On March 25th 2012, a rather large number of cyclists will set off from Crewe on the Cheshire Cat. The longest variation of the route is 100 miles, and I’ll be among that particular band of nutters.

I’ve got a soft spot for gadgets. Rather than pretend that they fulfil some purely utilitarian purpose, thus making daily life more manageable, more productive, less hassle, or whatever, I’m going to settle for the pure hedonistic joy of inquisitiveness, and marvelling at the outcome. We are an astounding species, and gadget technology constantly reminds me of this wonderful fact.

My good friend John Evans has been working very hard at pulling together lots of various bits of video footage from various “Pigstock” music festivals which ran annually between about 1996 and 2006. And it’s about to hit a big screen near you (if you live in Denbigh)….

Christmas day 2007: as my 8 year old son went to open his next present, I grabbed the camcorder knowing that this was the “big one”.
What a reaction! I think he liked it.

I edited the clip thinking that I’d share it on YouTube, with no particular reason other than I thought it was a funny clip and some friends and family might find it amusing.

Imagine the scene: you’re at the café having that well earned coffee and specialist scientific body fuel (OK, cake), chatting with your mates and life feels good. So good in fact, that you completely forget to pick up your Garmin GPS and ride off without it. Now, assuming there are still decent honest people in the world (and most are, contrary to what the mass media seem to want us to believe), the average person will resist the urge to put your beloved device on eBay and instead wonder how they might set about returning it to the owner. Did you know that you can configure your Garmin device to display a customised message when it starts up?

I first posted this on my band site, over at http://redhillband.co.uk/videos/new-videosong-for-a-little-while-mp3-on-bandcamp

I really like the videosong format, especially those wonderful Pomplamoose people – check them out on YouTube if you’re not familiar.
Having spawned a gazillion imitators, I thought it might be fun to try one out myself, partly for the technical challenge of filming all the different takes and editing it all together, and partly because I knew it would make me focus on the song and I might actually finish something for a change!
I wrote and recorded this song in October 2010, and it features my sister on vocals.

Videosongs have two rules:
1. What you see is what you hear. So if you’re seeing something on screen, that is the actual take you are hearing. NO OVERDUBS or MIMING!
2. If you hear a sound in the mix, at some point in the video you’ll see a clip of it.

If you like the track, you can download it at www.redhill.bandcamp.com and you get to name your own price.
Yes, this means if you want it free, you can get it free! But please consider donating something as it’s expensive to re-string all those instruments….!

I’d love to hear any comments, and happy to answer any questions about any aspect of the video or song.