So with only minutes to go, whether you're happy about the Olympics or not, we Londoners have no alternative but to get onboard...
Billed as 'The Biggest Show on Earth'; billions of eyes will be on our Little Island expectant and ready to judge what Danny Boyle has put together for the biggest live event our Country has ever known. The rest of the world have been shown a fairly nice view, but amongst the residents, there's an underlying theme running throughout the headlines, blogosphere and general social media - that we cannot handle this; essentially, we are unprepared.
Whether transport ('Olympic Lanes' are the new swear words of the moment), accommodation or even the Opening Ceremony; there is a lot of suffering for those who live here for the simple fact that all of the planning time has gone into 'the British Veneer', instead of finding ways to make things work all-round. That inspired our question for this week - why do you need to treat every project like a majorevent? Just how important is Preparation?
If you caught last week's edition of #TheSauce you will know that Deer Oh Deer Ltd. will be accessorising the Jack Fruit collection tomorrow at the Model and Catwalk Party that Sam's Fashion Shop will present. Featuring pieces from our 'HarleQueens' collection, it's our job to prepare for our showing by making fresh pieces to loan for the event, in addition to ensuring we have all of our marketing and promotional material ready for enquiries about the line.
Monday also saw Charli-Anne making a pre-show trip to Wales for our next show in Monmouth on the 30th August, where we will not only feature a number of pieces from previous lines, but also some one-off specials tailored to the event. In order to create the latter pieces however, we needed to do our research. You cannot creatively (and successfully) tailor a package without first getting the lay of the land...
Also in Sunday's edition, we told you that early September will see the release of Lekhem's next musical project (look out for more news on that this weekend...).
'VIRGO', the tagteam mixtape with fellow R2S member Korshun, has a strategic marketing and promotional plan in place, dedicated to reminding you that the release is coming in fresh and innovative ways, entirely atypical of their peers. An entirely themed marketing concept, expect some fun promo that you can all get involved in very soon...
With every project that the ESP Family bring you, there is always an assurance that an exceptional amount of work, planning and preparation has gone into the total package. There are no fast-tracked lanes causing a ripple effect of chaos and no shiny veneers hiding a foundation that cannot cope.
We Plan, we Prepare and we Produce -
then we hope you enjoy the show...
Enjoy the Ceremony everyone! Boris' messy lanes aside; here's hoping Danny and his troupe do us proud!
Find out more about Sam's Fashion Shop Presents: An Exclusive VIP Fashion and Model Industry Partytomorrow via the Facebook event page...
...and STAY TUNED to LekLane and the 25th Edition of #TheSauce for some Breaking Announcements on Lekhem and Korshun's 'VIRGO' mixtape - we have a bumper edition planned...
What's the best way for a random audience to find your works when you don't have direct details for contact? How does a new fanbase find you all on their own; with no-one else to alert them to your existence? Basically, HOW do you harness the power of the Almighty Internet and draw it's traffic to you? Simple! By tagging of course!
Think about the way that you use Google. You want to find something, so what do you do? You enter the name, or search term of what you're looking for and hit that 'Enter' button, right? But have you ever thought about how those search results are determined and how you can make them work for you?
'Tagging' is essentially the equivalent of running your favourite neon highlighter over your item of interest, by pinpointing the key criteria that you want people to focus on. Deer Oh Deer Ltd. works for instance, will always be tagged under 'Fashion' and 'Vintage' first and foremost, before anything else.
So that covers the first step of how to put you in the spotlight; but how do you make it work for you? Well simply put, you need to associate your search term with relevant topics that people are interested in and generate a definite high volume of web traffic. Case and Point:
Interviewing the lovely Ladies of StooShe was a fun experience and their involvement in sharing the piece was invaluable; but it is their name tagged to the post, that keeps a daily audience visiting a feature that is now a few months old.
Tagging is not just restricted to blogs and social network posts though. Every file that you upload, saves the file name as it's search keys. I am forever uploading pictures for various projects. Every photograph I place in the public domain, is entitled with the terms of reference that are most likely to receive the highest amount of web hits. Associating popular search terms with your project will automatically draw you a fresh audience looking for related items under a general search.
For another example, look to the vehicle that has catapulted the Humble Hashtag to bigger and faster fame than Justin Bieber on a YouTube short! For now - #ThatsAllFolks!
Enjoy your rainy weekend fellow Britons; let's try not to spook that rumoured heatwave!
