a day in the life...

so it's been a busy few weeks here, hence no blog posts! i have a little cabin fever from the 3-week-12/14-hour-each-day studio time, but i think it's been worth it and i've been very productive! i've finished notating 7 piano solos (including some back from 2001), an eighth is on the way and i've made a good start on two works for string quintet, as well as (gulp!) an orchestral work. wowee huh? hopefully i'll be inspired to keep it up when i'm back keeping the home fires burning in australia....

it's great to be so productive here and also kind of ridiculous to realise that i've been 9 years behind in putting my works on paper. i've made a plan to keep in front from now on. the other composers at the centre are busily working, so it's not hard to hibernate for a few days, then emerge with some stories (and new manuscripts!) over a beer or two. i've met new swedish composers here almost daily in the past week (who are studying at the school, which is in the same building at VICC), each with fabulous stories about their work and various projects and who are genuinely interested in all things music (they also assure me that gotland genuinely has lots of sheep, not just concrete ones). it has inspired me to think about studying again (yikes, did i really say that?) to challenge myself a little. yesterday a few of us saw the gotland symphonia perform at the university library. beethoven, ives and a local composer were the flavour of the day. it's a little strange for me, because day by day i'm interested in listening to more & more orchestral work. it must be a sign.

mmm. so as well as music for sunwrae, i've been doing a little electronic work. a week or so ago jon cohrs (NY/berlin, who i work with in 'rabbits without spleens') visited me here in visby, to continue working on some tracks we started (has it really been four?) years ago.


coffee, whiskey, peanuts and chocolate kept us going into the early hours each night, editing, recording and mixing what will eventually be an album of wicked electronic work (recorded in banff canada, melbourne australia, new york usa, berlin germany and now visby sweden... where to next?!). i'm sure any sunwrae fan will enjoy this fine music. i can't wait for it to be complete!

i also hear in the pipeline that the latest sunwrae recording (live at the thornbury theatre) is just about complete! i'll have it in my hot little hands when i arrive back in oz in may. stay tuned to our website homepage sunwrae.com in the coming weeks for sales...

so there's not long to go now. i'll take a few more pics this week and put a few mp3s up here to give you a taste of what's coming..