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High Contrast’s Olympic Story: Part 3

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

Here’s the last instalment of my Olympic tale…

So, the final few weeks before the Opening Ceremony were pretty full on. Things started to get a bit more serious and intense but of course it was still enjoyable. The idea of any downtime went out the window though, which had been the case for Rick and Mike for a long time but now I was in the same boat. Got to the studio about 10.30am each day and was there til 3 or 4am every night. The two things I had to work on was making a running order for the Parade itself (working in the original tracks I’d made, the Underworld remixes and then a variety of third party tunes) and then making the CD album version of the Parade.

It was rightly felt that if both just consisted of ‘dance’ tunes from myself and Underworld it would be too much for the entirety of the Parade, so mixing in some well known tracks, past and present, seemed key. This was a process right up my street as it was somewhat like a DJ mix but also something like a soundtrack. The team were adamant that it not actually be just a full on DJ mix as that could get too overbearing and monotonous for the audience. Throwing in some curveballs would help break things up but we had to keep the momentum going. It was a real balancing act, complicated further by the quagmire of licensing issues that something like this entails. Most people were more than happy to help and get things fast tracked through but there were some problems of course along the way and things that needed last minute changes.

The pastoral start of the Opening Ceremony as the audience unfurls the wave sheets.

One of the problems we had to sort out was the music being used for when Team GB came out in the Parade. “Galvanise” by the Chemical Brothers and “Heroes” by Bowie were Danny Boyle’s choices but the former is a storming modern dance track whilst the latter is over 30 years old and has a far more ethereal quality. It was proving to be difficult seguing between them. So I switched it around so that “Heroes” came first and then led into the Chems and made an edit where the vocals do a little call and response which seemed to help it flow. I also thought it could be a great moment to then finally drop in some drum and bass and Danny himself was totally up for it, suggesting my track “The Stand” – but the issue was that the Arctic Monkeys were to play live at the end of Team GB and making them come on after a pumped up drum and bass track didn’t seem right as it’s very hard for any other music to match the impact and speed of drum and bass, whereas coming out of the much slower “Galvanise” would be perfect. But we came so close to getting some DnB in there!

Anyway, the thing about the Athlete’s Parade is that it’s pretty much impossible to get a timing for it in advance. We looked at the ones from previous Olympics and they all came in at different times as different size teams from each competing country appeared each year and each Olympiad organises things slightly differently. So I had to provide more music than could be needed just so they were covered in case it went much longer than it should. During the show the music cues would be triggered by a guy who was a seasoned pro at these kind of events. It’s an incredibly high pressured job for him, so I had to work the mix out in advance with all the timings of where tracks should come in and give him all the data so he could load it into his Pyramix system (and backup systems) and be able to just follow the path I laid out. The key was that whilst I had to arrange things into a flowing mix that made sense in itself, things had to be malleable enough so that he could cut to another piece of music at any point for any reason such as things were getting too monotonous or the athlete’s needed a boost to push them along etc. Thankfully on the night, that issue never came up but I had to make sure we were covered.

The organised mayem of the Industrial Revolution sequence.

In the final week we had some serious deadlines to meet but thankfully all of them were met. That’s the thing about working on something like the Oylmpics – it’s so huge and totally unmoveable that there basically is NO choice other than to get things done in time. In dance music there always seems to be some degree of flexibility with deadlines (Hospital Records suddenly inhales sharply) but with a one off event you simply have to make it happen in time. And I was consistenly amazed by what was achieved. So many people pitched in and went far beyond the norm to make sure the Opening Ceremony not only happened but was truly astounding. The volunteers especially deserve so much credit.

With the final running order of tracks loaded into the system and the CD album mixed and mastered, my work was almost done – apart from the opening 60 second countdown to the whole show. A piece of music was needed that would fit the wonderful numerical imagery they had put together and set the right tone but they still hadn’t found exactly what they were looking for. Thankfully it just so happened that I had been working on a 120bpm remix of one on my tracks, “The Road Goes On Forever”, which when I lined it up with the video matched it perfectly. With a few tweaks here and there it slotted in as if it had been there from the start. It was then such an honour for Rick and Danny to want to use one of my tracks for the very start of the show. I think because it incorporates elements from a classic tune by The Who but with contemporary production and synths, it created a cool hybrid which sounds very British and hence apt for the occasion.

