4.48 Psychosis & Louis Prima

I saw a production of Sarah Kane’s "4.48 Psychosis" this week from the Polish theatre Company TR Warszawa [link]. I just sort of crumbled into it and was shocked how such an extreme state of despair could be so powerfully & poetically expressed. I think this play & production will haunt me for a long, long time and if you do have the opportunity it is really worth seeing a performance from this truly exciting theatre company.Also, I can’t stop listening to Louis Prima! Do you think it’s a Spring thing ??!! Here is a classic track, Louis Prima and Keely Smith singing "That Old Black Magic", love tt

Afroditi Krassa / Designer

This week’s TT Test is taken by designer Afroditi Krassa [link]. Afroditi studied product design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and under Ron Arad at the Royal College of Art. She was the first woman to be hired by design duo Seymour Powell and founded her own award-winning consultancy in 2002 with an impressive client list including Ligne Roset, John Lewis, Pret-a-manger, Sketch, DKNY, and The Big Issue among others. The most recognizable example of her work is probably the interiors and branding that she created for the Japanese food chain Itsu. Afroditi is a great talent and a very lively conversationalist; I’m thrilled that she has taken the time to answer the TT test !! What is your wake up song at the moment? I don't wake up to music. Music is a night thing for me. It has to be dark. I have fallen in love with Martha Wainwright’s voice lately and have revisited her duet with Snowpatrol “Set the fire to the third bar”, I got hooked once again. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession? Meeting and working alongside Julian Metcalfe, the founder of Pret a Manger and itsu. There are just not enough people like Julian in this world. He has a force and creative energy, which I have never come across before and an enormous capacity to inspire and connect to people. He has taught me some of the most memorable lessons, the kind of things that you only click about a few years later and realize how wise someone is; he has been a client, a mentor and a sort of father all rolled into one. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why? This is a no-brainer for me; it’s got to be Classical Greece. We are talking about a time when you had a Goddess specializing in the protection of prostitutes, a God of wine which you celebrated by getting totally high on alcohol an drugs, free theatre, as well as a chance to work on projects like the Parthenon. 2,500 years later, are we missing out on something? I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me? Try Paneri, in Wood Green, London, a small family-run, Greek Cypriot restaurant. I have been taking friends of mine there for years; you have to be prepared to face a feast of delicious, simple, homemade Greek food. I leave feeling like a little child who just visited their grandmother’s place for lunch on a warm, Sunday afternoon. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life? Ron Arad told me to never to fall in love with my own work. BONUS QUESTION: I'm fascinated by how all the designers I know are both creative and business people. When I say 'business people' I mean they are confident about selling themselves in the market place whereas I as a songwriter have the buffer of management who both protect me from and present me to a commercial world. How do you balance those two sides in your working life and is it possible to be a successful designer if you do not have this very strong entrepreneurial spirit? I don't think that designers are very good business people. However, I think good designers are passionate about design and its significance within our cultural and economical system. In the absence of a professional representation body (like an agent or a management team), we have to find ourselves channels for our work to reach the public, where it should be. Selling a good design should be an easy job, after all as creatives we are trained to communicate on a very high visual and verbal level. However, “selling” is only one of the skills that a good business person should have. Unfortunately, most designers lack all other skills necessary to run a successful business.

Blonde Redhead: Elephant Woman

Sorry I have been so sleepy this week, I need a very strong wake-up song !! So I’ve chosen "Elephant Woman" from Blonde Redhead. I love the melody and the slightly scary lyrics, which in part I’ve reproduced here as they are not so easy to make out : "Elephant Girl", It was an accident unfortunate, Angel threw me like a rubber man, Aiming for the ground, Why amuse yourself in such a way ? No don’t insist I’m already hurt, Lay me down on the ground softly softly, Don’t remove my head hurts much too much… Intriguing, hope you enjoy it, love tt

Podcast 10

Podcast 10 has been added !! If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. Hope you enjoy, lot's of love, tt

International Woman's Day

It's International Woman's Day today [link] !! There's only one song for a day like this !!

