Verbal Vigilante Music

VVMusic are "InTheCity" with Jarvis Cocker and The Fratellis

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:01:00 +0000

VVMusic will be at this years InTheCity Music festival, where we’ve been invited to talk on a panel discussing Sync Licensing. The other panellists include Marc Robinson (Universal Records), Gareth Smith (Chrysalis Music) and Neil Claxton of Mint Royale.

Jarvis Cocker and The Fratellis are among other delegates and performers at this years premier new music festival.

Founded in 1992 by Yvette Livesey and the late Anthony H Wilson, In The City has become the date in the music industry calendar. By day, Manchester becomes home to the brightest and best in the business, as industry leaders debate the present and plot the future. And by night Manchester hosts the biggest city-based music festival in Europe, In The City Live, as the bands and fans take to the streets.

Rightly regarded by the global music community as the premier new music event in the world, ITC has helped launch the careers of Oasis, Radiohead, Suede, Elastica, Coldplay, The Darkness, Doves, Foo Fighters, Elbow, the Stereophonics, Muse, Orson and many, many more.

If anyone is attending let us know and we’ll try to bump into you for a beer!

Soundtrack - Film and Music Festival

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:57:00 +0000

SOUNDTRACK: The International Film and Music Festival. This is the first year of this annual event, a distinctive film festival, celebrating the most creative, inspired and exciting use of music in film.
In late November 2008, Wales' capital city will play host to the most ambitious and innovative creative film and music festival the UK has ever seen.
Centred around the historic Bay area from 26- 29 November, Cardiff will become ‘home' to internationally renowned film makers and musicians alike, as they come together to be a part of SOUNDTRACK: The International Film and Music Festival for Wales.

Celebrating the festival's distinctive theme of the relationship of music in film through a packed schedule of film screenings, master classes, keynote speeches and workshops, alongside exceptional live music performances from classical to contemporary rock and roll fringe gigs, SOUNDTRACK's audience is guaranteed to be as varied as the line-up.
As part of a richly diverse programme of events, Welsh film makers will have opportunities to screen to a wider audience, and international ‘names' have the chance to be met by those fans who made them a success. More than 7000 people are expected through the doors, from established film makers to emerging talents in film and music.

Involving many of the waterfront's most impressive live performance venues including the world famous Wales Millennium Centre, SOUNDTRACK: The International Film and Music Festival for Wales will have audiences glued to their cinema seat or enjoying a live performance with a twist. This annual event offers something to everyone who has a love of film or music, or both.
We'll be attending so hope to see some of you there.

Verbal Vigilante Music

The Fishdance Kid

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:49:00 +0000

VVMusic have just signed off on Vanessa Caswill's latest film "Fishdance Kid". The short was produced in conjuntion with the UK Film Council and Sentinel Entertainment. Finding herself at the crossroads of a failing relationship the "Fishdance Kid" has a decision to make.

Shot on location at Pinewood Studios, the western style of the film called for a suitably western score from us. We dusted off our Stetsons and employed the slide guitar talents of Sam Moore. Thanks Sam!

We'd also like to thank Ennio Morricone for establishing the musical conventions that are now inextricably linked with the genre. While we referenced some of Morricone's style, the music for "Fishdance Kid" required a more intimate approach. We Kept the instrumentation simple, focussing on the slide guitar accompanied by cello and native American flute.

The film is in the very final stages of Post production and once we have a copy of the finished version we'll put it up for you all to see.

Verbal Vigilante Music

The Trevor Ending Story

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:40:00 +0000

Watch "Trevor" Here.

Check out the new sitcom teaser from the comedy scriptwriting team of James Delow and Ben Fromet. Starring T4'S Steve Jones, Laura Aikman, Comedian Will Smith and Tony Way. Written in conjunction with BBC3's New Comedy Unit "The Trevor Ending story" is being tipped as the next Gavin and Stacey.

In this teaser we meet Trevor who gets dumped by his girlfriend on their one year anniversary, his best friend Steve who sleeps in a skip outside his own house and his kinky Grandmother who has a penchant for rubber!

We met James and Ben at the 4talent Awards in December where they picked up an award for their scriptwriting and we received one for our soundtrack work. Once they had finished shooting, we were sent the script and asked to write the theme tune. "Trevor" is currently seeking a commissioner, so fingers crossed!

