For every month of 2023, I have managed to write a little blog post chronicling my life as a wannabe artist in Manchester. For all of you sycophants dying to know, that has amounted to over ten thousand words written just about the life of little old Wilmslow Will. The writing has concerned all of my achievements (the small, the medium, the GIGANTIC) as well as the minutia of my life, and it has also included all of my various side quests which have happened as I climb to the top and become the world’s greatest rock star (or at least get a job after I graduate that is not at f**king Pets At Home customer service again). 2023 has possibly been one of the best years of my life with some notable highlights including: Getting engaged on holiday in Jordan back in April, having the first ever read through / workshop of my musical in November, my work placement with British Youth Music Theatre over summer, climbing Snowdon in June and Hellvellyn in November, running the Buxton half-marathon back in May, starting a podcast with my flatmate, having much of my music performed numerous times across the year at RNCM, going to see Aphex Twin at Field Day festival over summer, and going to Denmark with my grandad in September to see the Tollund Man. I am most proud of getting engaged of all of these achievements, but the musical workshop was the highlight for me with regard to my aspirations music wise as it has led me to feel more determined to get my show performed next year. With that said, here are my New Years resolutions for 2024 (see how I do future Will):
Get my musical performed.
Complete my Masters degree.
Find a job relating to music after I graduate.
Get down to 90kg (current weight 102kg).
Run a half-marathon by the end of the year.
Move in with my fiancee and organise our wedding.
I am feeling good about 2024, though December has been a less productive month than previous ones being that it has been my birthday, Christmas and New Years. It always becomes a month where I get a bit out of my regular routine, that said I have managed to do some things this month such as make a lot of progress with my new orchestral piece. I have until March to finish it, but so far I have completed roughly three minutes of it (it can be a max of seven minutes). My tutors quite like what I have done (which is good because they usually do not like my work) and they have provided me with some good feedback which I have been slowly but surely working my way through. I also began work on a few other chamber pieces, one for a string quintet and another for piano and clarinet. I have also begun making some edits to my musical, though I expect to do the bulk of this in January. The main piece of work I have been getting through this month however has been my submission for the Berlin International Film Scoring Competition. It is only a four minute short film, but I have been spending a long time trying to make sure that I do a better job than my submission last year. It has been going very well so far, and even though I am not expecting to win, it will look very good in my portfolio. I have not shown what I have done to my tutors partially because I can predict their responses, but also because RNCM broke up for Christmas half way through December.
Outside of music, I have been busy with several events such as my birthday. I hosted an alien / cowboy themed party at my flat which went very well, especially as I woke up on the floor of my kitchen the next day. I did not throw up all over my bed like I did on my last birthday so I was somewhat pleased. Turning 27 does still haunt me as it just feels so old and I feel myself turning more and more middle age day by day (I’m sure anyone older than me (including myself in the future) would just tell me to shut up but it’s how I feel ok!?!). Turning 27 this year unfortunately means that I will need to tragically die soon as well if I am to be considered a great musician. I just have to make sure that I get through all the work I need to before my substance overdose.
My flatmate and I did our first podcast since October after a long break which was nice, I think we might start doing them every month now as opposed to every week or two. I have also been getting ready for my trip to India, where I’ll be going for a couple of weeks in January for the wedding of one of my best friends. I applied for the e-visa and I was granted it but I realised that it would expire before we arrived so I’m going to have to wait for it to expire and then apply again. Organising this trip has been a bit of a nightmare, but luckily I’ve managed to do some of the things I have needed to do in time such as get the jabs I needed (I went private which was expensive, but apparently you can be waiting months if you go through the NHS so I had no choice other than not get them and risk dying abroad like some dumb Brit) as well as sort some of the accommodation out there too.
My fiancee and I went to Wales for our three year anniversary which was lovely. Our two families also had Christmas Day together which was wholesome as it was the first time most of them had met each other. Looking back it was one of the nicest Christmas’s I can remember. Anyways, enough of me rambling as there is not a lot else to report this month. It has been a wonderful year and I look forward to what 2024 will bring. Happy new year everyone!
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