The best way to sum up Lewis Watsons' latest EP 'Another Four Sad Songs' would be fourteen minutes of pure loveliness. I'm pretty sure the man could make Gangnam Style deep and beautiful, fortunately, he doesn't have to as not only does he have the wonderful voice, but writing talent too. Within only hours of its release 'Another Four Sad Songs' reached #2 in the Singer/Songwriter iTunes chart and #18 in the main top 100, also charting in Australia and USA.
The EP opens with the beautifully written 'Once Before', illustrating Lewis' effortless vocals. A simple love song with a real meaning anyone can relate too.
Following that is the first single from the EP. Straight into the lyrics "sink or swim, hold your breath and just dive right in, ride the wave, just ride the wave far from where we came". It's one of those songs that puts into words what every girl wants to hear from her boyfriend. You probably won't be able to stop yourself trying to harmonise in with the chorus, we all that need someone to will hold onto us for dear life. (This one is a Mummy Lauren favourite too).
'Lamplight' is next, a haunting Bombay Bicycle Club acoustic cover. Highlighting the poetic lyrics "these scattered flashes of delight, they can't help but sway your mind".
The last track on 'Another Four Sad Songs' is 'Even If', an incredible song you could imagine being as massive as a Coldplay hit and Chris Martin performing it to thousands. Although I'm sure it won't be long before Lewis is singing it to his very own hoards of fans. The message being 'I can't run away from a big mistake', explaining that apologies aren't always enough.
Having had the pleasure of interviewing Lewis back in July, I admire him for being so genuine and remaining humble and loyal to his fans as his music career continues to snowball. When it's cold and raining outside, snuggle up with a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate and lose yourself in his soulful heart melting music.
My family and I recently decided to pack up our lives into seven suitcases and move to Spain. Hence the lack of articles, on my behalf, I can only apologise. I'm now living in a little Spanish town, just North of Alicante, the beach is on my doorstop and I go to a local high school. This should maybe be the time I mention that I am fluent in Spanish as I lived in Spain for a year and a half when I was 8 years old.
Deciding what you can live without is hard, not referring to solely physical belongings. My life was in Glasgow, my family and friends, school, the music scene and the base of my blog. You have to realise what's the most important to you in life and that's truly difficult. Your own happiness has to come first, then you have the chance to consider other people's. The thought of packing my life into a few suitcases was scary, but I learned to appreciate that all I needed was my family (and the internet, of course), the rest is all just materialistic.
At first it was all a bit daunting. Then the realisation of what a great opportunity it could be soon took over. It's coming up to six weeks that I have now been living my new "life in the sun" and I can't put into words how much I love it. Trying not to refer to my book of clichés too much, but I do feel like I belong here and this is where I'm supposed to be. People are so much friendlier and I've already made some really special friends. For the first time in my life, everything feels perfect and I keep catching myself smiling subconsciously.
This blog was never supposed to be an insight into my personal life, instead a place for me to voice my opinions, post interviews and show a little bit of me. I definitely don't want to change that either, I just felt as my lovely readers you deserved a personal update. Nevertheless, you can expect to read about what it's like being emerged into the Spanish lifestyle, the culture differences - first hand - feeling a teeny bit homesick and the usual lot of strong opinions from me.
Perhaps you were like me in thinking this years’ Olympics was going to be a bit “London 2012, will I even watch it? It’s all in London anyway…I don’t even really like sport”. There was so much secrecy surrounding what was going to happen at the opening ceremony and in the end it’s become a bit marmite, people either loved it or hated it. I personally found the whole thing confusing and stereotypical but I also have friends who absolutely loved it and stuck with it for the entire three and a half hours. Yet now half way through the games, I’m jumping and screaming as Sir Chris Hoy wins Great Britain our 22nd Gold Medal. I, like every other female in the country, was keen to watch Tom Daley dive (in his mini-swimmie) and from then on I was hooked. Now, no matter what I’m doing, if I’m home the Olympics are on my TV. With the red button the viewer can choose what sport to watch, I have to admit I find the weightlifting too nerve-racking but who knew slalom canoeing could be so thrilling?
