Firstly...before i get stuck into this
Hellooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm almost at pains to start as i know how much i've got to write..there's simply no way around it, i've just got to get typing. You know when you haven't called a friend that you probably should have phoned by now to catch up but you haven't...so then you leave it for another couple of weeks and by now...LOADS of stuff's been going on and it's 4 x the reason to call...then again and again and OH for god's sake just PICK UP THE DAMNED PHONE AND DIAL! So...i just dialed. Plus i have a nastly cold that no matter how hard i kick won't get off me. I'm stuck at home (which is actually quite nice sometimes...to be forced to do nothing).
Below somewhere in this torrent of letters is info on US tour, stuff about the song I wrote for the Narnia film, a new competition coming to an email near you...soon...holiday pics and what i ate for dinner 63 days ago.
Soooo..last time we saw each other I was by a pool watching the sun set over an RV park at Lake Havasu, USA. Shortly after we skipped into town to check out the old London Bridge and stubled upon a man and his son, motorbiking together inside "the globe of death". Then we ate steak. Next day we continued on to the Grand Canyon. We ended up arriving at midnight becuase we thought it'd be more fun to take the scenic route. Route 66 to be precise. This one's taken by you know who with his fancy new mobile phone camera.
So we parked up by a lookout post and walked out into the darkness. The wind got more intense the closer you got to the drop. It felt HUGE but we couldn't see it at first as our eyes were still adjusting. And when they did i thought to myself..."Is that it? I've seen bigger holes than that ...what's the big deal? AS IF! oh my. Incredible. Even more in the dark because apart from the wind there was not a sound. A little scared we eeked our way out to the edge and stood. In awe. For as long as we could before the temperature got to us. We were also really hungry so we went back to set up for the night. I think i cooked my special spicy rice too and the man got the barbie going. Oh yeah...it was good. This is what it looked like the next morning for sunrise. Good thing it's quite large because there was a HUGE japanese tourgroup out first thing in the morning to catch the same spectacle.
Goodness....i can't go on to describe everyday from then until now...so now i'm going to speeeed through to....
NARNIA! Just before we left for our little 10 day RV holiday i was summoned to a room within a building somewhere in hollywood. In it about 6 people waiting to meet me including the director Andrew Adamson, the film score composer Harry Gregson-Williams. I hadn't planned on them being there otherwise i quite possibly woudn't have drunken quite so much liquer the night before! It was the Hotel Cafe Tour's big night though. What could I do? Plus i finally met Zach Braff so of course I just had to celebrate. I leapt on him the moment he walked in through the dressing room door with a big "i haven't seen you in ages" hug... while i was backcombing my hair...It was only while i was hugging him that it kinda of dawned on me i'd never actaully met the poor guy before! He was lovely. i dedicated "let go" to him that night. Anyway....SIDETRACKED...i met these guys and to put a long, hangover-head meeting short they played us (my manager and I) some segments from the film and described what they needed from me. Which was quite a lot! (originally they wanted 2 songs but then decided the movie only had room in it for one at the end). I asked when they wanted this done by and they told me I may have to cancel my holiday! They needed it NOW. I wasn't going to cancel out little trip together as it was Richie's birthday on the last night of the tour too so we went out and had four days together before i started to panic and came back to LA to write and record the song for the film. Anyway..so Disney put us up in this very sexy hotel with at the Marina Del Ray in LA.
