The New Year list

Happy New Year, everyone!

I didn’t want to come out and do a ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ post, although that’s pretty much what the rest of this going to be, as I think you can be resolved to change at any time of the year. All you really need to ‘make a change’ (and no, I’m not deliberately quoting Michael Jackson there, although I’m aware that I have now) is a catalyst that spurs you into action.

For example, when I was 18 and in my first year at uni, a bit of heartbreak (and the sudden – thankfully temporary – withdrawal of the student radio station Burnfm.com spurred me onto go beyond Selly Oak and Edgebaston and get involved in the local music and creative communities, gaining a career in the process.

However, it doesn’t always have to be such a massive change – and this refers to both your motivation or your resolution. My move from Shoreditch to Willesden Green (a result of a job change from Channel 4 to BSkyB) meant that I spent more time inside so I used this as a source of self-encouragement to start exercising, which I’ve done fairly regularly for the past year with the help of Davina McCall’s excellent workout DVDs (I have the Superbody, Target and Intense videos – no gyms for me) and the intense street dancing undertaken whilst rehearsing for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony. I’m not super-skinny, but I feel better (and even slightly proud) for it.

So without further ado, here’s what I’d like to attempt to achieve in 2013…

Keep exercising
Record some music, play gigs and be a more accomplished musician
Independently produce a radio comedy or podcast
Take more photos
Get some artwork, photos (all framed) onto the walls of the ‘Get Flat’
Create my own variations of cupcake recipes
Keep my job (the perils of a fixed-term contract!)
See friends more

So what about you – what’s inspired you to do a ‘Man in the Mirror’ and start something afresh? Have you got a 2013 to-do list?

Nick Helm’s Christmas Spectacular

Here’s the first of a festival handful of videos I’ve produced to accompany the Radio 1’s Christmas Comedy specials broadcasting on the 26th, 27th December and 2nd, 3rd January.

Obviously, as someone who’s most memorable moments for listening to Radio pretty much all come from listening to Radio 1 in my bedroom, taping the songs I wanted from the Official Chart Show, this is quite a big moment for me – despite being insignificant to the rest of the world. And anyone who has followed my blog or been friends with me for a while, will probably understand this even more!

As well as this video, they’ll be another of Nick Helm performing a song about Boxing Day, plus videos from Dong Comedy, featuring the-scary-one-that-didn’t-die-in-Hunted, Doc Brown (aka the ridiculously multi-talented musician, actor and comedian Ben Smith) and Roisin Conaty: What If?, also featuring Lloyd Langford, Sara Pascoe and James Acaster. I’ll be tweeting when this content is live, so follow me for updates if you’re not already doing so (thanks)!

Find out more about the shows on the Radio 1 website.

GCHQ – Apprenticeships in British Intelligence

I did a careers talk at work the other day for a group of sixth formers about how I got started in my career and what my job actually entails.

I probably got a tad too carried away with the self-depreciation (at one point joking about how I ‘looked 40’, despite leaving sixth form less than six years ago.

As part of the chat, one thing I was really keen to discuss was the topic of going to university: is getting into debt worth it? Will you actually gain anything from your study? Could you gain experience elsewhere?

It appears quite timely to me – given my recent experience, the timing of a new James Bond film and the end of my guilty pleasure, the BBC spy series Hunted – that I’ve been just approached with news of an Apprenticeships scheme with British Intelligence.

(I now realise I could have said ‘I’ve been approached by MI5’, but let’s not get too carried away here, I regularly get confused by our office printers so it’s a role that is perhaps not best suited to me.)

Essentially this is a chance for tech-savvy teens and mathematically-minded young people to help MI5 and MI6 keep Britain safe, whilst gaining a Two year Technical programme in IT, Software, Internet, Telecoms and earning £17,000 to do it. The first year is based in GCHQ
(that’s Cheltenham and Gloucester to you and me) and the second will feature placements that may find apprentices working in London.
As with any course or job, there are a few application requirements:

“You will have, or be expected to gain by September 2013, three A-Levels (or equivalent qualifications), two of which must be at Grade C or above in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) related subject.”