It’s impossible to leave the house without a sense of pride as I see another positive Olympic headline or telling someone how proud I am of our athletes! The whole nation has pulled together to support them and we’ve truly captured that one of a kind British spirit. It’s phenomenal to see the Royal family in the crowd at so many events too, The Duchess always looking gorgeous and Harry and Will smiling away as they cheer our very own on!
The Olympic competitors have been preparing for the London 2012 for years, their whole lives are scheduled around training and I bet they never have a ‘day off’ the diet. The amount of hours they spend devoted to their sport should surely inspire us to do even a little. A few friends of mine have even joined the gym purely feeling motivated by this years’ games.
It is incredibly refreshing to see, not only talented, but beautiful young women representing our nation. Their hard work and dedication is truly inspirational, they are the perfect role model for young girls to look up to. Completely different than the likes of TOWIE convincing anyone they can be a success story with a bottle of fake tan and a pair of eyelashes. Jessica Ennis is set to make over £5m in sponsorship deals after taking gold in the heptathlon, well-earned and rightly deserved.
Some of the Olympians are only 15 or 16 years old, it makes you question what you’ve been doing your whole life, doesn’t it? Teenage girls in schools across Scotland refuse to take part in PE in case it “ruins their hair or make-up”. Having seen the likes of Olympic athletes, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Beth Tweddle and Vitoria Pendleton in action still looking gorgeous, it might inspire them to even take part and be fit and healthy.
After winning his gold medal in tennis, our very own Scot Andy Murray said he was inspired by Mohammad Farah’s immense time when he won his gold medal in the 10,000m run. It’s unbelievable how one Olympians’ hard work and commitment can encourage another’s, regardless of their sport. Speaking of Moh Farah, I absolutely loved the footage of the BBC presenters jumping up and down as he was first to cross the finish line!
People are very dismissive saying, “oh Stella McCartney designed Britain’s outfits for the Olympics” but do they actually realise how much attention to detail was paid? From Tom Daley’s “little thing”, as Stella referred to it, to Sir Chris Hoy looking like a real life Superhero in his cycling jersey, Team GB look first-class in their designer attire!
It’s not just us caught up in the Olympic excitement, our heroes are too. Twitter has been over flowing on a daily basis with tweets from celebrities congratulating the British Olympic medallists! Andy Murray’s girlfriend tweeted the cutest picture of their two border-terriers wearing his gold and silver medals. While Piers Morgan is donating £1,000 to Great Ormond Street every time a British winner sings the national
anthem.
Of course it’s not just Team GB that has me glued to my seat, who wasn’t excited to see the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, set a new Olympic record and win gold? Or feel moved because Michael Phelps has swam his last Olympic length after his incredible achievement of 17 Gold medals?
The Commonwealth Games will be hosted in Glasgow in 2014, how exciting for Scotland! We should strive to keep the Olympic vibe going as in only two years’ time we will all be part of sporting history, once again, and the setting of new world records. I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to be there cheering for Team GB!
It's hard to pick up a newspaper or magazine without reading
something derogatory about a certain celebrities' appearance. Whether they've
stepped out to the local shop in their jogging bottoms or haven't got round to
touching up their roots, the press are obsessed with pointing it out. Fame
doesn't make people superhuman; they're still normal and have the same problems
as the rest of us. If we were papped 24/7 we wouldn't look perfect in every
single photo.
Pixie Lott recently attended the Dark Knight Rises premiere
and was absolutely hounded for having "hairy armpits". The way
headlines made out I thought she must have 11" of hair tumbling beneath
her arm. When I actually saw the picture of her armpit, there was virtually
nothing there. She apparently "drew attention" to her "hairy
underarms" by posing with her hand on her on her waist. Forget the fact
Pixie looks beautiful in her stunning blue floor length dress, instead let's
focus our attention to the fact she had a tiny bit of stubble on her armpit. It
was refreshing to see her taking to twitter to laugh it off, rather than
dwelling on it, she moved on like the rest of us should have.
