★ This is a photo of me taken at a gig in Glasgow in 2016 ★
Being a massive Bowie fan, I had purchased Blackstar on vinyl and was listening to it on a daily basis. Lazarus, I Can’t Give Everything Away, Girl Loves me... I was blown away by the album and something about it hit me in the pit of my stomach.
In the midst of Bowie’s genius and caught up in some personal stuff that was going through, I found myself in a Bowie bubble (music has always been therapy for me).
Then the news hit; 10th January 2016. Bowie was gone
I remember the feeling of utter sadness; which was odd as I didn’t know Bowie, he wasn’t a family member, he wasn’t a friend, so why this feeling? But his music was in my veins and has been the soundtrack to so many significant events in my life. He was and always will be a massive influence for me.
I felt compelled to hit my sewing machines, so I dug out an old vintage leather jacket and embroidered the back:
B O W I E
It was my little nod to him. To have his name emblazoned across my back (in gold sparkly letters of course).
I wore it to a gig that night (Richard Ashcroft) and I can’t tell you how many people stopped me to compliment my jacket and ask where it was from. I had a bit of a moment and thought... ‘ahh this could be something’. That’s when the seeds for Electric Eye were sown, or ‘sewn’ if you like.
That period and the months that followed were pretty life changing for me; a marriage breakdown and the fall out from that (anyone who has been through it will know how shit that can be), a relocation to Manchester, a completely new city with no friends or family and building my life again from scratch. Literally from zero, in every sense.
Although I can’t listen to Blackstar anymore, it takes me back to a weird place, that little seed that was planted in the back of my mind slowly grew and Electric Eye Apparel was eventually born in 2018.
When I look at that photograph, I can still remember exactly how I was feeling in that moment. I wish I could tell the girl I was then where I’d be now, that it would all work out ok and that jacket on my back would be the start of something really, really, special ★
"Is everything ok?" I asked as I studied the face of my sonographer, as I lay on the bed with warm gel on my belly deafening alarm bells went off in my head. She didn't take her eyes off the screen, taking what felt like a lifetime to respond. She was cold and emotionless as she delivered the blow. "I believe your baby has a genetic deformity called 'Gastroschisis'" it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
This week marked 5 years since we lost David Bowie. So as I reflect on The Man Who Fell To Earth, here are 8 Reasons Why David Bowie is The Absolute Greatest...
