I’ve been very productive of late. I have been getting an average of one track per day finished for roughly the past fortnight. I’m pleased with this and hope it continues for a while longer – frankly, if I’m to make further headway in music, it needs to!

But one thing got me thinking lately. Why am I suddenly being so busy in this area? And I’ve worked it out. I thought I’d take some time to explain why.

So, we all know that Covid-19 continues to cause problems for a lot of the world. The whole of the UK is currently in some form of lockdown. Specifics vary, but where I live – in Northern Ireland – we’re due to stay in one until at least March 5th. This means only essential shops are open, you can’t visit each other in your houses and such, schools are closed, that sort of thing.

Schools being closed mean that my 4 year old is currently being home schooled. This isn’t as bad as I feared it would be, although there is the odd day when motivating him is harder than others. I also have a 2 year old and an 8 week old in the house, along with my wife, who’s currently on maternity leave.

Life is busy. By day, I spend my time being a dad, cooking meals and the various other things that need doing. By night, when everyone else is usually in bed, I’m Amateur At Play. A bit like being Spiderman, but without a cape and all that jumping around.

Spending all this time at home isn’t particularly natural and doesn’t come easy, even to someone as antisocial as me. But all I know is I infinitely prefer to stay in the house more if it reduces my odds of catching Covid-19. I know enough people who have had it, or have it now, to know that I’d rather not take my chances with this thing.

Producing more music helps give me something else to do, ultimately. It’s an outlet in many ways – and whilst I certainly wouldn’t say I have a bad life, anything that makes it that little bit better is no bad thing!