Emeli Sande' during final soundcheck.

Emeli Sande' during the actual show.

I had seen bits and pieces of the Ceremony along the way but going to the final dress rehearsal was really the first time I saw the thing as a whole and it really blew me away. I actually teared up at a few points and felt so proud to be part of it all. Danny’s vision was so strong and so perfect, showing a potted history of our nation and managing somehow to get across the essence of a country which is very eclectic and hard to pin down these days. This was on the Wednesday night and afterwards I went straight over to Old Street to play a gig in XOYO, a special history of Hospital Records night along with the legendary Photek. From being so immersed in the the world of the Olympics it was quite a shock to go back to the drum and bass clubzone. I was super tired and pre-occupied but as soon as I stepped in the venue, I was given a massive boost by the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd. It was a fantastic gig and really gave me a lift.

Me during the day of the event.

Then on the Thursday, all the last details were finally wrapped up from my end so that on the day of the event I was actually pretty relaxed and was able to just take it all in. I got to the stadium early in the day so I could check out the final rehearsals and also get a kick from wandering around and seeing such a huge production come together backstage. But then I started to feel a shooting pain in my left leg, that had happened a few times over the last couple of months but went away immeditaely. This time it got stronger and caused so much pain that I couldnt stand up. I was fine sitting though so didnt want to go to the hospital and miss the actual show. The medics put me in a wheelchair and I got a good view! But it was quite bizarre to be at the Olympics after all this work and have to be in a wheelchair. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with my leg but I think it stemmed from stress and may be related to my back, as sitting intently at a computer for the last few months cant have been good for my posture.

But at least I got to enjoy the whole Ceremony and found it to be a truly amazing experience. The opening 60sec countdown music got a great instant reaction in the stadium which was fantastic to witness firsthand. And then the Parade itself was so cool to be in the stadium watching as the athletes and the audience rocked out to my tunes – seeing Usain Bolt emerge dancing away to one of my tracks was a real highlight. The Parade went better than anyone could have expected, the approach taken by Danny and Underworld and myself really worked – infact it worked too well, it was the shortest Athlete’s Parade ever Im told but that meant not all of the tunes I had written or mixed got used in the end. (This is what has resulted in there being tracks on the album version that weren’t actually played in the stadium).

As the Athlete's Parade rolls by.

Everything having worked out so well on the night was a real buzz and was so great to see after all the hard work of the Underworld team. We went back to the tour bus for a late night little party, only slightly inhibited by my wheelchair. Thankfully, the pain eased off over the coming days and I’m fine now and can just reflect on what has been one of the best experiences of my life for which I am so thankful to have been part of. Watching the games then unfold and how the whole country seems to have been galvanised by it as well as the great success of Team GB, is one of the few truly hopeful things as a nation that I can think in recent years. However, there is always a strange empty feeling after having been involved in a huge project of ‘um, what do I do now?’ but that’s a great challenge to have.

After the party was over.

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High Contrast’s Olympic Story: Part 2

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

My Olympic story continues..

So this was the first time I was to spend any real length of time in London and also working in a normalish kind of way. It was quite a switch up from my regular routine – at home I get up after midday and stroll to the studio next door, can stay there all night, go to bed whenever, be my own boss and can go days without speaking to anyone. In London I had to be at work about 10am, commuting on the tube, surrounded by people, working to a brief – a lot on my own but also with others, etc. But I actually enjoyed these changes for the most part and found myself to be very productive in the studio – whether this is down to the urgency of the deadline or the different working methods, it’s hard to say.

