Nottingham - 23/4/01

Me and Morris are driving to Nottingham in his car, listening to Suzanne Vega and Chrissie Hynde whilst I write this. I know, not much of a start was it. Robyn and Kimberley have gone ahead to do a radio session so Morris is going to take me shirt-shopping in Nottingham this afternoon. My mate Terry Newell (plus Cath) whose bass amp I am borrowing for this leg of the tour might be along tonight. He used to be a roadie but he designed things on the back of cigarette packets and one of them worked and now he's anything but (a roadie). A millionaire maybe, or nearly. Nottingham incidentally has the oldest pub in the world called "Walk to Jerusalem" or something with a weird game where you have to swing a ring on a cord across the room and get it onto the end of a horn/hook thing. Go there, it is just under the castle walls .... "castle walls" - that sets off echoes, and we are a long away from all that now ..... it would be easy to drift off, to disconnect, so there are dark thoughts hidden in the countryside as it flashes by the window ....

'Hiromi says we have now actually bought the new house in Acton' brings me back to the present.

We finish the journey laughing at the "... and how it got there ...." Softs rehearsal CD which I hadn't listened to before ..... I'm proud. We sound mad! I really like that Lou Reed cover 'Leave me Alone' and the bluesy ones like 'Alien' and 'Wang Dang Pig'. That song called 'Goodbye Maurice or Steve' wasn't called that incidentally, we just used to call it 'D song' Morris says and Robyn points out later that that was a song that got left behind simply because it didn't have a title. If it had, it would probably have ended up recorded properly.

We get to Nottingham and I head off to find an internet cafe and buy some shirts .... later, at soundcheck, "You can pack the gear away now Howie" says Morris as we finish (see Norwich). All 4 of us amble off for a curry and then Morris joins me in the internet cafe and he is keenly checking his e-mail in his Hercule Poirot coat when I leave him to head back .... it's a good place incidentally, open till 3 am on Thursdays if any of you Nottingham locals are interested ....

Great gig we thought. Really enjoyed it - soundcheck had been spent working on a couple of new songs that sound pretty good and that kind of set the tone for the gig (so I think we are on target for a bit more recording as the summer wears itself out maybe) ..... Sonic came and played on Sideways and Underwater Moonlight but other than that nothing special to report about the gig except it was good, and my new stripey shirt got no complaints and someone even came up afterwards and said it was the best (gig, not shirt) he'd ever seen and yes I know it's maybe a little crass of us, but really I don't think you can hear enough of that kind of thing when you've just played ...... the in-house sound guy really liked the POD bass sound and I totally recommend this ingenious little piece of equipment to any other bassists who can afford it, plus also whilst we're on this subject Sonic's Electribe is a very cool little synth ..... very ..... oh, and by the way - IT'S A JAZZ (this is a coded message for those who might know what I'm talking about).

More partying in Robyn's room, and up till 3 with Morris and Robyn. Tonight was a mini-turning point in this mini-tour - it is getting really good again. Kim's gone to bed early. We talk about the future, the website and lots of things and there's a very optimistic feeling in the band. Last thing tonight is agreeing to consult the tour page on the website on the way to Glasgow tomorrow to find out exactly where we are playing .... it is going to be a busy day, driving up to Scotland and playing the same night ....

— Matthew