The Cancer Diaries

As you know, I'll be up again tomorrow at 5 PM for another half hour set. I'll be sharing a COVID19 parody called Your Wipe and will be accompanied for one track by our local tui who seem to like my music on a song called Raglan Rain. I'm also looking forward to sharing my song You Oughta Run unplugged, unfortunately without the awesome sax from my friend Charly Nice. I'll also be paying homage to Christchurch Cathedral. Check out the video below for what it looked like before the Earthquake.

I have just 3 days to reach the minimum of $1,000 and the Arts Foundation Future Fund will match that. I only need about the equivalent of another 20 flat whites by Monday. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me. It will be so cool to start thinking about recording, the arrangements and making music. This asking for money thing is something I really don't like doing. Everyone who supports me with a donation, will have their name in the credits when this project has been completed and you will know that you have done something good.

Music is a healer and made a big difference to me when times were tough. Writing and performing is cathartic as is listening. We all know how good music feels when life deals us some bad cards. I don't know of similar projects so it will be really interesting to see what comes next.

As a consequence of this Boosted Campaign I have also made contact with a choir, something I need for the uplifting last song on this EP, so it seems that the planets are starting to align. Now for the final gasp.

I was talking to someone yesterday about how I want to get video of the project and one of my girls said, "that will be expensive". A agreed, which is why I have the stretch goal, but if I don't make it for now, I will aim to get lots of video created for me and worry about the costs of production, editing etc later. So, just like magic, today I got a message from a friend who is good with video, offering to do a car coffee drive interview with me. So I'll be taking him up on that. Awesome!

If you haven't heard it with the sax from my friend Charly Nice, here's a different sounding You Oughta Run from the one on my livestream.

I am going to set up a Facebook page for this project as well so I can keep everyone in the loop.

Look out for details which I will post here before the week is up.

I have achieved the minimum I need to get the support from the Arts Foundation, but I am still a long way from my goal. This lets me get started and for that I thank you so much.

I wanted to play Time Machine on one of my live-streams, but I couldn't remember how it went. This morning, I found a video I had recorded which features the song. Fantastic, now I can actually see how I played those chords, some of which I don't even know the names for:)

What would you do if you had a time machine? Would you go back to a pivotal moment in your life and do something differently? I thought about it and the cool thing with storytelling in music, is that you can do anything and not have to worry about the consequences. The lyrics in this video will explain what I mean.

I want to once again thank everyone for your generous support during this campaign. Donations are still trickling in, even from people I don't know, which is awesome.

I have at least enough now to take the first two songs to the recording studio which is awesome.

Just a reminder of why I am doing this. One in 9 Kiwis will be diagnosed, like me, with prostate cancer. That's a lot of people. When you get told those 3 words, You Have Cancer, your life changes. It is very difficult to deal with and sometimes you need something different, like music, to help you work your way through what is happening in your life. It is barely recognised as a tool for mental health, but it can make a big difference. We all help in whatever way we can. If this project reaches and helps even one person, through their cancer journey, it will have been worthwhile, and you will have made a contribution to that, even if you never find out who it was, just by paying it forward with me.

Pretty cool right?

I hope you enjoy time machine. What would you do if you had one?

Thanks so much to everyone for your amazing support. It's been fun, it's been challenging and it's been inspiring. Now of course it is time for me to get to work. I have definitely raised enough to get started, if not to complete the project and it is all down to your help.

I set up a Facebook page called The Cancer Diaries so that you can continue with me on the journey. This is our project and I hope you will continue to feel a part of it. Please like the page to make sure you get updated as I go forward.

Remember the early bird gets the worm. Guys, if you haven't had a PSA test, ask your doctor to fill out a form so that you can at least get a baseline. It's not just for old guys, although it is most common amongst people over 50. I'm a survivor because I got the test.

So now, it's down to arrangements, sorting musicians and heading for a studio. So watch the Facebook group and pat yourself on the back. You have helped enable this project to get off the ground.

A special thanks to the great team at Boosted and also to the Arts Foundation for their help in matching the first $1,000! You all helped me get to that point and I wouldn't have got their subsidy without your help.

As I have mentioned, everyone who donated and shared their names will be named and thanked again in the credits for the finished product. Your support will be recorded for posterity.

In case you were wondering, the photo is of me helping to open Relay For Life in Auckland, three years ago. The purple sash represents being a cancer survivor. The bird and the worm, well we've already discussed that.

Thanks again people. I hated asking for donations, but then if you don't ask, you don't get.

All the best

Luigi