Arthur's Day 2010: More Bands, More Artists & More Tickets

The last time I posted about Arthur's Day 2010 I was able to confirm venues and artists but the specifics weren't available. Since then not only have tickets gone on sale, and sold out!, but all the venues obviously had their respective artists finally confirmed. Unfortunately though, as I said, ticket sales were exceptional and many venues sold out almost straight away. Today, however, I am happy to pass on the very good news that Guinness has announced that a limited number of additional Arthur’s Day tickets for all studio venues will be released for sale at 9am tomorrow (Tuesday, 24th August) via Ticketmaster.

What could make this news any better? Guinness have also announced over 15 additional artists that have been added to the Arthur's Day line up including Manic Street Preachers, David Gray, Cathy Davey and Oscar-winning actor turned musician Tim Robbins & The Rogues Gallery Band. There have also been several new talents added to the line up such as Ty, The Courteeners, Biffy Clyro and Bitches with Wolves.

Speaking about Arthur’s Day, Manic Street Preachers said, “Some of our greatest gigs have been in Ireland; we really do have very special memories of playing there. From a tiny show for our first label Heavenly to playing Slane Castle and everything in between. The atmosphere will no doubt be amazing and we’re proud to a part of what is fast becoming one of Ireland’s biggest days of the year”.

While David Gray commented that "Coming back to Ireland is always a great experience for me and the band, particularly being back in Galway! It was amazing to be part of the celebrations last year and to support the Arthur Guinness Fund. We are really looking forward to getting the chance to play some of the new tunes as well as some old faves in such an amazing location. Cheers Arthur!"

New additions to the Arthur’s Day line up:

Studio Artists Manic Street Preachers David Gray Tim Robbins & the Rogues Gallery Band Biffy Clyro The Courteeners Ty Cathy Davey

Pub Artists David Kitt Oliver Cole Fight Like Apes Keywest Bitches with Wolves Ryan Sheridan Carly Connor

New Arthur's Day Artists

Orla Flanagan, Guinness Brand Manager said, “We are excited about the new acts added to the line up. We wanted to hold back some tickets so that fans of our newly announced artists including Manic Street Preachers and David Gray got an opportunity to see their favourite bands. The real magic of Arthur’s Day is that all the studio artists will also make a surprise appearance in an Arthur’s Day pub venue. Fans that purchase pub tickets will not only see great pub artists but also see artists like Brandon Flowers, Snow Patrol or Paolo Nutini play in a pub for €5 which is an exciting element of Arthur’s Day”.

The Arthur's Day celebrations will begin at 17:59 at St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin on 23rd September. The celebration will then continue with activities and events at various locations in Ireland and throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. The full line up now stands as follows:

Studio Venues	Artists
St James’ Gate	Snow Patrol Manic Street Preachers Biffy Clyro Our Thursdays Winner
The Academy	Brandon Flowers Plan B José González Slow Club Tim Robbins & The Rogues Gallery Band
Olympia Theatre	Carbon/Silicon Cathy Davey The Chapters Our Thursdays Finalist
Vicar Street	The Maccabees The Hoosiers Eliza Doolittle The Courteeners
The Village	Kelis Tinie Tempah Example We Have Band Ty
Folan Quay, Galway Harbour	David Gray Newton Faulkner The Magic Numbers Sharon Shannon Our Thursdays Finalist
Savoy, Cork	Paolo Nutini Kt Tunstall The View Fortune O Emperor Our Thursdays Finalist

