After all the writing, all the recording and all the anticipation, the moment of truth has arrived. The launch night is a sell-out and the last few rehearsal sessions are so exciting, I think we’re starting to sound better live than on the album!! We know the songs inside out and have a great trust in each other which gives us the freedom to bring each song to life and do them justice live.
To me, it kind of feels like turning a book into a film. It should be easy because it’s all there written in front of you but in reality it’s worlds apart, some songs on the album have so many layers that we can’t possibly replicate them live. Rather than panic, we simply love the challenge of figuring out how we can make everything work. We spent nearly two years in the studio putting this jigsaw together so meticulously, now we have to let go and try and feel how we want to evolve and sound live.
The night of the launch… The heart in the mouth… I act as calm as possible, completely focused on the first few notes, once I get them right I know I’ll relax and enjoy it. I know we’re all nervous, not because we’re unsure but because we’ve put so much into this and we want to grow from this, if it all goes wrong it will be very, very difficult to bounce back from. On top of all this, the venue is filled with our families, our friends and people who have been impressed enough so far, to show up and see what we’re like live. Once I step onto the stage I am completely taken over by a sense of purpose. I’m not even thinking of who is beyond the stage, there could be 100 people or 10,000 people out there, all I’m thinking is that I’m on stage, playing these songs with the people who have brought them to life. We love what we do and I hope it shows, the night is incredible, the response is incredible, oh how we’d love to do this all the time!!!!
“You can only really have it, if you give it away”...This phrase is always in my head. I've no idea who said it or where I heard it and it took a lot of time to make sense to me but it's simply about letting go. If you hold onto anything too tightly there's a chance you stop it becoming what it's meant to become, this is true for nearly anything in life. If you want freedom, you have to give away control, that's a daunting thought. If you want peace, you have to give away your anger and if you want courage, you have to give away your ego. When you attempt to control everything you show that you don't really understand what's really going on, believe me, it's much more fun having less control, the not knowing is everything.
The last month or so has been incredible, a sell-out show for the album launch and the realisation that being anxious about releasing the songs to the public was silly. How people react to the album is beyond our control, this makes everything so much better. We're now concentrating on the live show, developing the songs into something different, each song has a personality of its own that seems so different when we play live, we play with passion and we play with the understanding that this part of our lives is just as temporary as everything else. In one way we have some control but in reality we have none, it's time to roll with the punches and see if we have the heart for the fight."
To me, it kind of feels like turning a book into a film. It should be easy because it’s all there written in front of you but in reality it’s worlds apart, some songs on the album have so many layers that we can’t possibly replicate them live. Rather than panic, we simply love the challenge of figuring out how we can make everything work. We spent nearly two years in the studio putting this jigsaw together so meticulously, now we have to let go and try and feel how we want to evolve and sound live.
The night of the launch… The heart in the mouth… I act as calm as possible, completely focused on the first few notes, once I get them right I know I’ll relax and enjoy it. I know we’re all nervous, not because we’re unsure but because we’ve put so much into this and we want to grow from this, if it all goes wrong it will be very, very difficult to bounce back from. On top of all this, the venue is filled with our families, our friends and people who have been impressed enough so far, to show up and see what we’re like live. Once I step onto the stage I am completely taken over by a sense of purpose. I’m not even thinking of who is beyond the stage, there could be 100 people or 10,000 people out there, all I’m thinking is that I’m on stage, playing these songs with the people who have brought them to life. We love what we do and I hope it shows, the night is incredible, the response is incredible, oh how we’d love to do this all the time!!!!
“You can only really have it, if you give it away”...This phrase is always in my head. I've no idea who said it or where I heard it and it took a lot of time to make sense to me but it's simply about letting go. If you hold onto anything too tightly there's a chance you stop it becoming what it's meant to become, this is true for nearly anything in life. If you want freedom, you have to give away control, that's a daunting thought. If you want peace, you have to give away your anger and if you want courage, you have to give away your ego. When you attempt to control everything you show that you don't really understand what's really going on, believe me, it's much more fun having less control, the not knowing is everything.
The last month or so has been incredible, a sell-out show for the album launch and the realisation that being anxious about releasing the songs to the public was silly. How people react to the album is beyond our control, this makes everything so much better. We're now concentrating on the live show, developing the songs into something different, each song has a personality of its own that seems so different when we play live, we play with passion and we play with the understanding that this part of our lives is just as temporary as everything else. In one way we have some control but in reality we have none, it's time to roll with the punches and see if we have the heart for the fight."