White Fox Talking
Talk About Mental Health & Well-Being… Why Not? Mark ‘Charlie’ Valentine suffered life changing mental illness, before beginning a journey to recovery and wellness; the darkness of PTSD transformed by the light atop mountains and beyond. Mark is now joining forces with Seb Budniak, to make up the ‘White Fox Talking’ team. Through a series of Podcasts and Vlogs, ‘White Fox Talking’ will be bringing you a variety of guests, topics, and inspirational stories relating to improving mental well-being. Find your way back to you! Expect conversation, information, serious discussion and a healthy dose of Yorkshire humour!
White Fox Talking
E66: Never Mind the Bollox, Here's Dave Beer - Good Times, Bad Times & 'Music for the Beloved'
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What happens when you leave school to follow a band and end up shaping an entire era of clubbing? Dave Beer, the trailblazer behind the legendary Back to Basics, did just that. In our latest episode, Dave shares his remarkable journey from punk rock rebellion to an influential career as a promoter, musician, and artist. We explore how his struggles with ADHD in his youth fuelled a passion for music and community, leading to a life defined by resilience and creativity. Through Dave's eyes, we see how labels of the past, like being deemed "dysfunctional," can transform into powerful narratives of self-discovery and triumph.
Our conversation takes a reflective turn as Dave opens up about the impact of modern communication on youth and creativity, likening it to living under a "Big Brother" scenario. We reminisce about the origins of Back to Basics, celebrating its ethos of prioritising community and authenticity over profit. In a world dominated by screens and social media, Dave emphasises the importance of genuine human connection and the role of music in fostering creativity and self-expression. We touch on the nostalgia of 90s clubbing and the unique social atmosphere that defined an era of freedom and opportunity.
The episode takes an emotional depth as Dave candidly discusses his battle with cancer and the transformative power of love and support. He shares how Buddhism and the concept of synchronicity have brought him solace, inspiring a renewed appreciation for life. Dave's journey through adversity highlights the power of a positive mindset and the enduring impact of determination and passion. As we wrap up, we look forward to his upcoming projects, including a book, film, and album, underscoring the cyclical nature of life's experiences and the continuous pursuit of authenticity and creativity.
BANDCAMP
Hello and welcome to the White Fox Talking Podcast. I'm Mark Chalot-Valentine, and at the controls is Seb Budnjak. Hello, Charlie, Mark and Chalot-Valentine. Yeah, it's confusing, but the way that I explain it is Mark was my birth name, but Charlie's my chosen name because that's what I got from school from friends. You know what I mean, right? So it's been chosen.
Speaker 2:By chosen how much, did you get a job and get paid for it?
Speaker 1:it was actually from a footballer in the 80s.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sorry, I'll put it in a different subject no, it's all good.
Speaker 1:It's all good. I was a bit young then, dave.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah sounds a bit suspect though it does, but it was.
Speaker 1:It was from my long, curly perm. Yeah, I was terrible at football, but I looked great when I went for a header. You know what I mean? I looked like Alex Jean-Paul. Anyway, how are you, Seb? I'm very well, thanks, Recovering after the ice bath. You threw me in. Yes, that's coming up, isn't it? In a few weeks we're going to be recording. Well, we've done the vlog. What a way to welcome Dave Gallag by chucking him in a. Well, he chose to get in the ice bath. He's done it before, hasn't he? And Tony, who'd arranged the podcast with Ed Stafford, we had him down to put him in the ice bath, but it was a cold day, wasn't it? It was very cold, yeah, Cold and yeah. So that's down at Testbed. Yeah, big up to Testbed, and we will be recording the podcast to follow that up anyway. So we did have a bit of a spoiler alert, but I'm absolutely delighted to welcome the Do you mind the word? Legend.
Speaker 2:It just depends who you're referring to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to the living legend that is Dave Beer in the studio. Welcome, dave. The White Fox Talking podcast is sponsored by Energy Impact. Thank you very much for having me guys. Oh, you're welcome, mate. I mean, it's just one of them. I mean, what we're going to talk about, what I'd like to talk about, it's just basically a bit about your life, the ups and downs of day. Be it. Yeah, the end of it is going to be the sort of outlook that you've sort of accepted after some recent health scares and stuff, if that's all right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, that's all good, it's good to talk.
Speaker 1:Would you be able to give the listeners just a couple of minutes about yourself and then we'll get into it? Just in case anyone doesn't know who changed clubbing in this country.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I'm Dave Beer, promoter of Back to Basics and resident. Yeah, I make music, I love music and I like good times and I like to give people good times as well. So, like, my job title would be purveyor of good times, which you used to sell me passport. When you used to have to put your title on, I couldn't think of anything else to put on it because I've never had a proper job, you know so, mr Taxman? So, yeah, I'm Dave Beer and that's what I do for a living, being Dave Beer. So, yeah, I make music, I make art and, yeah, I love life.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you started off in the sort of punk rock world and touring and managing Rodin yeah With some big names.
Speaker 2:I did. I did. I famously well, well-known ran away with the Clash. But when I say ran away with them, I ran away from home, basically, and the Clash just happened to be playing in Leeds that night and it was a no-brainer for me. It was either City of GCSEs or all levels at the time, or going to the Clash. 15 and 16-year-old I mean, it was a yeah the brain, I knew where I was going. They made more sense to me than the schooling system. So Best choice you ever made, definitely because you didn't. It wasn't a problem being ADHD, punk rock, you know, back then it wasn't called ADHD, it was called dysfunctional people, you know, or disruptive influences. I was so, which put it out, perfect for punk rock, but not for school. So the clash it was, and I've never regretted it and I learned a lot more from that experience than I would have ever done at any university, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:We've had this quite recently because I've been looking at put onto some books by the Dean of UCLan about education, the education system, how this, talking at young people so they can repeat things. You know, repeat dates of battles. Do you remember when the Battle of Agincourt was? Yeah?
Speaker 2:I mean it's like you know people don't need to know that. You know the Battle of Hastings was in 1966, and I wish I didn't know that. You know what I mean. I don't need to know that. I've never once in my life as it come up where I needed to know. You know when the Battle of Hastings was. You know what I mean. So I mean, don't get me down that rabbit hole because when it comes to schooling systems, you know we're all being controlled and we're just being told the same old bull as we are, with no condition Was school difficult for you then.
Speaker 1:do you think because of that?
Speaker 2:Wow, I mean school was like beyond difficult. I mean I had a great time, though. You know what I mean. It was the 70s. You know what I mean. It was just baggy trousers like Dr Martin boots, you know what I mean. Legion Hyatt were winning you could. You know what I mean. It was good times.
