 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Communication from the depths of Brighton winter… And hopefully a flicker of warmth for you to gather round.
First up, it’s my pleasure to announce that I’ve put the entire Bad Science back catalogue (all 4 EPs) up on the Music page for anyone to download for free. We were just sitting on these songs, letting them get old without being listened to, and getting requests for them all the time. As Bad Science is no longer a body we don’t need to feed it anymore, so best to give it all away, spread the words. For those who don’t know- the Bad Science band was born in 1999 and lived all the way until 2008, when we went our separate ways. We played our mixture of hiphops in a lot of places with a lot of feeling. If you like the idea of some free music, here some is, in historical reverse:
Street Corner Story Tellers EP (2007)
Small Gods EP (2005)
Area Of Consciousness EP (2003)
The Bare Bones EP (2001)
… some of the music might sound a little bit dated, and it definitely isn’t where I’m at now lyrically, but it’s part of a journey I still think is worth sharing. I hope you enjoy it.
Second up, to return to where I AM at: reeling, from a project working with the RSC, Polar Bear and 4 highgrade wordsmiths on a show which we performed last Wednesday in the Swan Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon. We were each given a speech from Shakespeare to interpret through our own experience, creating a piece each in response. I had some of Caliban’s words from the Tempest. When I turned them on myself, they spoke to me of my recent breakup with my partner of 8 years, and I found myself writing in a way that allowed honesty and vulnerability to an extent I’ve never used before. It’s given me a whole new lease of creative life, and when I found that getting THAT naked on stage (fully clothed) isn’t just therapy, it gives other people a chance to feel their stuff too… It was a revelation. That looks cheesy, reading back. But what I’m saying is that I’ve realised that sometimes, it’s the little things that hold the biggest truths: you can spend all your life making grand statements about life and love, but just describing the moment of an awkward kiss might say it much clearer. Thank you Polar Bear for your dope director skills, and all the other MC’s/poets for being stupidly gifted and inspiring.
Third and last up, Small Gods: we’re taking December and January off gigging, and in that breathing space some wicked things are taking shape. On Monday I had folk legend Chris Wood round my house for the day, to begin work on a collaboration we’ve been planning for a while. This was a proper collision of hiphop and folk and it could have been a clumsy mismatch, but it worked just lovely. It sparked. We’ll be meeting up again with Chris in January to work on more ideas, and we’ll be performing the results at the Old Vic Tunnels on the 16th of February as part of the Twisted Folk night there. There’ll be more raving to come about Twisted Folk- I’m well excited about it. For now, let’s just say it’s something like a moment of climax for my idea of folk and hiphop, tradition and modernity coming together with proper respect for each other’s art.
Small Gods have also just confirmed our tour for April 2011- it’s looking peachy, and taking us to people and towns we’ve never reached before. The details for it will be up on the Gigs page very soon. With that and general movement in mind, at the start of January we’re going to be gathering by a fireside in France to spend a full week writing new material and picking fluff from each other’s navels. We’ll emerge from it with a new set of songs and maybe a set of furry figurines too…
There it all is, for now- I hope you find someone to tangle up with for the cold nights coming.
Make sure you get some sunlight, too. I always forget to at this time of year.
Peace and community,
Dizraeli.