PUB VENUES	Each pub will also welcome a surprise performance on the night from a studio artist
Dublin
The Baggot Inn	Heathers David Kitt
The Bank	Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band
The Brazen Head	The Shoos Sparrow and the Workshop
Bruxelles	Sparrow and The Workshop Heathers
Dakota	The Milk Bitches with Wolves
Doheny & Nesbitt	John Spillane The Boy Who Trapped the Sun
Fitzsimons	Pilotlight Ryan Sheridan
Flannery’s	Molotov Jukebox
The George	Bitches with Wolves Dirty Epics
Hogans	RoySeven
Odeon	Oliver Cole Butterfly Explosion
O’Donoghue’s	David Kitt The Chapters
Oliver St. John Gogarty’s	The High Kings Oliver Cole
The Palace Bar	The Boy Who Trapped the Sun John Spillane
Pygmalion	The Dirty 9s The Rags
Sinnotts	Fight Like Apes Pilotlight
The Stag’s Head	The Rags Ryan Sheridan
The Temple Bar	Broken Records The High Kings
Whelans	Dirty Epics Butterfly Explosion
Galway
Kelly’s	Duke Special
Róisín Dubh	A Band Called Wanda Plus Special Guest
Taaffes	Johnny Flynn Plus Special Guest
Tigh Cóilí	A Band Called Wanda Johnny Flynn
Cork
Crane Lane Theatre	Carly Connor Keywest
Old Oak	Director Simon Fagan
The Pavilion	Mick Flannery Simon Fagan
Reardens	Mick Flannery Carly Connor
SoHo	Keywest Director

Further Information: Arthur Guinness Fund
The Arthur Guinness Fund supports the emerging sector of social entrepreneurship in Ireland. In April this year, Guinness assigned €1 million to ten social entrepreneurs with each of their projects receiving €100,000 and additional support and expertise from Diageo Ireland and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. A further €1.5 million will be used to support future Irish social entrepreneurs in the coming years.

Cee Lo Green: F**K YOU

This is one of the best examples of Kinetic Typography, and a severely catchy tune to boot. Listen and love!

Arthur's Day 2010

Back in June I posted about the return of Arthur's Day this September. With ticket sales well under way (and sold out in many cases! - but check www.ticketmaster.ie for full details) it looks like the 23^rd September is going to be just as huge as promised. The biggest news so far, for most people, was probably the announcement that The Killers’ Brandon Flowers will be topping the list of the 20 or so artists that have been added to the star studded line-up. The list (below) is a whopper one too, and includes the likes of Newton Faulkner, Plan B, KT Tunstall, José González, The Magic Numbers and Kelis, as well as homegrown talents like Snow Patrol and Paolo Nutini.

The main difference with this year's celebrations is a focus on making the pub the heart of the celebrations. This is being done by using 28 different pub venues to host an artist to kick off the celebrations after the toast to Arthur Guinness at 17.59. Basically this means that Pub ticket holders will get to see a great artist in the comfort of their favourite pub, however, there will also be a surprise performance from one of the studio artists too. For Studio ticket holders there will be up to five international and Irish artists performing at each studio venue.

Speaking at the Arthur’s Day announcement, Orla Flanagan, Guinness Brand Manager said “We are delighted to add more fantastic artists to our Arthur’s Day line up. Studio tickets to last year’s Arthur’s Day celebrations last year sold out in one hour so we are anticipating huge interest again tomorrow morning. With the great acts who are involved in Arthur’s Day this year, the 23^rd of September looks set to be another remarkable celebration of Arthur Guinness and his lasting legacy. I’m really looking forward to raising a glass to the man himself on the day”.

Studio tickets and the outdoor Galway music event will cost €10 and the 28 pub venues will cost €5 with proceeds from all Arthur’s Day ticket sales benefiting the Arthur Guinness Fund.