Verbal Vigilante Music

VVMusic Generation Next

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:24:00 +0000

VVMusic were invited to the launch of Channel 4's Generation Next Season which runs throughout August on C4. It was an opportunity for the next generation of creative talent to meet up and talk business with todays top filmakers and producers. Head of Channel 4, Kevin Lygo, spoke about the scheme and the channels wish to encourage and attract new talent.

We saw fellow 4talent winning filmaker Vicki Psarias and Illustrator, Petra Stefankova. It was great to meet up with the 4Talent team again aswell as meeting some interesting new contacts.
Over four weeks there are loads of shows to watch from the best new writers, directors and onscreen talent across comedy, drama, documentaries and news.

Film4 will also be screening a short season of films highlighting new directors, particularly those identified with mumblecore - young directors shooting fast, low-budget films, often on digital cameras and arranging their own distribution. There's a real emphasis on finding future favourites at FrightFest too.

Verbal Vigilante Music

Reaching for the Blues

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:24:00 +0000

VVMusic have recently completed mastering work on "Reaching for the Blues", the second album by Sam Ray Moore (aka Ragtime Sam). Sam is currently on a summer tour of the states. Having finished his New York dates, Sam is currently in Chicago playing the "Windy Cities" famous Blues and Jazz clubs before heading down to the blues heartland of New Orleans and Memphis.

Ragtime Sam is an English solo acoustic artist well practiced in a vast range of traditional idioms. His influences draw heavily from the music of the 1920’s and 30’s in the Southern States of America. Sam has amassed a large repertoire of Ragtime and Delta Blues music from this period. The influence of such musicians as the Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Blake and Ry Cooder have remainded the backbone of Sam’s sound, also drawing on more contempary artists such as Bob Brozman and Cassandra Wilson.

Sam adds his own modern spin on the way that blues and ragtime is played whilst maintaining a strong link with the musics roots. Sam is known for his passionate, heartfelt and eclectic live performances. Donning a full suit and sporting a trilby hat (a style reminiscent of Robert Johnson) Sam has been busy gigging throughout the northwest of England, London, Paris and now the US.

Grand Theft Auto IV - A Soundtrack First

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:24:00 +0000

As everyone will be well aware the newest and biggest release by Rockstar Games has now hit the shelves. The much antisipated GTA IV is out and not just making waves in the gaming industry but the music industry too.

Rockstar Games music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich and his crew spent the last year-and-a-half compiling the soundtrack that brings the game to life, contacting more than 2,000 entities across four continents to secure the necessary music rights.

"We've really paid attention to what goes on in New York City and I think we really captured the music of the entire city, from different ethnic and social groups to different tastes of music," says Pavlovich.

Music in the "Grand Theft Auto" series is split between several radio stations organized by genre, which gamers choose when they enter one of the many vehicles that serve as the primary gameplay experience. Each station is like a mini soundtrack of its own, allowing gamers to tune to their favorite every time they enter a new car. To help reflect New York's diverse music scene, Pavlovich enlisted the help of several area DJs to produce or act as hosts for the stations.

With over 200 hundred individually sourced tracks and a music budget of over 2 Million, GTA IV is setting a bench mark for the use of audio in games and making the music industry prick up it's ears. The popular franchise is a massive distribution platform. All past installments combined have sold more than 70 million units worldwide, and 32 million in the United States alone.

VVMusic Down Under

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:28:00 +0000

We have just heard news that Tiny Elephants' animation "Small Birds Singing" is being featured in Melbourne International Animation Festival in June this year. We wish animator and director of the animated short Linda McCarthy the best of look in the competitive category! The festivals are really racking up for SBS for which VVMusic composed the soundtrack, and will be working on the next installment of SBS projects later this year.

MIAF aims to challenge and inspire audiences with thematic, aesthetic and technical diversity from award winners, outstanding industry veterans and those wonderful newcomers who are exploring their talent on screen for the very first time.

VVMusic Breakfast with BBC Radio Lancs

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:09:00 +0000

We have just got back from an interview on BBC Radio Lancashire's Breakfast show with Alison Butterworth. We had a chat about ourselves and our work here at VVMusic. Other topics that cropped up in the show that we were questioned about ranged from house prices, fake tans and sideburns. We even got to read the weather! Our talents have no bounds!

