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When this project was first suggested to me by Joey and Jacob I think its fair to say I wasn’t really sure it was something I wanted to do. I had always been part of the performance rather than the organisation and it felt in someway like a backwards step. However, after thinking it through I realised that whist I could have easily stood on stage and performed in some context it was a much bigger step out of my comfort zone and range of experience to take the role of organiser/manager for the duo.

The project changed a number of times during its timeline. A key change being Jacob not using the project as part of his module work but instead supporting Joey and I whilst perusing his own work for this module. I moved away from Cheltenham and Jacob was also away for a lot of the project so collaboration on the project was more challenging. We used social media to correspond which didn’t always work well. Its easy to misunderstand tone and intention without the benefit of face-to-face discussion. We had some pretty uncomfortable conversations around focus and who was supposed to be doing what but when we were able to sit down and discuss things in person these challenges were much easier to resolve.

In the current circumstances it was challenging to agree gigs with venues and promoters. I emailed and called a whole range of contacts and places. Many were hugely difficult to speak to and most weren’t able to book dates suitable for the project timescale.

With venues being a real issue we discussed the possibility of staging the project over 4 performances – 2 livestreams, 1 busking session and 1 live performance. My idea was to use the livestreams and the busk as promotions for the live gig. To that end I suggested the level of engagement in the livestreams guide the final set list and the busk be a promotional event.

As noted in my earlier posts this didn’t all quite go to the initial plan but the resulting performance at the Bottle of Sauce was well attended within the venues Covid reduced capacity and very well received by the audience. By asking Lucy Bell and Yetis Breakfast to play at the gig I widened the possible audience and by using posters to advertise the gig at the busk we gained a few more audience members outside of the usual crowd.

I have stepped outside my previous range of experience with this project. Parts of it I’ve been uncomfortable with, in particular the job of making sure everyone was on track for the timeframe (which can come across as nagging). Parts of the project I’ve surprised myself in enjoying – working closely with the Sound Tech for one, making the video record of the day and my step into emceeing.

I have learnt that you have to be very persistent in tracking down the right people to talk to and not to keep trying the same way if it’s clearly not working (I actually drove up to Cheltenham from Somerset to get to speak to someone at the Bottle of Sauce when phoning and emailing didn’t work). From this experience I now understand that putting events like this together is very achievable, as long as you have a plan of action and are organised but organising people is another matter entirely.

 In preparation for the busk I put together a couple of posters (shown below) with the information for the Bottle of Sauce gig in order to make the busk more of a promotional event. I tried to make the venue and evening timings as prominent as possible while keeping to the performers branding, I also wanted to make it clear it was a free event. A number of people stopped at the busk to read the posters so they were definitely an asset to the event. Photographs of the posters in use at the busk were posted on the Instagram of all three acts.

Jacob’s train got in later than expected pushing us back slightly meaning the busk started around 2pm.  As we had to finish at 4pm, to give some more rehearsal time before soundcheck, we only had two hours for the busk. 

As we walked into town we talked about location. I suggested we set up on the High Street as there we would expect to see the greatest foot fall and therefore gain the most attention. Joey said he’d prefer to set up outside Cavendish House as he’d rather the busk was more “low-key”. This didn’t make a lot of sense to me as it was supposed to be a promotional event but I thought it was best to go with this to keep everyone happy. After about half an hour we were asked to move by the building staff at which point the guys were happy to go to the High Street revealing that their initial reluctance was more a matter of confidence. Playing this first location with less of an audience built up the acts confidence meaning they were more prepared when we did move to the High Street.

We sought permission to play outside an office building after explaining that there would only be two people playing at any one time. This location garnered far more attention than the first and in the remaining hour and a half the busk made £25. Considering that this was only a relatively short busk at an off peak time we were very pleased with the reception and as a bonus got everyone involved excited for the gig that night. 

Throughout the busk I took photos and videos to put into a compilation video at the end of this project. 

Jacobs plans have changed and now he won’t be back in Cheltenham until the day of the Bottle of Sauce gig on June 24th. We had planned to have a promotional busk session in Cheltenham town centre on the day before the gig. This change of plans means we will need to do the promotional busk on the same day as the gig which will mean we will need a tight schedule that day. I’ve booked two supporting acts for the final gig, Lucy Bell opening and Yeti’s Breakfast before Francis and James’ closing set.

