Dark Mornings and Dark Nights

Although I've chosen to give this post a rather bleak title, the content is actually pretty upbeat and so please don't be put off! I've not posted for a while and so thought since the first month of the new year is nearly over, it was about time I put something together. It's mostly not to do with my sound work but hopefully my masses of readers (you) will enjoy it.

The inspiration for this whole post came today when I was listening to "2nd" by Opto which is the duo of Carsten Nicolai and Thomas Knak. They also go by the names of 'Nova' and 'Alva Noto' (Nicolai) and 'Opiate' (Knak) and so are pretty remarkable producers and composers in their own right. I've been having a lot of early mornings this year and so haven't seen much daylight and so wanted to put together a little spotify playlist which reflects this. It's very minimal in terms of style but there's some beautiful stuff there so I would recommend taking some time out to really enjoy it. Good headphones or a quiet room with good speakers is a must I'm afraid.

The playlist is here and is the following tracks:

It's been a busy month or so as my wife and I moved house and so that brings with it a studio move. Fortunately it has meant larger premises for both which is excellent but of course it takes time. My studio is now more or less up and running and sounding much better than before which is excellent. I've also invested in some new bits over Christmas and so can't wait to try out all my new toys.

I have been doing some work too, the main job working on some sequences for a pitch to the BBC. I have been working with the director Lawrence Gough who made the feature 'Salvage' a couple of years ago and is currently working on some really exciting projects. I can't say anything about this one (yet) but it's been incredible working with him and I really hope I get to work some more with him soon!

I'm also producing samples for a sample library and this is an on-going project but is something that I've not done before and so am really enjoying it. I'm producing a library of ambient drum, synth, piano and guitar loops and so get to play with all my toys and try recording them and manipulating the audio in some really cool ways. Obviously you should all buy it once it's completed...

And now; some photos and audio. I won't say any more.

The top was taken today in Salford, and although doctored a little bit, still looks lovely I think. The middle one was taken on a lovely Sunday afternoon in Chester, and the final one is taken from one of the greatest computer games of all time, 'Pete Sampras Tennis' on the Sega Megadrive.

This happened when I was listening to Lionel Richie's 'Can't Slow Down' and the 12" got a little stuck. For such an upbeat track it's quite a sombre message.

Finally, this website will be getting a massive overhaul soon as I've had someone very kindly working on a new logo for me. It's virtually finished and so will be doing that over the next couple of weeks. The new showreel(s) are nearly done and I'll have some new music to share. I guess I should say thanks to anyone that has read all of this and I hope you enjoy what I put up here, as rare as it is.

New Work

I'm very pleased to put up some work that I had a part in. All of them were produced by Space Digital/Matte Black Films in Manchester and as ever it was really great working with them.

The first is a commercial that only had a short run on TV thanks to a lack of funding for charities but is part of a campaign by Love Where You Live. What makes this all the more exciting is that one of the videos on their YouTube channel was shot in my home county of Kent in a 'lovely' place called Tonbridge. I spent seven years there at secondary school and so it's good to see some (much needed) promotion for the area. Music is by me:

The second is a series of videos for Castrol Edge which is a high end and high performance oil. I no longer have a car and so sadly I won't be buying any but the amount of research the company undertakes is quite ridiculous. Sound editing, sfx, music and dub are all by me and as such this was a really great project to be involved in. Lots of scope for some interesting sound stuff. And big bass.

As a final note on work, hopefully I'll be able share a very cool new project that I'm working on. It's something I've not done before but I'm very pleased to be doing.

Berlin

As mentioned (fairly heavily) on Twitter recently, Danielle and I visited Berlin with my parents two weeks ago. I know this post is once more not about my work, which is a rule I made when I started this blog, but I really haven't stuck to that because my life is so incredibly interesting and posting up pictures about one of my favourite cities is an opportunity too good to miss.

