Sunday, 12 October 2014
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Friday, 3 January 2014
The Community Ballads
The Community Ballads have been whirring away for a few months now, with myself and filmmaker Connor Hawkins eager to produce both a radio documentary and short film about the bustling countryside communities, craft ales of Hooky Brewery, and the pubs of north Oxfordshire.
I was personally drawn to a radio ballad I had been introduced to at the Charles Parker Day at Salford University. It so happened that another radio feature of mine was commended on that day and narrowly missed out on the prize! It was inspiring to hear how Smooth Operations produced these programmes by modernising the techniques used by Charles Parker and Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger to fuse folk music with interesting speech. I wanted a go, so Connor and I both had very clear influences that would inform our productions.
It was also the summer, so it seemed every week there was a village festival or a gig in a local pub. It proved quite a cunning documentary idea because as I trawled through the gig listings at local pubs, it became evident that to truly soak up the community, we'd have to go along ourselves!
The good did come with the bad - some of the events such as Bodfest and the Conie's Beer Festival were glorious sunshine, others (such as Bloxfest) poured it down with torrential summer rain, causing some soggy songsheets at the end of the performance for Frances...
Despite the miserable British weather, the spirit of these events was awesome. Community groups and punters flocked together to put music, food, stalls and bring the village together. It was said by Chris Leslie of Fairport Convention that village days are not new, they go back hundreds of years, but now-a-days it seems like we need more of an excuse to put them on...say for example the Queen's Jubilee. The great thing about these events is that it is communities genuinly saying "let's have a party!", and you don't have to look far to find a pre-fixed village name shoehorned in front of the word 'fest'.
Bloxfest, Bodfest, the Adderbury Day Of Dance... the events came thick and fast and I began to storyboard how we could tie everything together.
We then hopped about Roger's Hooky dray. This is the horse-drawn dray that carts barrels of Hooky beer to nearby pubs - our short trip took us down to the Pear Tree Inn at the foot of Brewery Lane, where the Brewery workers used to go at lunchtime for a recharge. Roger told us about the heritage of the brewery and how he keeps the horses. The landlords joked with us that even in this day and age - you've got beer deliveries coming in on horse-drawn cart is if it were 1900, then you see him ticking off a computer-printed order!
The experience of recording with masters of their crafts was awesome - at times we were creeping up the steepest of staircases straining to capture the best content we could, the next moment you've got Roger pilfering a 12-crate of Hooky Gold from the Visitor's store to fuel the jaunt down to the pub!
It was at Fairport that we spoke with a few of Fairport Convention themselves - Chris Leslie who is local to the area, and we organised to speak with bassist Dave Pegg a few weeks later. The messy art of voxpopping is often considered a hard task - trying to get punters to stop and talk - but at Fairport it's the easiest thing known to man. It is dubbed the 'Friendliest Festival In The World', and for good reason. I don't think anybody declined to have a chat with me about why Cropredy is so wonderful. The overarching response was that it brings the whole village together - the pubs act as satellites to the main stage, and the community groups welcome with open arms the revellers to their breakfasts and stalls. It's a good time in the countryside back-end of nowhere.
It struck us that the hub for music and social life in a vilage community is the pub. It's the heart of everything - everyone at Fairport told us about it, and every village day we visited revolved around the pub. The characters we met in the various locals were fabulous, and it became clear that we needed to take a look at what happens in a village where there is no pub... Visiting Morton Pinkney brought back teenage memories of razzing a motorbike around remote, nearby fields: the stern old lady that came out of her house, not to repremand us for the noise of our 50cc hairdryers, but instead reccomending a good place for riding.
By the time we'd finished in Moreton, we'd pretty much got everything we needed. Just the songs left.
I sent him three 10 minute clips, focussed around the local pub, the countryside village, and the brewery. What came back were three demos, which even in their unpolished form, hit the nail square on the head.
We soon took to the studio of Njinxky - Pepe Cartwright - who is pictured earlier in the post with Frances Mitson. Tight for time in the run-up to the broadcast on 107.6 Banbury Sound, we spent a few hours on a countryside Sunday morning laying down these three songs.
Slotted in, they completed the programme.
I was absolutely delighted with the finished doc. It's the result of months of hard work, that coincided unhelpfully with final year Uni projects and an ever-increasing workload at Key103. Regardless, we pressed on and after I sit here with three very precious bounced WAV files after some satisfying hours tinkering in ProTools on trains and the seat I'm sat in now: infront of my girlfriend's garden table which has been left in our lounge after use as a prop in her TV show.
Have a look at some of the photos from the months of production - it's been rewarding and extremely fun...
And the accompanying short film is entitled Know The Field - you can have a preview of what's to come below...
Getting Started...
In its infancy, the doc was set to be purely about Hook Norton Brewery, and took inspiration from filmmakers like Danny Cooke. The tone was going to be very celebratory and convey an appreciation for craft and hard-work.I was personally drawn to a radio ballad I had been introduced to at the Charles Parker Day at Salford University. It so happened that another radio feature of mine was commended on that day and narrowly missed out on the prize! It was inspiring to hear how Smooth Operations produced these programmes by modernising the techniques used by Charles Parker and Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger to fuse folk music with interesting speech. I wanted a go, so Connor and I both had very clear influences that would inform our productions.
Getting down to business...
The really exciting thing was that we had no boundaries. We had copious contacts from basing the production in our home county of Oxfordshire, and we had interest from the local radio station 107.6 Banbury Sound. Our first port of call was to meet with Hook Norton Brewery and get ourselves on the same page.It was also the summer, so it seemed every week there was a village festival or a gig in a local pub. It proved quite a cunning documentary idea because as I trawled through the gig listings at local pubs, it became evident that to truly soak up the community, we'd have to go along ourselves!
The good did come with the bad - some of the events such as Bodfest and the Conie's Beer Festival were glorious sunshine, others (such as Bloxfest) poured it down with torrential summer rain, causing some soggy songsheets at the end of the performance for Frances...
Despite the miserable British weather, the spirit of these events was awesome. Community groups and punters flocked together to put music, food, stalls and bring the village together. It was said by Chris Leslie of Fairport Convention that village days are not new, they go back hundreds of years, but now-a-days it seems like we need more of an excuse to put them on...say for example the Queen's Jubilee. The great thing about these events is that it is communities genuinly saying "let's have a party!", and you don't have to look far to find a pre-fixed village name shoehorned in front of the word 'fest'.
Bloxfest, Bodfest, the Adderbury Day Of Dance... the events came thick and fast and I began to storyboard how we could tie everything together.
Hook Norton
Our visits to Hooky's Victorian tower brewery were exciting and the footage and recordings sit proudly on our clogged-up hard-drives. I'd organised for us to spend the morning with Head Brewer (and 5th generation of the founder) James Clarke, to record the brewing process, sit down and talk candidly in the Visitors Centre and mull over the family business, and indeed the craft of brewing. From there we spent time with Martin Beck in his workshop, where he restores and repairs the tower brewery using the same materials as were originally used by the Victorians. All his repairwork is bespoke to the original building, so to observe his handiwork was fascinating.We then hopped about Roger's Hooky dray. This is the horse-drawn dray that carts barrels of Hooky beer to nearby pubs - our short trip took us down to the Pear Tree Inn at the foot of Brewery Lane, where the Brewery workers used to go at lunchtime for a recharge. Roger told us about the heritage of the brewery and how he keeps the horses. The landlords joked with us that even in this day and age - you've got beer deliveries coming in on horse-drawn cart is if it were 1900, then you see him ticking off a computer-printed order!
