The 60s era fascinated me. I never lived through it but I live and breathe the music and adore the history.

And amongst all the chaos, evolution and cultural shifts of that decade, one of the things that fascinates me through to the 70s is how musicians drove the culture, and you need look no further than their response to the Vietnam War.

What’s going on?

Artists such as Marvin Gaye were willing to speak truth to power and that’s what made their music great.

I wonder where that kind of voice is in music these days, it’s practically non existent in the mainstream.

One area of society where it seems to have started happening is football and the English players converting a penalty was the least important thing for them to have achieved as far as dignity and victories in the wider world are concerned.

Rashford fought the government to feed children in poverty and succeeded.

Henderson raised funds for the NHS.

Sterling was a scapegoat for a toxic and amoral media and rose above.

And they all took the knee in opposition of racism despite the criticism. A gesture that is necessary so long as it provokes uproar from the racists or otherwise, ignorant. Spare me the empty arguments about Marxism. The economics of football say otherwise.

And the politicians predictably lapped upon England’s success in reaching a final and considered themselves entitled to that praise.

So I can’t express how satisfying it was to see Tyrone Mings burst Patel’s bubble and call her out as a hypocrite.

The abuse hurled at Rashord, Saka and Sancho was completely unacceptable but they’ve risen above.

But our leaders have a lot to answer for. Racism needs to be tackled on headlong. In education, on social media platforms who remain woefully complicit and in a collective effort to hold people accountable.

Racism is an unfathomable, special kind of stupid and those who use it to look down on others ultimately loses out in failing to know that our diversity in cultures and skin colours makes our world all the more enriching.

There’s good in this world, it’s worth fighting for.

This is going to be a really interesting one.

Italy are unbeaten in 30 plus games. Their central defenders are veterans that still possess a relentless and pure desire for success. Their midfield and attack have also been super impressive and they have a tactical master in their manager Mancini. They also sway the ref with their operatics.

England are at home. Southgate has built a team spirit unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a three lions squad and they have an abundance of quality all over the pitch and on the bench.

So I can honestly see it going to extra time and beyond.

And despite being Welsh, I would like to see England do well, because the if the team do win this evening, they would have deserved it. (Sue me.)

It’s worth remembering that football is a wonderful irrelevance.

I love the tactics, the battles, the stats and the passion and discussion it creates. Worth mentioning that the Tifo podcast has been tremendous.

I dislike the tribalism, false sense of superiority and some portions of fan bases driving some deluded ideal of nationalism with football. (This is not just exclusive to one country).

So booing national anthems is not just disrespectful, it’s also pathetic.

Need anything more be said about the idiot pointing a laser at Kasper Schmeichel’s eyes during the penalty.

Football as much as anything else is about mutual respect.

It’s why the England players still decide to take the knee, not because their Marxists, but because they are done with all the moronic racism that still runs amok.

I look forward to the match tonight, and whatever the outcome, both teams have done themselves proud, and I hope the positives of the game are more elevated than the negatives.

Let’s hope it’s not a super spreader event either.

In March and April of this year, I teamed up with Layer by Layer Band to record their debut EP.

The tracks that Mary, Mischa and Chloe have put together are absolutely beautiful and the sessions we did together were a lot of fun! Really proud to have been involved with this and encourage you to tune in!

Surprising opportunities come our way sometimes.

You may get noticed for who you are, what you do and what skills you offer.

You may get asked to come on board with something that could have a hugely life altering impact, financially or personally.

When these options come to the table, it really is a good idea to give yourself a window, be it 24 hours or however long you need to think through the consequences of saying yes or no to an opportunity.

Weighing up your options, and creating a table of clear pros and cons can help you steer towards the decision that is ultimately right for you.

Great leadership turns everyone into someone who believes in what they do.

Leadership is about making key decisions, but knowing you don’t make those decisions exclusively, you listen to those around you, you rely on the expertise of others, you allow your notions to be challenged before considering your choices moving forward.

Leadership is inclusive and when everyone is working towards the same collective goal, with the same approach, conviction and selflessness, kindness, generosity. Great leadership doesn’t allow for ego to get in the way.

