Click on the cover above or here - to view the – 2012 Areaware novelties catalogue

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Limber and loveable – these Cubebot pairs ( Julien, Guthrie and Cubebot) from Areaware are not your typical callous robots.

They’re crafted from hardwood and fold into many different poses.

Hand outstretched with a ring, perhaps?

 

Remember—there’s no operating manual for love.

Cubebots are available from dedeceplus here

via fab.com

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Related posts:

1. Cubebots by David Weeks for Areaware @ dedeceplus
2. Iconic Wooden Toys by David Weeks
3. Artecnica @ dedece

Tom Dixon’s first collection of accessories, gifts and objects of design comes after ten years devoted to the creation of furniture and lighting products.

Tom is now regarded as Britain’s most original designer of his generation. He completed courses at Chelsea School of Art and began his career as a sculptor. Materials such as copper, marble, cast iron and wood were selected for their resilience and brand empathy.

 

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Story featured in Introspective Magazine – by Clair Watson

Once upon a time, in 1895, in the small Austrian village of Wattens, a great industrial concern was born.

One of four sons of an ornamental glass stone cutter from Bohemia, a young man called David Swarovski invented a revolutionary mechanical cutting device (a “comb”), which not only increased production but also created such beautiful stones that he proclaimed “it was possible to believe they were real diamonds.”

Over the years, innovation followed innovation – including designing melting furnaces that produced first-quality crystals; establishing an optical division that ensured production throughout World War II; and discovering formulae for myriad new colors. Progressive expansion in response to evolving market need was fundamental to the successful growth of Daniel’s self-named company, Swarovski.

Exactly one hundred years later, in 1995, Daniel’s great-great-granddaughter Nadja joined the family firm at the age of 24 as a novitiate in the marketing and communications division, and she was dismayed to find progress stalled and the market mired in kingdom animalia, the ubiquitous Swarovski collectible.

She had seen the oncoming competition from China and Egypt, and the reawakening of the Czech Republic, the “sleeping giant of crystal cutting,” as she calls the original home of her great-great-grandfather. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh,’ “ she tells me in the sun-filled enamel-white conference room of her New York City office, her mellifluous transatlantic accent tinged with the Tyrol.

“People didn’t know anything about the color and intricacy of the stones I played with as a child; they only associated Swarovski with crystal tabletop objects. I wanted to share the stories I grew up with. I wanted to make people understand the Swarovski that I knew.”

Her want is her deed, because today, 16 years on, one is hard pressed to think of a comparable “modern-luxe” family company that is better understood, or better known by the public at large. And it is a diverse public; one that snaps up a vast range of continually refreshed offerings, from haute (a ceiling-to-floor Cascade chandelier by Vincent Van Duysen for $135,000, give or take a crystal) to bas (a crystal bow barrette for $9.99), to the tune of $3 billion in 2010.

As the company’s Vice President for International Communications, Nadja now oversees disseminating the stories of nine brand divisions (there are 24,000 employees, and her contribution to the company was recently acknowledged internally when she attained one of her goals and became an Executive member of its Board in April 2011. “Its great to finally implement everything I’ve done so far but on a global basis,” she says.

Nadja tells of having “innate Swarovski instincts” that furl her passion for the company. While other young girls have their imaginations fed by fairy tales, Nadja grew up listening to family stories, such as that of her great grand father providing stones for the first counter, Charles Frederick Worth. Swarovski has now bought several dresses he encrusted for Queen Victoria for its fast-growing archive. “We document everything we do now because we realize today is going to be tomorrow,” she explains. “We are making history.”

And she heard how her grandfather worked with Coco Chanel, the queen of costume jewelry who made faux fashionable. To start her own chapter of the family story, Nadja first turned to fashion genius Alexander McQueen, who designed a crystal mesh for his Spring/Summer 1999 collection. “I thought we needed content,” she says with masterful understatement.

And she reinstated “crystal” as the brand mot du jour, while sweeping away outmoded terminologies. “ ‘Rhinestone’ in America, ‘Diamante’ in England, ‘Strass’ in France,” she elucidates, “Why not let people refer to the product as what it really is?” Her sapphire clear-eyed gaze questions for a second, answered by an irresistible smile as she whips her blonde hair into a soigné topknot.

In 1992 Nadja was put through her paces by Eleanor Lambert, the New York doyenne of fashion PR. Lambert famously pushed American designers onto the world stage by presenting a fashion show at Versailles in 1973. She also founded the Council of fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which recently awarded Nadja the unique Trova statuette in honor of Swarovski’s tenth year of supporting the group. “It is amazing to have gone from admitting Eleanor Lambert’s trove of statues to eventually receiving one myself,” Nadja says.

She recalls being very annoyed at having to clean out Lambert’s files until she found herself reading personal correspondence with such icons as Jackie O and the Duchess of Windsor. “She was a walking history book, It was a privilege,” she says now of her time with Lambert, who died in 2003. “She had an amazing ability to recognize talent, put individuals together who had not yet met and create something.” She pauses; her direct gaze levels. “Which is what I’m really trying to do.”

For the London Design Festival in September, Nadja has commissioned architect John Pawson to create nothing less than an optical illusion within St Paul’s Cathedral. Using a precision-made Swarovski Optics lens and a suspended mirror placed strategically within the cathedral’s Geometric Staircase, visitors will be able to “see beyond the level of the naked eye,” according to Pawson.

Nadja also recently established Swarovski Entertainment, a brand division to finance and commission symbiotic relationships and product placement for stage (literally, the Oscar stage covered in crystals) and screen (The Black Swan chandeliers and costumes).

Discussions are ongoing with Shekhar Kapur to produce his futuristic movie called Paani (“water” in Hindi) to bring attention to water conservation and the Swarovski Water School, the company’s charity that offers educational programs to young children globally. “It’s so important for us to be relevant and create product that matters,” she says.

Back in Wattens, the Swarovski museum is undergoing modernization, having recently had its 10 millionth visitor. Called Crystal Worlds, it contains such unique fare as crystal-studded art from Keith Haring and Salvadore Dali, a sound installation by Brian Eno, and a maze by architect David Adjaye. Nadja has commissioned New York architect David Rockwell to design an addition to the building so she can display the contemporary crystal pieces she has commissioned as well as the growing historical archive.

She is already thinking ahead, to another art project. “I want to do exactly what Arnault is doing in Paris,” she says, referring to French luxury conglomerate LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault and his Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, whose holdings will be exhibited in a Frank Gehry-designed building in the Bois de Boulogne. “I want to have that kind of private art collection. Investing in the current time, you know?”

Nadja has already communicated what she calls “a renewed focus on the art world” in the press release for the ‘Iris’ floor lamp, a unique interpretation of the human eye by British avant-garde design duo Fredrikson Stallard, unveiled in June at Design Miami/Basel. (As a long time sponsor of Design Miami, Swarovski Crystal Palace has promoted projects by the likes of Troika, Ross Lovegrove and Diller Scofidio & Renfro.)

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London, 9th November 2011 –

Swarovski and Harrods held a champagne reception at the first ever Swarovski jewellery Pop-up Shop within the luxury department stores’ famed windows. The reception was followed by an intimate dinner hosted by Nadja Swarovski at One Hyde Park in celebration of the creative partnership and the official unveiling of “A Crystal Christmas inspired by Swarovski at Harrods”, which dazzled and delighted shoppers from across the globe this holiday season.

Joining the celebrations and wearing pieces from Atelier Swarovski by Christopher Kane were Leah Weller, Tallulah Harlech and Portia Freeman. Other guests in attendance included: Nick Candy, Holly Valance, Zaha Hadid, Jasmine Guinness, Tara Ferry, Sunday Girl, Camilla Rutherford, Olivia Grant, Tom Cullen, Yasmin Mills and Theresa Maccapani Missoni.

Related posts:

1. Swarovski – fundraising dinner for Outset @ V&A Museum, London
2. Swarovski Crystal Palace 2010 – update
3. Falling Light by Troika @ Design Miami 2010

The 1969 pop charts were one of the strongest in years with the political, ‘Bad Moon Rising’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival, ‘Something in the Air’ by Thunderclap Newman mixing with the innovative, David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and the classics, The Rolling Stones ‘Honky Tonk Women’ and The Beatles ‘Come Together’.

“Suspicious Minds” was Elvis Presley’s seventeenth and last number-one single in the United States. Rolling Stone later ranked it #91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

“Suspicious Minds” is a song about a mistrusting and dysfunctional relationship, and the need of the characters to overcome their issues in order to maintain it. ‘Suspicious Minds’ was a serious pop song about deep love, suspicion and hurt and with a dramatic operatic power.

Elvis’ musical strength had always been as a great interpretive singer and it would only be the absolute passion he injected into the song that would elevate it to the #1 slot amongst these other classics. Improved by Elvis superb interpretation, the stirring backing vocals, and the tight Memphis Horns, the cover became Elvis’ definitive latter-period song.

Suspicious Minds was written and recorded ( without success) in 1968 by Mark James – a staff song writer for Memphis Soul producer Chips Moman’s American Sound Studios. While James would also go on to write the other Elvis hits ‘Always On My Mind’, ‘Raised On Rock’, ‘It’s Only Love’ and ‘Moody Blue’ there was a special magic about ‘Suspicious Minds’

Even though James’ recording initially was not commercially successful, Elvis decided he could turn it into a hit on reviewing the song as presented to him by Chips Moman, in 1969. Originally country singer B.J Thomas was in line to record Suspicious Minds before the song was given to Elvis — who insisted on recording the song even when his manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, threatened that he wouldn’t over the question of publishing rights.

In December 1968, Elvis, dressed in a black leather outfit, appeared in an hour-long television special titled, Elvis. Calm, sexy, and humorous, Elvis wowed the crowd. The 1968 “comeback special” energized Elvis. After the success of his television appearance, Elvis got back both into recording and live performances – his first for some 10 years.

In July 1969, Parker booked Elvis at the largest venue in Las Vegas, the new International Hotel. Elvis’ shows there were a huge success and the hotel booked Elvis for four weeks a year through 1974. The rest of the year, Elvis went on tour.

He first performed Suspicious Minds at the Las Vegas Hilton on July 31, 1969 and almost invariably Suspicious Minds would be Elvis’ closing song, later usually accompanied by extravagant karate moves.

Known the world over by his first name, Elvis is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. He was blessed with a rare combination of talent, looks, and magnetic charm. His legendary career, with its attendant controversies and widespread acclaim, afforded him extraordinary fame and unprecedented success.

Elvis starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas.

Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist.

His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees.

Without any of the special privileges, his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army. His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life.

Elvis Presley’s artistic decline in the 1960s is symbolised by the coincidence of his most derided movie, Clambake, opening at about the same time as the Beatles released their groundbreaking Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A year later, in 1968, Elvis’ live TV special marked the comeback of Elvis the Entertainer.

Elvis the Recording Artist, however, had not had a #1 hit in seven years when in January 1969 he entered the famous American Sound Studios in Memphis..

At first the old soul music veterans at the studio were dubious about working with the washed-up ex-king of rock ‘n’ roll. Elvis soon had them convinced otherwise. Eight days into the session, on January 20, he recorded the Mac Davis-penned In The Ghetto; two days later Suspicious Minds, which by the end of 1969 would top the US charts.

SUSPICIOUS MINDS – “Lyrics” by Mark James

We’re caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much baby

Why can’t you see
What you’re doing to me
When you don’t believe a word I say?

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

So, if an old friend I know
Drops by to say hello
Would I still see suspicion in your eyes?

Here we go again
Asking where I’ve been
You can’t see these tears are real
I’m crying

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds
And be can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

Oh let our love survive
Or dry the tears from your eyes
Let’s don’t let a good thing die

When honey, you know
I’ve never lied to you
Mmm yeah, yeah

For the bulk of the 1960s, Elvis had been trapped in a cycle of making three movies a year, and recording their attendant soundtracks in either Nashville or Hollywood.

After the success of his Christmas special on NBC in December 1968, Presley made a decision not to continue with business as usual, but instead to return to recording in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to take advantage of the thriving soul music scene active at the city’s studios such as Stax and Hi Records.

Presley chose American Studios, run by songwriter Chips Moman, for several reasons.

1) Their music staff was populated by session musicians steeped in Elvis’ upbringing in blues, country, gospel, and rock and roll;

2) They knew how to give the music a “commercial” gloss, Moman having already produced or written hits for Aretha Franklin and The Box Tops;

3) After hitting the top ten on the singles chart only once since 1963 with a song that had been recorded in 1960, Presley needed hits.

The choice would prove fortuitous, as singles gleaned from these sessions would yield three top ten hits, including the last chart-topper of Presley’s career, his latter-day signature song “Suspicious Minds.”

The album work would be equally respected, From Elvis in Memphis being considered by myriad sources as one of Presley’s greatest. In 2003, the album was ranked number 190 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The success of this material, infused Presley’s career with a new vigor, and re-acquaintaned with his talents both in the studio and in live performance during the early years of the new decade.

“Suspicious Minds” was a product of January 23, 1969 session, that took place between 4 am and 7 am. It took eight takes to produce the final song that was later overdubbed by Presley the same night. Also in the same sessions were recorded “I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)”, “Without Love (There Is Nothing)”, and “I’ll Be There”.

The song is noted for its change of Rhythm, in the Bridge section, from 4/4 to a slower 6/8 and back again to the faster 4/4 rhythm. The first verse repeats over and over again, until it completely fades out, it features a bass guitar, organ, strings, trumpets, trombones, and drums. Session producer Felton Jarvis made the unusual decision to add a premature fade-out to the song starting at 3:36, mirroring the way Presley used to perform it in his live Las Vegas stage act.

The fadeout lasts for about 15 seconds before fading back in, conveying a message of relationship in the song.

Bobby Wood  explains,  -  “As a band we always came up with our own arrangements. On ‘Suspicious Minds’ we basically copied what we had played on the Mark James original. I remember that we worked as we always did and we had a lot of fun recording with Elvis. I found out later that Elvis loved those sessions and worked harder than he had in years. I think he respected our talents as well as we did his. We worked a lot differently at American from what Elvis was used to. It usually took Chips and the other engineers a good long while to get “a sound.” That was rough on the singers. They’d have to stand there and sing the same song over and over for an hour, before we’d even record a take.

In fact on the third night Elvis lost his voice with bad laryngitis. We most always recorded horns, strings and backgrounds as an overdub. I think Joe Tex was the only one that wanted horns on the original session. At the time we didn’t even think that this was part of Elvis’ musical renaissance or anything. We were trying our best to record a hit, be it Elvis or Joe Tex or nobody. Though we pretty much knew it was a hit record when we recorded it.”

While Elvis’ regular producer Felton Jarvis was also involved, it was American’s producer Chips Moman who controlled the session and it is his voice you can hear on the session recordings as he drives Elvis and the band for better and better takes.