You have to be British, but they’re looking for applicants from all backgrounds.

To find out more you can register for their open days in Manchester, London or Cheltenham by heading to their website: www.careersinbritishintelligence.co.uk, but be quick – applications close on November 30.

If I was considering my options, and I happened to be more scientifically minded, this would be it for me – £17,000 is more than my salary for my first job outside of Uni for a start! Plus, after two years you can use your skills elsewhere or even save that salary up for taking another course.

(I’m a bit jealous now!)

Would you consider giving it a go?

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Fundraiser for Jodi’s Brain

If I lived in Birmingham, on November 14 I’d be down the Hare and Hounds for this.

It’s a fundraiser for the poet Jodi Ann Bickley. I’ve been cheeky and decided to copy and paste from the event to explain what it’s all about…

Hey.

So! Like, I’m not the sort of person who asks for help. Ever, Like even if I used to have to borrow bus fare it would proper piss me off, saying that I still owe Kim Trusty at least a tenner in bus fare from June/July. Just saying. Anyway.

This is me asking for help. Basically I don’t have the money to go to a head neuro and although I have the most wicked family – we aren’t rolling in dollar. The blood tests I need to get are extremely difficult to get on the NHS due to technicalitys with the test

– a negative result can be a positive and therefore whats going on with my brain is pretty hard to diagnose. (P.s I know I’m spelling a lot of stuff wrong, I’m trying to touch type because the computer screen is making me want to be a little sick on my lap). This all started
with a tic bite back in last September, before then I had two jobs – performed a lot and just y’know did stuff. Because that’s what you can do when you aren’t ill. I can no longer work, otherwise I would man and I really wouldn’t be asking any of you to dive into your pockets but like – I seizure and fit and pass out a shit load these days. I’m getting an EEG and having a scan of my neck, head and spine to see if anything nasty is hiding. Currently I can’t sleep alone, leave the house alone, go down stairs alone – My fits are often
violent which is mad because I’ve never been in a fight but apparently I’m like the hulk when I’m fitting. I dunno, okay. Yada, yada..I’m going on basically.

On November 14th at The Hare and Hounds. We’re having a fundraiser to try and raise some money to get my brain fixed good and proper. My pals are coming up and performing for nothing and we’re gunna put on a big party and hopefully you will come because, I’m not a horrible girl and bad brains are shit. It’s on a Wednesday too so it’s not like you can even be like – I CAN’T GO I WANNA GO AND HANG OUT WITH BABES IN TOWN. All the babes are my friends and I can assure you many of them will be there. As well as cake.

Polarbear and John Berkavitch are hosting.

Rachel Rose Reid. – the best storyteller in the world.
Tom Peel – the best one man band in the world.
Dub Mafias Eva & Matt w/ Mr Woodnote – between them they have more talents than most people in the whole world.
Bridget Minamore – she is the tiniest most lovely in the world.
Musa Okwonga – loveliest, most wonderful in the world.

– I am honestly not sure what else is happening.

But I’ve got the best selection of 90s R&B in Tyseley.

It would be wicked if you could come man.

Thankyou.

Jodi.

Jodi’s poetry is the stuff that can make you double over with laughter or make you need to dab your eyes with a hanky. She was performing and festivals and being featured in magazines before she fell ill. She was cultivating a cultural community in Birmingham for fellow spoken-words enthusiasts and doing a bloody good job of it. When someone says ‘life is unfair’, I usually scoff in their faces and tell them not to make an excuse – if you have that tolerant attitude, nothing will change for the better. However, in Jodi’s case (and this goes for anyone suffering from poor health), it’s true; life has been ridiculously unfair. Typically, Jodi’s going to fight for change and you can help her, by popping along to the Hare and Hounds on Wednesday 14 November to show support and be entertained all at the same time.

Find out more here.

Returning to YouTube

I learnt to play guitar and ukulele in front of a YouTube audience, with mixed results to say the least!

From guitar-strap fetishists to German Razorlight fans, I used to demo fragments of new songs for these people, and bash out the occasional catastrophic cover.

