Thoughts About The Last Two Years

Having finished college two years ago (yes, that's right... TWO YEARS AGO) Its hard not to think about how I could have improved the last couple of years. After I finished college didn't go nearly as well as I had planned, not immediately to say the least. I had to wait a couple of months until I could claim JSA (which I wasted) and then when I could claim I was stuck with them for a good number of months. In the time of struggling to find work they sent me on work experience. I went to two different places. I first went to the British Heart Foundation in Ilkeston where I still volunteer there when I can now and then later they sent me to The Original Factory Shop in Ripley. It was quite a pain to get there and back as at that point I didn't drive but, the government refunded my travel expenses thankfully. This was just the beginning of 2014.

Of course, my old band Zebra Crossing was still going strong then. I do kind of miss that band but it was always a pain to sort things out. Maybe I just miss being in a band in general, I don't know but I remember that Zebra Crossing was one hell of a roller coster ride. Admittedly the band started from me being envious that I had been replaced. That may not be the right word, furious maybe just in denial but, it did annoy me that the same songs myself and Lucy had played together whilst in Refraction were being repeated, especially the fact that I helped structure one of them and add music to it but them it got changed musically and I was no longer there. I probably didn't handle the situation well at the time but, the more I think about it the more I think maybe I should have just left them to it but, then they got a drummer and thats where I had to draw the line. I felt like I had to be involved. I felt pushed out and needed to get back in again. I know that I am nothing without music and needed something... So of course, I offered to be the bass player... since I couldn't be the lead guitarist anymore. Apart of me for the whole time though the very begining thought that this was a bad idea but, I stuck with it. There was something that I wanted to achieve, I was't sure what it was but, eventually I started putting every effort into the band. From producing a home recorded EP to a teaser video. I even got one of my old friends to help out with our band design even though I no longer speak to him now.

That was all late 2013 and if I remember correctly it was around December time we had a fall out on our hands. We had been together as a band for less that three months and one day had a little too much fun messing around during practise. If I remember Emmett threw a penny and it made Lucy drop her laptop. Next minuet the laptop screen completely dies and Emmett is out of the dab. To me, it was from that day that the band went downhill. We lost our drummer and found it very difficult to find a new one, even when we did it was finding the time to all practise together. I was getting stressed about the quality of my band going down hill and I think that demotivated me quite a lot. I would happily go to practice when I wasn't absolutely knackered from the Princes Trust Course I was on at the time but, it just wasn't the same. Forcibly writing new songs about nonsense and turning down ideas that would just never work. Some maybe but, no. Some of the last originals we made were really good though we never got them recorded properly if I remember, that or I have lost/forgotten where the copies are. It's just weird thing about all this now but its all come back to me over the last month and really hit me in the face. I don't speak to anyone now and I think it is fair to say I miss them all. I haven't spoken to David, our lead guitarist though I did see him busking in Nottingham not too long ago. He spotted me to and looked terrified. In regards to Lucy and Emmett, Lucy is at a Manchester Uni now from what I gather still studying music but, Emmett.. I have no idea. Maybe I will share this post with them and it might spark something between us, then again maybe not. Maybe they will discover it and be all like, "Kim, why are you blogging about me?" I really don't know.

That was probably the main thing I wanted to post to be honest. I don't get much time to talk to friends or announce that I want to talk to them about something because of work, that and because most of the time I don't want to feel like I am bothering them. It's quite sad really. This whole post is quite sad, so I appologise. I does make me wonder though, if things went a little better... would we still be going strong? Would I have still got my job? (I had two interviews and the first one my boss didn't hire me because I was in a band and it was too much commitment).

I will end on a lighter not, mind. In my eyes currently, 2015 is the year I will really push myself musically. Once I have my new contract sorted with work, I will be working less hours and have more time to record and work on my new (and old) songs. I'm going to be optimistic and say that I will aim to record and finalise at least 5 songs by the end of this year. I need to get this EP out as I have been planning it since last summer and just really not had the time at all. I can't wait to start recording again and really get back into the swing of things, roll on six hour shifts 2-3 days of per week still with holidays. I ACTUALLY CAN'T WAIT.

In other news, my video has finally reached over 1,000 views! Watch it here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwA8t3eaW1Y

An End To Another Era...

Over the last couple of days I have been battling it out in an attempt to remain in my own my band, the only issue being that I had done nothing wrong. This was a band that I put all of my effort in when it came to the musicality, I wouldn't let one song get past me without sounding half decent. According to our vocalist my main flaw was that I didn't care to attend many gigs, by gigs what was meant was open mics. Now I'm no expert but open mics are NOT gigs but are 15 minuet session windows for locals to play for free to share their music. I understood that it was important to share our music with others but, not at the same three open mics every week, of every month, of every year. This cause much controversy (I lied) over Facebook when I let all of my friends know about the situation and the general public too. I thought it the right thing to do because otherwise I would have suffered whining to myself as no one would talk to me properly out of the band apart from our drummer who appeared to have no say over anything.

I wasn't quiet expecting the large response I received. It made me feel a lot better knowing that I had many friends behind me; backing me up though, it didn't take very long for true opinions to fly out of peoples mouths as more of my friends joined in on the outrage. Personally, I don't blame them and it's not like I should take responsibility for what they have said.

In a way, I am happy that the band has come to an end. In reality, the band Zebra Crossing was never really going anywhere because the main priory was always open mics, not gigs just open mics. All of the open mics were probably even considered more important than practice! An example being when we first got a new drummer we practiced once and the played three open mics, so sorting priorities makes another issue. The good news is that to compensate myself, I took a hold of the official band page. I am now one of the few admins of that page, including my friend Thomas who feels a similar way to me right now in regards to the people involved. Admittedly, we may have took things a little to far by editing up an image and posting it as the pages cover photo, we also changed the logo name to "Zebra Crossed". All in the aid of humiliation.

What makes me feel a lot better is that David rung me last night to apologize for everything. I still haven't heard from Lucy but, I'm not too bothered anymore as I get the message. I'm convinced their was a personal issue but, that's up to her. Apparently, I'm "boring" too. Oh, that really explains why I was one of the more interesting band members.

For anyone who wants to see what the old original page looks like it will still be left up and can be found here.

Honestly, thank you for everyone that got involved for all of your support. Hopefully, I will have another band up and running shortly under a new name and this will go much further. I have some musicians in mind that need popping so maybe, just maybe.

November

It's been a busy couple of days. Yesterday, I played a gig at the golden fleece in Nottingham and the day before, performed and NCN  both with my band. I really enjoyed both of them, my band zebra crossing is really coming along, even though I do think we need a much bigger set list. At the moment we have still got about 45 minutes worth of a set list.  We are practicing again this Sunday but, I think we will be mostly working on what we already know but I'm unsure we might learn new song whether it be a cover or an original. We are always want to learn new songs.

At the moment, I have a side project on the way as well. I don't want to reveal too much about it right now because.. well, I'm trying to keep it a secret for now! Before I can make a side project happen, I need to invest in some new equipment. I want to buy another condenser mic so I can capture more high quality sounds, I want to get a new amplifier which would have to be quite a loud one for my guitar.

I thought for a change I should upload a photo of myself. For a change, I have actually bothered to straighten my hair properly. It's getting quite long now, the kind of long where if I don't do anything with it, it looks terrible.