Meanwhile In Tinseltown

That is the name of the exhilarating new band fronted by The Voice UK semi-finalist Max Milner with Robbie White, Carly Meyers, Andy Blowers and Adrian Lee Stokes. They describe themselves as 'an upcoming, fresh and exciting band formed by four friends. Eloquent and witty lyrics mixed with beautifully written music, air tight harmonies and a host of inspirations help create this incredible talent.' Having had the pleasure of seeing them perform live last Sunday at Nambucca, Holloway Road, I can assure you that this band is all that and more.

Presenting a vast list of original songs, along with several personalised cover tracks, this band is modern, modest and unbelievably talented. Their songs include themes of heart-break, love and adultery, ‘as an argument is born our relationship is dying’. Yet also texting and Iphones! ‘if your messages sin lots, put a pin on your inbox’ Sex Sheets. Though not always for the faint-hearted, their lyrics manage to deliver the bitterness of betrayal in a topical and humorous way accessible to all audiences! ‘So I'm'a need to get my CDs back and get my life back on track, my shit goes where I want it now that you're no longer in my flat and that'll teach me, to stick my dick in crazy’ The Cute Song.

Multi-talented is an understatement for Robbie White, as he plays percussion, guitar, piano and also sings backing! Max Milner’s gravely smooth tone is beyond sexy which is complimented beautifully by Carly Meyers harmonising. This musicianship proves that there is not one average track amongst their playlist of beautiful ballads and fast-paced patter songs, which are perfect for summer! ‘I'm not saying I can't believe this, we just needed someone to dream with. Wish you could see this, jamming on the rooftops!’ Jamming on the rooftops.

With over 3000 twitter followers, including dozens of fan accounts this currently unsigned band have accumulated a distinct group of supporters labelling themselves #townies. Max Milner has his own loyal group of ever-loving #friends and all members of the band are in turn forever devoted and lovely to every fan among them. Signing autographs and posing for pictures with all who asked, they made alot of girls very happy on Sunday night.

A confirmed #friend and #townie for life, I need no convincing that Meanwhile in Tinseltown are ready to fly high into the music scene. With that I am still safe and happy in the knowledge that this humble band, when very famous and successful, will still be ever lovely and dedicated to all their fans and followers.

To see if you agree, check them out here - http://www.youtube.com/user/MITinseltown

Or follow them on twitter @M_I_Tinseltown

You can even see Max Milner and Meanwhile In Tinseltown live at Hampton Court Palace Festival on 18th June - http://www.hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com.

#friendsforever

It's a small world after all...

We all know that the world is quite large, okay not as large as the sun but large enough. There are 195 countries and an estimated six billion people living in them, so we expect that in our lives we are only given a tiny glimpse of what this glorious planet has to offer.

Assuming that idea is true we are often surprised when world seems to be smaller than we think. We can discover unexplained coincidences, and strange occurrences where our perception of the world's size is altered. Recently I have found many of these surrounding other people in my life. I went away to University and met new people from all over the United Kingdom and found that one of my new classmates was dating a guy from my secondary school. They are now living together not far from me! I have recently re-met an old acquaintance and found that they live round the corner from my grandparents! You can bump into old friends after years have gone past and they already know your new best friend. A famous idea that relates to this is the 'six degrees of separation' concept created by Frigyes Karinthy and then written into a play by John Guare. It is the 'idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer.'

With social networking sites like Facebook it is often quite easy to see how this concept works with the 'mutual friends' feature. We are often surprised at how our friends from one area of our life know others from a completely unrelated area.

Whether these concepts and occurrences are all just coincidences not to be analysed or explained, remains the question. I seem to overuse the world 'random' when describing something that I find surprising or out of the ordinary. While some may argue that everything is random, I am then without a word to describe what such affairs mean.

Without an explanation and not even sure if I need one I am left to realise that It's a small world after all and in the words of the Disneyland Attraction, 'It's a world of laughter, A world of tears. It's a world of hopes, And a world of fears. There's so much that we share, That it's time we're aware, It's a small world after all.'

Smiling Strangers

Spurred on by the recent 'Underground challenge' of a friend and fellow blogger; asking people to start a conversation with a random person on the tube, I became more aware of our interaction with strangers.

We see different people each day of our lives but do not actually meet them. I think this is because many people put up a subconscious wall, which only falls when they are surrounded by people they already know. This is by no means the case for all people, but I have noticed recently that some really struggle to show their emotions with strangers and seem cold, rude and oblivious to much of what happens around them. This may be clever, as we are all taught at school 'to never talk to strangers'. Yet, a wise man once said that strangers are simply friends we have not yet met.

Obviously personalities will differ from person to person. Some of us are personable creatures, loud, friendly, confident and willing to chat to anyone who will chat back. Others are introverted, quiet, and prefer to sit back, watch and listen rather than join in. Neither is right or wrong, however the latter can sometimes give the wrong impression to a stranger. A shy person can often come across as cold, apathetic or sometimes moody. This person could be all these things and that is their prerogative but what if they are simply scared? I am not asking the entire world to be happy 24/7 and obviously we all have good and bad days, however a smile can often make someones day.

Our society shows life to be fast-paced, everyone is always busy, in a hurry or in the middle of something extremely important, maybe they do not have the time to stop or start anything new. Again a smile can be exchanged in a mere second, a few words in a minute. I often see that people avoid conversations and situations with new people. In improvisation we call this 'blocking'; when an actor offers an idea, a theme, an olive branch, if the other actor responds in the opposite direction they are blocking the action and preventing the scene from unraveling. In life many of us are scared of what may be unravelled, scared of what we do not know. Our observation for manners and politeness can often get in the way of our need to branch out. Most of the time When i wish to talk to a stranger, it is usually because I have eavesdropped on their conversation and have something to add! In most cases I do not offer my opinion as it would of course seem rude to a stranger. However, on one occasion they may be interested and find my nosey nature amusing...who can know?

I can explicitly remember the few times I have interacted with a stranger; shared a conversation, laughed with them about the surroundings or helped them out with a problem. Not all were good encounters and I did not necessarily make life-long friends in these situations, but I have extra memories to keep for life. Each one showing a smiling stranger :)

Take a look at SupePennie and the 'Underground Challenge'
http://superpennie.blogspot.com/2010/04/underground-challenge.html