6th of May 2008

The British Red Cross

 Well here I am chipping away at a new album in the sunshine skirted by unfamiliar surroundings. I’ve spent most of my recording life thus far enveloped by the safety blanket of my home; a mere 10 minutes or so from where I could drink a beer on a familiar sofa and listen to mixes on a stereo I have been listening to records on since I was a teenager. Sometimes you need to take away those anchors to produce something that feels like you have truly moved forward. With the world of music in its current state, wounded, ubiquitous, bulging with bands and new acts, exciting and bewildering – all I feel like doing is getting on with making a record that feels like a true challenge to my abilities. Suffice to say I listen at the end of each day to the noises created, driving in the rented car and burst with excitement as I hear the music which sounds at once part of me and outside of me. Excuse me for sounding overly portentous but that feeling of creating always gets me very high.

I read today that the death toll of the Burmese cyclone has risen above 22,000 with another 41,000 people still missing. It is an unimaginable level of devastation in a beautiful country already blighted by a million problems. I will be donating to the British Red Cross who were on the ground soon after the storm hit.

http://www.redcross.org.uk

Much love to you all.

Jc

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