SO.......Me writing a blog.......out of my comfort zone or what.........we are almost a month into the Lockdown with what really feels like no end in sight. 

Its been a bit of a tragic year so far with the virus and other personal reasons, at the moment I feel like I can’t quite wait for it to be over. I hate to wish my life away, but I just want everything to be back to normal (define Normal?) for everyone. 

Away from all the personal things we deal with and just focusing on the band, it’s meant cancelling gigs that we were really looking forward to, our Album Launch has been moved to NOVEMBER, something we poured our heart & soul into and we can’t take it on the road, it is devastating and to top it all of it has meant we can’t be together to write new songs. 

Enough of the doom & Gloom.........one good thing to come from this year so far is that we released our debut album ‘Therapy’ which was had an amazing response and I can’t thank each and everyone of you who has bought it enough, it means the world to us. 

When we went in the studio to record ‘Therapy’, just about every song was different to how they are now, in fact ‘Self Destruct’ wasn’t even written. It was a crazy, stressful time as we were up against the clock, but the process really taught me so much and the whole album wouldn’t be what it is without our producer, Dave Boothroyd. He really helped expose every song for its strengths and weaknesses, his input has helped us develop massively as songwriters. I think this is something that every artist or band should allow to happen in the studio, you always think that your songs are the best they can be, because they are yours and you’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into writing them. But it really helps you and the songs to grow by letting another mind and opinion in. Too often I think that artists try to shut the producers out and just want them there to record, mix, master and dictate to. I think the role of the producer is so much more than this, and that they need to be part of the team to get the best out of a band and album. 

We went a little bit quiet at the back end of last year, had a break for Christmas and spent some time with family. We went through some really tough personal stuff that meant we had no choice but to take some time out, but behind all that, our Manager, Dave O’Hara, Chris Poland and the team at Eclipse Records were busting their balls to make sure the release wasn’t disrupted, they have done an amazing job at promoting this album and the singles. The response has been so much more than we ever expected, with absolutely class reviews and I just want to thank everyone who has took the time to review it and to everyone who has taken the time to listen. It feels amazing knowing that people are enjoying it. 

Being in the house during in this lockdown, it’s just Cass and I so it has its pros and cons…but apart from nearly killing each other on a daily basis and arguing about absolutely nothing, it’s meant that we have had time to really get back into writing and playing again. Being totally honest I hit a bit of a brick wall towards the back end of last year trying to balance work, guitar, college, and the band at the same time, it’s really hard to do, and as the band becomes a bigger part of our lives, it gets harder to make room for everything else. 

Since I’ve been stuck in, it has allowed me to get back into playing guitar properly again. I’ve been learning the whole of ‘Diary Of A Madman’ by Ozzy Osbourne and have a new found love for Randy Rhoads. I still love Dave Murray but he’s had to make room for Randy now, I could write pages and pages on them both but I know that no one else cares ☹ Once I get obsessed with something that’s it, there’s no going back. So it’s been great to start enjoying and wanting to play guitar again because it was beginning to feel like a real chore before the lockdown, and the pressures were really starting to take a toll.   

Thanks for reading through, I’d love to know your thoughts and opinions on the album and if you want to talk about Dave Murray and Randy Rhoads leave a comment below or start a thread on our fan page. 

Please, all of you take care, stay safe and thank you for your ongoing support of our band. 

Cheers 

Joe 😉