Thursday, December 13, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
Into December !!
hmm, well some houses seem to have put up thier pathetic christmas lights so it cant be far away now!
I've just had a pretty amazing, challenging, knackering and inspiring weekend...
First of all Friday night, i spent in Bury St Edmunds with my old friend Hannah,
she is an amazing person, used to be a christian but has fallen away, and yet in almost everything she says, its almost like theres still something inside of her clinging onto it. Had many many powerful chats with her over the years. My conclusion with her is that its no longer my job to save her, because only she and God can do that, which is a bit of a relief really, all i can do is be there for her, which i will continue to do.
I trust Gods got it sorted, so its over to Him...
Saturday started poorly with a 7-2 trashing for my football team, but its ok cause its all about the taking part...
Saturday evening was Sophie from Collectives leaving do, in which me, Dad, Jason and Tom performed one of thier dances,
after 2 months practice, my word we were good!
Sunday morning saw the return of the PA guy inside Dan! as David was drumming, enjoyed it alot! gave the skin on my hands a breather as some of it was starting to fall off....opps..
Then Sunday evening Thre3 played at Clacton Elim, quite simply the nicest bunch of people you will ever met, the pastor is a bald scotish bolk called steve, total legend.
It was a baptism service so there were lots of people there.
It was an amazing night, we were blessed, they were blessed, God was blessed, everyone is a winner!
This is a church where a drum kit is a bit of an alian feature in worship, and some of the older members wernt to sure when they walked in to see Jason and Lee's amps stacked as high as the people playing them.
But such was the atmosphere of excitment in that place before we had played one note, that the whole place just went for it, and the singing from the church almost drowned us out, which is a hard thing to do!
Loved it there, cant wait to go back
Playing at Essex Uni this Wed with the Xalt band and next Wed with Thre3,
Drumming tonight, obv Wed, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday morning, Monday night and then Wed again. Thank You God.
I've just had a pretty amazing, challenging, knackering and inspiring weekend...
First of all Friday night, i spent in Bury St Edmunds with my old friend Hannah,
she is an amazing person, used to be a christian but has fallen away, and yet in almost everything she says, its almost like theres still something inside of her clinging onto it. Had many many powerful chats with her over the years. My conclusion with her is that its no longer my job to save her, because only she and God can do that, which is a bit of a relief really, all i can do is be there for her, which i will continue to do.
I trust Gods got it sorted, so its over to Him...
Saturday started poorly with a 7-2 trashing for my football team, but its ok cause its all about the taking part...
Saturday evening was Sophie from Collectives leaving do, in which me, Dad, Jason and Tom performed one of thier dances,
after 2 months practice, my word we were good!
Sunday morning saw the return of the PA guy inside Dan! as David was drumming, enjoyed it alot! gave the skin on my hands a breather as some of it was starting to fall off....opps..
Then Sunday evening Thre3 played at Clacton Elim, quite simply the nicest bunch of people you will ever met, the pastor is a bald scotish bolk called steve, total legend.
It was a baptism service so there were lots of people there.
It was an amazing night, we were blessed, they were blessed, God was blessed, everyone is a winner!
This is a church where a drum kit is a bit of an alian feature in worship, and some of the older members wernt to sure when they walked in to see Jason and Lee's amps stacked as high as the people playing them.
But such was the atmosphere of excitment in that place before we had played one note, that the whole place just went for it, and the singing from the church almost drowned us out, which is a hard thing to do!
Loved it there, cant wait to go back
Playing at Essex Uni this Wed with the Xalt band and next Wed with Thre3,
Drumming tonight, obv Wed, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday morning, Monday night and then Wed again. Thank You God.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Update.
Quite alot has happened since my last blog...
A general update however would be...
Things are going really really well with my new band Thre3, since leading at xalt, we have been busy practicing and writing new songs, which is very exciting!
We spent a weekend at Mill End Baptist church in Rickmansworth on the 17th and 18th of November, hosting a worship training weekend for thier worship team.
The whole weekend was such a blessing, both for them as a team and for us as a band, God broke through some barriers during our time with them and during the Sunday morning worship there was a great sense of freedom. It was a real turning point for their church, and we feel SO blessed that God is using us in this way.
Counting down the days now till we get into Jasons new studio!! which he is building in his garden, as soon as thats ready we will start working and recoring our first EP. Which is very exciting!!!
This sunday night we will be playing at Clacton Elim, for thier baptism service. I cant wait to be there, they are such an awesome bunch of people. Me and Jas went there last Sunday night just to say hello, and everyone seemed so pleased that we were going to be playing there next week, a really humbeling feeling...
Then 2 weeks after that on the 12th of December we are playing at Essex Uni!!
In a bar called Level 2. This is both scary and amazing at the same time!
(If you wanted to come there should be some details on our facebook page)
so yeh thats about it for now, ill let you know how it goes!
A general update however would be...
Things are going really really well with my new band Thre3, since leading at xalt, we have been busy practicing and writing new songs, which is very exciting!
We spent a weekend at Mill End Baptist church in Rickmansworth on the 17th and 18th of November, hosting a worship training weekend for thier worship team.
The whole weekend was such a blessing, both for them as a team and for us as a band, God broke through some barriers during our time with them and during the Sunday morning worship there was a great sense of freedom. It was a real turning point for their church, and we feel SO blessed that God is using us in this way.
Counting down the days now till we get into Jasons new studio!! which he is building in his garden, as soon as thats ready we will start working and recoring our first EP. Which is very exciting!!!
This sunday night we will be playing at Clacton Elim, for thier baptism service. I cant wait to be there, they are such an awesome bunch of people. Me and Jas went there last Sunday night just to say hello, and everyone seemed so pleased that we were going to be playing there next week, a really humbeling feeling...
Then 2 weeks after that on the 12th of December we are playing at Essex Uni!!
In a bar called Level 2. This is both scary and amazing at the same time!
(If you wanted to come there should be some details on our facebook page)
so yeh thats about it for now, ill let you know how it goes!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Sept blog 2
The last few weeks has been both challenging and rewarding...
As 'Three' we have been meeting up at least twice a week to play through songs and play about with ideas ect its been really cool building up this sound.
