Firstly, I guess my biggest news of late is that i've decided to accept a new role with Shock Records/CDFA. I'll be working in a sales role with their CD Fulfillment team, basically acting as a record store to record stores... I know this is a confusing concept but think of it as me dealing with stores that may be too small to open accounts with the larger distributors, or perhaps may not want to deal with the larger distributors for whatever reasons. I won't just be dealing with Shock stock as well, but CDs and DVDs from all the majors in Australia. Financially, it is accepting a little less than what I am even earning now, but it isn't about the money for me.... infact, working in the music industry has never been about the money, as anyone who works in the industry knows (it never really pays enough to warrant it being about the money!!)
However, I think it is commonly recognized that this is the right step for me... Shock have already acknowledged that I am, in reality, over qualified for the role and are concerned that I might get bored. I pointed out that, while it is true that my FMR role was perhaps far more advanced than this, my current reality involves me getting headaches from spending the day staring at brightly coloured blocks in a day long daring game of Collapse. I just want to be back in the industry... back in 'the loop'... and feeling like i'm on the right path again... even if I have to start back at square one, it's still square one over square none.
Even more exciting for me is the fact that i'll be working under Will Heine, an old friend of mine who was my sales rep back in the days when he was at BMG and I was at JB. He moved onto Zomba... I moved onto FMR... and now we're seemingly meeting up at Shock/CD Fulfillment. I have a lot of time and respect for Will and feel that i'm going to learn a hell of a lot working with him... it makes me even more excited. Add to this that I already know Dave and Geoff at Shock, and I feel like i'm about to walk into a ready made family for me again. I have to thank my friend Marky as well for suggesting me to them, as it was his initiative that brought me to their attention.
They want me to start in one week but I am obliged to give a fortnights notice here at Alphalink. The only problem is that my bosses are rarely ever here. Simon, the main manager of Best St, is currently on holidays (although he seems to spend an enormous amount of time online updating his website and sending through shots of the scenery). Leanne, who is absolutely lovely, is rarely in, to be honest. She usually appears sometimes later in the afternoon, checks her messages, perhaps makes a phone call or two, and then disappears for the rest of the day. I sent her an ICQ yesterday saying that I needed to speak with her urgently, and although I know she was on ICQ, didn't receive any reply. I discovered this morning that she won't be in again today as she has gone skiing for the weekend (trivia fact: i've never seen snow...) This has lead me to send an email to one of the other directors with my intentions to resign as I have no other means, other than perhaps ICQ'ing my resignation through, to let them know and, because time is not on my side here, I need to give Shock a date that i'm going across asap. I haven't heard a reply back from my email yet, but I am determined to establish this fact with them today and hope they don't mind my upcoming departure.
But as i've been saying all along, these past couple of weeks have felt like a period of change coming through. I always laugh when I can feel it coming on and then it all happens. In the space of three weeks, i've gained a new housemate, starting seeing someone, wrapped up the FMR situation (although at a huge financial cost to myself), obtained a position back within the music industry, and even managed to continue my work on Kylie Minogue (more on that after)...
Add to this, there have been a few surprise messages for me too. I had one message passed on through a mutual friend from Darren from Gerling... just asking how I was, and basically saying that they missed working with me... which gave me a lot of comfort, especially since I really miss working with them. 'BadBlood!!!' is such an amazing album... in fact, all of their albums are amazing... and to have even briefly been involved with that band was an absolute honour for me.
And then I received the most gorgeous email out of the blue from Angie Hart, who most of you will remember from the bands Splendid and Frente. Angie and her husband, Jesse, form the band Splendid, who I had the honour to work with back in 1999 when their album, 'Have You Got a Name For It?' was released. I had always admired Angie, ever since some of Frente's earlier work has a personal attachment for me to the only person i've ever fallen for, and so it was just amazing to find Angie to be as 'real' and beautiful in person as she appeared to be in the media the years before. I have a few fond memories of Angie and Jesse... there was one instance where we had gone into Triple J to record a cover of Air Supply's 'Love & Other Bruises' for their Australian Music Week... Angie and Jesse had done two takes on it, and it was pretty much down to a coin flip as to which version to go for as Jesse and I had preferred one while Angie and the engineer had preferred the other... from memory, the version that was used (and ended up as a b-side on their single 'Come Clean') was the version that Jesse and I had gone for... then there was the amazing showcase that they had done at The Continental... and the one at Revolver too, with a mostly industry crowd who were always difficult to control chatting wise... Angie recording the interview with Karen Leng for Saturday Morning Recovery sticks in my mind too... I remember admitting to her in the lift on the way out of that one that I had listened to her version of Dolly Parton's 'Here You Come Again' over and over at one stage, and feeling rather dorky for admitting such things straight afterwards... but the one thing that sticks in my mind is just how amazingly friendly she has always been everytime i've seen her... and I adore her even more for that. And her email this week was just icing on the cake, arriving, strangely, at the right time since I had just been playing the Splendid album at home over the weekend again, and considering my invitiation to re-enter the music industry this week.
