Jon and Libby

It's a sign! A sign of a terrible few weeks!   C19. The 'Rona. Sniphilis. Call it what you will, but this year's covid 19 strain is a virus very much trying to stay relevant with a raging sore throat, choking mucus, and extreme fatigue that lasts for weeks. Becasue of this, I've been somewhat necessarily quiet while I recover. Trust me to land a dose just before I was due for my yearly jab. So, here's a brief catch-up. We had a great evening at the lovely Derby EMOM in late October, as livestreamed here . Lee Gratorex has branched out from streaming the Derby EMOM to take in other events, the frist of which was the October Electric Tentacle in Stoke. This is a really good development, bringing the evenings to a wider audience. It's like the scene has its own live TV show! Next up for us was the inaurgural Wrexham EMOM, hosted at the Ty Pawb arts centre. This is an excellent venue. The audience was the public, and was very much up for hearing some new stuff. Ever...

  Back for the third time at Dubrek! Last week saw Libby and I hurtle (speed cameras permitting) back over the Pennines again towards Derby and the revered Dubrek Studio for our third performance there, this time for the second birthday livestream. Ably led as usual by Marjorie the Satnav, we avoided most of the traffic to arrive bang on time, and even found a free parking space right outside the venue. Google Maps (A.K.A Marjorie, because why not?) also has the ability to tell you when to set off for a gig. Save the destination on your phone and as the dreaded hour approaches, tap it to load it every so often, and it will calculate the current best route and give you an estimated time of arrival. At teatime, as rush hour subsides, the journey time tends to fall, but the time of arrival tends to remain the same until the optimum time to leave, when the arrival time begins to get slightly later. This is the best time to leave, so load up the car, get the tunes on, and go and have so...

  Thursday's office, with Jim and Lee fettling the live feed in the background. It was back to Derby on Thursday for our return visit to a venue since playing our first EMOM back in late December. This time, rather than a leisurely train journey down through the Trent Valley and a slap-up breakfast at the Premier Inn the following morning, Marjorie the Satnav was in command as we hurtled over the Pennines in the mighty Sandero, windscreen wipers battling against driving rain, and standing water so bad I felt the need to momentarily pop my hazards on to warn drivers behind me. But get there we did, and bang on time. I'd spontaneously booked a place at the Dubrek Studios May EMOM, and subsequently discovered that Lee Greatorex would be livestreaming it to YouTube . The question was: do I tell my family they can see me hammering away at the ivories like a demented Mrs Mills, and more importantly do I tell my group of old school friends who take the piss out of EVERYTHING? As usual...

Lying in a big hotel bed in Derby at 7:45am on Friday 16th February 2024, if someone had told me a year ago that last night I'd have been playing live electronic music, my electronic music, very loudly to a roomful of people who clapped and cheered at the end, I'd have told them they were crazy. That I'd even have anything I'd be less than terrified to let people hear seems crazy. And yet, here we are: Libby and all the gear is packed neatly in the rucksack ready to go, I'm promising myself I'll only have one sausage at the Premier Inn breakfast I'm about to devour downstairs. EMOM Gig #3 is done and dusted.  Derby is a lovely place if you like being stuck in traffic. I last drove here two decades ago, and even then it was frustrating. The Romans had no such issues. Since establishing the garrison town of Derventio, it has enjoyed a long and storied history, and has some fine architecture to show for it. The cathedral, lit at night, is a magnificent testamen...