OLIVER with a TWIST

Uncommonly Interesting News

How very appropriate! Our Oliver has been signed up to appear in the new Cameron Macintosh version of  "Oliver"  (by far the most exciting musical production in London's West End!) He's currently in rehearsals and the show should open this week at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. And guess who he is working along side? Guess who is playing (You gotta pick a pocket or two) Fagin? ....How absolutely perfik - YAY! Its only MR BEAN!  Rowan Atkinson is absolutely ideal as the gangly gang leader - and the Tony award winning musical director and my own personal favourite choreographer is  Matthew Bourne! I don't know if you've ever seen his version of  Nut Cracker but it really is very pink, gorgeous and outrageously funny. If you think you don't like ballet.....think again! - You should also check out his all male version of "Swan Lake" Hillarious!

Earlier in the Year the BBC aired a weekly show called "I'd Do Anything" featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Barrowman as judges to "Find Nancy". Out of thousands of contestants, a winner was chosen. Jody Prenger and .....Good grief! - I've just wikepedid her and apparently she  won the second series of The Biggest Loser in 2006, starting the show a size 26 and weighing 18st 2lbs. During the series, she lost over eight stone and her final weight was 9st 9lbs!!!!! WOW!

 Stop Press! .....Mr Macintosh has Adeste Fiddles in his car stereo!........During a recent after hours "lock in" at a Dickensian pub very close to the scene of rehearsals, the blatantly self promoting Mr.Lewis was seen by an insider passing a copy of "Adeste Fiddles" to the illustrious producer. Apparently the sub text "Christmas with a Twist" caught his eye :) Perfik!

Here's the link to the official website:

http://www.oliverthemusical.com

 

So, Question - What goes Oh Oh Oh? - Answer - Santa walking backwards (I opened my cracker early this year :) Speeks soon x

It’s all going rather well!!

Only three weeks to go till Santa slides sveltely down the chimney (Even Santa has a personal trainer these days). He says he has big bones but Mrs Claus will beg to differ - She asked me to pass on a special message from her and the little helpers.

“Please don’t leave mince pies and sherry this Christmas Eve. If you want to help us and all the children of the future, place a nice crispy leaf of lettuce, some sliced onion, tomato and drizzle with some low cal dust ( you can eat as much dust as you like – its virtually calorie free and relatively inexpensive!)  All washed down with a bottle of yummy still water! “With your help we can keep the blighter going for a few more years.

Talking of funny foodstuffs – I heard on the radio this morning that when the Tombs of Egypt were being excavated (raided and plundered if you like ;) Shopkeepers in London would import a Mummy and place it in their shop window - to give the impression of being well travelled and successful. One of the off shoots was a dubious delicacy called “Mummy Dust” – (See it's all linked – I’m not just rambling) Powdered Mummy - Eeeeeeew! You’d take a pinch and sprinkle sparingly into a good stiff shot of port for a bit of a lift towards the late afternoon.  

You couldn’t make this up could you!

 

Anyway…….Number 19 in the Billboard Classical Crossover charts WOOHOOOO! I received an email from the Associate Chart Production Manager, asking who Deviations Project was, as we’d just popped in to their chart!! Well I had to have a quiet word with Matron, who very kindly reminded me ;) 

We’re both ecstatic and I’ll be filling you in on the results of a very important meeting on Wednesday the 10^th next week!

Toodles!

 

WELL! - Doesn’t Time Fly! Only one year late but “Adeste Fiddles” WILL Fly on November 4^th 2008.

Its already available on iTunes and Emusic, but now you can actually wrap your physical fingers around it, hold it up to your lips and kiss it gently and lovingly (No tongues mind – it’s a family album  ;) 

 

So! - A Holiday CD to pop in your stocking! – Barnes and Noble have made it Exclusive, so be prepared for your ears to be mesmerised by the overhead sound system when you pop in looking for exquisite gifts in the next few weeks.  Be prepared - to find yourself inextricably lured to the sales desk with the hypnotic pounding of “The Sugar Plum Fairy” ….to be whisked helplessly to  the magical strains of “My Favourite things” (Well! I tried to spell “Favourite” the American way and my  spell checker won’t let me!!!) Be prepared to arrive home and find your bags and pockets filled with “Adeste” albums – EVERY ONE WILL WANT ONE!  I always like to buy a CD then Rip - Call me old fashioned but I like to have something to hold in my hand)

 

Oh! - S'cuse the innuendo, but it is Pantomime season! OH YES IT IS!  Till next time - Happy Trails!

