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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

#ImAJokeAndSoAreYou by Robin Ince mini spoiler free book review

I'm a Joke and So Are You: A Comedian’s Take on What Makes Us HumanI'm a Joke and So Are You: A Comedian’s Take on What Makes Us Human by Robin Ince

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Robin Ince is a really thoughtful individual and applies his normal level of intimate enquiry and consideration into exploring the psychology behind comedians. Is it true they're all prone to depression in their own lives? Are there particular types of person that lend themselves better to comedy than others? Does an unhappy childhood make for better material in later life than a happy childhood?

Ince goes on to further explore the nature of offensive jokes and why we laugh at them, why we suffer from anxiety, how to deal with grief and the nature of the comical creativity amongst many other interesting and thought provoking assumptions and traits of the stand up comedian.

Robin uses a mixture of sources from psychologist, therapist and professional interviews and texts, to interviews with many comedians including Ricky Gervais, Tim Minchin, Sara Pascoe, Lenny Henry and more, each of whom provides a unique perspective into the realm of stand up comedy and what makes it work for them. Robin is is able to combine this with drawing upon his own experience as a touring stand-up and work as a creative, plus insights from his overactive imagination and mind to really help him to delve deeply into what makes the stand-up comic really tick.

Superbly written, referenced and organised with really interesting sources and anecdotes done in the typically witty and imaginative fashion we've come to know and love from Robin Ince's work. If you've a remote interest in the workings of the human mind and a love of stand up comedy, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Excellent.



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