Very excited to announce I am producing the new album for singer/songwriter, Nicole Shenko (SHENKO) and her partner and music engineer/mixer, Christian Scallan.
Nicole asked me to write a string arrangement for one of the songs on this album called Winter, as she loved the way I write for strings; of course flattery goes a long way and I was immediately interested! I had a listen to the song, which had only Nicole singing with piano and found the song interesting, but I needed to understand it more. So then Nicole gave me, what is now one of her famous ‘song-briefs’, which included an in-depth backstory of the song’s lyrics, visualisations of what will happen in the video clip (including what she will be wearing), and a broader philosophical discussion of what the song means and messages it carries. I wish every film brief could be like this! Now I knew what this song needed. So I asked if I could not only write the string arrangement, but also have a crack at producing the whole song. When I finished my rough demo version of the track I asked Nicole to come over so I could play it to her in person….I was very nervous about whether she would like it. When the track finished I looked at her and she had a huge smile on her face and said that she’s never had an experience like this to a song; simultaneous goosebumps, shivers and I believe, the sweats. After this successful result, I was given another track, and then another, and then another.
It’s an exciting collaboration between the three of us; we plan to record all the musicians in November and hopefully have the mixes complete before Xmas.
I think 2019 is going to be a great year!