A Tale of two Phils…

Since returning from Ireland a couple of weeks back, my French artist partner Miki and I have been putting our heads together and created the beginnings of what we hope will become a series of joint artworks. By that, I mean, I create my own comic-style characters, usually, but not exclusively, musicians, and then hand them over to Miki in a fairly simple state for her to continue with in her style. It’s already thrown up some interesting stuff, such as Muddy Waters, and there’s more to come!

-But today I wanted to share two different takes on one of my idols, the late great Phil Lynott. The one you see above is my basic drawing given Miki’s treatment, she added the Howth peninsula where he used to live, and is buried. The second is what I came up with as I continued to work on that basic idea on my own, adding a Black Rose and Irish green clover as a backdrop. Two vastly different takes on the same subject, but great fun to do!

You can buy one or both of these by clicking on the respective widgets below!

Kev Moore

Moore’s Muso Music….

I like to think that my remit as a writer is eclectic, and never more so than when my partner, the French Artist Miki asks me to create a video to showcase her various works. This time it was her musicians paintings, an astounding array of pieces featuring musicians as diverse as Son House, Michael Jackson, Tal Wilkenfield, Steve Stevens, Billy Corgan, Robert Plant, Barry White, and all points in between!  Because of the sheer volume of works to be shown – Sixty-four in all, ( and that’s only a small proportion of her musician paintings) the video was always going to clock in at going on for 8 minutes, allowing for the fact that each image would need around 8 seconds ‘screen time’, so I set about composing a soundtrack  that would run for around 8 and a half minutes to be safe.  When I do this kind of work, it’s not a song I need of course, moreover, a vibe, a feel that will suit everything that appears on the screen. Clearly, I couldn’t jump around through the different styles as the different musicians appeared on the screen every 8 seconds or so – that would’ve been utter chaos! -So I went for a continual bass and drum groove, with a recurring breakdown section presented slightly differently each time it came around.  Alternating guitar and synth solos try to keep the interest throughout.

I always enjoy this sort of project, as it takes me into areas I don’t normally go. I would never describe myself as a keyboard player for example, never mind a soloist(!) but on this piece – imaginatively entitled “Muso’s Theme”, I have a go! What surprised me is how much I can hear Jan Hammer’s influence (but not his skill) come out in my effort. I used to listen to his mid 70’s work with Beck quite a lot. It was a one-take thing, warts’n’all, but I kind of liked it, so I left it in!

For the gear geeks, I used a Fender Jazz Custom bass with Lace alumatone pick-ups and a Stellartone tone styler, a Fender Aerodyne Stratocaster, an Ibanez AS73 Semi-Acoustic, and a Roland GW-7 Workstation.

But the stars of the show in this video are Miki’s paintings – check them out. You can buy all of them as prints from

FINE ART AMERICA.

Kev Moore

A Prayer for The Biblescapes

 

Don’t worry, I haven’t become a God-botherer or anything!  No, the Invisible Sky Wizard must look elsewhere for new recruits, but I wanted to do a post about my partner Miki’s series of paintings – The Biblescapes. All depicting moments from The Bible (which I prefer to think of as A good book rather than THE good book) -they are visually stunning. When she asked me to put together a video to showcase them, I thought I should use a track from my ‘Blue Odyssey‘ album – “A Mississippi Prayer“. Now, unfortunately, Miki had so many paintings that the running time was more than twice the length of the track, so with a bit of judicious editing and cutting and pasting, I’ve put down a version that goes the distance!

You can buy Miki’s prints online HERE

-And you can buy my BLUE ODYSSEY CD

from my ONLINE SHOP

For the hardcopy-phobic amongst you, there will be soon be the possibility to buy the album digitally, and/or track by track!

Kev Moore

A load of Bull….

So, as I emerge from my flu-ridden/migraine/toss-my-cookies torpor, I surprise myself by creating some original music for a video showcasing Miki’s “Toroscapes”. These are just one aspect of her portrayal of The Bullfight – these being the product of mixed techniques involving classical painting (pastel, watercolour, acrylics) and digital art.

Not being Spanish, I haven’t really anything to draw on musically except cliche, which I’m sure I’ve failed to avoid, but I wanted to at least give the track some kind of excitement, and movement, as Miki’s artworks most certainly do that. I also have a couple of half-finished Flamenco-inspired ideas, so don’t be surprised to see a Spanish themed project rear it’s head once I’ve got Blue Odyssey up and running!

Anyway, here it is, the video I made of Miki’s Toroscapes, and original music by me, entitled:

Toromania!

My Family meets er…my family!

Mr.Moore Snr, with Robert Lindsay

My sister happened to notice that My Family and Citizen Smith star Robert Lindsay was going to be in Derby at Waterstones for a book signing the other day, and thought it a good opportunity for her and my Dad to go down and present him with the portrait that Miki has done of him in his wonderful role as Sir Edward Pellew from the Hornblower TV series, along with a copy of my Fan Fayre for the Commons People CD that celebrates Derby County. Robert is a staunch Derby County fan, and now joins Ex-Goodie and fellow Derby fan Tim Brooke-Taylor as celebrity owners of my disc!  Our mutual friend Grant Serpell, the drummer from 70’s band Sailor, delivered it to him some weeks ago.

