I want to be a…

When my friend, Andy, was growing up, he wanted to be a lifeboat captain. He sailed regularly with his family but the thought of pursuing it as a career seemed ludicrous for a bookish and musical boy.

Andy made a career for himself in the music industry running a record label, while every so often hankering after the sound of the waves.

It’s a scenario with which I am familiar. My childhood passion was music. I would sit at our ancient piano, imagining myself at Woodstock hanging out with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I’ve spent the best part of my life saying, ‘I would have been a singer if…’ But becoming a musician just wasn’t something people like me from my background did, so I didn’t bother to look into it too much, and chose a career as a writer.

Four years