You'd have thought after Pixie explaining herself (which she
shouldn't have felt compelled to do anyway) it would all go away but no. The
following day at The Art of Rap premiere Pixie wore a gorgeous lace dress with
short sleeves and was picked on once again for "covering up to avoid
embarrassment once again". This meant reminding the nation, once again, of
her "faux pas" from the day before. In amongst all of the drama,
columnists felt it necessary to bring to our attention other stars that have
been caught out in the past, Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Sharon Stone all on
the shame list.
Why can't we just leave them alone? Shouldn't their talent
matter more, I think we should go back to talking about the reasons as to why they're actually famous. It all comes back to the world caring more about appearances
than ability, Kate Middleton's £35 dress is more important than the sports project
she's attending with Prince William and Prince Harry and an A-listers weight is more
front-page than their charity work. The media is so desperate to feed the public's lust for celebrity imperfection, it would be nice to go back to celebrating their talent instead.
Who were your favourite celebrities when you were younger? I loved the Back Street Boys, but Hear Say was the first ever single I bought. Peter Schmiechel was my favourite footballer, if that counts?
What genre of music
can't you stand?
Dubstep, definitely.
If your house was on
fire and you could save one thing, what would it be? (Excluding living things, of course!)
It would either be my guitar or my macbook because my
life is on my macbook. I could always get another guitar I guess... so I'll save my
macbook.
If you could play a
venue anywhere in the world, where would it be?
It would probably have to be Australia, if somebody
told me right now "you're going to die in two days, where do you want to
go?" it would be Australia. I was never a huge fan of Home and Away but I used to watch and think 'wow, I want to be there'.
If today was your last, how would you spend it?
One day...hmm...I would probably eat a lot of Chinese food, I love Chinese food.
If you were a biscuit, which would you be?
Custard cream 100% or a malted milk, I just love them. I'd like people to enjoy me as much as I enjoy them.
Here
I am, on the 1st of July, off to the Electric Circus in Edinburgh to
interview up and coming musician – Lewis Watson. On arrival I was allowed into
the venue, and when Lewis arrived, I had the privilege of watching him
soundcheck. I’ve been following him and his music for a while, so was excited
to spend some time with him. The talented 19-year-old was one of the most charming
guys I have ever met and the conversation flowed.
Having
only picked up the guitar 3 years ago, I wondered how long Lewis had been
performing professionally. "Well, I did my first gig last May, it was an
open mic at a college in Oxford and I covered a Charlie Simpson song. Charlie
saw it and invited me to his gig in London, which was crazy because nothing
like that had ever happened before," he tells me with a big smile on his
face. "He mentioned doing a little festival thing in September with him,
so asked me if I'd ever performed but I hadn’t, for anybody, not even my Mum
and Dad. He told me to rack up some gig experience and then come September we
could probably do a gig together. Charlie's one of my heroes so that was crazy!
I then did open mics three times a week because I wanted to be as good as possible,
but the gig didn't actually happen in the end. He's really lovely and I'm a big
fan of his music so to have him say that really made me think 'screw the nerves
and just do it, if you want to'. I thank Charlie Simpson for me being here today!"
I ask how he’s found
trying to promote himself through the internet. "I joined YouTube three years ago; I think that was the perfect time
because people weren't using it a lot. Every other video wasn't somebody
covering a song; it was harder to come across someone you enjoyed listening to.
I always said that YouTube was good because you get the honest truth, which
isn't the case now because people go on there to hate for the sake of hating.
It's a shame, if I were to have started now, I don't think I would've carried
on. YouTube is hard work because you have to stay active and you have to cover
the right songs," he explains. "I'm really lucky because I talk to
other musicians, there's a little group of YouTube buddies, and it’s pretty
cool actually. Other medias such as tumblr, I made that at the same time, again
it was the perfect time because everybody was using it and enjoying it, now
people don’t use it as much. I think I just hit the social media boom. It only
takes one person with 1,000 friends to share it, to then have 30 more shares.
