What a year this has been.. once again (dare i say it), it has flown by.. so many exciting things to announce here (including two album releases!!), as it's been a while.. so. working backwards..
It's been a long time coming (8 years or so when we began), so I'm ultra pleased to report that my electronic collaboration with Jon Cohrs from New York is now public!! Under the name 'Rabbitsss', we've just released an album called 'Penguins'.. It's available on iTunes, Amazon, EMusic and Spotify.. Please share a link, befriend and buy if you like it!!!
It all began way back in 2006 at The Banff Centre in Canada where I met Jon whilst doing a Winter Music Residency. We continued remotely for a few years following the first few recordings in Banff.. recording other tracks in Melbourne, New York, Berlin, Gotland Sweden and then other bits remotely again.. I worked with Andrew Bencina on a few tracks at Winterhill Music Studios in Melbourne too.. long story short, it's taken a while, but it's finally out for everyone to hear!!
Here's a couple of pics working with Jon in New York, on the rooftop of his old apartment in Brooklyn:
 |
| Rabbitsss on the rooftop New York |
 |
| Rae Howell New York |
Recently I had a couple of fabulous months in Australia, March and April: performing, recording, workshopping and general catch-ups with friends, family and many long lost creative types that have crossed my path somewhere along the line.
Some selected members of the Sunwrae Ensemble came together for an exclusive show in Melbourne, premiering a whole new repertoire of my recent music.. (unrecorded as yet, but that's in the plans at some stage). It was great to see so many familiar Sunwrae audience members, who all filed in, filled the hall and even stood up to cheer at the end! What a home-coming!
Anyways, it feels like so long ago now, but one really exciting project I was a part of during March, was with an amazing artist Bryony Anderson and her One Off Makery community. Many moons ago, Bryony asked me to be involved in her project called Frugal Forest. Fast forward a year or so and stage one is complete..
Check out the amazing little short film about it here... http://vimeo.com/93115721
The photo below is the prototype of a life-size, large-scale, long-term installation project, to be launched January 2016. It's made entirely out of waste materials (plastics, metals, paints, material, wax papers, twine etc..). My assignment is creating the soundscape (immersive surround sound) of the rain forest: birds, frogs, rustling animals, trickling water, weather storms, wind through the trees.. recorded solely with waste materials too (balloons, hoses, rubber duckies, PVC piping, polystyrene, glass bottles, jar lids, umbrellas etc)...
 |
| Frugal Forest / One Off Makery |
It's back to the drawing board for a few months now, but updates will come as time progresses.. Big thumbs up to Bryony Anderson & One Off Makery. I cannot wait for the next round..
First up this year saw another album release.. Heavy Forest Air.
I think I mentioned it on the last update here.. it's a live spontaneous musical collaboration between Eugene Skeef on all things percussive and myself on vibes & marimba. Recorded by Jared Miller in the Rolston Recital Hall at The Banff Centre, Alberta Canada, it was an impulsive venture in this magnificent hall filled with percussion instruments, that began as an experiment following an intensive three month winter music residency (the same residency where I met Jon from Rabbitsss!). I highly recommend it as it's an absolute gem of an album! You can buy it here.. http://www.sunwrae.com or also from iTunes. It has been released in the UK by Kooky..
Well. That's about it for now.. stay tuned for more news over summer..