Speaker 2:We had seasons and hot summers, so even though you was getting your head kicked in on a council estate with no windows in your house and a single-parent family, a lot of domestic violence going down at home and around everywhere. You looked in Pontefract at that time. It was like there was a big battle there with the rounders and the cavaliers and it just seemed to go on, and I think it's still going on now. It's like 56 pubs in a square mile, you can imagine, and all the miners and the squaddies come in. It was chaos there. So school it was just an absolute nightmare. Yeah, and it was all Chinese to me, except for art and even music. I had bits of mathematics in it. I had to concentrate on it. So it was just music and art for me all the way. You know what I mean. It was like skateboarding, which is good when you're an only kid. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:So if we were just to say to the listeners that you didn't get diagnosed with ADHD, until when was it?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I always knew I had some kind of problem with dyslexia, right, because my son was, so I'd known that since about 35-ish. But then it was only in lockdown where it became really apparent that I had ADHD. Somebody suggested it to me I mean, people have probably suggested it before, but I'd forgotten. That's the thing about ADHD. And somebody said have you ever read this book um adhd 2.0, something, I think, if I remember it right, and I was like no, no, no, I've never heard of it. On his advice, I am. I don't know, can I upload this book? Started to listen to it on audiobook, of course, and then I thought this sounds familiar and then realized I'd bought it two weeks before and and then told somebody straight away that I'd never heard of it, you know. So it was like did I need to read the book to know that I was off the spectrum? And everybody who knows me always says what you have no idea, really, dave.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, do you think because of your lifestyle or Well, just the way I am, you know the good way I've been and you know like sometimes I'm well known for my party antics. So it's maybe that chasing dopamine you know like, um, you know, but it's all good.
Speaker 1:It was all good for acid house yes, funnily enough, we've recently conversations with my wife who's she's ADHD and I've got my PTSD and there's there's lots of crossovers, so I won't be able to get tested for it. But, like you said, they were dyslexic. I never was. I never was. But now I listen to audiobooks all the time because the thought of reading just sends me around the twist.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the concentration span of it, and reading a book I mean writing a book's been difficult.
Speaker 1:I think it does keep cropping up time and time again with people that we speak to and when they mention they've been diagnosed with ADHD, that they are, they tend to be the more creative type of people.
Speaker 2:I mean, the thing is about being ADHD. It's like you, if you like doing something, you'll just do it for hours and hours, and hours, and hours and hours. So I, you know that's the way it is. You can hyper focus. But if you, if it's things that just don't interest you, you're just not not going to do it, well, you just lose concentration straight away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just straight away. You know what I mean. My nemesis is things like forms and anything I have to fill out. I can do it eventually, but it's just the very fear of it. It's like I just can't be bothered. Why would I want to do that? I'd rather be doing something else. The only problem is you start doing something and then you start doing something else. You forget what you're halfway through it, so it's a you're too creative to an extent, so you end up doing loads of different things and looking back at my career, it's insane.
Speaker 2:I looked at my wikipedia not long ago and, again forgetting things, I was really thinking, my god, you know, really, why did somebody spot this long before I was 50, you know what I mean. Like you know, even though I've always been in music, I'm doing all sorts of shit on there, you know like, from TV presenting to, you know fashion labels to even having a column in the newspaper. You know all these things. I was just laughing, thinking this is crazy. You know, if I'd have concentrated on one of them, you know what I mean it would have been more boring, but they've done it a lot better.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I read it when we were looking for doing my research and stuff and I'm like bloody hell, it's a good read. I'd recommend anyone read that. So have a look a bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a bit crazy. So it's like, at least I don't know if there's anything on there that I haven't done. You know what I mean and it's like, but it's remarkable. I always realise how blessed I am that you know. Firstly, because I'm still here and I didn't think I'd get past 27. I've been on borrowed charges since then. But yeah, it's remarkable that the things that have it just doesn't happen to a kid from a Pondy Park council estate. You know when a leader's like New York for me to. I've had all these amazing people in my life. You know, probably like Forrest Gump. You know like being on the Berlin Wall when that comes down. You know like being at these biblical moments in history. You know what I mean with some of the people that you know. I had a daughter, as you can see, somebody that told me you know certain things. I would have never believed it. You know what I mean. What's going on, do?
Speaker 1:you think being how do we say dysfunctional? Can we say that?
Speaker 2:I don't like saying that because it's not Well, it's not dysfunctional but that's like it was an old way, like especially back in the day in the 70s it was. You know, anybody that's acting up is dysfunctional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's picture old, isn't it? Because all these so-called functionals are getting disrupted by you. You know what I mean, which is that's the dysfunctional bit about it, the whole idea of it. Yeah, being dysfunctional, you know nobody should be. You know class should be dysfunctional. You know nobody should be. You know class should be dysfunctional, you know, just because they're different. You know they had a way with words in the 70s.
Speaker 1:Oh mate they didn't piss them out, did they? I've talked a few times about getting hit with chalk rubber and one French teacher stabbed me in the leg with a fork and I got thrown into the gardening club because I was playing up. You know what I mean, but that's what I wanted to be.
Speaker 2:I was out in nature planting trees. I was as well. Yeah, the thing is, woodwork teachers were the worst. They just ate you a bit, so what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, different times, yeah, so because you hadn't been diagnosed and you didn't know, do you think actually them?
Speaker 2:times have made you give you sort of resilience for life. From that I think it's just fine. I mean, anyway, like that's what I'm saying about being diagnosed. They're probably better off not being, you know, I mean because they would have. Just, you know, like, I ended up self-medicating on certain things later on.
Speaker 2:It's it's no secret, you know, but it all makes sense now. You know to why. I would, you know, like, and we've chasing dopamine and it's also for courses. You know, like there, like, there's certain ways and things that are just meant to be, or how things happen, your karma in your life that gets you through. So you find a way through it. You know, like, if I'd have had people telling me what to do, I might have had a problem, whereas I just thought I was the bollocks. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So I just ran away because I thought, you know, I can't be bothered to go, I'm gone. You know what I mean. In two pieces, I just couldn't sit. I knew I wasn't going to pass anything, so, and I'd been away for two. You know running away, going to see bands all the time. So you know, for me it was just that. You know you found your way around it. You know what I mean. I ended up. I was, you know. So if you put your mind to anything, you can do it. It's just so. If somebody's telling you you can't do it because you've got ADHD, then you would probably believe them, you know.
