D major, E major, F minor

Location The Purcell Room, don't you know | Mood 6 year old before piano exam | Date 25 April 2007
Filed in:
Author (full name): 
Franny Armstrong
Location: 
The Purcell Room, don't you know
Mood: 
6 year old before piano exam
Soundtrack: 
Band soundchecking
Ailments: 
Minor butterflies
Date: 
25 April 2007
Current crisis: 
Can't remember the piano part for "Three Cliffs Bay"
Current silver lining: 
Am allowed to improvise in one of the songs

Not been going too well with the animation. There seems to be a fundamental mismatch between the Spanner Films approach - "don't know how long it is, don't know how much cash we have, don't know what style we like, what do you all reckon?" - and the professionals at Passion who work with such things as scripts, storyboards, deadlines and budgets. They are all very lovely and keen to help Crude, but there seems to be a missing element - a bridge from our fantasy land to the real media world. Hmmm. But made me feel better when we bumped into one of Passion's Senior Producers in the cafe next door who said he'd love to work freely as we do on Crude as he's spent the last eight weeks making a cat food commercial.

I've been anyhow slightly sidetracked this last week as have got roped in to play with my pals' Frank and Louise's band Luminous Frenzy . They're launching their ace new single, 'Three Cliffs Bay', and their wheeling dealing manager Harry has somehow managed to get a booking at the Purcell Room at the Royal Festival Hall. So they've cobbled together a seven piece band - three strings, guitar, bass, drums, vocals and me on percussion. Except now it turns out I'm playing piano as well, though they did manage to stop short at ordering up the grand for tonight's performance. Was great fun practising the songs - D major, E major, F minor - on a backstage piano which has no doubt been tinkled by some of the greatest pianists playing the most challenging works known to mankind. Must remember to call my poor mum in New Zealand - who might have become a concert pianist rather than a maths teacher in another life - and tell her that the crap piano player of the family has made it to the Purcell Room.