End of 2016 Roundup

I’m back! Though in truth I’ve never really been away. It’s just that proceedings have been disorderly over the past few months because I’ve had limited access to the internet (until now, hooray!) and that’s mostly due to the process of moving house – an arduous affair that had me in limbo far longer than I expected. So here’s a quick round up of everything that’s happened since my last post and what will be happening before the end of the year.

The Little Mermaid

I was thrilled to once again work with The Liverpool Players this year as they put together a storytelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale for Being Human 2016 – the UK national festival of the humanities – with performer and writer Madelaine Smart. Rather than following the Disney route of ‘love conquers all’, Madelaine and producer Sarah Peverley stuck closer to the Dane’s original story, with the little mermaid (named Auria in this telling) failing to win the heart of the prince she saves from the shipwreck, instead being given a second chance at adventure by transforming into a luminous and ethereal spirit due to her selflessness. The performance includes some audience interaction with props to compliment Madelaine’s expressive style and was debuted at the Being Human Launch at Senate House in London on 17th November, with the main performances taking place at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool the following Saturday. We’re all really happy with how it went and feedback was very positive – so much so that we’ll be performing it again at the British Academy Literature Week in May next year!

With the primary audience being younger children, it was my aim to compliment Madelaine’s storytelling with music and sound effects that would enchant and immerse, using key motifs to indicate sections for the mermaids, exploration and the prince. The music is written for wind orchestra and of course there’s lots of nods to the watery setting throughout. A full audio recording of Madelaine’s retelling along with the music will be released before the end of the year. Thanks once again due to the wonderful Sarah Peverley who got me involved.

Glossom

In July of this year, my band released our 3rd EP ‘Verbatim‘, which was recorded live at Elevator Studios in Liverpool. The response has been great and we’ve been gigging it around Liverpool since it came out, but our big goal was to perform the release in its entirety in London. Thanks to the Mutual House team and their event ‘Tantrums’, we were able to fulfil that goal on the 12th November at Brixton East alongside Joanne and Electric Jalaba. We had a great time, seeing faces new and familiar (many of our friends from university have returned to London after their studies) and even my parents made the trip from the south coast to see us. That’s us done for the year, but 2017 will definitely bring new music and new gigs so keep an ear out for that. In the meantime, check out the videos for ‘Verbatim’ below.

What next?

As previously mentioned, the music and audio version of The Little Mermaid will be out soon. I’m in the process of setting up my new studio space so once that’s done it’s full steam ahead to get the recording and editing done. I’ve also been tinkering with some compositions for fun during this limbo period which I would like to compile into something for release sometime this month, time permitting. There are some projects on the horizon for early-mid 2017 which I can’t say much more about at this time, but suffice to say that with my living situation now organised I don’t plan to be leaving the blog or this website quite so static for so long any more.