Me and Music.

One of the many jobs I've had, and one of the ones I'm still actively doing is DJing.

I've been doing it a fair while now. Somewhere in the region of 7 or 8 years.
I started at Birmingham's Subculture and Subside when Subside opened and my school friend Rob, who'd DJed at Subculture for a while, asked if I'd be interested.

Since then I've DJed at Subculture in all its incarnations: Dale End Academy, O2 Academy, Vudu, The Ballroom (so... Dale End Academy again) and The Rooftop. I've DJed Scruffy Murphys, HMV Institute, Barracuda Club, Velvet Lounge, The Marrs Barr, The Doghouse tent at Download, and a fair few weddings and other private functions.

I enjoy it! I was a late started when it comes to listening to music. I didn't listen to music until I was 14. I remember my dad randomly giving me tapes he'd got off people at work because he wanted me to listen to something! I remember TFI Friday being one of the first influences on my current tastes. I distinctly remember Aerosmith being on the show and playing "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" and I loved it. The next schoolday I was in Goodfellas record shop in Kings Heath, buying the CD single I ever bought. I'm still chuffed that my first single purchase was by Aerosmith! I did, then, go through a brief period of listening to some abysmal stuff: The Honeyz, Spice Girls, and The Tamperer amongst others.

Yeah... I own this.

But I also own this!

And this, actually, for the different B-Side

For a while, TFI Friday fed a lot of my music taste, and Goodfellas supplied a lot of my music collection. I remember Stereophonics being on the show and playing "The Bartender and the Thief" and I loved that too. The next schoolday I was in Goodfellas, this time half-humming half-singing the song at them because I couldn't remember the name of it or most of the words. I ended up getting a reputation with the staff. I was "that humming kid". Remember, this was in the days before I had a mobile phone or even an internet connection at home. Shazam didn't exist, and Google was just around the corner.

I can't remember half the stuff that came out of this relationship between me, TFI Friday, and Goodfellas but I know Manic Street Preachers were involved at some point. And The Beautiful South.

The first album I bought was from my schoolmate Jamie, who I used to walk most of the way home with from school. I remember one time, he was catching a bus somewhere and had no bus fare. He pulled the Green Day album "Dookie" out of his bag and said, "I'm bored of this and I need bus fare. You can have it for a couple of quid." I'd heard of Green Day but never heard them and the album had cartoons on the cover so the deal was made. And I loved them. I'm still chuffed that my first album purchase was by Green Day!

Shortly after, I remember being in a rehearsal for a play, and another schoolmate, Jon-Paul, was playing the Metallica album "Garage Inc." in the rehearsal space while we were waiting for something. Up until then, I'd always been a little afraid of metal. I'd always thought it would be screamy and weird, and dark, and demonic but the track "Mercyful Fate", the 11 minute long medley of Mercyful Fate songs blew me away! It would be sometime before I realised that this track was actually a cover, not Metallica's own material, and sometime more before I listened to the lyrics enough to realise that of all the Metallica songs to convince me metal was not all about demons and satan, this Mercyful Fate medley, covering "Evil", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "Satan's Fall", "A Corpse Without a Soul", and Into the Coven" was an ironic one.

Metallica in 1998: Not singing about Satan... unless they were.

Jon shortly after introduced me to this new band, Slipknot, and their debut album and I never really looked back from there.

I still found the whole image amusing back then...

From then, I enjoyed metal. For a while it was almost exclusively rock, punk and metal. It was a little later I started listening to other stuff, just as I was exposed to it and liked it really. But more of that another time...

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Monday Night... not Blue!

Today, I woke up feeling very content indeed.

I awoke at my parents', early for me at 8am. I decided not to roll over and sleep until the hour of the day had at least two digits, but rather to sit in bed read some more of One Day which I am loving. I just read for an hour and a half and was happy. I was glad to find I could remember the ideas I had for my own writing project last night as I walked here and may combine with a drawing project. I've had lots of vague ideas swirling round my head, all interconnected. Last night a flash hit me of how I might connect them all in a coherent and interesting way.
Then I got up, had breakfast with dad, did a bit of paperwork etc, then did a spot of drawing then chatted to dad some more, largely about music which led to me buying 8 Mile for him as I think he'd like it and know he'll never watch it if it's not physically in the house. He wouldn't order it off Film Flex or anything.

I chatted to dad about work and helped him swot up on a test he has to do for work on Thursday. I realised I've started thinking in a much more business-like way than I did a couple of years ago. Last week was very busy what with long days at Mad Science doing schools followed by 3 days with them at the NEC, the last of which was followed by a cracking late shift at Subside, but all of which were done with a developing cold that involved body aches, hot and cold spells, and losing my voice.

I still have the last traces of that cold so it was nice to be relaxed and somewhere as safe-feeling as my parents' today.
After dad went to work, I drew a little bit more until mum got home and she gave me a lift to pick up my DVDs that I'd mistakenly ordered to an old address of mine.
Then we watched some Big Bang Theory and Star Trek TNG together, and now I have come back and done a bit more drawing. All interspersed with chatting to lovely people on my phone all day and listening to new music. It's just been pleasant and I've felt oddly productive for a slow day. I wanted to spend some time with the folks and I have. I wanted to draw and I have. I wanted to sort out the paperwork I needed to sort and I have. I wanted to have some ideas about where to start this writing project and I have. I wanted to get my DVDs and I have. I wanted to read and I have. I wanted to check out some musicians I haven't listened to before and I have. (Gotye and The Word Alive)
All easily attainable goals but I haven't been too lazy to acheive any of them which I often do on lazy days.

The pic hasn't progressed much but here is how it's looking now:

Click for bigness...

I feel content and able to take on the world.
Tomorrow, I have to drop some paperwork off at Selly Oak Hospital before 12:30 (which will involve going home to get it first! I'm hoping dad might give me a lift. I rarely ask him for a lift actually.) and then I will hopefully be buying a car if I can find one I can afford that doesn't look knackered and hasn't already sold by the time I ring about it tomorrow.

I feel the most optimistic about life that I have in months. It's nice! I feel maybe like I'm actually starting to grow up and take control of my life rather than letting it lead me around and just holding on tight and enjoying the ride. I have a better idea of where from and when my money comes in and I've whittled down frivolous spending a lot and have a better handle on where from and when my money goes out.
I'm now quite tired and looking forward to going to bed, reading for 15 mins or so, then going to sleep before 1am.

I'm starting to feel like a adult for the first time in my life.
And I rather like it!