So just when I’m contemplating the battle through the winter blizzards of my brain to a new record, I receive news from Kev at Avalanche Records in Edinburgh (this is where one says ‘support your local record store this Christmas, Amazon is for mugs) that my three albums are in his ‘all time 30 best selling self-distributed albums’ list. This has actually made me a bit teary-eyed-hand-flappy; I don’t mean to alarm you, but when you work on your own it’s pretty hard to maintain the self-belief to make your innermost creative ideas into a physical product, then flog it to death through endless self-promotion, admin, tour booking, all kinds of things that feel comparatively heartless and unnatural. Once I’ve made a physical record I lose complete control over it, and often affection for it, entirely, so I’m pleased and surprised to imagine that a fair bunch of people have heard my tunes. I reallise this is only one shop, and suffice it to say the next record will be a fairly limited, but heartily home-made release, but I’m quite chuffed with myself, and am happy to represent on that list among some very fine and hard-working artists.