If I had a pound for every music link I receive, swiftly followed by requests for mixtape reviews...Well it wouldn't match this week's Euro Lottery jackpot, but it would certainly fund a comfortable lifestyle.
Unfortunately, I have to upset many an artist because of one standard rule. If you can't be bothered to label (properly), I can't be bothered to listen. It is absolutely shocking how many artists think that once they've finished recording, their work is done. You could not be more wrong!
When it comes to packaging mixtapes for promotional releases, most tend to forget one very important thing; their masterpiece is one of many in a pile. Why do you think that most DJs have a separate email address purely for music submissions? Your work is one of an infinite number and you as an artist, have a matter of seconds to stand out from the envelope beneath you.
With ESP Ltd. projects, packaging is paramount because it's what brings the attention of new audiences. In order to draw your eye, our visual concepts are always a little different from the norm, but more importantly, we ensure that there is absolutely nothing to get in the way of the good stuff - the music. I tend to opt for the advice of one of my favourite song lyrics when packaging new releases; I ensure they are: "Wrapped up, Packed up, Ribbon with a bow on it". In practical terms, that means every track on a release is numbered, labelled appropriately and catalogued, with full referencing credits. As Lekhemrecently wrote in his blog piece discussing the effects of the Internet on the Music Industry (The Internet: Music's Help or Hindrance?); who recalls the days when you would buy a physical releasejust so that you could read the inlays and see who did what?
Although adding a folder to my iTunes, only to completely lose all of the tracks because someone couldn't be bothered to label their works properly is hugely annoying; it's only surpassed by ONE thing on my criminal list - Spelling Errors! In this day and age, there is absolutely no justifiable cause for spelling errors - the trusty spellcheck function does after all, make the very shortwriting process as easy as A, B, C...
I'm not the only one who refuses to listen to lazily packaged projects though; remember when DJ Melody Kane dropped by a few months back for her #FindOutFriday feature?
"If there's good music out there, people just need to email me, it needs to be clearly labelled, it needs to be a high bitrate, it needs to be presented in a certain way. If people send me music and just say; "listen to my track it's f***ing amazing!" I won't download it, I won't even open it...Just make sure that it's sent in the right way; make sure you've labelled your tracks correctly, make sure it's mastered and if I like it then I will 100% play it."
So there you go, you don't have to take my word for it at all - you have the guidance of a World-Wide DJ, also known for spinning a tune or few as SB:TV's Official DJ and for the lads of Chelsea FC.
Thanks for taking part in this week's lesson - feedback is always welcome, so leave your comments in the usual place...
Best Wishes for a Dry weekend my fellow Britons; to the rest of the World - see you next time!
You may recall some behind the scenes stills from Drassick DIGITAL'S video shoot with with Stirra, Bizzi, Solo Flips, Panic Phaze and Modulation for the C-Dot production 'Steam Roller'.
Released earlier today, the collaboration is set to be yet another Underground favourite as soon it hits the airwaves! Enjoy the video here and feel free to share!
You know those conversations that you sit in the middle of and you nod away in your most understanding fashion, upholding the pretence that you fully understand what's going on around you?
Well that's what happened the first...well ok, several times when I tagged along to film Lekhem's studio shorts. You never realise how little you actually know about music until you follow the story of someone who makes it everyday...
The more I went, the more I started to pick up little processes, terms and their meanings. But what if you've never had the occasion to take part on Scholarly jaunts of this kind? How do you know your 'WIP' from your mastered radio edit? Well it's only right that I brought Professor Lek back to tell you...
"Making music is like cooking a succulent meal. The Artist is the Recipe; they are the ideas that go into the mix. The Producer is the Chef; some people think that Producers are only responsible for making beats and in truth some are. But a good Producer does much more than that. They decide what will work for the Artist's ideas, what won't and the final decision is always with them.
That makes the Sound Engineer your Sous Chef. They have a lot of responsibilities beyond just assisting the Chef, or Producer though. Yes it's the Sound Engineer's job to help, or create the particular type of sound that the Producer wants; but there are a lot of key areas a good Engineer will be the only one to oversee...
Recording Techniques...
