For about twenty years I've worked mainly as a composer. I've written music for film, tv drama and documentary, theatre, contemporary dance, son et lumiere, art installations, orchestral concert performances... all kinds of things. I also work as a producer, a mixer and remixer, and as a mastering engineer. Never a dull moment...
Two hybrid narrative/music performance pieces that I put together have been released on CD - ‘THE BRIDGE’ with the highly acclaimed and widely celebrated author IAIN BANKS, and ‘BROUGHT TO LIGHT’ with comic book genius ALAN MOORE. I'm planning a third narrative/music piece based on the work of revolutionary psychiatrist R.D. LAING.
The soundtrack for the stage version of NEIL GAIMAN and DAVE McKEAN’s ‘VIOLENT CASES’ was my first noteworthy commission, way back in 1988. I've written music for all manner of productions since then and some that I remember especially fondly include: the music for contemporary dancepiece ‘TRACK’ by the PAULA HAMPSON DANCE GROUP in 1997, the theatrical score for the 4TH WALL production of JEAN-PAUL SARTRE’s ‘HUIS CLOS’ (‘NO WAY OUT’) in 2001, and the soundtracks for the ‘TSHUKUDU’ South African wildlife documentary series directed by MARIANNE WILDING between 1999 and 2005 (not least because the job literally put me in a lion's mouth).
Currently I'm working again with my pal Iain Banks on an album of songs in tribute to the fictional band FROZEN GOLD featured in Iain's novel ‘ESPEDAIR STREET’. In May 2009 Iain and I completed the demo stage of production and we are now in the process of finding our singers - the album will feature a cast of guest performers. A tribute to a band that never existed:
independent.co.uk/iain talks about espedair street
RECENT & UPCOMING:
Late 2007 I composed music for an installation with photographic collagist MICHELLE MOLYNEUX at the WILLIAMSON GALLERY, Merseyside. An extract of the music is on this site.
A review of the exhibition:
molyneux/lloyd installation
In January 2008 I completed mixing and mastering of the debut album by the delightfully energetic band the LP for Japanese label VINYL JUNKIE .
Also in January 2008 I produced a song for a forthcoming BBC3 pilot written by IAN CARNEY entitled 'ONE STAR'. The song was recorded with nightingale-voiced singer VICTORIA HALLIWELL
At the beginning of March 2008 I finished recording a batch of songs with the alt. country band I am a member of, BIG PINK .
Alongside the on-going work on ESPEDAIR STREET this past year has been pretty busy... I worked again on the annual LIPA ep , the artists were selected this time by FRAN HEALY of TRAVIS and as ever some very interesting artists emerged such as PILLERS OF THE COMMUNITY and ALINA ORLOVA . As the year closes I'm nearing completion of co-production and arrangements on the first album by the marvellous CHEMISTRY LANE . When occasion permits I'm also slowly bringing in an album of the surreal music of DAVID GREENALD that will be well worth the wait.
I finally had the chance to work with dance dj NIC BELL on mixes for his latest ep earlier in the summer, and this was a fantastic introduction to new ways of working, and gentleman that he is Nic it must be said is producing some very inventive, infecting and funky electronica...
The lovely folk of ASTAR STUDIOS near Manchester have kept me busy this year too - alongside the very talented up-and-coming producer ANDY ROSS I mixed a big-band album up there for ANTHONY KINSEY, and five of the winning artists in the YAMAHA/JAZZWISE MAGAZINE JAZZ COMPETITION. I've also mastered albums for various artists that have been through ASTAR this year including DANNY MORRIS, THE GREAT PLAIN and GARETH EVANS.
A real highlight of 2008 was working with choreographer MARC BREW on a contemporary dancepiece entitled NOCTURNE which was performed in Trafalgar Square in August as part of the LIBERTY FESTIVAL. The piece has been developed considerably for further performances in 2009, and features an element of narrative poetry performed by Iain Banks from a text by Luke Pell:
Forthcoming performances of 'NOCTURNE' - please search online for further details, all events are easy to locate:
26th to 28th June - Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
3rd and 4th July - Winchester Hat Fair
26th July - Penrith Dance Daze
31st July, 2nd August - Stockton International Riverside Festival
5th September - Liberty Festival Trafalgar Square
Before I forget... I most definitely recommend a listen to the lovely musicians THE SUNS whose two very sunny albums I mixed with the band.
And finally... if you've never heard the highly original music of the peerless HECTOR ZAZOU then now is the time. I'm very sad to say that Hector passed away in September 2008. His work is inspirational, and as a person who understood the complexity of making records with large casts he very generously gave Iain and I a lot of great advice in our quest to make our E St album. Thanks Hector.
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