With Liverpool enjoying a big Popular Music resurgence as a number of Bands came out of the Colleges and small Clubs to enjoy world wide commercial success and acclaim, Curly Music was frequented by & supplied most of them. China Crisis, Frankie Go’s to Hollywood, The Lotus Eaters, The La’s, A Flock of Seagulls, Echo & the Bunnymen, Icicle Works, The Teardrop Explodes, The Farm, O.M.D’s first number one was recorded in a Studio above the Shop! In more recent years, Curly Music can count Oasis amongst its customers as well as members of Cast, Space, Gomez & The Zutons.

From a production point of view it was important that the band had original World War 1 uniforms. We rented the costumes from a supplier who had the costumes designed for a BBC drama.
The modern day soldier’s uniform was a little easier to come across, as was the rifle he holds in the opening scene. This was supplied by a local army expert, who was also present on the shoot to advise the actor how to run and operate.

The modern day scene were recorded over the space of a day, the call time for recording was 5am in which the opening scene was recorded, ending around 7.30 on the beach. It was a very long day considering the following day we were recording the band scenes.
We had a amazing actor to play the role of the solider, Colin Osbourne. Colin was great to work with, he had a lot of patience and was very creative.

The location we used for the band scene was a abattoir. There was a derelict room in the rear of the building which we were given access to. As you can see from the production we used back light to generate a halo effect around the band. The other channeling aspect of the production was to get the modern day solider to walk into shot mid song on a raised platform.

This was a challenge as it was difficult to light plus extremely dangerous for the actor. Although it doesn’t look high Colin was standing around 12ft in the air on a very short platform.

This video received a lot of attention and was featured on save our soldiers web site.
Overall we spent around three months producing this music video.

Director – Kris McDonald
Producer – Andrew Cass
Assistant Producer – Aaron McDonald
Editor – John Granelli
Production Manager – Eugene Wong

Busker is a brand new programme created exclusively for Band In A Box TV. Busker is a gameshow styled piece where we send two musicians are sent out onto the streets to entertain the public for an hour with their music. Acting as buskers, the musicians’ aim is to earn the most money they can from the general public. The winner is the artist with the most cash at the end of the show.

In this episode of Busker the two musicians we sent out onto the streets of Liverpool, they are Pete Murphy & Helen Maher. Pete is an established guitarist for the band Fidel Afro and is influenced by the grunge era of Nirvana and the alternative pop sounds of REM. Helen however is a singer/songwriter who plays the accordion and takes her influence from Parisian style and Gypsy roots.

Playing on one of the coldest days of the year, Helen & Pete not only have the public to contend with but the weather is not on their side. With the freezing temperatures affecting musical ability and the frosty air tempting the public to keep their hands in their pockets, this makes for an entertaining contest where at the end of the day, its a matter of pennies which will decide who wins.

Stephen made his festival debut at The Wicker Man in 2007 and was asked back in 2008. He sold out the 500 capacity Liverpool O2 Academy 2 and went on to become the first unsigned singer songwriter to headline the O2 Academy main room. He headlined there no less than 3 times throughout 2008.

Having played at numerous venues around the UK as a solo performer Stephen now also comes accompanied by a full band. This has developed his songs and his style further in the pursuit of music that captures his vision.

In 2009 Stephen moved up another level with another sold-out 02 Academy show, festival appearances including a debut at the Greenbelt Festival and exciting support shows at the 2 biggest and most prestigious venues in his hometown, The Philharmonic Hall and The Echo Arena, making an impact with big audiences each time. In Autumn 2009 he did his first tour of the UK as part of the 02 ‘Academy Live’ tour.

Stephen continues to build on his already burgeoning fanbase with gigs, press coverage and radio play around the country as well as good old fashioned word of mouth and who could blame anyone for not being able to keep quiet about Langstaff. This ambitious artist from Liverpool really does seem to be the city’s worst kept secret for 2010.

We can leave the final word with Stephen:

“I throw myself into the music. I want to take people to the place that I go to when I play. To open doors and give them safe and exciting places to be. They can take whatever they want from it”