And today's piece of utterly stupid distraction? Well, that would have to be The Bible according to cheese.

Favourite little band at the moment? Tigermoth. Get over to the site and check out the latest demos, great stuff.

Back in London after a hectic few days. First up, Snow Patrol in Norwich: great gig, great night, appalling train service. The poor commuters on the line from Liverpool Street just looked resigned to their fate: as if an hours delay was a sad but normal occurrence. After the sheer luxury of the Virgin train to Birmingham, the rolling stock was a shambles, falling to pieces and looked exactly like the trains I caught to university in the 80's. The DJ set was a noble struggle which bore rich fruit: a tough hall to get going, but once they were up- no stopping 'em. The Kid Symphony tune in particular, sounded amazing over a big system. Jim Benner (Xfm co-promotions honcho) and myself made the fatal error of trying to prop up the hotel bar at 2am...The journey back the next day wasn't pretty. And we were delayed by another hour. Again. Gah.
Weekend? Well it ended up being a busy Saturday and a wildly loose Sunday. Met Lorraine and her son William for a pizza in the Lanes, then Louise and her daughter Lauren came over for afternoon tea. William liked Warhammer 40,000, while Lauren wanted to watch Tweenies. My mind was mush by the evening. Sunday was dominated by a pub lunch at the Pond in the North Laine with Sam and Pete....went back home and carried on drinking until evening, playing my guitar as I went. I have great callouses on my fingers and a very sore head. On my return to the City, TV crews were prowling round Embankment station, reporting on the increased police prescence to counter heightened fears of terrorist attacks. There were, of course, more TV reporters than Police. If we get attacked, at least the coverage should be great.

Played the guitar until my fingers hurt tonight...the odd thing is, it's strangely calming, even though I should be getting pissed off at my lack of ability. A nice sober one as well, getting ready for Snow Patrol in Norwich tomorrow. Another voiceover today, for the new N.E.R.D. single, one of those times when it works within about three takes. Voiceover work is great (and not just for altruistic reasons) I enjoy actually using my voice, rather like an instrument. Let's face it, I was never the most accomplished keyboard player in the world, so it makes a pleasant change.

This is the saddest news of the year for me: John McGeogh has passed away. A lovely man and a truly great guitarist. John was at his most brilliant for me on "Secondhand Daylight", which i'll be playing as soon as I get home tonight.

Last night, Jet at the Islington Academy. The crowd reaction was the most insane for any session we've done in the last couple of years: utter pandemonium. The gig? a little bit like seeing Brinsley Shwartz at the Southend Kursaal in 75 (i'm guessing here) but enjoyable nonetheless.
Guitar update: callouses on their way, chord count is now 8. Ish.
Beautiful sunny morning today, up and at 'em. You know the drill: Nick on the Stereo, a little Gym action, then work.

There's a moment in A Skin Too Few where they put all the photos from the back cover of "Five Leaves Left" into a kind of moving flipbook. Halfway through, it's like Nick actually moves his head. Yikes.

Did the deed. Am now the proud owner of a telecaster (copy, obv.) I can play four chords.

Oh holy shit. I'm feeling proud and ashamed in equal measure tonight. Just watched a video with all our band stuff from US TV. Found out we did the Arsenio Hall Show twice. Can I remember the second time? Frankly, no. Indeed, just say no, kids. Busy week or so ahead for me: DJ-ing in Birmingham tomorrow night with Keane, then it's Jet on Monday and Snow Patrol on thursday.

Went to see The Alarm at the Scala last night....how does Mike Peters manage to put about ten choruses into each song? Amazing. Punchy as hell live, nice Steve Jones-esque Les Paul action going on. Talking of which, in my quest to let 2004 be the year that I return to making music, i'm thinking about learning the guitar.
Today starts with congee again, will then involve gym/launderette/mainline railway station/record shop/pub. It's a long one....

Whatever your views on The Darkness, this weeks issue of the NME makes pretty depressing reading. The story is this: NME misses the boat on The Darkness, goes grovelling on their knees for forgiveness, band relents, NME writes unjustly snide piece, band rejects the NME's advances, NME throws toys out of pram.
So, this weeks issue sees the logical conclusion to all of this; there are thinly-veiled derogatory references to The Darkness on almost every page. It's childish and utterly stupid.

Another night, another gig........off to the academy for the Jet/Snow Patrol gig, i'm DJing the Aftershow party. Tonight is one of those nights when i'm utterly exhausted; hopefully a bit of loud tuneage will sort me out. A nice steaming bowl of Congee has certainly helped.

Ordinary Boys? well, they're The Chords, but seeing as that'll mean virtually nothing to most of you.........
Good little band actually, the version of "Maybe Someday" was blistering.
Keane? I'm not swayed. Yet. Sounds a little bit 1987, Danny Wilson, Deacon Blue, Hue and Cry to me. But, undeniably, the public are going to lap 'em up. Lots of people there, including little Cawood, which is always a pleasure. I'm going to force some tunes into my ears for about 30 minutes, then hit the hay. G'night all.

Back up to the Carling Islington Academy (sheesh-rebranding..) for The Ordinary Boys and Keane; should be a good 'un, reports later.

Music that i'm rocking at the moment? Last Days of April, sort of swedish emo....and Team, intense but poppy at the same time..........
Add on a healthy dose of Dancehall and some Wim, i'm sorted.