Just finished remastering another song Joel and I wrote called ‘Skin’. It's about how God looks at us and sees something beautiful despite... well... life.

It’s posted on my myspace (HERE). Thanks again Joel... I love the way it's turning out.

The track comes with a health warning: it’s got a British feel to it so it needs to be played VERY LOUD.

Enjoy

S.

Stumbled up on this while reading the news this morning.

Isn’t it odd that a country actually legislates for a candidate dying after being nominated? This stark reality resonated with me... the first question I was asked in my first meeting with Human Resources when I started work as financial controller for Shell in Nigeria was “where would you like your coffin sent if you died in service?” It was almost prophetic, so I guess I was grateful.

I’m more grateful that I’m reading about Nigeria from a wireless Mac at a house on the beach in Felpham. I can kid myself that death doesn’t happen like it does in Nigeria. But it does.

Yours wanting to avoid jumping on my soapbox,

S.

…that I’m a creative person: I drove half an hour to a specialist hardware store to get some insulation material without any way of paying for it. No credit cards, no cash, nothing.

I’m choosing to view it as a positive.

S.

I’ve just spent a punishing few days finishing off the sound treatment in the studio – rockwool, acoustic felt, foam tiles, hammering, nailing, hanging, sweeping, cleaning… etc etc. The worst thing was the rockwool – difficult to touch and fragile so it was dangerous and it went everywhere. I accidentally brushed my arm against it and I could feel it for a couple of hours.

Still, the result is pretty stunning. I’ve had the chance to implement things I’ve read about and wanted to do for a long, long time. And Malcolm’s advice has been invaluable. The best part of it is the vocal/guitar live area – it’s like walking into the ‘zone of death’ – every sound seems to disappear into the walls before it has a chance to go anywhere near my ears or a mic. I’ve a little more rockwool to do but there's no rush for that.

Yours looking forward to wiring up my new desk now the looms have arrived,

S.

We had some friends come around last night. They said they were pulling out all the stops to get away for a party at the weekend, just the two of them, without kids. They were in the middle of arranging a host of baby sitters, people to walk the dog, people to take children to sports events and church meetings, friends were being put on their car insurance to make it happen etc etc. Texts were coming in and being sent the whole evening as their plans were coming together. Seemed to me like an awful lot of effort was going into just one weekend. So I was thinking – golly – YOU MUST REALLY WANT TO GO TO THIS PARTY. Turns out to be Daniel Beddingfield’s leaving party before he moves to LA.

OK, I get it.

Yours wishing them all a great time,

S.

I'm not normally one to look back over the past too much but I’ve been working on my catalogue the last few days and it's reminding me of so many wonderful cowriting moments. I’ve posted on my myspace a song that Joel and I wrote last May which came out of one of those moments. Such a cool idea which he should take total credit for. Thanks for letting me in on this one Joel.

It’s here.

Yours trying to remember feeling the sun on my face (it’s been far too long),

S.

It’s easy to think you’ve landed in tech nirvana moving to Mac after a life of PC-dom. There’s stuff Mac does so incredibly well.

But earlier this week my MacBook Pro got torched by the latest software update (10.4.9) Apple sent down the wire. It rendered my trackpad unusable and toasted my battery. I had to reinstall OS-X from the original install disks and buy a new battery.

It works now. When I phoned up Apple they said this latest update has bugs in it. Great. That’s not what I signed up for. After using Windows it has a familiar resonance.

I hope that with dropping the word ‘Computers’ from their name Apple isn't dropping the ball.

Yours feeling better about keeping my studio on PC now,

S.

I’m spending too much time in front of a screen: SongData, SongTools, backups, reinstalls, writing, composing, programming, recording, mixing, mastering, blogging, emailing, Skyping, iChatting, IM-ing, updating, reporting, modelling, musing, planning, scheduling, scanning, sharing, networking, catching up, knocking on doors, recovering Windows, rebooting, transferring, banking, booking, checking… the list goes on. Thank goodness it’s not possible to sleep in front of a screen.

Well, I say that…. we’re sleeping in the room with the big TV in it (a 42” plasma) and I left the remote control on the duvet… you got it, at 04:32 this morning I rolled over and the place lit up like a sunbed.

Yours thinking I’m going to spend a day with a pad, a pen and a piano tomorrow,

S.

Hey, got an email from Lenny LeBlanc today. That’s cool. He’s in South Africa on tour. COME TO LONDON LENNY!!!

Yours shamelessly name dropping on my blog because no one in Felpham will get exited about it,

S.

Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.

S.

I was starting to feel like I was loosing track of my cowrites – spreadsheets are ok but they are not built for the job. And let’s face it – they are a little ‘PC’. I knew that I had stuff I needed to do and I was worried that it was slipping through the cracks. One or two of my cowriters have been very patient. Thank you for that.

So I’ve created ‘SongData’. It’s a system for managing ideas, songs, worktapes and SIFs (Song Information Forms). In fact it produces SIFs automatically and writes an email ready to go to the BBMP mailbox. It tracks where I am with each cowrite, what I’ve written and with who, what’s got cut by what artist. It contains all the publishing info for all my cowriters and it’s a central database containing all the .pdfs, .mp3s and .doc files and even has pics of many of my cowriters!

It’s cool. At least I think it is. There are a couple of niggles I’m waiting to hear back from tech support about. And I’ve yet to test it out properly.

