During the last few years quite a bit has changed for me; becoming a father of two, a grown up job (if you can say that a job that consisists of talking about music and playing bass can ever be considered grown up) and a busy gigging schedual keep me on my toes. During this time I have also been studying towards my Level 5 teaching qualification and trying to make sense of how musicians can adopt new strategies to provide a sustainable income. All lots of fun, but it has also increased the amount of tech that I carry around with me. At one time an iPod and simple mobile phone was all I needed to keep me sane on the road. These days I carry a large amout of gadgets with me to gigs, sessions, teaching or just going to the park with the kids. My gobag looks its owned by a PC World salesman.
It could be me embracing my inner (or not so inner) geek, working more of the time or just being more organised about my workflow. What ever it is the need to be connected and to capture information for later use is compels me to carry all this stuff.
Right now I’m packing my gig bags for the week ahead. This week sees me doing my usual round of gigs, rehearsals, lectures and a recording session for a wonderful singer songwriter.
So this week my iPad and iPhone will rarely leave my side; be it checking emails, producing keynote presentations, listening to rough cuts or just for chilling with a film or twitter. Along for the ride will be an HD Kodak Flip style camera, my ace Cannon SX210, Zoom H2, iRig, Bluetooth keyboard and my recently purchased AKG 450 headphones.
What worries me is that when do I just switch off and be quiet? The constant barrage of emails, tweets, Facebook and other Web 2.0 fun along with the ability to consume any media 24/7 has resulted in me rarely switching off and ‘just being’.
And ‘just being’ is a very important thing indeed.
Guerilla Bass 