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It’s hard to believe but we’re sitting in the studio of producer Sunim Koria discussing the final mix of the Tess concept album. The journey thus far has taken more than four years. To be this close to a finished product is slightly unreal. Reverb levels, percussion cut-through, dialogue fades - this is the kind of fine detail we’re into at this late stage. And even allowing for these tiny tweaks, it’s sounding extraordinary, though we say it ourselves. In fact, there’s no reason not to say it ourselves as all the magic is being woven by Sunim and his producer wizardry.
Because that, after all, is what this whole exciting project has been working towards: we went into it with the approach that there was no point writing something that wouldn’t ultimately be performed. The reason for the album is to use as a promotional tool. While it won’t be commercially available for contractual reasons, we will be offering listeners a chance to hear the material online and, hopefully, fall in love with it so much that they start demanding that someone makes a stage show out of it. And so the next phase begins… Thank you for reading and following the progress of TESS. Please feel free to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.
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Next time on d'Blog... We bring you news on the first live performance of one of the songs from TESS as the album heads for completion.
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So the end is in sight. For this part of the Tess project anyway. The album. Hard to believe we are saying that, nearly two years on from the first discussions we had about a possible recording of the entire show with our producer Sunim Koria (for the record, he initially turned us down). In case you missed the news, we now have a first mix of the whole show. That’s right. All two hours of it. All singers, band members, additional instrumental sounds, foley (yes, we had to look it up) and sound effects are now in place and have gone through the first process of “A bit more that”/ “Less of that”/ “Oo, bring that bit out!”
Now Bruce is something of an idol to our very own producing wizard Sunim, so let’s see if we make it to 91. Stay tuned! ALBUM DESIGN Meanwhile, the album design and booklet are also nearing completion. Here’s a little sneaky peek of what we’ll be serving up:  A lot of people have been asking us over the past year, “Why have you done an album?” Mainly our long-suffering partners, we hasten to add, but the truth is that the cost of putting on a show far exceeds that of recording one. Plus, crucially, we are not theatre producers. And if we’re not in a position to produce the show ourselves, the question arises of how to promote it in order to attract someone who could?
The thing is, there’s no blueprint for putting on a new musical. One thing that helps is having a strategy. Ours has been about promotion, building contacts and support, and preparing a top-quality album as a calling card. And this is where you can play a vital part. In time, we’ll be sharing excerpts from the album on the Tess website and introducing our baby to the world. If you like what you hear, please tell all your friends and acquaintances – especially any called Cameron. With luck, we may be sharing mix number 2 very soon. Then again, it could be mix number 91. Bear with us – this may take a little more time… Thank you for reading and following the progress of TESS. Please feel free to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.
Next time on d'Blog... As work finishes on the first ever album recording of TESS, we bring you news from the studio for the final time.  Hello again and thank you for checking out the latest d'Blog. As work continues on the TESS album, the 2 Michaels look back on the last 5 months and completing the recording of all vocalists in the show. 5 months... Hasn't the time flown! So take it away, Michael. And Michael. With all vocals now recorded, how does it feel? MB: Emotional. I always get emotional when I take time to stop and reflect. Especially on such an amazing few months for the TESS project. MD: Rather unbelievable. When I think back to those early discussions around Michael’s kitchen table, covered in Post-It notes (the table, not us) to work out the narrative we wanted to tell, then compare it to the ever-growing project we’re now involved in, it hardly seems possible. And yet here we are, with all these fantastic vocals in the can, and ready to launch into the next phase. Pinch me, please. Ouch! That was meant to be metaphorical… What has been the most memorable moment? MB: That’s so difficult to answer because there have been standout moments with everyone. My overriding memory though will be of the laughter and fun. MD: Too many to recount. It has all been memorable.
MD: I’ve been consistently impressed at how they’ve all delivered their best unprompted. No input required from us.
reliable and always a joy to work with. Thank you, guys. Sorry, that’s more than one word.
