AFTER
THE FIRE
SOUTH WEST & UK COMMUNITY
SINGING & RECORDING
PROJECT FOR 2021 AND 2022
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR INTEREST IN
AFTER THE FIRE
LAUNCH OCT 21
COMPLETION NOV 22
Listen to samples of the music
A brand new relaxed fun community singing and recording project based in the South West but open to all from around the UK and beyond.
No need to be able to sing to a particular standard or to be able to read music or anything like that. The only qualification is a love of music, singing and people and the desire to enjoy yourself, learn some new music and share some good times with others, face to face or through ZOOM.
Street Choir members
in Minehead, Tiverton, Taunton and Exeter are automatically invited,
as are members of our ZOOM House Choir. Others from around the UK and
beyond too.
Anyone can be a part of the project either through live singing and
recording sessions in the south west or through ZOOM. Live recording
will follow - down here in the south west and around the UK too.
GOALS
To bring people together. Social connection. An adventure learning new things to keep us on our toes, build confidence and to keep the old grey stuff ticking along. To encourage understanding and awareness of our own needs and the needs of others. There are thousands of projects like this going on all around the world all the time. They bind us together in positive ways. No real musical goals - whatever happens, happens !
EMPATHY
The theme of the
project is empathy. We live in a divided world. So many appear dismissive
nowadays of others who see the world differently to themselves. And
yet our life journeys are so different. The global tension between faith
and science is just one example. This is a serious subject and has raised
its head during the pandemic. Our own musical exploration of this tension
will be full of love and gentle warm reflection. We'll have fun doing
it and there is room for laughter too. Ultimately we celebrate the simple
idea that, whatever your personal take on this whole life thing, love
conquers all. Hardly rocket science then - all the usual beautiful stuff.
MUSIC
I have written the music myself and in a few days time I'll email links to demos of the music so you can have a listen before deciding if you want to be a part of the project. Choral, rock, indie, meditation, chant and a load more thrown in too.
The music will be woven together to create an album which will be released in Nov 22 on vinyl, a bit like one of those old fashioned concept albums from the seventies. A You Tube release will follow a few weeks after that plus CDs for those who want one. There may be a performance as well - we’ll just see how that goes. If there is it will be relaxed and fun, no pretensions of grandeur or anything like that.
Half way through
the project you will be invited to provide additional lyrical and musical
material to be woven into the music. Artwork for the sleeve will also
be collected from you all, visual reflections of the themes we have
sung about.
KICKS OFF OCTOBER 21
Starting early October 21 there will be four or five regular meetings a month indoors. One in Minehead, one in Taunton, one in Tiverton, one in Exeter plus one on ZOOM.
The live sessions down here in the South West will initially be small groups meeting in big venues, to take account of covid.
These sessions are a chance for learning the music for sure but more than anything just the simple chance to get together and say hello. By keeping group sizes down and offering ZOOM we hope that the project can be covid proof as far as is possible. This will allow some of you to be involved who might otherwise need to stay away for professional or health related reasons. The ZOOM sessions are there for anyone who needs to be extra careful and for those who live further afield as well.
RECORDING
Your singing will
be recorded at different times. It is important to say that this is
fun and relaxed and not a test of your singing ability. There will be
satellite recording sessions as well - probably around spring time,
when I’ll get in my old motor and pop around the country for a
few days, hopefully getting to meet some of you who we know through
House Choir. Also old friends too perhaps and some music colleagues
from years gone by even. That would be special for sure. There are other
recording options too, we shall just let it unfold as it is meant to.
SUBS
This is an independent project with no third party funding. There is no ongoing obligation, financial or otherwise, and you can dip in and out along the way as your own commitments dictate. For the time being costs are £20 per month if coming to the live singing and recording sessions in the south west and £10 a month if just coming to the ZOOM sessions. If the Street Choirs get back to normal down here then we’ll build the project into our normal sessions and subs will just be as normal.
If cash is tight right now just pay what you can afford. Those already paying subs in House Choir will pay a reduced rate.
Be assured of the amount of recording and production work that will go into the project. The venue costs are also expensive as well given that we will only initially be meeting in small groups.
You are in charge of what you contribute.
You will never
be chased for cash.
WHAT NEXT
You can hear demos of the music here - if you like them and want to be a part of this, please get in touch without obligation or long term commitment.
Please
email now without obligation and you'll get links to the music and emailed
updates during September as the project builds to launch in October.
Nigel Neill
www.musichealth.co.uk/about.htm
Other projects from the last few years
