News Oct 2010

Have been terribly lax in updating this - again! Been pretty busy since the last post and briefly this is what I've been up to. I scored a US pilot for a new Sci-Fi series called RCVR (Receiver) directed by David van Eyssen which turned out really well. Musically there are all kinds of cool influences in there but think Bowie's Low period plus a bit of Eno and Fripp and you'll be on the right track. The show is initially set in the 70's so that style of music is what I like to think would have been listening to then! I'll post some clips on the site soon. Other than that I've been doing a fair bit of advertisng work and have just finished big Bond-like titles/credits music for a new BBC factual show called Wonderstuff which will be shown later this year. I'm also working on the second series of a BBC children's show called Kerwhizz and writing tracks for a songs based album project which is going well. Oh and mustn't forget a documentary I scored recently for horror director Jake West called VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE. It's a great film so do try to check it out if you can.

Advertising

Lots of advertising coming in this year. I've just finished jobs for PKR and After Eights (pictured) which should be on tv now. More pitches this week so may well have more good news soon.

History Cold Case

I'm currently finishing music for 4x1 hour shows for BBC 2 called History Cold Case being produced by Shine TV. The show is a forensic investigation into the lives of various people from history and how they ultimately met their end. Musically it's a great mix of historical instrumentation with electronics, sound design elements and Eno-esque slowed down pianos and reverse effects. The show will have a 9pm slot and begins broadcasting in April 2010.

I Anna

I Anna is a new feature film that will star Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne, written and directed by Barnaby Southcombe and is a dark and twisted psychological thriller with adult themes and characters. I worked on music for a scene from the film that was taken to this year's Berlin Film Festival by the director and producers. The project received more interest than any other film at the festival by quite a large margin and because of this was featured on the front page of Variety Magazine. All is going well with pre production and filming will begin later this year. More news when I have it.

Update 2010

Long time since I've posted. Had a lovely Xmas break and since I've been back, 2010 has been really busy so far which is great. A mixed bag of film, tv and advertising as I shall explain..... Oh and most importantly the studio has a new Moog synthersizer sitting proudly in the corner. It is, as you might expect, filter-tastic.

News Update Oct 09

Sadly 13 has fallen through. Long story but basically things have come to a halt for various reasons and so the score I produced for the pilot will be archived and backed up for now, but let's hope it sees the light of day eventually. Better news is that The Taxidermist which I scored for Warp Films earlier this year has been submitted for Oscar consideration. OH MY GOD I hear you gasp but hold your horses there! For now it's one of a number of films that have to make it through two further selection stages before we can say that it is actually nominated but, well you know, it's exciting and what the hell, I thought I'd mention it even at this early stage. Obviously if the film does make the final nominations I shall be shouting the news very loudly from the nearest rooftop, so if you see a lunatic shouting on your roof you'll know what has happened. The films has been doing very well at festivals though including winning at Palm Springs.

2009 PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WIN FOR THE TAXIDERMIST

News just in that The Taxidermist, a film I scored earlier this year, directed by Bert and Bertie and produced by Warp X Films has won the main category at the 2009 Palm Springs Film Festival. This is the first festival that the film has been entered into and the win also means that the film is eligible for submition to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for Oscar consideration!

Currently working on......

Just finished a new tv commercial for PKR. I have a new song writing commission in from the BBC and I've been asked to create a series of dark and experimental soundscapes for the forthcoming world tour of singer song writer Mika. The pieces I come up with will be played before the show and also between songs to compliment the set design and lighting effects to create an immersive experience for the audience.

Website Updated

Back from Cannes which was a little quieter than usual this year but in many ways better for it. Saw a few films including Moon, Shooting Fish, Taking Woodstock and Looking for Eric and met some great people who were very passionate about film. I'm sending out my post Cannes newsletter today (which may be why you're reading this?) to announce the latest update to my website, so if you haven't taken a look at the showreels section here for a while then do check it out as there are lots of new clips there from projects I've worked on in the last year.

