The Ducks - A play at Edinburgh Festival

Today i begin writing the music for a new show called the Ducks due to be performed at the Pleasence theatre in Edinburgh from the 3rd of August. . As UK youth unemployment reaches the million mark, The Ducks presents a darkly comic look at the potential consequences of leaving two jobless young men alone to their own devices. Plagued by miscommunication and fuelled by loss, loneliness and beer, the evolving power struggle threatens to unravel their fragile connection with horrific consequences. A fast paced, one act, dark comedy set in Northern England. From rising young writer Michael McLean (Royal Court, Paines Plough, Liverpool Everyman). Brand new theatre company Human Hand combine forces with SEArED, co-producers of last year’s sell-out hit ‘Pedestrian’ (***** Whatsonstage, **** Scotsman, **** Time Out, **** Three Weeks, **** Fest).

Scenes Of An Adult Nature

There are answers we all want to know to questions that many of us may never ask our partners. Darwin Shaw and Samantha Whitakers film explores what unfaithfulness is in a relationship. The story follows a married couple who must re-examine what they believe to be unfaithful as they discover that each have different ideas about fantasy and love . 

I completed an original guitar score for this film. Working closely with the director Darwin i composed a section in the middle of about 6 minuets in length where there is nearly no dialogue at all!

This film will be on the festival circuit over the next year. I’ll keep you posted with dates and soundbites.

Experiments - The Epiphany - Prepared Piano 2

This is a second experiment of Prepared Piano and Techno studies.  ”The Epiphany” is a work in progress that uses dance music structure with contemporary and traditional piano. This and my previous piece “Above the clouds” are sketches for part of a larger ensemble including a string quartet and electronic beats. Theese audio files are examples of draft acoustic piano versions.

 

The Epiphany by Escape Unknown

Experiments - Techno for Prepared piano and piano

John Cage was the first pioneer of the Prepared Piano. It an ordinary piano with it’s timbre altered by objects placed on it’s strings to dampen it’s sound. 

Inspired by Steve Riech, Simian Mobile disco, Chilly Gonzales and John Cage i decided to embark upon composing an experimental duet for both prepared piano and piano. As Chilly Gonzales had done with his remix of the Boyz Noize “Waves”, my ideas was to use the piano to play techno harmonies and the prepared piano as a kind of toned percussion instrument.   

Above The Clouds - Duet for Piano and Prepared Piano by Escape Unknown

Eigan Harp

This beautiful and alien looking device is a new instrument called the Eigan harp. Unlike every other electronic instrument in the universe, this one looks sexy. It’s got the brains too, it’s the worlds most expressive electronic instrument!! I’ve been loaned one to learn so i’m on studio lockdown writing a few songs. If they’re  good - i’ll post up here for you to see. 

Check the website. www.eiganlabs.com

“Getaway Driver” - Aruba Red

I produced and composed this one for one of Aruba Red’s 2010 music projects. She has toured internationally with this track and others we have created. She is currently embarking on a new tour with Maverick Sabre and Miss Dynamite. 

Short Film - The destruction of Milton Court

Where : Barbican Cinema one. Part of the Le Corbusier season.

Company : Barbican Cinema

About : Milton Court on the eastern edge of the Barbican Estate, was demolished to enable the creation of new facilities for the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 

The dismantling of the disused fire station was recorded with a static camera providing a visual symphony of the destruction, as a new city tower rises in the background. 

I edited a film and composed a new piece of music made only from construction site sounds. 

Don Juan In Soho

Christian Burgess  director

Agnes Treplin  designer

Nick Peel  lighting designer

Theatre: Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Moliére’s farcical, tragic, anarchic 17th-century original is relocated to modern day Soho…
There are 1700 versions of Don Juan (only a few less than his reputed number of conquests). Patrick Marber has created a radical version for the 21st century that is “savagely funny, disturbingly dark and disgracefully sexy.” Daily Telegraph

Play.Orchestra - London Philarmonia Sound installation

Location: Royal Festival Hall
Company:  London Philharmonia Orchestra

About music :This installation was to take place on the Riverside Terrace which was not very busy, though a lot of people would pass by. Some people were using the seating in the area to take breaks. We needed to make it a destination point, for all audiences.

The Philharmonia initially thought of having their website on the hoardings for people to take part in the sound exchange. We thought it was all a bit too abstract for people to come by and want to ‘exchange sounds’ through a website interface on a hoarding. So we thought through what a sound exchange meant to begin with: it was about taking part in the Orchestra, learning about the sounds and sending your own for a composition to take place. We noticed on the website there was a page of the orchestra scheme with all the instruments laid out in their particular spot and the sound they each make. So there, we decided to recreate the orchestra scheme on a stage with only seats. Each seat was labeled with its instrument. When people would sit, they would activate the sound of the instrument. All together, they would hear an entire piece, either classical or specially commissioned pieces. Once comfortably sitting and engaged, people could further take part in the orchestra by sending their own sounds via their mobile phones. My composition was made with all the sounds received and took place on the PLAY.orchestra installation in the last two weeks of its showing.

It turned out to be a huge success that the Royal Festival Hall directors could witness from their office windows not very far away. The PLay orchestra garnered quite a lot of demand for it from around the world. 

Press: “A tour of musical traditions and places” … (The Times)

Another press article. 

Thanks Philharmonia. I can’t wait to work with you again!