It's the End of the World!

My good friends Emperor Yes have just released their new single - The End of The World - and an accompanying video. You might recall I posted a report about the filming back here. I have a small cameo in it as you'll see. Tremendous fun.



You can see their previous two videos - Wasps and Cosmos - here.

I might also point you in the direction of the painting hanging on the wall behind the band. It's the cartoon of Carl Sagan that I did for the launch of previous single Cosmos; the band has an art exhibition for each launch (You can see the artwork I did for the Wasps/Fishes single launch here and some of the other art here).

Well, I did one for the launch of this new single too (launch is on the 27th Feb) and here it is: The End of the World. The exhibition will be on at Lo and Behold, 2b Swanfield St, London E2 7DS from the 28th ... but I'm not sure how long it's on for.

As you can see, two of the band - Ash and Hugo - were delighted with it!

That Was The Week, That Was

Another busy week that started with the very sad news of Iain Banks' death, a lovely and talented man. I first read The Wasp Factory shortly after it came out and was so blown away by it that I travelled 50 miles from where I lived at the time just so that I could get him to sign my copy. He was doing a book signing and short talk in Cambridge. I treasured that book then and even more so now. Another fantastic writer taken from us far too soon.

Most of the rest of the week was spent in a studio recording the audiobook of Constable Colgan's Connectoscope.

 

I was at the House Of Strange studios in the shadow of Canary Wharf in London's docklands. It's a very cool place, owned and run by my good mate Ash Gardner, producer of such bands as Three Trapped Tigers and Emperor Yes.

After three days and 12 hours of reading out loud, I've developed a whole new respect for people like Stephen Fry and Martin Jarvis who make a great many audiobooks. It's surprisingly tiring work. Yes, all right, it's not digging roads or nursing but it is quite wearing, especially as you have to keep up an enthusiastic, evenly-modulated tone throughout.

I've also discovered that the written word and the spoken word are quite different things. When you read out loud, you suddenly have to know how to pronounce people's names correctly and, even more challengingly, foreign names and words. This issue became particularly acute when I got to chapter 11 and suddenly found myself facing words like sippuakivikauppias and kuulilennuteetunneliluuk - two of the world's longest palindromes; one Finnish, one Estonian. Eek.

How did I fare? You'll soon be able to hear.

Final Week of Emperor Yes and Friends Exhibition

It all ends on the 29th folks so do go along and have a look at the art exhibition if you can.

It's at the old Top Office Machines premises at 133 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG (Nearest tube station is Shoreditch High Street but it's just a 10 min walk from Liverpool Street station too). Map here). Facebook page is here.

Some top art on display ... including two of mine (see them here).

If you can't make it, you can view the entire catalogue of artworks here.

Emperor Yes and Friends - Private View

I spent a chunk of yesterday afternoon and evening at the Private View for an art exhibition organised to coincide with the release of Emperor Yes's first single. The event was hosted in an old computer shop that is being slowly converted into a gallery - Top Office Machines in Bethnal Green Road. It's a huge space with lots of rooms and built over four floors. There was lots of tidying up to do but, eventally, the doors opened, the music started and the beer flowed (a special batch from the brand new Hackney Brewery).

However, before we partied, I went around and took some photos so that I could share some of the art with you. I haven't posted even half of it here but it will give you a taste of the very talented company I was keeping. I am proud to have my art hanging among theirs. Among the artists on display are Low Bros, Billy and Malarky, Mr Penfold, Bromley, MVF, Milo Tchais, Oliver Dorman, Tony Lee, Super Haunted, Anders Furevik, Sephryn Grey, Peter Rossiter, Sam Ballard, Tyler Wallach, Ayano Fukuoka, Paul Shinn, Alec Jones and Collective Era. You can see my two pieces here.

The show runs until the 29th July and will feature live music, a comedy quiz night (with me and Dan Schreiber from QI and The Museum of Curiosity), magic, photography, science experiments and there's a talk by Ben Hardwige about Chinese medicine and the myth that 'sharks don't get cancer' on the 22nd at the venue. It's a tie-in to the Skeptics in the Pub movement.

If you're in or around East London in the next three weeks, why not pop in? It's free! But if you can't make it, the full catalogue of art is here, along with prices.

Cheers!

Emperor Yes and Friends

My very good chum Ash Gardner - the man behind the House of Strange recording studios - has been part of a brilliant collaborative music project over the past few months. Called Emperor Yes, it's experimental pop of the best kind with trippy little riffs, fun lyrics and great musicianship. It features Ash on keys and vocals, multi-instrumentalist Hugo Sheppard, the mighty Adam Betts of Three Trapped Tigers on drums and a host of guests. Here's a sample track called Fishes:



There's a great interview about the band here.  Anyway, they're having a launch party that lasts a week or two to celebrate the release of the first EP ... and it starts this week. They've asked me and a whole bunch of other artists to create original new pieces of art based on the tracks Wasps and Fishes.

If you're in East London, come an have a gander. The exhibition will be at Top Office Machines, 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 7DG. Nearest station is Shoreditch.

Coming to a wall near you very soon ...

I am working on two brand new pieces of art for this exhibition:

Myself, and the other artists concerned, are all creating two artworks each. They are themed on 'Wasps' and 'Fishes' to tie in with the imminent release of Emperor Yes's first EP. You can listen to both tracks for free on Soundcloud here. Emperor Yes is a collaborative music project involving artists from a number of bands and orchestrated by the brilliant Ash Gardner at House of Strange Studios. If you live in London, why not come along?

101 People to Meet before You (or they) Die - Pilot Episode

Here's a little slideshow I've made of the pilot episode of 101 people to Meet before You (or they) Die. It was first broadcast on Resonance FM104.4 (London) on 30th April 2012.

The concept for the show is that we introduce you to some of the world's most extraordinary people: explorers, scientists, artists, philosophers etc. The pilot episode focuses on Venezuelan discoverer and encyclopaedist Charles Brewer-Carias: a man who has led nearly 300 expeditions; has discovered over 100 species new to science; who may have found the world's oldest organism; and claims to know the location of the semi-mythical El Dorado. He is also, allegedly, the person upon whom the character of Charles Muntz (in the Disney/Pixar film Up) is based ... though he isn't a baddie.

Running time 60 minutes with musical interludes by Emperor Yes. Presented by Dan Schreiber. Written by Stevyn Colgan and Dan Schreiber. Music by Ash Gardner and Hugo Sheppard of Carl and the Saganauts. Produced by Dan Schreiber and Ash Gardner at House of Strange Studios.

 

This is a pilot and, as such, something of an experiment. We have already established that interviews by phone are problematic and that the show is better suited to a 30 minute format. But what do you think? We'd be very interested to hear your views. And your suggestions for people we should interview.