Last Train Home

“But there's still tomorrow
Forget the sorrow
And I can be on the last train home
Watch it pass the day
As it fades away
No more time to care
No more time, today

But we sing
If we're going nowhere
If it's not enough
And we sing
Sing without a reason
To ever fall in love”

Last Train Home – Lostprophets 

I heard the news at the beginning of the year about Ian Watkins and his shameful actions, and this week he pleaded guilty to his charges of various sex crimes. You can read up what he did because writing out what he did makes me feel ill. I will use a word I reserve only for the very worst people in society – the former lead singer of Lostprophets is a fucking sick cunt who deserves to rot in jail for his disgusting acts. 

There once was a time where I loved Lostprophets. They were among my favourite bands when I went through my weird emo phase, and indeed they came out with me on the other side. They were a good band and they made good music across their five studio albums. Ian Watkins has a great voice and songs like Last Train Home and Rooftops became the kind of anthems you would head bang to, and if you’re like me, this head banging was done in secret in your bedroom. Nowadays they aren't a favourite band, but a band whose music I continue to enjoy.

It makes me sad seeing what has become of this band. I don’t understand how one person could become so caught up in a twisted criminal world and destroy a solid music career, for both themselves and for the other band members. And what are we, the fans and supporters of the band, supposed to think? It is a strange thing to watch people in the spotlight fall from grace, because you never knew them and yet feel as though they are a part of you. It’s confusing: I hate Ian Watkins for his criminal actions, but I still love him for his music and his musical talent. It now seems so inappropriate to say I like Lostprophets music, but I do still like it and I still like the way Watkins sings and I still want to head bang to Last Train Home in my bedroom. 

This week a very bad man has pleaded guilty and will be put away in jail. He will be taken out of our civilisation and hopefully no one else will become his victim. But also this week a good musician was taken away from us, and that is a loss for our music industry. This is a complicated case and, much like I was as a teenager listening to Rooftops, I am so confused about how to feel. Most of all I am sad. I am sad for the fans who lost a band, and for the people who lost something at the evil hands of Watkins. I hope we see more music from the other members of Lostprophets, but for now I will listen to Liberation Transmission with a touch of sorrow and think about the bitter humour there is in the songs A Town Called Hypocrisy and Can’t Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won’t Save You This Time). 

Royals

“We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule
Let me live that fantasy”

Royals – Lorde 

I headed along to Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards last night, feeling very excited to see the best of our music industry’s talents. It was a great night and here’s my wrap on the highlights. 

The night was dominated was our current singing sensation Lorde. She won international artist, breakthrough artist of the year and the People’s Choice award, Royals won single of the year and video of the year. But it was obvious Lorde would win big on the night given her success over the past year, and it was her own performance over the course of the evening which stood out for me. Lorde is a very interesting character and the little of her which plays out in the media is fascinating. I commend Lorde firstly for her opening performance of Royals, which was easily the best performance of the night. And I highly commend her for her speeches, particularly when she recognised her fellow artists and when she invited Joel Little onto stage during her single of the year acceptance speech. And I especially commend her for her poise when nearly every host included her in one of their jokes. She is a bright young lady with incredible composure and talent. 

I must mention to Aaradhna who was stunning last night. She looked amazing, sung Wake Up beautifully and gracefully accepted her three awards. I thought she deserved all her awards, especially given the stiff competition for Album of the Year category. Treble & Reverb is a fantastic album and worthy of the award. Two other albums worth mentioning were the winners of Best Rock and Best Pop album. One of my favourite bands Villainy received the former for the excellent Mode. Set. Clear. album, and Jamie McDell won Best Pop for Six Strings and a Sail Boat. I think it is important to note these albums were the debut album from both acts and to come away with a Tui Award is a great achievement. 

Overall the night was a lot of fun. All the performance were good: Lorde, Iva Lamkum (who I had never heard of before but enjoyed a lot), Jamie McDell, Ruby Frost, Titanium, Aaradhna and Stan Walker. There were some good laughs throughout the night, namely when Guy Williams held up a sign saying “Bring Back Ben Lummis” and when the guys from Villainy photo bombed Stan Walker and Bret McKenzie. 

