New Publication, Radio Programme, & Computer Game Music | + Talk on Original Voice in Creative Work
Publication available in Waterstones - Love Spells and Rituals for Another World Symposium/book
My contribution to the Love Spells and Rituals for Another World book is out. It features an international and interdisciplinary body of artists & researchers all writing on or around the subject of desire, sexuality, love, and care as a kind of ‘evental magick that ‘reorganises worlds’ (in the words of Lauren Berlant). The book was inspired by a symposium of the same name that took place last May in the height of lockdown one, where I delivered my talk: Music and the Medial Woman: Metastructure and Metaphysics in Contemporary Songwriting. I was delighted to have the opportunity to turn my presentation into a piece of writing; to do so I returned to John Cage’s Silence & based on this wrote an experience of the work’s semantics.
The book is available via the Love Spells GoFundMe here & also at Waterstones here. Any profits are being donated to Afrikan Rainbow Family, akt, and Mermaids, who aim to improve the lives of LGBTQI+ communities in the UK.
“In remembrance of those who love in door-ways coming and going in the hours between dawn - those who, throughout history, have taken on the task of revolution in order to hold hands.”
Book dedication by Lilly Markaki
Credit: Lili Markaki
Credit: Lili Markaki
Radio Programme - Marnie Stern: Metaphysics & Multidimensionality
My programme on virtuoso guitarist and songwriter, Marnie Stern, Marnie Stern: Metaphysics and Multidimensionality is finally up to stream on NoBounds Radio: Or you can stream here via the URL
I had immense fun preparing this show & exploring two of the central themes of her work, which takes you down a rabbit hole across time & space as she brings together mythology, metaphysics, pop, & art-house references. I’m thinking of making a part two as there is just so much more to say, but for now I hope you enjoy this one.
Credit: S Santos
Talk - ‘Developing Original Voice in Your Creative Work’ talk w/Alex Merritt
I’m really happy to have been asked to give this talk by saxophonist/lecturer Alex Merritt about these particular subjects, as getting to grips with these things is something that genuinely used to keep me awake at night as I grappled with what I sounded like & fought to bring together strands of everything I loved into my composing, performing, & writing. I made a pact with myself to live on very little money for a couple of years after leaving Guildhall & put my focus into making prototypes of pieces, exploring ideas, asking myself questions, recording demos etc. that addressed this. Some of these have since made it out in one form or another, & many will never see the light of day but served as useful stepping-stones. Over time, things clicked into place, & I found myself teaching what I had taught myself, initially at London’s Centre for Young Musicians, & later at Oxford, & getting inside these subjects is one of my favourite topics.
Here is the link for tickets (and Alex’s very complimentary write-up of me - thanks, Alex!). It’s a suggested £10 donation, but you can pay what you want. Hope to see you there!
Credit: S Santos
Computer Game Music - ‘Deep Space Adventure’
Global Game Jam moved online this year. It took place in January & I once again had the pleasure of jamming alongside the team I’ve worked with since 2014. It’s become a bit of a tradition (& I know when to expect the in-jokes now). Each time I do this I can’t believe how much fun I have collaborating with the team & I love coming up with concepts for them, like the one I did (when we won an ‘Innovation in Design’ award) that solely used sounds I made of noises pencils made on paper. This year, ass the design worked with metal, wood, and flesh themes, I derived all the sounds for the game from those just my piano and I could make - metal, wood, and flesh, & while I would much rather have been in person with the team, if I had there wouldnt’ve been a piano, so it was a nice one-off. You can give it a whirl here and see a few of the other games I’ve worked on at the Jams here.
Credit: Miranda Walsh