THE JUMPER WINS BEST FILM AT FILM DEVOUR

2011 was nicely concluded by this piece of good news for filmmaker George Purves and the amazing cast and crew of this short film we made earlier in the year. I then used the holiday period to move house and studio and to take a well-deserved break in Cornwall and Devon. 

MUSIC CONSULTANCY BBC ONE SHOW

Monday 30th January 2012's BBC One Show featured a special entitled The Maths of Music produced in Bristol, which I was delighted to do some music theory consulting for. The special ends with a four-chord sequence that a whole host of pop songs are based on. If you're musically inclined, it's I-V-VI-IV. Now go and write another With or Without You, it's easy! 

FESTIVAL ROUND-UP

A few of the films I scored last year are now being shown around the country. The Jumper and Bulb have been shown at Cineme in Bristol a few times now. End of January also saw the first night of Let's Keep it Short, organised by Tom Geoffrey, in London, where films by Rob Savage, Will McGregor and also The Jumper were shown. Rob Savage's Polaroid, which I scored, originally made for the Smoke and Mirrors 48 h competition, is now nominated for best film at Watersprite film festival.

NEW 16MM FILM UNDERWAY

I'm proud to be now working on George Purves' new 16mm short film The Fruits of Labour. We've developed three musical themes that fit with elements of the film's narrative and I'm about a third into the scoring at the time of writing. Expect lots of piano and guitar - I'm glad I can put my lovely Gretsch semi-acoustic to good use! - as well as some vocals.

FUELDIVA & PRODUCTION MUSIC 

I'm also back at work producing Fueldiva's 6-track EP. Fueldiva are a Berlin-London-Edinburgh based three-piece that combine gameboy sounds, Cello and The Fall-style performance poetry in one very exciting mix. Their live gigs are fantastic and we're trying to capture that spirit in the production.

In between all of this, I'm developing 4/5 tracks for a production music library I work with - always a good exercise in composing in different styles!

STYLE DEVELOPMENT / NEW COLLABORATION

Since the new year, I've also started a new musical collaboration with Kano Inoue, a great saxophonist and singer from Japan who plays in Bristol/Tokyo-based singer/songwriter Rachael Dadd's band. The collaboration is the start of an exploration of new musical possibilities for me and a very personal project. I've always liked the sound of sax and it's a pleasure to be able to write for someone so talented and uncomplicated as Kano. I look forward to being able to present the results soon!