Marty Lacker explains, “During the sessions I spent most of my time in the control room with Chips. Elvis came in and said to Chips that he didn’t know what to do because he didn’t have any good songs left to record, describing the crap that Parker and Freddy Bienstock had sent him. That was the point when Chips suggested ‘Suspicious Minds’ and that he thought it would be great for Elvis. He was also up front in telling Elvis that he had cut it already on Mark James but that it didn’t do anything on the charts.”

Chips Moman said -  “Elvis had a good ear for music, and if he didn’t think he could do a song he’d toss it out. However when it came time to do the American sessions there was a lot of them old Hill and Range songs that some of the people around him wanted him to cut real bad, and they kept pushing for them. I don’t even want to tell you what I thought of some of those songs! Truth is, the trouble wasn’t really with Elvis but with some of those publishers.”

The impact that Chips Moman had cannot be understated. This creative and musically innovative setting obviously invigorated Elvis and throughout the eight takes you can hear him striving for that consummate perfection as he pours his soul into every word. By Take 6 Elvis is still faltering over the timing yet asks for Chips to “Save the last take for me.”

Elvis recognised the greatness of the song and worked at it for 3 hours until it was time for everyone to head home into the dawn. Interestingly for collectors the 1987 RCA release ‘The Memphis Record’ features the final ‘Suspicious Minds’ Master with the backing-vocal & strings overdubs but without the added brass section nor with the extended fade-out.

Unusually for an Elvis release, Chips Moman also recorded a dual-track for Elvis’ lead vocal thus increasing the emotional power of the lyric.

Welcome to Las Vegas, where Elvis has definitely not left the building.

On the Las Vegas Strip, Elvis’ spirit lives on in shows like “Legends in Concert” and “Viva Elvis.” Hundreds of couples tie the knot in Las Vegas each year with “Elvis” officiating at their wedding and the city is home to the world famous Flying Elvis — a 10-member skydiving team dressed as the king.

Graceland may be home to his shrine but it’s Las Vegas that pays homage to the spirit of Elvis the entertainer.

Elvis’ enduring popularity in Vegas is a tribute to the bonds forged between the singer and the city in a seven-year run between 1969 and 1976, a period fondly remember as the “Vegas Years.” It’s a legacy that continues to this day.

“He was the show in town — the one everyone wanted to go to because he was just really hot and was coming back with new music,” said singer Terry Blackwood, a member of the Imperials who sang backup for Elvis. “Everyone wanted to see Elvis.”

When Elvis returned to Vegas on July 31st 1969 for his stunning live season he had decided to use ‘Suspicious Minds’ as the key song of the concert. Often extending the song to over 7 minutes, he included a fade and return for dramatic effect. The fact that Elvis chose a totally unknown song as the center-piece to his concerts is astounding and demonstrates his belief in the song.

The rave reviews were a testimony to Elvis’ newly found excitement in rediscovering a loving audience who believed in the power of his performances.  Reviewer Bill Crawford noted, “With his left leg moving like a jack hammer, Elvis runs the gamut of his old favourites. His newest song ‘Suspicious Mind’ is a sensuous medium rock ballad that is sure to sell.”

Elvis first performed in Las Vegas in 1956 when he was just 21 years old. He was booked in the Venus Room at the New Frontier hotel, which billed him as “The Atomic Powered Singer.”

While he was already becoming quite popular with teens around the country, Elvis was not the typical Las Vegas Strip entertainer of the time and his shows were met with a cool reception.

Bill Willard, a reviewer for the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, panned Presley’s performance writing, “For the teenagers, the long, tall Memphis lad is a whiz; for the average Vegas spender or show-goer, a bore. His musical sound with a combo of three is uncouth, matching to a great extent the lyric content of his nonsensical songs.”

Willard may have captured the dismay that older Vegas audiences had with the young upstart, but Las Vegas resident Ed Jameson caught a vision of the future Elvis would have in Vegas.

Penning a rebuttal to Willard’s review, Jameson wrote, “He is not a Rock ‘n’ Roller nor is he a cowboy singer. He is something new coming over the horizon all by himself and he deserves his ever-growing audience. Nobody should miss him. Parents would do well to take their children to hear him. It would be a good way to get to know and understand your own kids.”

Elvis ended his two-week run unable to capture success in Vegas, but that didn’t end his relationship with the city. While he wouldn’t return to a Las Vegas stage for 13 years, in 1963 he spent several weeks in town to film the hit movie “Viva Las Vegas,” which co-starred Ann-Margret.

The movie was a huge success, costing only $1 million to make and earning $5 million. It also spawned what many consider Sin City’s theme song, “Viva Las Vegas.

This was one of the two dozen or so formulaic musicals Elvis made in the ’60s, but it teamed him with his most formidable leading lady, Ann-Margret, who could sing and shimmy like the King and gave him his only real workout in the chemistry department. It may be the last of his musicals where he acts like he really has something to prove.

“Viva Las Vegas” also featured a Vegas wedding between Elvis and his co-star Ann-Margret. Four years later, reality mirrored the cinematic fairytale when Elvis’ real-life love story played out in Las Vegas.

On May 1, 1967, Elvis age 32 married Priscilla Anne Beaulieu, age 21, at the Aladdin Hotel.

Despite his history in the city, it wasn’t until The International hotel opened in 1969, that Elvis truly became synonymous with Las Vegas. While Barbra Streisand opened the showroom at the International,  Elvis would make it world famous.

In 1969 Elvis performed his first show at the International to a sold-out crowd and he went on to perform regular engagements at the property for seven years — a total of 837 consecutive sold-out performances in front of 2.5 million people.

The opening show on July 31, 1969 was a who’s who of the entertainment business, with an audience full of celebrities including Tom Jones, Juliet Prowse and Sammy Davis Jr.

The sheer numbers from these performances are mind-boggling. In one 29-day period Elvis entertained 101,509 guests, bringing in $1.5 million in ticket sales. In the course of his 800-plus performances in Vegas, Elvis sold $43.7 million in show tickets, about $280 million in 2011 dollars. In the months when Elvis was performing, 1 in 2 visitors to Las Vegas saw his show.

The hotel became the Hilton in 1971 and over the years more people saw Elvis perform there than anywhere else in the world.

Elvis performed two shows a night — at 8 p.m. and midnight for a month-long stretch at a time. Elvis usually get to bed about 3 a.m. but sometimes the group would be up all night.

Blackwood said – “On average of about once a week, Elvis would come to our dressing room and say, ‘Hey guys, would you come up to the penthouse tonight — I’d love for you to come up and just hang out with me.’ Of course when Elvis invites you, you can’t say no. So we would all go up to the penthouse. He wanted to go up there and sing.”

“He’d sit at the piano or one of our guys would sit at the piano and would play and we’d sing gospel music and that’s about all we would do. Or he had a big stereo and he would play black gospel groups. He loved traditional black gospel music. We’d listen to it and go over and sing it. He had a ball singing … I would say I’ve never known a man who loved music more than Elvis.”

Tickets to Elvis’ dinner show were $17.50 and included lobster or steak. The midnight show, which included drinks, cost a little less, but those who wanted a close-up view of Elvis had to pay a bit more.

The Imperials worked with Elvis until 1972 and Blackwood said the group always enjoyed working with him.

Blackwood said – “He was passionate about his music. He was passionate about giving the people his very best. He was passionate about hiring musicians and singers that he felt were the best he could give. In that sense he was really a perfectionist about his music. He was serious about it. I think a lot of the time there are music people who think he was not serious and he was just having fun — and he was doing that — but he was very serious about what he wanted the people to experience when he sang.”

Even though Elvis was scheduled for more appearances at the Hilton, December 2-12, 1976, turned out to be his last engagement there.

Elvis died of a heart attack on Aug. 16, 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn.

Elvis was fated to never perform again in Las Vegas, but the city never forgot the entertainer. Perhaps it was fated that a city which embraced Elvis the entertainer, would want to hold on to Elvis the myth. Even before his death, tribute artists were performing as Elvis. The King used to love catching Brendan Boyer’s impression of him, during the Irish Show Band’s performances in the Stardust Lounge in the ’70s. Las Vegas continues to offer tributes to Elvis nightly, 365 days a year.

A year after Elvis’ death a statue was dedicated in his honor at the Hilton hotel. Initially on display outside the Hilton showroom in a glass case, the statue was moved outside of the hotel’s front door in 2006.

At the Hard Rock Hotel, one of Elvis’ ’70s jumpsuits, a gold lamé jacket and a guitar are enshrined under glass. While at the Hard Rock Café gold records, belts, a smashed guitar and a telegram from Elvis and the Colonel to the Beatles are just some of the Elvis memorabilia on display.

In 2010 the Strip’s entertainment titan, Cirque du Soleil, partnered with CYK and its subsidiary, Elvis Presley Enterprises, plus MGM Mirage to create an Elvis Presley show at CityCenter, an $8 billion, 66-acre hotel, entertainment, dining and retail project at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip.

The show is a combination of live music and singers, projections and dance along with the latest multimedia sound and lighting.

“We are working closely with our partners to ensure the public will have an unforgettable encounter with the King of Rock and Roll,” said Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil. “Elvis had a unique relationship with his adoring fans in Vegas and a large part of our mission is to recreate the excitement and the spirit of joy he generated here.”

 

Elvis’ Las Vegas appearances

April 23 – May 9, 1956:  Elvis’ first Vegas appearance – Elvis made his first appearance in Las Vegas at the New Frontier Hotel in the spring of 1956. Hotel hype praised the “atomic powered” singer. While the nation’s youth was in the grip of Elvis hysteria and “Heartbreak Hotel” was No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts, audiences in Las Vegas gave Elvis a cool reception.

July, 1963: “Viva Las Vegas” – Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret are in Las Vegas filming what would be Presley’s 15th film, “Viva Las Vegas.” The film wouldn’t be released until June, 1964.

May 1, 1967:  Wedding bells – Elvis Presley and Priscilla Anne Beaulieu are married in a private ceremony at the Aladdin Hotel.

July 31 – Aug. 28, 1969:  The King is back – Thirteen years after his first appearance, Elvis returns to Las Vegas. He is booked for a four-week, 57-show engagement at the newly built International Hotel. The show breaks all existing Las Vegas attendance records. Elvis’ first live album is recorded during the shows.

January – February, 1970:  A second appearance – Elvis returns to Las Vegas for a month-long engagement at the International Hotel. Once again, Elvis breaks attendance records.

Aug. 10 – Sept. 7, 1970:  A hit – Another popular month-long appearance at the International Hotel. MGM films some of the rehearsals and stage performance for its documentary “Elvis – That’s the Way It Is.”

January – February, 1971:  Another month-long appearance at the International Hotel.

Aug. 9 – Sept. 6, 1971:  Record audiences – Elvis returns to Las Vegas and appears at the International Hotel, now called the Las Vegas Hilton. During his month-long appearance he is given the Bing Crosby Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This award would later be renamed the Lifetime Achievement Award presented each year during the Grammy Awards. Elvis was 36 years old.

1972 – 1975:  Elvis performs at the International in Vegas -
Jan. 26 – Feb. 23, 1971:
Jan. 26 – Feb. 23, 1973:
Aug. 6 – Sept. 3, 1973:
Jan. 26 – Feb. 9, 1974:
Aug. 19 – Sept. 2, 1974:
March 18 – April 1, 1975

Aug. 18 – Sept. 5, 1975:  Elvis opens at the Hilton, but ends his appearances on Aug. 20, 1975, when he is flown to Memphis and hospitalized.

Dec. 2-15, 1975:  Elvis returns to the Hilton to make up for shows that were cancelled because of his ill health.

Dec. 2-12, 1976: Elvis appears at the Hilton for a two-week engagement. It turns out to be his final Las Vegas appearance.

August 16,1977:  Elvis dies at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn.

About Elvis Presley – January 8, 1935 — August 16, 1977

After a difficult birth, Elvis Presley was born to parents Gladys and Vernon Presley at 4:35 a.m. on January 8, 1935 in the couple’s small, two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis’ twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn and Gladys was so ill from the birth that she was taken to the hospital. She was never able to have more children

Since Elvis moved often, he had only two things that were consistent in his childhood: his parents and music. With his parents usually busy at work, Elvis found music wherever he could. He listened to music in church and even taught himself how to play the church piano. When Elvis was eight, he often hung out at the local radio station. When he turned eleven, his parents gave him a guitar for his birthday.

He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis attended Humes High School there in 1953.

Although Elvis joined R.O.T.C., played on the football team, and worked as an usher at a local movie theater, these activities did not stop other students from picking on him. Elvis was different. He dyed his hair black and wore it in a style that more closely resembled a comic book character (Captain Marvel Jr.) than other kids in his school.

 

With problems at school, Elvis continued to surround himself with music. He listened to the radio and bought records

Gladys doted on her sandy-haired, blue-eyed son and worked very hard to keep her family together. She especially struggled when Vernon was sentenced to three years in the Parchman Farm Prison for forgery. (Vernon had sold a pig for $4, but had changed the check to either $14 or $40.). With Vernon in prison, Gladys could not earn enough to keep the house, so three-year-old Elvis and his mom moved in with some relatives. This was the first of many moves for Elvis and his family

Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended. By the time Elvis graduated from high school, he could sing in various styles, from hillbilly to gospel. More importantly, Elvis also had a style of singing and moving that was all his own. Elvis had taken all that he had seen and heard and combined it into a unique new sound.

After moving with his family to Lauderdale Courts, an apartment complex, he often played with other aspiring musicians who lived there. To listen to a wider variety of music, Elvis crossed the color line (segregation was still strongly in force in the South) and listened to African-American artists, such as B.B. King. Elvis would also often visit Beale Street in the African-American section of town and watch black musicians play.

Popular on the Country and Western live circuit, Elvis was also popular on “black” R&B radio. In fact, he not only dressed like he was a black entertainer, but sounded like one too. The racial barrier that had plagued music for so long was about to be torn down. People ‘in the know’ couldn’t be more excited, but people ‘in the norm’ couldn’t be more terrified

After spending the year after high school working a day job, playing at small clubs at night, and wondering if he would ever become a full-time musician, Elvis received a call from Sam Phillips at Sun Records on June 6, 1954 offering him a big break.

Sun Records producer/label owner Sam Phillips in July 1954 had been looking for a white singer who could sound black; the serendipitous arrival in his Memphis storefront studio of a 19-year-old truck driver; the bland set of pop demo tracks he laid down with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black; and the sudden alchemy when Elvis Presley switched to Arthur Crudup’s blues tune ‘That’s All Right (Mama).’

Elvis began making appearances on popular radio shows such as the famous Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride.

Elvis was so successful on the Hayride show that they hired him to perform every Saturday for a year. It was then that Elvis quit his day job. Elvis toured the South during the week, playing anywhere there was a paying audience, but had to be back in Shreveport, Louisiana every Saturday for the Hayride show.

High school and college students went wild for Elvis and his music. They screamed. They cheered. They mobbed him backstage, tearing at his clothes. For his part, Elvis put his soul into every performance.