Arthur's Day Artists

Studio Artists Snow Patrol Paolo Nutini José González The View We Have Band The Hoosiers Slow Club The Maccabees The Magic Numbers Sharon Shannon Brandon Flowers Eliza Doolittle Example Fortune Kelis KT Tunstall Newton Faulkner O Emperor Plan B Tinie Tempah Carbon/Silicon

Pub Artists The High Kings The Chapter The Dirty 9s Heathers The Milk Broken Records Mick Flannery The Rags John Spillane Dirty Epics A Band Called Wanda Butterfly Explosion Director Duke Special James Vincent McMorrow Johnny Flynn Molotov Jukebox Pilotlight RoySeven Simon Fagan Sparrow and the Workshop The Boy Who Trapped the Sun The Shoos Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band

Arthur’s Day Venues*

Dublin Studio Venues St James’s Gate Brewery The Academy Vicar Street The Village Olympia Theatre Pub Venues The Bank Odeon Bruxelles Oliver St. John Gogarty’s Dakota The Baggot Inn Hogans The Stag’s Head O’Donoghue’s The Temple Bar The George Doheny & Nesbitt Sinnotts Whelans Fitzsimons The Brazen Head Pygmalion The Palace Bar Flannery’s

Galway Outdoor Music Event Folan Quay at Galway Harbour Pub Venues Róisin Dubh Kelly’s Tíg Cóilí Taaffes

Cork Studio Venue Savoy Pub Venues The Old Oak Crane Lane Theatre Reardons The Pavilion Soho

*Subject to licence


Previous Arthur's Day and Guinness 250 Celebration posts:

• Guinness 250: New Year's Eve
• Guinness 250 & An Age Of Reciprocity
• Guinness 250: A Final Cheers For Arthur
• Applications Open For The Arthur Guinness Fund
• To Arthur!
• The Arthur's Day Petition
• Countdown to Arthur's Day
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations: Update 2
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations: Update
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations

Malibu First Day of Summer

Malibu recently went to the SXSW Festival and asked a few folk whether or not June 21 (first day of summer) should be an international holiday - check out the Shout Out Outs, Diplo, The Antlers and other artists' answers here:

The Return Of Arthur's Day

Last September saw the birth of what has now been confirmed as an annual event: Arthur Guinness Day. This is the newest annual 'holiday' in the Irish calendar and a celebration of one of Ireland's most famous people, Arthur Guinness. To celebrate the man responsible for creating the world's most famous stout last September saw Dublin transformed into an epicentre of music, celebration and excitement. Literally thousands of people all came together to enjoy live music in over 33 venues across Dublin; including a special concert at St. James’s Gate brewery. Judging by yesterday's launch event at Bruxelles Bar on Grafton Street, this September 23rd will be no different.

Not only have Guinness confirmed that Arthur's Day is back this year but they also announced an expansion of the events to include Cork and Galway, as well as other festivities happening throughout the country. This year there will be one-off performances in unique locations from some of the world's biggest recording artists, with over 40 amazing bands to be announced during the summer months. To top this off, Arthur's Day will also be looking for 100 up and coming Irish acts to be part of the Arthur's Day line up in other Irish cities. So for every Thursday from mid July through to early August, Guinness will be running music events, called 'Our Thursdays', in pubs across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, giving emerging Irish music acts the opportunity to showcase their talents. Full information on the selection process is available on the Guinness site.

As before all proceeds from Arthur's Day ticket sales will be donated to the Arthur Guinness Fund. Full ticket information will be announced in mid July and I'll have all details here as soon as I hear them.

Previous Arthur's Day and Guinness 250 Celebration posts:

• Guinness 250: New Year's Eve
• Guinness 250 & An Age Of Reciprocity
• Guinness 250: A Final Cheers For Arthur
• Applications Open For The Arthur Guinness Fund
• To Arthur!
• The Arthur's Day Petition
• Countdown to Arthur's Day
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations: Update 2
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations: Update
• Guinness 250 Years Celebrations

Director - Play Pretend

Last year I had the opportunity to work with the insanely talented Eoghan Kidney on the shoot for Director's newest release, Play Pretend. This is the video...

Directed by Eoghan Kidney.
Edited by Conor Ryan, Eoghan Kidney and FlordeOro Tejada.
Taken from the album I'll Wait For Sound.

Carlsberg: The Secret - The Music

Back in December I posted about the launch of the Carlsberg ad, The Secret. The ad premièred on Facebook and proved to be hugely popular. What was particularly interesting was the buzz that sprung up around the ads music. Well I am delighted to announce that I have been able to get a clean sample of the tune!