Speaker 1:You did go to art college, didn't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did yeah, I went there to be in a band, you know, like that was the class. I'd run away, basically and the and the story was like I'd left bits of artwork around at home and stuff just doodles and daudles, things like that. I'd run away with the class. So after they walked rid of me you know what I mean, because it was an accident they were saying look, phone your mum up. So we'd just got a phone and my mum was right bollocking on the phone saying you know, get my son home here. Blah, blah, blah. He's going to art school and Joe was holding the phone away from his ear and he's looking at me and saying wow, I know where you're now. But my mum gave him a roasting, which is hilarious, and he told me that I was going to art school because my mum had gone to art school with his bits of art, to Wakefield Art School and gone. You know, I don't know where he is, but is he any good? And you know he won't have any, all of us but could he go to art school or whatever if he's any good? So they said, well, if you find him, bring him in and whatever. So they sent me home. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:They persuaded me to go to art school because they met at art school like Paul Simon and Mick Jones and the rest of them, except for Joe, had met at art school and a lot of punk bands then. So I went to art school to post-apart. Well, joe said I could go and talk with them properly if I booked up home and got on the train and went to art school and did as my mum said, which is hilarious, because I got in there for a year and had to pass an O-vel or something when I got there. It was. I was thinking about that recently because I paint, but I was thinking I should have listened. You know, when I was at art school as well, I was like you know, I was there to be in a band and I just enjoyed being there. You know what I mean at art school all of the art history. But again, I had to leave there because I'm going away with bands, right?
Speaker 1:yeah so this is still sort of what's this late 70s early 80s.
Speaker 2:No, it's 80s. You know. It was like we started going to see bands like the Cure and getting into more electronic and stuff after that you know Joy Division and things. So that's my our way into dance music through it. Yeah, this our way into dance music through it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is what I'm going to ask us. Is that, yeah, we're going through that sort of late punk into sort of acid house scene, aren't we? Then? Yeah, which was. How big of a difference was that, did it make you?
Speaker 2:For me it was again. I mean I was into Pop Elite itself and bands like that Petal Emotion that were already sampling and the Happy Mondays were already sampling tunes. So I'd gone to America, I'd been going there for something like 85, because I'd gone there with Monday of Sea and Public Enemy and stuff. But then after that, with 86, 87, there was all this house music coming. I was a roadie so once we'd loaded all the equipment up, the only places that were open were these black gay clubs. So it was like, right, ok, we'll go there. You know what I mean. We ended up in like Paradise Garage. We ended up in Places like Save the Robots in Alphabet City, the Limelight, you know Sound Factory, you know Sound Factory. You know it was amazing. You know, trying to end up hearing this music and for me it was just that drum machine. It was like perfect. You know, I didn't know, I thought it was one long record at first but it was just exciting shit going down.
Speaker 2:And so by the time I came back to England in 87, it was like Nude Night started at the Hacienda and the rest of history that was it. I mean I'd been going to Yassi Ender in 85 and nobody went. It was awful. It was like an empty, freezing car park for years and years. So when I'd come back from being on tour with bands, my mates would say well, we're off to Yassi Ender. I'm like what the fuck are you going there for? You know what I mean. It was hilarious. You know what I mean. I'm like why would you do that to yourself? And then I went over to Mike McPickering's nude night and as soon as I'd gone through the plastic shutters you know, if you'd ever been in the Asciender, you'd know, yeah, there was no turning back from there. For me it was perfect, perfect timing, again in front of a dysfunctional young man.
Speaker 1:Do you think it was the music or the community that you were into, or just having people around you? Good question.
Speaker 2:Charlie. I mean, I think everybody wants to be a part of a community. In a way, community's a big part of what I do, anyway, I've always done that. I'm always there to champion the community. I think people should galvanise and get together a lot more and create. We have to do that.
Speaker 2:Coming from a one-parent family, I was looking for a family as well, which Punk became my family and as did music. He became my best friend and the friends I had from that. So it gave me a family. Yeah, so it was definitely community. And I mean at that moment in time, especially in England when it was so different from what I was hearing in America the same music, but well, no, there was house music over there, but the way it was mixed up here and on all the legal parties and the englishness of it and how 80 percent of england was like going out raving at that point, you know I mean it was totally off its I'm an understated status, but you know it's totally out there. It created future communities. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2:Um, it was very interesting question. I've thought about it. But you know it was. Yeah, you had to fit in you. Yeah, it was. It's a very interesting question. I've never thought about it, but you know it was yeah, you had to fit in. You know, like it was just where do I sign? When you first went into your first acid house or went in especially, it was just so electric, you know, I mean it was like wow, like nothing, it and it was just mental. You had to find your place.
Speaker 1:You know, I don't think it happens so much now and that's probably because of Club Night's lack of back-to-basics, that sort of. We got away from the illegal raves but the people that wanted to shut the illegal raves down have no concept of one about that sort of the music playing and what that does to you and then being in a crowd of thousands of people all on the same wavelength and that sense of belonging. And where would these people be otherwise? Because I remember the streets of Leeds when before sort of how did you get there.
Speaker 1:And people were just hitting each other with pipe pops at half past ten, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was like, well, that's why it was a special time. I mean, looking back at it, you know it was almost like a social experiment. There's so many different conspiracies about it. But, you know, even if it was, it was an amazing and beautiful thing. That went on, you know, and especially throughout the 90s where it was totally free.
Speaker 2:And then the children that have been spawned out of that, you know what I mean. I don't think they're more evolved kids, you know. I think the rest of the youth these days get a bad. You know like you know I've been to the youth these days get a bad, you know, just because it's funny, but it's what the kids have been taught. What's going to get them, you know, a bad rep. You know what I mean. You know, like whatever, because it's not the same. You know what I mean. They've been in lockdown, they've been confined, they're being controlled. It's like, yeah, the big brother. You know big brother. You know, like before that people were free to to communicate and get together.
Speaker 2:Now, with social media and and the way kids do communicate, now it's just all on there on tiktok or whatever. And you know, and the powers that be don't want people, young people getting together, exchanging ideas and whatever they may come up with. You know, and and the shame of that is it's normally the creatives that suffer because you know, in every smoking area in a nightclub there's your next Vivian Westwood, your next Carl Cox, your next Damien Hirst. You know, it's not just music and beyond that, you know what I mean and like that empathy and that humility you get when you're actually talking to another human being face to face or in a group and having fun. It's quintessential to our existence and to people's mental health. You know which. You know again why we're having a big, because it's all over social media. Everybody's comparing their mental health with each other on there and there's billions of people worldwide on with it. But I'd like to get them all and put them all together and say just have a crack on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have a conversation. You know rather than you know. We call it neurodiversity, don't we now, because we have to stick a label on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, again, you know. I suppose I mean neurodiversity. I mean surely like everybody's got their own mind. You know, right, I'm Buddhist. Now I am Belief in Buddhism. It's all about mind, you know like it's not soul, it's mind. You know. That's why you have like. When people say, make your own mind up, you know like. You know you've got your own mind, use it. The only thing that you resemble is you've got in common with your parents generally, or your siblings, is your physical looks. You know that. You know that's because you borrowed that body. You know like, but you all, you don't think like your brothers and you don't think like your mother. So we've all got our own mind, which is why people should be more mindful.
Speaker 1:You know about everything you know I'm going to talk about the buddhism anyway and a little bit later and we can't go, we can't. Just I'm going to try and do a time no no, it's all good. It's all good. We can't skip past Box of Basics, can we? No, no, because this is you know.
