A Casual Life - in Six T-Shirts — In Six T-Shirts

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Hunangofiant cerddorol Euron Griffith, sy'n daith wyllt a gwallgof o gigiau cyntaf trychinebus i gytundebau recordio mawr, ac o dawelwch gogledd Cymru i glybiau myglyd Soho.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

From disastrous first gigs, to major record deals, from North Wales to the smoky clubs of Soho, Euron Griffith's musical memoir is a roller-coaster ride wrapped in six t-shirts.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

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Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

Born in Bangor, Euron Griffith has a Creative Writing MA from the University of Glamorgan. He has published three novels in Welsh – Dyn Pob Un (about a TV researcher who becomes an accidental serial killer), Leni Tiwdor (about a private eye who is also a record collector) and Tri Deg Tri (about a hitman who can talk to animals), and a children's novel Eilian a'r Eryr . His English language short story collection, The Beatles in Tonypandy (Dean Street Press) appeared in 2017. He has published two novels in English with Seren Miriam Daniel and Me (2020) and The Confession of Hilary Durwood (2023). Griffith lives in Cardiff, where he works as a radio and tv producer and plays in a band.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

[Mae adolygiad D. Fagan yn dilyn / D Fagan's review follows.] A band T-shirt is not to be confused with a regular T-shirt; a band T-shirt is never just an item of clothing. It may look like a standard promotional item of clothing, but a band T-shirt is a statement of allegiance to an artist. It is an outward sign of supporting their music, their ethos, and, somewhat grandly, their approach to life. Wearing a band T-shirt is a projection of a sense of self that is formed from that musical allegiance and all that it culturally signifies. It is a coded message to the world, the meaning of which is truly only known to the wearer. A Casual Life , Euron Griffith’s memoir now published by Seren, tells his musical life story through the lens of six different band T-shirts. The story we read is about his life as a music fan and as a musician, and so its chapters are named for – and feature – his dominant band T-shirts of the times he describes. It is a simple concept for structuring a memoir but one that is entirely original. Griffith talks about growing up in rural Wales, the frustration of limited access to pop culture, and goes into his own musical aspirations with a humour and candidness that is endearing. His first forays into music fandom come under the banner of David Cassidy – a T-shirt bought via a newspaper advert as a child. Later we meet the version of Griffith best represented by a holiday-bought Led Zeppelin shirt. The Sex Pistols and Tubular Bells also later make an appearance on Griffith’s torso. Each chapter carefully follows a specific time period with a miniature playlist expanding on his listening at the time. It is fun, adds an interactive element to the book and expands on the story. Where A Casual Life really comes into its own, however, are the two chapters featuring band T-shirts of Griffith’s own making. That is, the T-shirts representing the two bands in which he played as a musician. These chapters are self-aware, self-reflective, and open and honest with his ambitions and intentions. While the wearing of another band’s T-shirts is a projection of a sense of self, to talk about your own life through the lens of a T-shirt not commercially available adds a layer of vulnerability that endears the reader to Griffith more so than elsewhere in this book. Nothing quite offers an expression of who we are (or who we want to be) as quickly as a well-loved band T-shirt. An artistic allegiance used as a visual shorthand for the kind of person we’d like see ourselves as. Griffith’s additional use of his own artistic endeavors and his struggles with them, adds a human touch that brings warmth and relatability. A Casual Life offers a picture of a man attempting to make that expression and create something that others can stand by and pledge their allegiance to. In doing so, Euron Griffith makes this a book that is equally about representation, inspiration and aspiration. Liam Nolan ----- Like Euron Griffith, my life story is largely recorded in my extensive collection of T-shirts, all of which have a significance to me cosmically greater than their intrinsic worth. (Which is, frankly, zero.) So I instinctively wanted to like this book. I was, however, also a little nervous. Does the world need another self-deprecating pop music themed memoir aimed at blokes of a certain age? Happily, when the volume in question is this entertaining, the answer is: Yes. The structure is simple. Largely chronological (though a circle closes pleasingly towards the end), it traces Griffith’s efforts to ‘make it’ in the music business by the T-shirts he wore at various crucial stages on the journey. But that does not really do it justice. It is no ‘spoiler’ to report that his efforts ultimately fall tantalisingly short, but not before the ups and downs have been amusingly, and where necessary, sensitively described. And not before we have been given glimpses of a hinterland of (often painful) broader experience. Superficially the book is rather male orientated. Since it follows four young men in an overwhelmingly male industry this is probably inevitable. But relations with parents, the frustrations of life in a small village (or suburb), the joy of success, the humiliation of public failure, the despair of rejection are things everyone can relate to. Those are all touched on here, but only fleetingly. I would have liked to hear more about Griffith’s relationship with his parents, the real effect of growing up as first-language Welsh, how he really adjusted to the ultimate disappointment of his dreams, and more. But that is a lot to ask of a book which is, primarily, a light-hearted memoir, so hopefully Griffith is saving them for a novel. He clearly loves words as much as he loves music, and sometimes this leads towards prolixity. But it is difficult to be harsh when he is generally so witty. (I laughed out loud on more than one occasion!) The book more or less traces my life story (albeit along a different career path with a different selection of T-shirts) and (save for the superficialities) probably the life story of most of us. Had I written it I would have been well satisfied, and I have no hesitation in recommending anyone to spend a weekend with ‘This Charming Man’.