The experience of recording with masters of their crafts was awesome - at times we were creeping up the steepest of staircases straining to capture the best content we could, the next moment you've got Roger pilfering a 12-crate of Hooky Gold from the Visitor's store to fuel the jaunt down to the pub!
Fairport's Cropredy Convention
We had Fairport in the diary (no different to any other year...) because it is the most remarkable story of a sleepy, canalside village that completely transforms to welcome 20,000 music fans for a long weekend. It turns in to tent-city, the pubs spring in to life with fringe festival, and the zest and character of the village makes the whole event not just a folk-rock festival in a field but a whole community celebration.It was at Fairport that we spoke with a few of Fairport Convention themselves - Chris Leslie who is local to the area, and we organised to speak with bassist Dave Pegg a few weeks later. The messy art of voxpopping is often considered a hard task - trying to get punters to stop and talk - but at Fairport it's the easiest thing known to man. It is dubbed the 'Friendliest Festival In The World', and for good reason. I don't think anybody declined to have a chat with me about why Cropredy is so wonderful. The overarching response was that it brings the whole village together - the pubs act as satellites to the main stage, and the community groups welcome with open arms the revellers to their breakfasts and stalls. It's a good time in the countryside back-end of nowhere.
The Pub
After darting about to our fair share of north Oxfordshires village festivals and casting a celebratory light on Hook Norton Brewery with our early-morning visit to where it all happens, it left the pubs to explore. Not that we needed too much of a push to do that.It struck us that the hub for music and social life in a vilage community is the pub. It's the heart of everything - everyone at Fairport told us about it, and every village day we visited revolved around the pub. The characters we met in the various locals were fabulous, and it became clear that we needed to take a look at what happens in a village where there is no pub... Visiting Morton Pinkney brought back teenage memories of razzing a motorbike around remote, nearby fields: the stern old lady that came out of her house, not to repremand us for the noise of our 50cc hairdryers, but instead reccomending a good place for riding.
By the time we'd finished in Moreton, we'd pretty much got everything we needed. Just the songs left.
The Ballads
This part of the programme was the linchpin for me. It's in the title! The Community Ballads. I had set out to make a programme that took heed of Charles Parkers' technique to fuse music with speech to tell the story. I had been squirrelling away the best nuggets of audio that we'd recorded along the way, and got a local songwriter/musician on board who had agreed to turn these nuggets of inspiration in to music.I sent him three 10 minute clips, focussed around the local pub, the countryside village, and the brewery. What came back were three demos, which even in their unpolished form, hit the nail square on the head.
We soon took to the studio of Njinxky - Pepe Cartwright - who is pictured earlier in the post with Frances Mitson. Tight for time in the run-up to the broadcast on 107.6 Banbury Sound, we spent a few hours on a countryside Sunday morning laying down these three songs.
Slotted in, they completed the programme.
I was absolutely delighted with the finished doc. It's the result of months of hard work, that coincided unhelpfully with final year Uni projects and an ever-increasing workload at Key103. Regardless, we pressed on and after I sit here with three very precious bounced WAV files after some satisfying hours tinkering in ProTools on trains and the seat I'm sat in now: infront of my girlfriend's garden table which has been left in our lounge after use as a prop in her TV show.
Have a look at some of the photos from the months of production - it's been rewarding and extremely fun...
And the accompanying short film is entitled Know The Field - you can have a preview of what's to come below...
Thursday, 2 January 2014
New Demos...
The advice I have trawled through for demos in recent years is awesome. It's all noted down in my big notebook and I can only hope that it serves to help me make a bang-tidy 3 minutes of myself...
It's a hard ol' task whittling down hours and hours of material in to a couple of minutes. It's even harder than awards entries because with an entry, people set aside time to actually listen and judge it. With this battlefield people have genuinly made up their mind after a couple of seconds.
But heck, everybody's in the same boat. The audio sieve is a ruthless sifter, and fingers crossed my half-decent stuff has made it through to soundcloud. I've actually had a good time putting together some new showreels - it's been ace to look back over some really proud moments at Key103 and some fun & games on air at Wire FM, with Kish on Shock Radio and also doing the SRA Selector shows.
I've been having a right ball presenting, and a right ball producing! So I'm in no hurry to sway you either way, if you've got three minutes to spare then pick your poison, and I hope a smile gets bought to your face for whichever you choose...
It's a hard ol' task whittling down hours and hours of material in to a couple of minutes. It's even harder than awards entries because with an entry, people set aside time to actually listen and judge it. With this battlefield people have genuinly made up their mind after a couple of seconds.
But heck, everybody's in the same boat. The audio sieve is a ruthless sifter, and fingers crossed my half-decent stuff has made it through to soundcloud. I've actually had a good time putting together some new showreels - it's been ace to look back over some really proud moments at Key103 and some fun & games on air at Wire FM, with Kish on Shock Radio and also doing the SRA Selector shows.
I've been having a right ball presenting, and a right ball producing! So I'm in no hurry to sway you either way, if you've got three minutes to spare then pick your poison, and I hope a smile gets bought to your face for whichever you choose...
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Key103's Mission Christmas
Mission Christmas started back in November with the lofty target of raising £1m worth of toys for underprivilaged kids living in Greater Manchester. I had worked fleetingly this campaign in 2012 and was struck by the enormity of the whole thing. The fact that the Arco warehouse - Mission HQ - was brimmed with toys, the constant ringing of phones with listeners wanted to get involved, the many drop-off points. I think in 2012 around £850k was raised both in toys and cash donations for the cause, which was awesome.
I didn't feel my involvement in 2012 was much of note, and having stepped up my role at Key103 in 2013, I was eager to get amongst it and help make a difference.
It's always very easy to be blase about charity, what with the mass of organisations out there all doing a stirling job for the great many worldly causes, it's too easy to bury ones head in the sand. I wanted to at least try and make whoever listening to Key103 to stop and truly put themself in the shoes of somebody in the UK, in this day-and-age, NOT recieving a Christmas present. It was a heartbreaking thought on the surface of it, and when I actually delved deeper, it became apparent just how much this appeal meant. It was an education for me, too.
Over the course of the campaign I recorded a whole range of society in Greater Manchester. Asylum seekers, widows, disabled parents - you get the picture. I also spoke to some children at local primary school, who brought to life the very reason Mission Christmas exists. To hear them explain to me how Mission makes them feel - how they felt that kind donations made them think somebody cares - was the epitome of the campaign, for me.
Hearing this content come to life on-air provided quite a few proud moments, because the reaction from listeners proved the messages were hitting home. The OBs I produced from the Hamleys intu Trafford Centre and the Arco Warehouse showed just how massive the whole operation was. It was ridiculous to walk in to the toy-store of these places (well, Arco was one big toy-store), and see the outrageous volume of donations, it was genuinly awesome.
I felt very humble over Christmas, as I reflected on the work that not just myself but the whole Key103 and Cash For Kids team had put in. To raise, in the end, £1,070,611.86p worth of toys was absolutely incredible. For the 150,000 impoverished kids in Greater Manchester, Key103 made a difference to their Christmas.
I interviewed Jimmy, and after hearing his story I went back with presenter Adam Catterall and produced this film. It really was an real eye-opener.
Another film I produced as part of the campaign was totally different. I produced it as part of the show I usually work on, Key103 Hometime. OJ Borg boarded the Flight Of Dreams, which put 50 families on a plane (most of whom would be experiencing a flight for the first time), and flew them to find Santa Claus...