We led at xalt with 2 days planning, in which time we wrote and recorded 3 backing tracks, which is if you think about it, pretty darn fast.
The night of Xalt was deff a learning curve! It was the first time we had led at anything that big and the first time we had ever played using backing tracks, so of course it wasnt perfect, but the general sound coming from the band was a very full, whole sound, which is what we had been trying to achive.
Am now very excited about the prospect of us writing some new tunes and playing them around the town, there seems to be a real buzz about what we are doing at the mo.
Who knows what will happen next!!
(and thanks to laura who sung with us)
As 'Three' we have been meeting up at least twice a week to play through songs and play about with ideas ect its been really cool building up this sound.
We led at xalt with 2 days planning, in which time we wrote and recorded 3 backing tracks, which is if you think about it, pretty darn fast.
The night of Xalt was deff a learning curve! It was the first time we had led at anything that big and the first time we had ever played using backing tracks, so of course it wasnt perfect, but the general sound coming from the band was a very full, whole sound, which is what we had been trying to achive.
Am now very excited about the prospect of us writing some new tunes and playing them around the town, there seems to be a real buzz about what we are doing at the mo.
Who knows what will happen next!!
(and thanks to laura who sung with us)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sept so far
Right well, lots to say...
Aug was good.
Xalt at the end of it was interesting in parts and good in others!
now for the 'news'
At the end of Aug i went to wales, but we went via Manchester as i was appying for a charity called Innervation Trust as a drummer in a new schools rock band. Which would be based in Manchester, and so would be moving away. I decided not to tell anyone at this point as i had no idea what the outcome would be and i didnt wanna scare people! lol
The interview with Mark Pennells and Zarc Porter went very well, i did a little bit of drumming and a bit of an interview, which both were good.
For the following 2 weeks I was still keeping it quiet, you know, just in case, i really wasnt sure what the chances of me getting it was.
This morning i got a letter telling me i didnt get in.
Which at first was a bit annoying, as im sure you can imagine, but as the day went on i started to think about stuff and maybe this wasnt right for me, and am now quite excited as to what plans God and Colchester has in store for me now as this is where im staying...for now : )
Me Jason and Lee are just starting up a band, we have no idea what we are called, what we are playing and where we will play, but it really has a buzz of possibility to it, so i'm looking forward to seeing what happens there!
Plus i still seem to be getting asked to play in churches all across the town (insaine i know!) which is really rather cool and not something i should be taking for granted.
and finally, I really recommend checking out this band, One Eskimo.
I saw them support Faithless and they are simply fantastic.
so, sorry Colchester, you havent got rid of me yet....
Aug was good.
Xalt at the end of it was interesting in parts and good in others!
now for the 'news'
At the end of Aug i went to wales, but we went via Manchester as i was appying for a charity called Innervation Trust as a drummer in a new schools rock band. Which would be based in Manchester, and so would be moving away. I decided not to tell anyone at this point as i had no idea what the outcome would be and i didnt wanna scare people! lol
The interview with Mark Pennells and Zarc Porter went very well, i did a little bit of drumming and a bit of an interview, which both were good.
For the following 2 weeks I was still keeping it quiet, you know, just in case, i really wasnt sure what the chances of me getting it was.
This morning i got a letter telling me i didnt get in.
Which at first was a bit annoying, as im sure you can imagine, but as the day went on i started to think about stuff and maybe this wasnt right for me, and am now quite excited as to what plans God and Colchester has in store for me now as this is where im staying...for now : )
Me Jason and Lee are just starting up a band, we have no idea what we are called, what we are playing and where we will play, but it really has a buzz of possibility to it, so i'm looking forward to seeing what happens there!
Plus i still seem to be getting asked to play in churches all across the town (insaine i know!) which is really rather cool and not something i should be taking for granted.
and finally, I really recommend checking out this band, One Eskimo.
I saw them support Faithless and they are simply fantastic.
so, sorry Colchester, you havent got rid of me yet....
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
August
So, where is the sun this year??
The end of July was Xalt, which could have been a come down after a massive BeXalted weekend followed by a week of Momentum, but it still had its spark, inculding us doing Shine Jesus Shine, twice!
Infact this Xalt was for me really cool, i was able to just be a bit more free with my playing, and not have to feel like i have to be anyone else behind the kit.
As a result i think it was prob the best drumming i had done in my life lol so thats gotta tell me something!
I turned 21!!! (dosnt feel any differnt haha)
Just to keep you updated, my ride cymbal is now a 22" A Custom, and it sounds awesome!
Xalt in 2 weeks!
The end of July was Xalt, which could have been a come down after a massive BeXalted weekend followed by a week of Momentum, but it still had its spark, inculding us doing Shine Jesus Shine, twice!
Infact this Xalt was for me really cool, i was able to just be a bit more free with my playing, and not have to feel like i have to be anyone else behind the kit.
As a result i think it was prob the best drumming i had done in my life lol so thats gotta tell me something!
I turned 21!!! (dosnt feel any differnt haha)
Just to keep you updated, my ride cymbal is now a 22" A Custom, and it sounds awesome!
Xalt in 2 weeks!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
July... Continued...
I'm not going to be able to write everything, but I'll give it a go...
After a big faff about with some drum shops, i finally have a new ride cymbal! its a 22" A custom ride, and its emmence haha i love it.
On the 13th,14th and 15th of July was BeXalted in the Arts Centre...
The Xalt band played on the Saturday night and it was a fantastic evening, for the first time, during the sound check, Kristian actually asked for more of me in the foldback!! haha!
It was a fantastic experience to finaly be playing in a venue where im not always being told im too loud, felt alot more able to just do what i wanted and not always be wonderin and I too loud?! so that was good.
Sunday morning we had church there aswell which was good, Jas played bass, hes getting better and better!
This week i have just got back from Momentum, where there was 4 thousand people packed into a warehouse praising God, always a great experience.
Once again after watching Paul Evans (the drummer) i am feeling very inspired and i seem to learn loads after watching him.
im guna stop there cause otherwise what i say wont make sense...
