What am I doing here? Where am I? Who am I... well that's easy.
I'm Kev. Better known as Stig, and I make films. I'd like to be paid to make films, but that's something to wait for. I'm also a marshal like our friend Asp there... when he's not charging around in a big white van with a disco light on the roof or wearing a wig (or whatever it is that lawyers wear.) And this is what you could call, unsung. Well that's what Asp calls it anyway. Excuse me, I'm Rambling.
Being a film guy, you may expect a somewhat visual approach this week, and you'd be right. I'd like to start with something which fits neatly into both music and film, and you probably haven't heard of it. Unless you have heard of it of course - in which case may I introduce or remind you of the wonderful world of Animusic [www.animusic.com]
We've all seen music videos. Those things invariably featuring girls, dancing, more girls, and if it's a RnB video a Rolls Royce/Bentley/insert other hyper expensive car here, and some music is featured somewhere too. This is soemthing new. This isn't a music to accompany the music, this is a video created by the music itself. Everything you see and hear is created by American duo Wayne Lyttle and David Crognale and each album takes years to complete. What sets it apart from other animation and music videos is the equal emphasis the music has with the visuals. What you hear is apparently played by what you see, watch this and you'll see what I mean.
Okay, so the main instrument is clearly a guitar - a triple necked laser guided guitar no less - and there's drums and light beams which make noise, but the clever bit is the fact that if you did the exact same movement on a real guitar*, it should sound right. Allegedly. With my Nerdy Harry Potter glasses on (I have a degree in music technology) I can tell you that all the character movements are done using a system called MIDI which plots each indivudual note from the piece onto the instruments and makes them perform in exactly the rig... hey, wake up!
Quarterblind
If this doesn't wake you up, nothing will. This is Quarterblind, a Heavy Metal band from Devizes in Wiltshire. I came across them whilst doing a documentary for coursework. This one to be exact, for which I gained the nickname "Speilberg" from the boys, which is rather flattering
Now, if you don't like heavy metal, which I admit, I don't, then you may not appreciate this at all. Which is fine. However whatever the detractors say there is such a thing as badly played metal and this isn't it. Everything's in time and in tune too - something other unsigned metal acts get constantly wrong and never do get signed as a result. Quarterblind has been through a few line up changes now, but nothing seems to be able to stop the boys from churning out a constant string of surefire hits. In the documentary, you can hear the track "Call to the Masses", for which there's a video out there somewhere. However I suggest checking out their myspace for their latest tracks
The Spectaculars (UK)
Speaking of myspace, be sure to drop by www.myspace.com/thespectacularsuk and check out the work of Doktor Hotknife [don't ask] and his friends. The spectaculars have their own blend of rock and electronica, with a distinctly Welsh feel not that dissimilar from the Automatic (But without the yappy bloke who repeats everything [Who! Repeats! Everything!]). Except these guys were around before them. Hmm, what's that coming over the hill?
Coming Up
Someone else who will be big soon will be Rachel Ward, of this I have no doubt. Her style is reminiscent of Norah Jones and Katie Meluah and her multi instrument playing talent is amazing (although how she's going to manage at gigs I dont' know.) The debut album is in production and I'm doing a documentary to go with it. Watch this space.
Well, that's it from me. Maybe I'll come back if Asp lets me. If not, thanks for reading, and let me leave you with a shameless plug - www.kevinmcmullin-tv.co.uk. I'm off to listen to some Blue Man Group on my iPod. Toodles!
*assuming you have 3 hands.
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