I didn't feel my involvement in 2012 was much of note, and having stepped up my role at Key103 in 2013, I was eager to get amongst it and help make a difference.
It's always very easy to be blase about charity, what with the mass of organisations out there all doing a stirling job for the great many worldly causes, it's too easy to bury ones head in the sand. I wanted to at least try and make whoever listening to Key103 to stop and truly put themself in the shoes of somebody in the UK, in this day-and-age, NOT recieving a Christmas present. It was a heartbreaking thought on the surface of it, and when I actually delved deeper, it became apparent just how much this appeal meant. It was an education for me, too.
Over the course of the campaign I recorded a whole range of society in Greater Manchester. Asylum seekers, widows, disabled parents - you get the picture. I also spoke to some children at local primary school, who brought to life the very reason Mission Christmas exists. To hear them explain to me how Mission makes them feel - how they felt that kind donations made them think somebody cares - was the epitome of the campaign, for me.
Hearing this content come to life on-air provided quite a few proud moments, because the reaction from listeners proved the messages were hitting home. The OBs I produced from the Hamleys intu Trafford Centre and the Arco Warehouse showed just how massive the whole operation was. It was ridiculous to walk in to the toy-store of these places (well, Arco was one big toy-store), and see the outrageous volume of donations, it was genuinly awesome.
I felt very humble over Christmas, as I reflected on the work that not just myself but the whole Key103 and Cash For Kids team had put in. To raise, in the end, £1,070,611.86p worth of toys was absolutely incredible. For the 150,000 impoverished kids in Greater Manchester, Key103 made a difference to their Christmas.
I interviewed Jimmy, and after hearing his story I went back with presenter Adam Catterall and produced this film. It really was an real eye-opener.
Another film I produced as part of the campaign was totally different. I produced it as part of the show I usually work on, Key103 Hometime. OJ Borg boarded the Flight Of Dreams, which put 50 families on a plane (most of whom would be experiencing a flight for the first time), and flew them to find Santa Claus...
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Dave Pegg
Currently sat on a train craving a brew. WHERE'S THE SERVICE TROLLEY?! On my interior I'm having a mini rage, on the outside I'm typing away furiously and listening to Gabrielle Aplin. I found out today via a lovely email from Wembley Arena that she is supporting John Mayer this weekend. It's my Dad's birthday present from me this year - a Mayer gig, which I'm sure will promise supreme guitarwork, bluesiness and country vibes. I'm excited, and so is Papa Chad.
It'll be awesome to escape this week's rigmarole and take some down time. This week seems to have been a craze pot of constant diary events, early starts, late finishes, but above all a LOT of fun.
I'm ever so content to be working all the hours under the sun, working at my goals and having a good laugh. This week I hosted the second, and certainly my favourite of the two SRA Selector shows I have done so far. 2/2 - back of the net.
With Robbie Boyd in town I was pleased to catch up with him on the phone for the show this week - his new song Under My Skin sat alongside music that's been delighting my lug holes this past week. New additions to my favourites list have got to be Wolf Alice, Lea Lea and George Ezra - who I saw a few weeks ago in Notting Hill. He's got a brooding, deep voice and delectable acoustic guitar work. Worth a listen, and his track Budapest is a free download on his website!
Today - alongside pals Connor and Jen - I was honoured to interview Dave Pegg, who is the bass player with Fairport Convention and who has played with, and booked for the Cropredy festival, outstanding musicians such as Richard Thompson, Ralph McTell, Steeleye Span and many many more. His back catalogue of CD credits is way to vast to contain to a blog post. We once bumped in to him in a foggy-headed daze at the Cropredy after-party and he amused us for a solid 45-mins with tales of touring and his life in music. To catch up with him in the humbling setting of Banbury's oldest building, Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn, was a slightly clearer-minded affair.
I stuck 5 Hooky's on the slate and sat in the pub's Globe Room, a cute room round the back of the bar lavishly decorated in rich mahogany (no leather bound books), paintings of immense landscapes, rustic oak floor and a grand fireplace. Dave and I got talking about pubs, their importance for villages and communities, how they get on board with the Cropredy festival and how crucial real ale and local music are in village life. It's for a documentary-ballad, which we're making as a 3-parter exploring Villages, Pubs, and Hook Norton Brewery as the engine room behind a huge array of cracking local pubs.
This is one of the last cogs in the machine for the documentary, most of it is now assembled with Dave's sections, some final recording in Morton Pinkney, and finally the excellent music of our local singer-songwriter Franc Sutherland who is composing original music for the programme. It's an incredibly exciting point in production, we're so close to tieing the knot after a summer of recording and editing. I'm really eager to hear the finished doc and indeed Connor's film, which follows the same subject thread. It will be set for a December broadcast.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Back again..
This blog has been dormant for a while now, dormant like a sleepy volcano. Time to turn the page and fill you in with the current fun and games...
Since my last post a few months ago, nothing's changed on the Key103 front, still loving my work there and it seems to be snowballing in the right direction!.. Indeed I've made a wee video of all the awesome stuff:
Since my last post a few months ago, nothing's changed on the Key103 front, still loving my work there and it seems to be snowballing in the right direction!.. Indeed I've made a wee video of all the awesome stuff:
Third and final year at uni is upon me - so 5Live style radio shows and documentary projects await... I'm excited to get started with next semester's final project. We have free reign over a documentary project and can spend a whole semester producing it.
I'm currently in the throes of a doc about countryside village pubs, and how the twee, one-man-and-his-dog stereotype of the countryside is far from the case in this bustling community of pubs and locals, all fuelled by family-run nearby Brewery: Hook Norton.
I'm eager to hear the original songs created especially for the doc by a musician we're working with - as soon as they're written/recorded, that doc will be on it's way to air, and I'll be turning my gaze towards the final year doc.
Presenter gigs have been the object of my strife this past summer - demo'ing left-right-centre and working on feedback to try and land a show. Well right at the end of the summer, I managed to get one, then another!
Firstly the exciting opportunity to present Saturday afternoon's on Wire FM - part of the UTV group. A good few hours of airtime each week to have a bit of banter, tell some stories and play some music. Thrilled to bits with that - I feel like an excitable terrier.
And within a few days of the news of Wire - a show I'd applied for called The SRA Selector got back in touch to tell me I'd been successful with that!
Wee bit of background - The Selector is produced for the British Council - by top London production company Folded Wing - to showcase the best British new music across the world. The show broadcasts in 39 countries globally and reaches an audience of 4 million people! I've now got a chance - along with 5 other people - to broadcast the SRA Selector on my student radio station, which is Shock Radio. A chance to chat about my favourite subject each week - new music. First show's on Wednesday. I'm excited.
I went down to a training day at Folded Wing, which was awesome: masterclasses and tutorials about the show and presenting new music radio. As if that wasn't good enough, we all went for a few beers in the evening and sampled the local ales. Managed to get a few people keen on Strava - a cycling app that maps your routes and shows how well you compared against other cyclists! And in return I have come away with an app called Untappd - a social network for beer drinkers!
The new chapter begins with lots of exciting projects on the blend, and many more to come!
I went down to a training day at Folded Wing, which was awesome: masterclasses and tutorials about the show and presenting new music radio. As if that wasn't good enough, we all went for a few beers in the evening and sampled the local ales. Managed to get a few people keen on Strava - a cycling app that maps your routes and shows how well you compared against other cyclists! And in return I have come away with an app called Untappd - a social network for beer drinkers!
The new chapter begins with lots of exciting projects on the blend, and many more to come!