Either play it below or download it here...

In case you can't remember it, this is the ad itself...

A Tribute to Merton

Last Thursday I wrote about the internet's latest fad, Chat Roulette. I posted the awesome video of self taught piano player Merton with his improv piano sessions with random chatters. Just two days later in front of a live audience at Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ben Folds Five performed a tribute to Merton...

DJ Earworm - A Mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2009

Absolutely lovin' this mashup by DJ Earworm, simply class!

In case you can't pick them all out, here's the list:
The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
Taylor Swift - Lover Story
Flo Rida - Right Round
Jason Mraz - I'm Your's
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)
Kanye West - Heartless
The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone
The Fray - You Found Me
Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Knock You Down
Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain - Blame It
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
T.I. Featuring Rihanna - Live Your Life
Soulja Boy Tell 'em Featuring Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone
Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne - Down
Miley Cyrus - The Climb
Drake - Best I Ever Had
Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
Beyonce - Halo
Katy Perry - Hot 'n' Cold

Meteor Irish Music Awards: Nominees Announced

Just before Christmas I wrote about the upcoming Meteor Music Awards and the announcement of a brand new, publicly voted, award category: 'Most Promising New Artist'. Today I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Awards in Dublin's Balzac Restaurant at the La Stampa Hotel on Dawson Street.

The big news today was the announcement of this year’s nominees and live performances. Hosted this year by Amanda Byram, the Awards promise a truely star-studded event to celebrate the tenth year of Meteors sponsorship of the Awards. Guest performers on the night will include; Westlife, Snow Patrol, The Script, Florence and the Machine, Paolo Nutini, The Coronas and Pixie Lott, to mention just a few. There will also be a host of additional performers announced during the coming weeks.

The nominees for the publicly voted categories are as follows:

Best National D.J. Ian Dempsey, Today FM Damien Farrelly, 2fm Tony Fenton, Today FM Ray Foley, Today FM Larry Gogan, 2fm Dan Hegarty, 2fm	Best Regional D.J. Leigh Doyle, Beat 102-103 Jim & Niamh, FM 104 KC & Lenny, Red fm Michelle McMahon, Spin Southwest Jon Richards, Galway Bay fm Shona Ryan, Spin 103.8
Best Irish Band Bell X1 The Coronas Delorentos Snow Patrol U2	Best Irish Male Colin Devlin Jerry Fish Jack L Christy Moore Mundy
Best Irish Female Wallis Bird Julie Feeney Valerie Francis Laura Izibor Dolores O'Riordan	Best Irish Pop Act The Blizzards Delorentos Laura Izibor The Script Westlife
Best Irish Album Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runaway The Coronas - Tony was an Ex-Con The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method Snow Patrol - Up to Now U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Best Irish Live Performance Bell X1 Christy Moore The Script Snow Patrol U2

And finally, The Most Promising New Artist for 2010. Of course I can't list the nominations here as it's up to you folk to make it happen. Some great news I can give you here, however, is that the entry deadline has been extended to the 15th January. So there's loads of extra time to get your videos up on the interweb! The remaining 9 awards will be decided by representatives of the Irish music industry.

All the category links above will bring you directly to the Meteor website, and as public voting went live from today, you should click over (as soon as you've finished reading) and get your votes in. Votes can also be cast directly from your mobile phone and all details on how to do this may be found on the Meteor website.

The event itself will air on RTE 2 on Sunday 21st February 2010 at 9pm.

Meteor Ireland Music Awards: Most Promising New Artist 2010

December isn't over, the jolly fat man hasn't come down your chimney, and not a single chorus of Auld Lang Syne has passed a pair of lips, but even so there are many people already thinking about January. The music community will shortly be gearing up for Ireland's annual celebration of national and international musical artists. This year, however, there may be a slightly longer list of nail-biters when it comes to the big night.

