An American Werewolf In London: I Work In A Palace. Literally. And I Have A New Guitar.

Don't get too excited though, what I mean by literally is that technically it is a palace. It is not actually a plush castle, but it was where the Bishops of London historically lived. Apparently the nobles who were put in charge of keeping it up went bankrupt and had to sell it to the commonwealth. Now the palace grounds are a public park, which comprises my entire walk from the tube (subway) station to work, and the actual palace is mostly a museum. One of the less historically significant parts was also converted into an office suite, which now houses my current place of employment.

Technically I work for three different companies: Anglo Management, Southern Fried Records, and Asongs Publishing. I say technically because they are all more or less staffed by the same people and share the same artists. One of whom is a charming individual by the name of Norman Cook, better know by his stage name - Fatboy Slim. No, I didn't meet him today unfortunately. But if I do you'll absolutely hear about it (also, I'm not 100% certain but I think he and his manager own all three companies). The reason there are three different companies has to do with legal technicalities and the fact that management companies, record labels, and publishing companies serve three different functions in the music business.

So my "first day of work" didn't really turn out to be a "day of work". I came in, talked to my new boss for a little while about what I'm studying and how I've like London so far, ect. After about fifteen or twenty minutes of pleasantries and discussing my work schedule, my boss asked, "So when would you like to start?" To which I somewhat quizzically replied, "Today?" He went on to explain that the entire office had been out of town all last week and they needed a day to settle back in before I could start. So I'm going back tomorrow morning to have my real "first day." As I was leaving I approvingly noted a poster of The Strokes' album "Room on Fire" hanging by the door. In honor of this, our Song of the Day today is one of my favorite tracks from that album. Actually, I had such a good day I'll give you two. Why the fuck not.

Before I left, I asked my boss for the name of a good guitar shop (I found out when I was packing to leave the states that it would actually cost less to buy a new guitar over here than to pay to take my guitar on the plane, even as a check bag). He did me one better and directed me to an entire street of literally nothing but guitar shops (and one really awesome bar/music club at the very end called The Twelve Bar Cafe). So I spent the rest of my "first day of work" drooling over absurdly expensive vintage guitars and shopping for one that I could actually afford. I was surprised to find that except for really expensive guitars like Martins and Taylors (which are imported from the states) and even more expensive vintage Gibsons and Fenders, they don't have the same brands over here. I also quickly discovered that the market for used instruments here is almost nonexistent (except, again, for high-value vintage stuff) and my original plan to buy a guitar and re-sell it at the end of the summer would have lost me about $150. So I ended up buying a nice little thin-body acoustic/electric that plays well and will at least serve a different function than any of the guitars I have back home.

Overall a sweet day! For me at least, sorry if this was a boring entry for the non-guitarists out there. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures?

My walk to work every morning;