I took to reworking some of the tunes from my last album, The Agony & The Ecstasy, in a 120bpm format as well as some sketches of tracks I had made whilst writing that album which never made it to the final cut (Cant Stop This Fire was one of those). And of course had a lot of fun remixing my favourite Underworld tunes, Rez being a highlight. The whole process was dominated by remixing in some form or other and anyone who knows me knows I love remixing! It’s one of the most fun aspects of being a producer. So whilst it was a high pressure gig where the hours got longer and longer, I was just really enjoying it all. The whole Underworld team are such good people too that it was a pleasure to work with them. And Rick in particular is a really inspirational figure for me.

The road leading to the stadium.

I got to meet Danny Boyle a number of times too and found him to be another very inspirational person. The way he can keep a cool head and sense of humour whilst juggling a million problems at once is quite astounding. And not only is he a creative genius but a real man of the people too. For example, every group of volunteers who came in to kindly give up their time and energy for the event, were given a talk personally by Danny where he explained his ideas and the vibe for the show and how the volunteers were the most important part of it all for him and how they could be a way of counteracting the big corporate nature of the event. I can’t imagine many big time directors of shows like this doing that.

Working at 3 Mills I was thus able to pop out of my studio and head over to the big sound stages on site to check out some rehearsals for the ceremony. This really helped in getting an idea of the feel of the show and also seeing/hearing hundreds of volunteer drummers playing together had a kind of galvanising Braveheart effect on all of us. Another key moment was going to a stadium rehearsal for the first time. It felt a bit like going to Jurassic Park! I was drowning in lanyards and it was literally a military procedure, having to go through airport style security handled by squaddies, who checked the underneath of the car with mirrors. But they were also incredibly polite and friendly as were everyone I came across working at the stadium. Seeing the thousand drummers rehearsing there, in the pouring rain, to the music I had been writing, was truly awesome and also helped me understand even more how the music needed to be for the event.

Rick Smith, me and Mike Gillespie, soaked but happy at the stadium.

It became clear that typical, contemporary dance music would not be quite right – sonically things are so harsh, busy and lacking in dynamics that if that was played at the stadium it could become pretty unbearable, especially for the two hours the Athlete’s Parade could last. The tunes need to be a little bit less dense and having a lot more dynamic breathing room. Danny also wanted some more well known pop favourites of his peppered into the mix of the Athletes Parade, so older tunes from people like Pet Shop Boys and Bowie are from a different sonic era that wouldn’t sit so comfortably next to typical stuff from today. We had to strike the right balance so they all worked together.

A key part of making the tracks gel in this way was Simon Gogerly – Grammy winning mixer and engineer for people like U2. He’s also a top bloke who was great to work with and he did great mixing and subtle mastering of my tunes that really gave them the right edge. Seeing how he does things so differently to what Im used to in dnb production has really made me think about how I might work on tunes in the future. The whole thing has been an education! Not least because after a month or so at 3 Mills, we then moved over to the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Recording the drum captains at Abbey Road.

This was such a buzz for me, being of course a massive fan of The Beatles, Pink Floyd etc. But apart from the history and cool stuff and people all around the place, it’s just a beautiful place to work. Going from the somewhat sterile office environment I had at 3 Mills to the old build, full of character, history drenched room at Abbey Road (with garden view!) was just the thing to give me another boost. It also meant I was working with someone else in the room – long time Underworld engineer and a massive part of their live show, Darren Price. We really bonded over this show and he was great company to have as well as being a very handy second pair of ears when it came to the critical latter stages of my work.

Things were amping up now as deadlines were approaching. Not only did the music and sequence of the Athlete’s Parade need to be finalised but the accomanpying cd/mp3 album had to be worked on too. We wrapped up things at Abbey Road and felt it would be better timewise to head back to 3 Mills for the final hurdle. Underworld had brought in their tour bus to 3 Mills as it was becoming increasingly impossible to think about leaving for home at any point. It was getting pretty intense, things were taking their toll but as the ceremony drew closer the buzz made everyone go that extra mile to make sure it went the best it possibly could.

