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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

#WhispersUnderground (Rivers of London 3) spoiler free mini review


Whispers Underground is the third novel in the Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch, popularly described as a series where Harry Potter has grown up and join the London Met.

I don't like to go into too many details about the story so as not to spoil anything should you decide to indulge, but the series has developed the inclusion of magical and mystical brings and creatures gradually, adding further spells and species into this third installment whilst keeping one foot firmly in the reality of being a lowly PC from a black African background.

What I liked about this entry in the Rivers books is it is much less gruesome, and includes much less in the way of romantic overtones, focussing more so on the investigative side of things, with lots of exploration of old London town and lots of well written interviews with intriguing characters.

It's also incredibly believable, and whilst still being a fantasy detective novel is never so over the top to be absurd, which to me makes it all the more enjoyable. I really like detective fiction at the moment and the magical elements appeal completely to me as the big geek I am.

I highly recommend this book in the series and I'm thoroughly looking forward to the next few titles, as well as getting my teeth into the graphic novel, too.

My Trip to old #London town for #NationalTrust , #HarryPotter #DoctorWho tours!

Last weekend my friend Rosie and I spent a nice weekend travelling to London to partake in some good old fashioned tourism.

Driving from Birmingham to London, we first made a stop on Saturday at Cliveden Gardens; a National Trust property in Buckinghamshire. Looking like something straight out of Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland, Cliveden is a truly beautiful place with many water features and a variety of gardens, each ornamented with sculpted bushes and statues. Had we had more time and sunshine it would be a great place to spend an entire day. We've both decided to go back for a day with a supply of gin and cucumber sandwiches to indulge in on the stunning lawns. The house at Cliveden is actually used as a hotel and spa.



We then left to make our way down to Watford for a 2.00pm tour at the Warner Bros Studios for the Harry Potter experience. My 2nd time at the Harry Potter tour, I was excited to see what had changed, if anything. We had our obligatory Starbucks and a snack from the canteen, which are both basic but not too extortionate and proceeded to queue up for the beginning of the tour.

Beginning in a side room with an introduction from a friendly member of staff and a short film about the impact of Potter across the globe, you're then led into the great hall for the only guided section of the tour. The hall is filled with the great tables, many of the costumes of staff and a new addition - the sorting hat! After a little bit of background from one of the guides, you're then asked to make your way to the self guided section of the tour further inside the studio.


Here we find hundreds and thousands of props, sets, costumes, info plaques, all genuinely used by the crew and cast on the Potter movies, and all incredibly detailed and quite overwhelming to see up close. To understand the scale of the operation going into the production of any movie, let alone one that requires so many bespoke and unique properties to be made for it as Potter has, is a truly excellent experience, and one I was not bored by for a second viewing.

There was also the opportunity to pose in the old Ford Anglia or atop a Quidditch standard broomstick in front of a green screen for an extra realistic photograph. Obviously, us 20somethings had to give this a go...


Next, after perusing at your own pace, you arrive a mid section café, complete with Butter Beer stand. Here in the outside courtyard are some of the famous sets, including the Knight Bus, the wonky bridge, Godrick's Hollow and the newly added Privet Drive! The set in Privet Drive was awesome and makes a great photo opportunity, but I wish there'd been more in the building to see.


As you progress, you now come to the more technical and artistic elements of production, from costume design and animatronics; right through to concept art, detailed graphic design and the paper models of all the scenes, sets and buildings. Seeing this in all it's minute detail is truly incredible.


Following this is the also recently introduced Platform 93/4 complete with Hogwarts Express set! I love, love, loved this part; posing with the trollies, going aboard the Express and seeing all the luggage. Reminded me of the excitement of reading the books originally when I was in primary school. There's also a station specific gift shop here full of Hogwarts Express related merchandise.


Finally, you come to the last exhibit - the awesome miniature model of Hogwarts castle. Accurate down to the smallest detail, explanations of some of the shooting techniques can be seen on touch screens located around the display.


Of course, you have to leave the tour via the compulsory gift shop. The merchandise all feels and looks like quality stuff, but is definitely not cheap. From wands to replica props; clothes to soft toys, if you're adamant on taking something back with you, make sure you have a good relationship with your credit card company... This time, and rather shockingly, I refrained from indulging myself in a treat...

After finishing up, we made our way towards London town proper, to visit my little sister at her place of work - Fortnam and Mason at Piccadilly. Driving through London is a truly harrowing experience - there are people, cars, bikes and busses absolutely everywhere, and the whole place is one big one way system. Parking is also disgustingly expensive, and I had to fork over £20 to park close enough to make the visit. I knew it was going to be expensive, but there are so few carparks apparently around there it was even more than I ever expected. However, having a sister at one of London's big department stores has it's advantages, and I got myself some heavily discounted posh coffee beans. Joy! After some more horrific driving, we eventually found another car park close enough to our Ibis hotel on Whitechapel. It was a budget Ibis hotel, at £100 for a twin room for one night, but being so close to the centre I thought this was reasonable. The room was no frills, but had TV and WiFi so no real complaints. Being so late we went to a Tesco, picked up some food and ate back in the hotel, before proceeding into the night to find somewhere to drink.

This is where we found London to be lacking! Instead of the multitude of hipster-trendy cocktail bars that we expected, we were treated to 3 or 4 rather old mannish pubs. A bit of a disappointment, though by that we point we were just happy enough to lubricate ourselves with gin and whiskey. I also had one of the nicest whiskey's I've ever had before - a Peat Monster, which I highly recommend. I have quite a sweet tooth with my Whiskey's, and this tasted sweet, but still like proper Whiskey.