The main thing that I look to see is how an Artist records. When I worked at JetStar (Records), there was always a variation in the experience of the Artists that came through the studios. You could always tell who's had less studio time because as the Engineer, I had to teach them how far to stand from the Mic; their body positioning and technique. It's the same thing with instruments also; if you have a 7-piece Drum kit, you have to know the right placements for the Mics to get the right frequency. Check out the practical examples:
...Understanding Frequencies
As we know, Sound is measured in frequencies, from the highest to the lowest. I couldn't tell you about technical names for things because I'm not the book-trained Engineer - I'm the only other kind you can be; I have an Analytical Ear. This means that Ican listen to a mix and hear where the frequencies need to be by analysing the sounds. For instance, a Hi-Hat wouldn't have the same EQ / frequencyrange as a bassline, because they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. To be a good Engineer, you need to understand the frequency range that every sound on a track works within.
Mixing...
Alright picture doing your shopping at the end of the month; you get it home, you empty your bags - you need to put everything away in the right place, right? That's basically what mixing is; taking different aspects of your music's sounds and putting them on their frequency shelves. Volume, frequencies, sound effects; you make every sound presentable at Mixing stage. You bring each one into line with the other, until nothing is out of place and everything sounds nice. No person with an untrained ear could listen to each individual element well enough to pick the source if one particular sound was slightly off; you would have to have a natural ear like myself, or be trained to know. Subconsciously, I've seen people listen to a track and say they don't like it, but not be able to pinpoint why, because it's an unmixed track that they are listening to. Those same people then heard the mixed version, like it, but didn't realise it was the same song that they were listening to.
...Mastering
So let's go back to that shopping...You've unpacked, put everything in its neat place and now it's time to clean up. Clean your counters, mop your floors, all of that; that is essentially what Mastering is - giving your 'WIP' or 'Work In Progress' that final buff, shine and gloss so that it's ready to be heard by the public. If you're into cars, Mastering is like audio turtle wax; it's when you take your works so far and Make Them Gleam!
This is where an Analytical Ear is essential. If an Engineer hasn't got the Ear to recognise all of the above and put it into play; it will be very hard for them to be successful. A good Sound Engineer must know what to do to fix the smallest problem; but even before that, they have to be able to hear what's missing first. From when that Artist first steps into the booth, the Engineer should be able to tell what's wrong with their stance for example, just by listening to the sound coming through the speakers.
An Engineer won't be able to detect the differences between frequencies without an Analytical Ear. Take me for instance; my vocals are mid-range but someone without a trained ear might not be able to identify that and think they would need to fix my levels by adding bass; only that would be the wrong range and would have no effect on the recording at all.
That same Analytical Ear also covers everything from instruments to plug-ins to monitors, speakers and more. Every speaker is different so an experienced Engineer is going to compare the sounds when shopping for speakers, because not everyone of them sounds the same. That same experience would teach that Engineer what to look for and they would know the sound that best fits their studio."
I hope you were all paying attention to another great lesson from Professor Lek! You've heard a few examples of his Engineering exploits above, from mixing the ingredients to Producing that final tasty dish. But for the latest example of latter, check out 'Great Weekend' by fellow Artist Banditsu, released earlier today!
For more from Lekhem, be sure to connect via his Social Media Catalogue below:
And don't forget to Subscribe to LekLane for the latest on all of his kitchen exploits, from Artist Recipes to Chef Finality! Feedback on today's lesson via the Comment Box below and we'll see you next time.
As the literal world is now aware, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra put on the London Borough of Hackney's biggest ever event on the 23rd and 24th June.
100 Artists and DJs performed for 100,000 people across both days, at an especially adapted festival site hitherto only graced by football and cricket teams on 6 of their 89 green pitches of, well, mud...
A complete festival novice (I saw the Jimi Hendrix Story once and there was a Woodstock scene...but that's really about it); my sole preparation consisted of heavy duty Snow boots in lieu of Wellingtons I have not owned since I was about 3. Multiple layers to combat the cold I do not do; copious amounts of tissues and antibacterial hand gel (rows upon rows of portaloos - 600+ I do believe - need I say more?!).
Arriving just after 9AM, with a 4-hour wait across each of the 5 queue points from the box office to final security check, my goal of the day was to survive until headliner Jay Z; sustaining my musical appetite on vocal delights from the likes of Leona Lewis, Delilah, Jessie Ware and a little bit of Rita Ora. I was even willing to endure a certain dark-hued, (currently) blonde 'Barb' for one Drassick DIGITAL, since the sojournwas for his birthday treat, after all.
One can only assume the BBC felt justified in charging £7 per programme because the event tickets were free + postage (which also relied on your receiving your tickets in the post, which I did not). Unfortunately for them, very few people agreed and the broadcasters opened themselves up to the obvious - attendees taking pictures of the programme on their phones / cameras and using those to navigate between the line ups on all six stages.
