New Work
I’ve been super busy over the last 6 months working on two incredible new feature projects. Super Nature is a feature documentary about our relationship to the natural world shot entirely on Super 8! I am sound designer and working alongside an incredibly creative team, including composer Alex Hamilton Ayers with whom I have collaborated on the score.
The other project is from the same team I worked with on Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard. This time I am the composer for a broadcast doc called The Forest which explores the science behind the capacity of trees to provide much needed carbon capture. It will be broadcast later in the year.
WALL OF DEATH PREMIERE!
The Artist and the Wall of Death has its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival in March. I had a brilliant and intense time working on this film as sound designer and contributing to the music. I worked again with collaborator Rick Redbeard with whom I recorded an arrangement of John The Revalator. It was a challenge to do justice to such a classic and powerful piece of music. I’m looking forward to meeting up with mega talented director Maurice O’Brian at the Premiere!
More success for Off The Rails
Off The Rails is continuing to move people. It recently won Best Feature Film at BEUIFF in Beunos Aires and It has also been longlisted for Raindance! It is testament to the powerful storytelling and great team behind the film.
https://press.bueiff.com/2022/09/06/award-winners-results-10th-edition-bueiff-2022/
https://raindance.org/bifas-raindance-discovery-award-2022-longlist/?fbclid=IwAR37KT2lCSNjKrG9NW9eiXPv31_VQO1VA_b7vNB__-SQJfMZ_OuouKGq1lU
Off The Rails Wins Best International Film at Doc Edge!
Delighted to report that a feature doc I was Sound Designer on has won “Best International Film” at Doc Edge in New Zealand! The film is called “Off The Rails” and was directed by Peter Day. The award qualifies the film for the Oscars in 2023 so it’s a double win.
“Off The Rails follows two UK working-class teenagers as they hone their gravity-defying parkour skills while grappling with grief, broken families and mental health”
https://docedge.nz/off-the-rails-and-all-that-breathes-wins-top-oscar-qualifying-awards/?fbclid=IwAR2LdG8ww1yDwOd0EpffVGh03EDgtz7u9I8IGBligUzwIh9eYt-fkNTfP9g
“It is a stroke of genius to put such a documentary on at Christmas. Prehistory is the greatest story yet untold…”
Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard has been very favourably reviewed. It was great to watch the show over the holidays with friends and family. You can catch up on iplayer. Here are some of the reviews -
Guardian - 4/5
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/dec/30/attenborough-and-the-mammoth-graveyard-review-a-true-christmas-miracle
Independant - 5/5
https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/attenborough-and-the-mammoth-graveyard-bbc1-review-where-cerney-wick-1374276
The Times - 4/5
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/attenborough-and-the-mammoth-graveyard-review-digging-deep-for-time-travel-through-gravel-838p6jxg5
Attenborough & the Mammoth Graveyard
This incredible documentary will air on BBC1 at 8pm on 30th December. PBS / NOVA are broadcasting in the US also. I had a really great experience working with Windfall films and the whole creative team were lovely. Looking forward to watching with the family over the holidays. Enjoy!
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/dec/19/five-ice-age-mammoths-unearthed-in-cotswolds-after-220000-years?fbclid=IwAR36K2MKfC5HNFwaJ7CTK1hezKH_PNqUmrjz4-5KlZ2esk0TC6H28UZKONo
Sir David Attenborough
I have been working with Windfall Films on a natural history doc for BBC1, presented by the legendary Sir David Attenborough! The film is based around a discovery by some amateur archeologists of mammoth bones and human stone tools in England. I am really excited about this one and can’t wait for people to hear / see it. It is a honour and a privilege to underscore such an incredible talent.
Attenborough and The Mammoth Graveyard will be broadcast on BBC1 in late December. Details to follow….
Prince of Muck Reviews
The premiere of Prince of Muck was lovely. Everyone was thrilled to be in a real cinema and it was interesting to think of all the locations in Scotland watching simultaneously. The sound was mixed beautifully by Bart Jilesen. There have been a quite a few positive reviews of the film so far and a few have mentioned my score.
"David McAulay’s score is subtly affecting, adding just the right amount of melancholy to the documentary."
“a stunning soundtrack supplied by David Mcaulay”
I hope the film gets the wide audience that it deserves.
Prince of Muck World Premiere
Excited to announce the world premiere of “Prince of Muck” at EIFF 2021. Writing the music for this slow burning meditation on getting old was a lovely experience. It will be on multiple cinemas across Scotland on the 18th August. Read more here.
Skylight
My friend Ozge asked me to write some music for her new site specific art installation. She is interested in the relationships between 2, 3 and 4d shapes. This piece plays with a Tesseract placed inside a Turkish Hamam, which is a very beautiful building containing a steam bath.
I composed the piece using the limits of the Octatonic scale and tried to express the notion of enlarging space into the music.
Have a look / listen.
And also here.
BBC Doc- “Lady P and the Sex Work Sisterhood”
I have just finished scoring a documentary for BBC World Service. It is about the lives of sex workers in Sierra Leone during the Coronavirus pandemic. The stories of suffering and strength are so moving.
I worked with friends and long time musical collaborators Jenny Reeve and Emma Pollock who recorded vocal parts for me remotely. I also had help from cello wizard Pete Harvey on a string arrangement. I’m really happy with how this one has turned out due to the amazing team working on it. Watch here.
