Interview with Matt Cotterill (9/ Nov/ 2011)

With the first 'Next Wave' event taking place this Saturday at Phoenix Square this Saturday (3rd December), I though it would be the perfect time to upload my interview with Manic Music Productions' Matt Cotterill. This is going to be an article... but as usual I like to put the full interview up here. Also I've uploaded the flyers for the event.

So, could you tell me a bit about Manic Music?

Manic Music Productions was set up at the beginning of 2011, as a music production company in Leicester to serve the Leicester music scene and to support local talent. We're from different backgrounds. Myself, Michael and Maryann are media composers primarily and music producers as well. And Jed comes from a musical theatre background as well as having extensive experience in the musical industry in previous years, so he brings the business expertise to direct the company.And we're involved with working with artists and writing music for films.

On your website it seems like Manic Music do A LOT of things. Could you give a quick run-down of what you do?

I'm not sure that our updated website has gone up yet. We kinda reviewed where we were. We wanted every service on our website to reflect our ethos which is to support the Leicester music scene and encourage local talent. The focus is going to be on artist and band production; mixing and mastering; and it's going to be on artists' development (vocal coaching, advice in regard to where to take your next step in your career.) We're a portal for people to drop in and have a friendly chat with us with no commitments. Just come and tell us what you're up to or what you think you're next step might be and how we can help.

And what about people who want to go into recording and producing. Do you offer anything in that aspect?

Training, which is another large aspect, which I haven’t actually mentioned yet. We have three different workstations all running different digital audio workstations (it's the big three: Logic, ProTool, and KeyBase). So the guys in Leicester that have got their own set-up and recording themselves and making their own music, but they need help from a technical point of view to sonically improve what they're doing, then when can offer training in music production techniques all the way from pre-production to mastering.

Do you see this as being quite a traditional way of coming into that aspect of music, or is this quite a new thing, that didn’t exist before? As some would argue that you have to go to university to study things like music engineering.

I'd be very interested to see how the huge amount of courses out there do, especially with the fees that have soared out of proportion, and wether people will still be doing that as an option. Because there are websites available now that weren’t around when I was at uni, that are just up there for free and have better information than I was actually given on my course at university, It's more relevant, more up-to-date, more diverse, more practical, and less academic. If you're serious about a profession in the music industry and want to get going early, I'd be tempted to argue that going to university isn’t the best thing to do.

What do you think of the facilities here at Phoenix?

We love being here. We still feel there's untapped potential in the place. And it's great to be in a facility like Phoenix where stuff's happening. And resources scope for us to get involved in pushing a whole facility forward and get it on the map.

And Next Wave? How are you involved in that?

I guess Jed was the brainchild of it. And with that we worked together in the same room has made it useful to communicate about how we should set it up and what it can be about. I guess I'm going to be running the technical side of things on the day and liaising with the artists. And I'm always on the hunt to find new talent to work with. I guess the thing with Next Wave is that whilst we want to get involved, potentially, in a recording point of view in the long-term, the primary emphasis is to get people in and perform and just encourage talent.

And where did the original idea stem from?

I met Maryann and Michael in 2010. I bumped into them at a film evening. And I was introduced to Jed through them. They were friends and associates of Jed for a couple of years prior to that. And that's how we all came together really.

So what do you think of the music scene, and the art, in Leicester

There's a huge diversity and I think there's a wealth of great art being practised and made in the city. I think it's quite an exciting place to be as a creative person.

What advice would you give to emerging local talent, who, at the moment, are at a small stage, trying to build up?

...

From your perspective, what makes a good artists? What sort of people do you see coming to you?

I think the music industry can get quite convoluted with musical styles and you can try lots of different things. And variety is good, and whilst I like to seeing an artist that does different sorts of music, I think it's good to see somebody who is self-assured and has a strong sense of musical identity in what they're doing. So I like to see somebody who has their own stamp and personality when they're writing their own music but in terms of performance you can do covers and I think it's always good to see someone do a good cover and put their own take on it.

To round it off, where to you see Manic Music Productions going from here?