Plus, he moved his body – a lot. This was so very different than any other white performer. Elvis gyrated his hips, jiggled his legs, and fell to his knees on the floor. Adults thought he was lewd and suggestive; teenagers loved him.

As Elvis’ popularity soared, he realized that he needed a manager, so he hired “Colonel” Tom Parker. In some ways, Parker took advantage of Elvis over the years, including taking an overly generous cut of Elvis’ proceeds. However, Parker also steered Elvis into the mega-star he was to become.

Over the next few weeks and months, there would be similar fusions of country and R&B, including ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ and ‘Mystery Train’; together, these singles would launch Elvis and rock & roll into the stratosphere.

Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was one of the originators of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues.

With shy persistence, but noticeable talent, Elvis soon acquired a recording contract with Sun Records, a “black” R&B label in Memphis. Sun also became the earliest indie label to gain notoriety in the rock and roll genre; thanks to Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis, just to name a few of their artists.*

With relentless touring, a steady stream of five unique singles on Sun Records, and rise to radio fame on KWKH, Shreveport’s “The Louisiana Hayride”, Elvis had arrived!

Elvis’ Sun recordings were finally compiled into a single, must-own album in 1976.

Elvis soon became too popular for the Sun Records studio to handle and in 1955 Phillips sold Elvis’ contract to RCA Victor. At the time, RCA paid $35,000 for Elvis’ contract, more than any record company had ever paid for a singer.

By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture.

Elvis’s first RCA single, “Heartbreak Hotel”, released in January 1956, was a number one hit.

He became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial.

To make Elvis even more popular, Parker put Elvis on television. On January 28, 1956, Elvis made his first television appearance on Stage Show, which was soon followed by appearances on the Milton Berle Show, Steve Allen Show, and the Ed Sullivan Show.

Ed Sullivan’s CBS variety show was one of television’s cornerstones for nearly two decades, but it seems the only reason anyone remembers it now is that the Beatles and Elvis performed on it.

For millions of Americans, their first introduction to the singer came via his three appearances on the Sullivan show (for which Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker, negotiated an unprecedented $50,000 fee) in 1956-57.

Elvis had appeared on TV several times already in 1956, but these are the performances that people remember, especially because, for some segments, he was filmed only from the waist up, with his below-the-belt gyrations hidden from viewers at home. Whether this was censorship by CBS, an accident, or a publicity stunt by Parker is still a matter of controversy.

In March 1956, Parker arranged for Elvis to get an audition with Paramount Movie Studios. The movie studio liked Elvis so much that they signed him to do his first movie, Love Me Tender (1956), with an option to do six more.

About two weeks after his audition, Elvis received his first gold record for “Heartbreak Hotel,” which had sold one million copies.

Elvis’ popularity was skyrocketing and money was flowing in. Elvis had always wanted to take care of his family and buy his mom a house that she had always wanted. He was able to do this and so much more.

In March 1957, Elvis purchased Graceland, a mansion that sat on 13 acres of land, for $102,500. He then had the entire mansion remodeled to his own tastes.

Just as it seemed that everything Elvis touched turned to gold, on December 20, 1957, Elvis received a draft notice in the mail. Elvis had both the opportunity to be excused from the military and the ability to get special dispensation, but instead, Elvis chose to enter the U.S. Army as a regular soldier. He was stationed in Germany.

With a nearly two year hiatus from his career, many people, including Elvis himself, wondered if the world would forget him while he was in the army. Parker, on the other hand, worked hard to keep Elvis’ name and image in the public eye. Parker was so successful at this that some would say Elvis was almost more popular after his military experience than he was before it.

While Elvis was in the army, two major events happened to him.

The first was the death of his beloved mother. Her death devastated him.

The second was that he met and started dating 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whose father was also stationed in Germany. They married eight years later, on May 1, 1967, and had one child together, a daughter named Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968).

When Elvis was discharged from the army in 1960, fans once again mobbed him. Elvis was as popular as ever and he got started right away recording new songs and making more movies. Unfortunately, it had become obvious to Parker and others that anything with Elvis’ name or image on it would make money, so Elvis was pushed to make movies in quantity rather than in quality.

With few exceptions, from 1960 until 1968, Elvis made very few public appearances while he focused on making movies. In all, Elvis made 33 movies.

Elvis’ first two movies, Love Me Tender (1956) and Loving You (1957), were quick, forgettable attempts by Hollywood to cash in on Elvis’ music stardom. His third film Jailhouse Rock, however, was more of a showcase for his talents. The plot Elvis plays an ex-con with a short temper, a gift for music, and a way with women set the template for most of his 1960s movies, but this one had more dramatic grit and that galvanizing, brilliantly choreographed title number.

Jailhouse Rock is an American musical film directed by Richard Thorpe, released by MGM on October 17, 1957. The film stars Elvis Presley in his third film and MGM debut, Judy Tyler, and Mickey Shaughnessy.

 

In King Creole, Elvis dreamed of being the next James Dean; this movie, the last he filmed before his two-year army stint, was about as close as he got. Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) directed Elvis as a New Orleans nightclub singer trying to get out from under the thumb of a local crime lord (a surprisingly scary Walter Matthau, against whom Elvis holds his own). There’s a desperate edge in both his acting and his performance of hard-driving tunes like ‘Trouble’ and ‘Hard Headed Woman.’

Elvis gives a strong, largely non-musical performance as the star of this Western Flaming Star in 1960; he plays a mixed-race man torn between his white and Kiowa Indian families. Future (Dirty Harry) filmmaker Don Siegel directed.

In Wild in the Country 1961, Elvis stars as a troubled aspiring writer who becomes romantically entangled (and not in a fun way) with three different women (Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, and Hope Lange). After this, Elvis turned (or was diverted by Parker) away from dramatic roles and toward the frothy musical comedies that would mark the rest of his movie career.

Elvis’ most successful movie, Blue Hawaii (1961), became a basic template for many of his later movies. Elvis became increasingly upset about the poor quality of his movies and songs.

While Elvis was away from the stage, other musicians appeared on the scene. A few of these groups, such as the Beatles, riled up teenagers, sold lots of records, and threatened to make Elvis share his title of “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” if not take it away. Elvis had to do something to keep his crown.

Following years of mediocre movies and middling chart performance at a time when rock seemed to have outgrown, Elvis returned to the stage for the first time in a decade hungry and desperate on this NBC special, and it paid off in the raw, intimate, unplugged performances of his early hits.

In December 1968, Elvis, dressed in a black leather outfit, appeared in an hour-long television special titled, Elvis. Calm, sexy, and humorous, Elvis wowed the crowd. The 1968 “comeback special” energized Elvis. After the success of his television appearance, Elvis got back both into recording and live performances.

In July 1969, Parker booked Elvis at the largest venue in Las Vegas, the new International Hotel. Elvis’ shows there were a huge success and the hotel booked Elvis for four weeks a year through 1974.

The rest of the year, Elvis went on tour.

American Sound Studios, Memphis

Founded by Chips Moman and Don Crews in 1964, American Sound Studio was located at 827 Thomas Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

Originally known as the 827 Thomas Street Band, and later nicknamed after moving to Nashville, the Memphis Boys were a group of musicians whose careers started in the Memphis area in the early 60’s. According to Billboard Magazine, they played on more hit records in a six month period than any other group of studio musicians in history.

Among the many hits that the Memphis Boys recorded are Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”, “In the Ghetto”, and “Kentucky Rain”, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind”, Billy Swan’s “I Can Help”, Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” and B.]. Thomas’ “Hooked on a Feeling”. When Elvis first walked into American Sound Studios, he remarked, “What a funky, funky place.” It was the first time since his Sun Records days that Elvis had recorded in Memphis.

The Memphis Boys consisted of Bobby Wood, Bobby Emmons, Gene Chrisman, Mike Leech, Reggie Young, and Tommy Cogbill.

When most writers tell the story of Memphis music, they include four recording studios. American Sound Studio is one of those four. Unlike Sun, Stax or Hi/Royal Sound, this studio was never associated with a particular record label. Instead studio founder Chips Moman took in many customers. The list of hit songs recorded in this stdio is long.

Elvis probably did some of his best recording here in 1969.

Chips in later years liked to brag that he revitalized Elvis’ career. Even if this is not quite true the location of his studio deserves an historic marker. The studio building was demolished by 1990, and its replacement building is vacant today.

Re-energized after the Comeback Special, Elvis spent early 1969 recording such powerful songs as ‘Kentucky Rain’ and ‘In the Ghetto’ for his album From Elvis to Memphis 1969, his last great collection of new studio material. Also recorded at the time was the terrific single ‘Suspicious Minds,’ included on later CD reissues of the album.

Elvis “mug-shot” from 1970 when he was presented with an honorary police badge

On Dec. 21, 1970, the King showed up at the White House and was granted an audience with the president. Elvis, who liked to collect badges, wanted to be made a ‘Federal Agent-at-Large’ for drug enforcement. He brought along a gun, a Colt .45 as a gift for Richard Nixon. Reprints of the official White House photo taken that day of the two men shaking hands are reportedly the most requested items at the National Archives. The surreal meeting was dramatized in the 1997 cable movie Elvis Meets Nixon.

The Elvis concert “Elvis : Aloha from Hawaii” in 1973 reached 1.5 billion people around the world via satellite, a novelty at the time.

Ever since Elvis had become popular, he had worked at a breakneck speed. He was recording songs, making movies, signing autographs, and giving concerts with little to no rest. To keep up the fast pace, Elvis had started taking prescription drugs.

By the early 1970s, the long and continued use of these drugs began to really cause problems. Elvis started having severe mood swings, aggression, erratic behavior, and gained a lot of weight.

By this time, Elvis and Priscilla had grown apart and in January 1973, the two divorced. After the divorce, Elvis’s drug addiction got even worse. Several times he was hospitalized from overdoses and other health problems. His performances began to severely suffer. On many occasions, Elvis just mumbled through songs while on stage.

On the morning of August 16, 1977, Elvis’ girlfriend, Ginger Alden, found Elvis on the bathroom floor at Graceland. He wasn’t breathing. Elvis was taken to the hospital, where doctors were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. Elvis died at age 42

According to rock journalist Lester Bangs, a reporter asked Col. Tom Parker what would happen now, and Parker reportedly replied, ‘Why, nothin’, son, it’s just like when he was in the army.’

Indeed, while the rumors persisted for a long time that Elvis had faked his own death, in another sense, he never really went away, and his career never really stopped.

In his post-mortem career, which has now lasted many years longer than his live career did, he’s continued to release albums and compilations (Tupac’s got nothing on Elvis), he’s routinely topped Forbes’ list of the biggest earners among dead celebrities, and he’s remained as ubiquitous in pop culture as he ever was.

Parker allowed filmmakers Matthew Leo and Andrew Solt access to never before seen movies of Elvis from the King’s private archive; he also allowed them to tie their montage of home movies and concert footage together with re-enactors playing Elvis and speaking for him.

The resulting documentary ( This is Elvis (1981) )  traced Presley’s career from its early peak through its long, slow decline, was controversial at the time because of the reenactments .

Five years after Elvis died there, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley opened the Memphis mansion’s musical-note gates to the public in 1982, and it became one of America’s top tourist attractions. Pilgrims eager to see Elvis’ Jungle Room and trophy room helped make Graceland into America’s second most-visited private residence (after the White House) and earned it National Historic Landmark status in 2006.

About Mark James

Mark James is a songwriter, famous for writing hits for singers BJ Thomas, Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley.

Mark James, whose real name is Francis Zambon, was born in 1940 and grew up in Houston, Texas, befriending B J Thomas while both were still young.

By the late 1960s, James was signed as a staff songwriter to Memphis producer Chips Moman’s publishing company, Moman produced Thomas’s versions of “The Eyes Of A New York Woman”, “Hooked On A Feeling” and “It’s Only Love” in 1968-69, and all achieved success.

The songwriter wrote, sang and issued his own version of “Suspicious Minds”, also produced by Moman, on Scepter Records in 1968 but without success and in the same arrangement the song became a worldwide smash hit for Elvis Presley in 1969.

Mark James explained — “I lived and breathed working at American Studios. I wrote songs night and day. I was really driven to get songs on the radio. When I went home at night, most of the time I’d only sleep a few hours because I had another session in the morning or because I was writing most of the night hoping to go back in the studio, the next day with a good song to record.

I had the idea for ‘Suspicious Minds’ and it started coming to me one night. First the title came and I thought about it and lived with it a while. Then the lyric came to me, “caught in a trap, I can’t walk out because I love YOU too much, baby.” What I was trying to say is that we can’t live together or attain our dreams or build on anything if we don’t trust one another. ‘Suspicious Minds’ captured a lot of soul. I was a writer trying to write a great song, a hit song and it came off just right”

Elvis recorded other songs written by Mark James namely:- “Its Only Love”,” Raised On Rock” and “Moody Blue.”

Incredibly James’ greatest personal success came with “Always on My Mind,” a writing collaboration with Johnny Christopher and Wayne Carson Thompson and issued as a b-side to Separate Ways by Elvis Presley in 1972 in the USA.

It was a hit for Elvis but it was a huge hit for Willie Nelson in 1982. Mark James won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for Willie Nelson’s version. UK duo The Pet Shop Boys had a UK #1 and US #4 with their 1987 revival of the song.

James also wrote the song Moody Blue, which is also the name of Elvis’ last album. In 1979 Mark James wrote a beautiful song about Elvis called “Blue Suede Heaven” It was featured in the documentary “The Echo Will Never Die” with Kasey Casem” It is a strange coincidence but when you hear what a wonderful voice he had, like B J Thomas, you fail to understand that the songs he wrote were not his own hits. Perhaps he needed a great manager like Elvis’. However it was a great shame that Elvis could not have had a permanent arrangement with the likes of Mark James, Dennis Linde and Jerry Chesnut to produce new songs for him for one album.

The 70’s albums could have been great. I think it is the Elvis “Today” album where there is not one original song i.e. not already recorded by another artist. Imagine Billy Swan and the aforementioned writers doing 10-12 new songs for him?

Incredibly all the songs Elvis recorded of Mark James were hit singles peaking at:

“Suspicious Minds” # 2 [1969]
“Always on my mind” # 9 [1972]
“Raised on Rock” # 36 [1973]
“Moody Blue” # 6. [1977]

Posthumous Hits:

“Its Only Love” # 3 [1980]
“The Elvis Medley”, containing “Suspicious Minds”, #51.
“Always on my mind” reissues #59 [1985] and #13 [1997].
“Suspicious minds” “live” #15 [2001].
“Suspicious Minds” #11 [2007] whilst on the same run
“Always on my mind” #17 [2007].

“Raised on Rock” and “Moody Blue” were chosen as the titles of the albums on which they first appeared. In the states “Suspicious Minds” and “Moody Blue” were numbers one’s. “Its only love” was lifted from the Elvis Aron Presley box set in 1980

Some cover versions

A sign of a song’s staying power is how many people record covers.

