To go into a couple of the reasons for taking up the project?

I’d been hearing a good deal about the connectivity provided by social networking sites and reasoned that since Facebook hadn’t worked out for me, I’d give Central station a go.

Re: ‘Composer Wanted’

I’m going to quickly sketch in the make up of our teams to offer you the route map to where we are now. First contact was made through Trisha, who’s a visual arts consultant for Central Station. She introduced me to Paul who started off as the producer then graduated to executive producer once things were up and running. He did the pitching and dealing which led to the offer of a budget to take on the project. He then linked me to Giles who had his own long creative history as a composer and now has a studio that can do almost anything (think of the All Spark in Transformers) . These were all real time introductions involving coffee and handshakes and that sort of thing. At this point my analogy’s going to shift to Charlie’s Angels because like Charlie you never knowingly met these next two, they just sort of started to talk to me like disembodied voices in my head, these were Yvonne, and Genny. Like big brother they were always there and ready with helpful prompts ‘What about…?’ , or ‘This is how you can do that’. I floated the idea of offering ‘Out’ and ‘Traffic’ to Giles, as templates for potential collaborators to play with, tempting new composers on board, and with that ‘Composer Wanted’ was launched.

After the great response, Gaia was brought in on board as the line producer and shortlisted candidates where considered and a collaborator selected.  Hello Fear Wasabi.

So currently we’re running with two productions that have risen up through a series of creative meetings.

I started to generate ideas the way I always do and rummaged around for pieces that were just waiting for budgets to come along. This is how my studio works these days. I have big projects, small projects and everything in between, half articulated to myself, lying consciously and unconsciously around me. Exactly as messy as it sounds. Artschool taught me a good sketchbook practice but I lost it somewhere along the line and now I’m left with this.  I have books lying by my bedside and photocopies in a box that prompts towards unprocessed ideas.

For ‘Composer Wanted’ I reached for a good spread. I had projects that I’d like to make, ones I thought Central Station would like me to make and a couple that I knew I could make.

Speaking to Paul and Giles I wanted to have a go at their world. Like Mr Tibbs in ‘The Heat of the Night’ (which I just watched up here on Film club’), ‘I just couldn’t let an opportunity like that pass me by.’ This is what drew me towards making ‘Paddy’s Lament’. A  5 minute drama that uses technics old to Paula and Giles, but new to me. The subject for this drama; the juntaposition of two moments in time that spark off one another to talk about the nature of control. The settings are 2 found sources, one from the 19th Century the other from the  21st century. I’ll leave it hanging there….

The other work has more clearly come from a larger body of work that’s occupied my brain since 2005. This is the work I’ve been making with the Imperial War Museum on my developing relationship with active Loyalist and Republican groups in Glasgow. The title of this work hasn’t been announced yet, because I haven’t decided on it yet, but the visuals are just about in place, so I’m happy to open up to all comers now.

Project description
Central Station is looking for a Sound Designer, Musician or Composer to collaborate on a new piece of work with internationally renowned visual artist Roderick Buchanan, working in Dolby 5.1 with Savalas Studios (Glasgow).

“Music is organised sound” Edgard Verese

Stage One:
In partnership with Savalas and Roddy, Central Station is offering up to six members the opportunity to engage in a development process to work up soundtrack ideas for Roddy’s next piece of experimental film-making.
You’ll be given training and support where appropriate by the guys at Savalas.

Stage Two:
Roddy and Savalas will choose one of the shortlisted members to create the final soundtrack for this new piece of work. You’ll get a £500 fee and a non-exclusive publishing deal with The Sonic Design Agency.

“This competition is about collaboration and opening-up to the possibilities when talent and professional resources come together. It’s also just about giving people a rare chance to say – this is what I can do. “ Giles Lamb, Savalas Studios.

“Central Station’s launch in 2009, with its interest in artists, designers and filmmakers raises interesting issues about context. These 3 groups converse with their audience in 3 quite different ways. Can they work together to produce a successful outcome? Lets see.” Roderick Buchanan, Artist

Submission instructions
To be considered for Stage One, send us your take on Roddy’s work.
Out (2000) and Traffic (2001) are two of Roddy’s videos. We’re looking for you to score or design a soundtrack to either of both of these films.

If you’d like us to send you Quicktimes of the films, please email hello@thisiscentralstation.com. The subject of your email should be Savalas Project.

To submit your entry, go to http://dropbox.yousendit.com/CenStaPROJECTS. Maximum file size is 2GB.

The deadline for submission is midnight on the 1st April.

Read more about the project straight from the horses mouth:
Giles’ Blog
Roderick Buchanan’s Blog