Thanks...

...everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. Yup, I'm now 24 years old, which means I have less than a year to write an album as good as "Harvest" if I'm to be keeping up with Neil Young. Tits. Anyways, I celebrated in style, laid waste to half of Winchester town centre and feel today not unlike I've been shot in the face. Nice. To the new year!

Twas the week before Christmas

My birthday is pretty near Christmas (28th December, less of the Jesus jokes, mine's a Jack & Coke!). This means that that the end of the year every year generally coincides with me adding a digit, which sends me into paroxysms of reflection and self-analysis, which I'll try not to bore you with. Nevertheless, given that it's that time of year again, and that I've played my last gig of the year and gone back to Winchester for the festive season, I've been thinking about 2005 of late.

Last year, at a New Years Eve party (though I think by this time it was actually well into the 1st of January), my best friend said to me that age 23 was "revolution year" - the year when everything changes, the year when you really reevaluate your life and head down different paths. Well, as per usual the smug cunt seems to have had a point. 12 months ago I was in Million Dead, we'd just about finished our second album, we had release dates, singles and tours lined up and ready to go, we had a fanbase waiting for the record (something very new to me) and everything seemed pretty rosy on that front. I didn't have much reason to doubt that MD would continue to be the centre of my universe for some time (years) to come.

And now... well, MD came to an end, something which still fills me with a lot of sadness. Harmony No Harmony was released, and we did tour, but things didn't quite reach the pitch we'd hoped for at the start of the year due to us, er, breaking up. And now I've set out on my own. Without wanting to moan, it's not been the easiest year of my life, shall we say. Reorientating myself towards this new set of goals has been pretty tough, and continues to be, and it's also fucking scary actually, to be doing this on my own. But I'm starting to build up my confidence, my repertoire, and fingers crossed, to paraphrase James Yorkston, "This year will be my year, it took a long time to come". Who knows, I'd better ask the smug one for his predictions for age 24.

So in short, bollocks to 2005, roll on 2006! Happy christmas everyone.

The nights are drawing in

Well, we're reaching the end of the year for sure. I only have one more show this year, and then it's into xmas territory (ugh...). It's been an interesting one... I'm sure I'll do a more comprehensive year round-up later tho, so I'll save that one. News - Rocksound came out, which was cool, I played an ace show in Cheltenham (where I met a bouncer who was friends with B B King!)... and other stuff.

The last show I have is going to be at Nambucca, a pub run by friends of mine at the top end of Holloway Road in North London. It's this Saturday and I'm looking forward to it because it's going to have a real nice family atmosphere, haha.. No seriously, it should be a good one to finish the year on.

Last but not least, my good friend Greg has a website for his photography habit, and he's rather good at it. Check it.

"Sheila goes out with her mate Stella..."

I've had a comparatively long time back in Winchester of late, though it's not like I've been idle. I've been having interesting meetings about my future, planning next year some more (Latvia ahoy! Also: Scotland), booking a Welsh show to placate the guy who KEPT posting about it on here, and even opening my chocolate advent calendar. Check me. There was also a cool show in Norwich, which gave me a chance to catch up with old friends.

I've been writing, as ever, and I've started veering more into 'political' territory; that is, 'political' in the same sense that any MD lyrics were 'political' (see 100,000 interviews for my thoughts on that). Basically, while I still have no intention of telling anyone else how to live their lives, I've still got some shit to say, observations to make etc. In the aftermath of MD it was nice to get away from that approach for a little while and tackle some other topics (more personal stuff), but fuck it, I'll write about what I want! Ha! So what this all really boils down to is that I finished a new tune entitled "Thatcher Fucked The Kids" the other day. It's a face-rocker. And I must admit it's fun to be back on that ground every now and again.

(Incidentally, I broke my own personal speed-songwriting record with that one - scratch to finished item in 24 hours or so, and I even recorded the thing in a grand total of 2 1/2 takes! Safety)

Finally, just a quick mention of some stuff that's been cheering me up of late - check out www.airwavesback.com, a great little webzine that my mate Ed runs. I have a t-shirt and everything. Also, check out Jamie T for the future of music, yes yes.