summer!

hey SDC! how are you my angels?

we’re half way through july, I can barely believe it. I hope these sunnier months are treating y'all well (apart from you aussie/NZ folk living down there in oppositeland). delighted to report I’ve been really having a summer this year which I didn’t really experience in ‘24 (a combo of big sad life things + mad album 2 promo mode). I’ve been playing ultimate frisbee, going away for pleasure (not just business - big) and swimming in multiple seas and rivers (love). I don’t want to jinx it but I feel like I may actually be experiencing ‘chill’ for the first time in years?

freelancer guilt sometimes creeps in.. the fear of slowing down & losing momentum, the fear of slipping immediately into obscure musical irrelevance.. on the less sunny days it lingers at the back of the mind like an unwelcome visitor. the current landscape seems to reward artists who are constantly churning new music out, constantly online and it feels like that pressure to maintain consistent, relentless output is only becoming more & more extreme over time (maybe thanks to the algorithms we’re all at the mercy of.. boring).

half of me wants to keep up and the other half wants to hold back & protect myself. right now I have the energy for it, the willingness to hustle and a manageable amount of comfort in being away a lot - all resources I’m acutely aware are not infinite. but like with the pursuit of anything endless, the threat of burnout always looms! in these uncertain moments I take some comfort in the idea of my career/artist journey as a marathon & not a sprint (as it has been so far). taking breaks (though it sometimes kills meeee) feels like the only way to do this sustainably. it fills the soul back up, gives you fuel in the tank for the next big push and - perhaps most crucially - gives you more to write about! I have to live some life to have some life to write about. so that’s what I’m trying to do

next week I’ll head home for a week or so with the fam before I head over to the states - baby’s first US festivals and baby’s first proper support tour, 7 shows across the states with glass animals :) I’ve been a support act in the past but always on tours where I’m friends with the headliner and often to audiences where part of them know my music already. so this upcoming tour will be the big boy leagues! every show as one giant audition! playing on an introductory 30-min power set, all killer no filler is a skill I don’t feel I currently have but one I know I will in a few weeks time. a new semester in the school of rock begins

writing-wise I’m in my favourite phase - I’ve got about 4 half songs on the go at all times and I follow my nose with it, dipping in and out of each when I feel compelled, more offshoot ideas popping up all the time. the form of the next project remains totally unclear but it’s exciting - it’s really all to play for. I want to listen to more music I’ve not heard before - has anyone got a song to recommend? something you love - something you always come back to! I’m buzzed to continue writing across this tour and jump into it even more intentionally when I return : )

well, that’s it for now folks. some song ideas coming your way when I have em!

love love,

OGx