Here are some of the major performers who’ve covered “Suspicious Minds.”

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Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues.

He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music

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Minotti has been producing upholstered furniture for more than fifty years, consolidating their position as a ‘Made in Italy’ brand within the international market

The sophisticated and well anticipated ‘Minotti Design Identity 2011’ Collection was launched on the 30th November at Dedece Sydney’s showroom. It’s an appointment long-awaited by the Australian A&D community, which now avidly follows Minotti’s trending directions and innovations

 

Minotti style is something special: it derives from the design system of Milan, constantly experimenting innovative forms and technical solutions, developing its knowledge of tried and tested materials and testing new ones, and implementing projects featuring a strongly individual cultural identity.

The Minotti ‘Design Identity’ is beautifully emphasised in this year’s collection: the preference for understatement, the focus on functionality and flexibility, the softness in the lines and proportions, and the weaving together of history, innovation and technology. The 2011 collection includes elegant sofas, tables, coffee tables, armchairs, chairs, beds and accessories – all pieces are emblematic of the brand’s ‘Design Identity’.

The 2011 collection, superbly co-ordinated by designer Rodolfo Dordoni was launched in Milan last April at the Salone del Mobile. Rodolfo Dordoni imprints the “contemporary classical” stamp on his work for Minotti – rather than the design of each individual piece, it is the materiality and the all-over impression that counts.

Dedece Sydney’s ground floor space was completely renovated for the event by Co-Ap Design – so as to better present the stunning 2011 Minotti collections.

 

Dedece is proud to say that it’s strong relationship with Minotti now goes back 10 years.

“to see the Minotti Design Identity 2011 Sydney launch function photos please click the continue reading button here”

 

A Minotti interior gives you the sense of high quality and elegant design, refined, but without the fashionable frills. Simple but perfectly co-ordinated, one feels simply good. The collections presented never go out of fashion, and seamlessly co-ordinate with the collections of prior years.

Minotti has been manufacturing armchairs and sofas for approximately 60 years and throughout its long lifetime the company has consolidated its position on an increasingly more demanding market. During a period in which all the international markets are fiercely competitive and manufacturers work on the basis of different cost factors, the challenges are overcome with quality, history and the appeal of unique products.

It is for all these reasons that Minotti continues to be a landmark for a more discerning public, for people who feel at home all over the world without, however, cutting ties with their origins. High quality standards and its capacity of assimilating and optimising the most progressive ideas in the furnishing sector make Minotti the concrete way of being a company



Minotti Transcends the Copy

By Marc Sassella

for Broadsheet ,

13th December 2011

Marc sat down with furniture designer Renato Minotti at the launch of his new furniture range at dedece.

Renato Minotti should have been appointed Prime Minister of the new Italian government. Maybe he just doesn’t have the time, but his company certainly seems to have the secret to making Italy successful again. Its missive? Returning to the old values that once made it great – things like handmade quality, honouring artisan skills, treating employees like members of the family and, most of all, manufacturing in Italy.

Minotti has just launched its new range of furniture in Australia at dedece in Darlinghurst, Sydney and Russell Street, Melbourne and we had the opportunity to speak at length with Minotti himself while on break from making sure that things were “just so” for the launch.

Making sure things are “just so” pretty much sums up how this company runs. Attention to detail has become a dull, meaningless phrase today, but at Minotti it really means something. Look closely at the seams of the new leather furniture and you will see a flash of grosgrain ribbon. Examine the legs of the sofas and chairs and you see that they are lacquered, dye-cast aluminium, a process that is both time-consuming and expensive. Design for this new range was in the hands of architect Rodolfo Dordoni and his clean, elegant lines and intricate detailing show a masterful grasp of his art, from the leather covered legs of the coffee tables to the self-righting swivel action on the lounge chairs.

“No one can cheaply copy these details”, says Minotti with a faint smile. “It’s just too hard to do. And look at the fabric. We design it and make it ourselves; you cannot see it anywhere else.”

In these days of cheaply manufactured replicas churning out of China like sausages from a high street butcher, this comment holds weight. The genuine things were always the best and the days are returning when authenticity really means something in a world full of fakes.

Remarkably, everything we see on the showroom floor was made within a 50-kilometre radius of the Minotti headquarters in Meda, just north of Milan. Equally surprising is the fact that 95 per cent of their production is exported.

“We spend a lot of time building a program for out artisans to teach their sons and daughters their skills,” Minotti says with a look of pride. “Some of our craftsmen have been working for us for many generations. They are really my family just as much as my brother and mother who run the company with me.”

Unlike many famous Italian marques, Minotti is still a private company owned and run by the sons and wife of the original owner, Alberto, who set it up in 1948.

This is one of the secrets of making furniture of such high quality. “We do not answer to shareholders or money men. Of course, the financial aspects of our business are important, but not more important to us than the quality of our products or the opinions of our customers.”

And customers, after all, are the lifeblood of any design company. Perhaps it’s just as well Renato Minotti isn’t running the country – his customers need him where he is.

link here

Related posts:

1. Minotti Design Identity @ Salone Milan, 2011
2. Minotti Design Indentity 2011
3. Minotti – Progressive Style @ Milan Design week 2011

Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. At home, Tropfest is recognised for its enormous contribution to the development of the Australian film industry by providing unique platforms for emerging filmmakers through its events and initiatives, and new and expanded audiences for their work.

Tropfest places strength of idea above production value or slickness, and anyone can enter. Scores of films made for and screened at Tropfest have gone on to gain commercial distribution. And literally dozens of Tropfest filmmakers have had local and international careers launched as a result of their work being seen in front of thousands of people – including many of the most respected professionals in the film world

John Polson, the award-winning actor and director (Swimfan, Hide and Seek, Tenderness) started the ‘Tropicana Short Film Festival’ (as it was originally known) after an informal screening of his own short film ”Surry Hills: 902 Spring Roll” at the Tropicana Cafe in Victoria Street, Darlinghurst.  Almost immediately, this one-night event took on a life of its own, largely because of the enthusiasm of a whole new breed of young filmmakers that were hanging around the Tropicana Café at the time, looking for something to pour their creative energy into.

“There are two things I know about good ideas: They almost never happen overnight and they’re almost never borne of a single person. – Certainly, that’s how it was for Tropfest – I made a short film when I was 27 and, unable to afford a cinema, decided to screen it at the Tropicana café in Sydney where much of it was shot. The film was pretty average but the night was an undisputed triumph. Dozens and dozens of people crammed into the café, trying to get a glimpse of the screen I’d borrowed for the occasion. Expecting around 20 cast and crew to show up, I arrived on the night to find 200 people there, waiting to see my movie.

 

 

Inspired by the turn out, John decided that a full-fledged short film festival was the next step. Though the popularity of the festival has grown exponentially each year and seemed to attract the cream of Australian and international film personalities, the ever expanding festival was masterminded from a small, swelter house office in the heart of the Kings Cross creative community. With Polson at the helm, using the help of friends and committed staff (often volunteering their time), the small operation worked to keep up with the momentum of the festival. Tropfest aligned itself with sponsors who continue to provide support for Australian filmmakers and bring incredible value each year to the event for audiences.

Throughout it’s history the central aim of Sony Tropfest has remained the same. That is, to stimulate the production of short films and then provide an audience for the work of Australia’s emerging filmmakers. Twenty years on – Tropfest in Australia attracts a live national audience of more than 150,000 people on a single night. The event is hosted at Sydney’s Domain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, with live satellite links to outdoor locations in major cities including Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise.

Tropfest Australia 2011 was by far the largest Tropfest ever staged, and reached a national audience of approximately 1,000,000 people (not including the internet)

 

Tropfest distinguishes itself from other events by being a ‘content generation’ platform, rather than merely an exhibition platform.

The annual short film competition is open to anyone who wishes to enter – regardless of their background or experience. 16 Finalists are selected from an entry pool of an average 700 annual entries and compete for more than $150,000 in prizes and includes international trips to develop film making careers and ‘work experience’ with top filmmakers. As a result, Tropfest has become known as the undisputed premiere launch pad for film making careers, although to date this has been most notable in Australia, where many commercial and critical successes are directed by Tropfest alumni.

Tropfest films are unique in that they have all been made specifically for Tropfest, will premiere at Tropfest and include the Tropfest Signature Item (or TSI), which changes each year.

The "TSI" for Tropfest 2012 is --- “Light bulb”

 

So what was it that grabbed us all that night ? – I believe, without realizing it, we were tapping into something that’s inside all of us: the basic human desire for story. People need stories. Cavemen would come back after a big hunt, frustrated that they weren’t able to convey the emotion and excitement of what they’d been through, so they’d tell stories – paint pictures – so that others could feel like they were right there with them. Stories about other people give context to our own lives. They’re used for entertainment, for teaching, and for passing on knowledge and wisdom. The technologies we use today may be new, but storytelling itself is anything but”

Tropfest Short Film Festival 2012 Sunday will be held on the 19th February, 2012

John Polson …. ” Here’s a story for you: a guy makes a short film and 150,000 people show up. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it ! “

Whilst the main event takes place in Sydney, live satellite events are staged around Australia as well as being broadcast on television and webcast live to viewers around the world. Tropfest events now take place in cities around the world including London, Berlin, Toronto, Bangkok, Beijing, Aspen and still expanding eg Tropfest Arabia etc .

 

In 2007 Polson launched a New York version of Tropfest, which took place under the umbrella of Robert De Niro’s Tribeca film festival, but now Tropfest NY, as it’s called, runs as a stand-alone event in October.

Tropfest is free to attend. The festival itself is an outdoor celebration complete with live music and entertainment, public catering and bars, red carpet arrivals and the highly anticipated film screenings followed by an awards ceremony. The support and involvement of film personalities from around the world has become one of the trademarks of the festival.

The festival attracts a wide degree of media coverage but it is the casual, grass roots nature of the event, rather than its high profile, which ensures the continued support of its patrons and guests

The competition is taken very seriously and is considered the winner’s ticket to a successful career in film or television – Notable Alumni include Alistair Grierson, Clayton Jacobson, Joel Edgerton, Nash Edgerton, Peter Carstairs, Rob Carlton, Jonathan Emmerling, Elissa Down, Rowan Woods, Robert Connolly, Sam Worthington, Leon Ford, Justin Drape, Tim Bullock and many more.

The winners are selected by a panel of judges made up of well known Australian and international film directors, actors, screen writers and producers, in addition to the previous year’s winner. Tropfest judges have included industry heavyweights such as: Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Julianne Moore, George Miller, Billy Crudup, John Woo, Bryan Singer, Sam Jackson, Naomi Watts, Toni Collette, Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor, Darren Aronofsky, Will Smith, Bryan Singer and many others !

Other Tropfest programs include -

• Trop Jr, a short film making competition and festival for kids under 15,
• Women in Film
• TFP –  which gives past finalists the opportunity to develop their first feature or television series
• Max Tropscore, a film scoring and synching competition, and
• Mobile Masterpieces, a competition specifically focused on short films created using mobile phones

Trop Jr entries close on Thursday 5 January, 2012, and kids can enter online at www.tropjr.com. To be eligible, young filmmakers need to create a film that is no longer than seven minutes, as well as featuring the Trop Jr Signature Item for 2012 – JUICE.

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Tropfest 2012 will be the 20th anniversary festival ! So once again ask filmmakers of all backgrounds and levels of experience are invited to get out there and start making short films for the festival.

Entry Guidelines For Tropfest Australia 2012:

• Your film must be made specifically for Movie Extra Tropfest Australia 2012
• The festival must be your film’s first public screening, including online
• Your film must be no longer than 7 minutes (including titles and end credits)
• Your film must contain the Signature Item for 2012 – LIGHT BULB

Entries close on Thursday 5 January 2012 at 6pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

The 20th year TSI was chosen specifically because Tropfest is all about the importance of the central idea in film.

Tropfest’s 20th Birthday competition will be hotly contested, with organisers predicting the biggest year ever. More than 700 entries are expected from Australia and overseas. For the second year running, entries will be received online in partnership with YouTube and overseas finalists will be flown from their home city to attend the event in Sydney.

Tropfest is known for having one of the most successful Channels on YouTube, having attracted almost 10,000,000 video views for its films in a relatively short time period.

Filmmakers and fans alike will also be able to participate in a host of spin-off activities and events Tropfest is adding to celebrate 20 years of putting the spotlight on filmmaking talent. Organisers have three days of filmmaking celebrations planned, taking the Festival from the traditional one-day event to a full Tropfest weekend. There will be parties, screenings of Tropfest gems from the past, and special film industry events, with full details to be announced soon

 

Timeline

1993 After 200 people turn up to a short film showing at the Tropicana Café, John Polson decides to hold a short film festival. Nine films are screened to a thousand people. Prizes include a year’s supply of coffee.

1994-5 The Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) is introduced. Screenings are split into an open section and a competition section.

1996 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst has to be closed off to accommodate the festival. Full-scale screens are erected.

1997 Rushcutters Bay Park becomes the principal venue. John Polson receives an AFI Award for his contribution to the Australian film industry.

1998 Tropfest goes national, viewed via satellite in all states. Huge crowds prompt another shift of venue. Tropnest, a screenwriting development project is born.

1999 The Domain becomes the central venue for Tropfest. Crowds are now 50,000 strong.

2002 Tropfest attracts 611 entries and 95,000 watch in Sydney’s Domain, along with 3,000 in cafés along Victoria St.

2003 A new record of 723 entries.

2004 Crowds up to 133,000 nationally, including 7,000 patrons in Canberra.

2005 And still it grows. 792 entries.

2006 Festivities are prematurely brought to a close in Sydney due to a massive electrical storm. Trop alumnus Peter Carstairs is the recipient of the first Tropfest Feature Program funding, and receives $1 million for his film September.

2007 Tropfest films are taken to national television, online and to mobile phones. Eight new live regional venues across Australia join the live broadcast on festival day through the AFC Regional Digital Screen Network

 

 

Past winners Roll

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Animal Beatbox – Tropfest 2011 winner TSI = key

An incredibly popular choice on the night, the film has gone on to screen at numerous international festivals, including Palm Springs International ShortFest, and Aspen Shortsfest, where it won the ‘Special Jury Recognition’ prize in 2011.

What is the true call of the wild? Here we travel down a very special river and are introduced to a wide variety of the animal kingdom who all contribute their name for the sake of music.

Directed by Damon Gameau

Tropfest Jr winner 2011 TSI = dice

A seemingly average teenager turns into a highly trained special operative after receiving an order from headquarters. Watch as he uses his full repertoire of skills and abilities to complete his task. Yet not everything is as it seems. While watching this film, don’t presume anything.