Friday, 10 May 2013
Awards and London
Last week I won the award for the most raucous celebration after the announcement of the Bauer Show of the Year nominations.
Before we get to that, I'll tell you about the fun we've had leading up to it all. Alas, here we go, whilst I crunch on my Sula fruit mix. Sugar free.
I work on OJ Borg's Hometime show on Key103, last year we had a right laugh working on bits and pieces for the show. One of my favourite but cumbersome features to produce was the House of Pain, pitting local rivalries against each other in the a physical battle for bragging rights. Whilst the nation enjoyed Bake-Off, we had the Key10-Tea Afternoon and the Key103-Tea-Mergency Services running to the rescue of those continuing to work in the rain!...we had a great year full of features and continually learning. I worked as many hours under the sun and fitted uni work in around Key103, which suited me.
Food update. Sula fruit mix have been devoured. I've found Turkish Delight from Christmas, still uneaten, which is sugar-coating my keyboard as we speak.
To progress the tale, I put together our awards entries for the various industry awards at the start of the year. I put in my own Cropredy Festival documentary too. Took absolutely ages to put these entries together, and I did so with hope but not massive expectation.
Key103 are owned by Bauer, and they have a huge internal Bauer awards party in May where all the stations from around the group put in for various things.
Last week was that very party. I awoke at 7, made for Manchester Piccadilly train station and got aboard. Gin'O'Clock arrived, and then we had our own Anchorman quiz, making up our own questions. 'What was a bad choice? Milk.' We also attempted to name, in chronology, the James Bond films. We're so middle-class aren't we?..we arrived into Euston and got aboard a coach. I was bewildered at this point with the scale of the event and couldn't believe I was a part of it. We arrived at the Park Plaza on Westminster Bridge. It's a lovely part of town and it looks even nicer with the sunshine! Blazers off, we toddled inside to the drinks reception where I necked my first drink of the day- a lemon Vodka martini - and basked in the sadness of Q Radio's demise with Kev, who also present(ed) on the station.
It was awesome to have the whole radio sector of the company in one room, about 1000 people. All downing Vodka Martinis. A few drinks in, we made our way to the... what do you call it? Awards room? Main room? Function room? It's a little more than a 'function room' - loads of tables seating the various stations, TV cameras filming everything, big bad graphics, my old boss doing the deep voiceover, a neon blue night that made you feel as if you were in the engine bay of a car from 2Fast 2Furious, and silver troughs of wine and beer on each table.
We sat down, got treated to a 3 course meal consisting of the best cut of the cow, a chargrilled courgette and a tiramisu with raspberry coolie. I'm a student. My plate was soon cleared and I made for the pick'n'mix.
Talking of food, I've just found Reece's Peanut Butter Cups (also from Christmas). I'm home for the weekend and this stuff just hasn't been devoured. I'm amazed.
The awards began and Key103 soon picked up some nominations, to the delight of all close by. Then the Show of the Year category popped up, and believe it or not Key103 Hometime with OJ got a nod! I leapt out of my seat as if my team had just scored a goal in the Champions League Final and flung my arms in the air. A little over-reaction I think. But who cares, I was delighted. Hard work had received some recognition. Although we didn't win, I felt so chuffed that we'd got noticed, really proud to be part of the show and to have had a big hand in the entry.
We'll win it next year for sure.
The awards finished, drinks continued flowing, and then the afterparty begun. I nipped off to Covent Garden at this point to meet my mate and have some dinner. We put the world to rights over a gin and tonic, then set off in search of a pint in Soho. Bad move being the bank holiday weekend. We retreated to homely vibes of a pub on Baker Street for another G&T. All in all, a very successful day, which left my brain absolutely shattered. It's one thing drinking all day, it's another to drink and socialise all day. Anyhow, we'll be doing exactly that x5 days at Glastonbury. wheeeyyyyyy, roll on Glasto.
The following morning we headed to Golden Square for a coffee and a cinnamon bun in the Nordic Bakery. I am going to build a Nordic Bakery next to my flat and have a cinnamon bun and a coffee every morning. My taste buds danced all the way back to Manchester.
Before we get to that, I'll tell you about the fun we've had leading up to it all. Alas, here we go, whilst I crunch on my Sula fruit mix. Sugar free.
I work on OJ Borg's Hometime show on Key103, last year we had a right laugh working on bits and pieces for the show. One of my favourite but cumbersome features to produce was the House of Pain, pitting local rivalries against each other in the a physical battle for bragging rights. Whilst the nation enjoyed Bake-Off, we had the Key10-Tea Afternoon and the Key103-Tea-Mergency Services running to the rescue of those continuing to work in the rain!...we had a great year full of features and continually learning. I worked as many hours under the sun and fitted uni work in around Key103, which suited me.
Food update. Sula fruit mix have been devoured. I've found Turkish Delight from Christmas, still uneaten, which is sugar-coating my keyboard as we speak.
To progress the tale, I put together our awards entries for the various industry awards at the start of the year. I put in my own Cropredy Festival documentary too. Took absolutely ages to put these entries together, and I did so with hope but not massive expectation.
Key103 are owned by Bauer, and they have a huge internal Bauer awards party in May where all the stations from around the group put in for various things.
Last week was that very party. I awoke at 7, made for Manchester Piccadilly train station and got aboard. Gin'O'Clock arrived, and then we had our own Anchorman quiz, making up our own questions. 'What was a bad choice? Milk.' We also attempted to name, in chronology, the James Bond films. We're so middle-class aren't we?..we arrived into Euston and got aboard a coach. I was bewildered at this point with the scale of the event and couldn't believe I was a part of it. We arrived at the Park Plaza on Westminster Bridge. It's a lovely part of town and it looks even nicer with the sunshine! Blazers off, we toddled inside to the drinks reception where I necked my first drink of the day- a lemon Vodka martini - and basked in the sadness of Q Radio's demise with Kev, who also present(ed) on the station.
We sat down, got treated to a 3 course meal consisting of the best cut of the cow, a chargrilled courgette and a tiramisu with raspberry coolie. I'm a student. My plate was soon cleared and I made for the pick'n'mix.
Talking of food, I've just found Reece's Peanut Butter Cups (also from Christmas). I'm home for the weekend and this stuff just hasn't been devoured. I'm amazed.
The awards began and Key103 soon picked up some nominations, to the delight of all close by. Then the Show of the Year category popped up, and believe it or not Key103 Hometime with OJ got a nod! I leapt out of my seat as if my team had just scored a goal in the Champions League Final and flung my arms in the air. A little over-reaction I think. But who cares, I was delighted. Hard work had received some recognition. Although we didn't win, I felt so chuffed that we'd got noticed, really proud to be part of the show and to have had a big hand in the entry.
We'll win it next year for sure.
The awards finished, drinks continued flowing, and then the afterparty begun. I nipped off to Covent Garden at this point to meet my mate and have some dinner. We put the world to rights over a gin and tonic, then set off in search of a pint in Soho. Bad move being the bank holiday weekend. We retreated to homely vibes of a pub on Baker Street for another G&T. All in all, a very successful day, which left my brain absolutely shattered. It's one thing drinking all day, it's another to drink and socialise all day. Anyhow, we'll be doing exactly that x5 days at Glastonbury. wheeeyyyyyy, roll on Glasto.
The following morning we headed to Golden Square for a coffee and a cinnamon bun in the Nordic Bakery. I am going to build a Nordic Bakery next to my flat and have a cinnamon bun and a coffee every morning. My taste buds danced all the way back to Manchester.
