Over the top

As I walked from Fiona's house to Hove Station this morning, I felt a little like I was going over the top. Today was destined to be a long, somewhat dangerous, uphill climb, which would see us shot at by enemy snipers and blinded by the sun...

The day was long, deeply stressful and in the end, not quite the success we'd hoped it would be. We worked solidly for twelve hours with two short breaks for delicious food provided by PK's Olivia. The thing about sound work is that you simply can't do it for too long. The ears start playing tricks and everything begins to sound really weird.

Our revised deadline for finishing the mixes was tomorrow morning. We're plainly going to miss that, but frankly I would miss every deadline in the world for an album which everyone feels proud of. We're cusping at the moment on the edge of something remarkable, and I can't jeopardise that for the sake of a few days, because without careful attention our amazing album could drift into the world of just not being that good. I also don't want to kill PK who hasn't slept for a week just because of Brass and the mammoth aural task it's presented him with.

So, anyway, instead of working through the night, I pulled the plug on the session at 10pm, postponed the mastering, cancelled all my London meetings tomorrow (for a second day) and went back to Fiona's, wondering if the T-shirt I bought yesterday would do for another day!

I feel greatly relieved if I'm honest - although still hugely stressed because we're still not quite out of the trees. I have to deal with the issue that the physical CDs might not actually be ready for our special launch party... I have to keep telling myself that everyone will still be able to hear the tracks on a stereo at the party, and, frankly, delayed-gratification has featured rather strongly in the journey towards the completion of this CD!

So anyway, I'm downloading the rushes from Sunday's shoot, watching Only Connect on something like Dave, and before I know it, I'll be asleep...

Philippa called from A and E last night, where she'd taken her daughter, my goddaughter, Silver, who had a rash and a high temperature. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be anything badly wrong. In fact, Philippa sent me a text at about 2am, which was so amusing, I thought it ought to be quoted in full...

"Silver totally fine. No meningitis or blood tests. She was delighted with the whole experience and proudly told the young man doctor "mummy's got some nice boobs." When he asked the name of her teddy bear she replied 'Boiled'"!!