Cannes 2009

I'm going to be at the Cannes film festival 2009 from the 13th to the 20th of May.

Tous les chats sont gris (la nuit)

Currently working on some pre production for Tous les chats sont gris (la nuit) which is the French/Belgian film I mentioned below that is being produced as part of the Emergence scheme. It hasn't been 'Green Lit' yet but I've seen director Savina Dellicour's test scene and it looks really good. The films has a great script with some really funny dialogue. I'm experimenting with some ideas using musical toys, bits of old Mellotron and the Suzuki Q Chord.

Twitter

You can find me on Twitter as Roblord. Don't know how long this will last but for now I'm enjoying it........

Emergence

I've been invited by Belgian director Savina Dellicour to collaborate with her as part of the French Emergence film makers scheme in late March this year. The scheme is run by Elisabeth Depardieu to produce and release features by talented new directors and is highly regarded in France. They produced the film that won this years Cazares (the equivilant of the Oscars in France) and they have a marvellous track record for working with some of France's most talented actors and directors. I previously worked with Savina on Strange Little Girls, her Film Four/Cinema Extreme film. I've read the script for her new film and it really is excellent. More news soon.

The Taxidermist UK Premiere

The Taxidermist, the film I recently finished scoring for Warp X Films directed by Bert and Bertie, will have it's UK premier on Monday 16th of February at BAFTA in London.

Update Dec 08

So it's coming up to the end of another year - time for an update. To say it has been a busy year is a bit of an understatement. The film The Taxidermist for Warp X is almost finished. I'd say the music is 99% there and I'm just waiting for a locked edit so that I can mix out the final pieces. Fingers crossed it looks like 13, the LA based surreal, psychological, supernatural drama that I scored the pilot for earlier this year, has been picked up by Paramount in the US so I should have some good news on that soon. I've been working on a 26 part children's series for the BBC called Kerwhizz which is going well and combines 60's kitch with jazzy swing and some fairly camp vocals. It also has a great young vocalist called Tate singing the opening titles who is only 11 but has a fantastic Motown/Lulu sounding voice. Have been writing a song for Cbeebies which is sounding very catchy and generally poptastic! Er.. what else... Lots of commercials, this week one for Toyota, next week - who knows? :)
Anyway wishing you all (does anybody actually read this stuff????) a very happy Christmas and I'll be back with more news in the new year.

Apartment 12

Just heard today that my song Down Down Down was featured in the Hollywood feature Apartment 12 starring Mark Ruffalo. That song has a better career than I do! (Update - yes it is used in full as the opening titles song and the closing end credits song).

Royal College Of Music

I'll be giving a talk to students doing the MMus Composition for Screen course at London's Royal College Of Music tomorrow May 7th at 10am.

WARP FILMS

Just finished two very strange songs for The Taxidermist being directed by Bert and Bertie for Warp Films. The songs will be featured in the film and were needed on set as characters will be singing along (and dancing!). How strange? Lets just say that one of the songs starts as an electro funk love song with a vaguely taxidermy themed lyric that builds into a full blown Bollywood epic.....
I'll begin work on the rest of the score once the edit is complete in the next few weeks. I previously worked with Bert and Bertie on Phobias which you can see in the shorts reel on theis site.

Vortex

This was an experimental piece that I worked on with animator Dave Daniels a few years ago. A really interesting project in which we exchanged animation and musical ideas over the course of a year. This was the final result. I just found it on YouTube and thought I'd post it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2dt3VpWos

News Feb 29th 2008

Finished 8 tracks a Canon project. Just started working on a new commercial with director Stuart Rideout of RSA Films for Hardy's wine which he recently filmed in Australia. We're continuing our attempt to avoid all temp music and work in a more creative and collaborative way rather than trying to rehash other people's tracks. I also have another commercial about to start for the next in the West Quay series. The client would like to keep the melody I came up with for the previous commercial and develope it in a new direction for their latest film. Should start on that some time next week.