Monday, 29 April 2013
Standing Up For Comic Relief
Have you ever had a go at stand-up comedy?? - It's one of the most nerve-wracking things I've ever done in my life!
I was really delighted, recently, to be asked to produce some packages for BBC Radio Manchester, to introduce the listeners to a host of Mancunian volunteers who had bravely agreed to partake in a stand up comedy evening to raise money for Comic Relief. I have to admit my thoughts were hazy at first on how to produce these pieces... I decided I'd make a couple of bespoke 'introductions' to some of the volunteers - really find out about their lives and get some nice, evocative audio and interviews together to provide a window into their worlds... The other I decided should be a bit of a document for the group's journey to the comedy night and all the prep that went into the evening.
A few weeks in when the group had begun practising, it was suggested that I get involved with the stand up myself! This would entail me, a Southerner, going on stage in an Irish Club in Fallowfield, Manchester, and telling a load of jokes for a few minutes. It doesn't sound too daunting... it was.
Wherever you go and it's a new environment, place names are tricky to get your head around. Hell, you don't even have to go anyway, for years I was mispronouncing Palmolive hand wash. I decided that with a few place name gags done and dusted, that I would regale the story of my turkish bath in Bulgaria.
On our lads holiday, my mate and I decided to haggle the prices down at the Spa round the corner. It was a rock'n'roll lads holiday, for sure. We managed to get some decent rates and I booked in a Turkish Bath. Oh my word, I've had them before, and done properly they are incredible.
I was excited.
I arrived and was met by a Turkish Bath Giver (what do you call them?...) and instructed to take a small plastic bag to a changing cubicle and don its contents. Alas, I removed my clothes and stark naked in a Bulgarian 3* Spa, I removed the outer packaging of a paper G-string...which I had to poke my head out of the cubicle to confirm which way round to wear...
I assumed I'd have the audience in fits of laughter and I'd go home having stole the show... let's say the tale of the posh Southerner having a spa on a lads holiday was more ridiculously amusing than the thong incident itself. Still, despite my worries, I didn't forget my lines and I didn't wee my pants.
Success.
I was delighted with the audio too. One of the volunteers was John Consterdine, so I thought it would be a good idea to join him doing a Parkrun and find out more about him to introduce the audience to him!
Another of the volunteers was Sam Smith, this was a package I produced with her to introduce any listeners to her prior to the comedy night!
This was a package intended to document the journey the 10 Mancunian volunteers had been on to prepare for the Stand Up evening
I was really delighted, recently, to be asked to produce some packages for BBC Radio Manchester, to introduce the listeners to a host of Mancunian volunteers who had bravely agreed to partake in a stand up comedy evening to raise money for Comic Relief. I have to admit my thoughts were hazy at first on how to produce these pieces... I decided I'd make a couple of bespoke 'introductions' to some of the volunteers - really find out about their lives and get some nice, evocative audio and interviews together to provide a window into their worlds... The other I decided should be a bit of a document for the group's journey to the comedy night and all the prep that went into the evening.
A few weeks in when the group had begun practising, it was suggested that I get involved with the stand up myself! This would entail me, a Southerner, going on stage in an Irish Club in Fallowfield, Manchester, and telling a load of jokes for a few minutes. It doesn't sound too daunting... it was.
Wherever you go and it's a new environment, place names are tricky to get your head around. Hell, you don't even have to go anyway, for years I was mispronouncing Palmolive hand wash. I decided that with a few place name gags done and dusted, that I would regale the story of my turkish bath in Bulgaria.
On our lads holiday, my mate and I decided to haggle the prices down at the Spa round the corner. It was a rock'n'roll lads holiday, for sure. We managed to get some decent rates and I booked in a Turkish Bath. Oh my word, I've had them before, and done properly they are incredible.
I was excited.
I arrived and was met by a Turkish Bath Giver (what do you call them?...) and instructed to take a small plastic bag to a changing cubicle and don its contents. Alas, I removed my clothes and stark naked in a Bulgarian 3* Spa, I removed the outer packaging of a paper G-string...which I had to poke my head out of the cubicle to confirm which way round to wear...
I assumed I'd have the audience in fits of laughter and I'd go home having stole the show... let's say the tale of the posh Southerner having a spa on a lads holiday was more ridiculously amusing than the thong incident itself. Still, despite my worries, I didn't forget my lines and I didn't wee my pants.
Success.
I was delighted with the audio too. One of the volunteers was John Consterdine, so I thought it would be a good idea to join him doing a Parkrun and find out more about him to introduce the audience to him!
Another of the volunteers was Sam Smith, this was a package I produced with her to introduce any listeners to her prior to the comedy night!
This was a package intended to document the journey the 10 Mancunian volunteers had been on to prepare for the Stand Up evening
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Dog is Dead Interview Preview!
Really lucky to have gotten the chance to catch up again with Dog Is Dead. I met Rob and Trev last year when they toured in Manchester so was really nice to talk some more. Last time round I found out about their football tournaments in between gig dates, where their drummer nearly broke his ankle and had to postpone gigs!...It was also great to hear them talk about their EP - back then - and the album prospects.
The progression has been brilliant for the band. A bold 16-track album release followed multiple EPs at the latter end of last year and sounded so diverse. There were tracks laiden with a truly anthemic quality, almost commanding stadium audiences to recieve them. Equally there was softer and more intimate venue type songwriting.
In the bar of Sound Control, I had a chatter to the boys about last night's gig in Hull...hopefully this will whet your appetite for an in-depth talk, which I'll play out on my Q Now show this Friday from 3pm.
(Yes... I did ask Trev - with his beautiful red-head locks - whether he was the man behind the acquisition of the array of females in the video above. Tune in Friday to hear more!...)
The progression has been brilliant for the band. A bold 16-track album release followed multiple EPs at the latter end of last year and sounded so diverse. There were tracks laiden with a truly anthemic quality, almost commanding stadium audiences to recieve them. Equally there was softer and more intimate venue type songwriting.
In the bar of Sound Control, I had a chatter to the boys about last night's gig in Hull...hopefully this will whet your appetite for an in-depth talk, which I'll play out on my Q Now show this Friday from 3pm.
(Yes... I did ask Trev - with his beautiful red-head locks - whether he was the man behind the acquisition of the array of females in the video above. Tune in Friday to hear more!...)
Sunday, 21 April 2013
The last few VERY EXCITING days
Had a fabulous end to the week! It's these kind of weeks that hit home so strongly why I love working in radio!
Thursday we were all set for Hometime show on Key103, until I got notified that Gary Barlow was available for an interview... hello chicago! I got onto the agency setting up interviews and it transpired that at 5:15pm, I was on the phone with not only Gary Barlow, but also Prof Brian Cox, Chris Evans and James May!! They were travelling from Lands End to John O' Groats in a pink Rolls Royce raising awareness for Breast Cancer Care. It was a surreal experience!... I put them through to OJ and enjoyed 5 awesome minutes of radio, completely improvised and totally unpredictable.
Next we attempted the Marshmallow challenge, which made me howl with laughter. OJ had to squeeze as many marshmallows into his mouth, saying 'Fuzzy Bunny' after each to claim a world record. At 16, it was looking insanely good...then it all got a bit much and a grim sight followed!
I also prepped my Q Radio show and finalised some bits and pieces. I was completely aware it was Record Store Day on Saturday and I wanted to make a big song and dance about it. I decided to drop in to Piccadilly Records in Manchester, a heritage record store to see if, on the off chance, I could grab an interview. Low, I managed to speak to Martin, the lovely chap that is, and we talked about the romance of physical music, a resurgence in popularity for vinyl and how important RSD is.
