Well I've never attempted one of these written blogs before. My previous offerings have been in video format. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So my videos, at 30 frames per second, must be worth 30,000 words every second. I am quite concerned about the length of this blog if I wish to live up to the worthiness of my tour videos.
Anyway, I decided to take a picture of my room in London and describe what is going on. And it will give you a little insight to some of the cogs driving Unkle Bob in the background that most people don't see. Here is my room on Warwick Road:
Sunflower seeds
Kindly left by my friend Owain from the great band Spokes. He usually sits eating them and leaving the shells all over the floor like a squirrel but he was good this last time. However, he shared a bed with me and kept me awake all night snoring like…
Homer
My advent calendar sent to me by my mother. She lives at Hill Top Cottage where we have often stayed over while touring the UK. On one occasion staying there, in the middle of the night, the house set on…
Fire
I have a fireplace that doesn't work so it is filled with musical instruments from all over the world that sound really crap but they are thoughtful gifts. However it's much more beneficial to use my…
Practice Pad
For practicing the drums at night when the neighbours are home. I don't do enough. And in the day when the neighbours are out, I practice on my…
Drums
Also for practicing at night when the neighbours are home ;) Rick actually got this drum kit 15 years ago and we're still using it now! But it does the job so I'm not rushing to spend thousands on a brand new shiny kit. We've had it since we first introduced the drum kit to the band when we all lived in…
Glasgow
A wee reminder of our birth town, a towel with the Art of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Mackintosh is what us English people call a raincoat. It can also be shortened to…
Mac
Lifeline to the internet. Many hours are spent adding our myspace friend requests. We send a personal message to every new friend who joins us so it takes a bit of time. We also message as many fans from the towns we are going to play in too. And when we're there, we sometimes interview them with my…
Camera
My essential bit of equipment. It's just a digital still camera but we've made our most successful music videos on it including "Put a Record On" with the puppets, "Swans – from Warwick Road" where Rick is sitting crossed legged and our lastest offering "Bad Dream" which you will be able to see very soon. I use it for all our tour diaries too. Once we have all the footage, I'll edit it on my…
Laptop
This is used for video editing. Many hours, days, weeks and months are spent trying to match live footage of mouths, plectrums and drum sticks to the live audio recording. And erasing a lot of poor footage…or footage that is not fit for public consumption. I also have music software installed for recording. The laptop is also used for triggering the original live recordings of the string quartet on "Swans" when we play live. I play these on stage using my….
Keyboard
Which sits next to my drum kit and literally encloses me in an inescapable corner at the back of the stage. Why can't I be at the front of the stage and all the others can sit down in my little corner at the back? I finally get released at the end of the show when we take it in turns going into the crowd with the….
Mailing lists
More hours are spent typing up the names we have collected at gigs all over the world. The task becomes very difficult when you consider that the names are collected in dark venues, written by people who have often had one too many. Most of the time is spent putting the list as close to my face as possible and thinking, "What on earth does that say?" So I'll just have another drink of…
Bitter
I am from North England and bitter is what we drink up there. I'll drink a few and then go to…
Bed
Where all the magic happens.