Robert Lindsay as Sir Edward Pellew by Miki

I’m only sorry we couldn’t deliver them both in person, but living here in Spain makes that difficult. Nevertheless, I’m extremely happy that Robert got to see the wonderful portrait Miki did of him. His words upon receiving it were “That’s absolutely marvellous! I shall treasure that.”

Don’t forget, you can buy Fan Fayre for the Commons People by clicking on the link on the right, and you can download for FREE my new solo album The Long Walk Home by clicking on the appropriate link also.

Kev Moore

At last…the curtain raiser!

So, as we bear down on Saturday, and the commencement of the new Championship football season, all fans let out a collective breath that they’ve been holding in since May. The speculations and tribulations of pre-season are over, and it’s time for every player to grasp the nettle….will The Rams improve on last season?  We’ve all talked the talk, now it’s time for the squad to walk the walk.  Miki’s calendar commemorating Derby’s 125 year history is available via our shop, and today I present in honour of our first opponents on Saturday, the month’s art featuring Peterborough United.  Come on You Rams!

Kev Moore

Art by Miki

Countdown for the Commons People!

It’s here!  The Calendar that runs from August 2009 to July 2010, commemorating Derby County and featuring exclusive artwork by Miki, based on the “KevRam” character from the “Fan fayre for the Commons People” CD battling against the Chamionship opposition month by month in an amusing fashion! This Calendar is a STRICTLY LIMITED collectors item, with a print run of just 125, to symbolise our historic club.

Available in either “slimline” or A3 formats, they’re a great way to keep track of important dates, such as when we beat Forest home and away, AGAIN!  Grab a little bit of history now, buy from our ONLINE SHOP or from the RT stall at the Clough’s Way event, which takes place at the Assembly Rooms on Thursday July 2nd.

Shown here is the Front and back views of the A3 Calendar. each month features a piece of art depicting the “KevRam” battling the likes of Ipswich, Swansea, Doncaster, Peterboro’, etc. – in very humorous guises!

Front

Back

The Season’s just around the corner……Come on you Rams!!!

Kev Moore

Calendar preview – Shot-stopping Liz

Time to give you all a sneek peek at another artwork piece from the “Countdown for the Commons People” football season calendar featuring the “KevRam” logo from the “Fan Fayre” CD. (Don’t forget, you can get your CD by clicking on the links here on the site, the “Red Dog” limited edition is selling fast, so don’t miss out!)

Today, it’s the turn of Swansea City, who after flirting with the play-offs, remain in the thick of it with us next season. For those who don’t understand why the Queen is keeping goal – check the history books!

(See also the Leicester artwork)

Kev Moore

Artwork © 2009 by Miki

Rivals and Pretenders

In the football world, rivalry plays a huge part in the enjoyment of the game. You can’t have Cowboys without Indians, you can’t have Sherlock Holmes without Professor Moriarty. You can’t have Derby County without Nottingham Forest. They are the “bad guys” we love to hate, and, if we’re honest, we hold them in a certain affection, because life would be a little poorer without them.  Then, you have the pretenders, those that stand enviously just outside the clique, wanting in, but never being taken seriously.  I can’t say for sure who that is in Sherlock’s case, but in Derby and Forest’s case, it’s Leicester City. If there’s one thing that will unite Rams and Red Dogs, it’s the Crisp-munching Foxes.

To illustrate this state of affairs, my partner Miki, the international French artist, has produced a piece of art, as part of her new project, “The Countdown for the Commons People” calendar, which takes the artwork from my “Fan fayre” CD and creates a whole series featuring next season’s championship teams all battling the “Ram” . The calendar runs from August to August, so it dovetails neatly into the football season, and it will be available in a strictly limited edition of just 125 copies, to celebrate the club’s founding in 1884.  For now, check out the Leicester month!

Artwork © Miki 2009

One More Day – A videotrailer for a Novel

Just when I thought I’d turned my hand to everything, Miki and I got all caught up in the excitement of our fellow Cafe Cremer Michael Pokocky has he prepared to unleash his novel “One More Day” across the world via the internet.  We wanted to create a trailer advertising the book, but not really like a movie trailer, so that your imagination would still work it’s magic when you read the real thing. We don’t have too much technology at our disposal, but we tried to make up for that with creativity, and I think we pulled off a decent job. The music for the piece was written pretty much on the fly, and as with Susan Cornelis’ Video , I awoke with a theme in my head. Later the same day, I had another piano theme in my head, and I linked the two to create the music here, with some big power chords for dramatic effect.  I have a range of great effects at my disposal in the studio, and all the sounds you hear on the clip are created there. Enjoy – and –

READ THE BOOK!

© Original Music and Narration by Kev Moore

Video produced by Miki and Kev Moore

Extracts from “One More Day” © Michael Pokocky