The Hydrant, Brighton, 19th March

Before I go and do my long awaited recording sesh, here is a couple of videos from the Hydrant show supporting my good mates the Fusion. First one is Are You Listening...

Then I played Daydreamer to finish with

Thankyou to my lovely Bianca for all the camera work. More videos to come soon and will keep you updated on the recordings coming very soon.

Also please do go my myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lewismckale

Interestingly...The Blind Busker

Before I begin, would just like to say a huge thankyou to all of you that came to see me down the Hydrant last Saturday. I had a great night playing with The Fusion and all the other supports. I played some new material and there are videos that will be uploaded very soon...watch this space.

So the start of 2011 has been rather interesting. When I'm not being an actor, director, writer, musician...basically when I need to earn money! I work at the Blind Busker pub on Church Road in Hove. I started working there at the beginning of January.

Interestingly, the pub is named after Harry Knowles who is a local legend of Brighton. Also known as Blind Harry. Harry was born in 1861 in London and then moved to Brighton where he met his wife Alice and he entertained at various places in Brighton such as The Ship Hotel and on Brighton Beach where the peace statue now is.

Even more interestingly...a year ago, I played a younger version Harry Vowles in a solo performance in Bite Size's Echos Of Brighton for the Brighton Fringe Festival 2010.

Again..INTERESTINGLY...Some of Harry's relatives came and watched my last night and I had the pleasure of meeting them. They came and greeted me after the show and I was rewarded with a lovley picture of Harry in a frame from them and we chatted about Harry for a bit (you will have to excuse my tash, I grew that myself)

To describe this experience..I would say interesting but if this was a "interseting" drinking game you would be legless by now! But this is definatley one of the most inspiring moments in my career, to have done a show about someone who actually existed and then to be greeted by his family is trully a memorable experience for me. And working in the Blind Busker makes me think of this experience always.

Here's a review of the whole show, please check it out
http://fringereport.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/echoes-of-brighton/
Also many thanks to Mike Stubbs for putting up with me for countless hours directing me. Trully a great guy to work with and many thanks to Nick Brice. Also a special thanks to Alex Childs and Israel Oyelumade who were fantastic to work with, it was an honour to work with such great actors.

Check out more info about Bite Size: http://www.bite-size.org/

Please come down to the Blind Busker! I work there quite a bit, you may find me generally running around and bothering customers. I will be nice to you if I serve you. The Blind Busker pub in on Church Road in Hove. Go to the website for more info at http://www.pub-explorer.com/esussex/pub/blindbuskerhove.htm

Supersonic Shed..it's not like going downhill naked on a sled!

Matt Whistler has only one more day left in his Supersonic Shed. He has been left for one month in solitary confinment...well almost...I went in and paid him a visit almost a week ago armed with a guitar to help him write  a theme song. And here is some footage of the two of us hanging out in the shed.

http://www.justin.tv/supersonicshed/b/280592311Please watch the video, please excuse some of the pauses but if you wanna hear our song then skip to 26.00.

Matt will be escaping from his shed on Saturday at 1.30pm! Go to www.mattwhistler.com for more information on what he will be doing next.

In other news, I will be playing a gig at the Hydrant on the 19th March supporting my very good friends The Fusion (www.myspace.com/thefusionbanduk)

It's Free entry, so what is your excuse?? And I may even add the Supersonic Shed theme to the set list maybe...? Come and find out.

Return From The Supersonic Shed! (Whatever happend to Father Ted?)

Well I just got back from Matt Whistler's Supersonic Shed..being the first visitor to enter! And it was great to meet Mr Whistler in person after seeing many of his Christmassy antics on youtube.

Incase you haven't seen the footage, look no further

I had originally planned to wear red jeans as a tribute but it was wash day so no luck with that unfortunatley.

He gave me a tour around the shed and showed me everything from the Polly the Polythene Parrot to the toilet...and he let me have an energy ball which kept me in rather good spirit for the whole experience.

I came along with my guitar and Matt helped me write a theme tune for his Supersonic Shed..keep your ears as well ears your eyes peeled folks..could be a future Christmas number 1 in the making right there!

I even mentioned that I may add the track cleverly entitled "Supersonic Shed" to my set list at my up and coming gig with The Fusion at the Hydrant on March 19th.