Great leadership fosters a positive team spirit. Tangible systems are put in place to create intangible feelings, such as confidence.

Everyone, everywhere benefits from having a team that can work in a manner that elevates everyone.

And we can all do our best to try and play our part to make things better. Onwards.

When I was at Music school, I was told by alumni to say ‘yes’ to everything.

By ‘yes’ they meant every opportunity that came your way.

As much as it was well meaning, and endorsed the idea of ceasing certain moments, I think it to be equally, if not more important to know what to say no to.

Saying yes could compromise your integrity for a start and could take you down the road of selling out and being a hack that bares no resemblance to the adult you desired to be when you were a child. The second thing is that you can easily over commit yourself and burn out (I definitely do this from time to time).

Saying no means you are aware of what you have to offer and knowing when you are asked more than what you can offer. Saying no means you are thinking about what is important to you and whether saying yes to one thing sacrifices another more important thing.

Opportunities do come along, you can also make opportunities for yourself and sometimes we need to carefully consider the path we choose as to how we move forward.

I can’t take credit for this, a music teacher on Twitter wrote a great joke.

‘Why did the choir cross the road?’

‘So they could attend the sporting event so they would be allowed to sing’

It rings true for us musicians because it hits the nail on the head in regards to double standards that are happening at the moment.

Major sporting events are happening. 40,000 were in attendance for the England game today. That’s great news of course, if it’s the case that we are not going to be contending with Covid cases increasing.

But when you have local level events happening like school sports days not being able to happen, or choir rehearsals, either of which involve significantly less numbers, it leaves a bitter taste.

It’s hard to have a sense of collective or belief in the credibility of authority when rules are so disproportionate and unequal.

Whatever scale we work or operate at, either local, regional or national, we need to ensure we treat everyone and every circumstances with dignity, mutual respect and standards that are consistent.

We are better off as ‘we’ instead of having a bitter taste in our mouth when ‘them’ has one rule and ‘us’ has another.

It can never be guaranteed that each day will be a good day.

Some days will be tough, where everything seems to get you down and things are on top of you.

Some of these days may be frequent or they may disappear and it’s part of life.

Some require simple solutions, others more complex and some unfortunately have no solutions, they are just the way things are.

But all that been said, I believe that there is something to be said for motion, walking, cycling, running or something else that gets you outside that can do something positive.

It may only alleviate your heavy feelings a little, but a little is better than nothing.

If this is how you feel, give it a try and may those heavier feelings subside for now.

This is outstanding TV.

I’m late to the party with this since it first aired in 2010 but the Danish political drama holds up to today’s issues, and is a wonderfully intelligently written series.

Characters are complex, interesting and flawed, many are very charismatic and likeable as well and you are drawn into their lives and there is a real balance between professional and personal.

Whatever issues that are grappled with, politicians are required to be shrewd and careful in their decision making, whether it’s who you hire for a job or what you say to the press, everything counts for something.

And when your job consumes you, when you are prime minister, what impact does that have on family life?

Democracy and personal lives can be messy as they are currently are now and Borgen captures this wonderfully. It’s an absorbing and captivating watch.

I’m glad I stumbled across the series and happy to spread the word and recommend it.

Grey areas are what humans are. If you speak to each other in person, this is clear as day. You listen to each other, you see each other and although you may disagree, there’s the capacity to listen, to understand, to have empathy and less judgement of the person in front of you.

Why is this different on social media and the internet?

Why do we all of a sudden latch onto binary ideals, cancel culture and the need to strike people down in shame over transgressions that are trivial?

Is it because we are steered by social media’s collective offering of approval?

Social media was designed with the ability to give everyone a voice, but what’s more important than ever is reflection and deep introspection on how we use our voice and what for.

Jon Ronson’s Ted talk on this is one of the most strikingly profound videos I’ve ever watched on this subject, and I’m glad he spotted the toxic trends and was brave enough to write about it and call it out.

It’s unfortunate that since he released this talk, it becomes more relevant.

He articulates it better than myself so I’ve shared the video below.

It’s an opportunity to think about how we use our voice and we are a lot more in grey areas than social media makes us believe.