Riding on the summer wind

One of the loveliest Summers in living memory is flying by and so much has happened (and is yet to occur) before Autumn's hues and temperatures are upon us. Miss L is feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, so in between playing nurse I am grabbing the opportunity to record some bits and bobs we've been up to:

Reiss and Dazed & Confused magazine recently ran an competition to illustrate a ltd. edition of 500 T-Shirt for their new 1971 collection. 600 designs were submitted and 30,000 public votes cast. My design came in the top 5 which put a smile on my face. I won some Reiss vouchers, a pair on ltd edition jeans and an invite to the collection launch at London Fashion Week, so can't grumble. See my submission here.

Old chum Mike came down from Lichfield for a lad's w'end which was a right old laugh, the highlight of which was the Film4/Summer Screen at Somerset House. Another old mucker Mark was DJing beforehand (and very marvellous he was too - cheeky/quirky filmscore mash-up), then we were treated to a dream double bill of Alien/Poltergeist. Great to see two of my fav. films on a big screen, in the open air summer night. Many thanks to Mark for the free entry and VIP treatment.

A few weeks later a very welcome weekend break in Harrogate followed - caught up with lots of old muckers and family, and celebrated the engagement of my bro and Sarah - really happy for you guys...Congratulations. Some de riguer stomps around the Yorkshire countryside blew away some cobwebs too. Then, it was up to Lichfield to stay with Mike and Lou who have some very exciting news - so happy for you both! Lovely relaxing weekend relaxing and BBQing. Took some cool photos too.

Yesterday da Maria and I trekked down to Clapham Common to see the ever brilliant Orbital. Wicked night and great to have a proper jump around to one of my favourite bands, with one of my oldest buds. Shame we missed Roni Size. Here's a bit of footage:



Amazingly, it seems we don't have a free weekend for the next few months, so there will be lots to report next time the blogging urge takes me.

I have discovered loads of excellent new music recently, mainly through the genius that is Spotify. If you don't have this wonderful App. I strongly suggest you download it. If you need an invite let me know and I will be glad to sort you out. Here's some brilliant music I think is worth more than a casual look:

British Sea Power - Man of Aran.
The Horrors - Primary Colours.
Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring.
Slut - Still No.1.
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Twice born men.
Tindersticks - Waiting for the Moon.
The XX - XX.
John Surman - Brewster's Rooster.

I also 'graduated' from Raindance on their FilmMakers Foundation - what a great course and film festival, and some inspiring people to work with. I have a backlog of footage now which needs crafting into something amazing when I find the time and a load of lovely contacts to make magic with. Highly recommend you check Raindance out if you have even a passing interest in film.

More to come soon. Keep checking back here and Flickr for updates. Beep.

April Skies

Welcome glorious, lovely British Summer Time - everyone starts smiling a bit more and quickly discards the drag of dark days and winter blues. I love this time of year and the months to follow - waking up to and going home in daylight/sunshine; nature coming into bloom; getting more out of the day and enjoying being inside and outside in shorts and sandals! Things are far from smooth at the moment, but getting easier for sure, and the changing of the seasons surely helps. Here's hoping we get a long hot summer this year - we all certainly deserve it!

I've been up to oodles aside from the usual work stuff - the later of which just keeps getting busier and a bit nuts sometimes - things to look forward to stuff though and a few looooong projects finally coming to fruition. A few weeks ago Maria, Rus and I returned to Bad Film Club at The Barbican - This month's offering was the utterly gash Leprechaun in the Hood - shocking it was. Everyone had to wear various tacky fancy dress items and loads of people baked (Green) cakes which were shared around. Great night - shite film, but that's the whole point.

A film experience I had from a completely different end of the spectrum was the excellent Anvil. A touching, sometimes depressing, but ultimately inspiring film - It is the story of a very influential and oft referenced Canadian metal band, who set the standard in the genre's infancy of the early 80s...but couldn't make the leap into the big time. They had to watch as their contemporaries sail off onto global success and all the trappings that came with it, whilst they struggled to make a living doing what they loved. A triumph for the human spirit and belief in one's self. Ironically, the film will probably be the making of them. Without giving too much away, the closing concert could warm the coldest of hearts. Mark and I went to Pizza Express to discuss it afterwards - I think it touched a few 'chords' with the lad, bless him.

Gigwise I went to Koko this Saturday and saw the superb Silversun Pickups. I bought their album Carnavas recently, and whilst good it is a tad overproduced and the vocals are too muted and guitars over-layered. Live they are so much better - think Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine in a melting pot with a dash of Joy Division stirred in - awesome stuff. Other recommended tunage over the past few weeks: For all I care by The Bad Plus and Living Things by Peter, Bjorn and John.

Had a lovely night with my old muckeress Heather last week, who has some exciting news! Also, trotted down to Brixton to watch Liverpool plough Fulham at the last minute with Chris, Lou and Christine. A spot of branding freelance work on the go for a chum from home; making a weekly din with some lads down in Battersea and loving my new guitar very much! Super excited about my forthcoming Filmmakers Foundation at Raindance in June - can't wait for that one. Also, a long weekend back home in the mother county will be a welcome short break from London life. Could do with a proper holiday, but that will have to wait for a wee while.

Next time I hope to be blogging with a bit of a tan, a Magners in my hand and a spring in my step. Until then...