In the third and final installment I’ll tell you about the final days of work and the actual Opening Ceremony itself…

Posted in Music, Photographs | 15 Comments »

High Contrast’s Olympic Story: Part 1

Monday, July 30th, 2012

After an incredible few months and an even more amazing night last Friday, here’s the story of my involvement with the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

At the end of April this year I received a phone call from Rick Smith of Underworld. We had worked together on tracks for the latest Underworld album as well as my own and in doing so had built not just a wonderfully creative working relationship but had become real friends too. During the writing of my album The Agony & The Ecstasy, I had many long phone calls with Rick and Karl, the other half of Underworld, that had been massively inspirational to me and really fed into my creative process. So I was very keen to work with them again. And it just so happened they were cooking up the biggest show on Earth.

They had been appointed as musical directors of the 2012 London Olympics by the director of that show, Danny Boyle, their long time collaborator. Boyle’s ‘Trainspotting’ was a huge film for me as a teenager and was one of my first exposures to dance music and the clubbing world. So being asked to get involved with the Olympics was a huge honour in itself but for me getting to work with Underworld and Danny was the bigger draw – any project those guys have lined up, I will do anything to be a part of.

The Clock Mill at 3 Mills Studios, which became my music studio for many weeks.

At the initial meeting I met Mike Gillespie, Underworld’s manager who was Musical Supervisor for the Opening Ceremony, and Rick, at 3 Mills Studios in Bromley by Bow, a film studio that was acting as the main space for Opening Ceremony planning and rehearsal and just a 15 minute walk from the stadium itself. Before anything else, my manager and label boss Chris Goss and I had to sign NDA’s as the show had to be kept in complete secret. The guys then warned me that it would a lot of hard work, long hours and quite a challenging brief, working in ways I wasn’t used to. But nothing could put me off, they had me at hello.

Underworld had already written the music for the main part of the show and most of that had been recorded. Rick was now having to deal with a lot more logistical/organisational stuff that was getting more and more time consuming but there was still music needed for the non-theatrical part of the show – the Athlete’s Parade. And that’s where I came in. They wanted me to take on that part of the night and bring my uplifting, melodic sound to it. After years of people telling me they listened to my music whilst running or in the gym, it seemed to make perfect sense! But the Athlete’s Parade has been notorious for being traditionally the more dull part of the Opening Ceremony, with so many countries to get through it can become a slog for the audience. Sometimes it has run over 2.5 hours. Rick and Danny were very keen that it run a lot faster and the aim was to make it the best parade yet.

That would involve a real balancing act. The main point was to keep the athletes moving and to keep a positive vibe in the air but without getting too repetitive. So the music needed to be driving but not relentless. Uplifting but not overwhelming. Consistent but not the same throughout. We couldn’t punish the listeners with non stop beats but couldn’t have massive breakdowns as the momentum would be lost. And it had to work not just for the athletes but the 80,000 people in the stadium watching and the billions at home. Hmm.

Just like at home - I like to keep my setup as simple as possible.

This also meant that drum and bass was not on the cards. The plan was to keep the music around the 120bpm mark as that felt like it would keep everyone at a pretty pacey walking speed. The fear was that something as fast as drum and bass would make the athletes run around or rave on the spot or worse just stop completely. I had to agree, dnb doesnt feel like something you can just walk to, it demands a more extreme reaction from the body.

A start had already been made in that the entire Underworld back catalogue had been gone through and the most appropriate tracks for the parade had been picked out already. Darren Price, their long time engineer and a big part of their live show (as well as a dj in his own right) had begun work on getting the stems for these tunes out of the archive and ready for manipulation. A lot of their music was around the 140bpm mark so they had to be time stretched or re exported at a slower tempo. I was to have access to all these files and could pick out the ones that jumped out at me and begin trying to rework for them for the parade.