It was perfect as it was just a short journey to Harry's studios where i was to get creative for the next few days. Harry was upstairs composing the Battle scene with Timpani thundering on the ceiling above me and i was downstairs in my own little "blue room" with all my gadgets, Mbira and fairy lights. I LOVED it there soooo much! The studios are by Venice beach. There was this great deli down the road which is where i got my daily intake of BLT with avacado on Ciabatta. mm mmmm... On the third day of being there I was invited to go over the hills to the Scoring stage to watch Harry conduct the orchesta with this HUGE screen infront of him. We were actually on the same floor as the orchestra when they recorded it. When it you watch the Battle scene in the lion the witch and the wardrobe" and you hear the music. I was there! In that very room when it went down! I was so incredible. I loved every second of it. I got all emotional. I MUST make sure i get the opportunity to do that again! One of the many reasons for me saying YES to the guys at that meeting about getting involved was that the worldwide release date was my birthday! Which reminds me...you guys are so sweet...BIG Thank you everyone for the lovely birthday messages!!!
Ok so...I did what i could in LA but then i had to go to NYC as I had gigs and promo already set up. So off I went with all my gadgets and set up my new home at the Sony Studios to continue work. The problem now was I had promo all day then a gig or a showcase almost every night for 5 days. The only chance to work on this song was 1am (after packing down the gear from the shows and put it back together at the studio) until 10am when i my day would start again packed with meetings. So i got a whopping 7 hours sleep the whole time! Catching an hour or two a night on the studio chair. It was really hard as I write my lyrics while singing them. Kind of singing nonsense into the mic until words start to form. Though my voice was shot from the day and no sleep so i couldn't write the lyrics, so i coudn't finish the song so i was getting REALLY stressed out and that just made it worse. All i actually needed was about 4 or 5 sentences to finish off the vocals. Unfortunately they were the was ones at the beginning which are often the hardest. The problem i was having is that usually the songs I write are about ME!!! ME ME ME ME ME notice me and this GREAT SONG! but in this instance it's totally different. You're writing for film. To picture. It has to not jump out at you and distract you from the film. I had to continue a feeling the audience has after seeing the film and not YANK them into another dimension. Which is what i love doing in my own stuff. Anyway...so those opening lines were crucial. In the delirious state I was now in on my 5th day of working through the night and about 3 hours before i had to submit the song to be cut to picture and to get mastered intime to go onto the soundtrack for manufacture. i found myself saying to myself. "Can't close my eyes"....i was falling asleep at the QWERTY wheel but it was my ticket to the remaining lyric! Hurrah! just in the nick of time. If you don't fancy buying the whole score (though it's really great) but just want to buy the song you can do it here
So that was that. Job done! PHEW! The saturday and Sunday I had left were spent with Ryan Obermeyer. We'd been emailing and ichatting each other for ages about doing something together and this was the time. You can have a look at some more pics of him taking pics of me by clicking the pic. He's going to do all kinds of magical things to me by the end of the images. You'll see!
"
Goodness are you REALLY still reading this?! How about a random picture of some very old friends to tide you over?
Silky and papa That's better..
Ok so where was i? Ah yeah...we're up until about 1.5 months away now. I came back to the UK then a couple of days after shot off to Copenhagen. What a great city! I went there to support one of my fave Rock bands Carpark North. They heard about me talking them up in an interview and so invited me to play at thier homecoming show. It was a right laugh. Again another night of heavy drinking! Jeez...I don't drink a lot but when i do they just seem to taste better one after the other? Anyone else get that?
Then of course more recently i went to the Nania premier don't you know! At none other than the Royal Albert Hall! OOhhh..i was rather a glitzy occasion! not a red, but a blue carpet and my first ever big premier. It was quite something. I don't have a pic of my outfit sadly! But take it from me...i did my bit! I even caught myself on Saturday morning TV walking behind the director as he was interviewed. The film was projected onto the MOST enormous screen I have EVER seen! I was pretty unreal to think that i had only just a month before been sweating it out in that studio and only a couple of weeks before that had had the conversation with the the director and everyone about it! As for the aftershow party i'll just mention hovering by the White chocolate fountains and Annie Lennox! They were my highlights.
