Birthday Blog ~ featuring My First Twitter Gig!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post but today is my birthday and I’m officially taking a day off from all things work-related so I actually have time to write one!

It’s been a busy month, which is always a good sign, and a good mix of work on.  I played another Verdi Requiem with the Canterbury Choral Society – this was the gig that was tied to the one in Snape Maltings so it also meant I finally got paid for both gigs.  Then of course there’s the usual function band gigs for the summer season weddings.  I particularly enjoyed a gig I did on 18^th July with new function band RubberSoul (they’re new to me, not to each other; they’ve been playing together for about 10 years).  Not only were the guys and gal in the band really friendly and welcoming to me as a dep, they’re an excellent band (very well organised which made a nice change!) and the sets we played were full of energy.  And the best bit about all of this is that this was my first Twitter gig!  I got chatting to Tony from RubberSoul months ago on Twitter about various horn arrangements we were each doing for our function bands, and when they needed a dep he got in touch via Twitter and voila, a new working relationship was formed!  So, he took a bit of a punt in booking me without ever having met me, without hearing me play and without any recommendation, but the gig was a roaring success (despite me falling over on the steps up to the marquee for the first set!) and thus the miracle of Twitter as an effective networking tool becomes a reality.  We even managed to convince the band’s drummer of the benefits of Twitter (and iPhones) in the dressing room that night between sets, and he has recently got an iPhone and joined Twitter – so gradually the word is spreading!

And other work has been going well.  July brought with it more graduation ceremonies than you could shake a stick at (never really understood that phrase, but what the hey, let’s roll with it).  I spent a week and two days in Lancashire playing fanfares (four trumpets and organ) to open and close ceremonies at UCLAN and Edge Hill Universities and to accompany the processionals and recessionals.  We had an unfortunate incident in the first Edge Hill ceremony where one of our trumpet players collapsed and was taken to hospital; she’s ok and feeling much better now, and if you want to see her being carried out of the ceremony check out the first 5 mins of this video!  Please excuse the very unfortunate placing of a microphone directly infront of us, the sound on the video is distorted as a result.

I’m still waiting to hear about the extra teaching I’m trying to secure from September – I’ve played assemblies at two schools and have a meeting about a third, so fingers crossed for getting some more ‘bread-and-butter’ work as I like to think of it.  If I could up my teaching to one full day a week that would be enough for me.  It’s a tricky thing trying to balance the ratio of teaching to other work; teaching is great as it provides a regular income, but take on too much teaching and you have to turn down gigs.  You can see the dilemma I’m sure.

And thus far the birthday celebrations are going well – they started on Friday night with a T.Mandrake gig at The Troubadour followed by trips to Mango Lounge and Bungalow 8 (where Quentin Tarantino was partying following the London premier of his latest film Inglourious Basterds), and have continued through the weekend to tonight when I’m going to Ladies’ Night at Windsor Racecourse with some friends – lucky me (I hope!)

Melancholy London

By my troth London is a melancholy place. Last night, after a meeting with Mark “Monty” Garfield about all things T.Mandrake, I met up with the girls (my sister, our mum and her friend) and went to the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. The play of choice was Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and very enjoyable it was indeed! Forsooth, the cast were fantastic (although I didn’t think Hero’s father was convincing enough at being full of rage – even when he said he wanted to tear her apart with his bare hands, the emotions were portrayed in his movements, but they never reached his voice or his eyes – the way a fake smile never does either).

After the play, my sister and I went for drinks at Molton House courtesy of my friend Will – check out his blog here. While enjoying our free drinks and mingling with London’s ‘cool crowd’ we noticed what a melancholy bunch they were. Perhaps we were inspired by our injection of Shakespeare comedy earlier that evening (and all the wine/gin/vodka we’d been drinking), but this lot seemed to have trouble smiling, saying excuse me to get past you or even making eye contact in some cases! Now, of course I’m generalising here – not everybody in Molton House was secluded in their clique, but we were surprised by the surliness of some of the clientele.

So on the way home I had a little experiment. I smiled at people. Yes, on the bus and on the train. Actually made eye contact and smiled at people. The results were interesting; one girl smiled back, two guys smiled back but only once they were safely outside the bus and I was leaving on it, one guy asked for my phone number, and everybody else looked either surprised, suspicious or sometimes downright terrified!

Anon, I bid thee all a fair weekend, and beseech the people of London – please smile at each other more!

Filming & Recording with T.Mandrake at Metropolis Studios

Wednesday 27^th May, 7am; time to leave the house, but I’m not ready.  In all fairness, I set myself a 7am departure time knowing full well that I would be at least 20 minutes late.  And I was only going 20 miles, from Windsor to Chiswick, but factoring in M4 traffic, and needing to be there at 8am, allowing (realistically) 40 minutes was probably about right.  But I was still trying to pack clothes etc at 7.15am so it seems I was spot on with my chosen and estimated times of departure.

I arrived at Metropolis Studios (“Europe’s top recording & mixing studio complex”) just before 8am, perfectly on schedule and feeling quite pleased with myself (despite nearly taking out a cyclist who admittedly must have had a death wish).  The boys were there loading in their gear and everybody was in a good mood despite the early hour (we’re usually a band of nightime people).  While waiting for the film crew to set up the lights, cameras and practice shouting “action” (not really), we ate breakfast, drunk litres of coffee, had hair and make-up done, ironed our outfits, customised our outfits, accessorised our outfits, warmed up our instruments and voices…and then we waited.  It took the film company 5 hours to set up, so despite arriving at the studio at 8am we didn’t actually start filming & recording until around 2pm!  Still, what a place to spend a day in…a studio where some legendary albums were recorded and mixed – The Stone Roses, The Libertines, The Verve, Lauren Hill, Amy Winehouse, the list goes on.  The studios are housed in The Power House, a converted power station in Chiswick, and the place is BIG!