This visit to Berlin was my sixth time there but it was the first trip since about three years ago. I actually shot a short there in March 2008 but sadly the rushes are still sat on a hard drive as I just haven't had the time to edit it. When finished (release date is looking to be at some point during late 2015) it's going to be nothing but an homage to Berlin with picture and sound all done by me.

My first trip to Berlin was in February 2006 and happened a little by chance. For my final degree piece at university I made a sound and moving image installation based around nostalgia and childhood and needed a huge amount of 'nice' footage. One idea I had was to shoot from an aircraft and so looked to book the cheapest flight possible. At the time flights with Easyjet were ridiculously cheap, without extra fees for baggage and credit cards, and so a return flight to Berlin for just under a week was only £21. I went with my very good friend Jeremy and we spent most of the time drinking and eating very cheap (€1) Doner Kebabs but still managed to see a huge amount of the city and so fell in love with it.

Every trip there has been amazing but oddly they have always been during the winter months and so I don't actually know what the city is like during the summer. I'm sure it's equally beautiful but something about grey, cloudy skies and cold weather goes very well with the city. Especially the East part.

I think that's enough self indulgence from me but if you have never visited Berlin I couldn't recommend it enough. The people are incredibly kind and can speak English much better than many people here. The architecture is incredible and shows so much of the city's history. There's so much to see in terms of art, music and film and German food and drink is absolutely amazing. Even with this as my sixth trip I could go back now and not repeat any experiences I've already had as there is so much to this incredible city.

This is some strudel from one of the most amazing cafes in Berlin. It's called 'Cafe Einstein' and although is a little expensive has an amazing interior and feels like a Bavarian palace.

This was a little Russian bar/cafe in Prenzlauer Berg that served amazing food. It was run by just one woman who was serving behind the bar and also cooking the food. She couldn't speak any English and just a little Russian which fortunately my mother speaks. We didn't quite know what we ordered but it was delicious.

To finish; some audio. This is a recording on a U2 U-Bahn train to Alexanderplatz. Make sure you use headphones.

Time off

Over the past couple of months I've actually had some time off work for the first time in a couple of years. As some might have spotted I got married in August and so my wife and I travelled to Greece for two weeks. Although this blog is mostly about work or at least sound/film related topics I do want to share a couple of photos as it was of course the best day of my life, and Kefalonia, our honeymoon destination, is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

As for work it seems I can never really talk about anything, but since getting back from the honeymoon I've been working on a very exciting project that is still in the very early stages and sadly might not turn into anything, but if it does, would be a new and exciting avenue of work for me. Changes are definitely on their way and the new showreel I've been promising is very close as is a whole website redesign.

Finally here is a Spotify playlist of some music that I've been listening to. Since the wedding I've bought a huge amount of records as I had to limit my spending so that the wedding could go ahead! Listen to it HERE on Spotify. It's as follows:

The (British) Summertime

It's been a busy time since my last post and this is mostly because all of my time has been spent preparing for my wedding which is next Saturday. Because I know I won't be posting on here for a few weeks at least because of the wedding and then the honeymoon, I thought I would share a few things with everyone.

Animals

This is a bit of a silly thing to post up but this week I have had a lot of dealings with cats. I do like cats.

This cat was wandering the streets of West Didsbury and really liked Danielle.

This cat was in Didsbury Village and apparently was homeless. I bought it some delicious Aldi cat food.

 

This was sent to me by my friend Joseph Chesshye. He loves cats.

Enough cats for now.

Music

Here is some music for the British Summertime. Listen on Spotify HERE.

Bjork

She's back and with an amazing new song, video for said song, and remixes. Very annoyingly I wasn't able to see her when she played in Manchester and I've still never seen her. I hope she plays again soon when I'm not poor.

This video is from her performing in Cambridge in 1998 and this version of Joga is just absolutely amazing.

Work

And now to my work. I've had a few jobs since the last post and will put stuff up as soon as possible. Also, there could be some very exciting work coming my way soon and as ever will let you know more when I'm allowed to say something!

Wedding

As mentioned at the top of this post I am getting married a week today. I can't wait. See you all again when I'm a husband!