Month: July 2014

Monsters Incoherent

Posted on by Timo Peach

THE WHOLE WORLD’S GONE GAY. Sorry – the whole world’s gone black. Wait. The whole world’s gone women. No – the whole world’s gone Muslim. That is, the whole world’s gone Jewish. Bah! The whole world’s gone cycling. The whole world’s gone on benefits. The whole world’s left the church. The whole world’s come here.

Wait… you what? Your voice is a bit muffled mate. “Sometimes a stuck pendulum gets a frustrated hard push in the opposite direction to try to get the rhythm back into some sort of regular balance”?

What ARE you raving about, you bloody wordy ponse? I DO want time to stand still, mate – like about one split second after I just made my excellent and coherently researched point.

And, wait – WHAT? You wish you could go stand in the rubble with a bunch of stone age terrorists? You wish you could stand in the courtyard of one of the hospitals not destroyed by F16s next to ordinary fathers and mothers and kids just so you could sob your fucking heart out with them, do you? What are you, a bloody anti Semite?

“Stand with the people of Gaza…” I ask you. You forgotten Auschwitz, have you? People were dehumanised, mate.

Well thankfully, here in the UK, you have the right to be totally bloody useless however you bloody well want, pal, so knock yourself out. Meanwhile, the whole world’s up in flames.

..You WHAT? You refuse to make ME scared of YOU? Don’t make me laugh. You seen yourself?

..You refuse to see ME as “MONSTER”?!

Do I have to point out to you that while I am standing here trying to make bloody serious point about freedom of speech and justice, mate, JUSTICE – YOU are the one standing there in a Sulley costume?

You big fluffy irresistibly cuddly blue idiot. ..Get away from me. This is hardly the time.

Unless the whole world has gone mad.

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Baking Secrets’ gets a delicious sig tune

Posted on by Timo Peach

Sunny Australian telly cook and Momo amigo Lyndey Milan has a new show out, with  particularly groovy opening title music from a certain UK producer bloke.

Flame Media’s new TV programme, Baking Secrets, is the latest on-screen cooking feast served up by Lyndey and premieres on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Food on Monday 14 July at 8.30pm, Sydney time. On air at the same time every Monday and running for six weeks, the show features a brand new signature tune from Momo:tempo.

“I was very pleased to be approached by Flame again to help them with the musical branding for this new show, I’ve really enjoyed working with the team on so many projects before.” says Momo’s Timo Peach. “But this tune turned into a great little bit of self indulgence – and not just for me.”

Momo’s head of horns, Mr Patrick Hayes, has worked with Mr Peach on lots of work over the last few years, but this new idea gave them both a chance to enjoy an approach they both confess to loving. “When I first played Pat the sketch,” grins Timo, “he said: ‘Wow! It sounds like Incongnito!'”

As much as both musicians love the jazz funk smiles of big tunes and big grooves, Mr Peach had to illustrate the idea to Flame before he could commission Patrick to session in the lead trombone on the final mix.

“Yeah,” Timo says with a strange face, “so I had to, ah, ‘demo’ it. ..Which lead to me doing something wildly unsensible that I shall be proud of until I die: I demoed it with mouth trumpet!”

Remarkably, this technique worked and producer Astrid Sampson and the Baking Secrets team really went for the idea.

Mr Hayes and Mr Peach also managed to get in a first recording session with two new Momo maestros, Barney Lowe and Jonny Griffiths, who added a little extra horn flourishing to the final arrangement, along with more effortless-sounding strings work from Pete Whitfield.

“We had a lovely sunny morning session here in the Momo studio, which felt suitably cheery for the final piece. We all had great fun and I love being able to have delivered such a tune for good professional friends, Flame and for Lyndey” says Timo.

Catch the new tune, Baking Secrets, right here on Soundcloud

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Conspiracy’s music film is all about loose ends

Posted on by Timo Peach

Rampage Studio’s new production for Momo may all be in someone’s head, but whoever they are, they’re clearly unraveling.

Current Momo:tempo single, Conspiracy, is a darkly daft twist of theatrical electro spy-pop from the bloke who brought you Undo and Nudge – and its new video may do more to confuse than enlighten, as you attempt to untangle what’s really going on.

Directed and produced by long-time amigo and collaborator, Ben Campbell, this latest film is quite a departure in style to their last work for Momo. “It’s a madly uncommercial song and a suitably odd film now to go with it,” says Momo’s Timo Peach, “but it’s gloriously single-minded., which is a creative principle I’m always banging on about.”

CONSPIRACY

CHOREOGRAPHY
Single-minded it truly is, even to the point of being one long continuous camera shot with no cuts – an idea that involved a bit of nifty choreography and practice for Ben. “Ben had to practice every inch of the move around the set in order to get exactly the right shot from beginning to end,” Timo explains. “From not getting caught in his own shadow to avoiding clipping the red string we had everywhere, it was a bit of real physical skill to take in the imagery correctly, bang on time and, oh by the way, at some point in focus. He did amazingly – and earned a stiff drink at the end of the shoot for sure.”