Having missed Jessie (Ware) and Rita by the time we were fed and watered; Leona was already underway, having opened on the main stage. I will say Bless the Beeb for the big screens because without them, you were purely looking at moving dots on stages big enough to have been mistaken for small cities (Amazing design feats; if you can get to view the story of the build please do, as the team who erected them all deserve a huge amount of recognition). It wasn't until Leona was halfway through 'Bleeding Love' that my naked eye actually caught sight of her flapping wrap in the wind...
To the 'In New Music We Trust' stage for a double next - top of the BBC's 'Sound of 2012' list, Michael Kiwanuka, followed by one of my personal list toppers, Delilah. A very mellow and soothing set, Kiwanuka made me long for a bath with candles, rose petals and wine. It wasn't hard to see why he willbe filling many a venue for some time to come.
My first time seeing Delilah live, I was ecstatic that her vocals proved even better than recordings (don't you love it when that happens? It's the mark of a trueArtist, in my opinion). The gorgeous temptress lived up to her name, heating the freezing tent right up with her fashion. The only thing missing was a touch of Deer Oh Deer Ltd. from our Carnivale line (note to self - get in touch)! Sultry down to the super-sexy, skyscraper boots we heard tell of before she took the stage, Delilah's stage presence was mesmerising, while still managing to emote a down-to-earth air. She impressed me further by repeatedly making direct eye contact and smiling, as if she were chatting with an old friend, not performing for a few thousand people, not to mention the millions watching at home. Engaging from start to finish, as a pure acoustic performer, Delilah delivered my favourite set of the day...
Off to the '1Xtra' stage for Mr. 'Steal Your Girl', it was at this point that the long set changes started to get a tad painful. The delay at the start of Trey Songz' set was irritating because it took two days and our favourite DJRonnie Herel's Monday Night Specialist Surgery; for the reason to come to light. Apparently a massive PA system failure occurred twice; but a fairly obvious risk management scenario didn't seem to occur to the organising team: what will we do if the sound system goes down and we get a tent full of a good few thousand overheated females, pushing, shoving and ready to scratch out eyeballs to get ONE inch closer to the stage. I saw a number lose the ability to stand before Songz even came on. Instead, there was a problem and the staff wrongly said nothing. This was the first of a few of these incidents throughout the day and it was unfortunate that all were handled in the same fashion - by saying nothing. But we'll revisit what the organisers should take away from this later...
So back to Trey who performed a very good vocal set if you ignored the trademark "Yeauhs" (I'm sorry - to each her own, it just didn't cut it for me). A good tracklist despite containing few of the tracks I actually like him for ('Hatin Love', 'In The Middle' to name a few); vocally, I thought he delivered very well. The only other annoyance was the knowledge that Nicki Minaj was on the grounds, but did not join him for their collaborative track 'Bottoms Up'.
Not being one to lose my mind for no good reason; I wasn't just in the non-swooning minority, I was an outright hostile alien apparently - a lesson learned when I was nearly trampled to death over Songz' t-shirt, freshly torn from his sweaty body (that I highly suspected of being doused with extra glitter shine), and lobbed into the middle section of senseless females, absolutely nowhere near the illogical ones surrounding me...
Exiting stage right, you only understood the frenzy left behind in the tented arena, when you got outside of it and experienced the immediate temperature drop. Seriously Ladies, CALM DOWN around the man! If I were in the path of a herd of stampeding bulls, I would have been in less danger...
Escaping to the much safer main stage for Ed Sheeran, he was well underway because the Trey set ran so far behind. A bit far out, I waited until the end of his always brilliant set to try to get in a bit closer to the stage, but already, it was overpacked in the vast expanse set aside. The only thing missing from his performance for me, was the mindblowing Lil' Kim mash up that I saw him do during a set last November. Beyond that, we all know that Ed's delivery is Grade A, with a few Platinum +'s...
Nicki Minaj next, the wait after the set build seemed interminable, which I blamed on 'Barb's' personal primping and preening...until I checked the setlist again and realised just how ridiculous the changeover times were! It was clear that those setting the schedule really weren't thinking about the people who came from the start. Obviously adequate build times need to be alloted; as an event organiser, I fully understand and appreciate the need to ensure precision and safety. However from 6:15 when Ed finished, to Minaj's scheduled time of 6:45 (it was almost another 15 minutes before she took the stage); the additional increments until the full ONE HOUR wait for Jay Z even began, were just far too tedious.
