Hello! Welcome to my new blog. I used to have a blog on Wordpress that I also never used. Maybe I WILL use this one.
Happy new year and all that. Obviously the world is falling apart- especially for performers and artists. I have had many many many gigs cancelled including at the Sydney Opera House, a festival in Brazil, Manchester Contact, The National - you name it. it HAS BEEN DARK.
Up’s and downs
I lost my beloved Nan Eileen Hewett to suspected cancer near the end of 2020. Unfortunately I never got to see her much in 2020 because of the lockdown. THANK GOD I forced my way on to the ward one time because she wasn’t drinking , so I took her, her favourite Mango juice.
On the day I found out I had to travel to Manchester to perform Beats & Elements’s High Rise eState Of Mind at HOME. It was pretty difficult, and the experience is a strange blur. Big up to the Beats & Elements team for putting up with my crying. If you have ever done a show whilst recently grieving you will know what I’m talking about. The guys in the show pretty much carried it, and we got a FOUR STAR REVIEW in the STAGE! WOOO HOOOOO. IF you are a OG head , The Stage will meant pretty much everything to you coming up. Yes I grew up on a council estate, but it was my bit of posh. It was like may secret access to another world. At BRIT school , everyone would look at the jobs and follow it etc. I have been in the Stage before, but to do it on a show which we made on a SHOE STRING was pretty mental. I felt so proud of Lakeisha , Paul and Jr. All of which I have know for a decade or more. To make it in there with all of them was very special, including Jr whom I have known since we were teenagers. It has been a mad journey together. It was a bitter sweet time, but to be on stage, on that massive beautiful stage and with people who I love and respect , I feel lucky really.
BBC/ iPlayer
BAC’s Beatbox Academy’s Frankenstein was made into a film ! It was put out under lockdown on The BBC. We had a premiere at BAC for the academy participants, which was amazing.
The process of making the film was sitting with a film director (Geej) and converting our vision onto the screen. Thankfully my years of obsessing of music videos led me to have a palette of ideas for aesthetics and visuals, as I don’t have the exact film knowledge, but I was able to reference different videos to come up with different ideas. .
Knowing the Academy members for so many years, I was able to have ideas about the tone of the autobiographical parts too. Obviously these were their ideas and words, but I was able to give some ideas of the vibe around their personal families and histories.
The film came out well and we had a nice PR campaign , including Evening Standard, The Stage, ITV and The BBC.
Crongton Knight’s tour with Pilot theatre was cancelled due to the worldwide 2020 Pandemic, so the show went online. Itwas an amazing show and I still feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with that highly talented team. The show was shown for a run on Youtube.
it made it to the Observer’s top 10 list of show of 2020. absolute result! Didn’t expected it, but it was a banger of a show!
The Stage wrote an amazing profile on me that around the time of the High Rise eState OF Mind live stream , which you can read here Stage article.
The Stage also put me in their Top 100 of the year, and you can read about that and see it here Stage 100. Definitely an honour being part of the prestigious Stage 100 list. I have been reading The Stage since I was a teenager, so it holds weight with me. And especially at this time, when out industry is falling apart, it is nice to get that little nod.