Ólöf Arnalds : Innundir Skinni

This week's wake up song is by Icelandic singer-songwriter Olof Arnalds. "Innundir Skinni" is such a sweet song. Simply and beautifully performed. I hope you enjoy it, lots of love tt

Vasiliki Gkotsi / Painter

This week’s TT Test is taken by the wonderful Greek born artist Vasiliki Gkotsi who has lived and worked in London for twelve years graduating in 1999 from the Royal College of Art with a Masters degree in painting. A collector has said of her work, "It’s powerful, big, both in complexity and size; I love the challenge, even in her portraits, and the eyes are incredible." She has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, at the BP portrait award in 2002 where she was commended and again, in 2003. Her work has also been shown with major artists internationally and is in private collections all over the world. Her answers are interesting & honest. And Vasiliki certainly knows how to answer a question with a question! Important note: in the photo of Vasiliki we see her in her unheated studio on a very cold Winter’s day hence the many layers of clothing :) What is your wake up song at the moment? At the moment and every moment the human voice and specially chanting from the monks of Mount Athos. It is the only sound I can hear during my work. It compliments the process. It affirms the moments. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession? Chosen profession? Did "I" choose it? I don’t know. I always have a feeling that I don’t have a choice but to do it, that’s why I am doing it with such persistence. Otherwise the "failing" moments would have made me give up. What influenced me? It’s the painting itself. I always felt that is the most challenging matter… the most difficult thing to do and somehow if I manage to "do" it, I will "be". About an artwork or event I would say I have influences from many artists through history and today. If you want me to tell you something more tangible, happening at the beginning, it is when I started as a student in painting at the Athens School of Fine Art, I read Van Gogh’s biography and I was crying all the way through, I deeply related. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why? Why back in time and not front as well? I wouldn’t like to ignore the future as the "who I would be" lies there. I would like to visit all and none. So I prefer none. I like being in real time, being in now. At the end of the day does it really matter? The "question" of life is always the same for every person, in all periods. But if I have to answer at some level, I would say I would like to experience as a "spirit" the period of the 3 years teaching of Christ right through his passion. Realizing my spiritual "poverty" and my need to deepen the mystery of sacrifice, I feel I would manage to "follow" even if the pain would be excruciating. I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me? A friend once took me to 222 Veggie Vegan, 222 North End Rd, London [link] It has the most "clean" tasteful, delicious food I have ever eaten and… & I am not a vegan. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/ creative life? I listen to all the comments or advice from people seriously, all of them have a meaning, one of the good ones is "Work hard but don’t try hard" by Chris Ofili, when I was a student at the Royal College of Art. BONUS QUESTION: You have a strong religious faith. How has this affected the way you choose to be an artist and does it influence your choice of subject matter? Shall we replace the religious faith with the faith on the revelation of the spirit as the word religious refers more to spiritual systems and it can be a projection of the human being. Again here we have the word choice, choose to be an artist and choice of subject matter. If I can choose to be an artist then I am not there yet and on the subject matter… if I have a choice then it is not art. I don’t want to have choices. I want to be dizzy by the inspiration and work beyond. My best paintings "happened" because I had no choice but to do them. That inspired me for my commissions to treat them, as I have no choice but to make a masterpiece. It is like love, you don’t have a choice but to love the others. And this is one with spirituality and the full body is there functioning without fragmentation. Whether we talk on Spirituality or Art, what it is all about is experiencing new ways of loving the others. Every moment always, love is at stake.

Legally Blonde

Great Sunday afternoon in spite of the rain ! Saw the matinee performance of the musical "Legally Blonde" - which must be one of the happiest shows in london. The singing and dancing is funny and great and Sheridan Smith as Elle Woods is amazing !! Highly recommended ! Love tt

Johnny Daye : Stay Baby Stay

My wake up song this week is "Stay Baby Stay" sung by Johnny Daye. Johnny Daye was mentored by & brought to Stax Records by Otis Redding, in spite of this, Stax Records never really promoted this gorgeous soul ballad & it is not as widely known as it deserves to be. It is a classic production (I think by Steve Cropper) with the most beautiful string arrangement, slow groove and a perfectly judged vocal performance from Daye. Hope you enjoy it ,lots of love tt

Podast 11 Happy Valentine's Day !!