To hear the show go to BBC Radio Lancashire and choose the listen again function. We were on from about 8:20am until 9:00am. Happy Listening.

www.verbalvigilantemusic.com

Northwest Vision+Media: Full Interview

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:08:00 +0000

WHEN Jode Steele and David Wainwright started playing classical guitar at school, the 14-year-old friends never thought their interest would lead to a successful career as composers. But that’s exactly what has happened.Because 12 years on, the pair are firmly established as two of the region’s leading musical entrepreneurs, with their company, Verbal Vigilante Music, recently scooping a top Channel 4 Award – and their work now up for recognition at the forthcoming Royal Television Society awards.

In addition to these latest successes, Verbal Vigilante Music has now been awarded the accolade of being named Facility of the Month by Northwest Vision and Media, which works on behalf of the region’s film, TV and digital content industries.“It’s a privilege to get recognition for our work, especially as we’ve been working towards this for so long,” explains David, of Preston.

“At school both Jode and I shared a love of music, and that developed in to us writing our own songs together. We used really simple equipment, an old karaoke machine which somehow became a two-track recorder, but it was enough to get us started,” he continues.

Jode takes up the story: “We did the whole band thing, busking in the streets, then we went on to college, and eventually decided to go to the same university so we could continue composing and working together.”The two, it seems, are inseparable – often finishing each other’s sentences! Understandable, then, that when David walks down the aisle in June, Jode will be there too – as best man.

“We’re great friends, as well as being business partners,” explains Jode.In 2000 the friends went to the University of Central Lancashire to study New Music and Media. “It was quite an experimental course, which was great for us because we wanted to learn more about the process of composition and expand our musical knowledge,” explains Jode.“Studying new work also opens your eyes to other kinds of music, so we fell in love with work as varied as North Indian classical music to musical theatre.

It’s had a huge impact on the work we produce today.“The lecturers used to say not everything has to be a three-minute pop song, so we employ a bit of that in our compositions, which gives us an originality in the music we create,” he adds.Working as a double-act has only ever brought benefits, says David. “The way we work is quite intuitive. Jode might come up with something on the piano, he plays it to me, and that sparks off a reaction in my mind, so we can begin bouncing ideas around.”

“It starts off as a raw melody, then David offers something that I didn’t think of. Everything we create is filtered between the two of us,” adds Jode.It’s certainly a winning combination. Almost immediately after graduating from university, the Vigilantes managed to secure their first commission to write music for a short animation. This, in turn, has led to lots more animation work, and even a feature film.“We composed the soundtrack to Katie Steed’s short animation, Death By Scrabble, which is currently up for a Royal Television Award. And last year we completed our first feature film, Between The Lines.

“The director was very impressed with our work and has asked us to get involved with his next feature, later this year,” explains Jode, who entered a clip from the film into the Channel 4 awards – earning the pair a 4Talent Award.“That Award is really starting to open doors for us,” adds David. “We’ve had a meeting with Channel 4’s Head of Creative, who deals with all the channel’s adverts and stings, and he wants to introduce us to a couple of producers.“I think people approach you differently when you win an award, because people think they must be OK, if Channel 4 like them.

We realise it’s all about networks and making the right connections, so hopefully we’re on the right tracks.“A lot of our work is word-of-mouth, which has meant we’ve done a lot of work for clients in the south, but what we really want to do is break into the scene here in the Northwest,” adds Jode.“We’ve recently begun working with an animator from Chester, Linda McCarthy, producing the music for a stop-frame animation pilot about upper class gentry who live in a manor house.

We’re now working on the full TV series, which is really exciting. We haven’t had that much experience of TV, but it’s definitely an area we want to crack.”The duo have also recently agreed to lecture students at Bolton University, on a course called Introduction to Synthesis and Midi. “We teach students how to use and create music on a computer. Writing music for the games market is another whole new area to us.

“Ultimately, though, it’s British film we want to work in. That’s where our passion lies. There’s some really great stuff being made, with fantastic directors, and we really want to be part of that, especially in the Northwest.”

Children First! Singapore International Festival

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:26:00 +0000

Dynamic New Animation have returned from the Prudential "Children First!" Theatre Festival in Singapore. They were asked to perform and represent the UK with their early years puppet theatre production "Ball Pond Bobby" featuring the music of Verbal Vigilante Music.

Since its inauguration in 2000, the festival has showcased all manner of professional and first-class performances and art forms ranging from mask work, physical theatre, story telling, drama, comedy, circus theatre, dance, puppetry, mime, music and even short films!

The festival has hosted performers originating from all corners of the globe: Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, the Czech Republic, Israel, Korea, Italy, Peru, Singapore, South Africa and the USA.