You’re gona love our new baby! XXX

Dave Reveals Track 15 Mystery!!

If you haven’t waded tirelessly through the reams of endless waffle I laughingly call a blog then I’ll save you some time. We’ve had several messages asking about track 15 on Ivory Bow  “Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito” What does the title mean and what is the original title?

Well….*grandiose pause for effect* ….Firstly it isn’t from the brilliantly animated classic “Beauty and the Beast” – although the overture is soooooo similar – and I’m sure Disney must have been aware of this ;) The bit where the pages of the story book are slowly turning and the narrator begins to tell the story of Belle and the Beast. No - It’s a little classical toon from the “Carnival of the Animals” – or “Le Carnaval des Animaux” to be really poshJ  by Camille Saint-Saens and its called Aquarium.

Our title “Oh, Eso es un Castillo Bonito”. (I’m not sure if the Spanish is correct cos I made it up - but it looks pretty cool?) is a tribute to an old joke. Cast your mind back to another Disney Classic – “Fantasia” Yeah -I know I’m waffling again but do you remember the lovely Goldfish from Nutcracker section? The one with the big eyelashes? Well when I heard Aquarium for the very first time I kept thinking of that gold fish. The title means “Oh – that’s a nice Castle” and apparently because a goldfish only has a 10 second memory, every time she swims around the bowl she “sees” the castle for the very first time!

WELL YOU DID ASK!

 

More soon – and be assured …..there will be wilful waffle!

It'll Soon Be Christmas

Well! ...... 

Thank you so much to all the kind words from the guys at Barnes and Noble! Check out the enthusiastic comments on our MySpace page about Ivory Bow which is currently being played on the instore overhead sound system. Its really good to get such positive feedback in the early weeks of a new release and certainly helps to steady the nerves!

I can't believe that Ivory Bow has only been "free" for a couple of weeks and already we're talking about Christmas. I looked back over some earlier entries from almost a year ago and I quote from October 9th …

"After six sizzling months of intense musical shananigans - the Christmas baby has been delivered. "Fly away my darling" I cried as she took flight - Over the ocean to the land of the free and peanut jelly. She didn't even glance back, but I'm sure I heard a giggle on the wind and a little voice chirrup "I'm going to make it in the states!"

Ha! - Wrong again – (It's a gift)!

Cos last year, after all the excitement  "Adeste Fiddles", - our interpretation of some of the world's most wonderful Holiday music – ( Christmas Classics with a twist ;) - ran into a bit of a legal mess and couldn't be released in physical CD form.

Now it's all hands to the pump as we're finalising artwork, checking and re-checking the master recordings.  So gird up your loins and prepare for more insane, rambling Bulletins in the coming weeks...

...It'll Soon Be Christmas!!!

ONLY ONE WEEK TILL “IVORY BOW DAY”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I'm so excited, I may pass out (carefully onto a strategically positioned sofa ;) *sigh*

I gave my entire staff a whole week off, so they'd be refreshed and ready for "Ivory Bow Day" ....not realising that the lawns needed mowing. “Bugger” I thought, as I manfully strode across the ankle deep grass. "I’m sure I can do this!"  I scowled gracelessly to myself. Well! ....finding the mower was no easy task, as my enormous 47 car garage is full to bursting with "Stuff I'm going to absolutely need in 3 or 4 years time" ; ) It’s full of

Peculiar gifts that looked fabulous in the shop, then you get home and wonder what the hell were you thinking? 

Full of half hacked logs that were too big for the wood burner – from my “I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok” phase. (I even bought the red tartan shirt ; ) 

It’s full of my old vinyl autographed Queen albums.

 ………Ooh! …my old Art and Design folder…*wistful smile* ….but I digress.