Drumming in the town centre on lion walk this sat afternoon, 1 - 3pm.
then at Elim from 4pm
Xalt starts at 8pm.
bak at Elim Sunday at 9am.
After a big faff about with some drum shops, i finally have a new ride cymbal! its a 22" A custom ride, and its emmence haha i love it.
On the 13th,14th and 15th of July was BeXalted in the Arts Centre...
The Xalt band played on the Saturday night and it was a fantastic evening, for the first time, during the sound check, Kristian actually asked for more of me in the foldback!! haha!
It was a fantastic experience to finaly be playing in a venue where im not always being told im too loud, felt alot more able to just do what i wanted and not always be wonderin and I too loud?! so that was good.
Sunday morning we had church there aswell which was good, Jas played bass, hes getting better and better!
This week i have just got back from Momentum, where there was 4 thousand people packed into a warehouse praising God, always a great experience.
Once again after watching Paul Evans (the drummer) i am feeling very inspired and i seem to learn loads after watching him.
im guna stop there cause otherwise what i say wont make sense...
Drumming in the town centre on lion walk this sat afternoon, 1 - 3pm.
then at Elim from 4pm
Xalt starts at 8pm.
bak at Elim Sunday at 9am.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
July so far.
man its been busy!
Was drumming last Sunday night at kingsland, went alright.
This morning was good, had full band back at elim, jason is gettin very good now on bass, drums and bass sounding very good together.
Time is limited now with working and doing stuff every night of the week to keep this updated but ill do my best : )
Got a practice for BeXalted on tues, then Friday night is the start of fun!
Xalt night on the Saturday should be good, new ride cymbal arriving this week, you should see the stand its going on! its huge!!
Having church in the arts centre on Sunday morning aswell which should be really good, if your not doing anything Sunday morning i invite you to come and be a part of it!!
will prob hav alot to say after bexalted lol
then its momentum
then Xalt.
Was drumming last Sunday night at kingsland, went alright.
This morning was good, had full band back at elim, jason is gettin very good now on bass, drums and bass sounding very good together.
Time is limited now with working and doing stuff every night of the week to keep this updated but ill do my best : )
Got a practice for BeXalted on tues, then Friday night is the start of fun!
Xalt night on the Saturday should be good, new ride cymbal arriving this week, you should see the stand its going on! its huge!!
Having church in the arts centre on Sunday morning aswell which should be really good, if your not doing anything Sunday morning i invite you to come and be a part of it!!
will prob hav alot to say after bexalted lol
then its momentum
then Xalt.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
24th 25th
Sunday morning saw the return of the drums to Elim!!! yay!!
After our 4 week period of having a 'stripped down' time of worship, last Sunday morning was back to being a little louder.
We had just drums bass and guitar, but we had such freedom during the worship, and it was awesome to see everyone just going for it, felt like we were back.
In the evening me jason and dad helped out joey, who was leading worship, at St Johns church, Jason was playing electric, for one of the first times in a 'proper' service, but the sounds he was creating were just amazing, really does go to show that it dosnt have to be complicated to be effective.
Monday night the Xalt band led at Kingsland for the final night of the Equipping the levites series, again there was an amazing freedom within the band, and in the 2nd set after the talk there was some unreal moments of ppl just shouting out and dancing and all sorts, an amazing energy was in the room ( i was knackered afterwards!! lol) but every member of the band was totally just lost in worship, in fact i think every1 is the room was. An amazing end to an amazing month....xalt on saturday : )
ps book for bexalted!!
www.bexalted.co.uk
After our 4 week period of having a 'stripped down' time of worship, last Sunday morning was back to being a little louder.
We had just drums bass and guitar, but we had such freedom during the worship, and it was awesome to see everyone just going for it, felt like we were back.
In the evening me jason and dad helped out joey, who was leading worship, at St Johns church, Jason was playing electric, for one of the first times in a 'proper' service, but the sounds he was creating were just amazing, really does go to show that it dosnt have to be complicated to be effective.
Monday night the Xalt band led at Kingsland for the final night of the Equipping the levites series, again there was an amazing freedom within the band, and in the 2nd set after the talk there was some unreal moments of ppl just shouting out and dancing and all sorts, an amazing energy was in the room ( i was knackered afterwards!! lol) but every member of the band was totally just lost in worship, in fact i think every1 is the room was. An amazing end to an amazing month....xalt on saturday : )
ps book for bexalted!!
www.bexalted.co.uk
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Job!
I now have a job! lol which some ppl will be very suprised to hear, but yes its true, workin 8am till 4pm, mon to friday, so all is well in the world!
Monday was once again the levites thing, xalt band led worship which i think went quite well, hope so anyway!
looking forward to sunday, keith is playing his flugal at elim in the morning with kristian and then im drumming with Rob at Kingsland in the evening, so should be good!
now searching for a ride cymbal...i have my sights set on a Z custom 22" rock ride, but havent found any yet, everyone keep your eyes open! prob guna need another boom stand to go with it as it wouldnt hold up on my lil stand that ive got at the moment!
Monday was once again the levites thing, xalt band led worship which i think went quite well, hope so anyway!
looking forward to sunday, keith is playing his flugal at elim in the morning with kristian and then im drumming with Rob at Kingsland in the evening, so should be good!
now searching for a ride cymbal...i have my sights set on a Z custom 22" rock ride, but havent found any yet, everyone keep your eyes open! prob guna need another boom stand to go with it as it wouldnt hold up on my lil stand that ive got at the moment!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
4th 5th June
Last Monday was the event hosted at Kingsland called Equipping the Levites
Which is basicly a worship training evening for anyone involved in worship, the is one every monday night all this month.
Me and Jason were asked to play, Rob Buckingham was leading.
It seems every time we play at Kingsland there is an incredible freedom during the worship, people were really just giving everything they have. Of course when you get a group of 50 people all involved in worship its gonna be quite special anyway.
One of the things i found most amazing was that there were quite a few drummers there, some from that church, and yet, there i was sitting on thier drum kit. Its something im not really sure even now ive got my head round lol
Its such a humbeling experience looking out and seeing other drummers out there watching you, inc some who i remember watching from when i was 6.
