As luck would have it I've asked to play at one of my favourite venues in London this Sunday, The Big Chill Bar. I've been an irregular feature down there, somewhat like an occasional table, ever since it opened back in 2005. I played the first week it was opened, I've been lucky to play at their very special New years eve and New Years day parties, as part of their celebrations for the Big Chill festival and have been involved in a number of residencies there over the years. This time they've asked me to bring in the chill and downtempo, in a very welcome move to return the bar back to it's humble laid back musical roots. Something I'm more than happy to do. See you down there!
Free Entry
In the summer of 2007 I was approached by Bev and Pete (a.k.a MrsPirate and PiratePete) to provide a mix to accompany the birth of their first child, Isla. Initially I was thrown into a panic; having never attended a birth before (apart from my own, of course) I had no idea what they would want to hear during that incredibly emotional time; I knew it had to be long as first births have a reputation for being drawn out affairs and I knew I didn't want to stick to a tempo as, after a while that would just get annoying. They'd given me a free reign on music selection, trusting me implicitly so it was all up to me. So, I decided to put something together that would try and calm, relax, entertain, but also not try dominate the proceedings. I didn't want to have too much vocal stuff in there as I presumed there would be enough chatter/instruction/shouting/swearing going on without my mix adding to it. As fate would have it, due to the frenetic nature of a birth and some technical problems it wasn't used but has gone to keep Isla (and Bev and Pete) music entertained.
Personally I use it, after a very good and heavy night, to drift off to sleep to ;)