As good as a rest.

It's been an odd week in the dayjob. Change of building, malfunctioning computers, printers, photocopiers, telephones. Leaking ceilings, dodgy heaters, fluctuating internet access. I've been enjoying it for the simple reason that it's a change.

When I first experimented with recording music I had written I used to get frustrated that I couldn't play the same thing twice. Until I learned pieces more completely, or used the basic music reading skills I had picked up form school, I would fail to reproduce almost anything.

A couple of nights ago I was reminded that one of the joys of playing live is that you hardly ever play the same thing twice. I remembered how, when playing with my friend, the drummer Richard Lee, I would delight in hearing a once in a lifetime drum fill, or accent on a cymbal. It's true with all my favourite musical collaborators. As with many things, it's the changes, the surprises and the lack of repetition that make you feel alive.

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