2DO Before I Die

'The Alternative Hero' - 2DO Blogger Has First Novel Published!

Over the years of working on 2DO, it's been our privilege to come across a wealth of talented, entertaining and generous people, but one of our picks has to be writer, drummer and adventurer Tim Thornton. One of the original story contributors to the 2DO book ("Learn to play drums"), Tim has gone on to write two of his own columns for the blog; '2DO Challenges' - featuring such tasks as 'burying a time capsule' and 'taking a vow of silence' - and his more recent feature on new and unsigned pop sounds, "Tuning in".

Well, all that typing into the night has proved dividends, and today see the publication of Tim's first novel, The Alternative Hero (published by Jonathan Cape). Our congratulations go out to the man himself - may this be the first rollicking, '90's-indie-rock-themed comic novel of many!...

Click here if you're intrigued to know more, or would like your very own copy. To shake the man's hand in person, there's also an (unofficial) book launch this evening, where there will be drinks (not free sadly...), signed editions (guaranteed!) and (almost certainly) a chorus line of scantily-clad, tap-dancing brazilians. It kicks off at 8ish, at the 'Pineapple' in Kentish Town, London, England.

'Perform on my own'

2DO contributor Tim Thornton ('Play the Drums'), tackled a long-standing goal on his list recently, stepping away from his drumkit and playing guitar unaccompanied on 7 songs he had written himself. Tim's also written a few lines about his experience...

"Funny old game, solo acoustic gigs. No amount of playing songs at home in front of your cat will prepare you for the actual experience. It was after my second number (a jaunty, optimistic ditty entitled What If Everyone Goes Mad?) that I realised there were close to fifty other real people in the room staring at me, understandably expecting to be addressed at some point. My plan had been to say nothing, Jesus & Mary Chain-style, letting the music speak for itself (maaan); an okay proposition if one is a) famous, and/or b) in a murderously loud rock band. But me, on my own, guitar in hand, at a little acoustic club in Islington on a Sunday evening. Bad idea. Banter please. So I tried to think of something amusing, muttered a few words, decided it was all a bit useless and launched into the next tune. This must be how Roger Whittaker feels all the time.

But I’m probably painting an overly dismal picture here. In the main, the gig fulfilled its aims: I stuffed 30 minutes with 7 songs I had secreted from my song gland over the past year or so. I’d been wanting to do this sort of solo gig for ages, and partly - as prosaic as it sounds - to prove to myself that I could. But reactions were generally positive, with after-show comments ranging from the obvious (“It would sound much better with a band”), technical (“that fifth song was actually quite good!”) to the wonderfully patronising (“that was so BRAVE!”). Lots of friends asked “what next?” - the answer to which I currently do not know. Having done it, I’m not entirely certain I’d do it again. But one thing is for sure - I miss my drums."