Speaker 2:I don't know you would skip by 33 years, I mean, but I'll skip by. Yeah, yeah, definitely skip by. You know, I mean one minute, I mean it's basically I remember, you know, you know, but it's been a whirlwind and it's like 33 years goes like that. You know, you sound like your dad when you talk to him, like that, bless you all of you.
Speaker 2:You start sounding like, well, you know I am old, but you start sounding like your dad when you go, like it'll fly by you don't believe it when you're young time does seem to be getting faster next minute you're 60 and it's like back to basics and itself is probably older than most people that will be listening to this podcast. You know, which is amazing because we spawned three generations of people that have had so much fun. You know, it's brilliant.
Speaker 1:When you started Back to Basics, what was the intention? Was it the dance? Was it the music? Was it the community? Was it making? Money making?
Speaker 2:No, I never thought it'd be a job. I mean never buy the money. I mean that's why we got what we've always said it's not being a man to remind about, it's about a lifestyle and not about the money. And that's what I got A great lifestyle. But no, I mean we pulled back to where it's been for the last about three months. You know it was like at the time but it was just, there was nowhere like it around here. I mean everywhere we were.
Speaker 2:We'd been going to like a lot of the parties in London, like with Fly In and there was a different after the, the wave scene had gone, just totally crazy, dumbo, dummy, sucking, sucking, whistle blowing, white glove, glow stick, vicks carrying on, you know, covering themselves in Vicks. It was too much, you know, it was that self respect. So we we'd been going to Nottingham, to Venus and to Charlie Chester's Doosan Flying nipping out dry beefers. So it was getting a bit more Balearic and the Primal Scream and whatever. All we're all hanging out together. We're all sort of ex-Indie kids anyway. So it was a case of like let's get us leather trousers out again because we look like cunts. Sorry, excuse me, we look a bit silly in these ribbon braces and smiley T-shirts we're slapping. You know, this is what is going on here, so we're dedicated to people with long trousers and sensible shoes Did a bold statement saying two steps further than any other I don't know if I'm allowed to swear on here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you are two steps further than any other fucker, which is a bold statement. So that's what drove us and from that point we're keepers. So Back to Basics started from that, really, because we'd had enough of what was going on everywhere else. So it was a members' club a bit more exclusive. Only just to stop all the shit. So we opened it in a gay club, purposely Bottom of the bigot, you know and again keeping out certain elements and just getting on with it. So three months before, we'd give it at the best. So 33 years later, it's like wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean not blowing wind up your arse so much, dave. It did change clubbing, didn't it?
Speaker 2:It changed the scene around the world, really it changed, yeah, and it's bad, you know, in hindsight I mean, and changed the city as well. I mean I, you know, I was part of the building of 24-hour city as it was going to be, and turning the old, you know, infrastructure in town, you know, and all the retail places that opened because we wouldn't let people in with chains at that time. So you know, nicholas Deakin's, like you know, made millions out of boots, you know, I mean, and we've always had the mutual innovation for that one and and I, you know, and ever, you know, and then flannels and all these shops are pumped up, harvard, nichols, you know. Baby westman, you know, you know it was like brilliant. So because of these is nature once a pedestrianized all the big right, right up for the middle and down for victoria quarter.
Speaker 2:Then it was like it was very, you know, and all the retail shops were opening. You know, hotels opening. You know all the back off the back of the nightlife economy. You know, like 40,000 students came on the perspective but they came from back to basics and Leeds nightlife, you know. So the council couldn't ignore that. Or you know what they could have, but they didn't, and started, you know what they could have. But they didn't and started, you know, getting us involved in conversations not just myself, but other people in the city independents, to build a city, you know what I mean and make it what it is today, so, which is amazing, really, when you think about it like that. So they made me an only baby son because of the economical and cultural impact we brought to the city and did the big thing in Millennium Square and I thought, wow, since when did we become? When did I? We thought we were outlaws. You know what I mean. And there we are, like respectable pillars of society.
Speaker 1:Can I ask you? So Back to Beta 6 is running and then you lose your partner and best mate, alistair. Yeah, how did that affect you? And the reason I ask you is because I mean, all three of us worked in the night scene, not as long as yourself, but I find if I'm not getting enough sleep, if I'm having working on different timelines, very susceptible to intrusive thoughts and bad thoughts. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So I'll just be doing that and then have that happen yeah, I mean, yeah, it's still surreal that whole thing, just because there was so much press around that it was the first dj crash at the uh, you know there wasn't, it was the first one, you know. I mean the person that was lost in the scene as well. So and and there's lots of speculation around it and just the newspapers have got all the way into his chases was traces of cocaine in Ali's system, although he had had a little bum, but not anything that would have been of any consequence to the accident. We were in bad rain going to a gig, sober set off and it was raining, and the dual carriageway went into a single road which then goes into a dual carriageway on the way to Carlisle. They've changed it now so we couldn't see out the windscreen wipers. It's a lorry head-on and we lost Ralph's girlfriend at the time, jocelyn and Ali and me and Dan, me and my girlfriend Dan, my son's mum, survived, although I died on the scene and then brought back.
Speaker 2:I mean, like this was in the like second year of the club, with just one club of the year, you know, like in the space of a year we were at the Albert Hall getting gold discs and then, a year later, andy was playing, I mean, and then he was taken away from us too, but it was the club and the people that held it up, you know, and it was like it had to keep going, just in his memory. That's why we never sold it out as a brand. So he's always with me, I know he's always around. So the answer to the question is you know, you never get over something like that. The club and the music keeps him alive, you know as well, and I've always carried on exactly in the same philosophy as me and him had at the time, hence me not being able to change the trajectory and what we do with. Back to Racing. That's why I've never it's never been for sale.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not about that with yourself sort of nearly passing away and being brought back. How did that affect your outlook? I mean, it sounds like it were crazy times anyway.
Speaker 2:I didn't give a shit if I lived or died. To be honest, at that time, you know like it was oblivion, total oblivion. So that's where most of the crazy things come from. Really, about that time, I was lost. You know what I mean when something that profound happens to you. It's crazy, you know. And you know, all of a sudden I had all this money from the club, and you know even more, because Ali wasn't with me and so we just split that.
Speaker 2:It was just awful, you know, it's like it's your worst nightmare, you know Like, so it was just kind of, yeah, we started to talk about it because it was just too, it was too crazy, you know to comprehend. You know like too crazy, you know to comprehend. You know, like, when you wish you'd died, you know what I mean yeah, and then there's not a birthday or a birth that goes by, or a wedding or an occasion or something mega that happens to you that you don't think, wow, I know he's with me and I know I'll see him again, so, but that's another story. You know Webber Hall said when it happened, he said if Alistair Cook hadn't have died, he'd have changed the course of British house music, if not the world. And then Andrew, in his honour, went on and did that, you know, and we said we lost him, but he actually achieved it. So it's more of a collective. You know, when you know that this is probably not real. Anyway, you know, and it's still a suit, it's still.