The internet is fantastic and I'm so happy it exists."
With
such a beautiful voice and lyrics people really connect with, I wondered if he
had always wanted to be a singer/songwriter. "I think everybody wants to
be a singer, so it's almost like a far out ambition of mine but I never really
thought it could happen until last year when things started to pick up. I
thought 'hang on, if I really apply myself here and give 100% this could maybe
just happen'. The fact it has happened has blown my mind, I'm a bad sleeper
anyway but I lie in bed and I'm just so overwhelmed by everything. It's
annoying though because I don't really get much sleep anymore!" he laughs.
These days it’s unusual to hear of an artist who really appreciates everything
he has and doesn’t take it all for granted, I admire him for that.
"I'm extremely
lucky because I have a very supportive family," he smiles. "My sister
did my website and my dad used to be my manager. My mum, my step-mum and my
brother have all just been so supportive, I'm really lucky for that. I didn't
know what I wanted to do when I left school so I don't think they had a clue
either but they’ve been great ever since I decided I wanted to do this. I am
really lucky with my family, I love them to bits, make sure you put that
in," I promise I will.
With
a lot coming up, I wanted to know what he was looking forward to most, "My
sold out UK tour, definitely! The fact it's sold out, in the first place, is
completely crazy, it's mad. I'm really excited to do it because I've supported
loads of people at their gigs so for people to have bought tickets to come and
see me is a bit wacky. It'll be the first time that it's my show, so it’s going
to be great to make decisions and pick support acts.”
"I'm
doing a free show in July in Oxford and that's going to be filmed and recorded
and hopefully that'll be made into a live EP. Come October time I'm looking to
maybe release another EP and then next year an album."
I ask about the
furthest away fan that he’s aware of, "My third and fourth most liked
cities on Facebook are Melbourne and Sydney, which is crazy because that's the
other side of the world. I also had somebody message me telling me they were
from the Blue Mountains in Australia which has a really small population, so
for them to have found me is mental." At the moment there’s “Get Lewis toAustralia” challenges which his fans have to complete, via social medias, in
order to get him there. If he could
play a venue anywhere in the world, it would be Australia.
And in 5-10 years? “I
hope to still be doing music and I hope that I'm still enjoying it as much as I
am now, and that I'll be touring the
world, instead of just four dates in
England and Scotland!"
I love Lewis’ new
music video for his song Windows, he tells me how it was made, “I went to
Electric Lights Studios and they were brilliant, I just did about 20 takes of
the song in different positions and they printed each frame, cut it out, and
then filmed the video again. I'm really happy with it.” The video had only been
online for two days when I met Lewis and it already had 15,000 hits, it now has
over 21,000!
"The
biggest influence on my music career is definitely Ed Sheeran. He did a great
thing and opened the door to so many people to let them think they could do it,
just them and their guitar. He put in the hard work for four years doing gigs
every night, sleeping on sofas, just because he wanted people to hear his
music. I think that's so admirable, whoever you are, you don't even have to like
him but you should admire that kind of work ethic. He has now toured everywhere
and he's still doing it, he's got a number 1 on the American iTunes, which is
mad. Ed is a complete eye opener for me. I thought music was going down that
slope where it was so throw away it would be number 1, and then next week it
would be number 40 because everyone's got a new disposable song. I think Ed
really broke that because he's been number 1 with ‘+’ so many times and the
songs were all written by him.”
Lewis tells me about
the first gig he ever attended as a fan, “It was Linkin Park, November 23rd
2003, Lost Prophets were supporting them at Wembley. I was 11 and I had the
time of my life,” he remembers. “I just listened to their new album today, I
was really happy with it because I feel like they've gone back to their roots.”
“I just tried to do
well at school,” he shrugs, as I ask what he was like as a child. “I didn't see
a need in being badly behaved and doing stuff that you shouldn't. I was really
boring, thinking about it, I should've made the most out of my childhood.