Funnily enough, despite me going to a vintage market last weekend and adding some 20p vinyls to my collection, I don't even have a record player to play them on. Idiot me. I thought I may as well ask around and see if I could hunt one down... after all, if I was to spend money for RSD, I'll at least need to justify the further damage to my bank balance with the sound of it.
After hunting for a long time, I finally found one... a gorgeous, old Toshiba number. I got it back to the flat and eagerly set it up with my mates. It shocked me how amped everyone was for a record player purchase in 2013?! - the romance of vinyl music is still very much alive.
With my Record Store Day feature set to play out, I also had a interview pre-recorded with Peace for my Q Now show. I did SO many interviews last year for The Source radio show - I listened back to some of the podcasts today actually...3 band interviews a week and session tracks, was so much fun - but unfortunately as things go so busy with other projects, the band interviews became fewer and farther between. I picked up the reigns with interviews again when I landed my Q Radio show, and instantly rediscovered the joy of talking to musicians about our mutually favourite subject: music. I felt rusty at first, but with this chat to Peace I felt completely in my comfort zone and thoroughly enjoyed chatting about Birmingham - their hometown and feed-bed for so much great new music currently - the album, and the writing process for the album, which sounded very amusing and reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne's recollections in his autobiography, as he describes the recording of one album in a haunted old house - bloody good book that, can you believe Black Sabbath have new music out too?!.
Peace were a pleasure to chat to and on stage they were a different class! It's great chatting to bands fresh off-stage, everyone is on such a high from the gig and it's brilliant to mull over the evening's proceedings. Especially at high-intensity gigs like that, shenanigans are rife!
With so much exciting stuff happening at work... I did manage to make time to trek to the Peak District to interview James Sharp, a textiles artist. This was for a uni project and again a really interesting thing. I had met him at this aforementioned vintage market, he was selling collages, textiles and bespoke art journals and diaries. His work is really cool, all hand-crafted and very creative. Off the back of the Great British Sewing Bee, I thought he'd be great to chat to to set up a 'What was the last thing you made?' feature for our student radio show assignment - putting a 1hr speech show together. It's a fun project, I'm presenting it, which I'm very excited about. It's not often I get a chance to do speech based shows, but rest assured I'll meander my way to talk about something new music related... I'm waiting with bated breath for the Producer to bark down the studio talk back system "FILL, NEED 2MINS"!.. so I can launch into an anecdote about some recent gig or an album I've enjoyed recently.
The Peak District was fun, and it evoked loads of fond memories of motorbiking back home in the countryside. Especially with these views, I made my way back to the flat tinged with nostalgic thoughts!
Back at Key103, we were all set for another Hometime show to finish the week. We had Record Store Day interviews and we even played out a vinyl!!
We also welcomed the presidents of both Salford and Manchester rowing teams set to come in ahead of the Two Cities Boat Race at the weekend. Having so much on the show is a rarity, but the last few days have been an absolute ball. That doesn't even take into consideration the weekend, which I'm sure I will find the time to chatter about at a later date!
Thursday we were all set for Hometime show on Key103, until I got notified that Gary Barlow was available for an interview... hello chicago! I got onto the agency setting up interviews and it transpired that at 5:15pm, I was on the phone with not only Gary Barlow, but also Prof Brian Cox, Chris Evans and James May!! They were travelling from Lands End to John O' Groats in a pink Rolls Royce raising awareness for Breast Cancer Care. It was a surreal experience!... I put them through to OJ and enjoyed 5 awesome minutes of radio, completely improvised and totally unpredictable.
Next we attempted the Marshmallow challenge, which made me howl with laughter. OJ had to squeeze as many marshmallows into his mouth, saying 'Fuzzy Bunny' after each to claim a world record. At 16, it was looking insanely good...then it all got a bit much and a grim sight followed!
I also prepped my Q Radio show and finalised some bits and pieces. I was completely aware it was Record Store Day on Saturday and I wanted to make a big song and dance about it. I decided to drop in to Piccadilly Records in Manchester, a heritage record store to see if, on the off chance, I could grab an interview. Low, I managed to speak to Martin, the lovely chap that is, and we talked about the romance of physical music, a resurgence in popularity for vinyl and how important RSD is.
Funnily enough, despite me going to a vintage market last weekend and adding some 20p vinyls to my collection, I don't even have a record player to play them on. Idiot me. I thought I may as well ask around and see if I could hunt one down... after all, if I was to spend money for RSD, I'll at least need to justify the further damage to my bank balance with the sound of it.
After hunting for a long time, I finally found one... a gorgeous, old Toshiba number. I got it back to the flat and eagerly set it up with my mates. It shocked me how amped everyone was for a record player purchase in 2013?! - the romance of vinyl music is still very much alive.
With my Record Store Day feature set to play out, I also had a interview pre-recorded with Peace for my Q Now show. I did SO many interviews last year for The Source radio show - I listened back to some of the podcasts today actually...3 band interviews a week and session tracks, was so much fun - but unfortunately as things go so busy with other projects, the band interviews became fewer and farther between. I picked up the reigns with interviews again when I landed my Q Radio show, and instantly rediscovered the joy of talking to musicians about our mutually favourite subject: music. I felt rusty at first, but with this chat to Peace I felt completely in my comfort zone and thoroughly enjoyed chatting about Birmingham - their hometown and feed-bed for so much great new music currently - the album, and the writing process for the album, which sounded very amusing and reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne's recollections in his autobiography, as he describes the recording of one album in a haunted old house - bloody good book that, can you believe Black Sabbath have new music out too?!.
Peace were a pleasure to chat to and on stage they were a different class! It's great chatting to bands fresh off-stage, everyone is on such a high from the gig and it's brilliant to mull over the evening's proceedings. Especially at high-intensity gigs like that, shenanigans are rife!
With so much exciting stuff happening at work... I did manage to make time to trek to the Peak District to interview James Sharp, a textiles artist. This was for a uni project and again a really interesting thing. I had met him at this aforementioned vintage market, he was selling collages, textiles and bespoke art journals and diaries. His work is really cool, all hand-crafted and very creative. Off the back of the Great British Sewing Bee, I thought he'd be great to chat to to set up a 'What was the last thing you made?' feature for our student radio show assignment - putting a 1hr speech show together. It's a fun project, I'm presenting it, which I'm very excited about. It's not often I get a chance to do speech based shows, but rest assured I'll meander my way to talk about something new music related... I'm waiting with bated breath for the Producer to bark down the studio talk back system "FILL, NEED 2MINS"!.. so I can launch into an anecdote about some recent gig or an album I've enjoyed recently.
The Peak District was fun, and it evoked loads of fond memories of motorbiking back home in the countryside. Especially with these views, I made my way back to the flat tinged with nostalgic thoughts!
Back at Key103, we were all set for another Hometime show to finish the week. We had Record Store Day interviews and we even played out a vinyl!!
We also welcomed the presidents of both Salford and Manchester rowing teams set to come in ahead of the Two Cities Boat Race at the weekend. Having so much on the show is a rarity, but the last few days have been an absolute ball. That doesn't even take into consideration the weekend, which I'm sure I will find the time to chatter about at a later date!
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Cats are entertaining
I found out that the cats are absolutely hilarious when it comes to making 6 second films on Vine.