I think Next Wave is going to be huge in Leicester, there's huge potential with that event. So we're kind of going in, all guns blazing and want to get that out into everyone's consciousness in the city. And I think we'll start to see more people coming through our doors, just cause it's going to raise the profile of the business. And in the process I'll have a lot of fun in the process.

Tina Barton, excitedly, talked off having “bouncers on the door,” and you are linked with Martin Luke Brown, who is MASSIVE, performing. Do you see Manic Music Productions producing more big starts, and even going onto be national stars?

We've already had a couple of people through our doors who are real quality. And one of them is already making waves in the music industry.

Can you mention any names....

Not at this stage. I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut. Yeah, that's quite exciting.

And it's great to have Martin with the company in this way. I believe he's going to be hosting Next Wave, which is going to be a great asset to the event. I definitely encourage everyone to come down, cause it's going to be exciting.

Thank you for you time.

*Might be worth noting that I did "modify" this version, just to clean it up and make it a bit clearer (as we did go off on tangents). But I must stress it is pretty much the same as the original- except I haven't managed to proof-read this version. Hope you enjoyed it all the same.

Londiniensis Flagrans

Just a short 1st Draft of a poem. It's not great, but I felt there is little else I can do but write about the disheartening events taking place in London (and spreading.) The title, Londiniensis Flagrans, is Latin for London Ablaze.

Oh London,
My Dearest,
I watch the flames engulf you,
My heart begs for it to be untrue,
But my watering eyes say otherwise.

I took no notice,
As the magma thrashed through your underbelly,
And when it erupted,
I knew.

Now that same heat continues to race through your veins,
Motives mildly masked, they set ablaze your skin,
Which, like wood or silk, is burnt through from within.

As the stormy waves pass through,
To the sound of callous laughter,
Leaving behind the charred remains of my love.
And for what? Mark Duggan,
A name so unfamiliar to them,
As the notion of compassion?

Now, after 3 nights of hell,
I plea mercy for my Love, my London.
For a fate unjust hath befallen her.
And, although I was not with her,
My heart lay in her cinders.

Interview with Gervase Phinn (15/July/2011)

Gervase Phinn Finn is a well known author who I had the opportunity to meet on his new book signing tour at Waterstones, Leicester. The book, The Little Village School, can be purchased online here. For further information on Gervase Phinn can be found on his website.

Could you tell me a bit about The Little Village School?
The Little Village School is a novel. It’s my first main adult novel. I’ve written other books but this is centred on a small village school in Dales. It’s is rundown; it’s losing pupils. And to the school comes a new head teacher, with a rather unusual appearance. She wears red shoes with silver heels and black stockings. And she transforms the whole school. It is a book that is observational in its humour. It’s not cutting edge humour; it’s about character and people. And the main character, Mrs. Divine, is a rather mysterious character because people don’t know much about her. So the novel traces or plots her first year in the school: The children; the teachers; the people in the village. So it’s in the genre of, I suppose, that kind of a book of James Herriot or Miss Read, which my readers, I have to say are generally the more mature people. But I’m here in Leicester signing books. So I’ll leave it at that.

How does this book compare to those of the Dales series, set in the same location?
The others are semi-autobiographical and In the Dales series I’m an itinerant, an inspector going into other schools. This one is not. It’s centred on one particular school and this is fiction. The other one was semi-autobiographical. A lot of the incidences and happenings in the Dale books, published by Penguin, are based on very real incidence, but this is fiction. It’s more imaginative.

What prompted this switch from non-fiction?
The idea come up from the mainly from the publishers, who said, “you’ve written a lot of non-fiction, but would you like to have a go at writing a fiction.... a fictional account.” So I was really asked to do it. And it has been a challenge, but it’s been quite interesting. So it really came from the publisher, that.

