Moments of joy in July
Oh July, that joyful month when we dream of drifting in your arms, where the sun warms our skin and memories melt into each other to soothe your soul with gifts of love, food and friendship.
Hang on July - wait for me - because before any of the above shenanigans could happen, there was essential work to be done - namely rehearsing for the tour, making videos, podcasts and writing articles - plus learning and programming Ableton Live!
But what is Ableton and why are we programming it?
Well, Simon and I co-wrote and played all the instruments on our new album STARLITE.ONE except for the drums. We are touring the UK as a trio this September and between the three of us simply don’t have enough limbs to play everything that was recorded.
Ableton is a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) which we are using to playback and trigger sequences. It’s all about giving our audience a wonderful audiovisual experience and best serving the song.
Fortunately for me, programming is totally Simon’s department and I know how many hours he has studied to get to this point. Now I know where the phrase ‘steam coming out of your ears’ comes from - it’s been intense!!
Synthesiser heaven
Here are my new babies: the legendary Sequential Prophet-5 and Waldorf STVC.
On our song Shine The Light On Me I am playing both synths and singing all at the same time which is a first for me, but hey, life is for learning and living. Woohoo!
Lunch
We work long hours from our home studio and apart from our daily exercise, only stop for lunch, the occasional chat and numerous cups of tea. It’s our only meal of the day and we try and make it special.
Moments of joy
Del Vecchio
We met up with our great friend Gabriele Del Vecchio, his partner Rachel and friend Claudia in Lisboa for the afternoon.
They had a stop-off whilst flying home from the Açores back to Valencia, Spain which gave us a good reason to take the train into the city and meet up for lunch and a wander through Portugal’s capital city.
Gabriele is a fine pianist who played three songs on our last studio album The Language of Curiosity and has toured Spain and the UK with us - we love this guy!!
Lisboa moments
I think it takes a kind of carefree abandon to hang out your knickers in public for all to see… Transient art in the streets of the quaint, but currently crowded, Alfama district.
Tiago Cruz
We enjoyed a celebratory dinner in Samora Correia with our great friend Tiago who has started an exciting new job which takes him to Dubai for three months on rotation.
He did all the wonderful graphic design for STARLITE.ONE and along with his partner Daniela, are valued friends and very close to us. We will miss him but have plans with Dani to raid the wine cellar when he is away and send him live video footage of the evidence hehe….
Time to soothe the soul…
Even though we live a mere hour away from the ocean, this is only the second time to the beach this year. We had work to do.
Saving Me
I created a few videos in July and here is a 30-second promo for our lead single Saving Me from the new album STARLITE.ONE - enjoy!
And finally
I hope you have enjoyed this little trip through our July and would love to know what you are up to. Just comment below!
Listening to: Lonnie Holley - Oh Me Oh My
Great snapshot of the month. I had forgotten some of this stuff!