Bangers & Gàsh_

firstly – just to clarify (seeing as many many people have been misled by the name) – it’s a web series; about a delusional chef (Jason Gàsh. that’s “gahhhsh” not gash) who opens a roadside cafe (a.k.a. a hatch in his caravan) attempting to run it as a high class establishment. his sous-chef is an aspiring grime MC with similar delusions of grandeur. there’s an awkward, unresolved love triangle and a visiting lorry spotter  – retired, aspergic (in this case – obliviously over enthusiastic) and American.

ok, so anyway it’s basically where i’ve been hiding all November –

a friend, Adam Mondon, came up with the original idea in October and since then a small team of us have spent countless hours locked in small rooms – script-writing, auditioning, rehearsing, scouring eBay for cheap caravans and stalking potential lay-bys on google maps.

In fact the pilot episode has just been released so rather than word it all up i’ll just embed it here.. see you in 10

a big part of the last month was spent working out what to do for theme music for the show.. i contemplated composing something classical sounding and interspersing it with some grimier undertones, dub beats etc but in the end though that might have been a bit obvious .. i decided to go for something a bit more subtle, something more closely related to Jason’s delusional and pretentious character. namely: a pseudo-operatic Italian 3 part vocal harmony that would sound fairly aristocratic/pretentious until closer inspection revealed the true and ridiculous nature of it’s lyrics ;]

         dal freddo di un frigo si trova formaggio trascurato 

         [in the cold of a fridge lies neglected cheese]

         e dal bordo della strada la salsiccia urla di aiuto!

         [..and by the side of the street the sausage cries for help]

         ma chi li aiutera? ma chi li aiutera? 

         [but who will help them? but who will help them?]

 

         salvatore di cucine, redentore di ristoranti

         [saviour of kitchens, redeemer of restaurants]

         protettore delle uve, eroe archetipico 

         [protector of grapes, archetypal hero]

         l’uomo chiamato Gàsh, l’uomo chiamato Gàsh

         [the man named Gàsh, the man named Gàsh]

 

I was also responsible for recording the sound on set + designing the website, menu (a haute cuisine take on stereotypical roadside food)  and poster (featuring by a beautiful illustration by Karla Alcázar)

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TWNS

an exciting new band- TWNS (collaboration between members of Hello Mexico + Kyte) – are using some of my photography for their artwork.. love this track and can’t wait to hear more x

x

Dungeness + Sam Brookes_

took a road trip down to Dungeness in Kent with Sam Brookes back in August to get a photo for his new album, here’s some stuff i shot there:

bye x

Köln_

went to Germany in late September to check out Photokina 2012.. Whilst staying in Cologne i met up with a new friend who let me into an old church (St Michael- Brüsseler Platz) to play a grand piano he’d hired for some festivals he was organising; It was a massive honour, and probably the highlight of my visit, to play in the same venue as Hauschka, Nils Frahm and many other greats of the post/contemporary classical scene –

just before we left i played two improvised tracks and recorded them on my iPhone (didn’t think to take my mic on holiday. idiot.) I named the tracks after two people i met that week, a homage to two stories i was given the privilege of having the briefest of cameos in_

[ the EP is available for free download here ] 

Für Dietmar – 
Dietmar is a full time social worker who somehow finds time to put on some fantastic shows and musical experiences for the people of his city. It was inspiring to meet someone so deeply involved with music,  purely for their love of it.

Für Laura – 
Laura is a 6 year old girl who stays with her dad on alternate weeks; she runs around, occasionally dropping the tennis ball she bounces around her father’s apartment.

[ the EP is available for free download here ] 

Wooden Arms_

two of my photos have been used by Wooden Arms for some new EPs of theirs. which is nice. their music is also very nice. have a listen_

Sigur Rós – Varðeldur

 

submitting this to Sigur Ros’ Valtari film competition, if you like what you see please support my entry

one day the skies over Norwich went crazy and produced the greatest amount of rain i’ve ever seen, effectively trapping me indoors . so, i decided to film the rain from inside looking out .. the overall mood of ‘Varðeldur’ seems (to me) to suggest vulnerability yet comfort / security and i guess that’s what made me want to work with it..

The footage was taken over the course of an afternoon using an iPhone4s with a variety of lenses and homemade filters.

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Because The Night_

this is a poster i made for an event in London. you should go.

going blog-crazy tonight. just realised how long it’s been since i posted anything.

Such A Thing A Home_

 

this is a track (can never bring myself to use the word “composition” though that is exactly what this is) i’ve been working on for quite a while .. it’s off an album that i’ve been wanting to release for over 365 days now, i just can’t bring myself to put it up for free download. dignity means more to me than exposure; for the moment at least – it waxes and wanes. (if anyone’s curious about my stance on free downloads- ask me)

the title, “such a thing a home”, comes from something i wrote a few years ago when living in London. Coupled with the fact I’d been working on this track on and off over what i’d class as some of the most transitional and (emo alert) seemingly “home-less” moments of my life – i just thought the name worked. so these were the words, they’ve remained unseen until now. they don’t define me in the way they once did:

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When i was a boy the universe was mine to roam – everything was new; no boundaries, no phobias, 

just puddles and crayons waiting for me to splash and scribble over the person that I’d be.

 

 Someday I might meet the things in life I’ve feared the most and on that day I’ll say –

“please don’t leave. you’re all I have to make me feel alive now I’ve let everything I once loved just waste away.”

 

 or someday I might go- back to the park behind my house, and on that day I’ll sit on the bench beside the lake

and watch the birds as they land on the water, wondering why I’ve missed this for so many years.

 

 now i’m still a boy- but I don’t want the universe. A little box would do if i could live in it with you-

just listening to the world pass by our window wondering how we could call such a thing a home.. such a thing a “home”…

___

[so i finally got round to recording this on video the other day at a friend’s house.. this was the first time i’d sat at a piano since my last EP “together” was recorded back in April (an occasion on which i had also not played the piano for over 3 months.. worrying trend emerging) . If you think you can hear some muffled swearing at the start of the video that’s because you can – i was getting increasingly annoyed at not being able to remember my own music and subsequently messing up every take. apart from this one]

Sam Brookes – Glasshouse

i recently did the artwork (photography / typography) for Sam Brookes’ single – Glasshouse.. currently available as an exclusive free download via Helium records’ site, it’s a stunning track .. go get it. now :]

Sam Brookes / South Bank _

back in April I headed down to London’s south bank with the incredibly talented songwriter Sam Brookes to shoot some pictures for his new album, here are my 2 favourites + a performance of his i was at sometime last year: