I had a bit of a mixed weekend in the end. I was obviously pleased we put in an outstanding performance in the Premier League against Wolves on Sunday. I said we needed to make sure we stayed strong until the end of the season and it looks like we’ve go the right attitude to see that through. It was shocking to hear of the events at the Tottenham vs Bolton game though, with what happened to Muamba. It makes you realise that at the end of the day it’s just a group of blokes kicking a football around and there are bigger and more serious things than that.
So I’m a bit subdued heading into this week and I’m sort of glad there’s no football to think about until next Monday. I’ve got a bit of work coming into the studio and it’ll be nice to get absorbed in that – although, as it’s mainly voiceover stuff there won’t be much for me to do so I’ll probably end up playing no download slots while I’m waiting for them to do all the long boring recordings. That will all be finished by Thursday midday and I’ve already planned some car shopping in the afternoon with one of my mates. We’re going to head down to some dealers about an hour away and use the road trip for an excuse to go for a round of golf. I’ve not played for years but my friend is always out so I’ve got a feeling I’m going to get well beaten.
Had a really busy time last week with the studio full up every day, and lots of football to watch, of course. Man United have had some really good results in the Premier League recently, with away wins over Norwich and Tottenham, and we’re putting real pressure on Man City now. Just two points behind them, we could finally be top of the league soon – even this Sunday, if everything goes our way.
Being busy means I’ve been neglecting a few things recently – this blog included – and I’m determined to get on top of it all again, starting this week. I’ll be working for three days in the studio, helping a band mix a few tracks, but other than that it’s all about catching up with a few mates, watching some football and hopefully sorting out this car business. It’s been dragging on a bit but I have to say, I do quite enjoy looking at cars, both new and used, and weighing up the different options available. I’m looking at some Peugeot lease deals at the moment, as an alternative to just trading in my old car and buying a new one. It’s a little more hassle for me in the beginning but could really work long-term. It certainly takes some of the stress out of owning a car as I wouldn’t have to deal with servicing and repairs.
Right, back to the studio for now and looking forward to Thursday night when Man U take on Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League – come on your reds!
Had a nice relaxing weekend with no football to worry about for once. Me and a couple of the lads went out in Manchester on Saturday night. We normally just go around Manchester’s pubs and bars but we thought we’d have a bit of a civilised evening for a change, so went for a nice meal in a great British restaurant in the centre of town, then for a few frames of snooker. There were five of us out so we had a little tournament between us – I think the highest break of the evening was 17, so there’s not much chance of you seeing us playing in a Snooker Championship any time soon.
This week will be a bit different in the studio compared to last. I’ve got a comedian coming in today to record some voice-overs for a video he’s putting together and then later in the week it has to be one of the strangest jobs I’ve had – a TV production company are going to be recoding sounds to be used in children’s programmes. They’ve asked specifically if I have a large space they can record in while moving about with lots of props, so I don’t really know what to expect – I have an image in my mind of a room full of people on space hoppers and loads of kids running around screaming but I’m sure it won’t be like that. I hope not, anyway.
Looking forward to watching Man United thrash Ajax on Thursday night too, in the return leg of their Europa League tie. With the home crowd and the 2-0 buffer from last week’s game, I’m expecting to see some quality football being played, and lots of goals too.
It’s been a great couple of days in the studio, recording and mixing the first release for the Manchester band I mentioned before. I can’t reveal any more details at the moment because it’s top secret but all I can say is that it’s some of the best stuff I’ve heard in a long time and I’m really excited to be involved in it. Really nice bunch of lads too, which always makes it more enjoyable.
I’m settling down to watch the Europa League tonight, hoping that Man United take it seriously and field a strong squad. It’s not the Champions League but it’s still a European competition and I think it’s a great opportunity for us to play some quality football and maybe try out a few things with the team. I don’t want to jinx it at all though – Ajax are a good side so we should concentrate on winning and anything else can come behind that.
The band are coming back for a mixing session tomorrow morning, having done all the recording over the last couple of days, then I’m off on a road trip again in the afternoon. I’m going with a mate to see the selection of Ford Fiesta Walsall has to offer. He’s looking for one and I said I’d go down with him – it’s good to have a friend for a second opinion and it gives me a chance to have a look at a couple of used cars for myself.
