After a few weeks in NYC, visiting friends and family and having some meetings, I’m back in Bristol and continuing to compose for the Middle Kingdom Ride, which has been changed from being two 1-hour episodes to six half an hour episodes. It’s looking great!
In the last week of the BBC project which has been a helluva ride. Lots of tight deadlines but in the end we pulled through and it’s almost there… and looking/sounding fantastic! I’m back in cahoots with good ol’ Kyle Murdoch from NHNZ (Natural History New Zealand) for a six part series entitled Middle Kingdom Ride which follows two Canadian brothers as they journey round the vastness of China, exploring the myriad of ethnicities and cultures encapsulated within. A really interesting show!
Have just had a meeting with Sally Cryer at the BBC N.H.U. and I’m going to start working on a 2 hour documentary produced by BBC Earth for BBC America. Can’t wait to get started on it, the footage looks amazing!!
Following a meeting at Universal Headquarters in Fulham with some lovely people I’ve started working on some music for their extensive music library.
I’ve started working on a project for NHNZ’s China office with a good old mate, Kyle Murdoch. We’re just getting together a programme specifically for Discovery Asia about the Chinese Space program which is pretty interesting. Lotsof bleeps, swooshes and analog arpeggios..awesome!
Yes that’s right.. an agent… who would have thunk it?! I’ve known Lisa for a good 5 years now and she’s as lovely as they come, and a dedicated proponent of music. Lisa worked at the BBC in their publishing arm for years, after having worked in the record industry. She’s also quite a skilled musician herself (though she probably wouldn’t want me to let you know that). I look forward to many a fruitful project with her. In the meanwhile, I’m still working on more submissions and have also started several music projects over here in Paris.. one is a sortof ‘new hip-hop’ type project, one is more in the vein of just having a good time and doing some gigs (with drums, bass, programmed beats/synths/bleeps and female singer) and the other one is in the vein of position normal or ween, not taking things tooooo seriously. Will post some up in the music section once they’re getting somewhere. I also went back to Bristol to do some work with my main band, 2nd World War. Things are hotting up with this project, keep your ears pealed.
Pearl River was great to work on, it has high energy, pace, and a fascinating storyline about the world’s first ever sustainable building (see more on the Architecture firm SOM’s website). I finished the project in mid June and started exploring other avenues. One of these has been working on some tracks to submit to an up and coming Channel 4 library album. Channel 4 is the only UK terrestrial broadcaster I’ve not worked for, so I jumped at the opportunity to pitch for this. I’m still awaiting the results but will let you know in due course. I had a track accepted for a KPM album (KPM is one of the worlds largest library music companies). I’m currently working on more tracks for them, and more submissions for the Channel 4 project. Woop!
A bit of blurb from the brief : the Pearl River Tower, now being built in Guangzhou City, is one of the first of a new generation of buildings that has the goal of “net zero” energy consumption. It’s called high performance architecture. High performance is the new buzz word in architecture, and the Pearl River Tower will be the first high performance super tall building on the planet. As architect Gordon Gill describes it “This is a new type of design process which combines the art of architecture with the science of performance”. Says Adrian Smith “The shape is directly related to the form. It looks that way because it performs that way.” I’m very excited to be working on this project, and to be collaborating with a new director, Jayashree Panjabi!
I’ve started work on a show for NHNZ called Secrets of the Lost Pyramids which will be aired on National Geographic. Really happy to be working with the folks from NHNZ again, they’re professional, quick, stick to schedules and even pay on time!
On top of that they all seem like real good eggs, especially the directors I’ve worked with, Steven Talley and Kyle Murdoch. Their tech staff are awesome too, and really on the ball. Shouts go out to Brad Phipps, Angel McNamara, and the hilarious Wayne Poll, as well as Suzanne Lloyd, the lady who keeps it all together. I’m also submitting some material to Channel 4’s new library CD that they’re producing in conjunction with KPM. I’ve heard from the BQ camp that the King Tut stuff I was working on last year which was meant to be aired on Discovery in Autumn ’09 isn’t going to be aired until the scientists involved publish their results.. Hope that’s soon, it’s a great show. Take care all!
There is a light snow falling outside my window as I write this.. outside my window here, in my new home.. Paris!
I’ve still got my recording studio running in Bristol but have set up a mini studio here as I wanted to come back to Paris and start a few new projects up. There is so much inspiration in this city it’s unbelievable. As my best mate Debs puts it “It’s like double doses of electricity coursing through your veins… it’s wild and on fire…” and I completely agree with her. Putting work aside for a month and a half but will be back on the wagon late Jan. time. Easy now!