Much of your work is anecdotal, so could I just ask: How important is experiences when it comes to writing?
There’s a view that the Bronte’s were closeted away in some vicarage in Howarth. That they never saw anything or did anything and they had this brilliant imagination. Well that’s not true. They were quite widely travelled, who were very interested in people. And when they entered the house, Patrick Bronte, the father, invited many different people. I think, my view is, you have to be very observational. You have to have different experiences. That gives you the material for books. I can’t see how you can possibly write something unless you have a range of experiences. Although I do read an awful lot of books, a lot of books. And I always believe that on the back of reading is writing. Sometimes I get ideas for techniques from other writers, which is quite common.

Earlier you mentioned to a teacher, just starting her career, to always keep a notebook. Have you always known you were going to write books?
I think I’ve written 84 books, now in total. Not that does include: picture books; academic books; story books; short stories; plays; and editor collections. But since university I have always kept a notebook. And in it I record the people I’ve met, places I’ve been too, anything that could be used as material for writing. So, I’ve always done. So in a sense I have never suffered from writer’s block because I just look through the notes and the ideas there.

What originally made you want to become a teacher?
Well after O-levels, the old O-levels, you’re too young to remember O-Levels. They used to be O-levels and A-levels. I was going to be an accountant, a trading accountant. But I changed my mind at A-level cause of a teacher who inspired me. And it was she who had said: “You should be a teacher. You’d be a good teacher.” And I’m glad I did. I don’t think I would have been a very good accountant.

What are your backgrounds in teaching?
I taught for 15 years, and then became an advisor, a schools inspector. I still work in schools. I still teach children when I can. But I’ve done a theatre tour, just finished a one-man show and a now I’m on a book signing tour. So I have to fit that in when I can. But last week, I got a lot of letters from children in a local school, who had read my children’s book, and I was just passing, so I called in. And they were really excited, it was just lovely. And I just called in to say thank you for your letters.

Recently, well relatively recently, I think it was 2004 when you won the Speaker of the Year. What’s the relationship between your public speaking and writing?
I prefer speaking to writing. I’m a very garrulous, talkative person and I do enjoy talking. But the Speaker of the Year Award is given to, they come round and watch. Since I was about 25, I’ve done a lot of public speaking, often for the charities where I’m a patron. So that was an award, and I do enjoy talking... It’s much easier than writing.

So what’s next for you?
Well I have a picture book coming out next month. Because I write picture books as well. This is called: ‘What Am I?’ It’s a little picture book for children. I’ve got some children’s short stories and I’ve got another book with Hodder, which is a Christmas book, which I’m hoping they are going to do. Which are short stories and anecdotes about Christmas. And then I’ve got to think about the sequel to this book. Cause I’ve left this book on a kind of cliff-hanger.

Interview with Hugo Kaagman (18/June/2011)

 Leicester's Sumo recently held a unique art exhibtion in aid of Multiple Sclerosis (MS.) The project, entitled "WindowsOn," not only saw a host of both amatuer and prominant Leicester-based artists, but also the influencial Dutch graffitti artist, Hugo Kaagman. For more information on the following thins,just click to follow the link: Hugo Kaagman; WindowsOn; MS Leicester. 

My name in English: Hugo “Cakeman” Kaagman. I pronounce it Kaagman. I painted this mural right there, and all the blue paintings and t-shirts.

So how did you get involved in WindowsOn?

My wife is connected to one of the organizers, Mark and Gary, who organized this. They asked me would you like come over to do something. It’s a good opportunity to do something and it’s for a good cause.

And where are you based at the moment?

I’ve come from the Netherlands. I flew over especially for this. I fly back day after tomorrow.

Wow! So have seen much of Leicester and it’s art scene?

I’ve been working actually. I’ve been buying spray paints from the market, and I’ve been looking around. It’s a very nice market – very multicultural. That’s what I like. Amsterdam is also like that but here it’s more Indian and African than Amsterdam.

Is Leicester what you expected?

I did research. I- I make stencils that I spray- like Banksy- Sorry they’re calling me. *Talking to musician*Hey! I like you very much. A young generation of punks!

Ok, I did research on images of the city, and I found a church that I liked very much.