Speaker 1:They're always with you yeah, yeah, alive or dead, you know. So Well, thank you for talking about that. Obviously, we've got to be careful. Not careful, but I do. I don't want to bring, because I've lost friends myself and, obviously, stuff that I've gone through.
Speaker 2:So you know that it's always there. It's good to be able to talk about things like that. I'm a big believer in talking about the dead you know what I mean and about dying as well, about death. It doesn't have to be a dark thing. That's the thing with death. It's one thing for sure that's going to happen to all of us. But if you scare yourself about it happening, and the older you get and the more more you're going to be petrified, and that would be a terrible place to be, to be that scared, but when you know it's just like the beginning of something else and you will see them again, that's too deep to go down.
Speaker 1:Can I just ask that point again about the? You know you're out clubbing partying sometimes. Obviously it's a business as well All the time. Oh right, I'll try to. You're out clubbing partying sometimes. Obviously it's a business as well All the time. Oh right, I'll try to polish it there, sprinkle some. But this thing about I'm a big believer in getting adequate sleep and at the straight time. Did you ever notice anything with that as in affecting you, or did you have any sort of self-preservation?
Speaker 2:Looking back, you know memory's not what it was. You know there's a lot of things that you know I forget and because sleeping was never really big on my agenda at all, you know what I mean. It was like that's something you do when you're old, which is right, I was right. You know what I mean you do. You have to sleep more when you're old.
Speaker 2:But when I was in my you know, 20s, 30s, it was like it was so exciting. It wasn't just about taking drugs and staying up for the sake of it. There was shit going on. You know things were happening. You know I didn't want to sleep because you were going to miss something. There were people partying every night. You know it was an exciting time to be alive and you know that's the way it was. It was backs against, you know, the wall into oblivion. It was like it's hard to.
Speaker 2:The social backdrop was so, so different from how it is now. You couldn't justify that sort of behaviour that we were getting up to in the through the 90s, or the noughties, as we call them now aptly, because it was just. It was a free-for-all and it was. There was no speed cameras, there was no surveillance and there was opportunities for working-class people to do well out of nothing. You know, from many different ways. You know, and even though there was a recession and fracture had got in it was a different time there was a good reason to stay awake. Like you say, sleep is very important. You know it's essential. To an extent, some people can offer small amounts of sleep, but you know, at the end of the day, there's many things that are going to damage your health, and staying up for a couple of weeks is definitely effective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, working outdoors, you'd see people right from Friday still out something on it. I mean, yeah, I've done it myself to be fair, but it's just that thought of you, know.
Speaker 2:I couldn't even dream of it now and, uh, I mean, I mean we used to go right before. It was just comedy, was like as soon as you got there, it would be four days on, one day off, and then two days on before you came home if you went for a week. So it's one night sleep in a week, you know. But it's like anything. It's like it's not the drugs, it's the adrenaline, the that gets you going. So I don't know what's going down now. So much that would get you that excited. Because from looking around at the landscape and you know when you see what parties are on or what is actually happening and what's, I can understand why people are just in their bedrooms doing their own thing, you know, which is awful, yeah, because it's so insular, isn't?
Speaker 1:it? Yeah, I suppose people someone listening might be thinking you know what are these times they are talking about. But it's true, isn't it? It was 24 hours. Yeah, yeah, 24 hours. I thought yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and everybody's doing it. All your mates are up, you know. So it didn't matter what time it was, everybody was partying and it was like, well, there's music coming through. Yes, there was ecstasy coming through with it. We don't need to go into what happened after that and how it's become and what people, how it is now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was like it was, and we were just shooting all over the country, if not all over the world as well, at that point as well. So, you know, I'd go finish the club and then go to New York and get back for Saturday, you know, again for the following Saturday. It was just, it was wild times. But you know, we created some amazing things, you know. So I mean, if I'd have stayed up as long, I wouldn't have come up with as many of the ideas, yeah, and jumped up a lot of the format of what we were doing and, you know, decided to do a lot of the things that we did, you know, or we might not have even heard Daft Punk and being responsible for a part to play in their success, or you know, like all these people that we spent time awake with, you know, it was well worth it. You know music.
Speaker 1:When are we going through stuff before you know, before we start recording Some of the artist DJs that you got onto early doors before anyone you know? That sort of launched them really weren't just a run of luck, was it? There's something there.
Speaker 2:I mean, it was that thing about two steps further than any other. Because that's what we set a stall out early. We had to. Can't say something like that, and then not, you know, that was the slogan and then not keep looking for next cutting-edge music. So we'd be travelling the world. You know, there was no agents. We'd be going to all these places in Brooklyn, in Alphabet City, you know, go to the clubs, you know, and then go to Italy and go to Rimini and find these DJs you know what I mean. And I'd, literally I'd, get a sharpie and my telephone number and my name on a hundred dollar bill and give it to the DJ in the club. You know what I mean, be it Louis Vega or Doc Martin famously talks about it and he's like what is this? It's your deposit. When you come to the club in England, they go, what we're going to go to England? And it's like, well, you know, you can either that or you give me a hundred dollars back.
Speaker 2:And it turned to work. I didn't have any business cards, yeah, and so you know, we purposely went out there to do that and bring people over. And again, it was no In nowadays terms. You had an agent looking at that and they'd be booking it out to certain things and getting percentages of it. Oh, we didn't want no percentage of anything, we just, I just wanted that DJ to come to me club. So, like when I'm bringing France back, I walk in and it's an ugly. All these people Derek Carter sneak, you know, bringing them over, you know, like from America, and they were just loving it and nobody else was on it. It was special times, you know, and I you know. So some of it was looking well, but you know, yeah, believe it and you're in it, it happens.
Speaker 1:Was that? Well, all them sort of mainly your decision, and what I'm trying to get round to is do you think ADHD might have played a part in that?
Speaker 2:It is somewhere. I mean, the ADHD played a part, definitely played a part in it, because of who I am, how I am. But you know, I would like to also think about the times where I've not clinched a deal or I've had a deal in the bag and then I've talked myself out of it over the course of the next few drinks. You know, like it's funny. Like you know you could be with any record executives the job's done in the first 10 minutes, you know. They know you wouldn't be at the meeting if it wasn't a done deal. Sometimes it's better if you've got ADHD. It's easy to get out of there before and don't go for the zinc afterwards with them, you know, because then it goes out the window and then they're not coming back.