Hello, I can't resist posting this early even though it means the podcasts are now slightly out of sequence. It's a special song for Valentine's day, I wonder if you can guess which song it is ;) If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. Lots of love tt

Podcast 9

Podcast 9 has been added !! If you haven't already just sign up to the mailing list to gain access to the Attic to listen to the podcast. This is one of my favourites, because it's the sort of song that could be drifting through a brownstone apartment window... at least I hope that's what it sounds like !! lotsoflove tt

Johnny Dankworth

Sir John Dankworth, the great British jazz musician and composer has just passed away. When I was a kid my brother borrowed a Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine record from the local library which if I remember rightly were versions of Shakespeare’s sonnets put to music (it sounds so unlikely that I wonder if I have just dreamed this record) and we really loved it. He also seemed to be credited as a composer on every cool British movie of the late 50s and 60s that we were also in love with. As a teenager I wanted that jazz to be the soundtrack to my earnest teenage rebellion too ! He will be greatly missed , lots of love tt

Daniel Barenboim & the Staatskapelle Berlin

Perhaps, one of the reasons I love classical music is because I love stories and classical music is full of them: the story of the composers, the historical and social changes that shape the story of Western music and the stories within every individual composition. However, I did not expect when Daniel Barenboim returned to the stage on Tuesday’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall, after having played and conducted a sublime Beethoven’s piano concerto No.3, that he was about to spend a good deal of the second half of the concert telling us the story of Schoenberg’s Variations, Op 31. What a wonderful, life enhancing evening - Barenboim is such a great communicator, like a favourite teacher, funny & wise & generously making you feel as if he is discovering new things as well. He made Schoenberg’s Variations seem as natural as a Strauss waltz (actually, Strauss’ "Thunder & Lightening Polka" was the killer encore) and not scary at all ! I’m sure many people in the audience felt the evening was as magical as I had because by the end we were all on our feet cheering. Truly, an evening to treasure. Lots of love tt

Lubna Azabal / Actress

This week’s TT test is taken by the very gifted Lubna Azabal, an actress who often portrays people on the edge of society or facing extreme situations. Lubna was born in Brussels to parents of Moroccan origin and trained at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. Her acting career began in theatre in Belgium where she was soon noticed by the film world winning leading roles with many auteur directors including Tony Gatlif, Denis Villeneuve and Andre Techine. To an English audience she is probably best known for the highly acclaimed BBC drama "Occupation". She brings a rare intensity and truthfulness to her work. I’m very happy she has found the time to answer the TT test ! What is your wake up song at the moment? "Ça m'énerve" Helmut Fritz , because everything upsets me at the moment and especially what has been happening in Haïti. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession ? My nervous breakdown when I was 21 years old and my passion for traveling!! If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why ? To when I was a teenager, just to have the possibility to reset my life and become a great reporter or a dancer or a painter… I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me ? My mother’s place, the best restaurant in the world!!! Otherwise "La Gloria" Lima - Péru (the best food, I've ever had!!!) What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life ? Follow your instinct and go, just do whatever happens, just do it and life will do the rest. BONUS QUESTION : Do you think your ethnic background has led to you being type cast ? For example, I would love to see you in a comedy, you are naturally funny & a great mimic, but I'm sure you are not offered many roles in comedy. Of course! A lot of people don't have imagination, especially in my work (director, casting director, agent...) and it's so easy for them to put people in a box. But it's our work as artists, to change that very old fashion mentality.

Music, music, music...

