Sometimes I wanna Hurt my

Well, I have to confess yesterday was a hideously trivial day. When you're in an industry like music a day with nothing to do and little inspiration can often be torture.

I woke up later than I'd hoped (9ish) and made some tea. Checked emails. Nothing. Had a shower then tried sitting with the guitar for a bit. Nothing. Switched on the piano and stared at the notes. Still nothing. Thought about having a cigarette but stopped myself. Coffee instead? Why not. Realized I needed a mic to record anything anyways so decided to go collect one from studio. At studio I thought I'd try and define our bass sound with a bit of experimentation. Three hours later it was no better than before. Left studio despondently with mic. Back home tried recording new song. Wasn't feeling it at all. By now it was 4.30pm.

I needed to do something today so I decided to clean the cooker. How desperate is that!? Cooker cleaned and floor swept tried writing again. Nothing. Checked emails. Nothing. Looked on gumtree for much needed boring bar work...No need for a musician to go on a six month Wildlife Expedition to Cambodia then. Checked Facebook. Nothing. Started reading "Pillars of the Earth". That was perhaps the only bit of excitement of the day. Watched Sherlock Holmes The Red Circle on Youtube. Not his best episode. Played Championship Manager 2 on my iphone. Ate left over curry. Read for three hours more. Didn't get to sleep 'til 2.30am frustrated and irritable.

Despite all the showiness and glamour associated with music and pop days like these are the real slogs that people don't recognize have to go on. Days when nothing happens and no money is earnt. The frustration is so intense that you can't relax. One minute you're having a blast on tour playing and then the next thing you know you're back home wondering where it all went feeling very sorry for yourself.

I often wonder if I had pots of money and could do anything I like would I still have days like these? I suspect the answer is yes. It's all about riding the difficult times and disciplining yourself, avoiding guilt and sticking to what you love.

As an ancient Chinese philosopher once said: the roller coaster has to stop sometimes to let people on and off.

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