Speaker 2:I don't see myself as an expert with ADHD. I just know I'm neurodiverse and that's how that is. You know it's no surprise to anybody else and I suppose now I know it's not always like you know, but but now it's. I know it's not always like you know, but it's probably on the team in certain areas but a lot brighter in other areas. So at least now I can understand that and help my kids and make my grandkids Well, it's capitalising on them, bits that you are.
Speaker 1:You've got that interest in. Otherwise it's just going to fall on the wayside anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know there's a big difference between ADHD and mental health problems as well. You know, like depression, I mean they're all related but you know there's so many levels now in autism and you know bipolar. We're getting so many different areas, but it's the diagnosis, that's the problem. You know, like, are people caring, are people getting enough to realise that that's the problem, or are they bothered? You know, unless it's unless you're in a certain middle-class demographic, you know what I mean. You start to get checked for anything these days.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, she is now for her DHC stuff. I think I recall you getting. Weren't you poorly with pneumonia as well? I did.
Speaker 2:I was in a coma for two weeks with pneumonia. Me and my dad got. At the time people went. That was down to lifestyle as well, but as it happened, I was cleaning out a lot for my dad at my dad's house and we got we breathed in something. He got palsy, but my immune system wasn't as strong as it is at that particular moment in time. I think it was probably off the back of a session or something and, yeah, I got full-blown pneumonia and they'd bitten me off that time as well, and so I managed to get, you know, 14 days sleep. That's all thanks to, uh, like you know, beautiful people at lgi, you know, came around. You know I mean to to going again you know which.
Speaker 2:And every time something like this happens to me, like you know, I'm pushing it because it's like a four time I've died now or near death. Yeah, experiences, we believe which way you put it it, because it's like a four-time I've died now, or near-death experience, which way you put it, it's profound. Things happen to you and there's people out there that have been in those positions that don't understand what I'm saying. You're a fool if you come out of something like that and given an opportunity to be there again and be sat here today talking to you about it. You know you'd be a fool to take that lightly, you know, because life's really precious. You know you don't realise it. You know it's not about you. You know it's about everybody else around you. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:And when you see your own eulogy, as it were, as I did this time, you know, like the part that went on at Mint Warehouse for me whilst I was in hospital for the basic birthday, and the feedback that I was getting back from that and the feedback from around the world, the love that I was getting was insane. It really humbled me, like you know. And it's like Jesus, you know, like, wow, like what is that? And I'm convinced that that collective, you know, like love and pork fat and being in people's prayers, you know, has brought me through both times, from the coma and through my recent cancer and my car accident, all these things. You know what I mean. I've got to definitely have some angels looking after me somewhere. Somebody's got my back. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Well, you do good things and they even out-wrote that, yes, I suppose, for the listeners, and then that don't know you, then the sort of purpose of us getting you in really was one to talk to you anyway, because we knew it would be great. But also the recent scare, the cancer, and now it's First of all, can we talk about? What was it?
Speaker 2:It started with polyps so people could always get them checked out and me colon, so they'd been in there to check some out and then left some in a bit too long, to be honest. But with COVID one thing or another, they went from being benign to malignant and then after another year or so it turned into a tumour. So I had a tumour in my bowel, in between my bowel and my colon, quite close to my spine, a four and a half centimetre tumour. It was like, right, ok, that's big, isn't it? And I'm like, yeah, it is very big, it's like all the other treatments that you're asking for, and you know, you want to know.
Speaker 2:I was scared of having chemotherapy. So it was like I'd seen my mum die of it. I would march at the end. I've seen my mum die of it. I've admired her recently. I've seen a lot of people deteriorate with it badly. So I was more concerned about that. As it turned out that weren't a problem at all. It didn't even touch the sides. But getting back to it, yeah, it was a tumour. And they said, look, you know we need to get this out. You know rapid, and there's a great doctor at Jimmy's, dr B. I can give him a massive shout out superstar. And he just said look, you know I've done this procedure. You know we've got to get it out. So all the other procedures in the world I can refer you, but it's out of the essence. So I just took his word for it and thankfully, from having it to now, I'm now cancer-free. It's been cut out of me. I've had colostomy bags on, I've had everything put on and taken off. I look like I've been in water around here, but I'm in the game.
Speaker 1:Still, what I'm trying to get to is your sort of mindset from then now, because this is yet another close call, isn't it really?
Speaker 2:Well, it's as close as it gets, you know, yeah, and it does make you very aware of your own mortality and also like what your purpose is. Right, who are you? You do a lot of introspection, you know, yeah, especially me in the hospital for a long time, like I was, and you're a lady you're like, and you sit and miss and you're like you're thinking you know what's your legacy and, to be truthful, I'm really happy If I'd gone. I'm like, yeah, dave, you've done good In certain areas, but it does make you look at everything about yourself and about how you could be better, how you could be a better version of yourself. You know, and for whatever reason you can't work it out yourself. You've got to realise, like, you know how you've been the two of you and that's maybe what's come out of this this time.
Speaker 2:It's like, you know, I didn't think about it before, but it was too easy. I was thought dying was easy because it was. It was always a quick moment, you know, into a coma or into a car accident, you know, and you come out the other side and you're alright again. You just carry on as normal with something like cancer. You have a lot of time to think about it and when you're later you're like you think to yourself.
Speaker 2:And then when you get these opportunities that come your way, all these synchronicities that you know, little pointers that we tend to ignore, and then you have something that's a life threatening experience. You know it's kind of you think like, okay, if I'm getting thrown back, they're not having me up, you know what is it I've got to do. Here again, I'm not saying you'd be a fool not to look into yourself in that certain way, but I think it's a wasted opportunity not to uh, to take it as another like pivotal moment in your life where you could maybe do something else to change things. And that's where my head's at the moment while you were going to the medical procedures.
Speaker 1:Do you think your mental resilience and your strong mind helped you through?
Speaker 2:the medical, without a shadow of a doubt. Yeah, you know, in part too stubborn, you know, and I told you know, I've always taught my kids the same thing to me, you know, like what joe stummer said to me. I mean, you know, if you've not got your word, your skin, you like, you don't need money. If you've got your word and you know I won't go into it too long, but that's true and you make a promise, you've got to keep it and I've kept it, made that promise to my kids and it was the first time I made a promise that I, you know, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep it. I'm forever grateful that I've been given this opportunity to get that promise and came out the other side of it. That's all you need in life, is your word. So, yeah, my mental state, you know, and having faith and people, I mean the love, really, when people show you that amount of heart, the love that I got, you know it was like it was totally overwhelming. You know, it was like really, really like wow, you know.
Speaker 2:I know people go out there in the street like me, I know.