ILLUSTRATION
A key feature of the film are the illustrations that appear with the choruses. For this, Momo commissioned Exeter illustrator, electro musician and broadcaster, Simon Brett. “Simon’s enthusiasm and support for me and Tempo are unbelievable, “says Timo. “I can’t believe how much he and the whole creative gang down west have supported my daft music project – and so to get to commission his comic skills for this was frankly amazing. And frankly the most narcissistic looking thing I’ve ever commissioned, I realise. But wow, what end results, bang on for the film – Simon got them right to the set spot on time for the shoot. What a pro. What a mate. Beautiful fun work.”

POST TRICKERY
Another key component of the conceit of the film required post production work to get Mr Peach dropped into the structure of the set in a particular way. “A huge huge thankyou must go to Will who tracked in and worked up all the required shots so skillfully, as well as to Mar for the very nice work on the finished grade and cut. I am so grateful to them and to Rampage for jumping into Momo’s insane world for the sake of art and fun. Ben has proved himself a legend mate once again.”

“This film may seem absurd, even more so than the song itself perhaps, but it felt like a thing that had to happen, and it has been a pleasure working it up to this weirdly paranoid-looking final piece. It all seems so wrong, doesn’t it?” Timo smiles. “But I hope it feels like a right ol’ bit of entertainment.”

Pick up the three-part Conspiracy EP now on iTunes.

Hero

Posted on by Timo Peach

Erstwhile creative amigo and professional legend, Ben Campbell, has gotten me into some great bits of musical fun over the years. But there is a project coming out soon that has to be our most heroic collaboration yet.

Ben’s new short, Hero, is a sequel of sorts to the first short narrative I think I ever scored – his low-budge’ punchline punch-up, The Audition. It reunites the cast, if not exactly the characters, in a new bout of warehouse machismo that frankly should be the teaser to a whole film and TV franchise. For which, I hope, I have written a signature theme worthy of such a grandiose, camp, entertaining, downright ruddy cool idea.

If I say that I am almost as excited to share this new little bit of music and accompanying score with the world as I am the whole new Momo:tempo LP, you may have some idea of just out perspective-losing my enthusiasm for this bit of musical fun currently is. Bless me. But I usually get like this for something you might at least half enjoy.

In final post now, Hero will be released before the end of the summer but in the mean time you can find out a few things about it on the Hero Facebook page. Go and like and wait in anticipation for the knockabout fun. Will keep you posted.

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Shows business.

Posted on by Timo Peach

So, in June, Momo made a little foray onto the boggy field of showing off in front of folk for the first time this year. About ruddy time, you say tartly.

I don’t blame you. There are so few chances to see your favourite indescribable electro-pop outfit live, it is a wonder you keep an interest. But you’re a faithful poppet and long suffering in your encouragement of my highly imperfect creative schedule, so once again, thankyou.

2014 has, much like, 2013, not turned into the promotional splurgefest I imagined it would for Tempo, essentially because of too much work. The various projects that swell the trumpet fund have applied my wits to some splendid things with great creative mates and this has all lead to me badly needing a PA to organise my show schedule and a month off to master the new LP.

A WEEKEND OF TWO HALVES
I did, however, get to break out the band and a new horn section in London recently. My first blast out in the legendary Basement of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in the shadow of the Barbican was also my first ride-out on stage with the Meridian Horns, fresh from their European tour with Elvis. Whilst Head of Horns, Pat Hayes, had introduced me to Barny Low and Johnny XXX a few weeks before, as they kindly blew horns magnificently for me on a couple of sessions one sunny Thursday morning, we’d never played together before.

Beats maestro Adkins and I rode into London to meet them with a 90-minute set that shared almost everything we currently perform from Momo:tempo’s catalogue, but with two important additions – the first ever live blast of Conspiracy, the current single, and even more nerve-tugging… the first ever performance of what will be Momo’s next single. A tune much loved by the five people who’ve played on it, but not even mastered yet, so completely unheard anywhere before.

While the very warm welcome and best ever green room we received from the pro team at the Guildhall was really in the end a friendly opportunity for a dust-off show, the following night in a sweaty summer evening Kensington was a bit of a revelation. For, properly splendid as it was to know the top new shape of the Electro Pops horns section that Friday night – such talented, lovely men to work with, Barny and Johny – and much missed as percussion-duty groove machine Simon Mellish was, Saturday night saw Momo:tempo as a trio for the first time – and it was a total blast.

With Pat on bone and Mark on skins, I bashed the white piano and pulled faces as usual in the warm intimacy of our return to The Troubadour and the loved-up cabaret party of creative legend and art hero and utter gentleman chum, Sebastian Michael, quietly kicked off to our humble ensemble. What a joyful night.

One of the quotes from this lovely chance to celebrate with a great chance mix of mates, was a quote from oldest amigo and current biz partner extraordinaire, Mr Clarke-Jervoise, upon hearing our new set-closer an impending next release: “A direction, by the way, you should have taken f***ing YEARS ago…”. Eloquence reflecting some conviction, I think you’ll agree.

Where this takes us next, I can’t yet confirm – requests are in with various places to find the odd little show slot before launching an album somewhere in the Autumn. All I do know is that Codename Funkasino as it’s terribly referred to currently is laid out from stem to stern and so full of new Momo goodness I can hardly get it to sit still. Mastering mixes will be happening in July and August and a release announced somewhen at the end of the summer, now.

All else I know is, if I could only find the unrealistic budget needed to do it, the music film to next single All That Love Could Be, would wring you out with joy.

I will go away and work on that too.

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