Marathon runners and saxy men...

If that title hurts you as much as it hurts me, then I can only apologise. Although I suppose I'm not that sorry, or I'd change it. Anyway: here are the two articles that I wrote during work experience that were published, for anyone who might be interested.

Marathon Runner Cancer Tribute

And:

Johnty's fresh start
 

Felicity Houston meets Braintree man Johnty Wilks who swapped his mid-life crisis for meditation and to rediscover the joys of sax

Johnty Wilks, completely fed up with middle-aged life, has swapped smoking and and drinking in front of the TV for playing gigs all over the world.

Johnty, who is turning 50 in May, decided that instead of yearning for the 'old days' like many of his peers, he would pursue his love of music - namely electronica, new age and jazz.

So far, he's played gigs in Ibiza, Berlin and gigs all across London and Wales, but is hoping to establish a scene closer to his Braintree home in the coming months.

He likes to think that he could be an inspiration to other budding musicians who feel stuck in that middle-aged rut of Midsomer Murders and red wine, with his advice to these people being: "Just get out there, go to an open mic night session and remember that it's never too late to pick up an instrument".

Having previously played the saxophone when he was 16, Johnty admits that it was lost on him at the time and his attention dwindled.  However, for four hours a day, every day for the past 2 years, he picked up the saxophone again and built up his skills as a musician from the ground up.

Influences

He said: "You'll sound awful at first, but I first knew that I was improving when four months in, my nine year-old son took his fingers out of his ears and said that it actually sounded good".

Johnty believes that the sound of his music is derived from all the influences in his life.

He has a PhD from Imperial College London, and committed most of his early professional life to studying medicinal plants in China, America, Africa and India, exposing him to many different cultures.  His meetings with shamans and village doctors there led to an interest in holistic medicine, and the pressure of his highly competitive course at university caused him to take up meditation as a form of stress management.

That, and his love of club and chill-out music, seems to cut a figure of a man with broad and oddly varied interests.

He insists that this is not the case.  He says that holistic medicine has an intimate link to meditiation, and that new-age music helps people to relax - so it's little surprise that his music would be a melting pot containing these elements.

Johnty also runs his own music and meditation class at Samantha House, near Braintree.

To find out more and hear Johnty's music, go to www.myspace.com/johntywilks