I contacted Tom Spice for advice on what kit we would need for the gig. The largest set up would be for the second act, Yeti’s Breakfast, as they would need two vocal mics as well as two guitars. I booked the kit out and organised to pick the kit up from Uni at 10am. I also spoke to Rob at the Bottle of Sauce and agreed a time (11am) the kit off together with the rest of the timings for the rest of the evening. Getting hold of Rob (the promoter at the Bottle of Sauce) proved to be difficult as we needed information to make promotional materials and he wasn’t replying to our emails or answering the phone. To work around this challenge I went to the venue in person to find out when would be best to call, with that information I managed to get hold of Rob finding out about the Covid guidelines for the venue, when the gig should start and when the acts should come in for soundcheck.

These arrangements left plenty of time for Joey and Jacob to rehearse before we go to town for the busk around 1pm. We have Yeti’s Breakfast on board to come busk with Francis and James so the two acts can interchange, giving an idea of what’s on offer at the gig. Between Yeti’s and Francis and James we can provide all the equipment we need for the busk. 

I had previously spoken to Alex Hodgson and he agreed to sound tech the gig. I checked over the equipment list with him to see if there was anything missing and once he was happy with the kit list, we agreed to meet at the venue to set up the kit at 5pm with the acts arriving for soundcheck at 5:30pm. This would give us two hours to soundcheck the three acts before the start of the gig at 7:30pm. This should allow more than enough time even with Lucy Bell needing to soundcheck  both solo and the duet she’s planning with Jeremy. 

With each act playing 40 minute sets and some change over time we should be able to wrap up the gig around 10pm. I’ll then store the kit in the house overnight before bringing it back to the Uni the next morning.

England 1650.

Explosion’s crack, the ground shakes, men scream and cry in battle. One man ‘Castor’ (Dressed all in black, bar his white shirt, he wears a black cape and large travellers’ hat, he has long hair and stubble on his face. breaks through the hedgerow to an adjoining field. The crucifix around his neck breaks through first. Castor stumbles through. Peace and serenity are broken when an Officer from behind the hedge calls out Castor calling him a coward. The Officer pulls back the hammer of his pistol. BOOM!!! A deafening explosion mere foot away from Castor erupts, sending debris and twisted metal flying. Castors ears ring, men perish and sharp metal pierces the hedge. ‘Slice’ metal rips through Castors right leg, sending him to the floor. Castor grabs his leg, blood oozes onto the ground. Eventually Castor stands up. He looks where the explosion came from, silence. He smirks subtly before turning and walking away.

Day’s pass, Castor limps down a gravel path, his face is gaunt, his hair is matted and split, a rough, long beard adorns his neck. He reaches down to his canteen, he releases the cork and holds it up to his split, dry lips, water trickles into his mouth. Above him crows and ravens circle the air before flying to the ground, just ahead of him. Castor rounds a corner, in front of him was a mass of black wings and eyes, seemingly pulsating as the bird’s peck at something below them. As Castor walks closer the birds disperse into the sky, revealing the bloodied corpse of a Witchfinder General. His bloody hand outstretched to an equally blood-soaked knapsack. Around the body were various herbs, seemingly placed with care. Castor crouches next to the knapsack. He starts to rummage through. He removes a large iron frying pan, that he carelessly tosses to his side, it lands next to the hand of the Witchfinder General. Castor carries on rummaging, he removes a green bottle, he holds it to his eyes, he can just make out the words ‘90%’ on the worn brown label. Castor eventually removes a small, tarnished roll of hessian; his eyes grow wide. He searches the ground, running his fingers across the wet earth. He picks up a small stick that he places in his mouth. He uncorks the green bottle and slowly edges it to the wound on his leg. Castor hesitantly pours the liquid onto his leg; his eyes show pain as he clenches the stick in his mouth. He unrolls the hessian cloth and crudely ties it around his leg. Castor grits his teeth splintering the stick in half, he spits out the remains of the stick, and lunges for the green bottle on the floor, he shoves the neck of the bottle into his mouth and drinks away the pain.

Castor lowers a different bottle to the ground; he allows it to slip from his loose grasp. He stumbles up and carries on walking, passing the corpse on the floor. The birds had returned however they do not flee, at his presence. Twigs and leaves crunch underfoot in the woods to the left of Castor. The sound gets louder and louder until the trees part their branches letting a hooded figure dressed in black walk through. The hooded figure removes the hood revealing a young red-haired Woman, her eyes a piercing blue, she stands almost floating above the muddy earth. Castor stands staring at her in awe. The Woman slowly starts to seduce Castor with her body language and expressing that he is a good person. After noticing the injury on his leg, the Woman explains that she can heal his leg if, he retrieves her frying

pan. Castor hesitantly agrees, before the Woman elegantly turns around and creeps back into the woods.

