January 2010

Filming!

We made a video for our new tune “Dodgy” 
Venue: Furness College Performing Arts Studio, 
Film Artist: Shaun Blezard

It was a cold January night, when the roads were so iced over that it was too dangerous for the Boom Dang truck to drive on.  Had it been January 2011, and with countless episodes of Ice-Road Truckers under our belts, driving the Boom Dang truck from Dalton to Barrow on icy roads, would have been no problem at all!  However, it was last year, and nobody wanted to take any risks so a fleet of cars took the performers and the big drums to Furness College for the night of filming!

Shaun Blezard was our cameraman and the best man for the job!  Not only is he full of technical and film wizardry, he knows Boom Dang The Performance Band inside out, in terms of their routines, choreography and what our sticks would be doing.  He designed the camera angles to catch the fast paced choreography and super-quick stick patterns.

After what seemed like an age dressing the space with lights, curtains and even a small amount of smoke-machine, the camera finally rolled.  Take after take then followed, before we eventually called it a “rap”.  As performers, if we were unsure of the rhythms and choreography for “Dodgy” before filming, we sure knew them inside out after.

Recording!

We recorded our first album “Decade”
Venue: St Mary’s Hall, Dalton
Sound Artist: Shaun Blezard

After 10 years of performing and travelling the world with our tunes, we decided that it would be good to finally record an album!

Shaun Blezard was our sound artist/engineer.  He set up a studio, specifically designed and bespoke to Boom Dang The Performance Band line-up.

We recorded 10 tracks, each track getting two takes – no more!  Our studio time only afforded us two takes per track, however, the performers knew the tunes so well, that this bettered the challenge and increased the adrenalized tension!

Shaun then went away and had the arduous and really tricky job of mixing and mastering the album.  Shaun spent hours…days…weeks…months perfecting the mix.  A drum ensemble is terribly difficult to get just the right sound of each instrument in the mix, but Shaun did it!  Not only did he do the recording, the mixing, the mastering, he also did the artwork for the CD cover! The man is a wizard!

The album “Decade” is here and quite a number of copies have already been sold!  All monies from the album go back into Boom Dang the organization, to continue the work that we do.

Rehearsals

After a break for festivities, and after a much-needed dusting down after Christmas and New Year, rehearsals for Boom Dang The Performance Band and Ting Tang began again!  Luckily nobody had eaten too much turkey, and was still able to do the energetic routines!

New tunes and new choreography to match the New Year!