Nathan Shwalbe – composer
Original music for ‘The Man from Venus’ has been created by local musician Nathan Shwalbe. Born in Sutton Coldfield, he produces electronic music incorporating his voice, field recordings, and sound sculpture; found sounds and live instrumentation.
He has released on the Earworm Records offshoot The Great Pop Supplement label under the name Movement alongside artists such as Yo La Tengo, Fuxa, Spectrum, Hush Arbors and Spacemen 3. He is also a member of Damrai Vent (Open Case Recordings)
An interest in music started aged 13 whilst living on the Isle of Skye, with a musical landscape consisting of old electro, The Stone Roses, various shoegaze bands such as Ride, Chapterhouse and later; after relocating to Birmingham, moving in to the realms of Rave, Ambient and Techno music with artists such as Reload (Mark Pritchard & Tom Middleton), Aphex Twin, Sven Vath, Laurent Garnier and Global Communication.
With a penchant for drone and romantic pastoral electronics, nostalgic and often melancholy atmospherics are dispersed with melodic clicks and pops in equal measure.
Nathan says: “Though much of the time, the equipment used remains mostly the same, I never approach any two tracks in the same linear fashion. Sounds are gathered, sometimes over long periods of time before they will see the light of day. With these kinds of tracks it’s like a retrospective construction of a time, place, or feeling.
At other times, it’s more in the moment; I’ll record elements of my surroundings, grab a guitar or microphone, a loop pedal and just hit record. An example of this is on “If I’m never here, I’m there”. This was recorded in one take for the music, and an improvised murmured vocal in one take straight after, some subtle processing , and that’s it. So my tracks are born anywhere between 10 minutes and 10 years.
I’m quite nostalgic, but you cannot steer staring at your wake, so I like to lay my hat on the future. I have an underlying seriousness, but the ability to see faces in the passing clouds.
Themes range from the everyday; to my time living and growing up on the Isle of Skye, dreams, sleep, LSD experiences, my head flits between the outdoor hush and city rush. “
Creative Media @ The University of Birmingham
The Man from Venus has been recorded at Creative Media at the University of Birmingham. Producer/Director Steve Broster has had a close working relationship with their Video Production team for several years, and as a film-maker has made a large contribution to their output over the last decade.
Creative Media is part of the University’s external relations department. They have a large design department, which can create stunning artwork across an array of applications. They create the University Prospectuses and Catalogues, but also design magazines, signage and vehicle livery. There’s a print section that produces and prints a wide range of materials, from simple flyers and posters through to high quality brochures. They provide digital solutions that work across multi-platforms, from html newsletters to bespoke websites. And they make superb films – whether it’s a podcast, website video, infographic explainer film or multi-camera event coverage. For more information about what they do, please visit their site here:
http://www.creative-bham.co.uk/film
The Video Production facility also has a fully equipped TV studio with gallery, and a radio recording studio – both of which were perfect for our production. The intimate radio room was ideal for recording some of the smaller scenes, such as those within vehicles or small rooms. However, for the larger scenes such as those as set at the railway station or out in the countryside, the space of the TV studio was perfect to allow our actors the room to bring their performances to life. The team at Creative Media made the whole experience very pleasant, and it was great to have the use of the staff restaurant at lunchtime. Certainly, I’d highly recommend the facility to anyone looking for studio space, for either audio or video based material.
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