I wouldnt say im a great amazing drummer lol i just seem to have an understanding of what makes good worship music, and letting God flow through that, i guess in a way the talent side of it is not that important, there are several musicians i know who as far as talent goes....well, it dosnt go very far lol but they are so switched on with what Gods doing during a worship set and can feel where the song is going, that its just incredible to be able to work with them.
tuesday was a tad random, ended up going to Lincoln with some of the Kingsland bunch to watch a recording at the NewLife church, some dude called Godfrey!
There was about 200 people in this church and he basicly just said at the beggining, forget the mics, this is just an evening to worship God, i really liked that.
There was a full band on stage, they had clearly done thier homework as far as the songs went, and we hardly needed to repeat anything, however the best bits of the night for me was the inbetween bits of songs.
If he needed to tune up or have a drink or whatever, he would just signal to the keys player, and he would put in an epic pad sound, the elec guitarist had an ebow with him, and the percussionist would be almost knocking on the bongo, was an incredible sound,
then people would just start singing out, the whole idea of singing a new song to the Lord, well there was about 150 new songs written that night lol
I love that the best moments in worship are when we are hardly doing anything.
Which is basicly a worship training evening for anyone involved in worship, the is one every monday night all this month.
Me and Jason were asked to play, Rob Buckingham was leading.
It seems every time we play at Kingsland there is an incredible freedom during the worship, people were really just giving everything they have. Of course when you get a group of 50 people all involved in worship its gonna be quite special anyway.
One of the things i found most amazing was that there were quite a few drummers there, some from that church, and yet, there i was sitting on thier drum kit. Its something im not really sure even now ive got my head round lol
Its such a humbeling experience looking out and seeing other drummers out there watching you, inc some who i remember watching from when i was 6.
I wouldnt say im a great amazing drummer lol i just seem to have an understanding of what makes good worship music, and letting God flow through that, i guess in a way the talent side of it is not that important, there are several musicians i know who as far as talent goes....well, it dosnt go very far lol but they are so switched on with what Gods doing during a worship set and can feel where the song is going, that its just incredible to be able to work with them.
tuesday was a tad random, ended up going to Lincoln with some of the Kingsland bunch to watch a recording at the NewLife church, some dude called Godfrey!
There was about 200 people in this church and he basicly just said at the beggining, forget the mics, this is just an evening to worship God, i really liked that.
There was a full band on stage, they had clearly done thier homework as far as the songs went, and we hardly needed to repeat anything, however the best bits of the night for me was the inbetween bits of songs.
If he needed to tune up or have a drink or whatever, he would just signal to the keys player, and he would put in an epic pad sound, the elec guitarist had an ebow with him, and the percussionist would be almost knocking on the bongo, was an incredible sound,
then people would just start singing out, the whole idea of singing a new song to the Lord, well there was about 150 new songs written that night lol
I love that the best moments in worship are when we are hardly doing anything.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
19th 20th May
Saturday the 19th was Worship Central day!
Me Jason and Adam drove up, and parked next to the church! haha. The day was very good, in the morning Al Gorden led worship which was good, in afternoon we attended talks in 'God in work' and 'The trintiy' both were interesting at times.
Then the evening was Tim Hughes leading with Mark Beswick, which was you can guess was very very good!
One of my fav drummers Paul Evans was playing, there was a short black fella on bass, he had cool writen all over him! But the thing that blow us away was the electric, now this is something that we have struggled with in our church recently, its not just being able to play electric, its having that worship understanding of your instrument, and of course this applys to everything.
There were moments when the strings off the keyboard were playing and the electric was almost singing along, was amazing. Then other moments when everything was really big and all you could hear was this incredible wall of sound off the electric.
Was interesting to see that acc guitars played a very small part of thier arrangments, once the electric was all in then it was pretty much just elec drums bass and keys, which made up the core of the band.
Sunday morning was a bit of a celebration, and for the first time in a long time the whole of our band felt very free in being able to 'go off on one' and in fact at the end of the service we just kept playing as people were being prayed for, and went into this amazing 15 mins of just improv stuff, which was just as powerful, if not more so, than the 'structured' songs.
Xalt next sat which i cant wait for!
and later today im back off to kingsland to do some more recording, in the words of our pastor Keith on sunday morning, "God is Good, ALL THE TIME!!"
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The last 7 days
Well i guess the interesting part of the week would be Thursday night.
While playing football i started to feel faint and dizzy and so i sat down. 5 mins later i was throwing up, as you do, and then had to drive home from tiptree feeling like this. Amazingly i made it home (with a stop to throw up into my lap) and then Dad rushed me off to A & E. Everytime i would stand up i would faint, which isnt helpful when going to the toilet...believe me!
Ended up having to stay the night and spent most of Friday there aswell, not really being able to even sit up. But as the evening went on i seemed to perk up, thanks to visits from people and constant prayer from which i found out afterwards from about 200 people. Walked back into my house at 9:30pm on Friday, so was exactly 24 hours. The doctor said it was some kind of blood virus. My aim was to be able to play Sunday morning for our baptism service.
Saturday spent relaxing and drinking pure orange juice.
Then Sunday morning i was feeling fine and drummed at 9:30am at elim!
We had 5 people being baptised, including my friend Cat, which was really good to see, shes had quite a journey in the last 8 months! The place was packed which also was a really good thing to see.
Bank holiday Monday was good fun, me and Jason went round Kristians and did some recording of a song we had writen some time earlyer.
Its not finished yet but its sounding really really nice and am very pleased with it!
While playing football i started to feel faint and dizzy and so i sat down. 5 mins later i was throwing up, as you do, and then had to drive home from tiptree feeling like this. Amazingly i made it home (with a stop to throw up into my lap) and then Dad rushed me off to A & E. Everytime i would stand up i would faint, which isnt helpful when going to the toilet...believe me!
Ended up having to stay the night and spent most of Friday there aswell, not really being able to even sit up. But as the evening went on i seemed to perk up, thanks to visits from people and constant prayer from which i found out afterwards from about 200 people. Walked back into my house at 9:30pm on Friday, so was exactly 24 hours. The doctor said it was some kind of blood virus. My aim was to be able to play Sunday morning for our baptism service.
