5.30 am: I was too awake to fall asleep again. And then there was outstanding business from yesterday evening to deal with. I made a large mug of tea and got down to it, with the prospect of breakfast ahead of me as an incentive. 8.00 am: Following the morning’s ‘get yourself together, lad’ routine, and a restorative bowl of porridge, I attended to research admin: emails and the updating of my main website, ‘John Harvey‘.

I’d been engaged in an email conversation with a student of jazz improvisation at a prestigious music school in London. Explaining my position – somewhere between fine art and music – has never been straightforward. The latest bid:

I’m not sure whether I’d call myself a musician. (Although others have done so.) To do so may give rise to expectations that I can’t presently fulfil. My sound practice arises out of fine art. The electro-acoustic work is, in essence, a translation of painterly and collagist sensibilities and procedures into a sonic field. Admittedly, the outcome can sometimes appear musical. At other times, the work inclines towards pure sound and noise. Neither would I regard myself as a ‘performer’, as such. I’m more comfortable with the appellation ‘presenter’.  My public engagements are of two types. First, there’re sessions in which I can be observed making. (In that respect, these occasions are not unlike live improvisation.) Secondly, there are presentations of pre-ordained compositions, usually in the context of a lecture about my work and its contexts.

Now that the three CDs dedicated websites were complete, I could insert links to them on the main website:

All that remained was to get the main website up to speed with my professional life. (I spoke too soon.) The latest version of the WordPress software proved to be a challenge. ‘Things aren’t quite the same’, to quote Lou Reed. I sought help, while continuing to do what was still possible to do. And in doing what was possible, I discovered a solution for myself. (Isn’t that the way of things.)

Crimson Guitars had returned my RF Custom electric guitar, following a major upgrade. A new Graphic Tech Ghost tremolo, with midi capability, has been installed. The luthiers performed a craftsman-like job. And the electrics had been checked too. They’re hideously complicated. No other guitar technician will touch them. I look forward to taking her on a test-run this weekend:

It’s far more rewarding to solve your own problems that to be told the solution. In arriving at the answer we often discern broader principles and methods along the way, which enable us to workout how to resolve other types of problems later on. That realisation is short-circuited when the remedy is dropped in our lap.

Throughout the day I chiselled away at the inconsistencies in, and the inadequacies of, the website’s formatting, while inserting images, texts, and hyperlinks, and sighing a great deal at just how large and complex the website had grown. (I hope someone is going to maintain this after I’m gone.)

7.30 pm: The production of sound clips (teasers) for the new CD’s tracks. The process of updating the website had speeded up. Most of the trickier problems, resolved. I was now on top of it all at last.