 Talking of garages - Never in my life have I ever parked a vehicle in a garage – something I deeply regretted last week when I left the top down on my lovely CLK sport over night.  I couldn’t believe she actually started up – she was utterly drenched and I had to literally bail her out with a mop and bucket. The day was really hot, so I left the top down to let her dry out…. (Later that evening…. having driven into the city) …Ha! It’s not until you actually climb out of the seat that you realise how wet your trousers are! As you walk away and your pants get colder and damper in the night air. Eeeeeeew! 

Anyway - to cut a ridiculously long story short, I had to mow the lawn myself and the bloody mower packed in and spluttered to a halt halfway thru the job! Now I have to drag myself away from my studio – ( *Stage whispering* where I’m compiling new material for the next DP album! ) and go scouting for a new machine : ( 

Isn’t life a tease darlings?

In Next Weeks Thrilling Issue:

Making good use of used moist wipes – Keeping the “Greens” happy.

A cunning plan to help Mystic Pete with his English ‘Speeks’ whilst craftily promoting Adeste Fiddles.

Covering your car with Cling Film and experimenting with different colour schemes. (Please don’t try this at home)

Searching for “Rocket Fuel” – Some elementary procedures.

If you’re reading this on myspace or facebook our new webhome is http://www.deviationsproject.com

Only Two And a Half Weeks To Go! - IVORY BOW August 5th

The Spanking New Release from our good selves!

(Not suggesting you should spank anyone whilst listening of course ;)

Well I’ll be…….I blogged last week and the release date didn’t change – Can you believe it? Confidence is at an all time High and so I thought why not try another? 

So - now I can confidently announce that our FABULOUS new website is up, running and looking absobloominlutely gorgeous. Oh! which just reminded me of a fan letter I received when I was about 13 – in my first band …and I still recall to this day. She wrote ….”….I really love the band and think you’re absolutely “Georges”  - hehe, lucky George eh?

The Interview

We had oodles fun and games on Wednesday night with Pete from Mystic Radio. We were set to start recording the interview at 9:00pm our time - 2:00pm New Mexico time. The idea was to set up a conference call across the pond because Ollie and I couldn’t be together. So I’m at the Olde Barn in the depths of Sherwood Forest, MSN-ing Ollie (Who’s in London). Pete’s emailing me from Albuquerque saying – “Tested the call - but it's not going through --- how do I get through? Call me!! And I’m furiously dialling on my landline to the good peeps at Ft Lauderdale – trying to get the U.S. Code for Merry England.  I can feel one of me turns coming on just thinking about it ;)

BUT we did it and it was very cool. The end result should be up towards the end of next week and we’ll post the links.

If anyone out there has a favourite radio station – call them and suggest a phone or online interview? …..No really  – we know how to do it now 

The Other Side of the Trax

An insight into recording the toons on  Ivory Bow

The Ivory Bow (Track 8)

A romantic “Disneyesque” theme in very much the same style as She Too from DP1. 

The working title for this was She3, but I was trying to think of a title for the album, something emotive that would encapsulate my relationship with Ollie. I wanted to combine elements of the violin with those of the keyboard and the obvious keywords were Ivory – for the keys and Bow for the fiddle. When spoken aloud, the words painted all sorts of pictures, but best of all, they sounded really good together, so Ivory Bow was born. Originally, I imagined a beautiful ribbon tied in a bow around a tree made from pure velvet. A message from a lover to a loved one that could never be spoken.  Then another picture began to develop in my mind and I could see a hand stretching from a raging sea thrusting a different kind of bow  at a stormy sky. The bow was Excalibur - or music fighting to calm our troubled world.

The title of the album came before the title of the track, so Its all back to front but life’s like that innit? 

Ha! – Spell checker doesn’t like “innit” – but it doesn’t like “Disneyesque” either – think I’ll leave it 

In Next Weeks Thrilling Instalment:

Ollie Plays Moulin Rouge in the Rain

Explaining the Ranking System on “Comments” page

Dave goes to see Kylie Minogue (Well it was a free ticket)

Big Bad Bumble – the pain and the pleasure!

If you’re reading this on myspace or facebook our new webhome is  HYPERLINK "http://www.deviationsproject.com" www.deviationsproject.com 

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