Saturday spent relaxing and drinking pure orange juice.
Then Sunday morning i was feeling fine and drummed at 9:30am at elim!
We had 5 people being baptised, including my friend Cat, which was really good to see, shes had quite a journey in the last 8 months! The place was packed which also was a really good thing to see.
Bank holiday Monday was good fun, me and Jason went round Kristians and did some recording of a song we had writen some time earlyer.
Its not finished yet but its sounding really really nice and am very pleased with it!
Monday, April 30, 2007
28th
This was an insaine weekend.
I arrived at elim at 8am to start setting for the day.
We had a worship training day with Kingsland church, and had about 50 or so people attend.
The day started with some worship
Then various talks and practicle workshops during the day about worship and worship leading etc.
The day finished at 4pm, then we started setting up for Xalt which started at 8pm!
It was just one of those special evenings really, hard to put into words on here.
A very blessed weekend : )
Thanks Jam-es!
I arrived at elim at 8am to start setting for the day.
We had a worship training day with Kingsland church, and had about 50 or so people attend.
The day started with some worship
Then various talks and practicle workshops during the day about worship and worship leading etc.
The day finished at 4pm, then we started setting up for Xalt which started at 8pm!
It was just one of those special evenings really, hard to put into words on here.
A very blessed weekend : )
Thanks Jam-es!
23rd - 27th April
All of last week i was living in Southend with Collective!
My week from Monday to Friday involved getting up at about 6:30 and going into a school, doing assembilys, music and drama lessons.
all good fun.
Very knackering, got home on friday night and then to elim!
Monday, April 16, 2007
13th - 15th April
What amazing weather we have been having! whats the bet it wont last much longer! haha!
Friday i was off to kingsland to help Rob Buckingham with some songs they are recording, afew cheesey ones but the kids love it. Then we worked on one of his, and we had me on drums, Lee on bass, and Rob on guitar singing, all in this one little room, all at the same time! Was something i had never done before but it was really really good. They are both so switched on with worship music and what sounds good, it all seemed to come together very quickly.
The evening/night/morning of friday was insaine, so much happened that i cant type it on here lol ask me if u wanna know though, God turned up big style.
Sunday morning i was back on PA duty! yay! another little break from the drums, always handy. We had a good morning and it all sounded great!
Sunday evening me and Jason once again bombed down to Mersea to play in the Causeway band, some very good song selection. However the evening was more about raising money for two members of the church to go do missionary work in the summer, think there was about £200 raised that night, ontop of the £1,000 they already had, so they are doing well!
Maybe that just distracted peoples focus from wanting to then worship, im not sure, but its deff an odd feeling when you look out and theres 50 ppl looking back at you with thier arms crossed...
I guess its in those times you start thinking, well whats the point in me being here then??!
But actually thats just it! Even if there was NO-ONE there at all, it would still be worth us being there, because that worship time simply wasnt for them, they could have all gone home at that point if they wanted, it didnt matter. If people clearly dont want to be led in worship, dont lead them. But still play and sing with everything that you have, because he deserves nothing less.
Friday i was off to kingsland to help Rob Buckingham with some songs they are recording, afew cheesey ones but the kids love it. Then we worked on one of his, and we had me on drums, Lee on bass, and Rob on guitar singing, all in this one little room, all at the same time! Was something i had never done before but it was really really good. They are both so switched on with worship music and what sounds good, it all seemed to come together very quickly.
The evening/night/morning of friday was insaine, so much happened that i cant type it on here lol ask me if u wanna know though, God turned up big style.
Sunday morning i was back on PA duty! yay! another little break from the drums, always handy. We had a good morning and it all sounded great!
Sunday evening me and Jason once again bombed down to Mersea to play in the Causeway band, some very good song selection. However the evening was more about raising money for two members of the church to go do missionary work in the summer, think there was about £200 raised that night, ontop of the £1,000 they already had, so they are doing well!
Maybe that just distracted peoples focus from wanting to then worship, im not sure, but its deff an odd feeling when you look out and theres 50 ppl looking back at you with thier arms crossed...
I guess its in those times you start thinking, well whats the point in me being here then??!
But actually thats just it! Even if there was NO-ONE there at all, it would still be worth us being there, because that worship time simply wasnt for them, they could have all gone home at that point if they wanted, it didnt matter. If people clearly dont want to be led in worship, dont lead them. But still play and sing with everything that you have, because he deserves nothing less.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
31st March / 1st April
Well if it didnt feel like i was on tour last weekend, it did this weekend!
Saturday was our March Xalt day.
This was a fairly hectic day all in all, I arrived at Elim at about 3pm to do a bit of setting up, then left Elim at 4:20pm to drive to Bury St Edmunds to pick up my good friend Chesh, a very quick turn around and back to Elim for 6:02pm (pretty good i thought!)
Xalt itself was very good, we had about 80ish people there which gave it a good atmosphere.
Towards the end we did a Fire Tunnel, which are always special occasions, you can see the Holy Spirit resting on people as they walk through, so that was very cool.
Then after Xalt had chinese and then back to Bury! Home at about 1:30am!!
The next morning had the potential to be one of those 'the morning after' kind of mornings, and we were slightly down on numbers because of students being away, but it still was a very good morning.
Then after the service began to pack down the drum kit again, as we were due at St Johns at 4pm.
Dad cooked me lunch, that the afternoon to be abit more relaxing!
Arrived at St johns at 4pm, this was extra special for me because it was at St Johns that I started to pick up drums again, about 4/5 years ago, so i guess it felt abit like a home coming.
Was able to set up right in the middle of the stage, as the regular bands set up over on the far right hand side. So that was good.
The guys doing sound were so helpful, made setting up and practice go so much easyer.
The event started at 7pm, so of course in true church fashion, we started at 7:15pm!
We were so blessed to see that about 150 people had in fact turned up for this evening, just one of those wow moments for all of us i think.
The actual service went very very well, in fact the 1st set was proberbly the tightest and locked in with each other that we ever have been. (I was knackered after the second song!)
