Saturday 20 July 2013

The world's most quirky tour bus!

It's summertime and the living is easy. The British Isles have basked in 19 days of consistent and spectacular sunshine; and being in Cornwall, next to some of the world's best beaches, has been the cherry on the icing! We've all forgotten that we're in a band; every man has ditched his dreams of world domination and taken to the seas; lazy days splashing around in turquoise shallows, building sand villages and playing water goalie. I speak for myself and the piano player, we're the ones that have being messing about in boats and getting salt stains on our sandals. The guitar player, as far as I know, has been up at The Odd Folk HQ spending his days gardening for Bristol's middle class, while the bass player (and I hate to think of it!) has been working in an office in London!

World domination has been put firmly on the back burner... until yesterday!

Yesterday I had a brainwave.

I was sorting through some admin; working out logistics for the upcoming giggles. I was focusing on September's Illuminations Festival in Matlock and scratching my salty head wondering how we'd all get there and in what vehicle, when I suddenly had a very silly idea.

For my recent 30th birthday I was given a very special car. A vintage renault 4, circa 1986, complete with it's own little trailer. I thought about the 4 of us cramming in it with all our stuff and trundling off into the Derbyshire sunset and immediately laughed the idea off as a romantic dream. I steadied myself and resolved instead to borrow mother's van and how best to tackle this as she is not particularly keen on the idea. I could bribe her with a day's work! I could give her the £40 I've owed her for a year! But all the while the image of us in my little french car kept popping up and saying, why not?

I wasn't thinking straight, I grabbed my shorts and towel and headed to the beach with the piano player for a dip in the sea and a fresh perspective. While immersed in a game of water goalie, I mentioned the idea of us travelling up in the little Renault and he smiled back and said "That'd make a good film!"

I raised an eyebrow. Almost convinced.

What tipped it for me was this; on the way up the cliff to the car-park and as my phone hit signal again I received a text; it was from my friend the cameraman and it simply said: when are we gonna shoot some stuff?

And that was that. My mind was made up. We'd travel 190 miles up to Derbyshire in a 27 year old French car, with our gear in the little trailer, the paino on the roof-rack and the cameraman could follow us up and shoot a film about how crazy we all were.
He texted back: I'm in!

"You're not borrowing the van by the way!" said mother as I re-entered the house.
"It's alright we're taking the french car and trailer" I smiled.
"Are you mad!?" she barked.
"Yep, plum crazy!" I smiled.

I busied myself, fully immersed in world domination, drawing up a story-board of the film, imagining the finished product propelling us to the main stages of the biggest festivals!

-----------> > >

Today the sunshine rolls on and the baby seagulls are practicing flying from the kitchen roof. I can see my shorts and towel on the washing line and the football is sitting there waiting for another lazy day on the beach.

Not today though. I'm busy with world domination; booking campsite's where we can stay in the peak district and finding out whether my car can tow the weight of all our gear!?

Don't let me down now! I'm enjoying this break from the sand villages; 19 days and my skin's like leather.

www.theoddfolk.com