To have the opportunity to stream from Condor Ferries ‘Liberation’ was brilliant – I had a lot of fun putting together the music for this one… And the extra lights we hired in worked really well too. A bit of an adventure as the weather was super windy and rainy; but magically just before we went live the sky cleared and we had a beautiful evening.
Thanks to Condor Ferries for letting us this happen!
Although I have kept this website for more personal artistic projects, over the last 14 years I’ve been in charge of running the music at my local church St Peter’s Parkstone. Sadly, it would seem that this has now come to an end.
As sometimes music speaks louder than words, I recorded a short improvised response using the piano and organ. Listening back, I felt like the title ‘From Darkness To Light’ seemed relatively apt. Hopefully it provides inspiration for anybody looking to explore features of St Peter’s that would otherwise have been lost with my departure.
I’ve also recorded a personal farewell & response below, including a challenge to the community in Parkstone going forwards…
As I believe in transparency, I’ve published this message here so that it is readily available.
A transcript of my recorded message can be seen in an open letter to St Peter’s Parkstone available below:
Back in lockdown we attempted to do a livestream from Agglestone Rock. But we may have underestimated exactly how difficult this was back then – and if you were following at the time you’ll remember that we failed spectacularly to pull this off.
So 2 years later, with all the experience we’ve now got, we tackled it again. And this was the result …
As a bit of a warmup for our summer livestream season, we headed over for a sunrise at Knowlton Circles. It gave me the chance to try out new tracks and we published this one, called Novas, onto YouTube.
This has to be one of the most complicated streams we’ve ever pulled off.
We did 2 back to back performances in two locations – one from the Nosecone and one from Endless Oceans right in the heart of the aquarium – with a live audience watching the broadcast on a big screen the whole time.
There was one extra catch; I don’t have enough synths to perform in two locations. So everything you hear from me in the second stream is actually controlling the synths 150 metres away in the Nosecone via midi, and routed back to the PA and the stream.
The Deep Aquarium in Hull is an amazing and complex building. So we spent the night before installing hundreds of metres of ethernet in order to make this work.
Huge props to everyone involved in this – so proud of what we achieved!
The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts turned 20 years old and we were invited to stream as part of the celebration.
And while we were there, we headed over St Mary’s Lighthouse to do a chilled out sunrise set. Camping out under the stars here was simply incredible.
Ever since we started livestreaming, I had in mind that the iconic sculpture on Poole Quay would make a great location to perform.
And so for the last livestream of 2020, we headed down to Poole Quay and Docks to make it happen…
The sculpture was “gifted” to Poole in 1991 by the internationally acclaimed sculptor Sir Anthony Caro. It recently received a make-over and personally it’s one of my favourite things on Poole Quay. Probably just because the viewing platform really lets you look out over the boats coming into the port.
Both musically and technically, this livestream kicked off a number of firsts for us. If you watch the film, even though it’s dark you’ll notice that the only people you can see are myself and Sam the cameraman.
What’s that?! No broadcast equipment, no drone flyer? …
That’s right! We’ve spent the last few weeks working on making the whole system wireless so that the livestreams are easier to setup and focus more on the performer in the location.
We developed this setup after we went to The Agglestone deep in the heart of the Purbeck countryside. After several hours of lugging kit through mud & gorse, we decided we’d save our backs and come up with a different, less arduous solution!
So we’re quite excited to see where this will lead us. Hopefully a lot more creative locations!
When we first started putting together livestreams earlier this year, although it was really exciting, I didn’t think that 8 months on this would still be the primary way the world would be performing.
There is an immense freedom that comes with taking your music out to the world. It’s providing a lifeline for us to the outside world at this time… and I know that I’m able to create music more freely because I can be more directly inspired by nature.
I mentioned that everytime we livestream, we’re trying to push the boundaries of what we can do. The Kimmeridge livestream was the first time we’d really ventured into true isolation. It took us 2 hours to carry all the kit along the coast. To get internet in order to stream meant we had to drop a long ethernet cable over the cliffs up to our antennae…
…all of which was totally worth it because it was a beautiful day!
Performing at The Earthouse in Cranborne was another fantastic experience. I love the juxtaposition of ancient and modern (something you’ll have seen in my work at Salisbury Cathedral and Romsey Abbey). There is something so raw about a fire pit close by to all the electronics…
And the weather at Abbotsbury Castle that summer evening was absolutely surreal. We had to delay our setup due to rain, but somehow we got lucky and just before sunset the clouds were thin enough to provide a mystical diffused light over the whole of the coast line.
I excited to see where this journey continues, and what the weather might bring!
Livestreaming has been a great opportunity to get back outside again and rediscover some of the places that I love around our local area in Dorset.
With each stream, I’m trying to push the boundaries to explore what is possible. It’s one thing to be inside putting on an event, but playing outside in the elements is a totally different experience – and a great one!!
So going to the ruined church at Knowlton Circles, I thought it would be cool to take some small uplighters with us to illuminate the church around me as the sun went down.
You’ll also notice that I’m starting to take more instruments out with me as well. I’m really keen to see what it’s like to improvise around the music as much as possible because every setting is different (the wind, sun, temperature, atmosphere)…
Lockdown has really made me appreciate even more what a beautiful place I live in. So this summer I’m going to be highlighting some of our local beauty spots in Dorset with some live electronic music sets.
Here I am live from the Powder House Ruins on the seafront in Poole Harbour. It’s a beautiful place to live even without the sunset … !
Just before lockdown, I produced a version of the classic Londonderry Air “Danny Boy” with singer/actress Sorcha Martin & Stephanie Liney. Then as soon as we were able to, I put together a short music video for the piece so we had some visuals. Here’s the result – enjoy!
Livestreaming during the Covid-19 pandemic has given me the opportunity to get creative and experiment with new styles.
Here’s a selection of experimental electronic livestream sets. They’re just a chance for me to explore… And who knows what may transition to works in the future!