A Different Mix
- Andy Bracken
- Jun 1, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 6
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you'd chosen a different path?
Local radio DJ, Nick Cherry, never quite made it to the heights he aspired to in life. Playing controlled playlist music during the ‘graveyard shift’ in the early hours, he resents where he's ended up. Yet, he's too afraid to change anything, lest he should lose even that.
A chance purchase of an unknown and unlabelled seven-inch vinyl record invites him to reflect on where it all went wrong. It also allows him a glimpse of how events in his life would have unfolded, had his wished-for changes taken place.
Akin to a contemporary 'Monkey's Paw', or a punky 'Sliding Doors' - ‘A Different Mix’ is funny, heartbreaking, sexy, thought-provoking, evocative and provocative - all set in the murky world of local county radio, appalling music, road shows, freshly baked bread, unknown records, and a Vespa scooter.
Author Notes
Appearing in June of 2021, I threw myself into this once the dust had settled on ‘The Cut’. I needed to move on.
Radio, as much as records, has been a constant in my life since infancy. At home and in the car, the radio was ever-present throughout my childhood and adolescence. So many discoveries came via that medium in the 70s and 80s. Even into the 90s and beyond.
‘A Different Mix’ is my radio novel. I love it.
There’s a supernatural flavour to it, too, as declining DJ, Nick Cherry, discovers a 7” single that allows him to ‘see’ how his life would have panned out, had his wished-for desires come to be.
At its core, it’s a book about appreciating what you have, and being careful what you wish for. The grass isn’t always greener over there, as Nick Cherry discovers over and over again.
Only when we stop thinking about what might have been, can we appreciate what we have and make the most of it, I believe.
Here, as with all my novels, there are references to previous books that only ‘those in the know’ will get. There’s a coziness that comes from that, I’m told.
A record emanated from this book, as well! The aforementioned 7” single was crafted by Tom Woodger of The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies, with contributions from Mike Macklin, Sarah Birch, Colin Consterdine and Pete Bingham (the latter two of Sendelica).
Reading through the Amazon reviews of ‘A Different Mix’ and ‘The Cut’, I’m struck by how many times people make reference to the mirroring of their own life-experiences in the prose. ‘Human’ and ‘Relatable’ are the words Mike Kennedy used in his interview with me.
‘Honest’ is another word that recurs in the reviews. And I can’t help but think the relatability comes out of that honesty. I don’t know. I’m merely speculating.
Either way, it’s a book I’m proud of.
Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Another superb book from an author of rare consistency.
"Andy Bracken’s economically beautiful prose and deft story telling serve as the bedrock for this engaging tale. A lovely read, A Different Mix propels you along with characters and circumstances cleverly imagined and subtly drawn. As he has done so often before this author gives us the feeling of a glimpse into a hidden and private world, a place were love and obsession meet with the everyday and humdrum. Beginning with the patient, microscopic and forensic attention needed for collecting vinyl and progressing to encompass the macroscopic, broad panic of a mid-life crisis, this book is about the nature of human perspective and how disappointment can be trumped by fear..."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The well depicted characters make the reflective and twisting narrative compulsive. Fab!
"I am so grateful to a friend and DJ colleague at our local radio station who introduced me to Andy Bracken’s writing with ‘worldly goods’. So I didn’t hesitate to jump on this book when it came out. And I read it in a week. In fact I’ve read three of Bracken’s books in a year, which must say something, as I normally only read record labels and ‘beat instrumental’. ADM is funny, and sad, easy to relate to (for me) with solid characters and a format that allows even more bonkers plot turns than one could normally fit into 277 pages. Yes, I loved it and have ordered up Andy’s tome, ‘The Cut’ already. You don’t have to be a music nerd to enjoy the book, but it must help. A thought provoking addition to my expanding library of Andy Bracken books. Great stuff. I would give a 10 star review if I could. Life carries on, and things do go wrong, as Edward once sang. This book mix and matches a number of possible routes, which in retrospect are all bitter sweet. I found it easy to read, cleverly conceived and interwoven, perfectly paced and delivered.
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