Speaker 2:You know, when I go to bed at night, you know, I can put my head on the pillow knowing I've not done anybody any harm, but you know, and so I'm content, but I didn't realise that there was that many people out there in some way or another that I'd touched to an extent to get that amount of. It was thousands and thousands and thousands of inbox screens. I couldn't possibly get back to them. And there's, you know, flowers, and I mean it was just insane. Even the nurses and the doctors, I mean everybody was like and I was like, wow, this is really surreal. You know what I mean, you know, and I, in a way, I felt a little bit conscious about it because I was getting more social, I was giving things away in the hospital to, you know, to all the other people, and just like feeling a bit embarrassed by it. But again, just it didn't go to my head, it went to my heart and that's why now you know, yeah, I'm trying my best to be a lot more mindful, you know, about things, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm trying my best to be a lot more mindful, you know about things you know. So is this the time that you've developed interest in Buddhism?
Speaker 2:that had happened before and it was weird. It was like again. You know I don't believe in coincidence or something. You know everything happens for a reason and thoughts bring things. And bear in mind that we have the club. You know where there is now the meditation centre. You know the Kadampa Buddhist Centre. Some benefactor bought it in New York and must have come to the club at some point and gave it to the Buddhists the modern Buddhists and said it's for a gift to Leeds, for the citizens of Leeds, for mental health. As it happens, if anybody needs a bit of peace of mind, this is where you can go and it's in my old club and I'd done a flyer 26 years ago with a monk on it saying think out of the blue. I get a message from an old friend saying because he said like get into 3-Day Beer. We don't know who this benefactor is, who bought the building and gave it to them, but he said you know it'll be, I'll give you out if you need to connect something.
Speaker 2:I went down and met donnie and it was. He had monk down there. He's wonderful guy who used to like drum and bass 30 years ago. He still does, but you know, like 30 years ago, before he was a monk, became a monk and we liked drum and bass I took goldie there actually recently, and so he loved it, but, um, so like, hit it off, basically, and we became friends. So I'd been going to the meditations, not even expecting to go down the Buddha route although my house is good, for 20-odd years I've had Buddhas everywhere, massive ones. I didn't know anything about him. You know what I mean. It's been a year and a half ago, nothing about him, but I just had him around me.
Speaker 2:But me, we're here offering Dawning, but Dawning was also coming to visit me throughout, you know, whilst I was in hospital and some of the teachings we've been buddhism. They just rang to because it's all about death as well and reincarnation and reaching Nirvana scenario and becoming more enlightened as you go along in your life. That's how you live your life, feel a very good life, then you, you've got a good afterlife, you know so which? So that was really really, um, helpful whilst I was in there. Yeah, you know, like, just because they call it samsara, suffering and life's supposed to be suffering, you know it's not going to be easy. You know it's never going to be easy. It's how you deal with it.
Speaker 2:So you, your perception of the of the external, your internal perception of the external that's going on around you, you know it's you that makes it bad or good I mean good or bad in your mind, without going into too deeply so, but you know, but having that kind of belief, or just reaffirming, reaffirming what I actually believed anyway, through, through life, before I even understood anything about Buddhism, you know, I'm still open to many things, you know, but Buddhism seems to make so much sense to me and it's what we need a little bit in this world at the moment. We need a lot of love. You know the world's gone mad, you know it has. You know, and if we don't harness AI and everything else with that love, I mean, if we did, it'd be an amazing thing. Ai's great, you know it's here and it's happening and this technology wouldn't be doing this and I think it's a good thing. But I mean, I don't know what the future holds unless there's a lot more love in the world and belief in afterlife.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's a lot in the Buddhist ways that are about mindful and present isn't there and if you're not present, the living in past which gives you depression and in the future which gives you anxiety.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That's why I think it's like a lot of people would benefit from it. Younger people, because, of course, they're not too bothered about the past. Old people, you know, think about the past. Oh, we could have, should have, would have, and it's pointless, you know. And the future, you know. It's good to have an intention in your future, but not to worry about it, you know, and just enjoy your present, which is what you just said. And I think that's maybe going back to our street house and how it was back in the day and when Clubland was, it was very much the same.
Speaker 2:Everybody was living just for that moment, living for the now, you know, and out of that, a lot of amazing things happen, you know, like to people, you know, because you're not worrying If you don't overuse a word at the moment manifest it's everywhere.
Speaker 2:Manifest is manifest, you know, like the laws of attraction, you know. And people, you know, they don't really tell you how to really do that, but they invite you to meditate just for five minutes, you know, and center in yourself to your breathing and just bringing it all in. You don't even have to think about what you want. You just need to clear your mind because otherwise, with all that chat with monkey stuff going on and begging for things, it's not going to happen. You have chat with monkey stuff going on and begging for things, it's not going to happen. You have to have, you have to want for other people, you know, and by doing that it makes you feel good and if you want something for yourself, if you wish it for others, you'll get it. It'll come to you. But you know, it's a shame that you only realise that later in life sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've talked about coincidences and then you have got a track out and that did you write that well, yeah, I mean I I don't say coincidence, I believe in them and synchronicity, but yeah, coincidentally I mean like I would I don't know if there's a word for things like that, the strange things that happen, but again I'm turning down to false things.
Speaker 2:if you think something and you're in a not of a state of one and you're resonating at that moment in time, almost flatlining with the universe or with everything around you, and your actions are in line with your intentions and your actions and your thoughts, that's when you know like the magic happens. And the track I made 14 years ago I don't know where it came from but called the Beloved, which is the lyrical content, is so like up now. I made 14 years ago I don't know where it came from but I've been loving it, which is the lyrical content is so like up now, which it wasn't at the time when I wrote it. I don't know where it came from and whilst I was writing it down and I was very much in an altered state of consciousness, I was aware of the purpose it really was. But in the studio and I'm being creative, using it to my advantage and it's just, it was almost like you know when an artist says that oh, it just came through me, I was just channeled in, you know something like Eric Clapton or something anything. Oh yawn, you know, like that, whatever, but from it's like life's for the living, it's not just a bet, and when you're gone people never forget your love and count your blessings.
Speaker 2:And that's not the state of mind I was in that night, you see, but I was just writing it down. It was coming from nowhere and I could have. I had Robert Soren's voice in my head because I'd just left Stinky's, the club, and the last chart was mine to give Fochek, by Robert Owens, and I had his voice and I met Robert 20-odd years ago. So it was like I just had his voice in my head and exactly how I had it in my head. But within two weeks Robert Owens was in me. He came to Leeds just to record it, record it exactly as I heard it, and it's been there for maybe nearly 14 years now for the beloved and it was written about for your friends, people that you love, you know, like the Beloved, and for everybody really, you know, and it's been sat there 14 years and now it's been signed and it's getting massive like recognition, like, do you remember I said like Dave Beardell's in a classic, so I'll dine out on that one for a while, you know, but I know, but you know, everybody is really well received and Todd Terry's just in the mix.