Doing covers helped me learn chords and generate ideas for songs of my own. Now I live on my own I can be a bit more spontaneous with playing and practicing. I still get nervous when I’m recording though – if I near the end of a song without a terrible, obvious mistake my pulse quickens; will I make it? Nine times out of ten it’s a no…

But here you go. My return to YouTube. I find it really hard to look at the camera and sing this one, particularly as my face screws up horrendously when I’m performing it.

Kal Lavelle: Gypsy Blood

I’ve been a big fan of Kal Lavelle since meeting her in 2008 so it’s lovely to see (and hear) her doing fantastically well.

Last time I spoke of her on this blog, it was to bring you her beautiful video for slow number Downstairs, and this time it’s to post another track from her Shivers EP, Gypsy Blood.

The video evokes memories of being a heartbroken ‘young adult’, combined with the fury that the agony is all your own. Maybe it’s a sign of getting older (I said to my friend that I was turning ’24 in six months’ before she said ‘But isn’t your birthday in December’? and I cuttingly realised that it’s actually 3 months before I am no longer a ‘mid-early-twenties’ person), but I now have the perspective of both sides of the couple in this video; the nonchalant, none-the-wiser man and the blabbing wreck of a woman self-destructing in her bedroom.

Oh, and the song’s brilliant too! This part of the world has a knack for turning out brilliant songwriters and performers (I’m omitting the customary female tag, because actually it’d probably be more unusual for me to be writing about a male solo performer these days and I hate seeing ‘female duo’ in Time Out magazine, whereas all-male groups are simply referred to as a ‘duo’ or ‘trio’ etc…).

Kal Lavelle’s Shivers EP is available on iTunes now.

From one farm to another

Earlier this month I headed over to a field in Bromley to have a short ‘relaxing’ mini break…

… well, not so much relaxing, but certainly a holiday of the festival variety!

It was on this holiday (otherwise known as Leefest 2012), that I met the lovely lads of Devon’s Farmfest:

On the last night of Leefest, we somehow ended up meeting the guys from Farmfest and managed to blag a lift in their van. At just £40 for the weekend ticket (for the festival, not the ride!) it’s quite the bargain – and it’s also the over the opening weekend of the Olympics so it’ll get you out of the capital if you’re a Londoner like me!

Johnny Langer of Man Like Me hangs from the Leefest stage

The guys have gone for a line-up packed with brilliant live acts. You won’t get Rihanna – but if that’s what you’re after you probably went to Wireless festival. Particularly noteworthy on this roster of artists are Tall Ships and Man Like Me – the latter were a definite highlight at Leefest in both 2011 and 2012.

Unfortunately I can’t go to the festival because I’ll be in the Opening Ceremony (yes, the blasted Olympics again!), but I will be heading to the Farmfest 2012 Launch Party this Wednesday (18th July) at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. It’s going to be wicked, not just because I’ll get to at least experience a slice of the Farmfest action, but also because it’s one of the three dates being played by The Boy Least Likely To as they dip their toes back into the music scene post-extended break. They’ll be supported by Dan Leno and My Tiger My Timing, who I was a big fan of when I worked at Amazing Radio.

In other words, I’ll be there.

Also, how cool are these T-shirts?

Leefest… FTFW!

This year’s Leefest lineup is looking INSANE!

Bromley’s finest non-profit festival is shaping up to be the best yet, with a number of immense acts set to grace its South London field on June 29 and 30. To celebrate the lineup, which includes indie heavy hitters Slow Club and Mystery Jets and two of my favourite acts Tom Williams & the Boat and Let’s Buy Happiness, I’ve compiled a ten track playlist featuring artists you shouldn’t miss at the event.

As always, profits from the weekend will go to Kids Company, an acclaimed charity local to London that helps vulnerable young people back on their feet so that they can thrive in their community.

leefest — The Leefest lineup (and there’s still more to come!)

Aside from the two stages they’ll be a dance tent to keep you going ’til the small hours, extra activities and (I imagine) the usual campsite bonfire so you can jam and mingle with the other festival goers as you please. The tent-based cinema, provided by Screen Social, will also make a welcome return for those reluctant to hit their tents to catch some zzzzz’s and most excitingly of all, BBC Kent’s Jacob will be turning up with some of his favourite BBC Introducing acts in tow…

All this, plus camping and transport from Bromley South chucked in for free? I’ve got my ticket ready to go!