We had planned for a big finish with Happy Day, but God had other ideas, and we ended up just inprov for about 30 mins and God just moved through His people.
There was a fantastic moment at about 9pm where Bob said there will be tea and coffee at the back and the band are just gunna keep playing for a bit, and no-one moved...wow.
I know the whole band came away from that event just blown away and so so blessed by what had happened, a fantastic end to a manic 7 days.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
25th March
What a weekend.
This morning i was determind not to let anything knock my focus on God, and i think i did that quite well! was rly able to 'go for it' again in the service, which was fab cause i just feel im back doing what im ment to be doing.
The evening we played at Plume Ave, awesome bunch of people, so welcoming.
The evening service i thought went really well, i loved playing with foldback wedges again instead of in-ears, just felt so much more free.
I felt able to put everything i had into it tonight, which is the first in a long time. God decided to meet with me through it. Always a great feeling.
My theory from the last blog proves correct, i was focusing on how i use the bass drum alot, its such a powerful tool, and you really can see its effect in front of you.
xalt and st johns event next week....
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Worship Central
wow!!
its half 1 in the morning (as the clocks jus went forward lol)
Have been in London all day today at worship central which is hosted by HTB.
Sometimes i can get stuck in the same cycle off stuff within worship so its so nice to be able to go somewhere else and just get loads from it and learn and gain ideas, which is just what i did today!!
Not only was today just a general topup, which i needed, but i have also learnt loads about how we should be helping each other so much more than we do.
Interestin ideas that were used today:
At HTB they have an organ, and today, Tim hughes and his band led worship beautifuly using not only an organ but several stringed instruments, gives the worship such a fantasic feel.
I love the idea of using old methods of worship and mixing them with new ones. Wish we could do more of that really.
Paul Evans was drumming, love watching him, he makes worship drumming look so easy. (even though he started Happy Day with the drum beat of Beautiful One by accident!)
His drumming ability is good, but his knowlage of what makes a good worship drummer is outstanding.
Now here comes a bit of a BIG stantment!.....:
I think i have put my finger on what exactly it is that makes a worship drummer go from good, to very good. Worship drumming is in fact all about the builds, if you can build a song right, and get a driving feel to it that just makes people want to clap along or start stamping or whatever it is they do, thats where the most powerful moments are when drumming in worship.
And to do this best, its all about where you put in your bass drum, and at what pace you do this at, this is something i have been working on for a few months now, trying to get more options of how to use the bass drum better, and it really really works, its proberbly the most powerful part of the drum kit, its what stirs up peoples hearts. So, a bold statment, but i think worship drumming is all about the bass drum :)
Monday, March 12, 2007
9th 10th 11th
Another one of them crazy weekends!
Friday i spent the morning with Rob Buckingham (worship leader at Kingsland)
He had asked me to do some drum recording for their new worship album, always nice to be asked to be involved in other peoples projects, sort of felt a little bit of ownership towards it afterwards so ended up helping out on the Saturday aswell
On the Saturday they were recording the 'audience' parts. So that involved 30 ppl standing as close together as possible with mics all around them singing as loud as possible to a backing track, so quite good fun really, no i didnt do any singing.
The Sunday morning then rolled round, a good morning i felt, Jason was on electric so was good to be able to get some good sounds coming from that direction.
Then streight after the service i rushed off to the Charter Hall where kingsland had been hosting an event of which just over 1,000 people turned up, good to actually see the church of Colchester all in one place, dosnt happen very often.
Then in the evening i was asked to drum at Kingsland again haha they must have had enough of me by now! There was only about 40 people there but that was understandable considering the morning they all just had. Worship was very fast and uplifting, somtimes makes a nice change, all very light hearted and just wanting 2 praise God, so a good evening.
All in all a good weekend!
Friday i spent the morning with Rob Buckingham (worship leader at Kingsland)
He had asked me to do some drum recording for their new worship album, always nice to be asked to be involved in other peoples projects, sort of felt a little bit of ownership towards it afterwards so ended up helping out on the Saturday aswell
On the Saturday they were recording the 'audience' parts. So that involved 30 ppl standing as close together as possible with mics all around them singing as loud as possible to a backing track, so quite good fun really, no i didnt do any singing.
The Sunday morning then rolled round, a good morning i felt, Jason was on electric so was good to be able to get some good sounds coming from that direction.
Then streight after the service i rushed off to the Charter Hall where kingsland had been hosting an event of which just over 1,000 people turned up, good to actually see the church of Colchester all in one place, dosnt happen very often.
Then in the evening i was asked to drum at Kingsland again haha they must have had enough of me by now! There was only about 40 people there but that was understandable considering the morning they all just had. Worship was very fast and uplifting, somtimes makes a nice change, all very light hearted and just wanting 2 praise God, so a good evening.
All in all a good weekend!
Monday, March 05, 2007
4th March. Crazy Days
Its very odd, how at the time when you feel least 'going for it' or not particually 'connected' with God, that is the time he will lift you up.
Im not really sure why, maybe it was the late night the day before, but sunday morning i wasnt really with it. But the morning went well and God was lifted up.
Then in the evening me and Jason bombed down to Mersea again to play in the Causeway band. Another nice evening as 2 young people were being baptised, so there was a fair number there aswell...
But again i just wasnt totally 100% going for it like i seem to find myself doing when i am sat behind the kit, but thanks to the grace of God he was still able to use me, even though i didnt rly feel useable.
A man came up to me at the end and we had a chat about drumming and music and worship etc etc which was really cool, what he was basicly saying was i should be in a 'proper' band aswell lol
I didnt rly understand what he ment untill i got home and i told Dad about this man, and turns out he used to play keys for quite a mainstream christian band that used to tour the world haha so that was quite cool.
Then when i got home i found myself with a myspace mesg from a girl i had never met, and she basicly wrote along the lines of, are you the drummer? you were amazing etc etc
which when you just read is like, yeh thats nice, but i had to step back and just realise how good my God is, at the time when i felt most disconnected, God clearly shone through me, and used the gift he has given me to lift his name. wow long blog, sorry bout that lol
cant wait for xalt now....
