The Soundtrack To My Life

Posted on August 17, 2010 by nick

Since I got my first stereo / radio thing for Christmas when I was about 10 music has under pinned my life. Although my parents are classical fans the only radio we had on at home was either Radio 3, Radio or local BBC radio (independant radio hadn’t reach Cornwall by then). Very quickly though with my own radio I discovered Radio 1,  and the likes of Stock Aiken and Waterman, yes Ladies and Gentlemen this was around Kylie and Jason time. My music tastes evolved from that basic starting point to include classical, pop, metal et al.

My love for music increased as I learned to play guitar, bass guitar, drums and some basic keyboard stuff. Music even took me on a tour to Berlin in the summer of 1993 with the school band, and as such has put me on stage in various places. As a musician and sound engineer I have worked all over the country with all kinds of people all joined by a bond of music. I have played drums in a steel band, worked with musicans from Russia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Band Of The Welsh Guards, to name a few. A friend and I even wrote a Christmas song one year, made 40 copies and sold them around the school. i wrote the lyrics and he the music.

With music having such an influential part in my life, it has become what I turn to, be it when I am happy, or sad. Certain pieces of music have a part in my life, Bowling For Soup make me laugh and smile, Tubular Bells 1 part 1 de-stresses me, and there are countless songs that remind me of lovers past and present, that remind of the good times and also remind me of the bits I don’t miss.

I like to share my love of music and can normally find something on youtube to send to a friend to comfort, to cheer up, as I feel the world is a much nicer place when we are happy.

As I approach the old age that is my mid 30′s my tastes I have altered slightly. I still love the Pet Shop Boys and the odd bit of Pop (was Britney now Lady Ga Ga),  I still love my 80′s hair metal (Poison, Crue) and the juggernauts that are AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Queen. This is all balanced with Radio 2 (esp PopMaster), some 80′s and classical when the mood suits me.

I’m not going to dish out a Dessert Island Disks list, but here are some recommends:

Anything by Bowling For Soup / Queen / AC/DC & Iron Maiden
Lady Ga Ga  – Bad Romance
Poison – Fallen Angel, Cry Tough, Something To Believe In
Vixen – Edge Of A Broken Heart
Pyotr Iiyich Tchaikovsky – Overture To The Year 1812
Anything by Yngwie Malmsteen
J S Bach Brandenburg Concertos No 2 In F Major
South Park The Movie OST
Anything by Van Halen / David Lee Roth
Miss Saigon Original Cast Recording
Mr Big – To Be With You
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Anything by Billy Joel

oh and of course

The Last Night Of The Proms

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Rewriting My Own Programming

Posted on August 15, 2010 by nick

As children we are fearless, we want to explore and discover things and find new things. This is where we learn the word “no” and this changes our outlook forever. We learn that if we hear the word “no” we are not to do the thing that we were either thinking about or doing.

I am currently working on my outlook to life, and I have noticed that if I got out not wanting something bad to happen it unfailingly does. What you don’t want to happen is exactly what happens, and your fears become a self fulfilling prophecy. A couple of months ago, while ploughing through “Think And Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill. I started to change my outlook. Remembering some words of wisdom from Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace “I am sure a solution will present itself” I started looking at the challenges in from of me, repeating the words of QuiGgon to myself and thinking and believing that the solution would present itself, I noticed that I was able to approach these challenges and sort them out.

What the mind can conceive and believe you can achieve or to quote Kipling “If you think you can you will, if you think you can’t you won’t”

Try looking at everything today thinking that it will happen and be done and believe what you are thinking to yourself.

You’ll have an amazing day when you try it and understand it.

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Desire

Posted on August 13, 2010 by nick

i have recently been studying the works of Napolean Hill, Wallace Wattles, Sean Rasmussen and Paul McKenna. I have been trying to read “Think & Grow Rich” since I was 18. This year I have succeeded and, maybe the time was right, but I have understood it fully.

The mind is an interesting thing, and without realising it we create our own futures, normally but thinking “I Don’t Want This To Happen” where it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

I was reading the chapter on desire, where, it is stated that if you desire something enough, it will happen (I have used artistic license and shortened the whole concept), or in another phrase “What you can conceive and believe you can achieve”. Thinking about this I realised how true it was, and remembered a time from my youth (about 6-7 years old). I really wanted a typewriter (yes I am that old lol), and I mean really wanted it, I used to dream about it, think about it and one day the family were out at a fete or similar and there on the bric a brac stall was a typewriter. Guess who got it? Yep, Me.

Thinking about this more, as a kid i used to look through the Argos catalogue at the toys and imagine what it would be like playing with them, and the ones I imagined the most and desired the most I got. I find it amazing that as a child I understood Napolean Hills Desire theory, before I had heard of the man.

I also learnt that desiring and planning something is a skill that I had not used in a very long time. Until now.

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A Tale Of Two Nick’s

Posted on August 12, 2010 by nick

I was thinking about this the other day, so where better to start, than at the beginning.

Sometime in 1982 a new family moved in next door to us. There was Nick, his sister Joanne, and parents Brian and Carol. Nick, at 10 was one of the oldest kids on this new development, most were young families with children around my age (6 ish at the time ) so there were plenty of people to play with, and with fields nearby plenty of exploring to do.

Nick and I quickly became friends, not really rocket science, there was him, his sister, me and my sister and our parents all got along well. Growing up was fund, I learnt to ride a bike with Nick’s help and through him was introduced to science fiction, science fantasy and all cool things like Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings and Dr Who. We would spend summers charging round fields with wooden swords, bows and arrows, any number of things that could be made by parents in sheds. There was no foam padding, you got a splinter, covered in mud, whatever you picked yourself up and washed yourself off in a local stream.

Nick was cool, when he went to secondary school he still hung around with his chums. We did all kinds of things in all kinds of weathers, built camps, rode bicycles, played foodball and tennis. We were lucky we were surrounded by fields and even is we were playing around the estate there was not the amount of traffic.

I look back to today to those carefree times when the only thing that was important was getting home in time for tea, videos were reserved for rainy days, telly had 4 channels and games machines were still in their infancy.

Nick and his family moved away in 1988, his father was working close to London, but since his nan lived just up the road their were visits at holidays.

One morning in late July 1989 I was awoken at 5 am. My sister rang into my room screaming that Nick was dead. I spent the rest of the day pinching myself but alas, it was true.

Nick had been out the night before, doing his sisters paper round. Cross the road, he was hit by a car that came flying round the corner. Even though there was an ambulance in the traffic, there was nothing that could be done. Nick died in the early hours of the following morning from his injuries. The date? My parents wedding anniversary.

Nick was the first person that I was close to that I had lost. I sometimes wonder “what if” and ask myself if we’d still be as close.

I think so.

I was listening to a song by Poison in the car the other day, called Something To Believe In, where the singer Bret Michaels sings about the death of his best friend. I love the song and it always pulls at the heart strings. You only get one best friend, cherish every moment.

Why start my blog with this tale? Well, it seems fitting, it was Nick’s inspiration to so many of my hobbies and likes and influences that has led me to where I am today. It is also roughly 21 years ago, and I have decided to share the story, rather than keep it to myself.

N

Thanks for the inspirations and influences Nick.

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