Today, Meteor announced that there's a sunny January for one lucky unsigned artist in search of their big break. Next year's Meteor Ireland Music Awards are introducing a brand new category, the Most Promising New Artist 2010. The brand new category will celebrate the best original song from an individual or group, who is currently not signed to any record label (small independents excluded) or publishing house.

The winner will be determined by composition, lyrics, melody and originality, and will receive the prize a host of seriously, seriously cool prizes, including:

• Live performance on the New Band Stage at Oxegen 2010
• One day of recording in Grouse Lodge Recording Studios
• One day of Mastering in Masterlabs
• 150 copies of the CD single
• Designed CD sleeve and photo shoot with top celebrity Photographer Barry McCall
• Radio/PR distribution

On top of all that, the lucky winner of the new category can also look forward to being presented with a gong, as the winners of The Most Promising New Artist for 2010 award at the award show in January.

Entry is simple and all hopefuls have to do is upload a video of themselves performing their song to www.themeteors.ie. From there it's all down to public vote for the top 10 shortlist, then on to an industry panel to select the top 5 acts to become the official nominees for the Most Promising New Artist 2010 award.

The closing date for applications is January 11th 2010 so if you're interested get cracking now!

Guinness 250 & An Age Of Reciprocity

There aren't very many brands that turn 250 years old, and there are even fewer brands that have an entire nation is willing to stand up and applaud, both for their heritage and for their synonymy with their own culture. Guinness is in many ways the epitome of Irish-ness, the prime example of who we are as a nation - hard-working, everyday folk with a strength of character to see us through. As a brand, Guinness is surely one of the best. A globally recognised powerhouse of advertising, design and innovation. Guinness extends beyond a simple beverage and has developed itself into sport and the arts. Guinness has done what many brands not only fail at, but never even realise to try. Guinness gives back.

In a changing modern digital world where the consumer is savvy and they have realised that the power to effect corporations and businesses is their's, Guinness have embraced change and strived to promote what I call 'an age of reciprocity'. The question is not how do I make you buy my product, the question is what can I do for you so that you love my brand. In a market where consumers will travel, bargains will be hunted for, and there is always an alternative, it is more important then ever to understand that the educated consumer can be either your friend or foe.

Social Media has opened up the world, democratised data, and given every single one of us the power to speak our mind and broadcast our opinion. Those with their thinking caps firmly in place, however, have come to realise this is in fact a good thing. The modern consumer is not naïve, they understand the buyer/seller relationship and they are, in most instances, happy with it. So long as everyone keeps their word, what is paid for is received, and the status quo of the relationship remains even, happiness will prevail.

As a brand though, it is easy to take this equilibrium and subtle sway it in your favour. Not by any underhandedness but simply by going that bit further, providing the little bit extra, by doing more to ensure that the customer is more then just happy. Of course, being a savvy shopper, this is noticed, and as long as the motives are clear, this will be looked on very favourably by the consumer. We like to feel that our patronage is being rewarded. We like to feel that we are part of the process. We like to feel special.

The nature of Reciprocity is that while there is a clear understanding that the buyer buys and the seller sells, there is also a deeper understanding that both parties are appreciative of the other. This relationship is by its nature symbiotic. Without one the other can't exist. So with that knowledge in hand, the seller goes a little step further. The best example that I have seen to date was Arthur’s Day. To celebrate 250 years of business and to thank the public for 250 years of patronage, Guinness put on a huge event filled with music and entertainment to a scale that had simply never been done before in Ireland. While the gigs/events weren't free, they were very reasonably priced, and the money that was taken in in ticket sales went to charity. So the public get to have a great time, they get to donate money to charity, and Guinness get to give back to the community. And sure, there were thousands upon thousands of pints of Guinness drank that day, but that's nothing to complain about.

