It was such a thrill to be invited to talk to Wez Allard on Skwigly's animation podcast series: Animation Composed. Skwigly has been my go to website for animation news for a long time, and if you're interested in animation it's well worth checking out. 

​You can listen to the podcast below (I'm around 52 minutes in, but it's a cracking podcast if you want to listen to the whole thing).

​Source (with bio info and track listing): Skwigly website

Last week saw the Scream Street production team get together to celebrate the enormous undertaking that was Scream Street series 1.

It was great to catch up with people I knew and worked with, as well as people I hadn't yet met, like animators, the CGI team, prop makers, some BBC people and more. The series needed around 60 people to happen, so it was good to celebrate the achievement with a lot of them. Fingers crossed for series 2!

​p.s. the photo below was taken later on, so beer may have been imbibed!

It's important to celebrate the small victories.

Today the last episode of Scream Street series 1 was signed off. I'm incredibly proud to have worked on this amazing stop-motion series, and thankful to be given the opportunity. Fingers crossed for series 2!

Although it's the start of a new year, my part in series 1 of Scream Street will soon come to a close. I've enjoyed my time on the show...well, I have a couple of months yet so I'll save it until then. Needless to say it's already busy!

By the way, you are reading this blog post on my website. I tend to post here every so often, and my new year resolution is to post here every more often. However, I use social media for everyday posts; so if you want to know the Norwegian for 'Scream Street', or find out where my music is being used around the world, then please do join me on Facebook and / or Twitter. And if you already do, tell your friends! I tend to keep posts music-related, so you won't find any political rantings (there's enough of that around already).

I hope you're having a good start to the year too, and hopefully see you on TwitFace.

​Gareth

So Christmas is coming. Since I made the leap to composing music for a living I have experienced a large collection of firsts. My first directorship of a company, my first studio set up, my first paid composing job, my first album, my first EP, my first short film soundtrack, my first track on TV, my first TV series...it's important to celebrate the small victories, they are all markers and memories on the journey.

​Tomorrow I have another first, and I'm still pinching myself about it. The Christmas special for the series I'm currently working on - Scream Street - is being aired. A double episode called 'The Grumpus', it's being repeated a couple of times, one of which is on Christmas Day. For me that's like my childhood and my passion for music aligning; the future and the past colliding. Some may think that 'making it' means fame and fortune, but for me it's getting up on Christmas Day and knowing the fruits of my labour are being enjoyed by kids all around the country.

Happy Christmas everyone, I hope you get what you wish for too.

Gareth

p.s. The show times for the Christmas double episode are:

Thursday 15th December at 6pm on CBBC.
Wednesday 21st December at 11.35am on CBBC
Sunday 25th December at 9.10am on CBBC

For 90% of my time I hide away in my music cave contributing to the storytelling of Scream Street, so it was so nice today to: a) see daylight, and b) go and see some Howl'oween action at Chessington World of Adventures. 

It was a really fun day, and I even dared to have a Scream Street burger. A great day out, with something for everyone - it's back to work tomorrow on the latest batch of Scream Street episodes. If you're looking for something to do with the kids this half term, head on over!

​In the meantime, you can catch up with some Scream Street episodes here...

I really enjoyed writing the music to these 1-minute Scream Street 'bites' about Dig & Lulu. Based on the storyboards of student competition winners. Enjoy!

Coffee: check. Notepad for marking down timings: check. Final edits for the next batch of Scream Street episodes: check (and they're brilliant!). Cue sheet template: check. In-ear headphones so I won't feel like I've had a box over my head all day: check.
​
These are the forms I have to fill out in order to get royalties when my music is played on the telly. Scream Street is coming back folks!

I'm very aware I haven't posted much in a while. Since the Scream Street series started the process has been so slick there hasn't been much that I'm allowed to report ahead of episodes being aired. Needless to say the production team comprising Coolabi, Factory and the BBC is one lovely bunch of people, and I feel really lucky and privileged to be a part of such an amazing project. My Christmas wish is that this time next year I'm still working with them!

2015 has been a musically rewarding year for me. As well as Scream Street, I released the Band of One debut album 'Being Ghosts' in May. I've recently been working on a new song for Band of One which I'm hoping will turn into an EP by the Spring. I've also done bits and pieces with the wonderful creative agency eatsleepthink including composing a superhero theme for the Friends of Alec Syphas, a super heroic little man battling DMD.

On the fun side, I've helped out songwriter and old pal Rhod Williams by playing on his recordings for years now, and this year saw a couple of gigs with his band King & Queen of Sorry, one in a record shop in Birmingham in January and the other at the Birmingham Institute supporting Eric Martin (lead singer of Mr Big). Both were great fun, with the band made up of old friends. That community feeling of playing music together is always a real buzz.

Finally, in September my wife Dani and I moved into our house in Shepperton, which meant I could finally have a creative space that I could treat acoustically and hang some pictures (no such luck in rented property). It's exciting to consider just how much music will be produced in that room over the next few years and I can't wait to get started. I'm always up for conversations about possible collaborations...I'd really like to score a short film in 2016 if time allows, so get in touch if you know of any being planned.

So all that remains is to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. This afternoon Christmas kicks off for us with the annual viewing of 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' and tomorrow we're going to see the film that everyone's talking about at the moment (no spoilers please!).

Bye for now, and see you on the other side.

Gareth