Pandora's Box

News Archive

'Passion for Life - the movie' - December 2006

Film-maker, Arlen Figgis and I finished editing 'Passion for Life - the movie'. I conceived it as a pilot film for a TV series on the creative process of writing and performing music. The 15 minute film documents my musical journey over the last 6 years: a distillation of life experiences and influences manifested into my songs, plus work in the studio and footage of live performances. It's an uplifting account of someone living their creative dream alongside work and family life. Now we need to get it on TV and kick off the 'Heart of Music' series.

Passion for Russia - November 2006

I started research for a book on the Russian visionary artist, Nicholas Roerich (see www.roerich.org) and a research trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Moscow, I met the renegade rockers pictured here and handed them a copy of my album. It was authentic rebel rock played to random locals in a sub-zero subway as the blizzard raged above. Had a blissful time feasting on the amazing architecture and Russian art in both cities.

Chicago - Autumn 2006

I had two trips to Chicago again; more work with Caroline Myss (see www.myss.com) and I shot more film for the music video for my hip-hop song 'Rocking with your archetypes'. Not much time for new recordings!

King of Bling - Pewsey Carnival - September 2006

Around harvest time, our sleepy village goes mental for a fortnight, culminating in the bucolic carnival procession. Themed floats of every size gather on the village edge at sunset then the procession meanders the streets through riotous crowds. Our theme was Bling / 'Pimp my Float.' The music on our PA was rude and scratchy, the girls in gold lurex bikinis and the dancing wayward and silly. Pictured here with sculptor, Lucy Strachan, I was loaded up with a litre gin and tonic and weighed down with bling gold bought from a costume jewellery shop in New York.

Blo-karting is Cool - August 2006

Went on holiday to Jersey with the family - I have had to give music a rest for a while. The surfing and pier-jumping was great but I also tried blo-karting - its really fun. A three-wheel go kart with a sail. Check it out!

Rocking in Chicago with my archetypes - making the film! - July 2006

I recently went to Chicago. Whilst it was mainly a business trip, I wanted to film a video to go with my track "Rocking with your archetypes". I had the DV camera but no camera man, so I recruited a great guy off the street, by the name of Larry King. Larry is a tap-dancer and, when I met him, he was setting up to earn money tap-dancing on Michigan Avenue, the heart of the downtown shopping area. He consented to act as cameraman for the morning, under my direction. What followed was a fun odyssey of filming, as I sang the lines of the song with a funky variety of backdrops including Millennium Park, the Cloud Gate sculpture, various street scenes and so on. We are editing the footage and will publish the video as soon as we can!

Fishing and Music - June 2006

After an interval of 20 years, I met up again with Geordie Walker, lead guitarist of Killing Joke. Geordie and I met in the early 1980s and as well as our love of music, we share a passion for trout fishing. After this recent re-union we got together and fulfilled two dreams. I took Geordie fishing on the Lambourn and he caught his first Lambourn trout on a dry fly. And then Geordie joined Richard Kondal and I in the studio and Geordie played guitar on a couple of my tracks. Its Geordie's guitar break in the chorus on 'Rocking with your archetypes'. Wicked!