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Propellor: December Sessions

November and December saw an expanded Propellor return to the Snape Maltings, 7/11 of the whole group arrived through the freezing fog to hunker down on the Suffolk coast and get stuck into writing some more of the new work. Part of the process involved beach and river recordings to help Jim start to build the first two Propellor drum kits - #1. The Sea and #2. The River - which will weave into the fabric of the piece amongst the rest of his set-up including an orchestral bass drum, crotales and kit amongst other bits and bobs.

So, armed with the sounds of ship chains, avalanche beach stones and tidal flows, the ensemble put together the first sections of the piece. The intention eventually is to have a non-stop work which transports the listener on a journey through the landscape where the performance is installed, and over the course of about an hour involve the audience in the installation!

Read on to meet the next two members of the group...

SEBASTIANO DESSANAY

Double Bass

Seb's fantastic versatility on the double bass makes him an invaluable asset to the dynamism of the group. He also happens to be a wonderful composer in his own right and we're thrilled to have his unique voice and creative spirit in the mix.

ROBIN BEATTY

Guitars

We're lucky to have the special talents of Robin on guitars - mixing his role up from rhythmic powerhouse and tunesmith to textural experimentation. Robin isn't in this picture because he also happens to be a brilliant photographer and is busy working on the first Propellor teaser trailer!

As the project develops we'll be posting recordings and artwork so please help us spread the word and get friends to sign up to this mailing list! You can also keep up with our shenanigans as they happen on Twitter. You can find out about our, and the other Open Space projects happening at Snape Maltings HERE.

What's Next?

We're busy arranging and writing now but will have a teaser for the project out to you all in the New Year to hopefully whet your appetite and give you an idea of what we've been up to so far.

As the project develops further we'll be looking for interested folks who fancy being involved in the performances to get in touch - part of the piece will hopefully involve your voices (no training necessary)! If you think this is you or someone you know then please drop us a line at mcneillandheys.com as we're starting to get a list together, the plan is to move the performance to various outdoor locations around the country so watch this space...

As the project develops further we'll be looking for interested folks who fancy being involved in the performances to get in touch - part of the piece will hopefully involve your voices (no training necessary)! If you think this is you or someone you know then please drop us a line at mcneillandheys.com as we're starting to get a list together, the plan is to move the performance to various outdoor locations around the country so watch this space...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jack and Charlie and the whole Propellor crew x

PROPELLOR UPDATE:

Brass and Percussion firing up the Propellor engines!

At the end of September we returned to Aldeburgh and the Snape Maltings and this time brought the first three members of Propellor with us for the ride. Lots of music was written and new sounds tried out. After an exciting meeting with Aldeburgh Music and their outdoor tech and event masterminds we can reveal a few new things about the piece we're working on, including the first three of eleven members of the ensemble...

As yet untitled, the work the new ensemble Propellor is preparing will be an immersive audience experience, performed outdoors and embedded in the landscape which the listener and participant is invited to explore during the performance. Along with a live soundscape and story symphony performed by the ensemble, the piece will also incorporate sound art triggered and generated by the audiences movement and interaction with the performance space. This weaves together and evolves in real time with the live music to create an exciting, living performance for all involved.

JIM MOLYNEUX: Percussion

We're thrilled that Jim is playing percussion with Propellor, bringing his unique mix of virtuosic groove and intricate texture-making to a new setup of orchestral percussion, electronic samples and kit playing - even some accordion and harmonium sounds too!

AARON DIAZ & MARTYN SANDERSON: Brass and Electronics

We're super excited to have Aaron and Martyn bringing their unique sounds to the table. With an armoury of brass instruments from sackbuts to flugelhorns they'll be soaring above and digging up below the ensemble soundworld - add to this a magician's box of electronic manipulations and things are shaping up nicely!

As the project develops we'll be posting recordings and artwork so please help us spread the word! You can read more about the various other Open Space residencies taking place at Aldeburgh Music HERE.

What's next?

We hope that you guys are as fired up for this new project as we are! We also hope that you'll join us in creating some of the material... As the piece develops there will be the opportunity to be part of some of the recorded sounds used for the audience triggered sections of this piece, so watch this space!

We're back at Snape Maltings in November and December, we also have some exciting news coming up about the amazing musicians we've got involved mentoring the project. Please spread the news in the meantime, and get your friends to join the mailing list at mcneillandheys.com.