Quite a productive week. Although, all the new songs for my new album are completed there are some unfinished songs that Mark & I thought we would finish too. Well… when a song doesn’t want to be written there is nothing you can do !! An enticing melody is indifferent to feeble lyrics no matter how enthusiastically you try to sing them, and a predictable middle eight cannot be made more interesting by the amount of times you say,"Oh, that will be interesting once we add…" It never is. Thankfully, we had also set aside time to record some new podcasts. Martin Winning, who plays clarinet & saxophone, came by and joined us on these recordings too, a real pleasure since he is both a lovely player and a very entertaining story teller. I will post those podcasts soon, and hopefully I will soon wake up with the solution to those unfinished songs! love, tt.

ps : the photo that illustrates this post is totally irrelevant but I really like it ! It's called noodles ! Photo courtesy of Sylvie Bardet [link]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe : Up Above My Head

I've been in a real guitar mood recently so this week's wake up song features the legendary guitarist and singer-songwriter Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Blending Rock n'Roll and gospel she influenced many, many artists not least Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin ! Her playing is wonderful and the age of the clip makes the guitar sound even better ! Love tt

Sungha Jung

I was delighted by this version of "Twist in My Sobriety" played by young Guitarist Sungha Jung. I’m a bit jealous too, he plays it much better than me and I wrote it !! Love tt

DVA - France trance

This video by DVA really made me smile. The band are new to me (even though the video is from 2008) all I know about them is what I have read on their myspace page [link]. They are from the Czech Republic & have also played live music accompaniment to the classic silent film "Dr.Caligari" which makes sense once you hear the music ! Love tt.

Charlotte Mendelson / Writer

The first person to take the TT test this year is Charlotte Mendelson [link], a writer whose novels have garnered so much praise it’s almost embarrassing ! Her second novel "Daughters of Jerusalem" was awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize & Somerset Maugham Award and her third, "When We Were Bad" was short listed for the Orange Broadband Prize for fiction. She has written for the Guardian, TLS, and Independent among other publications, is an editor at Headline Review and I have heard a rumour that she also plays the French horn ! I’m very happy that she is taking part in the TT test ! What is your wake up song at the moment ? "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. I am obsessed with it. In fact I have a friction burn from dancing to it on Christmas day and then sliding across the floor dramatically at the climax. Maybe I love it TOO much. Which work of art or single event has most influenced you in your chosen profession ? Difficult to say; I've always read and so many books have helped me to become a writer; I could name a hundred. But I do remember that when we read "The Dragon Book of Verse" at school my brain fizzed with excitement at what words can do and that feeling has never left me. If you could travel back in time, which period would you most like to visit and why ? I've always thought the eighteenth century had a certain sexy charm, but as I wouldn't have been an English duchess with a complicated love life but a poor cross peasant starving to death in Central Europe, I'd better choose Paris in the 1920s... any Friday night at 20, rue Jacob. I love eating out and discovering new restaurants, can you please recommend one to me ? Jin Kichi in Hampstead for fantastic Japanese [link] - try the pork and shiso skewers. What is the best advice you ever been given relating to your professional/creative life ? Craig Raine, poet/novelist/critic, told me to stop worrying about inspiration or subject-matter or Being A Writer and just... write. He was right. BONUS QUESTION : You are quoted in an interview with the Guardian as saying "I do think that choosing a life that makes you happy takes bravery. It takes a lot of courage if you're a person who cares at all", I find this really intriguing, can you tell us a bit more about what you mean ? I was talking about trying to be as fulfilled and as happy as possible, rather than accepting the life that society, or family, think you ought to live. This particularly applies, at least for me, to writing and to love; I could have been an academic or a lawyer, and married a man, and made everyone happy - except me. Choosing a more uncomfortable, complicated life took much more courage, which I didn't even know I had but has been the making of me

Charvela Vargas: Volver,Volver

My wake up song this week is a voice and a song that can easily thaw this freezing weather ! The song is "Volver,Volver" sung by the amazing Charvela vargas. A woman whose life is like a movie: in her youth she dressed like a man, lived hard (alcohol, guns & cigars), had many passionate love stories (including Frida Kahlo), endured a time in the wilderness where she managed to beat alcoholism and then a triumphant return in the early 90s embraced by such artists as Almodovar, in fact you can hear her music in some of his films. When asked if she had any regrets after living a life that must have at times been very difficult she answered, “I was me and I lived.” Well, you can’t argue with that. Hope you enjoy this wonderful performance, lots of love tt