Castor returns to the site of the dead Witchfinder General, he looks to the knapsack, beside it lay 7 bottles each a different colour. He turns to the reaching arm of the corpse the hand reaching for the iron frying pan hidden in the tall grass. Castor picks the pan up. The subtle sounds of the birds stop. Castor hears a deathly cry behind him, he turns around. A cloaked figure is running for him, Castor grips the pan tightly before, smacking the figure in the head with it. The figure falls to the ground, and struggles to get up, in the struggle the hood comes loose, revealing the wrinkled, beaten face of an old Hag. The Hag crawls on her knees to Castor and attempts to prove who she is by attempting to heal his leg. as the Woman changes form from young red head back to old, she exclaims that his leg is infected and that she, cannot cure him on the roadside. Her and Castor once again make a deal where if Castor helps her dispose of the Witchfinder Generals body she will heal his now infected leg. She also explains that ‘whoever gives the dead body a resting place, their soul is eternally grateful’. Castor agrees.

Deep in the woods and lit by candlelight Castor digs a shallow grave, the Woman blesses the grave before Castor kicks in the body before shovelling the dirt back on top. The Woman walks off, the candles going out one by one as she passes them. Castor (out of breath) eventually follows her. She leads him to a small, overgrown hut, that is being held together by the vines that entangle it. Inside Castor sits at the foot of a long oak table as the Woman mixes ingredients with a pestle and mortar. The woman turns around, her red hair glowing in the dim candlelight. She glides over to Castor, sits on his lap and starts to kiss him. Castor shakes uncontrollably, the candles go out.

Castor now wearing a long black cloak walks to small settlement. He knocks the gate using his right foot. A small guard comes to the gate and asks him to remove his hood, as he dies Castors arms reveal carvings in his skin. The guard instantly recognises it as ‘Witchcraft’

Castor is paraded up a small embankment, to a small set of gallows. His head is placed in a noose. Castor whispers some unrecognisable chant, which gets louder and louder as the chant goes on. He grips the brass buckle around his neck so tightly that his hands start to bleed. Castor screams at the top of his voice, as drums start to beat.

The second livestream was scheduled for four days after the first. As planned, this stream consisted solely of covers but, disappointingly it ran less smoothly than the first. 

Unfortunately the full stream was lost so the only evidence of the livestream is screenshots (shown below). The stream started later than was announced and the sound quality for the first song was muffled as the phone that was broadcasting the stream was placed by the cooling fan of a laptop. On screen comments made the duo aware of this  and the phone was quickly moved. This livestream was recorded indoors in a household setting which didn’t seem to create the same laidback ambience of the first stream in its outdoor location.

Overall the set seemed musically less prepared and without the full stream I wasn’t able to track engagement to compare with the first stream. However the on screen comments during the stream reflected peoples enjoyment of the music. As Jacob was leaving the next morning, and not returning to Cheltenham until the day before the Bottle of Sauce gig, we weren’t able to schedule another Francis and James stream in time before the gig. I did discuss with Joey the possibility of him performing a replacement solo covers stream as I felt this might reflect the duos sound and style of of music (whilst giving us the chance to track engagement in comparison to the first stream in order to weight the final set list). However Joey didn’t feel that this would be an adequate replacement so no further livestreams were done. Without the ability to track engagement on the second livestream we decided to have the final set at the Bottle of Sauce evenly balanced between originals and covers.

The first event for Francis and James was a livestream. This livestream consisted solely of originals. With Jacob leaving Cheltenham the boys were on a tight schedule so I had to push them to get the two livestreams done. Management is a quite uncomfortable role as it does largely consist of what comes across as nagging and can definitely put strain on a personal relationship. Working remotely made communication difficult in this sense as we primarily interfaced through Messenger, which isn’t ideal.

I advertised the livestream on The Joey Bill Instagram page with the announcement of the Joey Bills’ (at the time) forthcoming debut EP. This announcement gained a nice amount of attention and the Francis and James livestream consisting of the songs from the EP made the two projects fit together nicely. The livestream was done on The Joey Bill page as that has an already established following whereas the Francis and James page had just started.