Oh, and if you were wondering what ‘FTFW’ means, it roughly translates as ‘FOR THE FLIPPIN’ WIN!!!’

A Lot Can Happen in a Year

On April 30th 2011 I left Newcastle and moved back in with my mum in Maidstone for a week.

It had been an intense couple of weeks. Having been placed on the doorstep of Amazing Radio like Fred in the opening credits of the Flintstones, I had been forced to leave everything I’d spent the past nine months establishing. There were certain people, however, who were quite happy to welcome me back to the South.

With their support, and the help from new friends and colleagues, I regained some confidence. I followed a six month stint at Channel 4 with a similar length of time at Sky (gotta love a fixed-term contract!), tried solo podcasting and tried to work out the capital’s music scene – something I can’t honestly say I’m on top of, (mostly due to a laziness since moving to North West London).

In two weeks time I’ll be leaving Sky and heading back into radio again, combining my love for the classic broadcasting medium with my experience in online by becoming BBC Radio’s Interactive Producer for their comedy output. I can’t wait. I’ve loved the online roles I’ve been performing over the last year, but I think this one is going to be the most exciting yet.

Being made redundant is tough. Even if you’re told it’s ‘not your fault’ and you’re given a glowing reference, it’s hard to switch your initial dismay into a positive outlook. There will be times when you’ll look back and wonder if you could have done something differently. It doesn’t matter if you have a new job, home, partner or entirely different life. Something drastic happened and even the greatest of efforts isn’t going to make it all disappear, but like attempting to get over the breakdown relationship, time and proactivity will always help. I’m just lucky that I didn’t just have to rely on time alone; I had previous colleagues who were happy to help me get back on my feet, and friends to get me on the right track. I guess that’s another lesson; never burn a bridge that doesn’t need burning! So thank you ‘Bridges’. Words can’t quite describe how you helped me.

But now there’s a new cause that needs help. In the past week Amazing Radio has lost its DAB licence over a dispute in terms for the Digital 1 licence required to keep its slot on the airwaves. No matter how we parted ways, that station gave a space for me to play the music I love by the bands I adore and discover more besides. I may no longer be associated with it, but I’d hate to deny anyone the same opportunity. Its got some dedicated listeners, and a steadily growing population of new fans who shouldn’t have to bear the disappointment of losing a station that’s yet to reach its full potential. If you feel the same, one of these dedicated listeners has set up a petition. I don’t know how it will impact on Digital 1’s terms (or even what they are) but at least we tried.

Sign the petition here.

Home Sweet Home?

Things are going up a notch in my search for a flat.

I’ve sold my shares to help with the deposit, saved as much as possible for the past year and I’ve even started a new Pinterest gallery with all the things I’d love to fill it with. Occasionally I’ll pay a visit to Ikea, Homesense or second hand charity shops to try and inspire myself to keep saving and get some ideas of what I’m working towards.

To be eligible for Shared Ownership properties you first need to register with First Steps. Then, provided you fit the criteria (savings, earning less than £60,000 pa etc), you can start hunting!

I’m absolutely, utterly addicted to hunting for places now. The only problem is, it can get a bit depressing! I work in Brentford (Zone 4 West, rubbish transport links) and currently live in Brent. A lot of properties have a criteria where you have to already live or work in the region. With the exception of Wembley, I can’t afford North West London (Kilburn etc), but can’t go further North because of the tricky commute to work. I also don’t want to live near Hounslow because it would kill my social life – getting to central to see friends, gigs etc would be very difficult.

As long as I can get to the district line or an overground line that goes to Gunnersbury, I’ll be happy. There are some fabulous, affordable places in Bow (and perfect for getting to the forthcoming Olympic Opening Ceremonies rehearsals). I definitely can’t afford Hackney or Stoke Newington – and if I could I’d be buying outright! Hopefully my new link to the area will help – and I did use to call Shoreditch home…