altotales

[altotales]

Sooo... we recorded an album

It hasn’t been released yet! I assure you I will plug the shit out of it as soon as we have a release date. But yes, we recorded 8 mighty songs in just one weekend! It was a magical time spent with such incredible people. We recorded live in a gorgeous barn on the wonderful Loop Growers farm in Samford, QLD. Jam packed with dogs, goats, a resident snake, gorgeous food, creek swims, alcohol and herbal cigarettes, it truly was unforgettable, not to mention closing the weekend with a  live performance of the full album for our nearest and dearest. There is something special about live recordings, as you are so much more forgiving towards human error, and come to appreciate the beauty of it. Not to mention, how impressive it is when the whole band manages to pull off an excellent take, which we managed... eight times... Yes, gorgeous, tight, polished studio albums are wonderful, but there is something so authentic and raw about a live album. It had always been Gav’s dream to make an album this way, and it was such a privilege to be a part of bringing it to life. 

This album has been a long time coming. I’m not sure exactly how long Old Semeil had been in existence before me, but Gav and I have been playing together for 5 years. We released the single A Brief Episode in early 2017 (which we have redone for the new album - I could not resist the opportunity given my musical improvement and substantially more expensive instrument), and during 2020 we released the singles The Messenger and Souvenirs. It was definitely hard to find the time mentally and physically to fully commit to our music, I obviously was prioritising my studies and Gav had all the aspects of real adult life to deal with. However, Gav was always writing new songs, rewriting old ones, teaching all of them to me, organising gigs, photoshoots, festival applications and so on. Believe me, we have enough songs for a whole discography of albums, but time is money baby! So yes, we have been busy, but silver linings can always be found, and luckily this year has allowed us to knuckle down, release two singles and record a whole damn album. Oh, and when I said “time is money,” I bloody well meant it! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful man to call our producer and very dear friend (you can find him here), but he doesn’t work for free! We will likely be putting together a crowd-funding initiative to help get our album out there so stay tuned for that! For now though, enjoy some pictures of our weekend captured by our wonderful drummer and calisthenics fitness extraordinaire, Steph McIntyre.

- DID I MENTION THERE WERE GOATS!!!!

[altotales]

Brand spanking new!

Hi there! Welcome to my fresh, sparkly, new blog. For those of you who are new here, I hope you enjoy your stay, and to those of you who followed musiiki it is so lovely to see your face again. I decided to make this new page as throughout my whole fourth year at the Conservatorium, I didn’t make a single post, and it seemed wrong to reinvent a page that holds so many wonderful glimpses into my student life. As this is my first post on this page, I’ll start with a little (probably a lot let’s be real) about myself before we kick on with the life updates.

My name is Sophie, I was born and raised in Cairns, Far North Queensland, and I’ve been playing viola since 2006. I am classically trained and studied under John Curro AM MBE at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music for four years. I graduated in 2019 and - thankfully - got out of there before that thing came along (you know that virus everyone is talking about). During my school years I was a part of choirs, many string ensembles and was principal viola in my high school orchestra from grade 9 through to my senior year. I also played in community orchestras and occasionally did the odd solo gig! 

I moved to Brisbane to start my degree in 2016 and it truly has been a massive journey. Meeting John and his incredible family changed my life in more ways than any of them could know. John was a great mentor and grandfather figure to me and has revolutionised my practice techniques and my performing to a place where I never could have imagined. No, I’m not some prodigy, and I’m nowhere near as good as the top young violists in the country but he taught me how to practice efficiently and intelligently, and my improvement throughout my degree was always surging upwards. He also constantly reminded me to love music, which is something we can forget when we make a career out of our passion, but he instilled that love in me and I will always hold his wisdom and love close to my heart. John was in his eighties and was always battling health issues during our time together. He would often joke about dying and make light of it, but at the beginning of my third year, he sincerely promised me that he would hold onto life until I finished my degree. The day after my final recital he passed away. It hit all of us like a tonne of bricks. He touched thousands of peoples’ lives and truly left his mark in Australian music history. I will write more about John in future posts, and I know this post is meant to be about myself but I couldn’t not include him in this as, especially now that he’s gone I feel that he is a part of me in some way - especially as an artist. 

My time at the Conservatorium was on the whole, pretty fucking awesome (there will be some swearing in this blog, if that’s not for you, thanks for stopping by). I made so many lifelong friends and was involved in so many wonderful musical experiences from chamber ensembles, to symphony orchestras, operas, musicals, and solo performance. I was also (and am still) doing the odd Australian Youth Orchestra program and am in the Queensland Youth Symphony - the top orchestra of the Queensland Youth Orchestras (founded by John in 1966!). Over the years, I’ve managed to build myself a network to the point where I am now a core member of Deep Blue, one of Camerata’s Upbeat artists, and occasionally get booked for gigs with String Source and Four Strings. And of course, the more friends I make, the more I find myself in random independent gigs for various events.

The last musical project I insist you must all know about is my folk duo Old Semeil. Made up of myself on viola/vocals and the wonderful Gavin Cook on guitar/vocals/harmonica/banjo/whatever the fuck he feels like playing that day, we have been together for 5 years and JUST RECORDED AN ENTIRE ALBUM IN ONE WEEKEND!!!!! Well, it’s missing a few overdubs, but it’s a predominantly live album so we’re about 70-80% of the way there. This year especially, Old Semeil has become an integral part of my life, and has breathed new energy into my artistry like I never could have expected. As much as I love the classical world, the fantastic repertoire and the power of playing in an orchestra, there is something truly unique and special about creating your own music and sharing it with the world. In a future post, I will talk about my mental struggles but I will say now that Old Semeil often reminds me why I still want to pursue music and why I love it so much. I can’t wait to share our album with you all!

Finally, while music has always been my first love, my wonderful little horse is a very close second. If I’m honest, the line is a little blurred at times. I decided I would own Rockstar before he was even born. I went on my first ever horse camp at Black Mountain Hideaway at the age of 10, and fell in love with this wonderful buckskin mare Verity, who was VERY pregnant. I told Suzie - the owner of the farm and a very pivotal female warrior figure for myself as a teenager - that I would have him one day. After not buying myself literally anything (including new clothes) for the three years after he was born he was mine. I trained him myself, and he helped me through my absolute best and absolute worst times throughout high school. I had to leave him up in FNQ when I moved to Brisbane, but I am so incredibly excited to say next year, he will be moving down here and we will be together, full time once again!

If you made it this far, thank you for your time! There is so much more I could (and will) write, but I think this post gives a pretty good insight into who I am and what I love. I will try my darned best to post regularly, and hopefully keep it interesting! Also, if there is anything you would like me to write about, perhaps compare an experience of mine with yours, or share my thoughts on something you don’t want to share yourself, please pop into my ask box!