Reciprocity is more then a passing trend in my opinion. Reciprocity is the natural evolution of the consumer/supplier relationship. Reciprocity is what has happened to the market through the prevalence of Social Media, the explosion of mobile technologies and the expansion of always-on, super-fast broadband. Reciprocity is a cultural revolution of consumerism. Above all though, Reciprocity is a great thing.

In the case of Guinness, however, the question now becomes where to next?

Well it just so happened that earlier today, Guinness announced details of a spectacular live TV ad to be broadcast on RTÉ 1 at 17:59 on New Year’s Eve, marking the end of the 250th anniversary celebrations and the establishment of the Arthur Guinness Fund.

The 60 second spectacle will feature a visual recreation of Arthur’s famous signature in a dramatic way, which will not be revealed until the broadcast at exactly 17:59 on New Year’s Eve.

In this instance, Reciprocity is simply going beyond the standard advertising message. It is the innovativeness to be creative, the daring to not directly push a product, it is the doing what the other guy isn't because it's exciting.

John Kennedy, Managing Director, Diageo Ireland commented, “New Year’s Eve marks the end of a very special milestone for the Guinness brand, from 1759 when Arthur signed the 9,000 year lease on the St. James’s Gate brewery to today, where Guinness is a truly iconic brand, enjoyed in 150 countries around the world. It was remarkable to see so many people participating in Arthur’s Day, the peak of the 250 celebrations. Guinness & Co also want to thank all the people who went to their local pub to lend their support and more importantly, their signature to the Guinness “Signature” campaign, which helped to create a €2.5 million Arthur Guinness Fund.”

Kennedy continued, “The ‘Here’s To You’ campaign and the live TV ad will not only mark the end of a remarkable year for the brand, but it’s also a gesture to Irish people who helped to create the Arthur Guinness Fund, the next philanthropic step from Guinness & Co., which will help to create sustainable community projects around the country from 2010.”

And it is on that sentiment that I can happily raise a glass to a man and his legacy; to Arthur!


Don't forget to check out the following links for more Guinness information:
Guinness Facebook Page
The Arthur's Day on-line petition
The Arthur Guinness Fund

The Golden Age of Video

This is just about one of the best YouTube videos that you will ever see!



Ricardo Autobahn has spliced together a whole heap of movies from every genre and decade of the last 60 years to create an original song. The beat, the rhymes, the rhythm; all of it perfectly pulled together. This is just brilliant. What makes it even more fun is if you can spot all the movies, and name them.

Malibu: Drink Mixer

Slight bit of déjà vu today with updates on two campaigns that I previous blogged about. Following this morning's Budweiser Lyrics update of sorts I got an email from Francois in Great Works to let me know that Malibu's Radio Maliboom Boom has just launched the latest digital instalment of their campaign: the Malibu Drink Mixer.

The Malibu Drink Mixer is a digital tool that offers the perfect drink recipe by playing around with sonic variables that correspond to a range of different taste preferences. And if that doesn't sound like some serious high tech wizardry then I don't know what does!

The whole thing has been designed by a team of renowned DJs, and is said to provide "a deep sensory experience by allowing fans to experiment with mixing sound and taste together". All in all the Malibu Drink Mixer offers 625 beat variations and 81 different drink recipes, with the drink outcome offered to the user along with a corresponding recipe and downloadable MP3 that can be used as a ringtone, shared with friends or posted to their blog.

For me that's probably the two best parts, not only providing you with something to take away in the form of the recipe and MP3, but allowing you to easily push the content out into your network to share with friends. I definitely recommend giving it a go - good fun to get you into the weekend mood, or at least the tropical island mood, which going by the weather from the last couple of days is probably a great thought for all of us ;)

Check out the latest Maliboom Boom Radio ad - DJ Bernhard helps get the grove flowing

Sony: Soundville

In March 2009, Sony and Fallon used sound as the centerpiece to turn a small town in Iceland "into an extraordinary sound-system for a week." Juan Cabral, the man behind the Cadbury's Gorilla, created Soundville, a short film that documents three days in the life of the Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur, following the installation of several giant sound systems. Through the system the village was filled with an eclectic array of sounds by Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas), Mum, Bob Dylan, Toumani Diabaté, Roberto Goyeneche, Murcof, Federico Cabral, gUiLLeMoTS, and others.