Although, I guess I'm still an adolescent, kind of…” He’ll be 20 in October, will we give him
that?
Mr Watson isn’t short
of “fangirls” and they’re not afraid to go to extremes, I ask him the weirdest
thing that’s ever happened to him with a fan. He says, “I recently got a letter
hand-delivered through my door. That was quite weird for me because I just woke
up and there was a letter, with no stamp just put through the door, I mean that
person knows where I live. It wasn’t signed, just had a mobile number? I think
that's the bit that got me because I don't know who they are but they know
where I live.”
Lewis’ answer to being anyone in the world for
one day…“Kanye West because he's the coolest man on Earth, or Ryan Gosling
because he's just gorgeous and women would fall at my feet." After seeing some
of his glamorous fans swooning over him later at the gig, I don’t think Lewis
will be short of girls falling at his feet. The fact he writes beautiful music,
sings and plays guitar is just a bonus really.
People love it when
@levvis_ tweets them back, he tells me how important it is for an artist to
make time for their fans. “I, and I'm sure a lot of other people, wouldn't be
in the position where they could just play music and earn a living out of it if
it wasn't for the people that enjoyed the music. I think it’s key for people to
tweet people back, although it's very hard sometimes. This month, for me is
manic, I don't really have a day off so it's very hard to tweet everybody.
You’d be surprised how many tweets come in, it’s a fantastic feeling but it's
very hard to think 'oh well that question's been asked four times by four
different people, I don't know how to see to that'. It does grind on you
because people get upset if you don't reply to them. It's not that I don't want
to reply to you, I just really can't if I want to be sane,” he laughs.
In the past he’s done
an #asklewis where he tries to answer every question he can. It trended
worldwide last time, “I was just on the train and usually I forget
my headphones, I had plenty of battery on my phone so I did it.”
“I remember people's
twitters and if they come to a gig I say "oh, you're blah blah blah on
twitter!" and it freaks them out a bit. Recently I went to a Lucy Rose gig
and she knew who I was just because she'd heard my music before. That was wacky
because I've listened to her for years and I love her music.”
When I ask Lewis what embarrassing songs we may find on his
iPod, he puts it on shuffle and after about 10 tracks reveals he wouldn’t have
skipped any of them. He tells me he likes lots of different genres, and can
easily go from Slipknot to Kanye West. Although, I was lucky enough to hear a
couple of his original demos!
As we finish off the interview with my Either Or video, I feel a little sad as I've so enjoyed the time I've spent with him. I'm sure it won't be long before Lewis Watson is a household name with a flock of fangirls in love him; in fact I think I may be a little in love with him myself...
A bus stopped in the distance, the doors opened and the flame flickered
into sight. The crowd’s cheers grew ever louder as the Olympic Torch went by in
a flash. The runner smiled and within moments she was off up the hill and out
of sight.
This was the first and most likely the last time the Olympic Flame
would pass through Lochwinnoch. A once in a lifetime event and it had to be
seen. Even the school children dressed in standard attire had dragged
themselves away from their games consoles and social networking, and were giggling,
grinning and cheering with the rest of the assembled crowds as the torch ran
by.
Only a few hours earlier it was business as usual with a few residents
wandering along the streets. Lochwinnoch just a small village in the west of Scotland,
locals shopping and sheltering from the rain.
Now the police had arrived, railings being positioned the length of the
high street for the expected crowds to stand behind, officials beginning to cordon
off areas and direct the parking as the first cars started to arrive.
People began to gather ,wondering where the best place to stand would
be to get the best view possible of the main event and hoping that the rain
would hold off, although most had brollies at the ready.
In Lochwinnoch all the traffic had stopped, with roads being closed
till later in the afternoon. The rain had decided to stop for the time being
and the sun was doing its best to shine through the grey clouds. People had
walked up the hill to gather and see the torch run through the whole village
and on toward Kilmalcolm.