I chose a landmark and found the clock tower. First I cut it out. I liked it, I spent hours on it, and that’s fine. And then when I came here, I saw it was very small. I’m not disappointed but I thought well maybe it- Well I thought I was THE big Tower of Eiffel or something. *chuckling*But that was a mistake.

Now that you’ve seen Leicester, are thinking of coming back in the near future?

I hope so. Well they want to invite me next year. I did this to show what I do. I made this mural there, well it was not good. The preparation – I need to scratch the wall to make it good white and then put paint on it. Now it was just improvisation.

Thank you for your time, and the artwork is lovely!

Thank you!

Interview with Nadine Beasley (12/ May/ 2011)

Tonight (Monday 23rd May 2011), Leicester's beloved Little Theatre opens its doord for its 1000th production. The production is Our Town, and I caught up with the director, Nadine Beasley, at a rehearsal of the play.
The production runs from tonight, the 23rd, to Sunday 28th May, and I would urge everyone to get down and see it! If you are intrested then follow the link.

My name is Nadine Beasley and I’m directing a play for the 1000th production of the Little Theatre. It’s a play by Thornton Wilder. It’s probably the most produced play in America. It’sa play about life in a small town in America- but it could be anywhere in the World. And it’s about life and how we live it, and how, whilst we live it, never see it. We never stop to see what’s going on. We’re all so busy with our life and what we’re interested in, we don’t actually notice people around us: People that we love and people that we don’t like very much. But life, very much, around us, until it’s too late.

What do fell contributes to its popularity?

Because it has so much in it. At its heart there is alove story of two young people who grew up together, who fall in love and marry. I’m not going to tell you what happens after that because I’m hoping people will see it, so I don’t want to ruin it for them. It’s a play we can all identify with. We’ve all done that, we all come from families; we all have that love within families, and then the problems within families when we grow older and want to do our own thing and our parents aren’t so keen on us doing that. And it’s just a play about life that we can all identify with but it’s done in an unusual way. I think that’s part of its strength. You’ll notice while watching, this is what you get. This isn’t just a rehearsal room- There is no scenery, very little scenery and very few props at all, they just mime what they’re doing. Thornton Wilder’s idea was that scenery blocks like small things in life stop us from seeing what is actually going on. He’s done it like this, so the actors actually have to tell the story. They can’t rely on the set they are given or the props they have to tell the story, they have to tell it themselves from they’re hearts. And that’s why it must be such a successful play.

Do you think that actually made it harder to cast some of the characters?

Not really, actually. I’ve been very lucky in that regard. I can see what you mean. It might have done. It might well have done because you need 23 people, for a start-23 people who can work without a set and without props and can mime. It was a huge ask, but I’m very lucky that lots of people wanted to be involved so I had a very good choice of people to choose from- and I’m very pleased with that.

This is the 1000th production. Was there any specific reason this play was chosen?

I don’t think so. I think when arranging a season of play here, the team that are choosing them that particular year will choose a selection of plays for the year and then they have to be put in order throughout the season and why they are put in a certain place depends on a lot of things. You can’t put two large cast plays together, because we don’t have enough people, perhaps. Or you can’t put two costume plays together because the wardrobe department would struggle. All sorts of reasons. Whether or not we have the rights to do it. Sometimes if there is a professional production of a play, we can only have right at certain times to do it. So there are lots of reasons as to what’s chosen. And we knew where the 1000th production had to go on, just happened to be this play.

Do feel that puts any extra pressure on the cast?

I’ve tried not to let that happen. And I’ve tried not to let that happen to the cast. I haven’t told them anything about what’s going on about the celebrations, because I don’t want them know who’s coming to see it or what’s going to happen, because I want them to give the same performance every night, regardless of who’s coming. There are a lot of people who have been invited. People who are have been very helpful to us over the years. Obviously as any company that reaches this milestone wants to celebrate it with people who have worked alongside you for a number of years.

Any chance of finding out who those people are?

No. *Laughs* Not because I’m keeping it a secret but because I’m not entirely sure I could remember the list.

 

Being so close to the opening show how prepared do you feel?

