So, where have I been?

That is a good question. I think the honest answer is that I don’t know.

I made the decision that I wanted to revamp my site because I don’t like how it looks. I told myself as soon as uni was done for the year I would but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t bring myself to. Then things started to drag and drag, everything became so difficult – not just when it comes to being part of this industry but life in general.

The pandemic as a whole has made things harder. Before it I had so many opportunities coming my way and I was loving how active this blog had become but then when gigs stopped and music releases slowed I guess I fell out of love with it. This industry is my passion and my blog needs to reflect that and I’ve gone through a period of finding life so tough that my passions started to fade.

I have also been massively struggling with anxiety which has been stopping me from going out to gigs. I have always had issues with crowds but I finally got to a place where I could go to a venue and enjoy my night, even by myself, but now that seems pretty impossible. I am trying though, and I do believe as I am starting to get into a routine with uni and work, the stronger I am becoming.

A big setback for me was in August when I went to a festival and had a crippling panic attack which resulted in me being sat in an ambulance for two hours and having an ECG due to a dangerously high heart rate. That incident and
incidents which followed – some of which embarrassingly have happened at my arena job – have shown me that I do need to take things one step at a time.

I wasn’t planning on this post to be such a downer but there we go. If you’ve managed to read until this point, I applaud you. However, I do have some positives to throw at you.

I am going to revamp this site (eventually) and I am going to go back to reviewing. To begin with, these will just be music reviews and then hopefully I will be out at gigs reviewing them again.

In the New Year, I am also starting a radio show on Radio Abbey. My show – which is currently untitled – will be focusing on giving exposure to up and coming artists around the UK. If you have music that you want to be played then please email MP3 files, along with a bit about you, to maesimkinmusic@gmail.com! I would love to hear from you.

I’m hoping that everything starts to go a bit more smooth so I can get back to doing all the cool stuff I was doing before lockdown. Thank you for your continued support.

The main headline is that I am coming back and I will be writing/reviewing again. For now it will probably just be music reviews, leaving gigs until I am more comfortable but I’m excited regardless. It has been too long.

So please get sending stuff for this blog to musicdrumsandme@gmail.com and stuff for the radio to maesimkinmusic@gmail.com.

And hopefully, I will catch you again sooner rather than later.

Mae x