Long before the torch arrived, the Olympic entourage fuelled the crowd
with energy. So many police outriders drove down the street, buses and coaches
following on and finally the main noisy buses. The Coca-Cola truck, music
blaring, handing out gifts and small bottles of fizzy, then the Samsung bus
with deafening sounds and a huge screen on the side showing cartoon singers.
It was now only a matter of time before this little village would carve
its place in history with its first glimpse of the Olympic torch. The crowd at
the crossroads gave a large cheer, the torch had arrived and at last the
runners were ready in place to exchange the flame as the Olympic bus stopped...
Cheering all along the street as the first runner passed the crowds and
then the torch was handed on to the next girl smiling as the people clapped and
children waved their flags. People all around took pictures to show off to
their friends via Facebook. Held at arm’s length the torch passed by and on up
the hill until it could be seen no more, the Olympic cavalcade following on
behind it.
The cheers died down and the crowd looked around wondering if it was
all over, chatting about what had just happened and deciding what to do next.
A few minutes later the hype had disappeared, people began to move the
barriers and cross the road. Some headed for ice-cream and chips, others to the
local shops. Normal life began to resume as people drove away from the village in
cars and coaches. Everyone with a
different story to tell about the fact they had just witnessed a historic event
and seen the Olympic Torch.
As I read back the notes from my interview with 21-year old
Jade, I realise what a remarkable girl she really is. Despite not turning up to
school much and dropping out at 15, she still got the best marks possible. Living
with a younger brother and sister with more than a fair share of family drama,
at age 16 she got a part-time job, while starting an entry-level college course
to what would eventually become a way to earn her degree in graphic design.
“Growing up in Glasgow was quite good”, she tells me, and “I
wouldn’t have wanted to live anywhere else. I grew up in rough places but I had
a really happy childhood, you learn to appreciate things when you move to other
places.”
I asked her when she realised she wanted to become a graphic
designer, “Quite late I guess compared to some people; I think I was about 16.
I had studied a few courses including Communications and Media and the whole
time I can remember thinking 'I want this to look like this'. I was more
focused on the layout than anything else so after that I knew that’s what I
wanted to do, graphic design. When I
went into it I didn't really know what it was about, I didn't even know what
typography was and that's like one of the main things in graphic design, it’s
now my favourite thing.”
Having often been branded a ‘teacher’s pet’ myself I wanted
to know if Jade put herself in that category too, “Erm, not really, I was
always quite smart at school. Quiet in class but outside of class I was quite
loud and obnoxious. In first year I was quite smart and quiet and then when it
got to about second year, I got in with the wrong crowd and started smoking
during lunch breaks. I was still smarter than them, I was in top classes but I
wish I had gone into school more instead of thinking 'I can't be bothered'. For
all of my exams I got As, despite the fact that I wasn't in for most of that
year. So I did well but I left when I was 15 and went to college which I regret
because doing your exams in school is probably easier than college but at the
same time that's when I found out I wanted to be a graphic designer.”
“I think it's important to still try and do your best at
school because when you get older it is a lot harder. Most people should stay
and stick it at school even until fifth year at least because it does make it a
lot easier trying to get into uni.”
The obvious question for me to ask was ‘What logo do you
wish you’d designed?’ “That's a hard one, the obvious choice would be the Nike
logo but that was designed by a student who literally just did a tick for a
competition and they basically thought 'oh, that's an awesome logo' and it
became their whole brand identity. I don't think there's just one logo I wish
I'd designed because there's just so many that are just so great, I can't just
choose one.”
Everyone idolises someone in their profession, Jade says “I
quite like a lot of illustrators at the moment and handwritten letters which is
like handwritten typography. Someone called Alison Carmichael and another lady
called Johanna Basford, their stuff is all handwritten styles. They do so many
adverts, you'd probably recognise some of their stuff. Johanna Basford did the
Christmas one for Buchanan Galleries with all of the Christmas decorations and
candy canes and stuff, it's really nice, I didn't actually realise it was her
until I went onto her website. I'm quite into that at the moment and they're
probably the people that I aspire to be like. It's good to be good at
typography and graphic design but to have a particular niche like that; it's
quite in demand at the moment."