So anyway, once we got started in the studio we did actually manage to get quite a lot done in a relatively short space of time; filmed/recorded live versions of four tracks – the three new ones we’d recently recorded at Perryvale Studios plus one of our older tracks too.  It was really hot in the studio, thank goodness our fabulous make-up girl was on hand all day to do touch-ups!  And we were told not to look into the cameras – found it very strange when they’re right in front of you to find something else to look at.  Hopefully it won’t look odd in the footage!  But the film crew and Director Patrick seemed really happy with what they got on the day and hopefully we’ll be seeing some of the finished stuff next week so watch this space.

T.Mandrake’s live tracks filmed/recorded at Metropolis Studios on 27^th May:

Always In The Summer | Bust n Boom |Walking In Tall Grass (featuring Pete Brown on percussion) |Broken Flowers

You can listen to the studio versions of these tracks at: http://www.myspace.com/tmandrake. Website for the Metropolis studios (we were in Studio B – Rhiana was in Studio A): http://www.metropolis-group.co.uk/services.php?m=0&p=0

We finished off the day in the same way we end most T.Mandrake days – with dinner and drinks and another late night…

Kate has BIG hair, Nicki dressed & ready, Tanya in hair & make-up

The Month o’ May – Part 2

So, as I said, May was a very busy month.  The second half of the month was especially busy – I worked 18 days in a row at one point – that’s a first for me!  I’ve no aversion to hard work and, although shattered by the end of it, the variety of gigs that I got up to really kept things interesting.  Here’s a few highlights…

The first few days were pretty standard with the usual teaching etc. but I was invited back to the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) to play in a composers’ workshop which was nice as I got to see and play with some of my old RAM peers.  That week I also went to the launch of The Island Experiment’s debut album featuring their open mic night’s most successful performers, on which my friend Niko (http://www.myspace.com/radioniko) was featured.  I’ve recorded and played live with Niko so was pleased to support him and see his mini-set at The Island in Kensal Green.

That weekend (Saturday 16^th May) was my first of two trips to the Isle of Man that month with function band Co Stars.  We were playing at a wedding each time and though the gigs are pretty standard, their location does mean it takes up your whole weekend.  The second IOM gig required an early Sunday morning flight back to Luton so that we could then drive straight up to Manchester for another gig that evening – evidently the wedding season is in full flow.

The week commencing Monday 18^th May was a really fun one.  I’d been booked by RAM to play at the ceremony to mark the Installation of the new Archbishop at Westminster Cathedral.  I once worked at Westminster Cathedral, in the Friends office, so it was great to go back and see former colleagues.  The gig was amazing – playing fanfares and processional/recessional marches in a brass ensemble with organ.  It was broadcast live on the BBC, on the Diocese’s internet channel, on EWTN (the Roman Catholic TV network) and on Premier Radio.  So, the fees for the broadcasting rights in addition to the fee for the rehearsals and gigs made it the single best paid gig I’ve had to date (more of those gigs please!).  During my breaks in the ceremony I was Tweeting updates and replied to a Tweet from @CatholicHerald after they made a comment on the fanfares.  I’ve since been featured in an article in their newspaper entitled “’Tweeting’ to trumpeters at the installation.” And then for something completely different, after playing fanfares in Westminster Cathedral, I went and played a gig with originals rock band T.Mandrake at 229 (http://www.myspace.com/tmandrake).

As the only female in the brass ensemble I guess I was guaranteed some air time

The following week saw another rehearsal with T.Mandrake on the bank holiday Monday (no rest for the wicked), a rehearsal with a new horn section, a filming/recording session at Metropolis and another filming session at the Circus Tavern the day after – what a contrast in venue from one day to the next!  I’ll write a separate blog about the day at Metropolis as it was such an experience, but the Circus Tavern gig was interesting.  Our horn section was invited along to perform one song with a function band who were filming their promo video.  They already have a horn section (featuring Jack Birchwood on trumpet who’s been touring with Lilly Allen so it was great to meet and play with him), but wanted to really beef up the first number on the video and also use it as an audition for us with the hope that they’re happy to book us for gigs if their main horn section is unavailable (which seems likely if they’re off touring with pop stars!).

I ended May and my crazy 18-day stint with a cracking weekend; Friday night out with the girls, a trip to Worcester on the Saturday to see my friends Ruth and Steve, and a trip to the new snowdome at Hemel Hempstead on Sunday afternoon.  Ruth is a singer with an amazing voice who I’ve worked with since our days at Exeter University (http://www.ruthhamilton.com) and her husband Steve opens the batting for Worcestershire CCC.  I knew Steve from the Exeter days too – he played sax in the Jazz Orchestra where Ruth and I also met.  Despite Worcester being beaten by Northants in the end of the Twenty20 match, Steve played really well and scored 62 not out.  We followed the match up with a night out with Ruth, Steve and some of the other Worcestershire cricketers and their WAGs, including cricketing legend Graeme Hick, who had opened the new member’s pavilion named after him at New Road that day.  Just to make the evening even more surreal were joined at dinner by Jason Bonham, drummer for the Led Zeppelin Reunion and son of John Bonham!  A great end to a crazy month.