Following the release of the documentary, Juan Cabral gave the following interview to Creativity Online:
So what was the assignment from Sony for this particular job?
The starting point was to show passion for sound above all—to create a pure sound experience. We also shot five product films to back that up, but it was mainly about Sony's love for sound.

How did you come up with this particular idea? What inspired it?
I was buying milk while listening to Stockhausen on my headphones. I felt everyone should be listening too.

How is this film being shown? Are there any special media strategies, as with "Balls"?
This was made for cinema and internet mainly. There are some television cut-downs and teasers too but the longer piece is the one that allows people to let themselves inside the journey and experience all the textures.

Obviously, turning a whole town into a sound system posed some huge production hurdles. Can you tell us about the process? How did you get permits to use a whole town?
The local production company in Iceland promised they could get a permit. And they did. They spoke with the mayor of Seydisfjordur and everyone in the village accepted. It's an 800-person town, but in the winter there's only around 400. We shot in the winter.

Were all the townspeople made aware of what was happening?
From the moment you place a camera people are aware. But I have to say, people got used to us very quickly, which was good because then it was about the sound. Also, because there were no actors we ended up with normal people being themselves when exposed to sounds. That's why most reactions are subtle and I think that's the most interesting part of the project, the little nuances, the melancholy, etc.

How did you set up and find the speaker systems? Did you recruit any special technicians to help you out? Was the town equipped to actually power everything?
The guys that make the Sigur Ros concerts in Iceland powered everything. We could play the music remotely and wirelessly. We built this 20 foott tower full of speakers and placed it in the middle of the town. Because it's a very quiet place—there's almost no traffic—you don't need a lot to make it sound good actually. And we certainly didn't want the sound to be bouncing everywhere.

How did you go about shooting? Can you tell us about your camera setups?
We only had two cameras actually. We didn't want a lot of crew running around or big cranes and all that. It was a gentle and quiet shoot. The idea was not to interfere with the daily routine. We were just observing in a way.

The sound is obviously a driving component of this piece. How did you go about selecting the music?
A lot of music was composed specifically for the project. Richard Fearless from Death in Vegas collaborated a lot. He recorded more than half an hour of original material: sounds, beats, atmospheric sequences, etc. Mum composed some beautiful tracks as well. I also asked my brother to record something and three days before the shoot he sent this wonderful little song, which we played to the sheep.

A company called A-bomb helped curate many hours of music too, so we had different playlists set to go from one mood to another.

For you, as a director what were you hoping to achieve with this spot?
Personally, I wanted to make something that I can be proud to show my little girl in ten years time. So I have to wait ten years to see what she makes of it.

What was the best part of this experience?
Every morning I had to choose a track to wake people up. . .not just people but a whole village.


Credits
Copywriter: Juan Cabral
Director: Juan Cabral
Production Company: MJZ
Producer: Nellie Jordan
Agency Producer: Gemma Knight
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Editor: Neil Smith
Sound: Parv at Wave
Post: MPC

Don't Stop Believing - Sam Tsui

You probably already saw Sam's Michael Jackson medley/remix which has been doing the internet rounds during the last couple of weeks, but it's worth checking out his other stuff. There's quite a few videos that I've come across on YouTube and they're all pretty good.

This is his version of Don't Stop Believing by Journey, with his customary approach of providing all vocals and musical accompaniment.

Countdown to Arthur's Day

16th September, 17:59 - the countdown is really on now folks. In just one week’s time, Dublin will be transformed into the epicentre of music, celebration and excitement for Arthur’s Day. Across Ireland thousands of people will be coming together to enjoy live music in over 33 venues across Dublin; including a special concert at the St. James’s Gate brewery itself.