I’ve just finished writing this while watching the second half of the football – 2-0 to United but it wasn’t convincing by any means. Still, it takes a bit of pressure off for next week. I’d still like to see some more goals though – from us, preferably.
I’ve got a busy time in the studio this week and am really looking forward to it. There’s a band coming in for four full days to record an EP and it’ll be their first release as a signed band. They’re with a small, independent Manchester label who I’ve worked with before so I’m pleased they’ve decided to come back and use my studio again – shows I must be doing something right! It’s nice to see a local Manchester band getting some recognition as well – so much of my work is with unsigned musicians and I see many of them lose heart over the years, when they don’t get the interest they deserve, so it’s really satisfying when I do get to work with a band that have been signed. Their music is right up my street too – eighties soft-rock is coming back into fashion it seems and that suits me.
Man United have their first couple of games in the Europa League this Thursday and next, so of course I’ll be tuning in to watch them. When we got knocked out of the Champions League a lot of people said the Europa was a bit of a waste of time – as if we were above it in some way – but I believe that you should try your best at whatever you’re doing and I hope the players feel the same way. We’re in it now so we should definitely play to win.
With no football at the weekend, I’m free to do as I please and I’m thinking of heading out to try one of the new British restaurants Manchester has on offer now. There was a time when we were overrun with Italian restaurants in Manchester but that seems to be changing and there are a number of others opening up, including a couple of new Indians, a buffet restaurant serving all kinds of different cuisine, from Mexican to Chinese, and of course the new British ones. Looking forward to some nice food after a busy week.
We had a great trip down to Willenhall yesterday and spent a lot of time looking at used cars and trying out different models. My friend ended up buying the Vauxhall Meriva we went to look at, so he’s happy. We did, however, see a few bad deals in some of the smaller places and it made me think that we were lucky to know what we were looking at and spot any faults between us. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember all the things to check on a used car when you’re looking to buy one, so I thought I’d put together a little guide to spotting faults on used cars. I hope it’s useful.
Bodywork. Rust is an obvious thing to look for on a car’s body and it’s usually quite obvious. Uneven paintwork can signify rust but, to be honest, most modern cars are pretty rust-proof. One of the key things to look at on the body is alignment of panels – check the spacing between them is even and look for any that are out of line. Open and close all the windows and doors and pay attention to how snugly they close – if they are out of line at all this could indicate the car has been in a crash and might be worth avoiding.
Run the engine. Listen for strange noises, such as knocking or spluttering, and have a friend stand behind the car while you press the accelerator. Any smoke coming out of the exhaust is a bad sign.
Look under the bonnet. It’s worth familiarising yourself with the key parts of a car’s engine before you head out, even if it is the basic things like the oil dipstick and oil cap. Look for any obvious signs of leaks or major work having been done.
Interior. Check the ashtray to see if the previous owner was a smoker and for signs of dog/pet hair inside the car. Both of these things cause smells that will have penetrated the seats and are virtually impossible to get out. You may not notice the smell immediately but once the air freshener has worn off, and especially if the interior gets a little damp, in winter for example, you will definitely notice it.
Little things. The small things count – you don’t want to buy a car and find out a week later that the windows don’t wind down properly, or the central locking is a bit dodgy. So check everything – from the radio to the wing mirror adjusters and the seat belts.
These tips are only intended as a beginner’s guide to looking at used cars so you should get a trained mechanic to have a proper look before you part with your cash.
I had intended to talk all about cars in this blog but I can’t start the week without mentioning the weekend’s football and (of course) our amazing comeback at Chelsea. Man United are known for keeping going right to the end and turning games round. A lot of people always say it’s because the referees give us more extra time than we deserve or that we are just lucky. That obviously wasn’t the case at the weekend, because we made our comeback easily within the normal 90 minutes, but it shows that our comebacks (and there have been a few memorable ones over the years) aren’t down to luck – it’s all about keeping going and believing in yourselves. And that’s what makes us (still) one of the best teams in the world.
