I love being a musician. See, I could start my first ever blog introducing myself before inflicting my opinions on the world. Chances are however, you know me as the guitarist in Sam Smith & Company so you already know pretty much everything you need to. I’ve been here just over a year now, without actually having the time to keep a count of the days and it’s definitely been the best year of my life. I met Sam back in high school and more recently I’d been listening to cover songs he’d post on Facebook. When he posted an early version of Some Facts I instantly became a fan of what would be Sam Smith & Company. He asked me a few times if I wanted to join but thanks to self-doubt I foolishly turned the chance down. Now I’m working with some of the best musicians I’ve ever met. Sam is constantly pushing me, my band mates are a bottomless pit of inspiration and we’ve started to earn the support of Manchester’s new music lovers. All of the above assuring me that despite ‘pre-Chris’ Sam Smith & Company impressing me as much as they did, I did in fact have what it takes to join. Now it’s just a matter of convincing the world that most music is rubbish and they should probably be listening to us (mostly joking, mostly)
While Playing with SSAC I’ve had the chance to enjoy Manchester’s music scene, which is still worth writing home about and I reckon that’s going to be the main subject of my next blog. One of the artists we’ve met is Faraday (Martin Minshall) who supported us at the Retro Bar last summer. Since then we’ve gigged with him a few times and he’s become a good friend of ours. At first glance Martin strikes you as the kind of artist that would be a roaring success on music processing machines like ‘The Voice’ but he couldn’t be further from that, you know… having talent and what not. His songs are shaping up to be diversely fantastic body of work. With themes ranging from catchy love songs like ‘Hey You’ to politically inspired Of All The Madman, I consider him to be one of those rare performers that have both popular appeal and buckets of artistic merit. So at the start of the year when he asked me if I’d like to help him with his new EP I had to say yes.
It’s been nice working with Martin. In response to a bit of Sam’s last blog, he will always be my rock n roll brother, and I’ll always love him and the ‘Company’ but this has been a refreshing change of sonic scenery. I’ve even cheated on my amplifier! Calling my Fender Performer with the excuse of late office hours I’ve been enjoying the classic Stratocaster and Marshall combo championed by Jimi Hendrix. The EP is coming along nicely. I didn’t get the chance to ask Martin who he hired to play drums and bass but the rhythm section he has found compliments his music perfectly. One song I’ve particularly enjoyed recording was Hey You which I mentioned earlier. It’s full of hooks and brilliant lines like “wouldn’t it be nice to spend the best days of our lives doing things our mums wouldn’t like”. Besides that, it’s just really fun to play. The feedback has been really positive so I’m glad I was given the chance to be a part of it. Sign up to his mailing list and keep an ear out!
Despite the doc’s orders to rest, Sam didn’t need much convincing when I said it might be a good idea to join us. After offering his advice Martin asked him to record a few off the cuff overdubs which I thought were great. Suggesting Sam tag along wasn’t completely selfless; I was terrified and needed the support! I’d like to think he was also encouraging Martin to fully utilise his new studio monkey.
Back to the SSAC camp I return! I had a great time playing the CYCM Bar before the last FC United game of the season. While I’m not really a follower of football I love the support we’ve been getting from fans of both Manchester United and FC United. Perhaps you could consider me an honorary red? I find it impossible to glance left after leaving Piccadilly station and the sky blue background of my word processor has been giving me a head ache since I started this blog.
Tommy has been a great addition to the band, diving straight in with the workload and covering on bass all this time. He’s a good bloke to be around too as he’s had me in hysterics during tedious sound checks. We’re still trying out bass players, so to any potential bassists reading this please get in touch so we can have him join me on guitar.
I can’t let my first ever blog go out without thanking all our fans and friends either. Having you all sing ‘The Escapist’ at us made a year of working our collective arses off well worth it. Another thanks to the reds, ‘We only came for the Company’ is a top chant! The personal feedback I’ve been getting has really helped me come out of my shell too. Like I said in the opening paragraph, this year has transformed me!
Lastly, keep an eye out for our new mailing list! We'll be rolling it out in the next couple of days after I've made a couple of tweaks. If you do sign up, you'll be the first to hear about our secret evil plan for the summer! ...And some news that just made the post, Sam has been uploading his lyrics around the web! So if you fancy a sing along on this beautiful day why not be ironic about it and sing 'The Pouring Rain Is Bliss'?
I’ve not quite decided on what quote I’m gonna sign off on yet, so for now… “Tara…”
No comments:
Post a Comment