a little more confidence.
I know I'm a lot more confident than I ever was before but, I've still got a lot of work to do. It has been a while since I last performed on stage and I'm going to have to get used to it again. This weekend I will be playing an open mic with my friend Lara, who I met at NCN from my intro course. We have been back in touch and have been practicing a couple of songs. It is nice to feel like "I'm back in the game". This doesn't seem to be anything serious at the moment, just a few cover songs but, I know whichever way things go that this shall be fun!
I really want to start composing again but, I feel like I already have this endless list of tasks. With other projects on the line, its difficult to pick and chose when some are of higher priority and I just hope I've made the best decisions. I'm still meaning to buy a severn string but, I have had other expense to pay out relating to my car. At least I don't have to worry about the service or MOT now though, during my stay at Uni. It's all paid for for three years. My car had it's first MOT today, it's three years old at the end of this month and I've been driving for over two years now. I'm aware that my front tyres are starting to wear. That was the only problem that was outlined to me from the MOT today but, it's not urgent yet and I think they will fine for one more year.
I know I'm a lot more confident than I ever was before but, I've still got a lot of work to do. It has been a while since I last performed on stage and I'm going to have to get used to it again. This weekend I will be playing an open mic with my friend Lara, who I met at NCN from my intro course. We have been back in touch and have been practicing a couple of songs. It is nice to feel like "I'm back in the game". This doesn't seem to be anything serious at the moment, just a few cover songs but, I know whichever way things go that this shall be fun!
I really want to start composing again but, I feel like I already have this endless list of tasks. With other projects on the line, its difficult to pick and chose when some are of higher priority and I just hope I've made the best decisions. I'm still meaning to buy a severn string but, I have had other expense to pay out relating to my car. At least I don't have to worry about the service or MOT now though, during my stay at Uni. It's all paid for for three years. My car had it's first MOT today, it's three years old at the end of this month and I've been driving for over two years now. I'm aware that my front tyres are starting to wear. That was the only problem that was outlined to me from the MOT today but, it's not urgent yet and I think they will fine for one more year.
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