Im not really sure why, maybe it was the late night the day before, but sunday morning i wasnt really with it. But the morning went well and God was lifted up.
Then in the evening me and Jason bombed down to Mersea again to play in the Causeway band. Another nice evening as 2 young people were being baptised, so there was a fair number there aswell...
But again i just wasnt totally 100% going for it like i seem to find myself doing when i am sat behind the kit, but thanks to the grace of God he was still able to use me, even though i didnt rly feel useable.
A man came up to me at the end and we had a chat about drumming and music and worship etc etc which was really cool, what he was basicly saying was i should be in a 'proper' band aswell lol
I didnt rly understand what he ment untill i got home and i told Dad about this man, and turns out he used to play keys for quite a mainstream christian band that used to tour the world haha so that was quite cool.
Then when i got home i found myself with a myspace mesg from a girl i had never met, and she basicly wrote along the lines of, are you the drummer? you were amazing etc etc
which when you just read is like, yeh thats nice, but i had to step back and just realise how good my God is, at the time when i felt most disconnected, God clearly shone through me, and used the gift he has given me to lift his name. wow long blog, sorry bout that lol
cant wait for xalt now....
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Feb Ends - March Begins
Last Saturday night we had our Febuarys Xalt evening. The was a fantastic turn out for the night where our guest speaker, Mark Pugh, gave a moving talk on being 100% for God.
Personally i had been having a rough week leading up to it but i found that the moment i sat down to my drum kit and started to play, everything else seemed to fade away and all that was important is lifting Gods name.
This weekend im drumming at Mersea on sunday night which im looking forward to, its a baptism service which are always special occasions.
And in the morning im back to drumming! wooo! as last week i was in wales and the week before was 'the sound guy' so im looking forward to making some noise for God all the way through the day!
We have very recently been asked to take Xalt to Plume Avenue at the end of this month, and then the week after we have Xalt, which im looking forward to more than ever.
Personally i had been having a rough week leading up to it but i found that the moment i sat down to my drum kit and started to play, everything else seemed to fade away and all that was important is lifting Gods name.
This weekend im drumming at Mersea on sunday night which im looking forward to, its a baptism service which are always special occasions.
And in the morning im back to drumming! wooo! as last week i was in wales and the week before was 'the sound guy' so im looking forward to making some noise for God all the way through the day!
We have very recently been asked to take Xalt to Plume Avenue at the end of this month, and then the week after we have Xalt, which im looking forward to more than ever.
Monday, February 19, 2007
17th & 18th Feb
Hello!
well last weekend our Xalt band was asked to play at a saturday night event run at kingsland church. I think some of us found it a bit of a challenge and there were maybe not as many people there as we were expecting. However the event went well and people worshiped, which sometimes is such a relief! Because sometimes you feel a bit like, well i maybe havent been a great christian this week, or, i was a bit short with that person today, or whatever, but when it all comes down to it God is number one. And when his name is lifted up, you cant help but just get lost in it and worship. A lovely lady came up to me afterwards and commented on stuff like my drumming and the band in general, really really positive stuff, which was really really cool to hear that we are blessing people even when we maybe feel we arnt worthy to be blessing people. God decides when he will use us.
Then next day i was on PA duty!! which i actually loved. Was a nice break from playing the kit, and i was able to be a bit creative with the sounds cause we had about 9 people on stage. so all in all a very good morning/weekend.
Xalt next saturday!!
Monday, February 05, 2007
2nd 3rd 4th Feb
This was another of those 'mini tour' weekend for me
Friday night me and jason drove to mersea, via a crash into a tree, no harm done, the car didnt agree but still...
This was for a practice for Causeway on the sunday night, it was a bit of a struggle, nothing seemed to sound as we wanted it to, and the practice lasted just over 3 hours,one of them nights.
Saturday afternoon i was back at kingsland, fair few songs i didnt really know, but i was able to play as loud as i wanted which is always helpful and your just in the mood for 'going for it' which is what i did!
Then Sunday morning was elim, where our main worship leader, Kristian, returned after being in canada for 2 weeks, so he was feeling very fired up, and we had a very very good morning. Was playing with my hot rods, i dont get the feeling they will last very long!
Then Sunday night back at mersea. There were alot less people there than last time but for some reason that didnt seem to worry me. Me and jason often just say to people "we are playing to an audience of ONE" Very true words.
The worship sounded good and God was there, so really no matter how many people there, God was lifted up...Job Done : )
Friday night me and jason drove to mersea, via a crash into a tree, no harm done, the car didnt agree but still...
This was for a practice for Causeway on the sunday night, it was a bit of a struggle, nothing seemed to sound as we wanted it to, and the practice lasted just over 3 hours,one of them nights.
Saturday afternoon i was back at kingsland, fair few songs i didnt really know, but i was able to play as loud as i wanted which is always helpful and your just in the mood for 'going for it' which is what i did!
Then Sunday morning was elim, where our main worship leader, Kristian, returned after being in canada for 2 weeks, so he was feeling very fired up, and we had a very very good morning. Was playing with my hot rods, i dont get the feeling they will last very long!
Then Sunday night back at mersea. There were alot less people there than last time but for some reason that didnt seem to worry me. Me and jason often just say to people "we are playing to an audience of ONE" Very true words.
The worship sounded good and God was there, so really no matter how many people there, God was lifted up...Job Done : )
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
14" A Custom Mastersound Zildjian high hat....try saying that quickly!
well after knowing what i wanted since the summer, finally i got my hands on a 14" mastersound high hat. It was muchly needed as i had resorted to using the bottom of a solar hat and the bottom of a pastie hat for the 2 weeks leading up to it haha (i dont sujest it)
I used it for the first proper time at xalt last Saturday and it served me very very well, it has a fab sizzle about it due to the way the bottom of the hat is made.
This weekend im playing at kingsland on saturday night and mersea sunday night and will be the first time ive taken my new high hat out on the road with me, am looking forward to how it performs!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Xalt January
Well last Saturday was the first XALT of 2007, in which the build up to was very differnt, in that not only was the pastor of our church away in canada, but so was our main worship leader!
