MNDR

Electro-poppers MNDR first caught my attention when they worked on Mark Ronson's hit 'Bang Bang Bang'. Their debut album Feed Me Diamonds is now out. For Music 101 I had an interesting conversation with Amanda Warner about sexism, the music industry, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and making art.

MNDR on Music 101

Into The Uncanny Valley

For Radio New Zealand's The Arts on Sunday I've been following the progress of putting together 'Into The Uncanny Valley' which is part of BATS theatre's STAB season. They're trying some really ambitious theatrical techniques to tell the story of physics in the most interesting way possible.

Marina and The Diamonds

Marina Diamandis makes pop music as Marina and The Diamonds. It's pop music I have previously reviewed in a weirdly hesitant yet gushing way. It's pop music for the heart and the head, and it's good stuff to dance to/think about. I spoke to Marina about said pop music for Music 101 on Radio New Zealand National.

Marina and The Diamonds on Music 101

Leto Xavier: Ascension

'Leto Xavier: Ascension' is a short film by Kate Norquay about my flatmate. I helped Kate to make the film, and also pop up in it. If you like art and distracted, intense men with spiky hair this is for you.



If someone would like to go out with Leto I might be able to hook that up if the applicant is "very, very, brave". If you just want to check out his art it's at letoxavier.daportfolio.com.

Deadlines

'Deadlines' is part of BATS Theatre's 2012 Young and Hungry Season and I'm the Sound Designer. It's a twisted tale of High School and murder. Here's the blurb:

"Nothing out-of-the-ordinary ever happens at Wellington's prestigious Arrowhead High School, and that's just the way Tracey Aldridge, the ambitious head photographer for Arrowhead's student newspaper, doesn't like it. But when arrogant new student Daniel Ward barrels into Tracey's life with wild claims of murders and cover-ups within Arrowhead's student body, Tracey is thrust into an investigation where the money shot could come at a steep price..."

You don't get an idea of the intense pace of the show from that but perhaps this collage of my sound design demonstrates some of that frenzy.

She’s Hearing Mauve

In my entry for the Third Coast International Audio Festival Short Docs Challenge 2012 I collaborated with Kate Norquay to create a piece that concentrated on the search for the elements prescribed by the competition. We had to feature neighbours, three seconds of narrative silence, as well as a colour in the title. You can listen below or here where you'll also find my previous submissions.

   She’s Hearing Mauve by Shaun D Wilson

Sugar Mountain Festival

So I went to this Music Festival in Melbourne, Australia. It was pretty cool. You should listen to the documentary I made about it. The acts interviewed are Fox & Sui, Julianna Barwick, Lost Animal, Prince Rama, and The Harpoons.

Sugar Mountain Festival Documentary

Photos from Sugar Mountain Festival

In the same edition of Music 101 that my Sugar Mountain feature played; there was a lot of coverage of Camp A Low Hum 2012. I was there as a sound engineer for the programme and thoroughly recommend checking it out by clicking right here.

Summer Camp

 

At the end of 2011 Summer Camp released a record that appealed to all my primordial indie-pop instincts. It was called 'Welcome to Condale' and I had a bit of a chinwag to Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey about it for Music 101.

Summer Camp on Music 101