Without coming across too negative I asked Jade if she ever
wishes she had gone down a different profession, “Yeah, probably every day” she
nods, to my surprise, “because it's quite stressful and a lot of people don't
understand. For example, if you meet someone for the first time and they say, '
what do you do?' and you say 'oh I'm a graphic designer' so they're like 'right,
okay!' because they don't really understand what it is that you do. People tend
to think it's just sitting on a computer all day or drawing a quick logo but
it's not. There are times where you're designing something that you think is
just no good , other times where you do something and you think it's amazing,
and then two weeks later you think 'no, it's not good'. I think it's quite good
to be like that though because if you always think that your work's great then
there's not going to be any room for improvements. I do wish I'd chosen a
different profession sometimes but at the same time I can't imagine myself
doing anything else.”
“Hopefully with a fancy kitchen from Dwell!” she giggles as
to where she sees herself in five years’ time. However, on the more serious
note, she says, “I'd quite like to move to Manchester because they've got a lot
of really good design studios that are quite young and professional, London as
well but I think Manchester more so because it's not as busy. Hopefully I'll
just be in a small design studio but one that's really good.”
Throughout her college years Jade maintained her part-time
job, gaining more responsibilities and often working the equivalent of four
full days a week. All this while studying extremely hard yet still managing to
be a typical student; partying through the night and living (or should I say
mudding) it up at festivals such as Sonisphere and Download.
Since the interview Jade has bagged herself a full-time job
in graphic design starting someday very soon, while continuing to do her own
freelance work under the name iambiko. I wish Jade the very best of luck with her new job and I'm sure it won't be long until she's partying hard in Manchester.
Holland is like something you have never seen before, not because of the 'Coffeeshops' or the windmills but the bikes. I recently went to stay in Utrecht for the weekend and I could not believe the amount of bicycles. Most people don't have cars or use public transport, they take their bikes. All of the roads are designed especially for the two-wheelers. I love the idea of it, I can only admire the Dutch lifestyle. Cycling 10km to school or work is the norm over there, "Why walk when you can take the bike?"
If I took my bike into town here, I probably wouldn't return intact. However in Utrecht I cycled into town and back three or four times in the space of 24 hours and even made a trip to the supermarket filling up bags on the rear of the bike, an easy way to carry it home. Cycling felt quite effortless. Drivers in the Britain have no time for cyclists but in Holland it's a completely different story. Bikes have right of way, no matter what. Even walking around I had to be extra careful that I wasn't run over, but by a bike, as walking in a bike is not acceptable. Bikes have right of way over the pedestrian, you must keep out of their way.
Have you ever struggled to remember where you parked your car, for instance, at a shopping centre? Well change that thought from car to bike, which railing did I lock my bike to? Where exactly is that street where I left my bike? That is if you can find a somewhere free to begin with. There are big spaces with bike locks for people to leave their bikes, commonly outside train stations. However, there's often hundreds in the one place, hence why some bicycles are decorated so wierdly and wonderfully.
People worry about maintaining their car; filling it with fuel, paying for road tax and insurance but none of this would be necessary if we all used bikes. The environment would benefit from it too, this kind of culture could be just the thing to get society healthy again. I appreciate a key part of the bike domination is because Holland is so flat but surely there's some way around this. We're constantly putting down new roads and coming up with ways to build on the railway line, of course, all costing fortunes when really, what is stopping us using bikes instead?
The best way to sum up Lewis Watsons' latest EP 'Another Four Sad Songs' would be fourteen minutes of pure loveliness. I'm pretty sure the man could make Gangnam Style deep and beautiful, fortunately, he doesn't have to as not only does he have the wonderful voice, but writing talent too. Within only hours of its release 'Another Four Sad Songs' reached #2 in the Singer/Songwriter iTunes chart and #18 in the main top 100, also charting in Australia and USA.
