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This
Week 15/09/2002
What
a week!
 Matthew
Agius, one half of local dance band U-Bahn, tells Ramona Depares
of his hectic week
Sunday: Invariably, this day depends a lot on what went on Saturday
evening and how long I stayed out. Which was rather late, so I
gave myself the luxury of waking up naturally since I had no meetings
in the morning. Joined the living at about one in the afternoon,
in time for a lovely lunch with the family.
Off to the beach in the afternoon. I love it in the summer and
make it a point to go as often as I can. I love change, which
means that I never go to the same beach. Today my friends pitched
on Ghadira – my first swim there this summer. It wasn’t
me who was driving, so I left all the decisions to them and just
enjoyed being taken around. A leisurely swim and sunbathing session
later decided to go back home for a shower and nap. I love summer…
Evening went out for a meal with my friends. Although I work
in the music industry I do enjoy a bit of peace and quiet when
I’m out. Same as with beaches, I do not like going to the
same places so tonight pitched on Ta’ Soldi. My first time
there and had a rather good impression of the place. Good food,
good company… a very enjoyable evening all in all.
Monday: Working week starts. Got up early and drove off immediately
to the Go Mobile office, where I have a part-time job in customer
care. I can choose between two shifts – from eight till noon
or noon till four. As much as I can, I pick the earlier one as
I’d rather get the work done early in the day instead of
dragging on into the afternoon. This is my last month there: in
Winter it’s back to university, where I’m reading for
as BSc degree in Science, Computer and IT. But in reality I feel
that music is my full time job.
In the afternoon, Mark Grima – the other half of U-Bahn,
of course – always calls me to tell me what appointment we
have for the week. Mark and myself formed U-Bahn in Sixth Form
– I think he’s a genius with sounds
Invariably there’s a interview on radio or television –
PR is extremely important after all. But music also involves a
hundred other nitty gritty details, such as confirming events
with the sound engineer etc.
Tuesday: Got some great news today. Our CD, Freedom, has surpassed
all expectations and not only have we sold out but we also have
had to order some extra deliveries. We’ve been going round
doing some more PR, thanking all those who supported us throughout
these months etc. Actually we are with Fresh Music Agency and
they’re very good about that side of things but still Mark
and I do like to get involved in everything.
After work chilled out a bit and then it was back to work –
for U-Bahn this time. Our main studio is at Mark’s house,
but I am also in the process of doing up another studio at my
own home. It’s funny how the best ideas have a habit of cropping
up at about three in the morning, when you’re staggering
home from somewhere… and you can’t really go and knock
on someone’s house at that hour! A second studio will definitely
be more convenient because we can even work on two tracks at once.
Sometimes other people ask Mark or myself whether it is worth
the expense of setting up one’s own studio when there are
quite a number of good ones around. The way I see it, I’d
rather bear the expense now for a long-term investment. Using
other people’s studios does not come cheap either!
Wednesday: After work went a bit around the shops with my mother.
I never realised that shopping for curtains could be fun! At the
moment I’m going shopping rather often. If it’s not
my mum who’s accompanying me, it’s my father when I’m
in search of cable wire and plaster. Had a bit of free time, so
decided to work a bit on my studio – haven’t quite reached
the white-washing stage yet but I’m getting there.
Later in the afternoon Mark and I decided to shell out even
more cash to buy some equipment. A microphone on its own costs
around Lm200, while its wire adds on an extra Lm20! But it’s
all the good… If we want a professional band, we have to
get professional equipment.
What never ceases to amaze me is the amount of time it takes
both Mark and myself to actually buy something, it’s part
of the fun I guess! You have to shop around for the best bargain,
try the equipment out various times etc There was a time when
we had to do all our shopping overseas or via internet but thankfully
that’s not the case today. There’s a particularly good
shop called Olympus in San Gwann and Mark and I are always there
seeing what we can add to our collection… The owner is especially
helpful, which makes a nice change!
In the evening went out with my work colleagues. Although I
do not have my own car I make it a point to be perfectly punctual
wherever I go. Sadly, today proved to be an exception as I could
only join them two hours after the scheduled time. The guys started
off at Juuls Bat but decided to move on to Buon Caffe. Thank goodness
for the advent of SMSing. Eventually caught up with them at Havana.
Some had already left, it being a working day for most on the
following day. I stuck around for a while then decided to start
off back home, whereupon… disaster struck and my car decided
o stop. Realised that the problem was lack of fuel. The fuel gauge
is broken so it’s always a bit of a hit and miss whether
there s enough fuel in or not!
Thursday: Woke up real late after Wednesday’s excesses
and decided to go in for the afternoon shift. Very uneventful
day, most of it spent at Go Mobile, followed by a quick nap and
a drive to one of our friends’.
Like I said, I enjoy the occasional quiet night in and this
was not exception. We order a pizza, had a couple of glasses of
wine, watched a movie… My idea of a great night. But before
that, I did make it a point to go to the King George Bar in B’Kara.
This is my regular haunt, I go there everyday – it’s
such a routine that I don’t even bother mentioning it in
the list of "things I do". The King George is where
I feel completely at home and even go behind the bar to get myself
drinks.
Friday: Another quiet day. Knowing that I had a packed weekend
in front of me I decided to focus on work and sleep. Had an uneventful
shift at work and went straight to the studio. Fooled around for
a bit, got serious and worked on some new sounds: we want to be
really certain before issuing another single. The question I ask
myself before I finalise a track is whether I would dance to it
on the dancefloor.
Finally crashed out at home as early as 9.30. Got woken up by
my very worried mother at about one in the morning, wanting to
know why I wasn’t going out and whether I was sick. She couldn’t
understand why I had fallen asleep at 9.30!
Saturday: My early night in did not stop me from sleeping till
11.30AM! Had quite a bit to do though in the afternoon, getting
some equipment for the Edenaid concert due to run tonight.
Evening: a very well-organised event, although some more publicity
and some more people wouldn’t have hurt. Went straight off
to Numero Uno, close by in Ta’ Qali at about one in the morning.
The scene was pumping and I was starting to enjoy myself when
I remembered that I had to take some sound equipment back to Bugibba.
Well, it was either then or 8.30 in the morning, so I thought
I’d better get a move on.
Back to Numero Uno to finish off a great weekend.
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