Summer is still hanging on by the skin of its teeth, it seems. We are in Hampstead. I needed to see some nature.
Yesterday had the blinds down all morning and me in a suit jumping and shouting. Today I recorded a load of weird bits in the studio for advert self tapes – it seems the world is waking.
Once the tapes were sent it was boxes dust and metal. Lou arrived and we took down the studio. Plates went to Davies Street. They’ll be in the corridor of death for no more than a fortnight whilst I get stacking catering boxes for the ones I want to keep, and identify and auction the ones I don’t want to keep that have actual value. I needed to get them out of the car though, as loads of things are going to Glastonbury on the weekend. It’s moving moving moving. But yeah, I needed to get outside under the sky and touch that nature thing we’ve all heard so much about.
There was music on the wind. No beats. The sort of thing they play at the secret last night festival parties once the Sunday night noise regulations are in place. A lone trumpet noodling along with it. We were drawn like moths. Well – I was.
A pool of light. Poi spinners and hula hoops. Movement across the lake, along with the sound of the trumpet. Around the edges of the lake people stand transfixed. We keep moving. Past the stationary dog section car. Into the light.
Yar Yar is playing next to a sign that says “The Fairytale”.
A few people sit in the shadows on throws. “I like the vibe here,” I say. “What, lots of bored people?” – That’s Yar Yar. He’s the trumpeter. Yar Yar is fed up of everything. Sardonic. Brusque. But secretly shining bright. We geek out over accordions. He’s fab.
I’m in a suit, clean shaven. I don’t look like hippy is part of my vibe. It’s not part of his. He’s just bored so he’s playing.
He’s Israeli, he tells us. A musician and multi instrumentalist. He’s down on actors. “Most actors will never know who they are,” he tells me, with a challenge. “I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on that now,” I tell him. Lou doesn’t laugh so my confidence might not be misplaced. “And they’re stupid,” he continues, and I like him. He’s right as well. It’s important to be stupid a lot of the time in your work because if you’re clever things come out overcooked. It also helps to be clever sometimes, so you can make sense of text. But he’s not being confrontational, he’s just speaking his truth because he’s bored. And he wants a debate, which I don’t really have time or inclination for as it’s cold. “It’s part of the Israeli character,” Lou says afterwards, as we walk away content.
Yaryar and The Fairytale have made a lovely patch of light to burn with the end of summer. These brief weeks before the cold sets in are precious.
Let’s all try and make sure we connect with nature and each other in case we get shut into our rooms again.
AlBarclay 