The livestream itself went well, it captured the laid-back atmosphere that the act strives for, the outdoor sunny setting adding to the general tone. I can always be confident that the duo will musically deliver. Near the end of the stream I did throw in a reminder to promote the gig on the 24th which I’m not sure they appreciated, but felt it was important to make sure that information was provided.

Though the livestream itself only had a maximum of around 15 viewers at any one time I kept track of engagement after it was posted to The Joey Bill page. This would give more of an idea of peoples interest in the set rather than who happened to be on Instagram at the time of the stream. After 48 hours the stream had 38 likes and 138 views. This information will be compared to the engagement of the second livestream to determine how the set list at the bottle of sauce gig should be weighted orginals/covers wise.

This project has me managing events for Francis and James, a new acoustic duo formed as a side project to The Joey Bill. The first thing I did was get the duo to record a track to send to venues to give an idea of what was on offer, they recorded a cover of Harry Nillson’s Everybody’s Talkin’. Once I received that I asked Jacob to write a short bio so I could put together an EPK (shown below) to send to potential venues. I would’ve written a bio myself however I felt my role should be to let those involved play to their strengths and Jacob has become known for his flowery style of writing that would surely grab the attention of promoters.

I emailed and called a few venues in Cheltenham however received no response, I did receive a response from a promoter in Bristol but he’s not putting on gigs until September (unsuitable for the timescale of this project but hopefully useful in the future). Struggling to find a venue that would put the act on I contacted our module tutor who then put us in touch with the promoter at The Bottle of Sauce. Once we had a date for that venue secured we planned the other three events.

My idea was to have the other three events lead up to the gig rather than have separate shows. The first two are livestreams, these are simple enough as the act can do this from the comfort of their own home. The first livestream will be originals and the second covers. The level of engagement each of these livestreams get will determine how the Bottle of Sauce set list will be weighted, while also introducing people to the act. Using The Joey Bill Instagram page seemed like a better option than starting a new page for the act as it pulls in an already established fan base and, whilst not the original plan, the acts originals are The Joey Bill’s already known songs. The third event will be a busk the day before the gig in order to advertise the gig and pull in a potential new audience. 

This was a project that I was really excited to start as scoring a film was something I wanted to do from the start of my time at university. I especially wanted to score a film that I had developmental involvement in. This project has fulfilled that hope as I was able to throw in my own conceptual ideas of themes and imagery in discussions with the writer. The level of collaboration in this project meant that I could enter the creative process of creating the score with a level of confidence as I knew what was required. Though the production of the film has been postponed I feel that the score is a strong addition to my portfolio and will hopefully help me find more work in this field.

Though I’d initially stated that my aim was to make around 12 minutes of music I later found out that the writer only needed 9. Therefore I overdelivered with the final score running 13:16 minuites, giving plenty to work with in the post production of the film. I tried to create a variety of tracks each complementing their specific scene while also making sense as a whole. The track Crows of Ink stands out the most in this sense as it has the most contemporary instrumentation and production as to accompany the psychedelic imagery it accompanies. I do however feel that the track doesn’t feel out of place as it keeps to the eery tone of the rest of the score. 

The track that I feel could use the most work would be What Thy Must. Though I feel it achieves the conceptual ideas, without the film to work to it was hard to score the beats of the scene. This can be amended during the editing process of the film.

I asked Harry for some feedback on the score as I felt that would be the best way to measure wether the project was successful and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

“Throughout the development of ‘The Grateful Dead’ I have had a clear image in mind of how I wanted the film to look, sound and feel. Throughout the entire process, Callum has been there making that image a possibility with the sounds and the scores he has made. The eerily familiar music creating a sense of dread, to the subtle foreshadowing of Castors fate being sealed from the very start, has all been in keeping with the folk tale and folk horror background this story is telling. It’s been an idea that has grown from a somewhat schlocky start, to now a fully formed period, folk horror film, reminiscent of Robert Eggers’ work on both The Lighthouse and The VVitch. Callum has also kept in mind the period sounds and instruments, something that I was very forceful of considering the script is written entirely in old English. This was an extra, creative step that wasn’t easy, but the finished product is something that really speaks fear and dread, as well as merges the period piece together perfectly. Overall Callum has been a joy to work with, even helping me out with visual cues and dialogue, he has really finished off the film with the score. He has created something that I could have only wished for, and in doing so has formed this film into something that feels authentic, period, and haunting.”