Her set was as expected and I will not deny my willingness (nor active Prayer) to meet a trampled end when 'Starships' came on; but my irritation was only exacerbated when she ran through her verse on Trey Songz' 'Bottoms Up', not too long after we saw backstage footage of him, a few feet from her, in the Entertainer's Village. Earlier, I assumed that maybe Minaj hadn't arrived yet for his set or was still getting ready, but knowing they were both stage ready and in the same place? It made absolutely NO sense as to why that didn't happen...
Over 50 minutes from Nicki's set close, Kasabian took their turn. Completely unfamiliar with more than their name, I enjoyed their set and their singalong camaraderie with their audience:
Now pouring with rain in a grave 'Frère Jacques' understatement; there was nothing to be done but grit your teeth and bear the rain. Also later much than his 9:50stage time, even moany I could not deny the sheer electricity that went through the entire festival site when the doors opened and Jigga and the unexpected RiRi took the stage. You actually felt the air change...
Later surprise guests included MIA - who took over 5 minutes to realise that there was (thankfully) no sound coming through her mic and Kanye West who (regretfully), suffered the same ill on more than one occasion. I did not pretend to hide my amusement at the complaint overheard, from someone who's overly meaty arm left me bruises that have yet to go down...Speaking of Kanye's 30-minute appearance for a condensed 'Watch The Throne' set; he cried "I paid Sixty f**king quid for this!" to his equally annoyed friends...
Apart from the assault and battery (by MIA's vocals as well as the 'moshers'), JayZ'sset was absolutely a+mazing. From 'Watch The Throne' to many of my early favourites going back to the 'Reasonable Doubt' days - which I personally prefer, those 68 minutes are officially cemented as a Once in a Lifetime experience.
Once Jay and Kanye left the stage, I have to say that I was very shocked at the handling and direction of transport services away from the site - and I really don't live that far away. Again, the lack of proper preparation and communication from the BBC, Hackney Council and the Met Police, meant that I ended up as one of far too many, stranded and trying to get home, until just before 3AM. Bear in mind the event finished shortly after 11PM. The majority of the so-called Security staff in the shuttle bus / pre-booked pick up / cab point, spent the entire time doing little more than herding cattle in the rain, until they themselves ALL piled into people carriers and left a very long queue stretching out of the carpark, to fend for themselves a good hour before I managed to get on my way. I found that part of the whole experience quite scary and disturbing and would never expect those kind of circumstances at an event connected with theBBC.
If you attended either day, let me know your thoughts on the Hackney Weekender in the comments box below - particularly if you were one of my strandees!
Monday 25th June marked the anniversary of the day that Music, Entertainment and Creativity as a whole, dimmed for all time.
The third since Michael Jackson's passing, only two days earlier, four of his five brothers performed in Detroit for the third stop on their 'Unity' Tour - reformed in their youngest brother's honour.
Reading through the tracklisting in the show's Billboard.com Review; I couldn't help reminiscing on some of my all-time favourite music. As the childhood memories came flooding back, along with all the rest that comes with nostalgia of this kind, I got the idea for this latest blog piece. And since we're talking the Jackson Family, it was only right to consult my own...So I asked them:
Ok, so my track has to be 'The Way You Make Me Feel'. That was MY jam back in the day and still gives me the same uplifting feeling today. Michael had this incredible and unmatched (apart from Prince!) ability to force your body to MOVE. That track has to be one of my fave beats of all time...just so guttural!
Michael Jackson with model Tatiana Thumbtzen
I was also OBSESSED with the girl in the video...I wanted to be her! She pretty much represents everything good about 80s style to me.
I still can't believe he's gone because to me, as long as his music is playing, he's right here with us, still making us move... :oP
Fully in agreement with our Char; I would constantly rewind the cassette on this one - I wanted to be Tatiana too! MJ's fashion from the video even inspired a little 'homage moment' from me at a tribute event last year...
Michael Jackson has always been and will always be, the most Iconic person / name / brand in music history. It's really just that simple. No other artist has influenced so many people from so many different walks of life, or been an inspiration to so many different musicians, artists and more, regardless of genre. Anywhere you go, there's a major MJ fan just a few feet away from you.
My favourite MJ song is 'Remember The Time'. It's the raw energy in his vocal that always does it for me and I've loved that song for the same reason, since from before I was even at an age with double figures. I remember when I learned the song as a kid, anytime I played it at home, I would always get my MJ dancing on in the living room (aka the CHA'MON skank).