Been doing tons of interviews. Had a great one on my birthday for the T2 mag in The Times. You can see the online version here. It'll be up on the press archives pages soon. Mike Pattenden - the journalist - had definitely done his homework as he bought me a birthday card! That's a first and a nice surprise. I've done a few radio interviews too since i've been back. The one i had most fun with was Paul Gambaccini. The interview i had with him will be aired 22nd Dec, 10pm on R2. It's kinda his round of up of his favourite music of this year i think...which is nice!
Ok...what else. Tour almost fully confirmed for the US starting off with Letterman, 10th Jan!! Oh yeah baby, who'd have thought?!! They want me to do "Goodnight and Go" and I'm not going to argue! There's more info on the calender page. Now... I'm going to be touring the states in 2006 a lot and I know i'm not doing all the states this time around but bare with me! The trouble with touring the USA is it's too DARNED BIG! It costs such a lot to travel to some of the places out there. When I get to do the BIG shows then the tour kinda pays for itself. I am REALLY trying to get at least 1 in Canadian show in too. Not I know that sounds stingy but it's for the same reason... It's looking like Toronto.
The set up is going to be pretty much like the picture at the top here. If any of you have already seen me this is how it's going to be. I have however a little trick up my sleeve with a lady named Zoe Keating I heard some of her playing on this site and freaked out. Bought her latest CD which is BEAUTIFUL and have asked her to come along on tour with me. She'll be opening for me and also playing a few songs with me too. Looping and playing as she goes. A real talent. Gorgeous melody and harmony. Heck i may even tear myself away from my cockpit and leap about on stage while Zoe accompanies me! We're going to have a bus too! Yipeeeee....I love touring about on a bus. Makes all the difference. Not to have to pack and unpack everyday but rather leave my mess strewn all over the floor. I am quite messy i have to admit.
I am planning a tour of the UK end March/ April too. Dates announced asap.
Did a show with Rufus Wainwright in Norwich the other day too. ooooh...he is lovely. It was so nice to see him again. The saucy gent that he is! On the way there on the train i met a lovely young lass, Katie Riddle. I'd just sat down in my chair and this girl sat in front, turned around all excited and asked me if i was imogen heap. Well...i am ...so i said yes...then I got all excited. It doesn't happen to me too often in the UK. It's a nice feeling when it happens. Anyway we chatted and chatted until she had to get off the train an hour later. I stuck her + 1 on the list and she came up to the gig. It was her birthday the day after and she was trying to finish a rather long essay. I hope you got it done Katie!
ooooh...i forgot about that AMAZING night you Londoners treated me to at the Shepherd's Bush, 22nd Nov! I can't believe everyone sat down on the floor like that?! I've never heard london so quiet. Thankyou all who came. That was a very special night for me! MWAH! oo ooo...plus the Gig that my mate Brian (Eno...oooooh!) invited me down to at the Astoria. Great to play my tunes over such a massive sound system!
What else? ..Well there's a big email coming out soon to those of you on the mailing list with other stuff on it too. My hands are aching. Plus the ring finger on my left hand has a little tiny plaster cast on it to try and straighten it out after the bike accident before i left on tour in Sept. Boo...that's actually pretty bad. Maybe i'll decorate it and put it up on my next blog. I will write again before christmas to wish you all well! xxx
Ahhh....now...also watch out for another email in a couple of days from now. I'm gathering the pieces for a new competition! Now you know how AMAZING the last prize was so don't miss out on this one! i have a cool idea on the prize but need to find out of it's possible first. The way to win is to guess the lyrics from these animations that are being made as I type. Nick Stewart, the same guy who did
"mini immi" for the competition email is doing it and they are soo cute! I'm going to give you over christmas to sweat it out then announce the winner on New Years Day. Blimey O'Riley! That's enough of that. I'm off to make a nice pot of bourbon! Big kisses to y'all! I'm sure there's TONS i've left out but that should keep you busy for a while! Keep warm and ring an old friend or look what happens?!
Love fluv xxxxx
Speak in a few days.
immi xxxxxxxx
Labels: imogenheap
