'Forget me Not' Soundtrack album released

Just a quick shout out to say the Soundtrack album for a film I scored last year is now available on iTunes. Check out the trailer:

CLICK HERE and go to iTunes where you can hear and purchase the score.

Christmas, New Year and beyond

Well we're now truly into the new year and the hope for springtime is creeping up...by beginning of February winter always seems to feel longer than it should be.
It's been a while since my last post - so here's a very quick catch up on what's been going on;
Had some great gigs with 70s funk band 'Push'.
The album was released in November and I've co-written the title track 'Band on a Mission' and 'Long Gone' which has the wonderfully soulful vocals of Hamish Stuart of AWB fame.
Here's a video put together by one of our fans...

We also did a live BBC Radio 6 broadcast on the Craig Charles Funk and Soul show which you can find it here - just search for PUSH.
Push is great fun! All the guys are old friends and bass player Ernie McKone is a long time collaborator who I continue to do a lot of writing and producing with - he's an incredibly talented musician.

Besides that I'm scoring CBBC series Dani's House series 5. That will take me through to mid February, then it's straignt into an exciting National Geographic series about the Oceans with director Gary Jognstone. More on that later!

Lots going on: 'Dani's House', 'Serve Cold' trailer and 'PUSH' album

Well September's come 'round again and it feels like the beginning of another year...
'Dani's House' series 4 (BBC/Zodiak) is completed and about to begin broadcasting and (I think) I'm about to start scoring series 5 at the end of the month...

One of the cool things I've done on the side recently is the music and sound FX for a trailer. It's for a feature film project in the pipeline called 'SERVE COLD' written by director Luke Bradford - a very talented guy who I'm excited about working with!

Here's a link to the Trailer on YouTube:
The other thing on the boil is a new album with my North London compadres, PUSH. I've co-written four songs on the album, including the lyric/melody to the album's title track 'Band On A Mission'. Check out this video - kindly put together by a fan of the band. This track features the amazingly talented vocalist/percussionist (and X-factor finalist!) DANIEL PEARCE. 

We'll be doing a bunch of gigs in November, including a couple of Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club nights - so check out the PUSH website for dates. If you like old skool funk (ala Tower of Power and James Brown) I promise you (or your money back!) you won't be disappointed!

Busy, busy, busy...

Man! It's been an intense period! All good though - but feel bad I've not been able to update my blog. It's crazy these days trying to keep all the various broadcast devices up to the minute. Twitter, Facebook, my website... oh yeah, and I actually have to do some work from time to time.
Well this is going to be a splurge-: 'Dani's House' series 4 for Zodiak Media/BBC. I've working on that since end of March. 13 episodes almost done. Then starting series 5 end of September.

I went to the Ivor Novello awards with my gorgeous wife Tracey. It was a lovely occasion (I was on the judging panel for computer games score). I had a nice surprise when I discovered my main man Steve Winwood was getting a lifetime achievement award for his wonderful song catologue. It was great to connect with him briefly. Ben Drew (Plan B) deservedly won lots of awards and seems to have a really good head on his shoulders. Very talented and insightful young man. I hope he can keep his feet on the ground as huge success can be a dangerous energy.

Also, been working with PUSH (my old buddies from North London), the 70s style funk band I've worked with as a writer/arranger/keyboard player off and on for 15 years. We opened for George Clinton at Kentish Town Forum in June. Great crowd - great vibe. Check it out:

Finally, a big moment for Mary Leay.
SEG released her first EP called 'Making My Move'. It's available on iTunes.

Mixed by Nick Taylor at Air-Edel, recorded and co-produced by James Towler at Wincraft studios, and Produced and arranged by yours truely. I'm very proud of this!

Jamie's Dream School - series starts 2nd March 2011

It's been a busy start to the year - and I'm sorry to say I've been a bit lazy with my blogging duties, so here's a quick check in to briefly mention some of stuff that's been going on.

Mary Leay has a hot new band of incredibly talented young guys. She's gigging around London now. Click HERE for her website to find dates, links to YouTube clips and her FaceBook group. Next date is this Weds 2nd at The Elgin, Ladbroke Grove - well worth a visit.

Also, I did string orchestrations for composer Andy Gray for a new CinemaNX film coming out later this year, TT3D: Closer to the Edge, which follows the Isle of Man's treacherous motorcycle race. Hair-raising stuff!

I've also been working with my old friend, director Gary Johnstone and editor Rick Aplin, on preliminary cuts of an amazing National Geographic series called Oceanus, which won't be finished until the end of this year - so watch this space.

Finally, I had the pleasure of assisting Jazzie B on a new Jamie Oliver series called Jamie's Dream School which starts airing on C4 from 2nd March.  Let's hope Jamie can do for education what he did for food!

Summer In Transylvania begins broadcasting on Nick TV

On Halloween 2010 Summer in Transylvania begins broadcasting on Nickelodeon TV. Episode 1 was shown everyday at 5:30pm during half-term break the week before.

The 20 part series was a really fun project and I had a great time working closely with producer Candida Julian-Jones, who incidentally co-wrote the theme song with me.
The Theme Song was mixed by Nick Taylor at Air-Edel studios, with Crispin 'the Pump' Taylor on drums and yours truly on guitars, bass, backing vocals and keyboards.
The music is made up of theme related stings, underscore, and background tracks that play during the many parties, clubs, live band performances and in the famous 'Stakeout' cafe.
I involved two great vocalists on some of the background songs - Duncan Byiers and Mary Leay. Mary also co-wrote a few of the songs with me.
Sophie Stuckey (who plays the part of Summer) did a fantastic job recording the lead vocal on the Theme Song, 'Summer ion Transylvania', and was a joy to work with in the studio. She's got a lovely voice and I think you'll be hearing much more from her in the future!

615 Music Library - 60s British Rock

Check out this tasty little promo, put together by the guys at 615 Music in Nashville, TN.

It features cohorts Hugo Degenhardt (drums) and Nick Taylor (engineer) who co-wrote and helped put the tunes together.