I still love my vinyl… Shelf after shelf of the beautiful stuff – a permanent fixture. But when was the last time I pulled anything out to listen to it? Hmm… Like everyone else, I’m creating and listening to audio files, stored on one gadget or another and the files become invisible.
So, I’ve decided to pull out some random 12′s, albums, ep’s… whatever catches my eye – hold it, listen to it, enjoy it – take a sonic trip all the way down memory lane and share at least one a month right here. I’m starting with “Rockin’ It” by The Fearless Four. Apart from drum fills and the occasional additional synth here and there, it’s the classic one bar loop that you never want to end.
And the underexposed Lady B, classic “To The Beat Y’all”… No one rocks the mic like this woman. I’m surprised I didn’t wear out the grooves on this one.
September inspiration. It doesn’t have to be deep, to hit the spot… I’ll always love these.
So, back in 2005 I worked on a little UK indie film project. The director (Menhaj “Huds” Huda) and writer (Noel Clarke) were both up and coming, as were most of the young cast. There were a couple of established producers (Alexandra Stone and Damian Jones), who had faith in the film and they turned me on to the project… When I watched the rough cut, I could see the undeniable potential for it to connect with the UK youth audience, IF it could get enough exposure… Huds, the director, told me that he envisaged someone sitting in a room alone, programming the score, the way that the songs in the film would have been created… and the rest is history.
So, to celebrate KiDULTHOOD’s recent re-broadcasting on BBC3 and its 5 year anniversary, here come two dark and heavy reworkings of the KiDULTHOOD (Opening Theme). The Darkforce Dub Remixes are coming to a set of speakers near you, on August 2nd, 2011 – DNB remix by E-Sassin (174 BPM) and my own Dubstep On Sedatives remix (126 BPM). Pre Order is now available on iTunes.
New Supa Crucial Releases will be rolling out very shortly… Watch this space.
I love supporting up and coming talent and seeing fresh faces in the projects that I score. Working with director Menhaj Huda on our third collaboration has once again given me the opportunity to do just this and I’m happy to see Huds (as he’s known to most of us) sharing a story that is close to home by having written and directed “Everywhere And Nowhere”.
Set in London, it is a coming of age drama about friends torn apart by choices relating to their cultural identity. Ash (played by James Floyd) has to navigate between the traditions of his Pakistani heritage and his personal freedom to pursue his passion for music as a DJ. This is a slice of UK Asian culture that few Americans have seen or experienced, yet the themes are universal and the backdrop of the dance music scene reminds us that despite religious and cultural differences, young people all over the world are unified in this other realm. And in light of what is going on in the world as I post this entry, I have to say this is a realm we should all strive to gravitate toward… one of unity.
Huds and I have an easy dialogue when it comes to music, which partly comes from us having already worked together on both KiDULTHOOD and West 10 LDN and partly because we both have an intrinsic understanding of each other’s musical references.
Mixing KiDULTHOOD at Videosonics in London - Aml Ameen & Adam Deacon on Screen
Huds is a genuine music enthusiast and likes to push boundaries, so although the heart of E+N is a family driven character study, he still hoped I’d keep thinking outside the box. Before he got into post production he told me, “If you can find a way to keep it less traditional, that would be great, but if it turns out not to work, we can always fall back on traditional.” We talked about incorporating instruments like sitars, bansuri and tabla for example and then having me blend them with more contemporary synthetic textures. In the end, that’s exactly what I was able to do. I had plenty of emotional moments to enhance and by creating new sounds and not relying on the usual piano and strings I could give the film its own unique musical personality.
Menhaj Huda & The Angel - Mixing KiDULTHOOD
I’m always curious to see which sounds and/or melodies resonate the most with the directors or producers that I work with. Sometimes it’s big sweeping melodies, other times it’s the smallest detail that gets picked out as being the essence of a character’s feeling or the sound that encapsulates the environment of the film as a whole. Ash’s friend, Zaf (played by Adam Deacon) must put his ailing father to bed in a moving scene that gives us an intimate look at his family’s challenges. This is where I established a cue that Huds felt represented not only the sadness of the moment, but also captured Ash’s overall mindset. It is the simplicity of the melody played with just the right sound that worked for him.
Hud’s concept for the songs or what we call the source music for “Everywhere And Nowhere” was to pair UK remixers with Bollywood classics to illustrate Ash’s ingenuity and talents as a music creator/DJ. Additionally the film’s title track by Fearless featuring Sonna Rele is an added bonus with a chorus that will stay with you long after you’ve watched the film. Thanks to Nerm, Sukh Knight, Engine-Earz, D-Code and a host of other talented remixers there’s something fresh and enticing in the sonic culture clash.
So what’s been going on since January? Yes, I’ve been a little quiet since then, but it’s only because I’m steeped in projects that need to be kept under wraps, for now. Suffice it to say that I’ve been doing quite a bit of writing that is unconnected to my blog and all will become clear very soon… So watch this space.
Back on March 9th I spoke to the South Bay Filmmakers group about the film/TV scoring process, sharing my experience as one of a minority of female composers working internationally in both film and television. I always enjoy talking to filmmakers, writers and budding composers about the nuts and bolts of what composers do, giving “behind the scenes” anecdotes and my perspective on the whole process. Coming to composing from outside of the traditional path, I like to encourage anyone with creative vision and passion to “go for it” and to ignore the millions of reasons to talk oneself out of trying something.
Of course I’m still making noise… Throughout March I’ve also been deep in the cave, creating a dark and disturbing palette for an upcoming UK feature. Details to follow soon!
The start of 2011 brings some philosophical musings…
The Angel was asked to participate in an experimental Q&A called “The Same Five Questions” by clicking on this link you’ll be able to read her answers to the questions below (courtesy of the TS5Q site):
———————————————————————————————————————————— BMI spotlights three female composers; The Angel, Rachel Portman and Laura Karpman in a feature entitled, Composing Women: The Few, The Proud This BMI feature is another illustration of just how few women are actively working as film and TV composers and asks three of it’s members, if they can shed some light on why that might be.
