Feature: Mila Falls

Live photographs and interview with singer/songwriter Mila Falls

Location: Richmix Theatre - Video Release Party (10/12/13)

How did your musical career begin?

I started DJ-ing garage and drum n bass on pirate radio when I was 14 in my hometown Norwich. When I was 16 I got my first paid work as a session vocalist, and later I studied sound engineering and music production at college in Brighton. I lived in Brighton for a bit, which was amazing. I started doing live shows, sharing the stage with future superstars such as Jessie J. It’s so exciting seeing people blow up, it is very inspiring!

... My first taste of success was when I got my song placed in the film Bring it On, ever since then I’ve thought “Ok! This is a real job now”, so I’ve been writing, writing, writing; doing stuff for Universal Publishing alongside writing tracks for my debut album and playing LOTS of live shows across the UK.

How does writing for yourself vary from to writing for others?

My heart is on my sleeve when I perform my own songs live. Tonight I’m playing my most heartfelt song Empire of Dirt which is about a horrific time in my life. Hopefully it will showcase another side of me that’s not all Party in the Stars, Spaceships and weirdness… As a songwriter I love exploring lots of different genres, concepts and styles...

... I like pushing my limits. I’ve written in so many different styles over the years including pop-rock, r'n'b, hip hop, deep house and straight up cheesy pop! I'm a high energy and fidgety type of person, I have to have fingers in all the pies. One pie is never enough for me! 

Do you play any instruments?

I play keyboard and guitar but I get really nervous when I have to play and sing at the same time on stage. I’d love to play piano on tour though, but I need to practice a bit more. In the meantime I’ve got my band - Team MP. They are called this as they all have the same initials “M.P” Milo Pascall, Marius Ptaz and Mike Prince!, they are very talented musicians, I'm lucky to have them!

Are you nervous about your Video release party this evening?

Tonight is the first time I’ve showcased videos and all my new songs as a finished product. It’s taken a couple of years to get to this point. It is definitely scary to get out there and go “These songs are finished, now judge them!” 

What are your plans for 2014?

My plans for 2014 include releasing more music videos, making more music, doing lots more live shows and radio sessions. My stylist Jemelia and I will be working with loads of top international fashion designers and showcasing lots of their brand new wardrobes. SO EXCITED!!!!..

... As for the live shows, I’m already booked up for gigs until October next year, so there’ll be lots of live shows around the country and hopefully Europe and America too. We just want to push it, if someone books me somewhere, I will go. I’m SO up for exploring new territories. I'm ready to push as hard as I can in 2014!

For more information about Mila Falls please check out her website: http://www.milafalls.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MILAFALLS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milafalls

Mitch Daniels & Tom Triggs - Busking

On Thursday I joined singer/songwriter Mitch Daniels & percussionist Tom Triggs as they busked on the Southbank. It was brilliant - A beautiful location, early evening sunshine, and loads of fantastic music. :-) Plus I got lots of photographs of their live performance.

Mitch Daniels' music is largely Folk and Jazz based. It's influenced by the easy-listening sounds of acoustic pop marvels such as Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Jack Johnson. Mitch Daniels & Tom Triggs regularly perform at acoustic venues & music festivals. They will be headlining The 02 Academy2 in Islington this Autumn.

To keep up to date with Mitch Daniels’ musical adventures please check out his website: http://www.mitchdaniels.co.uk/ and ‘like’ his fb music page: https://www.facebook.com/mitchdanielsmusic

Many thanks for visiting my blog

Samantha x

Beside the See Side

A.J. Holmes And The Hackney Empire

I joined A.J. Holmes & the Hackney Empire at the launch party for their debut album Wedding at the Victoria, Dalston on 26th January 2013. I have seen the band live a few times before and have always had a fantastic time. The first time I saw them I ended up doing the conga train around their stage at Hyde Park! This concert was no exception, the venue was completely packed and filled with a real party atmosphere. 

As well as photographing the band onstage, I was also lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview singer/guitarist/songwriter A.J. Holmes, who was lively, articulate and really great company. We discussed filming their recent music video with Billy Bragg, the creative process, and what plans the Hackney Empire have for the near future. 

How the band formed: I gave a CD of my music to the then booker of the Royal Festival Hall, Glenn Max, and I didn’t think anything more of it really, I just thought it was a bit of a long shot in a way, so I gave him a CD that I’d titled A.J Holmes & the Hackney Empire and didn’t hear anything back for 3 months...

...And then Glenn contacted me and said "I’ve got a gig for you with David Byrne! so bring the Hackney Empire". Well there was no Hackney Empire at this point! So I had to quickly form a band. So within 1 week I had formed a band and it was great experience.

Performing: The funny thing is I never originally wanted to be a singer. I wanted to be a guitar player. That was where my passion was, but I could never find anyone to sing my songs the way I felt they should be sung. So I had to do it myself, it was by default. Then I learnt to really enjoy singing and I thought, right lets have some fun with it.

Songwriting: We have only recently begun to write together. When the band first formed our material was all my songs, but then the band progressed and now we write a little bit more organically...

 

...The guitarist, Martyn, might come up with a riff that might inspire me to write a song, or drummer, Gedman, might have some ideas for a drum pattern, so the band give me a lot of ideas now... 

...The songwriting doesn’t really come out of jam sessions though, that doesn’t work for us. What seems to work is demos. We tend to make demos of our ideas, for example bass player Abi might send us a more or less fully formed musical idea or sketch, and I'll process it and turn it into a song structure.

 

Highlights from 2012: It was a very productive year. We recorded our second album which we plan to release later this year. Another of the main highlights from 2012 was filming our music video for A13 Trunk Road To The Sea with Billy Bragg...

Working with Billy Bragg: We approached him to be in our music video for A13 Trunk Road To The Sea; I pretty much wrote him a begging letter! I know that people who are famous are extremely busy but he just managed to squeeze us in. I think that as we are both born in the same town in Barking, he had a bit of a soft spot for that. Also the fact that we’d covered one of his songs of course gave us a road in.

...It was a really pleasant experience {filming the video}. Billy Bragg was very civil & very authoritative. He was like an Uncle. He was very stern, but he had a great sense of humour. He was as I had expected him to be so he made us feel quite relaxed. I was quite nervous about working with him because I admire the guy so much.

Plans for 2013: Initially we are going to release a couple of singles. We are mixing the next album now and so we will trickle out a few singles and probably put out our second album by the end of the year. It’s all recorded so it’s just got to be produced and mixed. We’ve produced and mixed two tracks already with our friend EKO. We also want to do a tour to promote our Wedding album. 

Next Album: We will play 2 new songs from our next album at this evenings gig to provide a sneak preview. I have a working title for the next album which is Soft Power. I don’t think the band know that yet though so that’s an exclusive!

Stage Outfits: I gave the initial idea to an amazing designer called Iman Ogoo. I gave her some reference points of pearly kings and Congolese Sapeurs, she created ideas from there. We all bought our own stage clothes and then Iman Ogoo put her designs on them.

A.J. Holmes & the Hackney Empire’s debut album can be purchased through itunes and their record label Moringa Music’s website: http://moringamusic.com/artist/aj-holmes-and-the-hackney-empire

 

Please check out A.J. Holmes & the Hackney Empire’s website: http://ajholmesandthehackneyempire.co.uk/

You can see the music video for A13 Trunk Road To The Sea (featuring Billy Bragg) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdXsm81FkBo

Many thanks for visiting my photoblog

Samantha x

Beside the Seaside