Right – that’s my football rant over with for the day. I’ve got a fairly quiet week in the studio with just two jobs in – one day of voice-over recording (which doesn’t really require me to do much other than press record and stop) and a band for two days later in the week. A steady week and it’s nice because I’ve got a lot of other things on that I need to spend some time on. A friend of mine is also looking at used cars at the moment so we’re heading out together tomorrow. He’s got his eye on a Vauxhall Meriva Willenhall way, so we’ll be heading down the M6 for a look around there. It’s good to go and look in different areas of the country every now and again, to see what stock they’ve got, and it’s also an excuse for a bit of a lads road trip, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ll let you know how we get on later in the week.
I’ve been trying really hard not to think about the FA Cup but I can’t get away from it – I’m gutted. And going out to Liverpool as well! It literally couldn’t be worse. Well, it could, obviously, but we’ve not lost the Premier League yet! And it looks like Rooney’s staying with us, despite the rumours that have been circulating on transfer deadline day.
So I’m trying to forget about football this week (although I will watch the Stoke game tonight, obviously) and concentrating on some other stuff. There are a couple of really interesting bands in the studio this week and I’m enjoying working with them. The lot I’ve had in today have put down three tracks and I honestly think they could be something big – they’ve got a really original sound. And the (female) bass player’s not bad looking either.
Which reminds me – I’m off out on Friday night with a girl I met a couple of weeks ago in a Manchester bar. We got talking about restaurants in Manchester that we both like and it turns out her favourite is also mine, so we’re going there on Friday. She’s also a singer so it seems like we might have a few things in common – maybe I can help her with some recording! Speaking of which, I’ve had a few people ask me recently for some music recording tips so I’m thinking of doing a blog about it later this week, to help out all you bedroom musicians out there – watch this space…
I only managed to catch the highlights from last night’s Carling Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Man City, but it looked like a cracking game. As a United fan, neither team winning was ideal for me so I guess a 2-2 draw was about right! Liverpool obviously go through on aggregate and good luck to them – we may be rivals in theory but… well, it’s only football at the end of the day! Looking forward to our FA Cup game with them on Saturday though – and I hope we stuff them!
I’ve invited quite a few people round to watch the game at mine so I think it’s going to be quite a party – a 12.45 kick off means it could be a long day too as I expect we’ll head into Manchester afterwards for a few beers around the bars. That’s if we win anyway – some of the lads get really depressed when we lose big games and the party spirit really goes out of them. I can understand why but I never let it affect me that much; I’d rather still go out and enjoy myself than sit at home moping!
I managed to go and look at that Mazda 5 yesterday and I must say I really liked it. They’re really well made cars and it’s a good size for me – definitely given me something to think about. Anyway, just one more day of work this week – finishing a band’s demo off tomorrow – then the big FA Cup weekend. Here’s a little reminder of some United magic to get me in the mood – a classic Bryan Robson goal against Liverpool in the 1985 FA Cup:
A decent win for us at the weekend over Arsenal – always nice to get one over the Gunners! Still not enough for us to take the top spot in the Premier League though, with City getting a (lucky) win at Tottenham and staying three points ahead of us. There is still plenty of time yet but I must say I’m not as relaxed about it as I was at Christmas – we need to keep a good run of form in the league now and hope City lose a bit of their momentum otherwise things could be getting a little desperate.
This weekend’s all about the FA Cup anyway, with us paying our old friends Liverpool a visit on Saturday. Always a heated game with our north-west rivals but there should be some good football too. Glad I’m not going over for it anyway – much better to stay at home and watch it with a few mates than get caught up in all the hassle of travelling over there. City have got Liverpool away tomorrow, in the League Cup, so it’ll be interesting to see how we both get on with them in the same week.
It’s been a steady week in the studio, which has been nice. Some good, interesting work as well as a bit of time to sort stuff out. More car hunting this week – I’m off to look at a used Mazda 5 tomorrow, to see if it would be a good model for me. They’ve got a bit more room in them than the others I’ve been looking at so it might suit.