Directed by Simeon Bain

Shock – Tropfest 2010 winner Best Comedy

A broken Man awakes to be confronted with his life, and the choices he’s made. His past,present and future collide as he faces the inevitable…

Directed By Abe Forsythe

Be My Brother – Tropfest 2009 winner TSI = spring

A young man’s charm and charisma challenges the prejudices of a stranger at a bus stop.

Directed by Genevieve Clay

Marry Me – Tropfest 2008 winner TSI = the number 8

Little girl likes little boy. Little boy likes BMX bike. Something has to give.

Directed by Michelle Lehman

An Imaginary Life – Tropfest 2007 winner  TSI = sneeze

For an imaginary friend… Living an imaginary life… There’s nothing worse than being forgotten.

Directed by Steve Baker

Carmichael & Shane – Tropfest 2006 winner TSI = bubble

A single father has a unique approach to raising his two year old twin boys- pick a favourite.

Directed by Alex Weinress & Rob Carlton

Australian Summer – Tropfest 2005 winner   TSI = umbrella

Two men. One alleyway. An entire world to explore.

Directed by Luke Eve

The Money – Tropfest 2004 winner TSI  = hook

Damien has done something he shouldn’t have – he’s about to face the toughest question of his life.

Directed by Gary Eck

Buried – Tropfest 2003 winner   TSI = rock

Sometimes, disposing of a body can be a real pain in the arse.

Directed by Tim Bullock

Lamb – Tropfest 2002 winner TSI  = match

A father and his blind son struggle to survive on a drought stricken land.

Directed by Emma Freeman

The Lighter – Tropfest 2001 winner    TSI =  horn

Directed by Patrick Hughes

Old Man – Tropfest 2000 winner TSI = bug

Directed by Robin Feiner & Jesse Gibson

Uno Amore – Tropfest 1999 winner   TSI  = chopsticks

directed by Anton Perry about two babies falling in love

Intolerence – Tropfest 1998 winner   TSI  = kiss

written and performed by Austen Tayshus

Deadline – Tropfest 1997 winner TSI  = gherkin

Directed by Nash Edgerton

Happily Ever After – Tropfest 1996 – 2nd place   TSI = teaspoon

Written, directed by, and starring Daniel Krige.

Tropfest 1995 finalist TSI = coffee bean

Saker in Love – Tropfest 1994 3rd place   TSI = muffin

Tropicana Short Film Festival winner 1993 -   No TSI

directed by Stephen Feneley and Micheal Saker

The winning entry at the inaugural 2008 NY awards was ‘Mankind is No Island’, and was filmed entirely on a mobile phone at a total cost of $59.

Interview 2011 Arabia

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"...directing is my love. I love having input into what the themes of the movies are, the beginning, middle and end..."

About John Poulson

Born: September 6, 1965 – Sydney, Australia

John Polson was born at Paddington Women’s Hospital, Sydney to Marie Francis and Ron Polson, a piano player and jazz singer respectively.

At 15, he was expelled from high school for a second time – for setting a few things on fire, some pranks and leaving a provocative nude photo on a teacher’s desk.

In his early years his ambition was to become a saxophone player, but he was seduced by acting at age 17.

He performed in the theater for the next few years but soon moved into television and film.

John Polson has been a Sydney-based actor-director since 1983, starting in the theatre.

He has won and been nominated for numerous acting awards for the mini-series Vietnam and Barlow and Chambers, and the feature films Blood Oath, The Sum of Us, Idiot Box, The Boys and others.

john polson blood oath 1994

In 1990 he played Hamlet for the Bell Shakespeare Company

Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Award in 1990 from the Australian Film Institute for his performance in Blood Oath, he was once again nominated for The Sum of Us (1994).

He won the award for his role in The Boys (1997). John was directing short films by his mid-twenties and was the creator of Tropfest in Sydney in 1993.

Creating his first short film “An Evening with Herman” in the early 1980s, John has since garnered worldwide attention with feature films such as his directorial debut “Siam Sunset” in 1999 (starring Linus Roache), which won awards at numerous film festivals around the world (including the Cannes International Film Festival).

Perhaps best known to American audiences as the wise-cracking helicopter pilot in Mission Impossible II (2000). He also directed the US feature films “Swimfan” (starring Jesse Bradford, Erica Christensen) and “Hide and Seek” (2006 ) (starring Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning), both of which opened at Number 1 at the US box office.

Director John Polson filmed Tenderness ( Russell Crowe and Laura Dern) , an Indie thriller, in New York in 2008.

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Today, in addition to his feature film work, John flexes his creative muscle on the small screen as a producer and director on shows such as FRINGE, THE MENTALIST, THE GOOD WIFE and FLASH FORWARD.

It is a busy time for Polson, soon to start work on the film adaptation of Peter Temple’s award-winning novel Truth in Melbourne. John is also currently developing a number of other feature projects as both director and producer in the US and Australia.

He is mostly based in the US but visits Australia several times a year

 

‘Mankind is no island’ is a film shot entirely on a cell phone, using found signage on the streets of NY and Sydney to tell a touching story from the very heart of two cities.

Directed by Jason van Genderen
Winner of Tropfest NY 2008!

SMH 2008 – February 16, 2008 / Alexa Moses

Polson the Tropfest tsar is a far cry from the Polson of more than 20 years ago. Back then, the show-offy, stubborn son of musicians had been kicked out of high school twice for episodes that included setting things on fire.

Then he discovered acting. A family friend, agent Robyn Gardiner, signed him on as a client when he was only 16.

“I would not have normally taken a risk on a young kid with no training but I’d seen him perform at family dinners like kids do and there was something charismatic about him even as a kid of 12,” Gardiner says. “Obviously over the years, having gained recognition as an actor, producer and director has given him the confidence and maturity he didn’t have as a teenager … he is now much more focused and disciplined. Maybe a little more patient.

“Then again,” she adds, “maybe not.”

Polson performed opposite Nicole Kidman in the 1987 TV miniseries Vietnam and after a memorable turn in the film The Boys, directed by Rowan Woods, played a helicopter pilot against Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible II.

However, Polson’s career hasn’t always been on a shooting-star trajectory. He decided to direct but his first effort, the 1999 black comedy Siam Sunset, flopped.

Still, he went to Los Angeles with the film as his calling card and along the way was offered a modest genre film, a teen nod to Fatal Attraction, which he initially rejected and then reconsidered. After all, one of the producers was the actor Michael Douglas.

The little script about a disturbed girl obsessed with a teen swimming star turned into the No. 1 box office opener, Swimfan, and Polson, with his comedy bent, suddenly found himself with a career as a thriller director. He followed Swimfan with 2005’s Hide And Seek starring Robert De Niro.

Despite these successes, Polson has not abandoned his short film festival, although this, too, has had its slumps. For example, there was the Tropfest Feature Program, designed to help festival finalists launch their careers. In 2006 the program chose to develop September, a script by Tropfest finalist and lawyer Peter Carstairs, about two teenage boys, one Aboriginal, one white, living in the West Australian wheat belt.

“September did badly in Australia,” Polson says. “Honestly, it tanked. I didn’t expect it to totally tank. It was selected for Berlin [the international film festival] and for Toronto, it got amazing reviews, so I’m incredibly proud of the film, but commercially it was just devastating, to be honest. And I don’t know why, I just don’t know why. There are a million reasons you can come up with. People don’t want to watch Aboriginal issues, it’s rural, it’s period.”

The failure of September makes Polson wonder about the Australian film industry, which faces peculiar struggles. Combine geographic isolation, a small market, a glut of talented writers, directors and actors and an audience raised on Hollywood, and Polson wonders to what lengths an Australian filmmaker has to go.

The easiest way for a local filmmaker to carve a career, he says, is to head overseas. Now his eyes flicker and the edgy, impatient Polson who doesn’t suffer fools gladly suddenly appears.

“If you want to make a living – and I hate to say it but it’s true, anyone who says ‘that’s not patriotic’, it’s just bullshit – if you want to make a living you need to be here,” Polson says. “It’s kind of a vicious circle. You could argue that if people didn’t leave Australia then maybe it would all be different and there’s an element of truth to that, but then you look at a film like September – not to be bitter and twisted about it – but OK, we raised the money, three million bucks, it had a beautiful script, great reviews and it made five cents. What else do you have to do?”

His career is one of the reasons he lives in the US, at least for now. It’s the only way he can make a decent living. “C’mon, I’m not Baz Luhrmann or Peter Jackson, I’m not George Miller,” he says. “I’m not in that tier. Peter Jackson or George have the perfect gigs. They say, ‘You want to make a film with me? Cool. I’ll see you over here.’ And they all come to Australia or New Zealand with the money.”

Polson married an American casting director and yoga instructor Amanda Harding, in 2004, so living in the US is a good compromise. However – and this is a big however – he is still unabashedly Australian and says the couple “romanticise” about moving to Australia one day.

“I certainly don’t feel American at all,” Polson says. “I’ve been here seven years and I don’t feel any less Australian than the day I left. My wife doesn’t understand half of what I say, including when I proposed.”

Polson’s latest work is a film called Tenderness, from the Robert Cormier novel of the same name about a murderous teenager and the 16-year-old runaway girl who becomes obsessed with him. Tenderness started as an indie film until Russell Crowe joined the cast, followed by Laura Dern. With big stars attached, Lionsgate Films, bought the movie and Polson expects it to open in the US later this year.

Next he hopes to work on The Up And Comer, a script he co-wrote in 2002 but never managed to get produced. Five years on, the project has been revived by an interested financier.

And he has one final project on the boil, which he says he’s not supposed to talk about. All he’ll say is that it’s a big-budget film set in Australia.

“Not that big as Baz’s film, obviously, but big for Australia,” Polson says. “We’ll shoot in Australia and edit here in the States, as I’ve got to think of my wife, who’s really close to her family over here.”

It will be a busy year but Polson reckons he can cram in one more thing: Brooklyn should expect to see small, mouthy, determined pyromaniacs running around the borough in due course.

“I’m raring to go when it comes to kids,” he says. “It’s a bit like Tropfest. I was always the guy who was too young to have kids and I blinked and now all my friends have kids and I’m thinking, Jesus.”

As the interview ends, I wonder whether I’ve captured Polson, his essence, so I ask him if there is anything else he wants to say. Australia’s favourite provocateur replies with a smirk.

“Eh, I don’t care what you write,” he says. “Make it up.”

What, even if I made up something outrageously tabloid, such as he and Tom Cruise were lovers?

“It wouldn’t be the first time someone said it,” Polson shrugs and, with an easy bounce, swings out of the cafe.

Melb Age – Feb 2006

John Polson founded Tropfest when he screened Surry Hills: 902 Spring Roll, at Tropicana Caffe in 1993. “I never expected that showing one of my short films for friends and family 14 years ago would lead to the creation of a short film festival that attracts over 150,000 people on a single night in Australia,” says the 40-year-old director. But it’s been Polson’s commitment to the cause since then that’s really propelled Tropfest’s success.

“He’s been very good at pushing Tropfest into the big league,” says Greg Williams, 39, a Balaclava filmmaker who’s reached the finals of Tropfest for the past three years. He’s back again this year with terror-on-a-tram treatment, Last Stop.

“You really have to dip your lid to him for that. So much of it has been to do with his drive in that direction. He’s always been clear that he didn’t want Tropfest to be like any other film festival and he’s stuck with a formula that can cross into the mainstream.”

Polson has traded on his international profile as a director to help the development of Tropfest. Already an established actor – he won the AFI best supporting actor award for his role in The Boys – his first feature film, Siam Sunset, scooped the audience award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. Three years later, Swimfan, Polson’s high school take on Fatal Attraction, opened at No.1 at the US box office and went on to notch up $A49 million in America alone

Tropfest has directly benefited from Polson’s Hollywood clout and celebrity pulling power. His relationship with De Niro, whom he directed in Hide and Seek, helped open the doors to a coveted sceening slot at the Tribeca Film Festival. Despite his movie commitments in America, Polson still rings every Tropfest finalist in person to inform them they’ve made it through to the last 16.

“John’s a very charismatic guy,” says 31-year-old Luke Eve, who won last year’s Tropfest with his film Australian Summer. “He’s ambitious and passionate and it’s difficult being around him and not being affected by that. His passion towards Tropfest is really contagious.”

MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

While many film festivals screen forgotten Iranian classics and obscure European experimedia, Tropfest has benefited from pursuing a more populist and playful agenda. “It’s a festival for punters,” admits Eve.

“At a lot of other short film festivals, you turn up and there are just 15 other filmmakers there with 20 of their mates. That’s nice, but ultimately we make films for audiences and the general public to see. The beauty of Tropfest is that there’s 150,000 people scattered around the country watching short films who wouldn’t otherwise watch them. It’s a huge forum for getting your work out there.”

By fostering a happy-go-lucky image – the organisers call Tropfest a “thongs on the red carpet event” – the festival is also careful not to deter inexperienced directors from entering films made on a handicam for under $250.

“It’s not a festival that requires trained filmmakers to participate,” says Serena Paull, Tropfest’s 30-year-old project director.

“It’s very much about encouraging people to have a go, and really the emphasis is on story and the strength of the idea rather than the production values. That’s not to say that Tropfest doesn’t attract higher end filmmakers, because more and more it does. But in the 16 finalists you’ll see a mix of amateurs right through to semi-professionals. John wanted to give people an incentive to actually get off their arses and shoot a film, rather than just sitting about in cafes in Darlinghurst talking about it.”

TURN IT INTO AN EVENT

Paul Harris, director of the St Kilda Film Festival, refers to Tropfest as “the Big Day Out for movie buffs”. Instead of sprawling over days or even weeks like other film festivals, Tropfest is limited to an annual one-off extravaganza.

“In a way, it’s not a festival, it’s an event,” Harris says. “It takes place over one day and many of the films tend to be purpose-built specifically for the festival. Tropfest is very high profile and sexy – it attracts sponsors like a moth to a flame.”

Instead of restricting its appeal to earnest cineastes, Tropfest has broadened into a social occasion, particularly in Sydney, where the screenings regularly attract a 100,000-strong crowd who bring their beers and blankets down to the Domain.

“Come end of February, everyone knows it’s Tropfest weekend and that’s not just filmmakers, that’s the general public,” Eve says.

“It’s about sitting on the grass and having a bottle of wine and making a day of it. People get down there early and watch the bands. It’s definitely part of the Sydney calendar and now it’s becoming like that around the rest of the country.”

ADD A SPRINKLING OF STARDUST

At last year’s Tropfest, Ian Thorpe sparked paparazzi hysteria following his momentous decision to dye his hair.

“I don’t do things to meet other people’s expectations about me,” he mused, shaking his raven-coloured locks. “I decided I wanted black hair at the moment.”

It might not deliver revelations of such startling magnitude every year, but Tropfest is always a busy night for gossip columnists.

Swarms of celebrities strut along the red carpet while the announcement of the judging panel generates further excitement. The judges’ identities are kept under wraps until the actual event, but big names are guaranteed.

Salma Hayek, Russell Crowe, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves and Nicole Kidman have all cast their votes in the past.