A 48sheet carrying a Guinness 250 ad
coupled with a digital countdown clock

To get into the spirit of the occassion, people all over Ireland have been adding their names to an on-line petition. The petition was born out out of the Guinness 250 Facebook page, where the suggestion was put to the public - make Arthur’s Day a national holiday!

The Facebook page already has 26,795 fans and the online petition has 6,618 signatures.

So do you know what that means?

Only a quarter of Guinness 250 fans want Arthur's Day to become a national holiday! Seriously folks, what's up with that? Get to the page and get signing now!

Now I'm more then willing to tip my hat to all the loyal fans who already joined the fan page, lets face it, there's been one fan joining every 30 seconds. That's three fans in the time it takes your favourite pint to be poured ;)

So come on fans - sign the petition, who doesn't want another public holiday, especially in honour of such a great man.


Arthur's Day 2009
So where will you be at 17:59 on 24th September? Where will you be for this once in a lifetime moment, to raise a pint of Guinness to Arthur. In fairness, Arthur Guinness and his family were responsible for some of the most well known acts of philanthropy in Ireland and to honour and continue this legacy Guinness have established the Arthur Guinness Fund. The Fund is to enable and empower individuals with skills and opportunities to deliver a measured benefit to their communities. So Guinness & Co. are donating €6 million to the Arthur Guinness Fund. Could there be any better reason to toast the Arthur Guinness?

So all you need to do to join in the Global Toast to Arthur at 17:59 on Thursday 24th September, is get to one of the following venues or pubs (if you want to enjoy world class music), or just get down to your own local, pause a moment, and raise a pint of the black stuff to a truly great man.

To Arthur!


Pubs and Venues
This is the full list of artists that are publicly confirmed for each pub or venue. Now I say publically confirmed because each Pub will also feature 1 or 2 surprise special guests that won't be announced. The only way to know is to be there! Get on to ticketmaster now and get yourself a ticket.

The Academy
Fionn Regan, Imelda May, Paolo Nutini, Richard Hawley, The Kooks

Tripod
Calvin Harris, Jamie Cullum, Mongrel, Soul II Soul, Republic of Loose, Roots Manuva

Vicar Street
Black Swan Effect, OK Go, Razorlight, Reverend and The Makers, Sugababes, The Blizzards, The Magic Numbers

Whelan’s
David Gray, The Hot Rats, Lisa Hannigan, Noah and the Whale, The Enemy, The Undertones, The Wombats

Bruxelles
Jay Jay Pistolet, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club

Hogans
Born Blonde, Oppenheimer

Sin É
Concerto for Constantine, Dirty Epics

South William
David Kitt, The Infomatics

Brogans
Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, Cherbourg

Café en Seine
Leopold, White Belt Yellow Tag

Pygmalion
Hoarsebox, The Chapters

Spy
Oppenheimer, The Infomatics

Dicey Reilly's
The Chakras

The Baggot Inn
Leopold, Nat Jenkins

The Auld Dubliner
Jay Jay Pistolet, Lumiere

The Palace Bar
Fiona Melady, Sharon Shannon

The Church
Spring Break

The Village
Golden Silvers, The Coronas

The Odeon
Dirty Epics, General Fiasco

Oliver St John Gogarty
Born Blonde, David Kitt

The Temple Bar
Johnny Flynn, Lumiere

Flannery's
Cherbourg, Concerto for Constantine

Dakota
The Chakras, The Chapters

O'Donoghue's
Sharon Shannon, The High Kings

Market Bar
Golden Silvers, Mick Flannery

The Foggy Dew
Noise Control

Eamonn Dorans
White Belt Yellow Tag, Noise Control

The Stags Head
Johnny Flynn, General Fiasco

Mulligan’s
Fiona Melady, Mick Flannery

Doheny & Nesbitt
Eoghan Colgan, Nat Jenkins

The Bank on College Green
Hoarsebox, The Coronas

The Brazen Head
Eoghan Colgan, The High Kings