FREYA has us awake at 6.30am – which means I get my sourdough in the oven at a decent time!
I’ve managed to get through a fair bit of work before my mid-morning Zoom guitar student.
Joel and Maggi stop by and drop off Rosie for Freya – she’s crazy about dogs – to look after for a few hours.
Margaret takes Freya and Rosie for a walk and a picnic while I get busy int eh studio.There a couple of videos I wanna get edited up which also gives me some extra content for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
There’s an order in for another leather bookmarks which I get busy with then Joel and Maggi come to collect Rosie and we have a coffee and a chat. Around the same time Will comes to get Freya.
I have time for a quick wander up the hill before the livestream…then dinner and some telly.
AFTER a lazy morning drinking coffee and dealing with emails and social media we have breakfast then I get busywith stuff.
First job is cleaning the grate from the smoker and some general tidying up outside.
With the release of Walk the Walk coming up on Friday (11 July) there’s another phase of work – website landing pages and a Spotify pre-save, prep for a preview release on Bandcamp, special media banners with links to the pre-save and a vertical edit of the video.
Then I create a teaser reel for all my socials.
Catriona arrives with Freya and we have a coffee then I finish off in the studio.
When the rain stops I take Freya or a walk then drop her at the house and wander a little more on my own.
ONCE the routine stuff’s done I get into the office and finishthe paperweight stands for Will. I bend the acrylic into shape with a heat gun – knowing when they’re reached optimum flexibility before melting is key.
There’s some other stuff I wanna do and need to try and get my head round 3D design tools – specifically Nomad Sculpture on the iPad. It’s complicated and daunting and I don’t; really know where to start.
I try and follow some ‘crash course’ tutorials but, as usual, there are some initial hurdles that go unexplained and make things difficult. Or maybe it’s just me!
The Stirling Observer has run the story and photo I sent from the community hydro society. I use the clipping to create graphic and share it on the hydro’s socials. At the same time I’m reminded that none of my fellow board members ever share or like the posts so I send a reminder round the group email and bump my gums about how the hydro socials need traction and if they can’t like and. Share how can they expect anyone else to do so.
A courier drops off some locking tuners and power pins from music supplier Thomann so I set about fitting out the ‘Frankencaster’ acoustasonic that I put together as a ‘house guitar’.
It’s been a miserable day outside and I’ve not managed to get out for a walk or anything before I light a chimney full of charcoal and prepare the grill for Vietnamese beef.
The leather bookmarks are now on general sale here
THERE’S a bunch of the Conic Hill bookmarks to be finished for various pick ups and online orders that need to go out today. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the interest in them.
In between finishing stages I finish off some other orders and make progress on others.
I’m only just finished when a customer drops by to pick up a couple of the bookmarks and then I get a call to meet another customer in the village with a whole batch of them.
We need some shopping and I’d planned to go into Glasgow but by the time I have gig posters, album promo packs and various merch orders all packed up with postage labels I’m short of time so take them to Balloch and pick up the essentials.
Back home I finish off the promo work for next week’s release of Walk the Walk then Betty arrives to join us for dinner.
Packaging stickers and paper weight stands for Manson Glass…
A BIT of a rush to get over to the studio and set up for my first online session of the day.
We’re trying out an app called JackTrip to get around the audio latency using Zoom, A test at the weekend has both myself and my student optimistic that it’ll work.
It does, and we’re able to work much more closely.
As we finish the session my in-person guitar student rocks up. Right after she leaves I have another online session…then the lessons are done for the day.
I have a load of the bookmarks to get done and the positive has delivered some leather supplies so I get busy with that.
I also have an order in for a couple of sets of slate coasters and there’s a big batch of packaging stickers and paperweight stands to be done for son-in-law Will (Manson Glass). And, of course, everything’s urgent.
In between setting up machines and running jobs I get the smoker fired up and a bacon-wrapped pork loin on the go for tonight’s dinner…Barbara and Thorsten are coming along.
I make good progress on everything and even manage to get some radio promo done for next Friday’s release of Walk the Walk before our dinner guests arrive.
I’VE just finished a load of online stuff when a courier drops off an order of materials, including some clear acrylic.
Will needs a load of paperweight stands made up and I ran out of acrylic. After cutting the big sheets to size I set about making the stands.
In the studio I prepare a news release for next Friday’s (11 July) release of Walk the Walk. That also includes private streaming links and access to an assets folder with tagged .wav and .mp3 versions of the track, a lo-res preview version of the video, cover art and the news release. Phew.
My afternoon guitar student has brought this electric guitar so I take him to the studio for the lesson…tight for space, but I manage to squeeze him and his mum into the control room with me.
An email comes in from another Kickstarter backer in Germany…another package hasn’t shown up and sent it on 2 June. I check the tracking and – like the other one that has ‘gone missing’ – seems it hasn’t made it past our sorting office. I’ll send another package off tomorrow.
Finally I get ready for a paddle. Fiona rocks up and we spend a good hour or two on the loch.
The leather Conic Hill bookmark! Available to order here
A NEW trustee on the local community trust drops by to get a photo taken for the website then I get online for a session with a Zoom guitar student.
My OCD has me messing with potential finishes for the Conic Hill leather bookmark. I get a version I like and decide to make it available in the West Highland Way Gifts’ online store.
I have a load of other stuff to get through in the office and eventually get to the studio to prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
AFTER breakfast burritos in the garden I get busy with some work.
There’s some design and production considerations for a short run of bookmarks.
Before I start messing with artwork I need to known the format the customer would like…and also what kind of leather, faux leather etc he would like.
I outline some options and fire off an email then label up the replacement Kickstarter package to go to Germany.
In the studio I look out the window various ‘bits’ of the defunct acoustasonic and try matching things until I get a workable outcome.
It works and although the guitar couldn’t be sold with the drill mess at the neck joint it’s stable enough and everything works 🙂
I order a set of locking tuners and power points for the bridge.
A reply from the bookmark client gives me a heads up on design. I trawl through some photos I have of Conic Hill but none are suitable…it’s not windy so I stick the drone up and grab a snap to use as a reference for the graphics. I also snap an aerial pic of Balmaha bay.
Nice to catch up with Phyllis and a bunch of other folks at the village hall’s centenary event
AFTER our breakfast burritos– been a while since I made ’em – I get busy with emails and stuff.
A message from a Kickstarter backer in Germany tells me her reward package hasn’t shown up.
I investigate and see it was sent internationally tracked on 2 June…tracking shows it’s never made it past Glasgow! I can’t raise a claim until 20 days after latest promise delivery date (?!?!?) and experience tells me it can take 30 days more just to have the claim acknowledged.
It’s not the customer’s fault so I let them know what’s happened and get a replacement package sorted to go to the post office on Monday.
Our village hall has a 100th anniversary celebration event – not really my cup ’o tea but important to show some support – so I take a walk along. Margaret’s gonna drive so I’ll see her there.
I spend what turns out to be a nice hour or two catching up with folks then wander home.
In the studio I tackle the Still Friends compilation video that wouldn’t render yesterday. After a lot of trial and error I find one clip that’s causing the problem. A short 15-second clip from a show at Kilmaronock Old Kirk.
I reimported the video but the same thing happens so I end up having to replace it before re-doing the end credits sequence with lists all the venues in the video. I deleted it yesterday thinking that was what was causing the problem.
Upon done, I go back to the house light a chimney-full time touring musician, singer/songwriter of charcoal and prepared to make smash burgers for dinner. Nice.
