January 2012 - a whole new year

January 2012! Unbelievable ... 

A very 'Happy New Year' to everybody, and I hope the holidays were awesome, perfect and perfectly awesome. 
Here we are in 2012, and so far everything seems to be moving in the right direction. 

In terms of music, 2011 was probably my busiest year so far. 
As well as a couple of short films, I completed two new feature film scores in the first half of the year: 
Alex Chandon's supercharged horror opus 'INBRED' - and a traditional thriller called 'UNWELCOME'.

In the second half of 2011 - it was a pleasure to play some fantastic festivals in Belgium, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden, and also two European tours.

In 2012, I'm extremely pleased to be playing guitar for Tim Ripper Owens! 
Undoubtedly one of the best and busiest vocalists in the United States - and frontman of such incredible bands as Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. 

I'm working on the set for Tim at the moment, and I have also put pen to paper on a new album of original material, which should be finished and ready to go in the coming months. 
Also currently getting some parts together for another full FILM4 FrightFest score in August. 
Everything is looking good! 

November 2011

INBRED continues to do very well at screenings and various festivals across the globe at the moment which is great news.
There have been some incredible reviews and reports about the film over the last five months, which seems to be knocking them dead every time.
I've been putting together a detailed blog about the scoring process on INBRED, which is available here soon.

The website is looking spick and span after a major redesign and overhaul by my lovely and talented friend, Nola.
She's been working very hard to get everything looking amazing, and I think she's done a wonderful job. Thanks a million Nola, you're the best!

I'm currently getting ready for a short UK / Belgium tour (guitar) and meanwhile I'm plotting out a new album which is scheduled for completion early next year.
It's hopefully going to be very different, but more on that as it evolves over the coming weeks.

I'll be working on video and audio demos for the album very soon, which should be available here.

Update on Matt Bloom's short film 'Endless'

Some quick news!

Really pleased to report that 'Endless' won the BEST HORROR award at the London Independent Film Festival 2011, from a jury headed by Robert Carlisle.

And so far it is official selection in the following international festivals:

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: London Independent Film Festival*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Cyprus Int Film Festival, Greece*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Bradford Int Film Festival, Fantastic Films*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Renderyard Film Festival, Spain*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Dead By Dawn Festival, Scotland*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Itzon Film Festival, Devon*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Loch Ness Film Festival, Scotland*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Limelight Film & Arts Awards, London*

*OFFICIAL SELECTION: Exploding Cinema, London*

More as it happens!

Endless - The Finished Film

A couple of months back, I wrote a little bit about the process of composing music for a short film called 'Endless' for award winning writer and director, Matt Bloom.

Endless is a completely fresh and contemporary take on the vampire theme. Starring Chris Geere (Band Of Brothers) - the 8 minute duration of the film plays in super slow motion, and is the story of a siege that takes place over 30 seconds.

Below is the full film, and be sure to check out Matt's other fantastic work at www.mattbloom.co.uk

Inbred Teaser Trailer

Presenting a quick sneak peek at the long anticipated new British horror film from director Alex Chandon, Inbred. A demented horror film with nowt taken out, and featuring Jo Hartley (Dead Mans Shoes, This Is England) and Seamus O'Neill (This Is England '86, and Steven Spielberg's forthcoming WarHorse)

A disparate group of young urban offenders and their care workers embark on a community service weekend in the strange, remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake, which prides on keeping itself to itself, until a minor incident with some local inbred youths rapidly escalates into a blood-soaked, deliriously warped nightmare for all involved.

Inbred is coming in 2011!

Endless - A Completely Different Kind Of Film

The last few months have been super-busy, with the London FILM4 FrightFest soundtrack in August, and 4 different short films since then.

The first of which is a beautifully stylish contemporary vampire piece, called “Endless” - and is produced and directed by award winning TV director Matt Bloom.

Endless is a completely different kind of short film.

It was shot from start to finish on a Phantom Slow Motion camera, and the results are quite simply stunning.

Often shooting at speeds of 400, 500 or 800 frames per second, - the film plays like an involving and intricate Alfred Hitchcock set piece, with stunning levels of suspense and dramatic energy in just 8 short minutes which absolutely draws you into the film from the outset.

Matt originally described the idea to me as ‘a whole horror film in car-crash slow motion, with endless moments of terror’ – so I was really eager to see how he had managed to accomplish such an alternative idea.

I have always been a huge Brian De Palma fan, and I don’t think anybody has really come close to the levels of drama and energy in some of his beautiful signature slow motion set pieces from films like Dressed To Kill, Blow Out and Obsession, - so I was really excited when I saw the rough cut of the film, because it reminded me of some of those very special sequences from some of my favorite films.

There is no dialogue at all, so from a musical perspective, it was a completely unique challenge, and a fantastic learning experience too.

Visually, the film is very strong, – so it became evident early on that it would be so easy to overcook the score, and we didn’t want to resort to obvious cheap (modern) gags like having a huge, ear-splitting “bang” on every single cut.

One of the most difficult things from my perspective was to blend subtle emotional sections with high drama, tension and dread - in such a short space of time, and without any dialogue to misdirect the proceedings.

Before work had started on the score, we swapped a stack of eclectic music back and forth online, and Matt had some strong ideas and musical references up front, which really helped in establishing a tone.

However, it was really interesting to see Endless take on a musical personality all of it’s own throughout the process, and I think the final score was quite different than either of us expected.

Endless, directed by Matt Bloom, and staring Chris Geere (Band Of Brothers, Casualty, The Bill) is coming in Autumn 2010

FILM4 FrightFest 2010 Track Samples

Greetings folks!
It's almost that time again!

The clock is ticking, and on Thursday August 26th - FILM4 FrightFest 2010 will be here!
The UK's biggest and best horror festival is upon us once again - and for the fifth time, it's an honor and a pleasure to put together the music for the event.

So click on the MP3 player to hear some snippets and sample tracks from the CD for this year. The full album track list is also below!

Best wishes, and see you on Thursday!