February 17th 2002 - BACK AGAIN!!!

 

Is there anybody left? If there is you've probably noticed that there hasn't been any news for about three months, and if there isn't anybody, then that's probably the reason why. (And I think I may have lost the ability to string a coherent sentence together.)

I don't really want to go too deeply into the reasons for my sudden disappearance - I've had some upheaval in my personal life which is just about resolving itself now. Part of the result is that I'm going to move house shortly - I'm going to live in Norfolk.

The other day I picked up a guitar for the first time in about six weeks and realised that I'd forgotten how to play it. Six weeks previously I picked one up because I had to move it out of the way of essential pre-estate agent and first-time buyer work. If anyone knows somebody who's looking for a large one bedroomed flat in the centre of Brighton, complete with oblique sea views and a roof terrace, they should get in touch immediately, because otherwise the place is going to go through an estate agent.

Another week of buggering about with emulsion paint and taking stuff to the tip and I should be done. Then I'm going to pick up my guitar again, and I'm not going to let go of it until I can play it properly. I'm going to give myself a repetitive strain injury to go with the repetitive brain injury that I've already got. I'm going to drop out, grow a beard, and clothe myself in garments made from tree bark.
 

 

Actually I'm not really going to do that at all. I've got some gigs coming up next month. You've probably noticed the garish 'next live appearance' box. The band doesn't exist anymore so I'm doing some solo sets. The band was fine when we did gigs but as an ongoing creative force it was getting less and less viable because nobody except me had enough time to devote to it. I felt that the way forward was for all of us to work together on creating new material. Unfortunately you can't do that on three hours a week, you've got to spend days at a time on it. Otherwise it was just down to me telling everybody when and what to play. We did all right though, and even if we didn't know at the time that the Strummer gig at the Concorde was going to be our last, we went out on a high. It was probably our best set ever. In Brighton people I don't know still stop me in the street to tell me how good it was. It makes me wish we were a local band.

There's always the possibility that we'll work together again on something. Will's joined a post-punk group called the Tone, Ina's going back to Germany, Annie's working as a gardener, and I'm working on some new material which I'm hoping to unveil next month. I'm very nervous. I hope we all do all right.

I could get into the swing of writing stuff for the website. I think I'll get this to Tony so that he can get it posted up. Perhaps I'll write more later today or tomorrow. I've got to get back to my emulsion - I'm working in the arse-crack sector.

 

© Eric Goulden, February, 2002