I have always been a fan of New Zealand music, since I was a pre-teen and 48May was, for a short while, my favourite band. Last night I was incredibly proud of our musical talent and the way they presented themselves and the support New Zealanders give our musicians. It was touching to see the standing ovation given to Lorde when she won the International Award, and to Shona Laing when she was awarded the Legacy Award. And I was most proud when the highest selling single of the year was Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That) given the song was put out to raise money for Cure Kids. We have a very talented, multi genre music industry in this country, from Lorde to Shapeshifter to Shona Laing, and we should be proud of the music made on our own soil. 

Somewhere Only We Know

“Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know”

Somewhere Only We Know – Keane

When I started writing this blog and thinking about ideas at the beginning of last year I had six favourite songs, and over the course of blogging I wanted to write about all of them in a meaningful way. So far I have written about five of them but have not yet done one on Somewhere Only We Know. It seemed pointless to go on about secret places one could take someone else for peace and quiet. I do love the idea of having a secret place to take a special someone after realising you are living your life a little too fast, but it would never sustain a whole blog post. 

I heard a few weeks ago Keane were taking an “extended hiatus” which, let’s be honest, means they are breaking up with a somewhat loose vision of getting back together in the very distant future. Essentially, this marks the end of Keane. It saddens me to hear this as they are one of my favourite bands. I am most gutted I will not, as far as I can tell, ever get to see Keane live and hear them play their wonderful songs. In short, Keane were one of my favourite bands, and are now a band no longer. 

This is the first time a band I really like, a band I appreciate beyond just listening to their music, has broken up and it’s a bit of a weird feeling. I could be a lot more angry than I am – but really all I would be doing is getting mad at a group of guys I actually don’t know. I feel like I am a much more rational person and while their break up is saddening we still had nearly ten years of their music. I made friends through Keane’s music; in high school a group of us would sit in study period and thought discussing Keane’s albums was much better than discussing our history assignment. I would listen to Keane’s music when I felt sad or alone and it cheered me up and soothed me. Sometimes I listened when I was happy and the music made me even happier. 

Keane may not have been a band which defined aspects of the music industry, but they were different and interesting, particularly with their lack of guitar on their first few albums. They made their fans very happy, especially this once teenager and now young adult. And despite how much this break up does sadden me, I always have those four albums of music to listen to because a band’s break up only signals the end of new music, not the end of their music altogether. 

End of Time

“We can dance until the end of time
We can party til we die
When the world is falling down on us
Let’s pretend that we can fly”

End of Time – The Make Believe

When it comes to writing these blogs I try to think of a common theme or idea of the song or make a point of what the artist does. I have wanted to write another blog about The Make Believe for a while now, as I haven’t since I did a wrap up of the year a Static FM. It was difficult to think of a theme for any of their songs, as inspiration refused to strike. I could have talked about acoustic covers but there’s not much to say about them, apart that they are really good. Or I could have mused about having two lead vocalists, but that technique has been used since 1960’s and really isn’t anything new. I was stuck until very recently when I realised exactly why I wanted to talk about the band. 

I want The Make Believe to succeed.

I feel like I have many different relationships with artists and with their music. Often I just want to use an artist’s music for my own entertainment, other times emotional comfort or companionship. It’s like they have put out this product where I care less for the manufacturer and more what the product can do for me. And don’t get me wrong – I have love and respect for literally hundreds of music artists. But it is their music, rather than them, which I associate most with. I pull out their tracks when I want to listen, and when I’m done they are thrown back into the endless pit of songs.  

There are a few artists who I care about beyond simply wanting to be use their songs, and this is how I feel about The Make Believe. I love and respect their music, and have many times used it how I’ve needed to. And while they are talented and determined I doubt they are striving any more than every other band who ever released music. I really cannot pinpoint exactly what makes them stand out amongst other talented artists, and in particular New Zealand artists to which I am partial, but to me they are special. It probably seems dysfunctional, as I do not have the same support for similar bands, but in the music world I want to see The Make Believe at the top. I doubt I am alone with my thoughts – there are probably artists who you would love to succeed, or have enjoyed watching on the road to success.

And to me, this a key part of a music journey: the irrational need to throw support behind particular artists who you have never met because in some weird way they connect with you, and that connection is one of the best feelings you have.