I did it!
I finally moved in with Sass, Ryan & Georgy! It’s been a long time coming at this point, but I’m so glad we finally got the opportunity to do it, and so far, it’s been an absolute dream! I thought I’d do a little blog post on this as it’s the first time I’ve moved anywhere and actually “flew the nest” as me mam keeps saying… So, I’m sure at least a few of you will be able to relate to that feeling of properly moving out for the first time, truly starting your own life, and in my case, leaving behind family, friends and a city you love that you never thought you’d leave.
So, let’s address that first – Why did I leave the big city to go and seemingly go to live in the middle of nowhere? Well, simply put, it’s just better out here! And we’re are so close to everything we need that the location barely factored into it. At first, I was beyond sceptical about leaving a city where people think “things are happening” for lack of a better way to put it, especially as a young musician trying to move my career in the right direction. You usually hear of people moving to London or abroad somewhere to chase that thing properly, but for me personally (& the band), we’ve already had more opportunities, space and most importantly time to focus on what we want and need to do to move both the bands and my own career goals in the right direction.
We’re surrounded by stunning countryside, a very friendly, welcoming community and so many animals we could literally start our own zoo! Most mornings I get waken up by the farm’s dog chasing the horse around the field that’s roughly 20 feet away from by bedroom. As someone who loves nature and animals, this is literally the best way I can imagine waking up, and is a lot better than being woken up by fireworks, chavs on crossers flying past the house, a psychotic neighbour and the sound of the motorway.
I know you’re thinking that being on a farm in North Yorkshire is moving backwards for a young band trying to gain traction (which was my initial thought). However, after having the opportunity to come up here over the last couple of years to visit the other three, I’ve been able to see for myself just how amazing it is! Not just to live happily, but as a jobbing musician/band, it has literally been the best decision we’ve ever made! I had two job offers, one gigging, one teaching, in the first week I moved up here, and that was after just 5 mins of emailing people.
There aren’t 5 million other bands/artists trying to do the same thing as you up here. Moving away from the saturation of a Big city has given us the room to breathe and get really serious about where we want to go not just with the band, but with our personal lives. Sometimes, you just need to remove yourself from the rat race and get some perspective on things. Moving up here has certainly done that for me.
In the time we’ve been up here, we have all achieved so much both together and in our own lives. We’ve recorded our new EP, started/left and been offered jobs, have our own rehearsal space on site that we can use whenever we like, have got SO much behind the scenes planning/work done, we have achieved more in a month here that we have 6 months in Manchester. (Pandemic aside of course).
I myself am much happier and content and just feel much better about life in general. Plus, I now live in a house we’re its mandatory in the evening to pour yourself a glass of red, stroke a bunny, sit down to eat dinner and talk shit about music all night!
So, Jack, what’re you doing for work I hear you ask? (if you’ve even made it this far through my ramblings!)
Don’t know if you heard? But there was this lovely little treat that occurred last March called coronavirus…
So of course, both my own and the bands touring/live commitments all but vanished into thin air, along with the rest of the industry. From playing/teaching full time over the last 6 years, I was in a really lucky position to be able to keep some of my work going at home, so I’ve been doing some remote sessions for people and teaching mainly during the lockdown. I also recently started working for BIMM (where we all got our degree’s) as an assessor, which has just been a blessing as I can do that from home too!
Like most people though, I had to supplement my income somehow however, and I’m not one to sit around on my ass and wait for the world to end so I got a job delivering groceries for ASDA. I know that’s not the glamorous, Rockstar lifestyle story you were expecting, but I’m genuinely grateful for the work and it has allowed me to serve my community a little bit and keep my bills paid whilst everyone was on lockdown. I actually kept the job at ASDA when I moved for a couple of days a week, just for some security whilst things are still up in the air with COVID stuff. Doing that job up here is VASTLY different. In Manchester, I had glass bottles thrown at the van, people trying rob me, and just general shite from nearly every chav I encountered. Up here however, I’m able to drive for half an hour at a time through achingly beautiful countryside, just to deliver some milk and bread to a lovely old lady in a village you’ve never heard of!
The last couple of years have been kinda tough for me in a number of ways, personal stuff aside which I won’t bore you with, I’m sure anyone reading this can appreciate the toll that an industry/soul destroying worldwide epidemic can have on any musician, of any age or background. My heart goes out to people who have lost jobs, houses, family, friends or their own self–belief this last year or so. For me, this move is a new chapter, and has given me everything I needed to focus on the areas of my life that mean the most to me. Don’t get me wrong I’m Manc and proud and will always have a deep love for Manchester, It will always be my home and I’m grateful for everyone and everything that came my way there. But now, I’m lucky enough to not only live & work with by 3 best pals in the whole world, but be in a whole new weird adventure together that will only benefit this band and what we want to deliver to our fans in the future. That’s what all of this is about for us, we just want to be the best people we can be, to make the best music we can make for you guys.
For me, I’m just a 2-hour drive from home, 20 mins drive to Pizza, and 20 seconds away from petting a horse, a dog, some sheep, and a of course, the bunnies! I wish I could divulge everything we’ve got going on up here, but for now you’ll just have to take my word for it and wait to see everything we’ve got going on! Manchester will always be there, but this is where I need to be and things could be much worse!
If you made it to the end of this then well done! Thank you so much for reading I really appreciate it! We have literally SO MUCH going on behind the scenes at the moment… we really can’t wait to show you more of what’s going on here and the stuff we have planned for the next 12 months, it’s going to be insane!
Keep yourselves posted on our socials in the meantime!
Peace,
Jack x
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