Which made things interesting, but in fact it ment we all pulled together as a team and helped each other out in all the little tasks that needed doing. The event its self went very well and God really moved in that place which proves what Jason had said before hand in that God is blessing the ministry and not individuals, which is a very good feeling! It just feels at the moment that we really are making God happy and he is pleased with whats going on, now that is a feeling!! lol
Which made things interesting, but in fact it ment we all pulled together as a team and helped each other out in all the little tasks that needed doing. The event its self went very well and God really moved in that place which proves what Jason had said before hand in that God is blessing the ministry and not individuals, which is a very good feeling! It just feels at the moment that we really are making God happy and he is pleased with whats going on, now that is a feeling!! lol
Monday, January 22, 2007
The weekend
This weekend has been a tad insane,
I was asked to drum at both Mersea Free church on Sunday night and Kingsland on Saturday night.
Its really interesting playing somewhere other than your home church, i found it alot easyer to let go of what people might think of me and what i look like and just worship with all that i have.
Drumming in Mersea i think is becoming a regular thing and i am going back to Kingsland another 3 times in the next month or 2.
I was asked to drum at both Mersea Free church on Sunday night and Kingsland on Saturday night.
Its really interesting playing somewhere other than your home church, i found it alot easyer to let go of what people might think of me and what i look like and just worship with all that i have.
Drumming in Mersea i think is becoming a regular thing and i am going back to Kingsland another 3 times in the next month or 2.
Diary. 2006
Dad sujested to me last night that i should keep a record of all the places i have played and everytime i play somewhere new make a note of it. So thats what im gunna start doing.
Well from what i a remember last year, 2006,
It was March 18th that we (the Xalt band) were asked to go and play at 'Encore'
This was an event which my mate Chesh was just starting up, found out about 20 mins before it started that she had no idea how many people were going to actually turn up! As it happens there was a fair number there, praise God, and it was a very very good event and God really moved in that place, so much so that we almost ran out of songs! (Good old consuming fire, that can go on for hours if you need it to lol)
After the event, the dude that spoke, phil, came up to me and Kristian and simply said, "Im getting married in July and i want a phat time of worship like that"
And so from that we were invited to play at this guys wedding in London!
July quickly came round, and we rolled down to London to lead a wedding, which all through the set up and prayers before hand kept us asking, "why are we in london leading a wedding lord?" lol But as always he knows what he is doing. The wedding went very well, they are a very cute couple (she cried coming up the isle and all that).
3 days later the best man gave Kristian a call and informed him that 3 people became christians at the wedding during the worship in the service. I think this was one of those moments where we just knew God was smileing on us and leading us, even though we may feel out of place somewhere, he is using us for his glory.
There was also a trip to Hawrich in there aswell somewhere, in which a number of people started coming to Xalt and they still do.
Then september came round and planning for the cyo celebration started
The Anual CYO Celebration was on the 29th October. It was the third year in a row that we had been asked to lead it. St Botolphs church was packed out with just over 350 people, and it was a fantastic event, which led to the bishop coming onto the stage afterwards and saying how he really felt blessed to be a part of this "high octain worship" Boy how that statment traveled!
November was a little bit less stressfull! we still had our Xalt event on the last saturday and once again God turned up big style.
In December i was asked to play drums at an event at st johns, which was part of the 'seeking Gods blessing for colchester' movement.
It wasnt the style i was used to, as it involved a huge choir and Orchestra. The event went well with about 400 people. It was a good feeling to know that when people plan an event and need a drummer, they call me lol even if it is for a fairly traditional service.
and so 2006 ended with an Xalt, it was just one of those special nights, we lit the room and stage with around 200 candles and God just filled the room with his spirit.
Well from what i a remember last year, 2006,
It was March 18th that we (the Xalt band) were asked to go and play at 'Encore'
This was an event which my mate Chesh was just starting up, found out about 20 mins before it started that she had no idea how many people were going to actually turn up! As it happens there was a fair number there, praise God, and it was a very very good event and God really moved in that place, so much so that we almost ran out of songs! (Good old consuming fire, that can go on for hours if you need it to lol)
After the event, the dude that spoke, phil, came up to me and Kristian and simply said, "Im getting married in July and i want a phat time of worship like that"
And so from that we were invited to play at this guys wedding in London!
July quickly came round, and we rolled down to London to lead a wedding, which all through the set up and prayers before hand kept us asking, "why are we in london leading a wedding lord?" lol But as always he knows what he is doing. The wedding went very well, they are a very cute couple (she cried coming up the isle and all that).
3 days later the best man gave Kristian a call and informed him that 3 people became christians at the wedding during the worship in the service. I think this was one of those moments where we just knew God was smileing on us and leading us, even though we may feel out of place somewhere, he is using us for his glory.
There was also a trip to Hawrich in there aswell somewhere, in which a number of people started coming to Xalt and they still do.
Then september came round and planning for the cyo celebration started
The Anual CYO Celebration was on the 29th October. It was the third year in a row that we had been asked to lead it. St Botolphs church was packed out with just over 350 people, and it was a fantastic event, which led to the bishop coming onto the stage afterwards and saying how he really felt blessed to be a part of this "high octain worship" Boy how that statment traveled!
November was a little bit less stressfull! we still had our Xalt event on the last saturday and once again God turned up big style.
In December i was asked to play drums at an event at st johns, which was part of the 'seeking Gods blessing for colchester' movement.
It wasnt the style i was used to, as it involved a huge choir and Orchestra. The event went well with about 400 people. It was a good feeling to know that when people plan an event and need a drummer, they call me lol even if it is for a fairly traditional service.
and so 2006 ended with an Xalt, it was just one of those special nights, we lit the room and stage with around 200 candles and God just filled the room with his spirit.
Friday, January 05, 2007
2007
Another year gone!
I dont think i've ever looked forward to a year so much than 2007!
God is really starting to kick stuff off within Xalt and Elim in Colchester, its very exciting times!
(still no high hat however)
when i can think of something to write ill come back on here!!
I dont think i've ever looked forward to a year so much than 2007!
God is really starting to kick stuff off within Xalt and Elim in Colchester, its very exciting times!
(still no high hat however)
when i can think of something to write ill come back on here!!
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