January is a terrible month, it always is. In the past I have been a bit seasonally affected so this year, to avoid the short dark days, the post-Christmas money worries and the general malaise I embarked on this post-a-day effort.
I've had this blog for years but it has been neglected for a long time. In 2011 I was encouraged to start writing properly again and I was published by the 405 and the Huffington Post. I wanted to do more, and I figured that if I could write something new every day during the most boring month of the year that would be a start. To be honest I have had this sort of idea before but it ran out of steam as I have had no readers and no interaction with my 'audience', so I said to myself, if I can get 30 or 40 hits per day that would be a start. I am currently getting over 100 per day and I could kiss the lot of you.
So, I may as well give you a recap of what has worked out and what hasn't. The most read page was my report on the unfortunate demise of Head records in Belfast which was a very sad story to have to write, however it gave my month a huge boost and it also made me reluctantly realise the great power of Facebook. (Go and 'like' me if you haven't already, I like you, honest I do!) I have pledged to update the story whenever there is any news by the way.
Music wise, the most popular posts are the 'Great Lost Bands' series, so those will definitely continue, although I'll warn you that they are going to get more obscure. The least popular was the weekly gig guide which I quickly killed off, but really that was only in place in case I ran out of content! Spotify playlists have also proved popular and a playlist or mix of some form continue on Fridays although that slot will be shared by guest mixes by other writers and musicians. I'm pretty excited about that one. The 'Music I discovered today' page will also continue though it will be 'as-and-when', rather than on a set day. If anyone can think of a better name for it that would be great too!
Future plans? Well, there were meant to be more reviews and at least one interview during January but I am committed to reviewing for other people and there are a few pieces I have written that would've been lovely to to post here, but the other sites made them possible so I gave them to them first. I will link through to them when they are published. It's probably obvious to state, but there will be interviews and reviews published exclusively here in the near future.
I'll also be posting bite-size news items and album streams through Facebook regularly, so that's another reason to head over there.
There is another future plan that is firmly focused on my past. In 1993 I published my own fanzine The Weedbus. It ran until 1999 when a planned 14th issue failed to make it to print and then it ground to a halt. Various people have expressed an interest in seeing it over the last year, so during 2012 I will be re-publishing what I can find from the Weedbus archives. These will take the form of PDF scans of most issues (no6-no13 will be published in full) and they will also be accompanied by a streaming audio file which will feature interview clips from my old cassettes as well as some music of the time. I'll probably be talking far too much as well. The first one will be online tomorrow (Feb 2nd) and they will follow at monthly intervals. Guests will definitely include Martin Carr (Boo Radleys), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Will Oldham, Michael Gira (Swans) and the late Vic Chesnutt. There are many more but I can't guarantee the quality of the original audio just yet.
Meanwhile, I would like to thank all of you for reading over the last month, and in particular I'd like to thank everyone who has helped out by re-tweeting and sharing my writing, and everyone who helped with content for the site. I'm not going to name individuals as I'm sure I will miss someone out, but if you've helped in any way it is much appreciated.
Finally, I do accept contributions if they are within the overall feel of the site, so feel free to chat to me about that. The contact email is slowthrillsj-blog@yahoo.co.uk or you can message me on Facebook or Twitter.
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