“It is important and a big contributing factor to the growth of the festival,” Paull admits.

“Filmmakers wonder: ‘Who is my film going to be seen by this year?’ It could be Baz Luhrmann, it could be (Superman Returns director) Bryan Singer. There’s this wide array of directors, producers and it really does expose them to the cream of the industry.”

Sometimes even the organisers don’t know who the mystery celebs will be, admits Paull.

“It’s always a concern right up to the last minute because with celebrities of that level, their schedules are so crazy that often you don’t know until the actual day. The year that Will Smith came to the festival, we only got a call from his people at 10.30am that day asking whether he could attend because his wife was in town shooting The Matrix.”

Luckily for Smith, Tropfest took pity on the gatecrashing celebrity and discovered that they could, in fact, squeeze him in.

PRESERVE THE GOODWILL OF FILMMAKERS

Arts awards generally stir up anger, resentment and ugly feuds. Yet within the filmmaking community, Tropfest gets respect for its commitment to supporting young Australian talent.

Every year the festival is overwhelmed with entries. “It captures people’s imaginations,” says Eve.

“During November and December, you can’t swing a cat in the film industry without hitting someone who is making a Tropfest film or wants to make one. Some people do it for fun, others do it hoping to win.”

Tropfest is also recognised as a handy way to gain recognition in a notoriously tough industry.

“I used Tropfest as a deadline to make a short film,” says Victorian finalist Greg Williams.

“I got a lot out of it and it helped my profile when I was looking for hard cash from the AFC.”

On the back of his Tropfest nominations, Williams subsequently secured the funding to make a 50-minute drama, The Glenmoore Job, which will screen on SBS in March.

ATTRACT A BIG SPONSOR WITH DEEP POCKETS

Four years ago, the world’s biggest short film festival was in grave danger of going bust.

Its failure to attract a major sponsor left it staring at a $250,000 shortfall and it was only rescued by last-minute intervention from cable channel Showtime and handouts from festival fans Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Lachlan Murdoch and Russell Crowe.

Then, three years ago, Sony stepped into the breach to give Tropfest the financial muscle it needed.

“The cost of the event just keeps on growing as it gets bigger, and the event is free, so sponsorship is vital to the sustainability,” says Paull.

As well as funding the festival, Sony’s various subdivisions handle some of the details in exchange for brand synergy bonus points.

Sony Ericsson, for example, takes care of the People’s Choice SMS Award, while the electronics giant also hosts Roughcut, an educational event where members of the public can receive free filmmaking tips from expert speakers.

RAISE THE STAKES

When Luke Eve won Tropfest last year, he received $7000 cash, an $8000 movie camera and a trip to Los Angeles to help him set up meetings with studio executives.

“I won a car for a year, too,” he says. “It was a Ford Fiesta, a plain blue car that didn’t, in fact, have Tropfest written all over it. I’ll be sorry to see it go.”

Now the festival is upping the ante with the Tropfest Feature Program. Funded by Foxtel’s Movie Network channel, this new initiative will pay for the production of one feature film each year with a budget of up to $1 million.

Any Tropfest finalists, past or present, can submit scripts and make the leap from a seven-minute short to a full-length movie.

But not everyone who’s eligible will require the program’s help to develop their own feature film. It’s certainly shaping up to be an eventful year for Eve, who’s busy developing “two TV series, three feature films and a doco”.

“Winning Tropfest opened doors and raised my profile as a filmmaker,” says Eve. “I always joke that, after that, people started to return my calls.”

The Age  – October  2002

John Polson would like to make one thing clear. He is not the world’s hottest director, as one Sydney newspaper tagged him after his new film, Swimfan, topped the United States box office on its opening weekend recently.”

Can you imagine my face when I saw that?” he says with an incredulous laugh. “It turns out only a few people thought I looked like the total wanker I thought I looked like,” he adds, with the odd emphatic expletive.

Like his larrikin accent and knockabout confidence, the Australian paranoia about being thought too full of yourself has stayed with the 37-year-old while he works in New York and Los Angeles. Nevertheless, Polson struggles to hide his excitement about his latest achievement.”

Honestly, I don’t want to overstate it, but it’s changed my life,” he says.

Actor, director and founder of the Tropfest short-film festival, Polson returned for the film’s Australian premiere last week. A teen thriller described as Fatal Attraction in high school, the film cost $US5.5 million ($10.2 million) to make and has taken $US27 million so far.

He has three more films in development: The Up and Comer, a black comedy set in the New York legal scene; Fear Itself, a loose remake of Straw Dogs ; and an untitled crime thriller.

After a rocky start – his first Australian feature, the black comedy Siam Sunset , was selected for Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival but flopped badly on its local cinema release – Polson has become the latest Australian success story in Hollywood.

As the concerns about his image suggest, he has been a target of vitriol since his star has risen. “People don’t necessarily think John is talented – they think he’s just a networker,” says a long-time friend.

His friendships with the powerful – Tom Cruise, Lachlan Murdoch, Sarah O’Hare and Nicole Kidman – also draw enemy fire, to the extent that when Cruise and Kidman’s marriage ended, one paper wondered who would get custody of Polson.

One experience from the actor-director’s past illustrates just how far he has come. At 15, he was expelled from high school for a second time – for setting a few things on fire, some pranks and leaving a provocative nude photo on a teacher’s desk. The teenager knew he needed a plan before his jazz musician father, Ron, returned from overseas.

The plan didn’t extend beyond playing the saxophone and maybe working as a mechanic, but the “just do it” attitude that serves Polson so well today was already working for him.

His long-time agent, Robyn Gardiner, describes him as charismatic, driven and hard working. She recalls “discovering” him as a 12-year-old whose parents had separated: “He was being a pain-in-the-arse show-off at his father’s house. He insisted on doing an impersonation of Billy Joel singing My Life. He was hilarious.”

When Gardiner needed an actor to play a street kid in a soap opera, she asked whether he was interested. He didn’t get that role, but he was soon cast in the soap Kings, then a play with Sydney’s Sidetrack Theatre.

Gardiner says: “He took it very seriously and he really cared about it, and he was very, very talented.” She believes Polson’s combination of talent, charisma, drive and discipline is unique. “He’s got a bit of the salesman in him.”

Polson turned down an offer to study saxophone at Sydney Conservatorium, preferring acting instead.

He went on to play a draft dodger opposite Kidman in the mini-series Vietnam, a drug trafficker in the mini-series Barlow and Chambers: A Long Way From Home, a soldier in the film Blood Oath, Russell Crowe’s lover in The Sum of Us, one of three tough brothers in The Boys (for which he won an AFI award) and an ocker helicopter pilot alongside Cruise in Mission: Impossible 2 (M:I2) .

Along the way his photogenic relationship with director Samantha Lang, with whom he split in 1999, also kept his face in the papers.

In his spare time, Polson built Tropfest – born in a Darlinghurst cafe in 1993 to showcase his own film – into important Sydney and Melbourne events. More than 600 shorts were entered this year.

Gardiner may have discovered him as a child, but it was Cruise who helped him make the leap to Hollywood. While making M:I2 at Fox Studios, Cruise held regular screenings in a theatrette on George Street. One night he previewed Siam Sunset.

“Tom absolutely loved it,” says Polson. “He rang me the next night and, I kid you not, he could recite every line.”

Cruise offered to champion the film when he returned to Los Angeles to promote Eyes Wide Shut .

But not even the biggest star in Hollywood could convince the studios to risk a US release for a film without any stars. Cruise made Polson another offer, suggesting he direct a film being written by Cruise’s cousin, William Mapother.

The film didn’t happen but other opportunities opened up when the drawn-out shoot for M:I2 shifted to Los Angeles. Polson found himself based at the exclusive Raffles L’Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills, heading to work maybe once a week. “I was taken out of my little apartment in Bondi, where I was paying, like, $200 a week and literally living in a five-star hotel – Julia Roberts in the lobby, Kevin Spacey in the sauna.”

With M:I2 as an acting credit, he approached an American agent who shared Cruise’s enthusiasm for Siam Sunset . The agent organised another screening for Hollywood execs who might want an emerging director. “By the next day, they had two, three, four offers coming in, people wanting to take meetings,” Polson says.

He met executives of Michael Douglas’ production company about directing Swimfan. “Finally, I’m told I’m meeting with Michael Douglas. I come in one day and meet with Michael for probably two hours. I describe every shot in the film. He gets up at the end, shakes my hand and says, `Good luck with the movie’. In other words, I got the job.”

In the film, Jesse Bradford plays a champion swimmer who sleeps with the new girl in town, Erika Christensen, and lives to regret it. Twentieth Century Fox bought the film for release in more than 2500 cinemas. “They knew what we had,” says Polson. “That it wasn’t Citizen Kane. It was a good, strong commercial movie that was going to strike a chord with the right audience.”

Swimfan took $US12.4 million on its opening weekend, suggesting that next time Polson will be working with a bigger budget and an A-list cast.

Cruise? Brad Pitt? “That’s a possibility,” he says. “Put it this way. The picture is going to cost $US25 million or $US30 million. You can’t spend that money on a movie without having people of that calibre.”

Director George Miller, who has known him since Vietnam, believes Polson has learnt the secret of success. “That is: follow your own path and also be a multiple-threat player . . . he’s got this wonderful optimism.”

Miller describes Polson as the Pied Piper “leading everyone along with his tune of let’s get up and have a go”.

Polson concedes he might deserve some flak for getting ahead of himself at times but knows he is not the first Australian to be on the receiving end of such criticism. “Australians love to pump you up when you’re nobody. Then, when you start to put your head above water and say, `Well, actually, I am a bit different, I am an individual and I do have a particular talent’, or whatever, they want to go after you. But the good news is that once you reach a certain level, I think they start to leave you alone.”

And what about the networking skills? “I don’t think of it as networking. I like people. That’s me. I like people on the street and I also happen to like other people who have power. But I’ll go to a party and realise I haven’t spoken to anybody who can do anything for me. The other night I went out to dinner with all these big-time film-makers. I ended up speaking to the driver of one of the actors.”

Polson’s next major project

John Polson about his latest project, ‘Sydney, I Love You’ – a feature comprising a dozen shorts compiled by some of our best talent.

“I want to say this: this is not an Opera House and Harbour Bridge movie,” John Polson tells us over the phone from his New York home. “If those two icons appear very little or at all, that wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. This is about the real Sydney.”

Taking its inspiration from the similarly themed New York I Love You and Paris Je T’aime – cinematic love letters to their respective cities - this will see some of Australia’s biggest and brightest names direct and star in twelve shorts with each one to be set in Sydney during a different month of the year.

While Polson largely divides his time between New York and Australia (he’s been back recently as he’s currently working on the screen adaptation of Peter Temple’s novel Truth, which is set to shoot in Melbourne), he was born and bred in Sydney and cites the city as being very close to his heart.

“For a long time, we’ve had incredible talent, whether it be directors, writers, actors or producers, making it big either at home or overseas. This feels like a great opportunity to pull some of that talent together for one project and showcase one of the world’s most beautiful cities.”

Another motivation between Polson and Hamilton’s idea was that it would provide an easier path for those looking to work on home turf again. “You hear a lot of people lamenting the fact that they haven’t made a film in Australia since they hit it big overseas,” Polson explains. “It’s hard to find the time and the schedule once you’re in that world, but this can be the chance to do it where it’s not a massive commitment for any one person.”

While Polson remains tight-lipped about any talent involved as of yet, he told us that the initial response to the project has been a warm one and he anticipates that all the directing talent will be home grown – a difference to New York I Love You (which among its New York directors also featured the likes of Fatih Atkin, Wen Jiang and others) and Paris Je T’aime (which among its French directorial talent also recruited the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant and others).

“Well, I think with the directors, there’s so much talent out of Australia already that it would be crazy to look elsewhere,” Polson explains. “That said, there are no rules about it. If we find someone who’s obsessed and has a great idea, we’ll consider it, but at this point, I don’t think we’ll be looking outside Australians. I really hope this is going to be a showcase of Australia’s best directors.”

A successful film director in his own right (with Swimfan, Hide And Seek and Tenderness to his credit), Polson hasn’t ruled out the possibility of directing one of the shorts himself, but insists his main role will be that of producer – ensuring the right people are selected for the job. “I like to find the best people and then give them freedom to tell the stories they want to tell and in that sense, it’s a trust game,” he explains. “Obviously you want to be there as a creative sounding board but I’m very much about the director’s vision.”

While the style and genre of the shorts will be left entirely in the hands of the directors, Polson admits he already has “hundreds of ideas” about how the shorts will come together to ensure that the film plays as a whole. “It’s not an easy thing to do, but I feel like I’ve got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. The composer and the DOP are going to be the same throughout.

“I also think that’s a cool idea to have characters reappear if it’s done in an organic way,” Polson continues. “The other connection is the months of the year and it will be interesting to see which directors want to jump on which month. I think a geographical throughline might be very interesting as well – if each film starts where the last film left off. But I’m aware that the biggest creative force in this film is going to come from the directors and I want to make sure we’re not making any rules just because it’s cool and gimmicky.”

While the story is obviously at the forefront, Polson is not shying away from the fact that he hopes this film “on a secondary level” will serve as an opportunity to showcase our talent, locations and resources. “If this film works the way I hope, then I think people around the world, including people in the film industry, will see Sydney in a different way to how they see it now,” Polson says. “Everyone knows Sydney as being beautiful, having beaches and friendly people, but they don’t necessarily know it’s a bit of a hub for film productions.”

In the end, Polson really just wants to show off the city he calls home. “I can tell you living in America for eleven years, nothing breaks my heart more than hearing people just talk about the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge,” he sighs. “There’s so much more going on in the city and I like to think that these twelve stories will dig deeper as to what’s really beautiful about Sydney.”

Production is set to commence on Sydney, I Love You in 2012.

SquatFest = aternative Anti-Tropfest

What began in 2001 at the infamous Broadway Squats in Sydney as a singular act of defiance against the scale and commercialism of Tropfest, SquatFest – the “Anti-Tropfest Fest” – has continued to run every year since, always on the same night as TropFest. Using a different empty building in Sydney each year, SquatFest reached its 10th anniversary in 2010.

The organisers of SquatFest are particularly critical of the way that Tropfest lost touch with its origins as local community event held in the close confines of the Tropicanna Cafe, in Darlinghurst. Unlike the massive Tropfest event, there is no selection process of films shown at SquatFest, film-makers simply bring their film along on the night.