Some interesting stats have come out of it tho… I’ve cowritten 94 songs with 38 cowriters over the last 18 months! With a little tidying up of loose ends (mostly melody writing) I will have reached my quota for this year before stepping onto another plane. That feels good.

Anyway, when I go to Nashville next week, I’ll have to think of a present to take over for the person who I get to write my 100th song with!

Yours beginning to think it might have to be a video cowrite!

S.

Just got back from a wonderful weekend away, Sa and me, just the two of us, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa looking after the children. We escaped for a much needed break at a fantastic hotel in Taunton, in the West of England, called the Mount Somerset, which is a huge 1805 Italian-designed building that has been transformed into an elegant country house hotel, set in a tranquil estate with large luxury rooms and excellent food.

Taunton is a town where I not only went to school for 8 years but I returned to after university to train and work as an accountant (like a CPA) for 5 years. So there were more than a few times my mind tried to access old road maps, local facts, important conversations and memories of what life was like back then when I was in such a different place.

Although we didn’t run into them, I’m sure there are people there who are doing exactly the same thing they were doing back then, even after 20 years. I remember the guy who trained me complaining bitterly to management the day I gave in my notice to move to a job in London. For me it was the start of an adventure… for him it was an escape route he had not thought about.

At night, our hotel room had a magnificent view over the twinkling lights of the town against the dark backdrop of the Quantock hills. In the distance I could see cars weaving their way along the road I travelled to and from home, more times than I can calculate in my head. Last night, before we turned in, I looked out and thought about how different things are from the way they were back then. I’m truly grateful for the journey God has taken me on, every single twist and turn. And I’m grateful for the passion he gave me all that time ago to do what I am doing now as well as the sense of destiny that somehow, sometime I would end up in the place I find myself today.

Yours wondering if the rest of the stuff I now remember dreaming about back then will come true,

S.

Here's something for all my American friends - many of you ask what church is like over here and here is a lighthearted reflection on a regular Church of England (C of E) service...

CLICK HERE

S.

(thanks Mum)

Just got a new cell phone and found a way to get my Mac to browse the folders on my old one and copy over everything onto its hard drive using Bluetooth. There were about 30 musical ideas I'd captured on voicenotes before they evaporated into the atmosphere. Feel like I've found a £50 pound note in an old pair of jeans!

Yours glad to have Sa home on maternity leave (she's totally hyped up about having a year off prosecuting crims)

S.

One of the cool things about going to Nashville to write is the opportunity to work with artists. It’s slightly different from a regular cowrite and I’m still learning that skill but it's always great fun. During my first ever writing trip Holly and Joel West (who was at Word at the time) fixed it for me to write with one of his artist/writers, John Cox. The writing came easily and now, every time I’m in town, John and I make sure we hook up to write at least once. Normally I drive over to his house in the evening, we settle ourselves down in his shed with a small keyboard, his beautiful Larrivee guitar and SongTools and within an hour or so something wonderful appears.

The last time we wrote together (couple of weeks ago) he told me his new album has six of our songs on it. I feel privileged that he should use our songs.

Hearing the news of the storms in the US last night, I couldn’t help thinking of the lyric to one of the first songs we ever wrote together.


YOU ARE LOVED
Words and Music by John Cox & Simon Hawkins

Broken, all the pieces laying on the ground
Hoping that somehow they can all be found
Praying, wondering if the words you say are heard
Waiting, trying to see the lessons to be learned
Wherever you are you’re still His child

Chorus:
You are loved
Has anyone told you
You’re beautiful in the Father’s eyes
You are loved
Angels sing when they see you coming home
You were never meant to live in this world all alone
You are loved
You are loved

Longing for the day that He can dry your tears
Dreaming when you wake up He will find you here
Open there’s no way His arms could ever close
Chosen there’s no way He’ll ever let you go
Wherever you are you’re still His child

Chorus

Bridge:
And He’s running to you
With a robe and a ring
Saying “finally my child has come home
Welcome home”

Chorus

Here’s a link to John singing it live.

Ladies and gentlemen… I give you my friend, John Cox

CLICK HERE

S.

I’m on the train home from ‘Sounds Expo’ in London. It’s my annual pilgrimage to geekdom – a gathering of the acned and unwashed, all of whom share an unhealthy interest in spending large amounts of money on recording equipment! There were seminars, stands from manufacturers of mics, digital mixers, PA equipment, effects units, keyboards, processors… you get the picture.

Highlights of the day were chatting with Malcolm Toft (Hey Jude and all that) over lunch - he was there judging a production showcase – and there were two very cool workshops on recording and mixing. It’s always fun browsing through the stands and seeing what’s new as well.

This year was a little different tho’ – I’ve come home without spending a penny. I guess it’s partly because having yet another technical challenge is not what I’m into right now. But it's also partly about where the industry is right now. Malcolm put it very well over lunch when he said “it’s simple – you’ve just got to get a great sound going into the box… and that’s the way it’s been ever since the first commercial recording was made”.

It’s like the whole digital thing has now come full circle – people have cottoned on that digital can't do everything. And this seems to have stumped many manufacturers. So we are now seeing analogue manufacturers coming into the market big time. Some of the really big names are now making a really big come-back - Neave, SSL, UA etc.

So does this mean, having recently bought my ultimate analogue mixing desk, my own unhealthy interest in spending large amounts of money is coming to an end? Somehow I doubt it. But I think it does mean focusing more on artistry and crafting.

Yours looking forward to completing the studio rewire,

S.