Edinburgh Day 5 ( out of order with previous post!)

We are here, we are in it. It is exciting, tiring, exhilerating, tense, time goes quickly. Moving as a group of 6 or 7 takes forever. Days slip by. The technicians at Summerhall are amazing, friendly helpful, say yes to pretty much any request... can we climb into the loft... I don't see why not, we've blown the power, can you help us, of course. Our house is great. We eat late and I don't wake wanting breakfast. More soon. Nice preview...

Show Day 1 Edinburgh under our belts

It feels an immense relief to be live. Two shows under our belt. They feel like the bare bones of what the show will become, but that's what previews are all about, so we are told... Phew! Audience reactions good, people very moved. Also affected by the essence of death that has been the history of the place... We've kind of got used to that and need to re- connect and be sensitive to it. The oblivious Butchers we are!! One comment, 'what a thrill to be close up to such great musicians'. Why thank you ma'am!

Two nights one days before I go

I'm sharper. Tell me a date in August and I'll tell you what day it is. I'm on it. I'm not infallible and my biggest fear is to forget to do something, forget to attend to a piece of equipment, miss a link in the chain and for a hole to appear. We are all doing our best and that is all we can hope for. The adrenalin is a flowing.I think I have a better understanding of stage lights, the difference between 16 amp and 15 amp, what they need to plug into and and what converters they need, nothing like being pushed into understanding something to make it happen. Today I put out a fire with my bar colleagues, we were training with the fire brigade... great fun and quietly traumatic... knowing the dangers in sharp focus of taking people into confined dark spaces... reality check Reilly, come back. I'm having CD covers screen printed, window images cut and couriered, screens, poles, black-out, data projectors begged and borrowed, insurances finalised. Mark is whizzing around London collecting slide projectors and lights, Bill Vine is sorting the surround sound computer mechanics, Jon is making the sounds of the universe in reverse, dogs running along corridors and falling diamonds ,Sal is making films, cutting slides, gathering artwork, sewing screens in our clothes... we are a team, we are KlangHaus, we are one. ( and we still like each other at the moment!)

Antidote to panic

When I get anxious, I sing and I breath. I count how long I can hold a note for. Today it's 32 seconds. I'm practicing singing and diaphragm exercises, core strength, support n all that... it seems to be the perfect antidote to panic. I can sing line upon line of song and that's a thrill. Am battling with writing new songs.. just gotta go with it...maybe I'll go here..

Doing it.

I'm in training vocally and it's my favourite thing. Diaphragm, that great bit of muscle between yer lungs and yer guts... that's my focus. building up strength to hold notes, have breath control. core strength. The great upshot is that I can carry barrels at work much easier, ha ha. I'm doing Alexander Technique, which is about relaxing your muscles and moving /standing/doing anything with ease and not being a knotted anxious mess of muscle. The way I like to explain a fraction of Alexander Technique is that within our muscles are the large veins carrying blood around the body.If we hold those muscles in a state of tension, all tight, the blood flow is restricted, so that's how I make a tiny bit of sense of what it is and why I like it! A.T also helps me sing in tune... which is good for everyone! As a singer my biggest enemy to making a quality sound, a sound that has texture and depth, which is how we convey meaning/emotion, is tension and anxiety. I know I can sing, but if I am anxious then everything tightens up, stiff jaw, squashed back of neck, dry mouth....boring sound....yawn.... I'm sounding a teachery..apologies...I'm writing this so I remember what I'm doing not to tell anyone else what to do... we make sense of stuff as individuals...happy singing y'all.

Getting on with it

So when the panic creeps in, a new voice takes command. Not the stir the pot, put the logs on the fire of panic voice, but a calm one that says just get on with it. If you are gonna climb a mountain you literally need to put one foot in front of the other and move forwards. All I can do with taking a show to Edinburgh is do each practical task that needs doing, do singing training and make up tunes. It is that simple. Panic does not motive, it distracts and zaps energy. As a team, we can only do our best, as individuals we can only do our best. This is my talk to myself this morning.

Klanghaus Midnight Feast

KlangHaus Midnight Feast was a triumph. We made an impact. Filling the place with sound. “a glorious bombardment of the senses, the effect was 360 degree immersion, captivation – theatrical, visual, dramatic and visceral.” norwichblog.com With speakers running along the sides of the room as well as the traditional full frontals we surrounded the audience with sounds, directed sound. Thanks to all the people who helped and photographed and encouraged. It was invaluable doing this, it has informed our thinkings and planning for Edinburgh. Sonic Graffiti is an idea that landed in Mark's brain as we were compiling sounds.... noises, hidden, around a city, around a building..