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The brief given Interior Designers “The Uncarved Block” for The Galeries Food Hall renovation “was to Increase relevance and generate appeal for The Galeries shopping centre in Sydney’s CBD, amongst fashion-savvy 16-29 y/o consumers, at a time when the giants like Westfield and others were massively updating their Sydney Centres”.

click here to see more project photos

The Galeries (formerly known as the The Galeries Victoria or TGV) is a shopping centre located in the heart of the Sydney central business district, bounded by George, Pitt and Park Streets. The Galeries is a lifestyle and cultural destination for fashion, art and music

The Galeries is a four level shopping centre, that features a series of covered laneways running throughout with bridges between buildings and a central piazza area. Underground passageways lead off to Town Hall railway station at the southern end, adjacent to a passageway that leads to the Queen Victoria Building. The centre also incorporates the historic Sydney School of the Arts, which is now the Arthouse Hotel. There is also a Sydney Monorail station in the shopping centre

The site on which The Galeries now stands was originally home to the flagship Waltons department store. It now sits below the Citigroup office tower and beside the Sydney Hilton Hotel.

On the 24th November 2011, The Galeries brand new food hall was christened with a very special organized performance by six lead dancers decked out in multicultural inspired costumes and accompanied by one-hundred professional ‘Brent St’ dancers. This special flash mob appearance was choreographed by Ame Delves who has worked with the likes of; So You Think You Can Dance Australia & Russia, X-FACTOR, Australia’s Next Top Model, Eve, Lily Allen, Adam Lambert, Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy.

The Galeries, Sydney CBD’s major specialty retail centre, was acquired by Ipoh Ltd in May 1998. Construction of the centre was completed in July 2000.

The Galeries Victoria is a 15,000 square metre shopping centre with lettable area over four levels including the restored Heritage School of Arts Building. The tenancy mix for Lower Ground Floor level comprises food and beverage, convenience and service retailing. The Ground Floor level is principally for leisure and lifestyle fashion and fashion accessories. Above the shopping centre is a 72,000 square metre office tower

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The idea to create the band came about in 1997 when the two Westbourne Grove, London flatmates Damon Albarn (musical director) of Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett (visual director) co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl – were watching MTV, – “if you watch MTV for too long, it’s a bit like hell – there’s nothing of substance there. ….. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that,” Hewlett said

Gorillaz are touted as the world’s only cartoon band – their project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a “virtual band” of cartoon characters. A multi-genre quartet whose virtual members include 2-D, the delightfully flighty and enigmatic singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the mysterious and irreverent bassist and the brains behind the group; Noodle, a ten-year old Japanese martial arts expert and guitar hotshot; and Russel Hobbs, the eloquent yet somewhat unhinged Brooklyn-bred drummer.

The band released their revolutionary debut album Gorillaz in 2001. The launch had many industry detractors who saw the idea of an animated pop group as merely folly and gimmick – but the album went on to sell 6 million copies around the world.

“Every great band is destroyed by their success. Cartoon bands are no exception.” - Noodle

The Gorillaz have always been a band shrouded by a degree of mystery. Hiding behind their animated alter egos, Damon and Jamie have been left their own devices to create some of the most innovative progressive music projects out there today. From their humble beginnings, the Gorillaz have grown and evolved and taken us all along for the wicked and wild journey. From Noodle’s assassination and reincarnation as a cyborg to Murdoc kidnapping 2-D and holding him against his will on Plastic Beach, their much anticipated arrival to Australia in 2010 was well received.

The band originally identified themselves as “Gorilla”, and the first song they recorded was “Ghost Train”, later released as a B-side on their single “Rock the House” and the B-side compilation G Sides. The trio of musicians behind Gorillaz’ first incarnation included Damon Albarn, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator, who had previously worked together on the track “Time Keeps on Slipping” for Deltron 3030’s eponymous debut album. The song can be seen as the genesis of the musical style that continued into Gorillaz’ first album

The Gorillaz’ image may be cartoonish, but their music is anything but lightweight. Experimental in nature and obtuse in scope, the Gorillaz’ sound melds Damon Albarn’s sharp pop sensibilities with Dan the Automator’s eclectic bass-heavy, beat-driven hip hop. And although the combination doesn’t always gel, when they hit the mark, it’s usually with a bull’s eye.

 

It is widely regarded that Albarn and Hewlett comprise the ‘Gorillaz Partnership’, the company that owns the Gorillaz intellectual property and the Gorillaz songwriting royalty stream.

The musical side of the project impacts the visuals – so Jamie visits Damon in the music studio to listen to works in progress and gain inspiration for ideas about the band based on the songs.

Jamie has his own design and animation company Zombie Flesh Eaters who realise a lot of his visual ideas; for example, setting up and running the official Gorillaz website in the way he envisaged, designing record sleeves, possibly even some of the Gorillaz official artwork. He also created the basic story idea behind Gorillaz, although members of Zombie Flesh Eaters and Damon Albarn have also contributed to this, and the evolution of the characters.

About Damon Albarn

 

Damon Albarn, was born on March 23, 1968 in Leytonstone, London

Albarn’s early life was spent living in Leytonstone with his parents Hazel and Keith and his sister Jessica.

His family then lived in Turkey for a few months. When he turned ten, his family moved to Colchester, Essex, England due to the needs of his father’s teaching career. Albarn then attended Stanway Comprehensive School.

At the age of fifteen, he won an award for “Young Composer of the Year”.

He met future Blur guitarist Graham Coxon at school and found they both liked similar bands, such as the Jam, the Kinks, and the Human League.

After finishing secondary school, Albarn moved to London to attend the East 15 Acting School, losing contact with Coxon.

In 1997, Albarn branched out into acting, appearing in the British film Face. He concluded after one year’s stay that he was a terrible actor and instead took up writing and performing music. Some of the songs he wrote in his early recording days later became Blur songs, such as “Birthday” on their debut album, Leisure.

In 1988, Albarn enrolled at Goldsmiths College in New Cross, London, England; he took a part-time course which he claims he did “just to get on campus”. There, he met up with Coxon once more. After recording a number of demo tapes together, the two formed “the Circus,” at which point Coxon introduced Albarn to bassist Alex James. With the addition of drummer Dave Rowntree, the band began playing as “Seymour”.

Before long the band was signed to Food Records and changed its name to Blur.

Albarn had a long-standing relationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann.His involvement with her profoundly influenced his songwriting in Blur in the late 1990s. “Beetlebum,” opening track and chart-topping hit single from Blur, is said to be about Frischmann’s heroin addiction. 13, Blur’s sixth album, presents strong overtones brought about by their break-up.

Blur – Charmless Man (Live at TOTP 1996) by flo_78

As of 2006 Blur had released seven full-length albums, five of which went to #1 in the United Kingdom and all of which reached the top 15. Albarn has written the lyrics to nearly every song released by the band since their formation

He had publicly stated he was waiting for the return of Graham Coxon, who left the band prior to the release of Think Tank, to produce more Blur material; however, Coxon has refused to return, and Albarn stated in September 2005 that he will play guitar on the next Blur record. Albarn Quoted, “If Coxon won’t return then I’ll be playing guitar but it’ll just be fast, punk songs. Why don’t I get another guitarist? Because there’s none better than Coxon.

Though Blur has not disbanded, of late Albarn has been more active as a member of Gorillaz and as a solo artist.

Albarn also composed the score with collaboration by Michael Nyman for the 1999 movie “Ravenous” with Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle. It is described as “an eerie mix of symphonic orchestrations and clunky ragtime” which went arguably well with the movie’s cannibalistic themes

Albarn formed virtual cartoon rock band Gorillaz with Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett in 1999.

Albarn is openly anti-war and has spoken out against wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2002 he took out full page advertisements in the NME challenging the need for war, along with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, which they paid for personally.

Albarn released Mali Music in 2002. As the name suggests, the album’s recording sessions were done in Mali, a trip he made to support Oxfam in 2000. He has also visited Nigeria to record music with African drummer Tony Allen. Albarn says he would like to produce a Blur album in Baghdad as he “likes the Iraqi style of music”.

He also released Democrazy in 2003, a collection of demos he recorded while staying in hotel rooms on the U.S. portion of Blur’s tour for Think Tank.

Albarn has also appeared on other unrelated works. His song “Closet Romantic” appeared on the soundtrack for Trainspotting alongside an early Blur recording, “Sing”. Fatboy Slim’s 2004 release Palookaville featured Albarn’s vocals on the song “Put It Back Together”. Albarn provided the voiceover intro and backing vocals in the song “Time Keeps On Slipping” for the rap concept album “Deltron 3030″. The album was produced by Dan the Automator, who also produced the Gorillaz debut album.

In 2005, Albarn, among others, criticized the London Live 8 concert for not featuring enough black artists; this resulted in the addition of Ms. Dynamite, Snoop Dogg, and Youssou N’Dour to the programme. Albarn said he didn’t want to perform in the concert because he thought it was too “exclusive” and may have been motivated by self-gain

He now lives in Notting Hill, London with artist Suzi Winstanley, and their daughter Missy was born in 1999.

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About Jamie Hewlett

Jamie Hewlett created the concept of the Gorillaz with Damon Albarn when they were living together in a flat in London in 1997.

Although it has never been confirmed, it is supposed that these two comprise the ‘Gorillaz Partnership’, the company that owns the Gorillaz intellectual property and the Gorillaz songwriting royalty stream. Jamie is the visual director of Gorillaz; he created the characters that make up the band (though with some input from Damon, for example Damon asked him to ‘tone down’ Murdoc, and Paula, originally part of the line-up, was ditched in favour of Noodle after Damon worked with Miho Hatori on the debut album), and it is his drawings and sketches that all the Gorillaz art is based on.

The musical side of the project impacts the visuals Jamie creates not only in the example of Noodle above, but also because Jamie visits Damon in the music studio to listen to works in progress and gain inspiration for ideas about the band based on the songs.

Jamie has his own design and animation company Zombie Flesh Eaters who realise a lot of his visual ideas; for example, setting up and running the official Gorillaz website in the way he envisaged, designing record sleeves, possibly even some of the Gorillaz official artwork.

He also created the basic story idea behing Gorillaz, although members of Zombie Flesh Eaters and Damon Albarn have also contributed to this, and the evolution of the characters. He co-directed the Gorilla Bites and the Gorillaz music videos.

While studying at Northbrook College, England Hewlett, and fellow student Alan Martin created a fanzine called Atomtan in 1988.

While they were there they had a guest lecture from Brett Ewins who was trying to put together a new comic magazine ‘Deadline’ with fellow artist Steve Dillon. They saw a design for a character ‘Tankgirl’ in Atomtan and asked Alan and Jamie if they would like to expand the idea into a comic strip Jamie drawing the strip and Alan writing it.

 

Tank Girl was on the front cover of the first issue of Deadline and was the most popular strip in the magazine.

Tankgirl became a big name in the media in the UK as a style icon, and eventually Hollywood showed interest and a film was put into production.

‘Tank Girl’ the film was released in 1995 but it was a let-down for Tank Girl fans, a commercial flop and a critical failure.

After the film’s release Jamie drew Tank Girl in one last strip ‘The Odyssesy’ (without Alan Martin writing) and then he abandoned the character forever.

Hewlett also worked on strips for the British Sci-Fi comic 2000 AD, most notably for the 8-part series Hewligan’s Haircut, scripted by Peter Milligan in 1990-1991.

After Tank Girl Jamie seemed to lose interest in comics for the most part (he’s talked about how the bottom went out of the market in interviews, and also that he felt the comic scene wasn’t going anywhere).

 

He branched out into other creative projects, including designing decor for a nightclub – The Factory in Worthing and helping set up a vintage clothes shop in Worthing.

He later worked on a number of advertising campaigns, including for SM:TV, a TV program in the UK.

He has also drawn some pictures that have been issued by the ‘Pictures On Walls’ company as limited edition prints, and has designed record sleeves for some bands, for example The Senseless Things.

He lived with Damon Albarn for 8 months in 1997 and it was then that they came to the idea of starting the Gorillaz project.

Jamie took on a staff to help with all the work, Zombie Flesh Eaters, and the Zombie Flesh Eaters have also done other projects in Gorillaz downtime, such as the interactive menus for a John Lennon DVD

In 2006 Jamie Hewlett was awarded Designer of the Year for his work on Gorillaz; four years later the band graced the cover of tech bible Wired Magazine

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Band members

Virtual personnel

 

The quartet, whose virtual members included 2-D, the cute but spacy singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the spooky, possibly Satanic bassist and the brains behind the group; Russel, a drummer equally inspired by “Farrakhan and Chaka Khan” and possessed by “funkyphantoms” that occasionally rise up and provide some zombie-style rapping; and last but not least, Noodle, a ten-year-old Japanese guitar virtuosa and martial arts master

Stuart “2D” Pot – lead vocals, keyboards, melodica, rhythm guitar (1998–present)
Murdoc Niccals – bass guitar and drum machine (1998–Present)
Noodle – lead guitar, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals, keyboards (1998–2006, 2010–present)
Russel Hobbs – drums, percussion (active 1998–2006)
Cyborg Noodle – lead guitar (2010–present)

Former members

Paula Cracker – lead guitar (1998)
Del the Ghost Rapper – guest vocals (2001–2003)

Non-Virtual Personnel

Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, melodica (1998–present)
Jamie Hewlett – illustration, visuals, FX (1998–present)
Mike Smith – keyboards (1998 – present)
Cass Browne – drums, percussion (1998 – present)
Mick Jones – rythmn guitar (2010 – present)
Paul Simonon – bass guitar (2010 – present)

Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club’s Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with the arresting visuals of Jamie Hewlett. Nakamura’s Deltron 3030 cohorts Kid Koala and Del tha Funkee Homosapien rounded out the creative team behind the Gorillaz.

Always open to a mind-blowing collaboration, Gorillaz have also worked with De La Soul, Kano, Mick Jones, Bobby Womack, Ike Turner, Lou Reed, Mark E Smith, Bootie Brown, Bashy, Little Dragon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Snoop Dogg, Dangermouse, Ibrahim Ferrer,, Mos Def, D12, Phi Life Cypher, MF Doom, Rosie Wilson, Shaun Ryder and Neneh Cherry.

 

The band’s music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of their influences including: dub, hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop music.

At one point in their concert there are over 30 people on stage for the Gorillaz assemblage – string section, backing singers, two drummers, keyboard players, guitarist, at one point a 6 piece brass section from Chicago, then a band from Syria and not forgetting the two members of the Clash.

Early Years

According to Dr. Wurzel, the Gorillaz line-up originally included a girl called Paula before Noodle joined (which has been removed from the official story). She left after Russel caught her having sex with Murdoc in the studio toilets, which was shocking as she was going out with 2D at the time.

Gorillaz made their worldwide media debut in Dazed and Confused magazine in November 2000, releasing their debut single in the same month.

Their Studios also opened its doors to the public in early November.

“Clint Eastwood”, the worldwide hit, followed in March. This single was accompanied by a video of the band in the graveyard around Kong Studios, being chased by dancing zombie gorillas.

The Gorillaz debut album followed, released first in Europe and Japan in a flurry of press activity.

The band’s first release was the EP Tomorrow Comes Today released in 2000. The first three songs from the EP ended up on their debut album

Directed by Jamie Hewlett, the video for the title track consists mainly of static drawings of the Gorillaz placed against real photographs and time-lapsed video footage of London streets. Some of the drawings are animated, especially the ones featuring 2D singing. The video finishes with the four band members, and 2D’s headache pills, flying across the screen during a fast-motion shot of a tunnel.