Footage of me in the shed with Matt Whistler will hopefully be seen in the future but for now go to his website and follow what he's doing at www.mattwhistler.com

He is a lovely guy who had some very nice things to say on his facebook afterwards.

A Visit To The Supersonic Shed!

Happy Belated New Year to you all!

Things have been slightly quiet but exciting things are on their way! Keep Your eyes peeled..literally!

Today, I will be going to the Supersonic Shed to visit Matt Whistler! If you don't know who he is, just a quick bit of info about him. He's a comedian from Brighton who got famous overnight for running around Hanover over December time during the snow..completley starkers!! It appeared on youtube and recieved many hits, then eventually got banned from youtube (but can be seen on vimeo!).
After becoming an internet star, he then decided to frolic around Brighton once again in Christmassy lingerie promoting Surfing Bird to get to christmas Number 1. (eventually coming number 3..I think? Can't really remember as I personally admit I wanted Biffy Clyro to get to number 1..sorry Matt)

Now he has been trapped in a supersonic shed and I am going to pay him a little visit today and have a bit of natter.

You can see live coverage from his website at www.mattwhistler.com

As things have gone quiet..

I thought I would post a blog as I haven't done so for a while. I've been keeping myself rather busy with more songwriting and doing gigs. The Duke went rather well, so well that I have myself another gig on the 23rd of November which is a Tuesday Night, at The Duke in Shoreham By Sea once again supporting my very dear friends The Fusion. Please check them out they're absolute ace and I am very excited for playing with them.

 

I now also have a myspace page now. Please check it out and please add if you could. http://www.myspace.com/lewismckale

There is music to follow very soon, tracks which I will be playing at the up and coming gigs I have. Tracks such as Day Dreamer, Are You Listening?, One Of These Days, Playing With Myself and another couple of untitled tracks, one of which I will be getting together with Mr Dan Mitchell to record for "Vintage Stuff" very soon.

That's about it but please check out my myspace page for up and coming gigs and a facebook page to follow very soon.

New Ditties On The Way...

We unfortunately didn't win the Pembury film festival but Rhys does have further plans for The Games We Play and this is just the first of many fantastic things to come.

Next week I will be recording some new material, there will be a myspace page to follow so you can hear them there. One of the tracks I'll be recording will feature in a short film that is to be shot in December, directed by Dick Douglass in his directional debut. The short is entitled "Vintage Stuff", more info will follow in the near future.

In the meantime...I will be playing my new tracks on the 9th of November down the Duke Of Wellington in Shoreham By Sea (just a 10 minute train away from Brighton). I would for people to come down for a drink or a few and check out the new tracks and tell me what you all think, it would be most appreciated!

See you there!

Games We Play at Kent College and Pembury Film Festival 2010!

I've just been informed by Mr Rhys Bendix-Lewis that Games We Play has just made the shortlist for best film at the Kent College and Pembury Film Festival! It will be shown next Monday afternoon on October 18th. It is very exciting news for all of us indeed!

Go to this website for more info and there is also a downloadable programme for the event:
http://www.pembury.org.uk/

N@T

Okay I keep posting blogs about previous work I've done but I have been getting rather nostalgic lately and I will get to what I'm currently doing so far.
This is another short film I was involved with last summer, another interesting experience with short films. Before this I had been involved with a few shorts but they were mostly student productions. N@T, directed by Br1, was my first professionally made independant short and it was scary going into it at first I must admit...

...I didn't know anyone on this production, the crew, actors..no one. I had auditioned and only met Bruno, the director, only once. But after the first day it was great, some of the actors already knew each other but made me feel very welcomed. I honestly had no idea how this film was going to be made, back then I had only worked on student films and mostly theatre work. But when I arrived on location, I was how professional everything was, the equipment, lighting, sound and how professional everybody was.

I play Joe, an IT student who it Nat's best friend. Nat meets Max online, they become close and decide to meet. Joe who has his suspissions about Max warns Nat not to go meet him. After disagreeing with him Joe decides to go with Nat and that's when they make a shocking discovery...

 

I especially love this particular part in the film, we're suppose to be walking down the street and having a conversation. The conversation is completley improvised, when you see this, you will be able to notice that my lunch inspired my conversation a lot!

