'Thousand Words' MV... 'To See Her Dance Again'...

What's up, y'all?

Hope all is well and good with you, wherever you may be in the world...

A lot has happened here in the past few weeks, so here I am to keep you up to date with it all! OKAY, let's get started!

Last week I performed for the first time in years as I took part in a charity event run by my employer group Merlin Entertainments. 'Merlin's Got Talent' was a fun little evening where people from Madame Tussauds, the London Eye, London Dungeons and the Aquarium all got together to show their stuff on stage in front of a panel of judges and the audience. It was a great night, all acts were amazing and we raised a good deal of money for charity too!

And on a personal note, performing 'Thousand Words' on stage after such a long hiatus was a truly enriching feeling.... Not blowing my own trumpet here, but everyone seemed to love it and that made it all the more special. I loved being on stage, performing for all the wonderful people that were there and the reception was truly gratifying. There will be more to come, folks!!!

Speaking of 'Thousand Words', remember the video that we were shooting for it....? Well, we haven't forgotten, oh no! In fact, my good friend, sister, director and editor, Milli has been in her editing suite beavering away at cutting a few teaser trailers to wet your appetites.... and mine! They look great and I cannot wait for the finished article and to share it all with you!

Here is the first teaser, featuring the D&B remix.....

                                             

And here's a snippet of the Behind the Scenes featurette that is also in production...

                                             

I'm truly thrilled with what we're doing right now and I'm so looking forward to sharing more with you in the near future!

In other news, as I am getting ready for the videos ever-nearer release, I have been busy writing some new material as well as going through some older stuff and it is all looking good, we have an album worth of stuff to be working on!!! Exciting times!

I have uploaded a two minute sampler of the track I'm working on now on my reverbnation site. Titled 'To See Her Dance Again', it's another really personal work that deals with (among other things) never letting go of your dreams and the things you believe in... I really hope y'all like it.... Head on over to the site, check it out and hit me up with a comment!

That's it from me for now, I'll be sure to keep you updated as soon as more juicy news is available!

Once again thank you for your support, it means the world to me and really pushes me to do the best I can. Let's keep this thing going!!!

Till next time,

Peace and Love,

CG

X

Thousand Words - Single Out Now!!!

Hey all!

It's been a while since I've been here, I hope all is well!
This is just a very quick (but important!) post to let you know that my debut single 'Thousand Words' is now available on iTunes!

I'm very happy to announce this, it's a big step for me and I never thought in a million years that when I originally wrote the song all those years ago that it would grow and evolve to the strengths it has, and that is mainly down to those who have listened, commented, fed back and supported over the years and to that, all i can say is THANK YOU. I hope the support and appreciation will continue. You have mine!

So that's ChrisG's 'Thousand Words' - EP, a 5-Track single, with remixes et al, on iTunes NOW! 

Go check it out. I look forward to creating more for you very soon. Also, why not pop over and say HI on my new website, www.chrisg-music.com. I look forward to seeing you there!

Much Love.

CGX

'Thousand Words' MV - The Shoot! Day Three

The third and final day of shooting!

After a long fourteen hour day shooting the apartment scenes everyone was bright eyed and busy tailed as they arrived at our final location, a converted factory space and home to our friends Karl and Raj, two fellow creatives and founders of the 6+6=13 Theatre Company, whose play, Repressed, written and directed by Karl, just finished a very successful run in London. You can find out more by visiting their site at www.6plus6equals13.com. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Karl and Raj for not only allowing us to use their space to film but also for their lighting which we had borrowed for the shoot. Many thanks my friends!

We all got to work straight away and started setting up shots, most of which this day would involve solo shots of myself surrounded by sheets of paper (I think I had 500 in all) trying to think of the right words to say to get my feelings across. This exagerrated, dream like sequence wasn't too far removed from reality, as I remember clearly when writing 'Thousand Words' before it had a title throwing everything I had written on the floor infront of me... Then I remember thinking "There must be at least a thousand words here and it's still not enough". That was it. That's when the lights came on and the song proper was born, and from there everything fell into place. I remember it clearly and fondly and it was nice to put that in some form in the video, it was one of the first scenes I had envisaged when coming up with the idea for the MV. I'm glad it had turned out so well.

We shot a LOT in that environment. Scenes of me standing, sitting, even laying across the paper. I think I spent more time crouching in that position than I did for the time lapse shot in Soho Square! At least it was warmer though!

Again the crew were fantastic and patient, helping out as best they could making sure everything was perfect for our director and cinematographer, Milli and Luc.

A special shout out goes to Chantal, who really didn't get a look in till the evening, but spent the entire day with us. And when the time came for her to do her thing, she did so with 200%. I am so thankful for her patience and professionalism, a true angel.

The end of the day brought us our final scenes and one of my favorites, that of me singing under the 'spot light'. I was suited and booted, tie et al, and performing the song as if to and audience, Milli filming and Chris Lee snapping away. Seun and Luc were also working hard to provide the fantastic lighting effects that gave the shot that little something extra. I feel that some of the shoots best photos came from that scene, and many of them now grace my facebook page! Fantastic work guys.

