Creative Exchange !!!

Just got back our trip last night and I'm beat.  Luckily we made it back before the typhoon hit otherwise we'd be stuck in the airport right now.  Anyway, here's pictures of Creative Exchange 2008 that I was apart of in Bath, London.  It was a joint project between C.A.S.H, PRS Foundation, and Bath Spa University.  There was 4 HK songwriters ( Rachel Kar, Janet Yung, Ng King Pan, and myself) and 4 London songwriters ( Richard Lobb, Sara Spade, Carly Bryant, and Katy Carr) along with Joe Bennett (Music Director), Chris Blanden (Producer), and Peter Sarstedt (Special Guest).  The whole process was blogged by Joe and all the songs, lyrics, and project tasks can be viewed here:  www.joebennett.vox.com.  Enjoy!

Our first meeting!  Sara Spade, Richard Lobb, Ng King Pan, Myself, Katy Carr, Rachel Kar, Joe Bennett, Carly Bryant, and Janet Yung!

Introducing ourselves and discussing various songwriting tools via Myspace and itunes.  It was really cool having so many different styles of music in our group.

Outside the main building with Josh from PRS (far left).  He joined us the first couple of days and became a big part of our new family.

After introductions we were split in two's and had a few hours to write a new song (melody and lyrics) that would be performed and recorded live the next morning.  Joe would pop in and out of the sessions and give us great tips and expert advice.  Here's King Pan and Sara working on "Mango Tree."

Richard and I working on "People of the World" which focused on the AABA song stucture. 

Katy and King Pan added some unique musical flavors to the songs.  That erhu and banjolin is pretty hard to play.  Respect!

Carly and Janet recording live while we all sat and listened to the new track for the first time!

After each performance we would all sit and discuss the song, lyrics, and what we would change to improve the tune.  It was a really supportive environment and having 16 new songs created in 4 days was amazing!

Huddling around Joe as he updates his blog minutes after we just performed our new compositions!

Working at Bath Spa University was great since we had full access to their music facilities that included 3 fully equipped mixing rooms and one big performance room.  They even had some really cool vintage instruments too! 

Joe our music director and Chris our producer/mixing engineer!

King Pan, Carly, Janet, Rachel, and myself on the last day after we finished all the songs!

The Bath Spa campus is actually owned by the royal family and is surrounded by some nice and peaceful fields.  So nice!

Last but definitely not least our special guest PETER SARSTEDT!!!  I'm a big fan of his music so I was super excited to meet him.  He also shared some great stories from his own personal experiences and sat in on our sessions giving us feedback.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwXVDaCveSY&feature=relatedHere is Peter's "Where did you go my lovely?." An amazing song that was also included in Wes Anderson's latest movie "The Darjeeling Limited." 

We'll be showcasing our new songs at the Fringe Clubon Sep.5th so come one down to check out the cool songs we did!