 

And this is the N@T team. A lovely bunch of people to work with. Thanks to all involved. Emma O'Sullivan, Lisa Fernandez, Eliose Burgess, Faye Bishop, Adam Walker and Br1. And also a special thanks to Mary Drake and Peta Taylor for also being lovely to work with and Musumeci Domenico for all the fantastic photography.

N@T is almost complete and is to be premiered at the Duke Of York's Cinema in Brighton some point in the near future...

But until then, you can watch the full film in all it's glory. Enjoy!

The Games We Played

Before Lights, Camera, Ransom! This was a short film I was involved with last year, this was how I met Rhys as a director. The Games We Play is a short film that was written by Chris Taylor and the script was a winner of a competion for the End Of The Pier Festival which is an international short film festival held in Sussex run by Bryan Gartside.

I play one of the main character's mates who are involved in an evil bet. Oh and I didn't mention in my last blog, I haven't really mentioned what I actually look like, that is me on the left. Yes I definatley have a lot more hair now as you may have seen in the pics for LCR. In the middle is Tom Clear playing the main villain and on the right is Matthew Winters playing the other sidekick.
Originally I auditioned for Tom's role but he got it and I was actually pleased because I knew he suited it more and I felt happy playing the sidekick and it was a fun role too. It was fun because I'm used to playing nice guys or heroes (would you believe it!).
James Lane who worked with us, a very good camera man indeed, commented on this particualar scene in the picture above and said that my role in this part was very "Benny Hill". I found that an interesting comment indeed!

A quick low down of the story...and again I won't give away any of the suprise endings...and no there aren't any zombies this time! Amy (Arzhia Habibi) is an insecure teenage girl who decides to tag along with her cousin on a night out to try and fit in with a popular crowd. Unable to get into a club, they all find themselves in a dingey old pub to be encountered by some boys. Amy is approached by Simon (Tom Clear) who appears to be a nice guy...or is he?

It was quite a long process, there were ups and downs with the filming process and it caused a bit of a delay in the filming. But there was never a moment where I felt I had to go back to playing a character again, when there were moments of not filming Games We Play and then going back to it, it never felt forced, the company was great to work with and I enjoyed every moment.

The short premiered at the Connaught Cinema in Worthing and it was a fantastic experience for all of us, seeing it on the big screen was very exciting..as well as freaky seeing myself up there. I found myself feeling very nervous about all this and honetsly wondered how the production would look on the big screen.
It was fantastic working with the company who were all brilliant and worked hard, great performances from Hannah Brain, Amy Crosby, Stephanie James, Courtenay Thomas, Natalie Nelson, Dick Douglass and sorry to anyone who else I've forgotten to mention but you were all fantastic too!

And also..as I may have forgotten to mention in my last post, a big mention to Lisa Thorne who provided make up for both Games We Play and LCR. I have worked with Lisa before mnay years ago and remembered how awesome her make up was!

But that is not the end for the short...Games We Play is to be featured at many other film festivals in the near future so I will keep you posted...

Lights! Camera! ...Ransom!

So I would like to begin my first blog by talking about a short that I finished a couple of weeks ago directed by the fantastic Rhys Bendix-Lewis entitled "Lights, Camera, Ransom!". It is based on an idea that Rhys had whilst at university.

This is pretty much one of the funniest experiences I've had making a short film although I wasn't involved in the zombie scenes. Yes, there are zombies in this ransom movie but I won't give away any of the suprise endings.
Rhys origninally created the backbone of the story and in the rehearsal process, the cast and myself were given the task of completly improvising characters and dialogue. It's been a fun process and although I've only seen snippets, I am very excited about seeing the completed film.  

 

I play a kidnapper, Max, who works alongside Johnny (Tom Clear). Max and Johnny work for Lenny (Dick Douglass) who orders them to kidnap Caroline (Natalie Nelson) and then asks them to make a ransom video. Max being the ambitious Hollywood style director wants to create the greatest ransom movie of all time...with Zombies! Also starring Kirsty Jeffery as Lenny's daughter who happens to return home whilst the cinematic masterpiece is being filmed!

I won't give away much more but the short is now in the process of being edited. Viewings for the short are unknown but I will keep you posted.