I’m finally back home in Brighton after two tours in a row, playing with two bands on each of them. I’ve just done the maths and worked out I played forty-three live sets in twenty-nine days with five different bands.

First was the tour of Europe with Sons of Noel and Adrian and Eyes & No Eyes. These are two bands where I get to make an exceedingly large amount of very loud noise, which is always fun. We started in London then went through Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, trying and succeeding to maintain what others might dismiss as an unsustainable level of fun. The shows were fantastic and driving around the alps was absolutely stunning.

After an exceptionally long drive we arrived back in Brighton and Willy Mason was already waiting for me… we had a quick pint, a short sleep, then did two days of hard rehearsing. It was remarkably easy to get the songs up and running despite the fact that drummer Felix Weldon and I had never met the the other guys in our transatlantic group – Gardner Allen (keys), Nina Violet (viola) and Farley Glavin (guitar). We had some great extended psychedelic jams and drank a lot of Orangina.

The next day was a long one too, as I played with Sons of Noel and Adrian, Eyes and No Eyes and the great Damo Suzuki at the Green Door Store. It was a fantastic night, you can hear a recording of the Damo set below and there are plenty of videos on YouTube too.

Then the next day another long hard rehearsal, made better by the fantastic home made sandwiches at Brighton Electric, then off on tour the next day. As well as playing with Willy, Felix and I were supporting with our band The Mariner’s Children. Shortly after the doors opened for the first show in Portsmouth, I was delighted to learn that the opening solo act for the whole tour, Siobhan Wilson, was astounding. A wonderful, effortless voice and great songs, keep an eye out for here.

The unsustainable level of fun was once again maintained across a really enjoyable run of dates around the UK and Ireland. This was due in no small part to the omnipotence of tour manager Mido and the high spirits of lampy Tom Laurent.

On our return to London we still had the EP launch for the new release from The Mariner’s Children to do. It took place at The Lexington and went off without a hitch – expect videos soon.

Got back late on Monday night after that one, had a whole day off, now I’m very much looking forward to playing with Emma Gatrill supporting Tiny Ruins tonight at The Hope.