All the best for now and safe travels,
Jack and Charlie x

Hello everyone :) We've been up to a few things since we posted an update... News of an exciting new direction for the music has finally dawned on the Suffolk coastline, Charlie has been busy releasing new albums with her quartet The Froe and The Fair Rain - and all this while finishing off a juicy solo album too...

OPEN SPACE RESIDENCY

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Jack has been selected as an Aldeburgh Music Open Space Artist in Residence! Over the next two years the McNeill & Heys duo will be at the heart of a new musical machine going by the name Propellor. The project aims to create a new ensemble orchestrating a story symphony experienced by an audience as they journey through the Suffolk environment. Within and of the landscape of these islands, the project hopes to tour the UK and perform in various inspirational settings, the music weaving threads of local history and our relationship to place, with community participation and interactive elements adding to the musical experience.

Propellor brings together soloists, writers and ensemble players from backgrounds as diverse as the English Baroque Soloists, amplified ensemble - Decibel, folk septet The Fair Rain (The Old Dance School), The Harborough Collective, CHROMA, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, improvisers from The Destroyers and the Glowrogues, electro-acoustic experimentalists and collaborators with Britten Sinfonia and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. You can read more about the various Open Space Residencies taking place at Aldeburgh Music HERE.

The writing and recording process is already in full flow after we spent a week at the amazing Snape Maltings in July working on initial ideas. Surrounded by a mass of instruments, microphones and note pads we got to work - you can expect the McNeill & Heys sound to expand and find new forms as song and landscape knit together, we both play lots of other instruments and we're using them! We're also super excited to be bringing the first new members of Propellor back to Snape with us in September for another period of developing musical shapes and ideas, field recording and research. Watch this space for video and recorded updates, rehearsal clips and developing plans involving outdoor interactive elements, as well as opportunities to be part of the finished work and come along to various open sessions.

CHARLIE PROJECTS

As well as joining The Fair Rain (previously The Old Dance School) you can hear her on their fantastic new album 'Behind the Glass'.

Charlie's quartet The Froe have also released a new EP which will be available from the website soon or if catch them at a gig this summer.

Both albums have been produced by the brilliant Andy Bell (Bellowhead) who has also been helping Charlie put together her solo album which is sounding awesome...watch this space!

LIVE & NEW RECORDINGS

We hope that you will be as excited about the new Propellor project as we are! While we launch into this new writing project we will be recording bits and bobs for special limited edition releases along with artwork inspired by the project. We'll let you know as soon as these are ready and hope that you'll come on the journey with us and end up being part of the performances! We're also hoping to put on a handful of concerts over the next few years showcasing the work as it changes so keep an eye out for these.

All the best for now and safe travels,
Jack and Charlie x

Hello, welcome to our new website! We’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who came out to see us on tour in April! We had a great time singing and playing, meeting old friends and making new ones… and thanks for letting us try out some new material on you as well. We’ve been busy writing for our bigger project ‘Propeller’ and also some new duo stuff, sign up to our mailing list for latest news of gigs coming up and sneak peeks! We’ve been hearing some good things about Any Other Morning, having been voted one of the Top Albums of 2014 by both Folk Radio UK and Timber and Steel!

Thanks so much to everyone for listening and coming out to gigs, we were absolutely chuffed to hear this great news :)

Here are a few other reviews we’ve had…

"A distinct vision and ambition." **** - Songlines
"Very special and original indeed." - The Living Tradition 
"It will transport you to places that few others can." **** - R2 Rock 'n' Reel
"Quietly contemplative and seductively ambient." **** - Northern Sky
"A work of profound and mysterious beauty." - Folk Radio UK

And if you’re new to our music, the video we made last year for our song A Hymn to the Wolves is right here for you to click and watch :) We filmed it up in the Lake District and also in Highbury Park on a beautiful evening in Birmingham. That's Hart Crag and St Raven's Edge you can see at the start.

Please tell your friends and share away!

…and finally we’re still planning that Tearoom Tour!

We had such a lovely time playing at the Troutbeck Tearoom last summer and are still trying to put together a little tour of our and your favourite tearooms and cafés across the land! We would really appreciate it if you could contact us  to let us know if you have a place in mind, know someone who runs a tearoom or even if you'd just like to recommend a cuppa! Then we'll get in touch and get organising :)

That’s all for now, we’ll be in touch again soon but in the meantime please enjoy our new website and we hope to see some of you at our next gig in Kendal on August 9th… more details coming soon.

All the best, Jack and Charlie x