Life begins again, at 40...

a long time ago, in a town not so far away…

Back in 2004, I was in a band, I played guitar and we’d meet up at least twice a week in Kingston and play endlessly for hours.

I enjoyed it, I’d even go so far to say I lived for it, in a somewhat obsessive way.  When I wasn’t rehearsing with Terry, Mark and Alan, I was listening back to our sessions that I had recorded on my Sony Minidisc. 

And when I wasn’t doing that, I was writing songs, recording songs and making notes of what I felt did and didn’t work.

Sadly, we all went our separate ways and since then, I’ve barely given music a second thought.  Life took over.

It was always there, at the back of my mind, but it became something I did when passing the time at home, usually sat in front of the TV with Loose Women or Ceebeebies staring back at me. Ultimately, I had become so focused on my career and making that work, I forgot to take time out for myself and have some fun every once in a while.

And then the lockdown happened.  Right as I hit 40…

A midlife crisis, or something else…?

Maybe picking up the guitar again was a midlife crisis waiting to happen.  But I like to think that it was the fact, that the highlight of my 40th birthday was sitting out in the garden, basking in the sun while playing tunes on my old Tanglewood TW45.

Since then, I’ve become more musically active.  I’ve bought a few microphones. I’ve made a few videos and I’ve recently treated myself to cheap and cheerful Concert Ukulele.

And like how making music felt back in 2004, it is fun!

At the risk of sounding old, the world has changed so much since then.

For starters, social media wasn’t a thing.  So beyond burning CDs and giving them to your mates, there was no opportunity to share anything.

And equipment wasn’t as affordable (or I wasn’t earning enough to consider it affordable), nor accessible.  I certainly don’t remember being able to order a condenscer microphone in the 2000s for less than £50 and have it arrive at my door, the next day.

Technology has come far too.  What you’ve got on an iPhone now, with GarageBand and other similiar apps, you’d have to fork out a fair penny for that sort of thing.

I’ve been enjoying the Acappella app, as it allows me to record multiple parts and encourages me to focus without doing too much post-production trickery (as far as I can tell, you can’t cut out the wrong notes.) There is certainly a discipline to it.

The other bonus I have is that I am older now.  And with that, I just don’t care anymore. I have less inhibitions now, than I did back in my early to mid twenties.  I’m not out to impress anyone other than myself.  To be honest, I wish I had this outlook back then.

But yeah, the last few weeks have spurred me on to do more – whether that is writing, recording, covering or just experimenting.  And while I am no longer playing with others, I feel as motivated now, as I did back when I was playing with Terry, Mark and Alan.

I have no idea what a post-Covid world looks like, but I know I will still be obsessing over music, guitars, ukuleles and everything that comes with it.

I just really hope that we will be able to play with other people again.  As that feeling of playing music with others, that is something I really do miss.