dead end

Last weekend TPIA played at the southend fringe festival. we played in this piano bar that looked out across the estuary to some island - i think it was canvey or maybe not - i dont know what was going on but to me it seemed that the island was buzzing away in the distance, alone, no inhabitants , just machinery screaming at each other some kind of post nuclear floating gomorrah oozing black tar and yellow smoke. i stood there for ages. staring.
i quickly snapped out of all that and got some bleach and made some tee shirts.


there was this guy in the corner - he really made an effort



t p i a played solidly and the spirit of the surrounding landscape was definitely heard - you could hear it in the drums - it was swelling in the bass waves -

We drove home in this rickety old van - i didnt mind i was lost in a cloud vodka & badnesses $$- everyone was asleep and i stared out onto the empty A roads and B roads and felt alone


as i rolled about on the floor i found a hole that went straight thru. i stuck my camera on countdown and dangled it under to see what this van was all about and to see how friendly the road was at 80mph. these are the results of my research.







i tried to poke my head down the hole but got an eye full of dust and grit. i wanted to see the mechanics of an aged tour van. id reminded myself over the last week of the mechanics of touring - the long, empty journeys, the rattle of sound check, the catchphrases, the anti climaxes and the unexpected highs. i went on a health kick the week before we started playing, i hadnt looked after myself completely over the last 18 or so months, id started to lose inspiration, memory, focus, drive - everything was a fog but this short tour secured me back on course and i now sit here looking out of the huge open window above my desk onto the busy summer street below and feel alive and thirsty. i have new songs and new ideas and im grateful. im about to begin a very exciting film/music project with a truly inspiring man.