'Remember The Time' also produced one of my favourite videos from MJ as well. The first time I saw it, I was lucky enough to see the full 9mins+ version, which was unheard of for a music video at that time...well I had never heard of another like that at my age. The opening scene with Eddie Murphy and Iman as King and Queen and all the 'jesters' like Michael Jordan, was real funny and then MJ appeared, after first entering as a cloaked magician of some sort...
MJ made fun music videos and 'Remember The Time' wasn't the only one. 'Smooth Criminal', 'Billie Jean', 'Thriller' and so many more of his videos were groundbreaking; in terms of technology, special effects and well-written scripts. MJ had a knack of making record-breaking videos in his own way and he did it time after time. He was an excellent songwriter, composer and musician who leant his talents to many projects outside of music. From working on film scores to acting; his work has been hailed all over the world and became another important part of his career.
Truly an Icon in whatever he was involved in; the world will continue to dance to the sounds of MJ...
No personal homages to this one (yet); but I can say that firstly, I was way more obsessed with Michael'shair and outfit in this video, than Iman's! As for the release; I remember the furore surrounding this video like it was yesterday...the first time the world saw Michael kiss a woman! The controversy took over the pages of The Sun newspaper for MONTHS and sans MTV at home; they were the first to announce the Tops of the Pops Premiere time on the Monday morning, for something like 7:21PM, that Friday evening. I willed the week away with all my might and when school let out that day, I literally flew home and Did. Not. Budge from the front of the telly until I recorded the video from it. It was enticing in a way I didn't yet understand, futuristic (for a story set in the past) and as Lek said, slick in so many ways we had never seen for music videos of that time. Like nearly every MJ release, 'Remember The Time' was light years ahead of its time...
Now I wanted to blame these two for picking favourites with some of my most vivid memories attached...Then I sat down to pick my own and realised that actually; there are few to NO Michael / Jackson 5 tracks that I don't have a strong tie to, because I remember the 'What, When and Where' of every time! So which will I go for? Well I'm going to be cheeky and go for more than one thing because it's too big of a question to ask of me!
Now bear in mind, I think my first words were quite possibly Jackson lyrics. Most kids were raised on fairytales, I had Motown, Stax and Chess (Thank You Mummy)! So asking me to pick a favourite is akin to choosing a favourite limb. But I feel like picking something from the group, rather than just Michael's catalogue. My earliest memory is of playing 'Goin' Back To Indiana' from 'The Third Album', until I was no longer allowed to touch the vinyl album. I learnt precision in 'The Art of Restarting Tracks on a Record Player', just from playing that song, but my Mum almost started to hate it for that very same reason!
Although I would probably say 'I Wanna Be Where You Are' is my ULTIMATE favourite - I said probably, I'm going to go for one of my interchangeable Top 3...5...well anyway, my pick is 'Never Can Say Goodbye'. Released in 1971, on the 'Maybe Tomorrow' album, I cannot find one thing wrong with this entire song, I love it to the point where it never, ever gets just one single play. It's even on my phone's music player! How can a 12-year-old sing not just about love, but heartache, with so much emotion? It gets me every time! Check out their first live performance of the track:
Being the one of a kind, all-round Entertainer that Michael was, there was so much more than music. For my absolute, one hundred percent favourite thing, I'm going to go back to something that not too many people will remember...
Whilst still in single figures, my number one, favourite present of all time, had to be a compilation of poems and art penned almost entirely by MJ himself. His second book, 'Dancing The Dream' - released a year after the 'Dangerous' album in 1992, literally blew my young mind away. Although a stage school brat exploring my own 'multi-talents' by then; I had never come across a Master of so many Arts!
I never really understood until that moment that when it comes to the avenues you want to pursue in life, you don't have to 'pick one and stick with it'. Michael opened my eyes to the concept that there is no such thing as 'either, or'. Michael's Artistry taught me that there is no guarantee you can do everything you turn your hand to, but you will absolutely never know what you are capable of, if you never take the time to Try.
Photo courtesy of explow.com
Thanks for the Good Times Michael; we're still having them because of You.
Monday also saw Charli-Anne making a pre-show trip to Wales for our next show in Monmouth on the 30th August, where we will not only feature a number of pieces from previous lines, but also some one-off specials tailored to the event. In order to create the latter pieces however, we needed to do our research. You cannot creatively (and successfully) tailor a package without first getting the lay of the land...
