Well buckle up me belt and a good evening to you all!

Another two weeks under said belt and it’s getting to us all. I’m on spent time at the moment and judging by the fact that people are walking around with faces that look like pies pushed through a tennis racket I can see everyone else is stressed as well.

Reid’s Uni AND LIFE Survival Tip No.2

Always, always, always look at the positives in every small thing in a person or a thing. Scowling does not help anyone’s cause and you’ll age faster. Everyone’s getting stressed out atm and it’s easy to be anti-social and genuinely angry at people for using a fork instead of a spoon, but just remember that we’re all humans trying to make it. Don’t worry, be happy. (Ju Koo Koo). WHATEVER PROBLEMS THAT ARISE, ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT LIFE IS A GIFT. BREATHE IT IN WHILE YOU CAN. (Good on ya Dalai Llama).

“All good mate. Now could you pass the salt.”

MUSIC

Ever heard of P-Money? No? Maybe you’ve heard the song Call On Me by Starley? No? The one that goes “you can’t stop the tears from falling down,” and then a drop that’d make a rock with no legs dance? Yeah P-Money wrote that song. And he came in to talk to us! He was genuinely one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. It was great! He said I can send him some of my stuff to see if he’d like to work on it which would be unreal! So much of the music bizz is to do with WHO you know rather WHAT you know, which is what this course is offering as well. We also had a guy called Turanga Merito who was Simba on BROADWAY come in and talk about how his Auckland pop music course transported him to where he is now. Again, a genuinely funny man full of passion. Hahah he also showed us a dance to Purple by Six60 which I had a video of me in purple tights dancing but might be a bit R rated..

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Yeah…

So in the first couple of weeks it was all chill. Write two songs in a week? Fine. Now it’s write two songs, and complete some theory, and practice your scales, and go to the studio, and produce a hip hop song. It’s hard work but I’ve figured if you’re spending 3,000 slides a semester, you might as well bite off a sizeable chunk and chew like a thing with teeth! We’ve been told that it’s all about trying your best and taking risks at things that you wouldn’t have done before, and that’s exactly what our whole class has being trying to do!

I handed in my Johnny song and was stoked to get an A+! It’ll need a lot of work to make it commercially but hopefully I can find the right people and be away on a fast goat. I’ve been spending at least 8 hours a day now doing my music course, then having a break on the weekends. Yes, this is more emotionally draining than watching the notebook, but if there’s no toil then the pasta won’t boil. The studio’s been booked all week so I haven’t had a chance to record Johnny but once I do I’ll post it up and see what you guys think! I’m also thinking of interviewing some of my classmates to see what they’re thinking about stuff. Also if you’re a young man/lady who’s keen to hear more about what actually happens within the course then feel free to write a comment down the bottom and I’ll answer it as best I can!

Extra-Cricketular Activites

Haha it’d be fitting but..I’m not doing cricket. No I’m doing the bagpipes which has been fantastic. Mark my words the funniest thing you could ever attend is a beginner’s class for the bagpipes. Literally crying with laughter. Forget water torture, just utilise a chanter and see where that takes you into annoying people. WARNING NOT THE BEST INSTRUMENT TO MAKE FRIENDS:

The Uni Hall towers put on a head shave for cancer and we all put in $5 to shave Shano’s Hair…Gave him the full weedeater effect:

I’ve also started salsa classes which has been such good chat! Again very very funny. Our teacher is slicker than John Travolta’s haircut!

Also signed up as a volunteer for bFM which is the student radio with another music mate called Sam. Hopefully we’ll be driving you home soon!

Also joined in for the inter-faculty touch tournament, but then spent the rest of the day in hospital due to broken ankles hahaha. To put it short… we lost every game. But our team was full of absolute legends, especially our team captain Mafoa. Definitely will do it again next year.

REID’S UNI SURVIVAL TIP NO.3

Find stuff you love to do and get people you love to do it with you. It’s very easy to become sooty quickly with having so much work and it’s always great to go to something fun that’ll help you dilute the mental mustard of academia. Whether it’s squash or knitting or underwater baking. Have some fun with your life. It feels good 🙂

Life.

The best thing about Auckland is the fact that there is so much that goes on even outside the Uni. Last week I was lucky enough to go to the six60 concert and again the best band of all time DRAX PROJECT opened. God they’re good:

Went to a place called Groovy Records which is genuinely the coolest place in Auckland I’ve been to. Was there at 2 and next time I looked up from a record it was 6! Here’s a sweaty James Brown:

I PLAYED MY FIRST GIG! All my people on my floor came out to watch which is so genuinely cool of them! That’s another great thing about this place. It feels good to know that people are willing to come and support you!

I DIDN’T PARTY. Because I’m now a committed student of an academic institution! I’m saving up for my birthday party in the first semester break 😉 Hint: it’s dress up.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING THIS WITH YOUR EYES.

Keep being your beautiful selves and keep your antennae ready for another post with songs and such in the next two weeks.

Thanks,

Reido

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