|
contents | world | |||||||||||||
| Graham Smith releases a musical tribute to Apollo 11 London-based musician and composer Graham Smith releases 'eleven' - an instrumental electronica album with original NASA voice samples telling the story of the Apollo 11 mission. The album 'eleven' follows the mission from launch to the ticker tape parades that followed the astronauts successful return. Smith adds, "The mission itself has distinct phases to it which lend themselves perfectly to a musical interpretation. Musically, I wanted to create a rollercoaster ride for the listener". It was inspired by a film documentary called 'The Untold Story" which was aired in the summer of 2006. "The documentary had far more detail than the potted version I learned in history lessons" says Smith, "I then bought Andrew Chaikin's 'A Man on the Moon" which was just mind blowing. Apollo must have been an incredible program to work on" Recording began at Smith's own studio in London in July 2006 and the final mixes completed in March 2007. It involved hours of sifting through hours of NASA voice samples from the mission. "That was definitely the hardest part" says Smith. "A lot of the talk was quite technical and scientific but I was looking for little sound bytes that would tell the story and convey an emotion. "It's an amazing story on so many levels, " says Smith, a London-based recording artist and performer. "You've got the sheer scale of the Apollo program with over 400, 000 people working on it, you also got many emotional angles like leaving the planet as Americans yet landing on the moon as representatives of the human race or even looking back at the Earth and realising just how beautiful and fragile it is." The musical style of 'eleven' is reminiscent of work by Air, Chicane, Orbital with a shades of Jarre and Vangelis thrown into the mix. "For me melody is a crucial part of the music which is what I love about these artists", says Smith "I think some electronica lacks that". Tracks from the album have received airplay on BBC Radio. The closing track 'Parade' also reached the semi final of the UK songwriting contest. "I was really pleased, " says Smith, "It's one of my favorite tracks and great to dance to." The album is available now on CDBaby and iTunes and has generated a lot of interest, especially within the astronomical communities around the globe. In July 2009, to celebrate the 40th anniversary, Smith would like to stage a live concert to commemorate the event. "It's still a seed of an idea at the moment but I think it would be a great way to mark the occasion". write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |