“All You Need Is Luck.”

[Would just like to point out The Beatles mis-quote is 100% intentional]

The Verve - Lucky Man

‘I think I’m having a mid-mid life crisis,’ is what I tell most friends and family now that I’ve graduated and, it seems, accepting adult life is all I have to look forward to. Yes, I’m aware that there is no such thing as a “mid-mid life crisis” but what else do you call it when a twenty-something year old is struggling to come to terms with life and finding a job which correlates with the reason you went to University in the first bloody place?

*… AND BREATHE*

My topic for discussion this week is Luck which Richard Ashcroft in The Vervediscusses so well in the above video. The lyrics are what inspired me for this piece:

But I’m a lucky man

With fire in my hands

It made me question a few things. For instance; who can honestly define themselves as lucky? I’ve never really considered myself to be a fortunate person, especially because I don’t know anyone who works in journalism, or even know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone… [see where I’m going with this?]

I applied to a BBC Radio 6 placement, poured my heart into an application I deemed worthy for the internship but alas, received a rejection email. My first big rejection email of this whole process and this wasn’t even for paid work. I took the news pretty well considering I didn’t really expect to be chosen but seeing the ‘NO’ in its computerised flesh via email, hit me pretty hard.

Deflated

At this current point in my life, I track parcels for a living, put aside £100 a week for a life in London, and pester music magazines and websites in the hope I get a chance to work for them. I’m often certain that this industry builds its workforce on who you know and those who’re in the right place at the right time…

Saying that… I didn’t find myself in the right place when I was given a chance. I was at work; on my lunch break, taking the plunge and emailing a local newspaper my blog along with my aspirations to become a journalist. After not hearing from anyone for more than a few weeks, I decided that instead of crumbling and accepting defeat, I should email them AGAIN and AGAIN until I did… And I can finally say…

IT WORKED.

Unfortunately this local paper’s budget doesn’t allow me to write for them with a freelance wage but the response was even better than I could’ve imagined:

The editor complimented my work = BONUS

She showed enthusiasm in me writing for them to expand my portfolio = WIN:WIN

They asked me to pitch some ideas for their ‘Lifestyle Section!’ 

So what did I pitch?

Music is what I want to write about, however, it’s important when trying to get a career in journalism to not overly specialise in one area straight away… So I chose fashion. Vintage Fashion specifically, and before I knew it I had arranged with the editor to write a piece on the vintage retailers in my local area, meet up with a photographer, so in the next few weeks it can become a feature.

 I will be in print again!

This is exactly the kind of opportunity I had been hoping for; yearning for; something to get my name further out there. I’m not saying that this one article is going to see my name in shining lights, but it’ll sure get itself in a frame at home and put me on a running, leaping start in the right direction, off of the crossroads and onto the career ladder. 

Who knows, this might mean I’m quite lucky after all…

Emily and the Woods

Emily and the Woods - It Was Right There

I love YouTube. Yes, it allows us to keep up to date with the latest internet sensation but what I love most is the sessions of aspiring, unsigned artists spilling out their musical desires to share their material with the world in the comfort of their own living room, a street, a park or woodland area. It’s sessions like these which have enabled me to discover a handful of my favourite singers/bands to date; The Villagers, Lucy Rose and Emily and the Woods, to name but a few.

I discovered ‘More Like Me’ last summer and it took me aback. It was the early hours and I was having one of my mad hunts for a track which gives you the same sensation of what I can only compare to a sugar rush; a dreamy haze of musical brilliance. Emily Wood may sing about heart break but she’ll be mending some with her candid chorus:

I wish I felt more, I wish I felt more like me.

Beautiful.

I stumbled across many of Emily Wood’s sessions, one in particular was ‘It Was Right There,’ where she sang by the River Thames, in her hometown for thewatchlistentell channel and the performance was almost angelic. (The video can be viewed above so you can see for yourself)

I can’t believe Emily and the Woods are still unsigned!   It astounds me; But with a few more tour dates to get excited about and the increase in ‘likes’ on their Facebook page, I can’t imagine it staying that way for too much longer. Supporting Ben Howard, Ed Sheeran and Lucy Rose in the past can only work in their favour too. If we look at the recent success of Lucy Rose with her debut album, I can only expect the same for Emily.

If only my current funds would allow for two gigs in one week… I’m already seeing Wolf Alice on the 22^nd of this month and just wish I could afford a trip to Brighton to see Emily and the Woods two days before in The Blind Tiger Club. I can’t stress enough how silly you would be to miss it! Yes, I know that makes me silly too (trust me; I’m beating myself up about it, not to mention my sorry state of a bank account) but if you can afford it, spend your pennies on something worthwhile.

My fingers are crossed for more tour dates this year and after their recent YouTube uploads of more mesmeric melodies such as ‘Lonely Handed’ and ‘Arrows’, I’m also hoping for another EP release…

Sometimes I struggle to understand with what reins the charts these days but artists like Emily and the Woods remind me originality does remain.

Watch. Listen And Tell everyone.

My musical prophecy of March 2013: WOLF ALICE

Forget about the Hounds of Love; it’s all about the Howls of Love as we welcome new North-London band Wolf Alice into our speakers and headphones.

I listened to the full 2mins and 58 seconds of ‘Fluffy’ and instantly needed more to fulfil the rapid growth of my Wolf Alice cravings. The four-piece prove that short bursts of guitar are not all they have to offer with ‘White Leather’ which lays out a stripped down 90’s grunge-esque melodic track alongside Ellie Roswell’s sultry vocals. In other words, its ace; Not what I expected to hear after ‘Fluffy,’ which shows the band are still at that early stage of experimenting, trying to figure out which musical route they want to go down. It shows their rawness and when you find a track in 2013 which sounds like it could’ve been from The Cure’s discography, you know you’ve hit the jackpot.

What I love even more about new and hidden bands are the prices; A ticket to see Wolf Alice at Camden’s KOKO this month just £5, but something makes me think I won’t be seeing them just the once.

If you haven’t already booked your tickets, I would now and fall in love with ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Leaving You’ as well as the previously mentioned tracks.

When an excitable buzz around follows a band and Radio 1 are finally waking up to their potential success this year, it is the prime time to see them,

Be that annoying person who says ‘Well I saw them first.’

You won’t be eating your words, I can assure you.