Hot few days

 Managed to calm Pat's panic and desire to hoard water, at least I hope so. Can only imagine it comes from the Daily Mail Online and I can't help remembering the start of Covid when I was in Scotland and she didn't have my chilled influence. Meant to be hot again tomorrow - dogs don't understand but otherwise we get through. Today I did some painting, a tiny bit of novel and completed Billy Summers - a Stephen King that flowed beautifully. Even had a good ending, although I guessed it as he maybe gave one hint too many.  Prepared two more large canvasses, one black which I'll grid up, the idea being that stuff emerges from the darkness in that one. Painting small is not my forte though, mostly because I've no feeling for precision. The big pale one is for some splashing around and trying out my new wax crayons. 

Studio wasn't actually too hot to work in but didn't consider it. Should crack on with novel now I've got it all set in my mind but I delay in case better ideas come or just because  I'm lazy. 

Gotta do the patio, rats seem to have found it their new home and decking is such a pain to get under. The collapsing drains need doing but Tim has said he's done his and will help. Tony also said he'd offer his practical skills so I guess we're gonna look at that in the next few weeks/months. Some guy came around and offered to replace our decking with some other kind, for over £8k. I want to strip it all down to ground level instead, get some nice sitting out furniture and maybe one of those sail things over the top for when it rains or is too sunny. A plan eh?

The Audio interview is coming in a few days and I just read through the questions and wrote my alternate versions. Dunno if I'll answer them though. 

The questions I might have asked
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20 QUESTIONS WITH PAUL NAGLE


1. You've been doing this from the first days of cassette distribution, before the term Berlin School was even coined and you still haven't stopped. Why on Earth not? In all that time, have you learned anything at all and, if so, what?

2. You don't appear able to settle on a style to make it easy to recognise your stuff. Have you ever heard of the phrase jack of all trades, master of none? Do you think this vagueness helps or hinders your plans for world domination?

3. You used to do normal things like tunes and chord progressions and had at least a rudimentary go at arranging your work. Now it's just a kind of weird soup in which pretty much anything can float to the surface. What happened?

4. You have produced an awful lot of solo work (and I do mean awful), but also a massive amount of collaborative work. Couldn't you find another hobby?

5. Gear – it has all the answers, right? I mean, you check what gear your heroes use, get the same, happiness and adulation follows, if I understand the process correctly? Tell all!

6. Anyway, gear. What's your favourite and why? You have to know as you used to review it, correct?

7. You've often blown hot and cold in a live situation – sometimes not too bad but on other occasions you've totally sucked. What's the story?

8. It's important to record and release everything, correct? Every random thought, gig, sketch and journeys down blind alleys. I mean, everyone else does so that's the way. Do you have any concept of quality control? How come you sometimes release something on a Friday afternoon and kill it on Saturday morning?

9. Do you make life deliberately difficult (i) for yourself (ii) for everyone else? And don't give me that 'artist is meant to suffer' shite; why can't you just do neat, nicely organised things where we can hear the first minute and predict the next five (or twenty)?

10. Most believe you peaked in the 1980s, so why don't you restore all the old tapes and remind us how truly awesome you were back when you had a couple of synths and a tape machine? You did tunes and even played in major keys, just to unsettle people. Now it's bloody drones and misery or pounding techno or fecking pop songs, you bastard. I want my Duncton Wood and I want it now!

11. You've often teamed up with more talented, gifted, hard-working musicians who have something to say and the ability to say it. I feel I should ask a question but I'm starting to feel like a BBC interviewer talking to Jeremy Corbyn. Deny it, you scum!

12. Yeah but, seriously, how come your collaborations are soooo much better than you by yourself?

13. Do you do anything else except music?

14. How are you so prolific? And more importantly, why? When will you stop?

15. You did a recent CD on Groove, which was a surprise. Tell us how you made it and, more importantly, what gear it used. Go on.

16. What's the deal with all your online personas? Or is it personae? Who are you, really? How old are you, why aren't you taking more care of your garden and drinking real ale all day?

17. Tell us some profound shit about art, I dare you. Or life, I really don't care.

18. Remote collaborations – do they work? Are they the future? Is everything a compromise? Are we all doomed?

19. Have you got any plans? At all? Any remaining ambitions? Anything you'd like to get better at?

20. Could you please recommend some music that would make our dull lives fleetingly better? Is anything you've been involved in worth hearing? Go on, it's the last question and it's not like this is going to waste paper!


No walkies this week  - Tony working on van as he's heading off tomorrow. Studio beckons.

Oh yeah, I played with that AI thing but haven't got anything like as good results as Tim.
Used one of Tony's photos for an album cover then snotted the album when I sobered up. Yay!