Hey,
It's been a slightly different week with Anstee Bridge — performance work has been pushed to the side because I've been fully focused on recording with the students. And honestly, it's been one of the most rewarding weeks I've had there.
This Week
Tuesday — Rock Salt, Epsom (private function)
One of those nights where everyone just gets involved straight away. Always makes the job easy when the room is up for it from the start.
Thursday — The Red Lion, Hackbridge (St George's Day)
I've been playing there for years now, so it's always nice to walk into a room full of familiar faces. There's something quite special about celebrating a day like that through music — it just brings people together in a different way.
Friday afternoon — School Disco
Helped out at my girls' school disco — running the sound and playing DJ. From a dad's point of view, it's one of my favourite things to do. Seeing them with their friends, completely letting go, singing along… and knowing you're part of making that happen (and raising money for the school at the same time) is pretty special.
Friday night — The Acre, Windsor
Might have been my favourite one there so far. When you start to recognise people, have proper conversations, and still manage to create a great atmosphere — it just hits differently.
Saturday — The Albion, Hampton Court
A slightly more relaxed night — probably helped by the sunshine earlier in the day — but still one of those evenings where people come out to enjoy it properly. Loads of requests, loads of chats… exactly what you want. So many song requests on the night, in fact, that I couldn't get through all of them. Always a good problem to have.
Sunday (tonight) — Open Mic at The Sovereign, Woking
Rounding the week off hosting the open mic — always a great way to finish. Good people, good music, and a chance to just soak it all in.
On My Mind
I've been recording the students at Anstee Bridge this week, and watching them hear themselves back for the first time has been something else. There's something quite confronting about hearing your voice back completely raw. No processing, no polish — just you. It's a bit like uncovering a diamond in its natural state. At first, it doesn't necessarily look (or sound) how you imagined. It can feel a bit stark.
But that's actually where the magic starts.
Recording these days is very clinical. You're close to the mic, cutting out room noise, often working in spaces that aren't acoustically perfect. So what you hear back can feel almost too honest. But once you begin shaping it — adding a touch of reverb, a bit of delay, tidying things up with EQ — it starts to come alive in a really natural way.
One thing I've been really conscious of throughout this process… no auto-tune. Not because I'm against it, but because that's not the lesson here. The lesson is that everyone has their own tone, their own character, their own voice — and that's the thing worth capturing.
Next week I'll be sitting with those recordings, mixing and mastering them properly so each student has something they can genuinely be proud of and keep for years.
Featured
A few things I've been quietly building behind the scenes are finally starting to take shape — and it feels worth sharing.
The new website is up — clean, easy to use, and updates automatically with my calendar. A long time coming.
Then there's PosterPoster, an app I've been developing that's all about making social media easier. The idea is simple — connect your calendar, and it creates your posts for you. You still hit the button to send them (social platforms insist on that), but all the design and setup is done. The kind of thing that can save hours each week, especially for musicians and venues.
I've also built a request page for gigs — people scan a QR code and send song requests straight through. Tried it at a few gigs now, and it's been brilliant. At The Albion last night it actually worked too well…
And another little project called List, which is essentially a simple queue system. Perfect for open mic nights, but it could just as easily be used by a food truck or an event — people join a queue via their phone, see where they are, and get notified when it's their turn. Nice and simple.
It's been a long time coming, but it feels like a lot of these ideas are finally moving from "that would be good one day" to something real.
As always, if you're out and about this week, come and say hello.
See you out there, Aaron