I think it’s going very well. Nerves start kicking
in a little bit at this stage. And you start wondering whether you’re going to get it right or not. But I think it’s going very well. When you’re in rehearsal you get to a stage, where the production really needs to go on stage. They get tired of rehearsing- They want to do it! And they will sometime get a bit tired. This hasn’t happened yet with them. They’re still on the up and they’re working very well. But we’re ready to go on stage, to get the lighting, and the sound and everything that goes with it which makes them feel more at home.

 

How consistent, and how professional do think the performances are, bearing in mind there is a large cast, with a large age difference?

That’s the one thing about theatre is that any production will have people of a variety of ages. So in a society like this, or any theatre company, you’ll have people in their 70’s who are close friends with people in their teens because what joins them together is their passion for what we do. It’s the passion for theatre. And age simply doesn’t matter. Age is irrelevant. What happens is that those with experience, and that’s not entirely related to age, they help those with less experience. And a lot of our younger actors, certainly our main two young actors, are just naturally talented.

What is your previous experience in theater and directing?

I’ve been doing theatre since I was 7- and I’m considerably older than that now. With this theatre, I can’t remember how many productions I’ve directed. I usually do large-cast plays. Ive done Voyage Round My Father, I’ve done Journey’s End, all sorts of productions here. This is probably my 15th or 16th play that I’ve directed here. I also act, and I’m a trustee of the theatre, so I’m very heavily involved, as are many castmembers here. I’ve got more directors in this play than you can shake a stick at. So they are all very experienced and very involved members of the theatre.

 

Could you give me one line to persuade people to come see Our Town at Little Theatre.

One line. It’s fantastic. It’s a brilliant production. Come and see it. Come and see live theatre.               

Interview with Gavin Smith (7/ May/ 2011)

Leicester's Starbase recently ran a Sci-Film Festival at Phoenix Sqare. Covering the event for the Wave, I met locally-based Sci-Fi author, Gavin Smith, who has just released his debut novel, Veteran. I took the opportunity to interview him. If you want more information you can visit his site here.   

Hi, my name is Gavin Smith. I’m a science-fiction author. My first book, ‘Veteran’ came out last June. The novel version of it is coming out next week. My second book, ‘War in Heaven,’ which is a follow up to Veteran is coming out in September, and as I said I am a science-fiction author based here in Leicester.

When did you first get into Sci-Fi?

A very, very young age. I’m from the Starwars generation, but it wasn’t actually Starwars that got me into Science Fiction. I grew up in Dundee in Scotland. My Gran used to come over and babysit for us on Friday nights and she worked, or knew people who worked, for one of the magazine publishers in Dundee, and they used to get DC and Marvel comics from America, which was like gold-dust in Scotland in the 70’s. So I think that was the first thing that got me interested, and then from there, Starwars came out. I’m now not a very big Starwars fan, but Starwars led me onto 2008D and 2008D to the whole world of literary Science Fiction. And come the 80’s we saw films like Terminator, which I’m introducing tonight, which I’m very excited about. So things got darker and more grittier and that was the sort of thing I was interested in much more than the shininess of say Starwars.

And what do you think really makes the Sci-Fi genre?

That’s a good question. It’s something a lot of people talk about. Particularly at conventions, and it’s something that I think I, as a writer, have got wrong because a lot of people feel its technology that leads the genre and I’m much more interested in the character side of it. So I think if you get your society and imagine what it’s going to be like with technology in that society and then you drop people in it to navigate it. It depends on how you look at it. There’s lots and lots of different types of science fiction- there’s room for it all. Personally, I just love it if there are spaceships and aliens. *laughing* A very simple approach to it.

Looking at today’s society, how close do you think we are to what Science-Fiction has been in the past?

