Welcome to my very first blog. I will try to add entries each day, which I hope will be informative, interesting and maybe on the odd occasion, a little bit funny. Ill introduce you to the people I meet along my way in life, my daily goings on and other things that pop in my head. For those that don’t know me, “Hi, Im Carl”. So where do I start? Normally the beginning is a good place.
Just incase you have forgotten already, Im Carl. I live in a new town called Basildon, which is just outside London, in the UK. If you would like to know more about this place, you can look it up on Wikipedia. I’ve lived here all my life and seen the place change dramatically over the years. I am a graphic artist/ illustrator and live with my fiancée Suzanne, who I’ve been with for 10 and a half years.
I have a few hobbies and interests. I love music!!! When I was little there was always either the Beatles or the Beach Boys being played on the record player. Lots of songs hold memories for me and everytime I hear them again, those memories come flooding back. In the very early 80s I was given my own record player for my bedroom. I used to spend hours up there listening to my parents old 45s. By the mid 80s I had started to develop my own taste in music. Now, music back then was very limited. Stock, Aiken and Waterman had taken charge on the UK charts, but occasionally the odd decent tune would appear. I will warm you, my music taste is varied. Around 1998 I was bought my very first guitar. Id been after one for years. It was a black Encore electric guitar with a little 15 watt Sunn amp. I would spend anytime I had playing along to records, learning new chords etc. Having a guitar got me interested in rock music. I started to listen to things like ZZ Top, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi. I would often sit in class daydreaming of being the next rock star. By the end of secondary school I was in my very first band. The beginning of the 1990s saw this new wave of music coming in from America called Grunge. I remember hearing Nirvanas Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time. WOW!!! I was hooked in this type of music. Then came bands like Metallica and Guns and Roses….music overload!!! Over the years Ive played in various bands, from a 50s & 60s cover band through to one playing heavy metal.
Another huge interest of mine is geneology (family history). I come from a real mixed bag of people. My roots are nearly all English. My dad and granddad worked in the aircraft industry. My granddad was also a policeman in Southend. The rest of my Brind history is made up of the army, artillery workers and shipwrights. My Brind family have been very difficult to trace but I’ve had some great help from various people who share the same surname and it’s been really enjoyable trying to solve some of the families mysteries. My mums’ side of the family are mainly from Up t’north, and were mainly mill workers. Theres also a coast guard, merchant seamen, green grocers, farm hands, silk workers.
Well that’s a little bit about me. I’m sure I will go into more detail on some of these things again further into the blog. Thanks for having a read and please feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like to ask anything.