Time was of the essence so thankfully the job I had just been working on, a controversial play in Cardiff called Pornography (which ironically was about London during the announcement of the winning Olympic bid in 2005), had just finished and I was able to just pack up my computer and monitors and move up to London to begin work. My equipment was set up at 3 Mills and I just jumped straight in. It was so cool to have access to whatever tracks I liked from Underworld’s fantastic back catalogue. I also had a few demo tracks that I’d made basic versions of during the writing of The Agony & The Ecstasy as well as a couple of 120bpm versions of dnb tracks from that album that all seemed to have the right vibe for this project.

 

The view from my studio room at 3 Mills.

So at this point the enormity of what I was doing still hadn’t really dawned on me, I was just working on tunes on my iMac as I normally do, in my own little world. It would only be much later when I visited the stadium that it really all hit me.

Part 2 of this story will follow very soon…

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Posted in Music, Uncategorized | 30 Comments »

The First Note Is Silent

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Hello, you may have noticed my site is in the process of having a rejig. That’s because the wheels are now officially turning in anticipation of my new album, out early next year. And the release of the first single from that album is almost ready to drop.

Exciting times, not just because it’s been about 3 years since my last single but because I’ve brought in not one but two heavyweight collaborators to make it even more special.

The track is called ‘The First Note Is Silent’ and features both Tiesto AND Underworld. So you can imagine how blooming epic it’s turned out. It will be released on October 31st but you can hear the world first radio play this Friday on the Annie Mac show on BBC Radio 1.

The b side is a tune called ‘Fearful Symmetry’, something fans of my club and festival shows should be familiar with from some of my recent gigs.

Check back here on the site for updates on the whole album project – and I’ll be unleashing the insane music video I’ve been filming for ‘The First Note Is Silent’ on here very soon!

Posted in Audio & Video, Music | 14 Comments »

Emotional Hardcore

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Here’s a little video I put together after randomly shooting some footage at a recent hardcore (of the guitar variety, not of the happy kind) and dubstep gig in Cardiff my mate, Droneboy, put on. My first foray into music as a teenager was as an MC in a hardcore metal band so it was a bit of a memory lane trip for me. It was a somewhat audacious gig to put together, mixing such different genres but there’s clearly a crossover between dubstep and hardcore in terms of the audience and the energy and it went really well. Being basically an outsider now and looking through a lens, it almost felt like I was making a nature documentary and I think this video captures some of the nuances of the sub-cultures, the rituals, the etiquette, the social dynamics.

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Posted in Film, Music | 4 Comments »

2011: A MySpace Odyssey

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

I spent way too long making this but when I’m possessed by an idea I just can’t stop. Especially if it’s got a Kubrick angle. Youtube won’t let me embed this because of the copyrighted material so just click the pic to go to the video.

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HC North American Tour 2011: Coachella 15-17/04

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

I had wanted to play at the Coachella festival in Palm Springs for years after hearing only great things about it, so this gig was really the raison d’etre for my whole trip. I stayed for the entire three days and had an incredible time, it really is one of the best festivals in the world.

The path to Palm Springs is peppered with perpendicular propellers.

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Posted in Festivals, Music, Photographs | 4 Comments »

HC North American Tour 2011: Victoria & Vancouver 08 & 09/04

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

The last two club dates of the tour were back up in Canada. Had never been to Victoria before, it’s a beautiful place and the gig was really good, great crowd, wish I’d taken some pics but I seemed to have only taken snaps of the car which picked me up from the airport.

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HC North American Tour 2011: Portland 07/04

Monday, June 20th, 2011

My first time in Portland and is seemed like a cool place, hipster central apparently but I didn’t really see too much in the brief time I was there. I don’t have any pics of the gig itself, which was really fun, but I did take some of the strange after show eatery that some local chums took me to, called The Roxy.

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HC North American Tour 2011: Calgary 06/04

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Do you know how lax I am up at updating this blog? Like THIS lax. Ah well, let’s continue. I returned to Calgary after many years and this show blew the last one away. A great little spot called The Hifi Club was where I was at this time courtesy of my man Dan Solo. Check his cool photo blog too.

I love that guy.

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