Prudential Children First! Singapore International Festival for Children has become the dedicated Arts event for children and a leading international Children’s Arts Festival in the South East-Asian region.

The Festival is an annual hallmark event in Singapore not only for children, but for parents and teachers who have all come to enjoy the performances and to further understand the benefits by exposing the young to the Arts.

Annecy 2008

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:20:00 +0000

We have just received news that Linda McCarthy's animation "Small Birds Singing" has been included in this years Annecy International Animation Festival. We had the pleasure of working with Linda on SBS last year. It's great to see something so quintessentially English being screened at a French Animation Festival! Linda has just set up Tiny Elephants and is currently working on a series of "Small Birds Singing" shorts, which we're looking forward to working on this year.

Annecy has been showcasing the very best in animation for over 45 years, making it the industry's leading international competitive festival. The capacity to present and promote animation in all its different forms has made Annecy a world-wide point of reference for the animation industry.

Also, included in this years festival is Katie Steed's "Death by Scrabble", which is doing very well on the festival circuit, and is currently up for an RTS Award.

Good Luck to both!

Verbal Vigilante Music

New Music Strategies - The Online Music Bible?

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:56:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Verbal Vigilante Music attended the Northern Edge Music Masterclass at the Future Works in Manchester. A select number of music businesses, mainly consisting of Record Labels were invited to take part in the day long event.

It was a schedule packed full of Industry speakers dissecting and analysing their own marketing campaigns for artists ranging from the Pigeon Detectives to random Dub-Step acts, who's names at present escape me!

Organised by AIM, it was an invaluable insight into the strategies that are not only emerging but being implemented by some of the more discerning and forward thinking Production Companies and Record Labels.

The highlight for Verbal Vigilante Music was the talk given by Andrew Dubber, the author of New Music Strategies. His comparatively short speech was a summation of his thesis on how to utilise online technologies for reaching your audience, building a relationship and ultimately selling to them.

His take on how to approach and use the technological tool, that is the internet, has influenced us and after reading his free E-book "20 Things You Must Know About Music Online" you are left thinking "Why didn't I think of that!?". It's succinct and just makes sense!

Check out his sight, download the E-book, Sign up to the RRS feed and learn.

New Music Strategies - The Online Music Bible? We think so!

Verbal Vigilante and Viva TV

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:49:00 +0000

Last week VVM met with the Northwest's newest and best-est digital broadcaster, VIVA TV. We got a sneak preview of the content for the Channel and without giving too much away, we are all in for real treat!

A new television experience for the Northwest. Launching in 2009, VIVA TV will be offering wide range of entertaining programmes, that you can watch whenever you want.All of the programmes wiil be produced by VIVA TV's team of broadcast professional using creative ideas and input from the community.

They are set to work with some big name writers and have a great catalogue of material ready for us, the viewers, when they go live next year!

Definitely watch this space www.vivatv.co.uk

RTS Nomination for "Death by Scrabble"

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:52:00 +0000

Congratulations go to the talented animator Katie Steed! Her short animation "Death by Scrabble" has just been nominated for a Royal Television Award.

The nomination follows a string of world wide festival screenings for the film and inclusion on Sky's Propellor TV.We composed the soundtrack to the short and are proud to be involved with the film! So fingers crossed for Katie and here's to many more successful collaborations!

Together with fellow animator Aaron Wood, Katie has set up an animation Production Company Slurpy Studios. You can check out some of Katie's work, at www.slurpystudios.com

Verbal Vigilante Music pick up Channel 4 Award

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:06:00 +0000

A great time was had by all at the annual 4 Talent Awards held at Channel 4 in London. We enjoyed the champagne and conversation, as we spoke to the other award winners, Channel 4 and Maverick TV guys.

The award was presented by Head of 4 Creative Richard Burdett who said...

"After a week sifting through music for the next series of "Skins" it is refreshing to hear some beautifully crafted music."

For more information and to check out their work go to www.verbalvigilantemusic.com

Stop Press! Your future creative hereos!

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:03:00 +0000

Hello all! Well December is here and Christmas is nearly upon us. If you are in need of a stocking filler then the new edition of Ten4 Magazine is a must, because we're in it! Available from Borders and Virgin Stores.

We are heading down to London tomorrow to pick up our 4Talent Award, so will keep you posted with all the events.

