Posted on by Craig Faulkner
It's easy to remember things differently when you look back on them. It's easy to romanticise something, or to apply a negative emotion to it when hindsight or regret has its way. Bad things can be overlooked in favour of some fleeting happy memory. Wonderful things can be turned sour, despite meaning the wor… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
I was late to the world of David Bowie. I was born at a time where most of what were, arguably, his best eras had already happened. By the time I was old enough to appreciate music in my own right, in the early- to mid-nineties, Bowie wasn't an active presence making waves in the industry as he once was. Whil… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
Almost fifteen years ago to the day I was preparing to sit down for the first of my GCSE exams. I managed to get ten GCSEs in all. The two I scored highest in were English Literature, which came as a surprise to me at the time but makes a lot of sense now, and Music. I loved music back then, as I do now. I'd… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
Some months ago, a colleague of mine set me a challenge. He asked me to name fifteen good bands from the 1980s. Now, anybody who was born prior to 1980, and perhaps later, would probably have no difficulty naming fifteen bands, so there was a caveat. They had to be good bands. And by that, he meant that they… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
As I write this, I'm sitting here waiting for someone to answer my call so that I can order tickets to an event later in the year. When I first dialled in, I was twenty-seventh in the queue. That was fifty minutes ago and I've been number sixteen for the last ten. There's something decidedly British about que… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
I seem to spend a significant proportion of my waking life sitting in front of a computer. Five days a week I'll spend a little over seven hours in front of the computer I use at work—a machine I've come to call Deep Thought, after the computer in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, because it takes so long… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
It had been ten years since I'd been on stage. I'd done a couple of smaller things in that time where I hadn't been the centre of attention, but this was different. I was an adult this time. The audience wasn't just a bunch of school friends (well… most of it wasn't!). I had friends from work there. I had fam… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
For the last decade, I haven't had one. I've been content to tune guitars by ear. For those uninitiated to the instrument, or to music in general, this basically means that I listen for a note that I want to tune my guitar into, then pluck the string and either tighten or loosen it until I get the same one. I… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
Time, it seems, can work both for and against us. Six months ago, free time was something I had in abundance. Now I can scarcely find it for looking. This week, for example, I have plans every single day. In fact, the only 'free time' I have worthy of note will be a handful of hours at the weekend. And even t… Read more »
Posted on by Craig Faulkner
As the singer in an enthusiastic new rock band, I've been putting my voice through its paces lately and have the sore throat to prove it. The band formed in November and prior to that I hadn't sung properly for a few years. I know I can sing, because I used to do so regularly, but getting back into form has b… Read more »