Heart n Soul
A few years ago I had the great privilege of going up Kilimanjaro with a group of ‘disabled’ climbers, who thoroughly kicked my arse in the mountain climbing department. So it wasn’t a complete surprise that at Heart n Soul’s Squidz Club at the Albany in Deptford, I had a wonderful lesson in how to party.
From the minute you go into the venue (past terribly polite, yet reassuringly large door staff) it’s obvious that Heart n Soul have created something different. In some ways, it was like an aftershow party for a film premiere – separate zones to chill out, play video games, dance, listen to live music, have a beer and some food – and in the most important way it was utterly different. Everyone there was actually having fun. Any notion you might have had about patronising ‘entertainment’ being put on for people with learning disabilities is quickly blown away as you realise that at every level in the organisation, it’s the people with the disabilities who are leading the whole event. They’re DJ-ing, VJ-ing, compering, rocking out with the band, doing interviews, stewarding, and generally doing all the other things teenagers and adults do on a Friday night. And bloody good luck to them.
I monopolised Mark Williams MBE, the Artistic Director, for far too much of the evening, but then, he’s a wily devil – funny, challenging, inspired and with a highly developed sense of mischief. Which might explain why we ended up dressed as a Giesha Girl (me) and some form of Tudor nobleman (him) to have our picture taken (one of the many brilliant things to do at on the upper floor). Heart n Soul have been running for 25 years now, and if you can watch the videos on their website and feel nothing, I’ll eat my hat, your hat, and any other hats you care to find.
I could rant on all day about the incredibly influential work they do, and the 50 clubs around the country that have sprung up in response to their ground breaking work, but you should find out for yourself. The most powerful thing I took away from the evening was something I’ve seen in my own family. I’ve got a wonderful nephew, Jamie, who has Down’s Syndrome, and while obviously there are things he can’t do that the rest of the family can, there are also things that only he can do. Amongst other things, he can connect with people, who are maybe sometimes a little closed in, in a way that transforms everyone in the room. Multiply that by the hundreds of disarmingly warm, expressive and funny people I met last night and it’s a truly powerful experience.
I’m going to see if I can help Heart n Soul in whatever way I can. If I can twist a few corporate arms to get them some money and support, then so much the better. But if you want to get involved, don’t do it because you feel sorry for them. If you go along you’ll see that celebrating the gifts and talents of people with disabilities is transformative for everyone. Particularly uptight, middle-class, stressed-out people who’ve forgotten how to have fun.
And it’s cheaper than therapy!
Interview with Matt Robertson
Matt Robertson is a producer / composer / orchestrator / programmer living in the UK. Having studied Music and Sound Recording at the University of Surrey, graduating with a First Class degree in 2000, he started a music production company with Neil McLellan (producer of the Prodigy). This was merged into The Lodge production facility based in New York in 2004.
He now works with leading film composers including David Arnold (Quantum of Solace), Andrew Lockington (City of Ember), Alex Heffes (State of Play), and most recently has orchestrated for Marius de Vries on the hit movie Kick Ass.
Arranging for live shows, he’s worked on the brass arrangements for Bjork’s 18-month Volta world tour, string arrangements for Bat for Lashes, and orchestral charts for Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour with Rosie Danvers.
He’s currently working with Marius de Vries on a film project to be released in 2011.
Interview with Rael Jones
Rael Jones is a composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. In addition to collaborating with Michael Price on several feature films he has worked on State of Play, Quantum of Solace and has also appeared on BBC1′s Junior Apprentice, as a composer working with one of the finalists. Continue Reading →
Getting an Education
There are lots of people who are very happy to take your time and money for training in the music industry. These range from serious universities and colleges to one man band trainers working out of bedroom studios. I think it’s a positive sign of the enormous amount of interest in creating music, but has also created a market which is ripe for exploitation. And that exploitation does exist.
Maurice Murphy RIP
I don’t think there’s a more thrilling sound in the world than the first explosive chords of Star Wars, with Maurice Murphy’s incredibly bright, open, generous trumpet soaring over the top of the LSO strings. The original recording was unbelievably Maurice’s first day on full contract with the LSO, and, for me, redefined the sound of brass playing in films. And it’s still amazing listening to it now.
The First Men in the Moon
It was a pleasure to work on this show. Damon Thomas is a smart and funny director, and even though there was only budget for a sample-based score, the charm and good humour of the writing and performances seem to suit a slightly more home-made approach. Continue Reading →
David Arnold’s Concert for Care
The concert David Arnold put together at the Albert Hall last night was a glorious celebration of film music and the people who make it. Particular highlights for me were Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood and Dario Marianelli’s music from Atonement, both of which were moving and sophisticated. Hearing which scores worked in the concert hall setting, and which orchestrations brought the room to life, was pretty enlightening, and John Powell’s How to Train Your Dragon at the end of the first half really exploded, as did David’s own Independence Day. Loud is good! Continue Reading →
spotting
So – you’ve had the call, contractual pleasantries have begun, there’s maybe even been a meet and greet and lots of talk about wonderful possibilities, and how much everyone loves each other’s work, and then you have to actually face up to the task in hand.
The spotting meeting is the time when the composer, director, editor, various assistants and other interested bodies will sit down and go through the film for the first time cue by cue. Some people video these sessions, or record them as audio, which is maybe a good idea, although I’ve never done it. At least you can refer back to them in case of the inevitable confusion later down the line. I mostly prefer the scribble and hope approach, although with able assistance this has evolved into ‘someone scribble, someone type, then compare the results afterwards and puzzle at why they’re completely Continue Reading →
video games
Have had a couple of close encounters with the world of video game sound and music this week. First up was a super interesting talk by Paul Weir at AMPS. He took us through some of the systems that they use to control all the aspects of sound in games; foley, backgrounds, sound design, dialog etc and had some really interesting thoughts on generative music in games. Continue Reading →
end titles
There are lots of possibilities for the End Titles roller or sequence. The fashion for inappropriate songs crashing in as soon as the film’s finished, or sometimes before, is still with us occasionally. The rest of the roller would then either be filled with other songs with little attachment to the film or a montage of score cues cut together by the music editor. Some of these are better than others. Continue Reading →