DC Diary

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9th August 2011

I suppose we all do what we like most and spend less time on the things that seem not so interesting.
That's how it is with my music - I enjoy playing, composing and improvising but I am not so interested in editing, compiling, mixing and mastering. The result is that I have accumulated a lot of recorded material which needs turning into releasable music and I am now looking for a person (or 2) to collaborate with. This is not going to be an instant money-spinner. I am looking for someone who is genuinely interested in my music and thinks they can add a creative musical dimension to what I do through the production process.
If you live in or near London and are interested in working with me
please send a CV to Noisy Records (mail@david-cross.com) and put Collaboration in the subject box.

We made good time from Rome and arrived at our hotel to find that Mick and Alex had still not arrived from Bologna. The missing keyboard was not on the delayed flight but would come the next day. That meant an early start for Alex to drive the 240k round trip to the airport and back. Meanwhile the rest of us settled in to do some practice and enjoy a cappuccino in Lucca - except that it wasn't Lucca (as we found out about 12 hours after arriving!) but a town called Montecatini Terme. This is a spa town full of hotels and tourists. Craig managed to find an ice cold swimming pool which helped to ease a pulled muscle in his back. At 4 pm we headed off for Lucca, which turned out to be a real treat. The town is built around a circular Roman amphitheatre and the streets are arranged in a circle around this with roads running like spokes out from the centre. There is a totally intact medieval wall surrounding the entire town. We played in the amphitheatre - now a town 'square'. We changed the opening of the set which gave me a chance to use a great new octave drop sound I've been working on - it puts my 5 string violin at the same pitch as a 'cello. Great concert - fantastic reception. There were some English people in the audience - 2 bass players from London (and cruise ships) on a motorbike holiday, a tv producer from south London and someone from Basildon who had gone to the same school as our singer Jinian plus at least one Japanese - the amazingly loyal and enthusiastic Tomoko, president of the DCB fan club.
The return flights are even more bizarre than the journey from Gatwick. Paul, Craig and Jinian all have get up at 4 am to drive in one van to Rome for an 11 am flight and the rest of us leave at 11 am for flights at 5 and 6 pm (I'm the last one out on a flight on my own). Mick and Alex are flying to Heathrow (although their cars are parked at Gatwick!) The drive through the hills of Tuscany is green and quite relaxing.. .

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Four of us on a delayed flight from Gatwick to Rome. They threaten to let Paul's guitars come out of the carousel but relent and send a message to Rome so that someone is waiting to give them to him as he steps off the plane. We leave Mick and Alex at Gatwick because they're catching a later flight to Bologna. Alex's Keyboard does not arrive so they have to wait for it to come on the next flight. At least they only have a 2 hour drive to Lucca - we've got to schlep for 5 hours to get there. Paul is trying to keep Mirco the driver awake by telling him all about his guitars - oddly it seems to be working. Paul says he might have a small beer when he gets to the hotel...

David Cross Music		DC's Diary ( Monthly report...)		David Cross


31 July 2011
We made good time from Rome and arrived at our hotel to find that Mick and Alex had still not arrived from Bologna. The missing keyboard was not on the delayed flight but would come the next day. That meant an early start for Alex to drive the 240k round trip to the airport and back. Meanwhile the rest of us settled in to do some practice and enjoy a cappuccino in Lucca - except that it wasn't Lucca (as we found out about 12 hours after arriving!) but a town called Montecatini Terme. This is a spa town full of hotels and tourists. Craig managed to find an ice cold swimming pool which helped to ease a pulled muscle in his back. At 4 pm we headed off for Lucca, which turned out to be a real treat. The town is built around a circular Roman amphitheatre and the streets are arranged in a circle around this with roads running like spokes out from the centre. There is a totally intact medieval wall surrounding the entire town. We played in the amphitheatre - now a town 'square'. We changed the opening of the set which gave me a chance to use a great new octave drop sound I've been working on - it puts my 5 string violin at the same pitch as a 'cello. Great concert - fantastic reception. There were some English people in the audience - 2 bass players from London (and cruise ships) on a motorbike holiday, a tv producer from south London and someone from Basildon who had gone to the same school as our singer Jinian plus at least one Japanese - the amazingly loyal and enthusiastic Tomoko, president of the DCB fan club. The return flights are even more bizarre than the journey from Gatwick. Paul, Craig and Jinian all have get up at 4 am to drive in one van to Rome for an 11 am flight and the rest of us leave at 11 am for flights at 5 and 6 pm (I'm the last one out on a flight on my own). Mick and Alex are flying to Heathrow (although their cars are parked at Gatwick!) The drive through the hills of Tuscany is green and quite relaxing.. .


29th July 2011
. Four of us on a delayed flight from Gatwick to Rome. They threaten to let Paul's guitars come out of the carousel but relent and send a message to Rome so that someone is waiting to give them to him as he steps off the plane. We leave Mick and Alex at Gatwick because they're catching a later flight to Bologna. Alex's Keyboard does not arrive so they have to wait for it to come on the next flight. At least they only have a 2 hour drive to Lucca - we've got to schlep for 5 hours to get there. Paul is trying to keep Mirco the driver awake by telling him all about his guitars - oddly it seems to be working. Paul says he might have a small beer when he gets to the hotel...