I remember being in a nightclub just as it turned to the new millennium, and speaking to a friend of mine and going: “Where are the flying cars? Where are all the people wearing silver jumpsuits?” And a girl walked past us in a silver jump suit. So there! I don’t even think it’s before my time. I think in the early 80’s I was reading a lot of William Gibson and Walter Jon Williams, all the cyber-punk authors. Have a look at all the technology we’re using now, we are appear to be living in an almost cyber punk age, where we have very high technology, but at the same time we have serious societal problems with the ongoing recession, cultural wars, things like that. So I think Bryan O. said ‘A science fiction author’s job isn’t to predict, A science fiction author’s job is to warn.’ It’s not so much of a case of getting it right , you are living in the futre, you are living in a science fiction age now. But what would be brilliant, from my perspective, would be more space exploration. I would love to see that.

And in terms of Sci-Fi writing and films, what do you think we should be looking to avoid in the future?

What do I think we should be avoiding for the future? Things like Terminator and The Matrix, where the enemy is technology gone mad. I don’t think that’s something we need to necessarily worry about. I think our greatest enemy is going to be ourselves to some degree or another. My science fiction is quite slam-bang high adventure stuff, but in terms of warning, where the lust to make money overwhelms human compassion or care for our fellow people, I think any civilization should be judged on how it treats the least fortunate in that civilization.

Do you think science fiction is getting phased out (I did, in this question, quite ashamedly, mention X-Factor as being perceived as cool- Please don’t judge me!)?

No, I don’t think science fiction is getting phased out. In fact, it seems to me, since I was a kid, you go to a bookshop, there’s much more and much more varied science fiction, fantasy and horror available. Now X-Factor might be a popular show, but so is Doctor Who. If you look at the summer’s blockbusters, most, if not all of them, will be either science fiction or fantasy based, to some degree (Things like the next Pirates of the Carribean film; We just had Tron, Sucker Punch, things like that). So it’s difficult to imagine science fiction being phased out when we rule the cinema.

Wow! That’s a really good answer. So what do thing of all these new movies? Do you think all this, I’m going to say, technology, special features, everything, do you think that’s making Sci-Fi better or do you think it’s drawing away from the storyline?

That’s actually a very good question. I think one of the knock-on effects of Starwars is that science fiction cinema became about the cinema of spectacle. And it might have lost some of more science fiction elements in big starship fights and things like that. Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that! That’s why I think that the choice of films here, this weekend, has been excellent. Because if you have a look at them, they are all proper science fiction films. They are films that can be told in no other genre than science fiction. They’re some of the more surreal films. There’s a good mix of the classics and some of the newer films, like Moon, which is an incredible piece of work. Again, I think they’re both there, because for every third Matrix film there’s a Donnie Darko. So there’s room for all of it. In terms of computer generated graphics, I’ve heard a lot of people complain about it. I think it’s an amazing thing, because some of the really, really big stories in science fiction can now be shown on screen in a way that they wouldn’t be before.

As an author, would you want to see your books being produced for the cinema?

Yeah. Yeah, that would be great. Because when I write, I’m writing down the film that’s going on inside my head. There always a risk that you’re going to see and go: “That’s not what I saw in my head! It’s completely different to the way I imagined it.” No, but I would love to see that.

So do you prefer books or movies?

It’s two very different experiences. I don’t think it’s one thing or the other. It should be about both. Each one has its strengths.

What do you see as your next couple of ideas for books?

Right, I don’t actually tell me editors my ideas. I just give them a rough outline and then the completed book, hopefully before the deadline. But the next book is ‘War in Heaven,’ and that’s a follow-up to Veteran. It’s going on in the same universe, with some of the same characters. The book after that, I can tell you what it’s called, and I’m not even sure I’ve told be editor this. It’s called ‘Age of Scorpio.’ It’s in a completely different universe to what I’ve written before, and that’s probably all I can tell you.

There are no other hints you can drop?

                Umm…

One of the characters, maybe?

One of the character’s names or something like that? Yes, I think. One of the characters is almost certainly going to be a small lizard in a top hat.  

That’s really interesting. I think I’ll leave at that, before try to pry too much more out of you. Anyway it’s fantastic to meet you. And thank you for your time.

                Thank you. That’s actually the first interview I’ve ever done.     

Wave A Week On...

My articles from last edition of the Wave (published 30th March 2011).  The full newspaper is  available online by clicking here.