Rob Harris Diary

Diary 15/11/2005

2005-11-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hello diary.Its been a while.
Just sitting in my room in Tokyo listening to Paul McCartney's new album.Feels like early Beatles again,nice to hear as i am a huge Beatles fan.What a great songwriter,loveley chord structures and interesting melodies ( I don't hear this very often nowadays).
So here i am in Tokyo.We arrived 2 days ago from LA.As usual when i get to Japan i try to stay awake as late as possible to beat the jet lag but still wake up at 5am bright as a button with no chance of getting back to sleep.I'm missing home today.Want to sleep in my own bed,have breakfast in my own kitchen.It'll pass.Playing the legendary Budokan tonight and tomorrow night.How lucky am I?I get too play in all of these amazing places,something i've wanted to do since i was about 12 years old and here i am.
I've been working on some music in my room for a short while.I took a walk around China Town in SanFransisco and the sounds i heard there with all of the music and hustle and bustle kind of inspired me to do a bit of writing.Its amazing where inspiration comes from.I feel good about what i've done,although i'm trying not too record things onto my laptop before i get the song right first.I love recording so much that i tend to get excited and start laying tracks down before i've really thought about what i'm doing,then i get halfway through and run out of steam.This time i want to get the song finished in my head first.
The American tour is now over.What a fantastic bunch of people are.All of the places we played,SanFran,New York,Denver,LA,Vegas,Toronto,Montreal,Chicago,Atlantic City,did i miss anywhere?,i don't know,jetlag is a bitch,not good for the memory.We got to meet Nikka Costa who came to see us after our show in Denver.She was playing down the road from us and Paul and i were gutted that we couldn't see her gig cos we were playing at the same time.What a voice she has.I bought 2 new amps in SanFran and i'm very pleased with them on the gigs so far.I used them straight away the day i got them.The Fillmore shows will stick with me for a long time.Such a good audience.Thats not too say that they were any better than the rest of the cities we visited.I just think the Fillmore is a bet special as so many artists that i love played there.Inside there's a photo of Jimi Hendrix sitting on the steps outside our dressing room.That may not mean much to some people but for me thats huge.HUGE.
Matt and i walked the Golden Gate bridge too.Its a long walk but the fresh air and exercise were good and the view is spectacular.
A lot of us had our families come out to LA.I had a nice few days with my wife and son.I needed that.I don't think he gets what his dad does yet.He's only young,it must seem odd to him that his dad travels round the world with a piece of wood with strings on it stands in front of people making noises.We're halfway through now.Lots of gigs to go,i'm looking forward to them.
Enough waffling from me.
Rob

US Tour Diary 28/10/05

2005-11-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Damn Damn Damn.I had typed out a long entry into my diary and then i went and pressed the wrong button and lost it all.
I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!!so here i go again.
Well we're one and a half weeks into the tour now.The shows and crowds have been fantastic so far.It's so nice to be playing smaller gigs after doing all those large arenas.I'm getting to see some places that I've never been too before such as Atlantic City and Boston.It's been a blast.The 2 New York shows were wicked and so far the audiences at every gig have made us feel welcome.
The 2 shows in Canada were loads of fun.Lovely bunch of people you all are.Thanks to everyone coming out to see us.Chicago was a tough show due to our onstage sound.Unfortunately we could all hear more sound bouncing back from the back wall than we could what was in our in ear monitors.Its kind of like watching a movie but having to listen to the soundtrack from a completely different movie.Very confusing.
Loads of long bus journeys on this tour.We play in Denver tonight and then we get on the bus for 12 hours.Thats 12 hours ladies and gents.Remember those long car journeys when you were a kid ARE WE THE YET?ARE WE THERE YET?Mum i need to go pee! 12 hours of that lol.Sorry i going a little mad i think.I'm reading a book that Matt lent me about Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys.Incredible story, very sad.Look it up.It gives a good insight into how the music industry can be sometimes.
I went out the other day and bought a nice warm coat to wear cos its been freezing here.The next day i find that Paul Turner and our keyboard tech Paul Stoney both got the same coat.How did i find out.We all turned up wearing it at the same time.NOT COOL!but quite funny.The new Jamiroquai uniform.
oh well i need to go shower and shave and prepare for the gig.
take care people

Rob

Time off at home

2005-10-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog bits.I thought this would be a good idea,even if it just for myself to read when i get home from tour to remind myself of what went on whilst on tour.

Well i'm at home for a short while in between the European leg and the next gargantuan leg of the tour.Just getting myself prepared mentally for being away from my family and home for a long time.Although i'm looking forward to the gigs and visiting all the cool places i'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to my wife and son and not seeing them for 2 months.OUCH!

The last leg of the tour was very cool.Some great gigs and amazing audiences.Thanks to everyone for giving us such a good reception,hopefully we'll see you all again next year.The music has been getting better and the band and Jay have been gelling more and more with every performance.It took us a while to loosen up onstage and really get into each others pockets so to speak.We've been listening to the gig recordings after most of the shows and we've all noticed the improvements.

We got back home on tuesday morning of this week,i think we all needed a break and some normality.I needed to go to the dentist and he very kindly ripped a tooth out for me and then charged me £80 for the privelage.WHAT A NICE CHAP!
I also took my new guitar in to get it refretted ready for the next lot of gigs.
Only a few days left at home now,going to London for Top of The Pops tomorrow but after that it's chill all the way till thursday when we leave for the US,Japan and Australia.
Oh yeah,watched the GHAC video for the first time yesterday.Very pleased with it,very different for Jamiroquai but it gets the point across perfectly.Hope you like it