The following day we awoke with slightly sore heads and marched on down to a local Starbucks, indulged in some porridge, fruit and refillable coffee, and then walked towards London bridge for the beginning of the Doctor Who Brit Movie tour.

Beginning at a meeting point outside a coffee shop in the station, the point was eventually (though not completely apparent) fairly easy to find, and the tour guide named David arrived, armed with a Sonic Screwdriver and a smile, ready to take us on a tour of the sites that appear in both classic and modern episodes of Doctor Who around London.

Our tour guide David was polite, friendly and knowledgeable all the way around the tour, and showed us sites from both classic Who and modern Who, as well as extra bits of trivia about the series and how things tie together in true geek fashion. He also had excellent knowledge of the history of London town, and many other snippets of information to do with the actors and other filming that have happened within London, spilling some secrets about location filming I'd never considered before.

This is most definitely a walking tour, despite needing to pick up an Oyster card prior to the walk for a quick bus journey around half way through, and at quite a quick pace we'd soon covered miles and miles, so bare that in mind before you think about booking. See if you can recognise any of these sites from our tour from Doctor Who...





The tour finished at Waterloo station, where we were able to get a fairly stress free cab journey back to our carpark to begin the drive home. Driving out of London was similarly as terrifying as driving in... But I'd had a truly amazing time exploring London, and would definitely do something similar again, though I'd definitely go via the train to London first.

Have you done anything similar before? What were your thoughts? Disagree with anything I've said? Let me know! Thanks for reading!

#blink182 #California


Holy crap! A new Blink album! Without Tom! And with that dude from Alkaline Trio! What the fuck!? Cool, now that's out of the way, let's tell you what I think of the new record, as an avid fan of both Blink and Alk3.

What I like about this record is it actually sounds a little bit like everything that has come before, with definite tones, riffs and rhythms purloined from the extensive back catalogue of previous bands.

Opening track Cynical is a good, fast paced typically over produced pop punk affair, sounding almost a little like modern Less Than Jake. Mark and Matt's singing sounds great over the full and jumpy guitars.

Then we come to the first single, 'Bored to Death' which sounds like it'd fit at home on the Blink self titled album. Memorable lyrics and catchy melodies.

Los Angeles sounds like something of Crimson or Neighbourhoods, then She's Out Of Her Mind and Built This Pool sound like something lifted from Take Of Your Pants & Jacket! Which I love - there's no trying to be too emo, alternative or punk, instead embracing all of what they like - making good, catchy pop punk whilst having fun at the same time. They're getting on a bit now, why bother trying to do anything else? The Only Thing That Matters even sounds like American Pie era Enema Of The State.

But in including so many aspects from each individual's histories they have created something completely new. Okay, it's not ground breaking, but did anyone truly think it would be? What it is a culmination of 3 skater punks abilities at writing good, loud, pop rock and sharing it with the world. Go and buy this record, then listen to it whilst doing something very fast - driving, skating, masturbating... It's ace.

Thanks for reading.

#Armada by Ernest Cline mini spoiler-free book review


I was really excited for Armada by Ernest Cline after reading 'Ready Player One' as I absolutely loved that story; it appealed to my inner geek with constant references to old video games and 80s movies. Armada does similar for geeky fan service, intertwined with a tale of MMO video games being used as a training tool by the government for preparing the human population for intergalactic war.

Okay, so the premise isn't completely original, and the whole point of the story is it's predictability, yet somehow the writing just didn't grab me as much as Ready Player One. The characters are relatable, and the descriptions of scenes, settings and ships are well told, yet the plot just felt TOO predictable at times. I think this is kind of the point, as about 2 thirds of the way through it starts becoming a bit "No, surely not, that's far too obvious to be right..." fully convincing you that a tsunami of a story twist is headed your way - and this kind of arrives, but it's not nearly in as shocking a way as I expected, and the tale reverts back to it's predictable almost checklist style story, marking off the segments that Cline thinks needs to be included to make a good novel one by one: the geek, the love interest, the reunion, the teenage angst etc...

That being said, I wasn't going into this expecting a modern classic - Ready Player One appeals to me because of the nostalgia and chic-geek references, though the story there just felt less predictable and more imaginative, so I was never going to dislike Armada for the same reasons. Perhaps someone more into MMOs would find it an better read, but I did still enjoy the tale of the Independence Day style end of the world scenario after some perseverance.

I am extremely excited to see that Cline has Spielberg on board for the direction of the potential movie, as I really think this is one that will make an absolutely amazing film, where I would like Ready Player One to not be tarnished by a half arsed movie attempt.

I would still recommend Armada for fans of geek, games and guns like me, perhaps as a suitable holiday read.

#SpiritedAway

Only my second viewing of a Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away tells the tale of a young girl, Chihiro, who when moving to a new home with her parents uncovers a deserted theme park/restaurant which she later learns to be a holiday retreat for a multitude of spirits.


She meets a boy named Haku, who helps Chihiro get herself a new life within the spirit realm, where she learns that the only way to exist is through tremendously hard work.

The tale is a captivating fairy tale, with beautiful characters and scenery throughout, with deep enough symbolism of capitalism and wasteful consumerism to make the story interesting for a mature audience, as well as being a fantastical journey for children. I could've watched the entire movie with my eyes closed, as the sweeping and frankly rather epic score by Joe Hisaishi, who has worked previously and since on many other animated features, really helps evoke the emotions within the story.


Mostly though, I can't get over how beautiful this film is, and I will certainly be investing in some sort of coffee table art book - the spirits are all ingeniously original, somehow both haunting yet relatable or at least cute in a strange way. The mask of no face is at the same time quite disturbing and endearing.


I think this is an easy Ghibli film to get into the back catalogue for all of these reasons, and I would thoroughly recommend it, even if you're not normally a fan of animated films.