Speaker 2:You know from the album, the forthcoming album. So I mean, again, everything happens for a reason, you know coincidence or whatever. But it's like it's kind of strange that it's been sat there and if it wasn't sent and I sent it off, it probably would be still sat there. And when you see the album, the tracks are called things like Come Together, community. It's not just like I'm just scribbling them down now. It's like, you know, it's all about getting together. You know subject matter and it's all about, you know, love. And there's even monks in that and I did that 10 years ago as well, and so getting involved, there's a lot of.
Speaker 1:Synchronicity, like you're saying it yeah, Things coming together.
Speaker 2:And it's resonating, so it's lovely, you know to have it out and just for art's sake and not for any ulterior motive as well, like you know to be a. You know to play Coachella or something like that. I mean, that'd be my nightmare, you know, but I really want to get in the plane and go on there and get on that fancy stage and DJ's are loads of people. Pre-recorded DJ's are loads of people influencers, you know, do you?
Speaker 1:mind us playing a bit of that track in the podcast for our listeners and also if you let us know or let the listeners know where they can find it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's called For the Beloved and it's by Dave Beard and the Blessed. Yeah, you can get it on Beatport, on an old usual. It's on the arm digital at the moment because the album's coming out on vinyl. So there's a Todd Terry remix out at the moment as well. So, yeah, just put Father Beloved into Beatport and it'll come up. Nothing in this world can compare A measure to your love when you're getting on, when you're feeling strong, when there's nothing wrong, when you hear this song, feel love. When you hear this song, feel love, feel love for the beloved, for the beloved. I am actually quite pleased with it. It is good.
Speaker 2:And it's just nice, you know, like the message and if it had been a lament it would have been a good one, thankfully, it's just nice, you know, like the message and if it had been a lament it would have been a good one. Thankfully it's not. You know. So there's life in the old dog, yeah, you know. And then again, you know, the future's unwritten, as they say. You know, like, really looking forward to that.
Speaker 2:You know, I think you have to keep your direction. You know, whatever it is in your life you know you're doing. You know, like, if you're sailing north just to, you know, keep your compass to north. You know what I mean. Sometimes in life it's too late to either turn around and go back, you know, go south. But what you can do is change your perception rather than your direction. You know of what's going down in your life, you know, and maybe you might need to swerve a little bit west, but you know of what's going down in your life. You know like, and maybe you might need to, uh, swerve a little bit west, but you know, as long as you keep going back north, you know. So it has an uh, an analogy to life. You know, I think it's just an analogy, isn't it?
Speaker 2:and you swerve west or east or wherever you want to swerve to, because there are obstacles in the way when we're young, we just stay there, we just, we just stay and go over the choppy water, don't we, you know, learn the big ways instead of going for the calm water and then coming back into it. But that's how life is, you know. But you know, I think if you keep at it you'll always find calm water. And you know, howard Marksman said to me you wouldn't like it easy, dave, life's not supposed to be easy. You know the time I didn't get it, but you know, now I understand that.
Speaker 2:You know, I think you know that's why we should all count our blessings when we're having the good times, you know, and just even when we're not, just count our blessings anyway for everything that we have, you know, gratitude seems to be going out the window. And again back to the you, you know, to state a play that people need to get to galvanise together. You know, we really do. It's really important. So if I've got anything to do these days, it's like to have that message on.
Speaker 1:I'm not too sure how yet Did you say there's an album, a book and a film? Yeah, there is. Is it all?
Speaker 2:Well, a book and a film. Yeah, there is. Yeah, is that all? Well, I mean, the film's been going on for so long, it's crazy and it's been around, and with the book it's done. I'm just re-editing again. It's like something happens to you in your life where it changes the book, as it were. You know the story's still in there the same, but before it was like, as I say, it was a little bit like Porris Grump on crack. You know it was just chaotic. You know the overall manuscript and I was thinking, well, it's all right, but it's who needs another hedonistic book? You know who needs another Tales of that, you know, especially when you know it wasn't accidental. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I did have a massive part to play in that and it was thought through. I'd just forgotten about that and I drive it being much more inspiring me now, or, if not inspiring, just, you know, helpful or maybe more of an insight into the whys and wherefores of certain things you know and how to overcome obstacles. You know, like this I mean, people are too quickly. You've got the doctors will give you antidepressants or whatever. You know like to blank it over. You know which is like it's good if it works. You know, like, where you're really. You know you also need a state of mind that's going to really you have to, you know, like look deep into yourself to find what it is you're looking for. You know. I just wonder who's going to narrate the?
Speaker 1:audiobook for Charlie.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well it's funny. You say that Hopefully I'll have my new chief and I'll be able to do my own for her. What do you call it audiobook? But after listening to Bezos the other day I was thinking, yeah, maybe I'll get somebody else to read it, but then again it wouldn't be me. And it's like it has to be. If you don't understand it. I mean, it's like everyone else. He's a good friend of mine. He always says if you don't understand it, you can fuck off. No, I'm sorry, no, it's says like if you don't understand you can fuck off.
Speaker 2:That's fine. He says if you don't understand it's your prerogative. But you know it's like, and the way his Scottish accent and the way he writes as well. So I suppose if it's my biography, you can't have somebody else read it, can you?
Speaker 1:so that'll be interesting we'll look forward to that. Keep us up to date with the releases yeah, well, I mean, the album's called.
Speaker 2:To give you a plug, it's called what Goes Around, like a record goes around and like most things, do you know? So it's. So, yeah, that's going to be out in, is it April? Oh right, yeah, around April. I've got two, two releases before it comes together Erectile coming out before that. So yeah, for the beloveds, out now, the book and film will be. It's coming soon. It's been said coming soon for about 10 years.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it'll be worth the wait, mate.
Speaker 2:Well, hopefully I'll still be around to finish it. If not, you two can do it for me. Well, I can't, can I? No, I'm good. No, I've got people around that can do that. Yeah, brilliant, yeah, brilliant. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks, dave, for sharing your story. Thanks, dave, yes. So I think, an excellent tale of, or story of resilience and it's do you know what, after what you've been through, that having that positive mindset, that if someone can take something away from this, you know, and that love for you that's carried you through with cancer, do you think I mean if anybody is going through it out there.
Speaker 2:You know, like as well, which I'm sure statistics have it. You know, like there's one in two. So you know if you haven't got any cancer, that is, you know you may as well say the word, you know, not the big C's, it's cancer. You know what I mean and it's everywhere. And you know one in two people have it, which means everybody's affected by it. You know, like, one way or another, you know we've all got loved ones, we've all got whatever. You know also that love behind, you know I just hope everybody out there has got that love from somewhere. You know to keep them through, because it's not, you know, like you know when you're gone people never forget your love. Like I say, you know, and you have to have that resilience and you can beat anything, you know. Thank you, dave. Thanks.
Speaker 1:Dave, and if you'd like to support us and help us keep the podcast going, then you can go to Buys A Coffee or you can click that on our website, whitefoxtalkingcom, and look for the little cup. Thank you.
