"My Heart Is Beating Like A Jungle Drum"

Today was all about drums... oh, and a keyboard, which I'll tell you about in a minute.

This morning Mr McGhee started to produce the brand new song we've written, and he focused in particularly on the drum track to get it perfect - as it's the kind of track that is pretty much led by the drum track and the way it relates to the big string lines which are already sounding incredible.

The demo we had from the end of last week had a kind of 80s synth-y-style drum kit and we didn't want it to sound exactly like that, so this meant blending the electronic drums with something a lot more real, and a little grittier...

Anyway, the highlight of my day was when I noticed Sean's baby keyboard sitting in the corner of the room. Sean has been using this little keyboard for most of his life, as he's had for the past 15 years or so, since he was a teenager and he still uses it on a lot of his productions!

Sean and his teenage keyboard. Ah the memories. Ah.

Anyway, I burst into laughter when I saw it, because I suddenly noticed that stuck above the left-hand speaker is a button badge of Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran. This also made me extra excited because I met Nick a few weeks ago and was really, no, REALLY cool! So to find out Sean was inspired by Duran Duran when he was growing up seemed very appropriate! I remember listening to them when I was 5 years old and loving it like crazy. Along with Wham! Ha ha... nice memories.

Nick Rhodes is the man. End of.

I also had another 80s legend on my mind today. Boy George. As I chatted on the phone with my dear friend Zee Asha today who, as well as being a megastar in Chicago in the West End, has also sung with George a number of times, in both his musical Taboo and on tour with his band Culture Club. Zee is amazing, and has the most incredible spirit, she's so encouraging and has this incredible positivity which rubs off on me, and makes me feel renewed... I saw George's documentary the other night when I got home from the studio and I really enjoyed it, hearing him discuss his music and his passion for David Bowie. All good.

More tomorrow...