Graffiti artwork by Banksy can be seen halfway through the video. 2D makes a reference to this in Rise of the Ogre, saying “At first I wanted to be a vandal like that bloke Banksy”.

This was the Gorillaz’ first video, which inspired them to go for a completely animated look. 2D commented: “it’s amazing how young we look in this!” in Rise of the Ogre.

The band’s first single, “Clint Eastwood”, was released on March 5th, 2001.

“Clint Eastwood” exemplifies the mix of musical styles found on the band’s debut album, combining hip hop, rock, electronic and dub influences. The verses are rapped by Del the Funky Homosapien and the chorus is sung by 2D (voiced by Damon Albarn).

“Clint Eastwood” was produced ny hip-Hop producer Dan the Automator and originally featured london-based rap group Phi Life Cypher. However the version which appears on the album features American rapper Del the Funky Homosapien known on the album as Del tha Ghost Rapper who is a spirit in the band’s drummer Russel Hobbs.

The Live performance has seen the likes of Snoop Dogg, Phi Life Cypher, Eslam Jawaad, Bashy & Kano perform the rap in the absence of Del tha Ghost Rapper.

Gorillaz – 2001

 

Later that same month, their first full-length album, the self-titled Gorillaz, was released, producing four singles: “Clint Eastwood”, “19-2000″, “Tomorrow Comes Today”, and “Rock the House”.

“19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)” became popular after being featured in both an Ice Breakers commercial, as well as in EA Sports’ FIFA Football 2002.

Perhaps it was the cartoon facade, or the side-project feel of the collaborative, but when the Gorillaz’s self-titled debut was released in 2001, critics predicted a short shelf life for the band.  Despite this, the Gorillaz’s album went platinum and the group scored a couple of hefty hits with “Clint Eastwood” and “19-2000.”

19 - 2000

“Rock the House” was released as the third single from the album in October 2001. It peaked at #18 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song is one of the more hip hop-oriented songs on the album, along with “Clint Eastwood”. The song features a horn section loop sampled from “Modesty Blaise”, a piece by British Jazz musician John Dankworth. The chorus also features a sample of “How Many People (Ready To Rock The House?)”, an ’80s hip-hop track by American rapper John Forte.

Rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien is the only artist to provide vocals for the song, and is the only song on the album that does not have a part for Noodle

The inspiration for the video is said to have come from Hewlett’s angst at the time, as the band was going through the process of being sued by another band named Doppelgangerz, who claimed that Gorillaz was a stolen idea.

“Jump the Gut” was one of the first “Gorilla Bites” that were used to promote the first studio album of virtual band Gorillaz.

But when most of the members of the group went back to their day jobs, most assumed that was the end of them.

Meanwhile G Sides, a compilation of the B-sides from the Tomorrow Comes Today EP and first three singles, was released in Japan on 12 December 2001 and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002.

 

The new year also saw the band perform at the 2002 BRIT Awards, appearing in 3D animation on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher.

The band was nominated for six awards at the event, including Best British Group, Best British Album and Best British Newcomer, but left the award show empty-handed.

In November 2002, a DVD titled Phase One: Celebrity Take Down was released, giving the phase its name.

The DVD contains the four Phase One promos, the abandoned video for “5/4″, the Charts of Darkness documentary, the five Gorilla Bitez (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server and more.

The DVD’s menu was designed much like the band’s website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios.

Rumours were circulating at this time that the Gorillaz team were busy preparing a film, but at an EMI interview, they later revealed that plans for the film were abandoned. Haruka Kuroda, who voices the character Noodle, told the fan website Gorillaz-Unofficial that Jamie Hewlett rejected many scripts before giving up on the film.

Hewlett later explained why the film was abandoned  -  “We lost all interest in doing it as soon as we started meeting with studios and talking to these Hollywood executive types, we just weren’t on the same page. We said, fuck it, we’ll sit on the idea until we can do it ourselves, and maybe even raise the money ourselves.”

On 8 December 2004, the band’s website reopened with an exclusive video entitled “Rock It”.

Along with the music video, there was an announcement of a new album on the way, which would be produced by Danger Mouse.

A talent contest entitled Search for a Star was also launched on 15 December 2004, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio or an image file.

A viral marketing project named Reject False Icons was formed criticising modern pop figures.

The first single from the album was “Feel Good Inc.”, released as an EP in Japan and as a CD single in Europe and Australia.

The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #22, several weeks before the CD single was released due to the single being released as a 7″ vinyl in April, and new charts regulations included sales at online music stores, where the song had been available since 22 March.

“Feel Good Inc.” managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the band’s highest ever positioned single up to that point in time. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks. In the United States, it peaked at #14.

The song also garnered a Record of the Year nomination for the 2006 Grammy Awards later that year.

It was later included in the popular PlayStation 2 title SingStar, a game where players attempt to sing along karaoke style. It was also recently included on Activision´s Guitar Hero 5 and was released as downloadable content on Harmonix and MTV Games’ Rock Band.

Demon Days 2005

Their second studio album, Demon Days, released in 2005, earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006 and won one of them in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category.

The album debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks. However, as the music video for the second single “DARE” started getting played on MTV and other music channels, Demon Days rose up to the top 10 again

Demon Days has now gone five times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States, triple platinum in Australia and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. The combined sales of Gorillaz and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 15 million albums.

 

“DARE” was released on 29 August 2005 in the UK, where it debuted at #1. A Japanese EP followed on 7 September. “DARE” eventually reached #87 in the United States, also becoming a Top 10 hit on the Modern Rock listings.

Shortly afterwards, Gorillaz contributed an exclusive track entitled “Hong Kong” to the charity compilation Help!: A Day in the Life released on 10 September 2005.

The third single “Dirty Harry”, which had already been released as a promotional single earlier that year. It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2005. On its first week, it charted at #6. The release of the single raised the album once again back up to the top 10.

Between 1 November and 5 November 2005, there was a Gorillaz festival at the Manchester Opera House. The event was filmed by an EMI film crew for a DVD release, Demon Days Live, in late March 2006.

By the end of 2005, Demon Days had sold over a million copies in the UK, making it the UK’s fifth best selling album of 2005

In 2005, a set of Gorillaz figures were released by Kidrobot to coincide with the release of Demon Days.

 

Two variations of the set were released, known as the Red and Black editions, and a limited edition Noodle from the music video for “DARE” was also released. Three new sets of Gorillaz vinyl figures were released in 2006. The Basic set was released on 16 October 2006 and the 2-tone and White edition sets were released on 2 November 2006.

The fourth and final single was the double A-side, “Kids with Guns”/”El Mañana”. It was released in the UK on 10 April 2006. Unlike its Top 10 predecessors, “Kids With Guns” / “El Mañana” reached #27 upon its release in the UK. A week later, the single had fallen out of the Top 40 in the UK .

The Gorillaz virtual band members are shown as holograms on stage using Musion Eyeliner technology, giving them a life-like appearance on stage.

The holograms were first used at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards on 3 November 2005 and again at the 2006 Grammy Awards on 8 February 2006 with the addition of a virtual Madonna, where the band played a pre-recorded version of “Feel Good Inc.”

Plans were unveiled for Gorillaz to go on a holographic world tour in 2007 and 2008.. However, the tour was eventually called off due to budget issues. Jamie Hewlett has stated that “  …  it was extremely expensive, extremely difficult, a million and one things can go wrong, every second that the thing’s playing.

Slow Boat to Hades DVD was released on 30 October in the United Kingdom, and 31 October in the United States.

Like the concept itself, Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre is a part fictional, part real account of the band’s rise to fame. It blends fact and fiction throughout, interspersing commentary from the fictional band members with actual quotes from their creators, collaborators and critics. The front cover of the book, when turned sideways, is Murdoc Niccals’ pet raven ‘Cortez’

Ostensibly written by the four band-members (Murdoc Niccals, 2D, Russel Hobbs and Noodle) in collaboration with (actual) Gorillaz musician and official scribe Cass Browne, the book is 304 pages long and is extensively illustrated.

It contains previously unknown secrets of the band, such as future plans of the movie, new and rare art by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett, the “low down” on Kong Studios, their headquarters, and the story of the truth behind the “El Mañana” video.

It was released in the UK on 26 October 2006 and in the US on 2 November 2006. A paperback edition of the book was released in the US on 6 November 2007.

 

Faux interviews and Jamie Hewlett’s illustrations, as well as a few real photos, make up the hardcover book, bringing out both imagined and true-to-life details. Highlights include track-by-track “making of” stories. British humor and, overall, behind-the-scenes insight into one of the most innovative and successful creative projects of recent years.

Rise of the Ogre was also released as the world’s first audiobook singles. The four part audiobook was narrated by Joss Ackland. Initially an iTunes exclusive, one part was released every week for four weeks beginning 4 December 2006.

 

D Sides

 

D-Sides, a compilation of B-side and remixes, was released on 19 November 2007 in the UK and on 20 November 2007 in the US.

Hopes for a Gorillaz film were revived in 2006 when Hewlett stated that they would be producing the film on their own.

American film producer and Weinstein Company co-chairman, Harvey Weinstein, was also said to be collaborating with Albarn and Hewlett. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut magazine, Albarn was reported saying … “[Gorillaz] has been a fantastic journey which isn’t over, because we’re making a film. We’ve got Terry Gilliam involved. But as far as being in a big band and putting pop music out there, it’s finished. We won’t be doing that any more.”

Later in an interview with the Gorillaz-Unofficial fansite, Jamie Hewlett and Cass Browne revealed that in the film the band members will act as other characters presenting a new story, instead of playing themselves.

No further news was heard about the film until February 2008 when, in an interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Hewlett said “Ultimately we didn’t think that feel we’re in a position to make the kind of movie we want to make with Gorillaz at the moment ….. But I’d still like to make a full, lavishly-animated Gorillaz movie someday.”

bananaz dvd taking down the virtual walls of gorillaz

Bananaz was released online on the free Babelgum website on 20 April 2009 followed by the DVD release on 1 June 2009.

Over the course of the hour and a half  the Bananaz film follows the Albarn and Hewlett from Gorillaz inception through its rise to the top of the industry and completion of its second album Demon Days, a period of six years ( 2000 – 2006).

Bananaz follows the duo from its earliest days, when no one knew whether the cartoon band dreamed up by Albarn and Hewlett would be a success. It was directed by Ceri Levy, a friend who made Starshaped, a 1993 documentary about Blur.

The west London neighbourhood was where Carl Levy began recording in 2000, when he would often have coffee in Albarn and Hewlett’s homes. He continued filming on a “beg, steal or buy” basis. “I filmed all the tours around the world by jumping on the tour bus so it became part of the tour expenses,” he said.

Levy follows the rise of the band showing its most intimate moments from signing the Gorillaz contract with EMI, a far different experience than how the Gorillaz biography The Rise of the Ogre depicts it, to recording their first album in what appears to be Albarn’s home studio.

The 90-minute film includes footage of stars from actor Dennis Hopper to Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club working with Albarn and Hewlett on Gorillaz – Albarn plays the bass, piano, keyboard, flute and everything in between in the film that also features collaborators Del La Soul, D12, Dangermouse, Ibrahim Ferrer, Bootie Brown and Simon Tong.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the film is watching the artists struggle with the concept of an animated band and when to be in character and when to be themselves. Managing the parallel worlds was a complex matter. Aside from the intriguing look inside the psyche of the minds behind the Gorillaz, the musical aspect is spectacular.

The album ends with the Gorillaz show at the Apollo, completing a compelling journey from the bands modest beginnings of two-dimensional drawings to the top of the music industry with some of the most advanced shows and images used by a band to date.

Albarn, Hewlett with Chen Shi-Zheng who together created a Pop Opera called Monkey: Journey to the West, which premiered in the summer of 2007 at the Manchester International Festival. A soundtrack album was recorded in the summer as well (initially only digitally available though a CD version was released in 2008).

The production went on to show at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in September-October 2007, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, USA in May 2008, and the Royal Opera House in London in July 2008.

Albarn and Hewlett built on ideas from Monkey: Journey to the West to release a short film in the Summer of 2008 which accompanied the United Kingdom’s coverage of the BBC Olympic Coverage in Beijing.

It featured a basic outline of the main plot elements of the Opera, reworked into a “Journey to the East”, with the characters finishing in the Beijing Olympic Stadium. Based on a traditional Chinese folktale, it features Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy encountering danger on their way to the Olympic stadium

plastic beach 2010

 

In late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on Carousel, a new Gorillaz project which eventually evolved into the band’s third studio album Plastic Beach. Albarn said “I’m making this the biggest and most pop record I’ve ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth.”

Two and a half years earlier Damon Albarn stated in the pages of NME that there would be no more music to come from the virtual monkey band known as the Gorillaz. Jamie Hewlett also agreed with Damon adding that he’s sick of drawing the characters themselves. But they later changed their minds.

The album features guest performances by Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys, Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Kano, Bashy, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, sinfonia ViVA, and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music

Gorillaz album Plastic Beach recently debuted at #1 in Australia with chart success around the world, including #2 positions in the US and UK, and #1 in Austria. The album went to #1 in the Billboard Alternative Chart, and #1 in digital charts in USA, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

world of plastic beach – snoop dog

On 18 January 2010, it was announced that Gorillaz would be headlining the final night of the Coachella music festival on 18 April 2010. Gorillaz performed to one of the largest crowds in Coachella history of over 70,000 people strong.

Gorillaz played a short run of intimate UK rehearsal gigs exclusively for G-Club members, before taking up a two-night residency at London’s Camden Roundhouse (29 and 30 April 2010).

Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash performed guitar and bass respectively with the band and more than once in the evening chords from The Clash song “Guns of Brixton” were heard as a subtle reference to their presence.

 

In typical Gorillaz style, the new single Stylo from the album Plastic Beach featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def was made available for download on YouTube on 26 January 2010.

In early 2010 Gorillaz resurfaced with the album Plastic Beach. The lead single Stylo featured a bad ass Bruce Willis chasing down the Gorillaz who made a clean escape and headed out on their first World Tour with a crack team of musicians including Clash greats Paul Simonon and Mick Jones.

Leaving behind the 2D style, the band upgraded for a modern 3D look in the video clip that follows bass player Murdoc Niccals, guitarist/Cyborg Noodle and the vocalist 2D on their trip to the mainland from Murdoc’s new home on Plastic Beach.

Stylo is directed by Jamie Hewlett and produced by his company, Zombie Flesh Eaters. Live action is through HIS Productions in Los Angeles with animation by Passion Pictures in London

Further singles from the Plastic Beach album include “On Melancholy Hill”, “Superfast Jellyfish” and “Rhinestone Eyes”, as well as “White Flag”, which was released exclusively for Record Store Day 2010..