We Are The In Crowd…day 2!

Feb 10, 2014Feb 13, 20141 Comment

Photo: WATIC Day 2, Pizza Party!!!

To put it lightly today was a rush. After waking up early to make sure I am on time for my driving lesson (much better, haha!), my mental health mentor appointment and finally getting back to have some lunch before heading into Camden.

I hate to say that tiredness got the best of me as well of the drain of my mentoring session, I wasn’t the easiest person to travel with and I hate that I might have put a downer on Ali’s good mood. I decided to try and snap out of it, after all how many times would I get to eat with We Are The In Crowd! So while wondering around Camden I started to get excited and counting down the hours despite how damn cold it was in line.

The first to hug Tay Jardine!!!

We paid more than most for the opportunity to meet and have pizza with the band but it was SO worth it! As with yesterday they were all lovely and being able to have a conversation with people who inspire a lot of my music and just talk to them. They were all really sick still and spoke very openly about the tour, promising to give it their all and bloody hell they did.

I got kicked in the head 3 times (crowd surfers) but got to be on the barrier for every second and loved every minute. The pictures are a joint effort from Ali and I (taking pictures on the barrier was very difficult) and I hope they express just how active the gig was. Although We Are The In Crowd have cancelled the rest of the tour ,the dedication they show means this decision wont have been taken likely.

Even though I’m back and exhausted this wont be a night I’ll forget easily and I’m inspired to carry on with the guys, write songs and hopefully tour myself.

Photo: Yeahhhhhh!!!

My Pass for the night!

We Are The In Crowd Day 1!

Feb 9, 2014Feb 13, 2014Leave a comment

Tay enjoying the set

After a somewhat horrendous afternoon in town I met Ali at the bus stop and we went to queue up for We Are The In Crowd! I’ve been really looking forward to today because our local record store does acoustic in stores where for a small price you get to watch and then meet them. The cost of this ticket was only £11! So we decided to go and queue about 45 minutes before only to stand in the cold and say it would be another had hour…after doors didn’t open for 15 minutes past what they should.

The venue had been moved and there were a few grumbles because it was moved due to ‘high demand’. We went from a cosy intimate gig to a club called McCluskys (not my first choice of place to be in). As the crowd came in we realised that it wasn’t a huge demand but we were still near the front.

As I expected they were ace, they even admitted they had been practising in the bathroom before performing to us and I think they had fun despite being pretty ill. They seemed annoyed that they’d been moved venue and told to only play 3 songs (they played 4 though luckily).

Seeing them today has just got me even more excited for tomorrow! I’ve got a signed ticket, a new tour T-Shirt and I’m pretty damn happy. It’s off to KoKo in Camden tomorrow then Tuesday it’s Taylor Swift at the 02 (I know interesting choices!).

It’s days like today that remind me why I’m a musician

Feb 8, 2014Leave a comment

I spent today curled up in the Kingston recording studio listening and watching as the boys did their thing. Today wasn’t a gig day, we didn’t get to play to a screaming crowd but it sure as hell put a smile on my face. After years of trying I’m finally bonded with people who want this to work as much as I do. I’ve had a few ups and downs when words like ‘tour’ were mentioned. It’s not because I don’t want to, it’s because I want it to work so badly and I was terrified of getting my heart broken again.

We’ve only been a full band since December and we’re gigging, writing, recording, sorting out a tour and we get a good response. It’s all going so fast and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t freaked out but it’ll be worth it. The boys have been at the studio now for at least 10 hours recording Rhys’ drum parts over and over but no ones in a bad mood, no one is too tired or too pissed off. It’s that kind of energy that makes all the difference, I’ve never experienced that before. Sure, we all have our own ups and downs but we try and deal with them together. The bottom line is I already love them all and I don’t know what I’ll do over the summer if I don’t see them. I really think we’re on to something pretty special…watch this space.

Let’s go on holiday!

Feb 7, 2014Feb 8, 2014Leave a comment

Since I was sixteen I’ve wanted to go on my own holiday. There have been various plans mentioned some with girl friends, one lads holiday that never happened and I’ve bugged Ali about going abroad for a year or two now. Either way as you can guess none of these have happened so far…until today. As I mentioned on Tuesday I met up with my friend Sonia, on our way to drinks we were stopped by a sign about summer holidays in the window, something we’re both interested in. She asked if I’d maybe want to go on holiday with ehr later in the year and not much more was said.

Today however something made me just want to do it. Ali’s not that bothered about going away for a chilled out holiday (he’s much more a city breaks or historical place kinda guy), so he encouraged me to text Sonia and start making some plans. My Mum also said might as well go for it. As of now we don’t know when or where we’re going, there are talks of Amsterdam as well as a cheeky girls holiday in the summer, who knows? Either way it looks like I’m going on holiday!!

Strike, Strike, Strike!!!