What next? MB: Bring on the instrumentalists. We hope to have them all booked and recorded in November. Can’t wait! MD: Instrumentalists? Really? But aren’t they notoriously difficult to work with? Oh no, sorry, that’s composers, isn’t it? As you were. Can’t wait! Thank you for reading and following the progress of TESS. Please feel free to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you. Next time on d'Blog... A Christmas surprise from the TESS team as the album production moves on to the next phase
A little over a year ago, the score and libretto of Tess were being finalised into a workable draft, ready to be put in front of the kind of people it needed to be put in front of at that stage in the long journey towards production. Around the same time, a certain leading man was stepping out onto a Broadway stage in the title role of a new musical based on Pasternak’s famous epic of the Russian revolution, Dr Zhivago. Tam Mutu won rave reviews from the likes of the Washington Times, which described him as “really wonderful” and “utterly perfect”, and he was nominated for a prestigious Drama League Award. Now, as the creators of another new musical based on a classic novel, composer Michael B and I are enjoying the extraordinary privilege of listening to that same soaring voice delivering the role of Alec d’Urberville, Thomas Hardy’s scheming villain who’s responsible for our heroine’s initial downfall.
Thank you for reading and following the progress of the show. Please feel free to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.
Next time on d'Blog... More commentary from the studio as things get busy on the production of the TESS album
"Well, we’ve had some pretty extraordinary moments in the TESS journey so far, but this week has surely got to be the most exciting to date. Now, keep up at the back, please. It’s hard enough for us to ride the rollercoaster without you dilly-dallying about over last week’s news. Aren’t you signed up for the regular updates on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram etc? If not, why not? But I digress… With only the slightest hint of irony about the date, April 1 saw the two Michaels ensconced at the ever-so-helpful Dance Attic in Fulham for the second day of auditions. We were casting the five principal roles in the show for the forthcoming album recording (what do you mean, what album?). And while we were excited enough about that prospect, we couldn’t have prepared ourselves for what we actually got. For a start, let us give appropriately grateful nods to our esteemed casting director, Anne Vosser. Next, the tenacious and ever-willing assistants she supplied – Katharine Moraz and Tam Kirk. And finally, our two audition pianists, Dean Austin and Barney Ashworth, both West End ‘stars’ in their own right and unbelievably helpful in the process of auditioning singers. Across two exhausting days, we met probably 50 or 60 immensely talented, totally professional and clearly very dedicated performers. There was not one dud in the entire crop and, it’s fair to say, it has left us with the most wonderful of headaches.
In case any of them are reading this, and the message hasn’t got back to you via your agent yet, we would both like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who took the time and trouble to come and meet us, and deliver such wonderful audition performances in all five of the roles. We’re under no illusions that we are but little fish in this sizeable musical theatre pond, so to have so much talent, commitment and sheer hard work given over to preparing so fruitfully in such a short space of time was, I don’t mind admitting, rather humbling.
And so the TESS rollercoaster rides on. I just hope my heart can stand it." Thank you for your continued support of the show. We are very grateful and appreciate all your comments, likes and shares. They spur us on.
Next time on d'Blog... In the studio with West End and Broadway leading man Tam Mutu.
“Where to begin? Ok, casting. We’ve got a chorus for the album! Yay! And we love ‘em. Which may not be their feeling towards us once they get their parts to learn. Still, they say the most euphoric feeling you get when being involved in a show is learning you’ve got the part. So let’s keep the love and euphoria going until the work begins. We’ve also got us some dairymaids. Double yay! And a farm manager and a parson! I think one of us has just fainted.
Now before you think, oh jeez, this all sounds a bit too much of a love-in, trust me (and me) there are tensions. He does call one of us a “Diva”. We’ll leave you to decide which one.
