Your Friendly Neighborhood Musician

I stopped annoying neighbours with my whining guitar jams years ago. I once had far fewer inhibitions about causing noise and never cared. This disorderly, nervous breakdown inducing behaviour reached its nadir once I began inviting fellow band mates to the flat (including a full drum set) to save on studio costs.

It partly helped that this lifestyle was communal, with plenty of party noise at weekends, and Victorian houses tended to be built with thick, noise cancelling walls.

The point is that practicing music is not the same as performance. Working out a song sounds awful and most people dislike music of any kind. Liberal neighbours might expect to be serenaded with a nice tune, not a rusty, work in progress.

It’s true that some instruments have a more pleasing sound, whatever is played. More slack will be cut for a pianist or cellist whereas an electric guitar wails a bit.

Living in Britain’s suburbs away from the city is very curtain twitchy and noise conscious. Walls are thinner because modern housing estates are cheaply built. So I’m now considerate, confining my guitar playing to headphones. If recording acoustic guitars I choose moments when I know the neighbours are away. I can no longer run the risk of eviction. Of course, every musician dreams of living in a detached house in the countryside, because whatever your age, what you really yearn to do is crank up the volume.

Funny how we live in quite a silent world these days.

Everyone’s brain whirring over a small screen often wearing earphones. At least the grownups do, though not much has changed. As a teenager I carried a portable cassette player, blasting out music in shopping centres or buses. This natural behaviour (of youth letting off steam) continues with smart phones, annoying passengers and pedestrians.

Being much older, I now find myself feeling jumpy when there’s lots of external noise, like a car stereo pumping bass heavy dance music or leaf blower.

Then I catch myself, remember how, once upon a time, I was a severe noise nuisance.

I'm Paul, making music as GUITAR PK. I soon release a new solo album, but in the meantime do check out my work with Diane Marie Kloba, available anywhere you get music.