Channel 4 Award for VVM

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:04:00 +0000

Great News! Verbal Vigilante Music have beaten off competition from hundreds of entrants across the UK to win the 4Talent award for the countries most exciting young creative talent of 2007. Spanning the whole of the creative industries, from filmmakers to fashion designers, the award was chosen by an expert panel of judges from Channel 4 and elsewhere.

Spanning the whole of the creative industries, from filmmakers to fashion designers, the award was chosen by an expert panel of judges from Channel 4 and independant production companies.

In addition to a feature in Ten4 Magazine and a national publicity push backed by channel 4, Jode and David will be attending the award ceremony at Channel 4 HQ in early December.

Editor of Channel 4's 4Music, Michael Baggs had this to say about their work...

“Making music far beyond their years, Jode and David’s sweeping cinematic scores stand up alongside some of Hollywood’s greatest compositions in recent memory. It is only a matter of time before the US – and indeed the world, are commissioning these two young composers to score major movies.”

Back to School!

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:32:00 +0000

So the wet summer is coming to an end (perfect studio weather) and Autumn is upon us. Great news, we have recently signed a new publishing deal with a music library and have been busy supplying them with material from our back catalogue aswell as composing some new tracks. So you should be hearing some VVM on a TV near you soon!

It's also back to Uni for us with a difference. Starting late September we will be lecturing (part-time) at Bolton University. We'll be teaching an introduction to Synthesis and Midi module, working mainly with the Game development course. So we'll have to dust off our gowns and mortar boards soon!

Death by Scrabble

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:00:00 +0000

Well, we've had a very busy couple of months, hense the lack of blogging! We have now completed the Small Birds Singing project which was a great fast paced, stop-motion animation. We visited the animator/director Linda McCarthy at her studio near Chester and got to see the fabulous sets and models she had created. We also have just signed off on another animation, this time a 2D film called Death By Scrabble, animated by Katie Steed.

On the theatre side of things Ball Pond Bobby is continuing it's national tour and Puss in Boots is doing the rounds at the outdoor summer festivals including our second 'visit' to Glastonbury. Last Wednesday saw the opening night for Stowaway at the York Theatre Royal. We composed and produced the music for this contemporary play directed by Paula Malcolmson.

A crazy two months gone and we have a busy schedule ahead of us too. We have forthcoming projects with Ashley Wing (Dir. Between the Lines) aswell as some library music work. No rest for the wicked!

Small Birds Singing

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:23:00 +0000

We have just began work on the stop frame animation "Small Birds Singing" by talented animator Linda McCarthy. "Small Birds Singing" was created by renowned illustrator Steven Appleby and was a regular feature in The Times. Working with Steven, Linda is turning the quirky English 2D comic strip into an equally eccentric 3D animation. We're delighted to be involved and are currently working on the initial themes.

Between the Lines hits the shelves

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:35:00 +0000

As part of the films pre release promotion, Digital Video Techniques magazine, is featuring the Between the Lines trailer as part of it's cover DVD in next months issue. As well as exposing new talent, Digital Video Techniques focuses on providing filmaking tutorials and interviews.

We've included a still from some of the initial grade shots, which are looking pretty snazzy!

Ball Pond Bobby

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:35:00 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks the forthcoming DNA project Ball Pond Bobby has been gearing up to begin it's tour. We attended some rehearsals last week at the Guildhall, its really starting to take shape. This work should be completed for us in a week or so. It's a nice change to be writing for theatre again, having been working on features for a while now. We'll post dates and venues nearer the time.

Between The Lines Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Firstly, a belated Happy New Year to everyone. We haven't posted a blog for a while now, due to a heavy work load, which is always good. The Between the Lines trailer is now complete and you can check it out at www.betweenthelinesmovie.com/trailers.html

We are busy with completing the score for BTL which should be finished and ready for its first screening at the end of February. It's set to be an exciting year for us. We have a project in the pipeline with our good friend Kerry Drumm at Aardman and are due to work with the animator Linda McCarthy on her forthcoming adaptation of the Steven Appleby series "Small Birds Singing", so plenty of stop motion for us to get our teeth into! Mmm Plastacine...

Website Online

noreply@blogger.com (David Wainwright & Jode Steele) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:36:00 +0000

The Verbal Vigilante Music website is now online. Check it out at www.verbalvigilantemusic.com
We have just started writing for the online music library beatsuite.com and are in the process of sorting out our new studio. Things are progressing well with "Between the Lines" and we will shortly be scoring the trailer. We have had a few really good meetings with directors and producers which means things are gonna be really busy over the next few months. Watch this space.