Keeping things newsy (and we hope you like the new news page btw), we’ve also entered some of the songs and music to be considered for an orchestral concert that is taking place in London later in the year. That’s about as much as we can say for now. You know, egg-on-the-face and all that. We would also love to tell you about some other exciting approaches that have been made and conversations that have been had about putting on the show, but again, our lips are sealed. Soz. But believe you me (and me) when we have something more definite to tell you, you will be the first to know. Well, maybe not THE first, but high up there on the list. Honest. Talking of egg-on-the-face, you may have seen that we said we were going to be appearing on the WAWOW radio show at the end of February hosted by the lovely Ruth Curtis. Sadly, one of us had work commitments and the other one got ill. However, we will be giving an interview with said lovely Ruth for her on-line TV show in March. We say “will”, but let’s not tempt fate, shall we? In other news, we’ve been restructuring the show. It now has a Prologue. It was the brainwave of the Michael who is good with words. Fortunately, the other Michael could see it made complete sense – and cursed the fact that he hadn’t thought of it in the first place. Little did Michael Music know that a swift couple of lines from Michael Words would involve quite so much recomposing of the opening material… But still, that’s the composer’s lot. We could keep going on with this, but one of us is getting decidedly diva-esque and saying “Stop now for goodness sake!”. So we will. But not until we’ve said thank you so much to you for all your lovely likes, shares and comments on social media. It is so very much appreciated. Bye for now.” Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave a comment. Next time on d’Blog… It’s pre-production time. Or is that pre-pre...? Hello again! And thank you for clicking over to the latest d'Blog. Our post comes from Michael Davies. The lyricist. Mr Words. That's right. The writer who has been curiously absent from writing d'blogs. To find out why, read on. "But Michael B is the composer, I hear you cry! Well, I would if the internet was multi-sensory. So why is he doing all d'blog writing?
Good question. And not an easy one for me, supposedly Mr Words, to answer. Part of it is to do with the fact that I did attempt a bit of a blog during the writing process, couple of years ago now, so to revisit all that at this stage feels a bit repetitive. I stopped when we came to the hiatus (see previous d'blog entries around personal tragedy) and didn't pick it up again as things had moved on significantly by that point. Now, I find d'blogging being so ably covered by my musical colleague that my contribution is distinctly superfluous. However, I am part of this musical, so I'm going to offer a little piece of the lyrical perspective. Whether you want it or not. When we launched into this enterprise, I somehow entertained the notion that the musical and lyrical division of labour would be fairly evenly split between its two creators. How wrong I was. I think I can claim rights to, perhaps, four musical notes in the entire score. And quite right too. As soon as I began to hear Michael's extraordinary Romantic output, I willingly downed manuscript paper and quill in favour of the trusty Qwerty keyboard. There was nothing I could add to his musical virtuosity, so I pinned all my hopes on being able to keep up with him lyrically. I also had training in story, thanks to an MA and some practical experience writing plays, so this was where I concentrated my efforts. We spent a long time getting our 'bible' right, choosing which bits of Hardy's epic tale to include and which to leave out, and then shaping them into a workable two-act structure. From this, Michael began to generate melodies. Lots of them. And all of them memorable and beautiful. I offered him a few snippets of lyrics at the start, but the reality became one of writing to the score. Looking back, I couldn't honestly say it was easy - and maybe I'll explore why in a little more detail for a later post - but it was an absolute delight. My musical background allowed me to understand, I think, what Michael was aiming for (at least, most of the time) so it turned into a curiously exhilarating mixture of crossword puzzle and scriptwriting, two of my favourite activities. And all set to gorgeous music. There's a real art to writing successfully for voices, and Michael has it. My intention throughout has been to supply words that are meaningful, entertaining and, above all, singable without descending into cliche. But you'll have to judge that for yourself." Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment. We'd love to hear from you :) Next time on d'Blog... Love songs and Australia. The composer's journey continues as TESS begins to take off. |
PREVIOUSLY...JESSIE-MAE THOMAS
FROM STUDIO TO STAGE HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? MASTER AT WORK MIXING TIME INTERVIEW WITH A COMPOSER ANOTHER MICHAEL'S STORY THE LAST 5 MONTHS LONDON STUDIO DAYS A DAIRYMAID'S DIARY IN THE STUDIO WITH TAM MUTU THE ADVENTURE ROLLS ON IT'S PRE-PRODUCTION TIME! WHERE ARE ALL THE D'BLOGS? A HERSTORY (THE FINAL PHASE) TECHNICAL TALES A HERSTORY (PHASE THE 4TH) THE LYRICIST SPEAKS RECORDING TESS - THE SINGER A HERSTORY (PHASE THE 3RD) A HERSTORY (PHASE THE 2ND) A HERSTORY (PHASE THE 1ST) REVIEWS & REVELATIONS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ALEC ONE HELLO IS HOW IT STARTS Categories
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