Friday, 12 April 2013
Today's Q Show
Real good show today - thoroughly enjoyed! Couple of bits I thought I'd upload to audioboo. I've recently cobbled together ALL my previous gig tickets, everything from The Blackout in B'ham Irish Club in 2007 to Coldplay, Ben Howard, Elbow, small-time acoustic artists in London Borderline, concerts from my time in Manchester... it's been awesome to collate everything together an reccolect specific memories of the experiences. I brought my bulging envelope of tickets in to the studio for a lucky dip to see which I'd talk about...
Another moment I uploaded from Q-Now earlier was playing out Heaven's Basement, a pretty brash, bold rock back who have recently released a new album called Filthy Empire. I'm a fan of it!- I purchased it the other day and let my Granny have a listen to one track called 'I Am Electric'... fair to say she's stoked, so she gave me a voicemail to let me know her thoughts.
More fun and games on air next Friday 3-6pm on Q Radio. Tidy.
Another moment I uploaded from Q-Now earlier was playing out Heaven's Basement, a pretty brash, bold rock back who have recently released a new album called Filthy Empire. I'm a fan of it!- I purchased it the other day and let my Granny have a listen to one track called 'I Am Electric'... fair to say she's stoked, so she gave me a voicemail to let me know her thoughts.
More fun and games on air next Friday 3-6pm on Q Radio. Tidy.
Monday, 8 April 2013
VHS!
Went over to my Grandma's today for a few biscuits and a properly brewed pot of tea. Nice to catchup after we last saw each other at Christmas!! And good to see my Uncle Ben too - we got chatting about the nearby Hooky Brewery and some seedling plans I have to make a documentary about it...hmmmm that's all in the pipeline. She did however give me some VHS footage she had of the Brewery and my word!!.. when was the last time you heard this noise?.. VHS seems to be a thing of the distant past, wonder when it will make it's vinyl-style revival...
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Recreating builders' shouting in 'Up'!
Part of my Uni project currently is to recreate the sounds of a film clip. I had had trouble deciding which clip to do... favourite film Anchorman?- but there was too much music running throughout sequences which made it hard to use. I settled on Wallace & Gromit!- the train scenes from The Wrong Trousers, but again it was full of music!
I needed something rich with sounds for me to go out and record. Happily enough, a scene from 'Up' was perfect. I had only seen a bit of the film but EVERYONE keeps telling me its the greatest in the world. The scene I chose is where the old man is sat outside his house, which is in the middle of a building site, so there are lots of digger trucks with their meaty engines driving around, metal is crashing about, bricks are being shifted, drills and pick axes galore and builders shouting across the site to each other. It's a foley artists playground!
I set to work with papa Chad, a tradesman himself, to firstly get some heavy duty drills trilling against a breezeblock on our patio at 11am. We then amassed an array of bricks from the 'leftovers from previous extensions' pile and clattered them about. The most hilarious bit was shifting three sink basin units from their storage along a concrete path - causing almighty clashing and metallic mayhem, but ultimately very resemblant to a heap of scrap metal being shunted across a construction site by a JCB. First class improvisation.
Projects like this are a right effort to sink teeth into - it took ages to continually re-listen to the clip (which is only 90s), and pick out all the various sounds in a big list. I sometimes forget we have projects like this going on when I am doing so much other work. Happily enough, getting started was good fun, and I'm excited to lay these newly recorded sfx down on protools next week.
One sequence that was really funny to record was some very faint but audible dialogue between construction workers in the scene. It's very faint and occurs over about 15s, we recorded all the lines in one go, which fitted together with surprising cohesion!- having said that, it was very amusing to draft in my sisters boyfriend and his hoarse morning voice, aforementioned papa chad and myself, with my mic some distance away to convey the faint nature of the sound.
I needed something rich with sounds for me to go out and record. Happily enough, a scene from 'Up' was perfect. I had only seen a bit of the film but EVERYONE keeps telling me its the greatest in the world. The scene I chose is where the old man is sat outside his house, which is in the middle of a building site, so there are lots of digger trucks with their meaty engines driving around, metal is crashing about, bricks are being shifted, drills and pick axes galore and builders shouting across the site to each other. It's a foley artists playground!
I set to work with papa Chad, a tradesman himself, to firstly get some heavy duty drills trilling against a breezeblock on our patio at 11am. We then amassed an array of bricks from the 'leftovers from previous extensions' pile and clattered them about. The most hilarious bit was shifting three sink basin units from their storage along a concrete path - causing almighty clashing and metallic mayhem, but ultimately very resemblant to a heap of scrap metal being shunted across a construction site by a JCB. First class improvisation.
Projects like this are a right effort to sink teeth into - it took ages to continually re-listen to the clip (which is only 90s), and pick out all the various sounds in a big list. I sometimes forget we have projects like this going on when I am doing so much other work. Happily enough, getting started was good fun, and I'm excited to lay these newly recorded sfx down on protools next week.
One sequence that was really funny to record was some very faint but audible dialogue between construction workers in the scene. It's very faint and occurs over about 15s, we recorded all the lines in one go, which fitted together with surprising cohesion!- having said that, it was very amusing to draft in my sisters boyfriend and his hoarse morning voice, aforementioned papa chad and myself, with my mic some distance away to convey the faint nature of the sound.
Friday, 5 April 2013
Student Radio Conference
Earlier this week was the Student Radio Conference in Leicester - I went last year in Bradford and it was awesome, so had high hopes for this one!
Needless to say, it didn't disappoint! It's basically a conglomeration of hundreds of students from various student radio stations up and down the country, all getting together to complain about a lack of food in the lunch bags, drink excessively and learn more about the craft we so love.
As it happens, I learnt an awful lot for the two days that I was there. More than I have done in two days for a long time! I've got page after page of notes, and after being prodded to realise that radio shows do not exist as time-slots on air, they should continue to live on social media after the show. As such, I've had a bit of a social media breakdown these last few days, and added Vine, Pinterest and Instagram to the already long list of Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Spotify, YouTube, Vimeo and more. Too many to keep track of, but I'm hoping I can keep them all music related. That is after all, what I am most interested in!!
So a very interesting, eye-opening conference. Not to mention, very funny. It was nice to bump into people I'd met for the first time in Bradford, and indeed meet new faces. I met one person who had a near-on replica of village life back home. The same formula of: "Village. Village has a pub which is the centre-piece of the community, there is also a school. This village is part of a bigger network of villages, which all have schools and pubs. There is one secondary school in a slightly bigger village, and all the smaller ones have buses to get there each day. Each pub has a summer beer festival, there is a town nearby".
I said to my Dad that this discovery of similar lifestyles to ours is brilliant - it justs stokes the fire in my mind for a big documentary about the music communities in these places, which are on the periphery of the major locations like London and Manchester, and now Birmingham, my word we're getting so much great music from Birmingham at the moment.
On the Tuesday night, funnily enough, I did go and stay overnight in Birmingham. It's only a short jaunt from Leicester, and I needed to do some work on my Q Radio show which is based there. I hot-footed it over on the train, had a bit of food and set to work. It's a lovely chilled atmosphere in a radio station by night. The stress and distractions of a 300mph workday is a foreign thing, I had a little chatter then set to work. It's absolutely awesome to be working on a new music show. May as well be called a 'this show couldn't be more up Louis' street if it tried, show'. Whether I'm doing it right or not is unbeknownst to me, all I know is that I am thoroughly enjoying regaling stories of music in my life and trying to bring it alive, to be more than just a new track by a new artist. Music is never that 2D is it? - there is always a back-story, an initial impetus to create that song. I'm enjoying relating my own, personal, genuine reactions to the music and hoping that resonates a bit stronger than a bit of verbal bumpf about what label the band are signed to. You can Google that yourself!
