Of June…

The month started a theme that would play out over the course of the month. I’ve spent a lot of time this month feeling rather nostalgic for my younger years –the 1990s in particular.

The 90s were where my lifelong love affair with metal really started to build, the band Fear Factory in particular. My best mate and I would listen to their legendary second album Demanufacture over and over. We’d also watch Terminator 2 rather a lot, which was sampled liberally by Fear Factory on that album.

Metal inevitably led me to buy my first guitar and teach myself to play it. I got myself up to a reasonable standard before briefly joining a band. However, the band had trouble nailing down a drummer, so with money I had in savings I bought a drum kit…and taught myself to play that.

The band I was in recorded a few demos, played a number of gigs in Cardiff and Swansea, including Clwb Ifor Bach, Sams Bar and Swansea University but eventually fizzled out as my interest waned and the others shifted towards electro-pop. They were good times, but this year has reminded me just how much music has been a part of my life.

Fear Factory actually released another album this month –Aggression Continuum. Fittingly, it’s the last album with the original vocalist, as he’s had quite enough of the drama that has been unfolding behind the scenes since Fear Factory’s inception, but it’s an excellent way for him to bow out. A good album.

Frustratingly, I had quite a few days this month where my brain and I weren’t on speaking terms. I didn’t get out anywhere as much as I should have and I paid for that.

The good news is I did get my second vaccination, so that’s comforting. Once the slight weariness has worn off I’ll hopefully start venturing further from the house. I’m well into the stage where I have to check I’m not posting photos that look like ones I’ve already taken.

When you stay within the same area it’s easy to fall into the trap of taking the easy options and sticking with what you know. The hard part is looking at things in a different way.

Ah well, on with July then…