28 June 2017
It’s been a strange last couple of weeks as everything and nothing happened at the same time. It felt like I wasn’t doing anything some days then when I checked the “to-do” list end of day it was scrawled in ticks and added to with an extra “done” list!
The garden took up a lot of time and energy and I’ll deal with that in a “4 Green Fingers” Blog but the business and organisational side was more than just ticking away as a whole plethora of demands butted in.
Dealing with the ‘Misplaced’ releases has been a challenge as numbers changed and grew and I had to keep a firm hold on where our allowances from Parlophone were. Everything sold is covered and I’ve kept back some extras as safeties. I had to remove thew vinyl from sale a couple of times as there were questions on whether I could get extra units.The stock arrives next week and I’ll be scribbling away as Elspeth and Simone stick the units into the new packaging we’ve ordered in that should cover all the bases.We are well prepared.
Steve Vantsis left after a hugely successful time up here and although we didn’t get any writing done we conquered a couple of massive mountains and the rest regarding the remasters.I retired into research mode and burrowed my way into old ‘Company ‘ fanzines as the early 90’s aren’t covered on the website.
The entire era between 92 and 95 is very confusing to write about as ‘Songs from the Mirror’ and ‘Suits’ twist around each other and are in some ways inseparable. Trying to unravel the 2 projects is proving difficult and although I don’t want to duplicate sleeve notes the threads are impossible to ignore.
It hasn’t helped that I am missing Company Fanzine 14 which came out between September 93 and August 94. If anyone has a copy handy can you post below and I will PM you. It’s an important period as that was when I moved on from Brian Lane and went back to self management as well as firing up the Dick Bros Record Company. I know most of it but there’s some dates and events I need to check out.The old fanzines have proved invaluable in filling in some memory gaps so if anyone can copy me with the relevant pages in Issue 14 I’d be grateful.
The 12 track Akai demos from the ‘Vigil’ and ‘Exile’ sessions are now being transferred but I am still looking for the missing reel from the ‘Suit’s’ masters.This is proving the most frustrating issue just now.
Calum Malcolm is set up for recording the 5 new songs for the ‘Mirror’ remaster and we will be working here the first week of October with Calum mixing both that session and the SAS live material in the following weeks.
All things going well ‘Songs from the Mirror’ and the ‘Suits’ remasters will be available at the beginning of December just as the UK tour starts.
Tour rehearsals are currently scheduled for the second and third week of November with a further couple of days and a potential warm up gig immediately before the tour.
I’ve had to accommodate Robin Boult who has sessions with Howard Jones around that time and I want him with us when we go out.
He’ll be joined by John Beck who is coming up to the studio in the summer to start writing with Steve Vantsis and I. Robin will also be involved in between his touring commitments. I’m really glad John is involved in the ‘Weltschmerz’ sessions as I’ve wanted to write with him for a while and I know his experience and huge creative talent will be invaluable to the project.
Yatta is up here in the next few weeks to go through the touring organisation as although he won’t be on the road with me he will be helping with all the background logistics.
Everything is coming together slowly but surely but in all honesty I could have done without the recent health issues.The beta blockers aren’t helpful and the sooner I am off them the better. It feels very unnatural to be calm in moments of turbulence.
It’s not helped that after waiting a month for contact I was told yesterday that my next appointment is scheduled for September 14th with another probable 3 month wait on any surgical remedy. As with my back I can’t hang around as it infringes on the tour. As I haven’t worked a stage since last April I can’t afford to hang around and once again I have to elect for private treatment. With a tax bill that smarted landing in my mailbox yesterday it sticks in my craw that I’m going to have to fork out again for medical treatment if I am going to get back to work.It would be easier to swallow if it was deductible but it’s just going to be yet another unexpected cost this year. Thankfully the Yang to balance it out came in the form of the ‘Misplaced’ issues which you will probably agree has a certain irony to it!
I’ve done a few interviews for Parlophone to support the project and i have to admit it’s been an extra bonus as I’m obviously talking about my own titles and projects as well as the ‘Misplaced’ releases. With recent full page adverts in Prog Magazine and another couple in Classic Rock due in the coming months my profile is bubbling away and the remasters and live albums are still slowly moving out in the post from here.They’ve been aided by a promo campaign in Germany with similar ads in Eclipsed and Goof Times magazines as well as a series of reviews across the board.It’s all been positive.
Mark Wilkinson and I have a very clear idea now on the imagery we want on the ‘Weltschmerz’ album and that is driving my own lyrical ideas. The string for the pearls is being fashioned.
It does feel like the quiet before the storm and there’s a very loud clicking of things falling into place across the board.