Stayed in the Travellodge over night! - Felt like Alan Partridge. Arrived at 11pm to the shock of the night-shifters, "you want a room, now?!" - yes please.
Immediately ordered a beer and a cheese panini, retreated to my room to have a brew and natter with my better half, then hit the hay. Wasn't in bed for long, I was rudely awoken (not by the dustman, #parklife) by my Mariamba alarm-tone and hastily obliged to get up and slap another day on the bottom. Turned out to be such an early start that I didn't properly feel awake until I made it to Leicester McD's for a coffee. Another day of very intriguing lectures ensued...
It's nice to come off the back of a conference and not feel overwhelmed, drowned and pessimistic because of all the radical things presented that we should be doing, instead it's nice to come away and have a wealth of ideas and drive not just because of the presentations themselves but because of the opportunity to meet people and share tales of their lives that ignite a creative spark.
Rare you get that!.....currently though, all I'm thinking about is Birmingham's music scene and how much I'd like a cheese panini.
Needless to say, it didn't disappoint! It's basically a conglomeration of hundreds of students from various student radio stations up and down the country, all getting together to complain about a lack of food in the lunch bags, drink excessively and learn more about the craft we so love.
As it happens, I learnt an awful lot for the two days that I was there. More than I have done in two days for a long time! I've got page after page of notes, and after being prodded to realise that radio shows do not exist as time-slots on air, they should continue to live on social media after the show. As such, I've had a bit of a social media breakdown these last few days, and added Vine, Pinterest and Instagram to the already long list of Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Spotify, YouTube, Vimeo and more. Too many to keep track of, but I'm hoping I can keep them all music related. That is after all, what I am most interested in!!
So a very interesting, eye-opening conference. Not to mention, very funny. It was nice to bump into people I'd met for the first time in Bradford, and indeed meet new faces. I met one person who had a near-on replica of village life back home. The same formula of: "Village. Village has a pub which is the centre-piece of the community, there is also a school. This village is part of a bigger network of villages, which all have schools and pubs. There is one secondary school in a slightly bigger village, and all the smaller ones have buses to get there each day. Each pub has a summer beer festival, there is a town nearby".
I said to my Dad that this discovery of similar lifestyles to ours is brilliant - it justs stokes the fire in my mind for a big documentary about the music communities in these places, which are on the periphery of the major locations like London and Manchester, and now Birmingham, my word we're getting so much great music from Birmingham at the moment.
Stayed in the Travellodge over night! - Felt like Alan Partridge. Arrived at 11pm to the shock of the night-shifters, "you want a room, now?!" - yes please.
Immediately ordered a beer and a cheese panini, retreated to my room to have a brew and natter with my better half, then hit the hay. Wasn't in bed for long, I was rudely awoken (not by the dustman, #parklife) by my Mariamba alarm-tone and hastily obliged to get up and slap another day on the bottom. Turned out to be such an early start that I didn't properly feel awake until I made it to Leicester McD's for a coffee. Another day of very intriguing lectures ensued...
It's nice to come off the back of a conference and not feel overwhelmed, drowned and pessimistic because of all the radical things presented that we should be doing, instead it's nice to come away and have a wealth of ideas and drive not just because of the presentations themselves but because of the opportunity to meet people and share tales of their lives that ignite a creative spark.
Rare you get that!.....currently though, all I'm thinking about is Birmingham's music scene and how much I'd like a cheese panini.
Monday, 1 April 2013
Country Life
Back in the Shire for a week at home. It's not often I ever take any prolonged time off. For once I have decided to turn off my work phone, set an out-of-office and break for a little bit of a breather before assignments kick in and before work resumes.
There are many things on the list for the week ahead, but it's not a normal list of tasks (and too many for a 12hr day at that!). My current list is more along the lines of:
- Visit Granny
- Make a collage of past gig tickets as new wall-art for my room
- Pub
- Coffee catchups with mates
- Watch Nile Rogers documentary
I never watch TV at Uni, or if I do, it's re-runs of Top Gear, so to watch the Nile programme is pretty bloody incredible.
So far I have already ticked a few things off! - was a nice time visiting Granny: eating her brownies and succumbing to her preaching what an amazing comedian Victoria Wood is.
Went to the pub last night to see Cole Stacey perform - had never heard of him but aunt, uncle and cousins in Cropredy said he was good.
My mate and I went over for an ale and a catchup. Cropredy's a brilliant place - not just the visually pleasing drive I took for granted for so many years, but the village vibe is always fabulous. Not just on Fairport weekend. Most are now away of this festival for all my banging on about it: 20,000 people descending on this sleepy canal-side village in the middle of Oxfordshire, which turns into a folk-music mecca for 3 days in August. I made a big documentary for Banbury Sound last year, about the festival, Fairport Convention's history and the village vibes - I've recently condensed it down into a wee 15min chunk if you fancy a listen:
My mate and I went over for an ale and a catchup. Cropredy's a brilliant place - not just the visually pleasing drive I took for granted for so many years, but the village vibe is always fabulous. Not just on Fairport weekend. Most are now away of this festival for all my banging on about it: 20,000 people descending on this sleepy canal-side village in the middle of Oxfordshire, which turns into a folk-music mecca for 3 days in August. I made a big documentary for Banbury Sound last year, about the festival, Fairport Convention's history and the village vibes - I've recently condensed it down into a wee 15min chunk if you fancy a listen:
Earlier in the day, I'd enjoyed another ale with pals Nik & Gemma, who congrats to them are on the verge of marriage. Nice to have a catchup, they're off on a 5000+ mile road-trip across the USA for their honeymoon!!- needless to say, they're taking a mechanic with them.
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| Girlfriend said she HATED the composition of this photo. Thanks. |
And one last thing about being back home in the countryside - not only am I seeing my family, catching up on LOTS AND LOTS, but we have had a lot of sheep move into the field behind our house where I used to play football every day when I was a youngling! It's quite nice seeing them toddle about in the day, quite pleasant.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Schlepping through the snow
When I can finally prize myself away from my 2013 Playlist through my headphones I'll get on the road and jaunt across to Sheffield. Quite quickly this year I've amassed a collection of songs in this playlist that are truly awesome. From older numbers like Heavy Cross by the Gossip, Grimes' new material, Rosabella Gregory who I'd heard on Bob Harris recently, lots of reccomendations off Guy Garvey's 6Music show and much more. It's been a strong start to the year in terms of musical discovery.
The question that remains is what to put on in the car... Unfortunately due to the closure of the Snake/Woodhead Pass heading to Sheffield I'm going to have to take the motorway, which will require my phone to act as a sat nav, drastically hindering Spotify's capabilities. Therefore I need to find something CD based... I did get hold of a REALLY old copy of Grace Jones - Island Life a few days ago, and some classic Faith No More. Might give those a blast, but I'm dying to give the Tame Impala album a listen to, seeing as everybody seems to be raving about them at the minute.
Either way, time to schlep through the snow, see you on the other side!
The question that remains is what to put on in the car... Unfortunately due to the closure of the Snake/Woodhead Pass heading to Sheffield I'm going to have to take the motorway, which will require my phone to act as a sat nav, drastically hindering Spotify's capabilities. Therefore I need to find something CD based... I did get hold of a REALLY old copy of Grace Jones - Island Life a few days ago, and some classic Faith No More. Might give those a blast, but I'm dying to give the Tame Impala album a listen to, seeing as everybody seems to be raving about them at the minute.
Either way, time to schlep through the snow, see you on the other side!
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