I actually dropped into FMR last night after work. I have been helping Dean work on some upcoming Kylie releases still, and dropped in to discuss some details with him. My timing couldn't have been better as the new single, 'Slow', had just arrived for them yesterday morning and it gave me the opportunity to hear it. I have to admit, it isn't as immediate as her previous lead singles. Honest opinion - radio will, of course, jump on it immediately... and it is what the industry likes to refer to as 'a grower'... but I think it is going to surprise a lot of fans as it is a far sight more 'sophisticated' than what many people would be expecting. Many of the FMR crew LOVE this single on first listen. I'm personally not as convinced, but I think I will grow to adore it. However, what it does do is make me truly excited about the upcoming album, as, if the rumours are true, it would appear this is going to be one of the more experimental albums that Kylie has done since the release of KM94 and Impossible Princess in her Deconstruction days. "BRING IT ON!!!", I hear her die-hard fans cry! Parlophone/EMI have, wisely, been keeping things pretty much to themselves about everything to do with this upcoming single and album... I feel even FMR are being kept in the dark a bit about their plans and movements, especially when you consider the fact that much of the news about this single and album seem to be dropped at last minute and held back until considered appropriate. EMI UK have also, and again, wisely, started to watermark their CD's in an attempt to curb leakage happening (about time!) It honestly feels like a very exciting period to be a Kylie fan, and I have 100% faith that this period can potentially be even BIGGER than 'Fever'... this coming from someone who isn't 100% convinced on the debut single... it just has that vibe about it.
I woke up this morning to the sound of my housemate, knocking on my bedroom door, greeting me with the biggest flowers i've seen in a while. Seems Anthony was keen to congratulate me on my new position, and to remind me that he rather likes me. No, i'm not freakin' out (I know my friends well... and know that they know me well... and know that they know that this sort of thing generally makes me uncomfortable.) I must admit that I don't have a vase at home (knew I should've bought one at Ikea recently... although Andrew has been trying to talk me into going to Ikea with him so perhaps this is a good time to go and get one...) but the flowers are rather amazing... they're in a jug at home at the moment. I commented on July 24th this year how much one persons world can change within 48 hours... I bring forward this sentiment again, that it is amazing how much a persons world can change within a short period of time, and I guess it reinforces the importance of being in touch with yourself so that you don't find yourself crumbling underneath all the changes. Change is good... m'kay...
Birthdays... I have Michael Sakellaris actually doing the official party for the 30th this weekend (although many weeks past his actual birthdate... and oh, what a night THAT was!) and my nephew Alexander (or just... Alex) celebrates his 18th this Sunday... oh my god, if there is anything that makes me feel 'old', it is going to my nephews 18th... it was bad enough when I discovered my niece Ashleigh had her drivers licence... ok, i'm realistic about these things... i'm 30 years young and feel 'the best' i've been ever (except for the fact I could stand to lose about 5kg at the moment, but we're working on that)... but there are some things that do tend to make you sit back and think, "CRAP! How did that happen so soon?"
Went to see 'Pop Princess' with David Knox last night. My honest opinion; the show generally felt pretty half baked. There was a moment where Trevor Ashley performed a Nikki Webster song ('Strawberry Kisses') as Judy Garland that was absolutely hysterical and very well done... but on the whole, the show felt pretty average. I do have to give major *snaps* though to his backing dancer/singer/hot boy Matt, who was just one of the most drool worthy creations i've seen on any stage in a long time. This guy was just amazingly attractive, incredible body, fantastic dancer, and played his 'role' incredibly well... I sat there thinking he had a brighter future than Trevor did, sadly... but credit to Trevor for putting together such an ambitious show. I did run into an ex of mine there, and Neale actually loved the show and claimed it was one of the funniest things that he had seen in a while... so I guess that totally counteracts my thoughts on it. But I guess after a few squeaky voiced production numbers and countless errors with the DVD backing video/tracks, it all grew a bit... well... it all grew a bit.
So... i'm sitting here looking into space with a curious look on my face while JP asks me what is wrong, and I reply, "Just wondering if i've covered everything important to me lately..." I think I have... I guess if I haven't, there will be another update soon...
