Adventurous Bodies

It is always exciting to get work up and out there. I released Adventurous Bodies through a platform called DistroKid over the weekend. Today it hit iTunes/ Apple Music so I’m ready to announce it’s available to listen to!

The process of putting it together was quite easy because most of the music is electronic and all of it had to have been recorded for performance anyway, so it was just a case of picking the tracks (which took longer than expected, I’ve written more music for dance and physical theatre than I’d thought), tweaking them, making excerpts if necessary and then mastering it.

You can read more info about it here - https://www.andrewbattrawden.com.au/adventurous-bodies

Pictured is the cover art, which was created by Dean Walsh.

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I started a Spark residency at Legs On The Wall last week. I’ve got the studio 3 evenings a week. I’m there as Flœk, with Ben Hinchley. Dean Walsh is also in the studio with us as a movement/choreographic consultant. Last week we were joined by a mate of mine from uni, Mark Oliveiro, and cellist Christopher Bennett to do some experimentation with improvisation between musicians and movers. We were delighted with the results.

We’re building a work called Proxima which we first performed last year…. we use the audiences phones as the PA system and the sound responds to live data feeds.

The main issue we found last year was that the work was underdeveloped in its content, despite being very developed in its artistry, so we’re back at the drawing board to better-realise the context and subtext that informs all components in the work. The showing at Legs On The Wall is by invite only (it’s on Friday 29 March), but if you’re interested in coming along send me an email battmusic@gmail.com and I’ll organise it.

Pictured is the studio we’re working in…. it’s beautiful, albeit noisy when it rains.

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Whilst this has been happening I’ve also been working more on a solo cello work for Chris Bennett - Vantage. We got to a good place at the end of last year, with an intro, first and 2nd movements written, 3rd movement drafted….. but then we had holidays. When I came back to the score after the break, I realised what a mess the music is - too many ideas, so I’m cutting down on it a bit, simplifying it so it makes more sense.

There’s no particular deadline for the work which means I can take my time… I think the ideas were a little overcooked - ironically I’m going through a similar process with Proxima - simplification, a rediscovery of the premise and deeper investigation of its parts.

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All in all, it’s been a quietly productive start to the year! There’s a few major plots in the works for the rest of it, but they’re uncertain because of arts funding. We always remain positive however, and if all goes well, I’ll be announcing some future performances and new works in the coming weeks.