Feb 6, 2014Leave a comment

It doesn’t matter where you live the majority of people have seen the pictures of the chaos caused by the tube strikes in the last two days, something which I thought wouldn’t be that much of a pain for me. I was definitely wrong, as well as affecting a concert I’ll be taking my sister too next week it has also meant that a few lectures and seminars were cancelled this week. As I empathise with the thousands of commuters and want to shake Boris Johnson for saying the promises he made do not count because they were made ‘before the iPhone’ I realised that I was about to be hit once again by strike action too.

As I mentioned back in December Kingston is not opposed to striking, I received another email saying more of my classes would be cancelled and that we would catch up in the next lecture. I wouldn’t mind this as much but seeing as I’m still expected to do a pile of work tomorrow on a topic we haven’t been taught about. It’s safe to say I’m not best pleased. I don’t feel that I know enough about either strike to have a strong opinion but as a ‘customer’ of both services I do feel a little hacked off. In relation to the tube strikes I understand job losses are an awful thing and 900 people will struggle to find employment but I’m not personally a fan of strikes, that’s just my personal opinion. As for the lecturers strikes I don’t get angry about missing class, it’s when I’m stopped from entering a building that I get irritated.

So there are my thoughts for the day, tomorrow see’s me making dinner for Ali…fire department are on standby.

“When I look at…

Feb 5, 2014Feb 8, 2014Leave a comment

“When I look at my room, I see a girl who loves books.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

I’ve just started Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book seemed to also sum me up pretty well.

A lack of sleep and some serious reflection

Feb 4, 2014Leave a comment

It always gets to this point at night where I start trying to wind down, telling myself I should go to sleep or I’ll feel tired in the morning. Although my eyelids are fighting to close and my head is starting to ache I know that I won’t. Today has been a better day than I anticipated full of kind words, friends and a few surprises that I didn’t think would happen. I’m having such a good time at university at the moment I feel good about myself and my life, I come to these moments where I reflect on it and I feel pretty damn proud of myself.

I’m not the kind of person who loves themselves and thinks they’re the next best thing, actually ask a lot of my friends and they’ll tell you what they tell me, that I need to love myself more. Ali once said to me that I needed to love myself more, how could I expect him to be in love with me when I didn’t love myself? I’ve always known that I’m my own worst enemy, my harshest critic. There is no pressure from family, Ali, my friends it’s all from me and me alone. So when I decided to apply for the KUTalent awards I was really putting myself in for it, I felt awful self nominating. Honestly I didn’t feel good enough to apply but after talking to some staff at the uni I thought I might as well have a go. The result was a reference from my tutor to the board that almost made me cry. I won’t tell the world every detail but for someone I admire as an academic to think so highly of me gave me such a confidence boost. It made me feel like I could actually give something to the university.

I also ended up into venturing into look for flats, the outcome wasn’t fantastic but I know what I’m looking for now and Ali and I are quite excited. It’s new, its scary and it’s a bit grown up. The day continued with speaking to a few friends, Joe, Sonia, Amy and ended up with a drink or two with Sonia at the Students Union. The great thing about Son? Although she is definitely Marmite she doesn’t judge and is truthful as well as honest. I’ve also managed to bag my sister and I tickets to see Taylor Swift and The Vamps on Tuesday!! Totally worth it to hear her voice so happy at the end of the phone!

Let’s hope the good mood stays and the sleep eventually comes…

That thing called relaxing

Feb 3, 2014Feb 8, 2014Leave a comment

So yesterday I mentioned how I don’t relax and want to just curl up with a good book and do nothing. You’ll all be pleased to know that this evening I have done just that. This post is going to be short while I get back to reading Martin Sixsmith’s ‘Philomena’. I know tonight wont end up in an early night and today was definitely far from relaxing (actually it was pretty damn stressful) but right now I’m going to wind down with a good book and just forget about everyone and everything. Night guys!

The stresses of being a productive person

Feb 2, 2014Leave a comment

Sometimes I really wish I was a lazy person. I wish I was someone who could have spend all day cured up watching films and generally not caring about the thing I had to do today but no, that’s not me. I got up earlier than I need to went food shopping, done my reading, made lunch, phoned people, read some more, finished an assignment. The truth is I don’t really relax I keep going and going, my mind has to be active or I get bored and frustrated.

The majority of this is just what I’m like when I get stressed r have a lot to do, another part is my anxiety. I make myself carry on no matter how tired I am or if I’ve eaten. As you can guess it doesn’t do me any good and sometimes Ali or my Mum intervenes and makes me take a nap or listen to some music or read a book simply because I enjoy it. I want to be able to calm myself the hell down! It might be something I can work on this week, trying to relax. I don’t mean that I don’t have things to do but in the evenings I might just try and curl up with a good book, something I started yesterday. Other than buzzing around all day there’s nothing really to report, life’s the same as it was yesterday. I’m looking forward to a new week after the last one, stress doesn’t even cover it!