There is a very good
reason why I haven't posted anything in ages, and it's not just the
electiony stuff going on. I have invalidated the title, and indeed
very raison-d'etre of this blog and finished the bloody book. And
when I say finished, I mean, got to the end, done some re-writing and
given it to some people to read so they can tell me it's all a bit
shit and make me rework it all in a month or two. But more finished
than all those other ones I've got lying about the place.
On the back seat of
my car is a one of only two fully printed out manuscripts of it (just
for myself, because ever since I sat as a nerdy eighteen year old at
my sister's old typewriter, frantically typing out my unreadably
scrawled chapters I have wanted a bundle of papers that make up a
novel that I have written myself. I am aware that they are
essentially redundant in the digital age.) there would have been
none, but one of my readers (and frankly, the one who's opinion on
the whole endeavour I trust more than anyone's) asked me if they
could have a hard copy, and since, due to my job, I have access to
all the printers I can eat, I could think of no reason not to. I am
feeling rather smug about the whole thing to be honest, and am
anticipating a crashing come-down when all my readers inform me that
they have no idea what it is meant to be about, and the whole concept
is flawed.
I am also writing
today to try and explain my reasoning behind the breakup of me and
the Plastic Squirrel
(for those not in the know, that has been the name of my solo musical
endeavours since the mid nineties). While it seems utterly
schizophrenic to break up a solo act, and wildly pretentious to have
several solo projects under different names, neither of these are
true. I did an EP for a bet of mildly amusing folkish songs called
political correctness gone trad. It sounded nothing like Plastic
Squirrel material ever should, and I liked it. Rather than
spending weeks crafting elegant, intertwining synths and guitars and
agonising over every single hi-hat sound I sang stupid words over
cowboy chords and realised I could actually play it live. And as a
bonus, I could just roll up to gigs with one guitar and nothing else,
hell, I could cycle to gigs if I do this.
Now, I did three
Plastic Squirrel shows in 20 years of Plastic
Squirrel's existence, and every time I felt embarrassed that I
was not a band. So when deciding to do this new material live I
figured it was best to abandon the name as well. This brought up
another problem, I don't want to go out as just Dave Holwill, there
are a million people out there performing just under their own name,
and names are not memorable. No offence to all those who do that, but
for every Nick Drake and Bob Dylan there is a Nick Smith and a Bob
Jones who's names you forgot a day after you heard them. So I adopted
the amusing name conferred upon me by the landlady of a pub I used to
play in, Dave Not
The Cat. I did a few shows about ten years ago under that name,
playing dodgy covers on an acoustic guitar. The name came from an
actual Cat who roamed the streets of Hatherleigh at the time, who was
called Dave. Although he wasn't really, and it was my wife who called
him that, although before we were together, so it wasn't as weird as
it sounds.
Anyway, I digress,
basically I am toying with the idea of playing my own songs in public
again, for the first time in a long time, and needed a name I didn't
want to apologise for every time I said it. I think it's worked.
Apologies for this
blog, it is thoroughly self-indulgent and serves no purpose
whatsoever. I know I expected to be ranting about politics for the
entire election campaign, but it has turned out to be so anodyne and
dull that there is nothing to rant about. Maybe the fact that if you
don't believe in borders, think that nuclear weapons are a bad thing
and that equality is a good thing then people will think you some
kind of lunatic, and laugh if you suggest that anarchy is not the
same thing as chaos. I could rant about that, but frankly the lack of
political engagement from those seeking election has knocked the
political engagement out of me as well, bring on the rematch in July.
I have always argued
that if you don't vote, then you have no right to complain, but I
have spent the last twenty odd years voting and complaining, and I am
tired of complaining, so I might give up voting as well. At least
that was what I was thinking, since there is no real socialist
alternative to the two main rhetorics, and everybody prays to the
economic gods of perpetual growth, maybe I should give up. And then I
saw this video
And while it still
isn't what I want, I admire what he is doing, and will probably vote
for him tomorrow rather than writing wankers on the voting slip, or
throw myself at the greens again. At least this way I might help
somebody not lose his £500 deposit.
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