糖心TV

James Phythian

Data and Systems Analyst, 糖心TV 糖心TV School

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to keep trying new things to keep life exciting.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 look like your typical morris dancer, but when the opportunity to join my local side came up, I popped on the clogs and gave it a go!

It was my colleague, Eddie Walter, that invited me along to watch Earlsdon Morris. He was already a member and with me being quite a restless person, who doesn鈥檛 like sitting at home with nothing to do, I thought why not. My interview to join was two questions, do you like dancing and do you like drinking!

I didn鈥檛 have any prior knowledge of the traditional folk scene but since joining I鈥檝e been to festivals up and down the country. Most recent one was in Sidmouth, which was a whole week, brilliant fun but very heavy going as well. We also do an annual tour round the streets and pubs of Earlsdon, another full-on day. We don鈥檛 do it just to disrupt the traffic, it鈥檚 held in honour of members who have died. There鈥檚 a memorial on Hearsall Common where we go and remember absent friends and raise a drink in their memory.

I joined because I thought it was interesting and important to keep this old English tradition, dating to the 15^th century alive. And it鈥檚 sociable, who doesn鈥檛 like to dance, sing, travel and be merry. The different groups of dancers are called sides, I enjoy it so much that I鈥檝e joined another side as well. There are nearly 800 sides across the UK. My other side is Birmingham Rapper, and we do another form of traditional dance with flexible blades. They've got handles on either side and you have five people twisting and turning into different formations, it鈥檚 impressive to watch and has elements of tap dance in it as well.

I鈥檝e picked up the dances quite easily and have found from an early age, that I can learn new things quickly. I picked up the guitar at age eleven, I wouldn鈥檛 describe myself as a multi-instrumentalist, but I play guitar, bass and I鈥檓 slowly mastering the piano. I鈥檝e played in quite a few bands, sometimes four or five at the same time, different styles of music. I鈥檓 a big supporter of the local music scene so you鈥檒l always see me down the front at a gig somewhere. I鈥檓 always looking for a different instrument to learn and really want to try the squeezebox. That probably ties in with my newfound love of traditional folk, I just need to get my hands on one!

In the spirit of discovering new things, I鈥檝e taken a few solo trips to Japan. I鈥檓 really interested in their culture, it鈥檚 the most opposite to ours possible. When I landed in Tokyo for the first time I loved it. I鈥檝e been across most of the mainland and earlier this year I went to Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. It has some of the heaviest snowfall in the world, so of course I had a go at snowboarding while I was there. I took a few lessons before going so I was able to give the slopes a good go.

It's a clich茅 but life really is too short, go out and try new things, visit a new place or country, learn a new skill or discover a new hobby. There鈥檚 really no excuse to not give things a go, you might not be an expert straight away, but you鈥檒l never know unless you try!鈥