After numerous takes of singing the song and belting it out whilst various camera angles were being explored, Miss Lo finally called a wrap on filming! Everyone was so happy (and a few I think relieved!) that we made it, it was an exceptionally busy weekend, and I truly couldn't, and still can't thank everyone enough. We got together for another photo, alas minus Tom and Ellie, who had to leave early.

Truly, a thousand words are not enough to express my thanks to these guys, I couldn't have got this far without them, and for that I am truly grateful. BUT! The project is not at an end yet! We are now in post with it and I cannot wait to see what we come up with. I have had an amazing experience creating with the team and would do it all over again! For now, watch this space and I will keep you updated as and when the project develops further.

For the time being, don't forget to check out my artist page over at www.reverbnation.com/cdgmusic to listen to an earlier version of 'Thousand Words' and more, if you like what you hear, become a fan, share on facebook and join the mailing list! It all helps!

Till next time,

CGX

'Thousand Words' MV - The Shoot! Day Two

Hey all!

I hope this day finds you well and happy, wherever you are...
We are still well into post-production on the 'Thousand Words' MV, as Director/producer/editor Milli Lo beavers away amid her own personal and University projects. Her hard work never ceases to amaze me.

And so onto Day Two of the shoot! One week after the horrid cold of the outside world, we arrived at our first interior location, the 'Apartment'. This was going to be used to set the scene as mine and Chantal's living space and a multitude of shots were planned to take place, from single shots to couple shots and a few 'phantom shots' where we were both in the scene, but I wasn't 'there', but unfortunately, as much as our Make up and Stylist for the shoot Becky Hall wanted, there was gonna be NO shower scene!

The day started with a complete redressing of set, as the spacing and general layout wasn't as we would of wished (I won't tell you how worried I was in terms of space when I first arrived!). This lasted around an hour, then as Chantal wasn't due to arrive till the afternoon, I get suited up for my first set of solo singing shots, Becky on hand to make sure I looked (at least remotely) handsome!

Space and lighting were a definite issue this day but the team were as fantastic as ever overcoming these obstacles, our master cinematographer and DOP Luc worked tirelessly and along with Seun and Ellie lending their very capable hands, we were able to set up the shots to the best we could. As always Lordio of the Audio Tom was there, as well as Will and Chris, making sure they captured the proceedings on film.

After the solo shots, Chris Lee decided it would be time for an impromptu photo shoot featuring the retro mic stand I brought along for the third day of the shoot. Why not break it out early, eh?

And our leading lady arrived after a hard day at work, spending no time to rest, got straight into make up and ready to film! We shot tonnes of couple scenes, from having a snack together (not sure if it was breakfast, who has croissants and plums for breakfast?!) to getting cosy on the sofa and even a 'under the covers' scene, but nothing like that, you dirty minded people! You'll have to wait for the video to see the results!

Then into the 'phantom' scenes. The effect we were after was one of myself not actually being there, singing to Chantal in the background as she carries on with her day. I think it worked, and some of the scenes looked real nice. I cannot wait to see how it is all edited together!

Before we knew it, it was late evening and we had been working for over twelve hours (not without a break for food, I'm not that unreasonable!) and we had decided to call it a day, happy with what we got, which was a LOT.
With the majority of the crew departed and on their way home, we shot some quick 'mini interviews' with myself, Chantal and Milli, hoping to catch something to add to our 'Making Of' short that we plan to release sometime soon before the MV...

And so came the end of a long, hard working day, nearly 14 hours for some people! Again a huge thank you to the team at Chronicle Studios, couldn't have done it without you!

Photography in this blog provided by Chris Lee.

See you soon for a run down of the third and final day of shooting!

Stay safe and well,
CGX

'Thousand Words' MV - The Shoot! Day One

Hey all!

It's been a week since the shoot for my debut video 'Thousand Words' wrapped. I cannot tell you how happy I am with the hard work and dedication of the crew and my fabulous leading lady, and the fact that we are even shooting a video for this, my most personal piece of work, makes me all the more proud.

                                    

Yesterday I ventured to director/dear friend/adopted sister Milli Lo's house to meet up with the crew and watch all the footage that was shot, a kinda raw 'premier' if you will. I have to say, I am extremely happy with what we have, both for the video and the behind the scenes feature that we are planning along side, shot by Will Oakley, a comedy genius in the making with his sidekick and our sound engineer Tom Fuller providing us with all sorts of bizzare insights into what we were doing on set. More of that to come...

For now I will go back to the first day of the shoot, our exterior shots in central London. Wow, what a cold day it was! Chantal and myself arrived fashionably late as we stopped off at our old place of work to see our make up and hair stylist Becky Hall who sadly couldn't join us that day. After saying my apologies, we cracked on straight away with our first shots! First location, Soho Square!

Now, neither Chantal or myself are trained actors nor have we had vast experience infront of the camera (I gained some in my recent trip to HK where I met up with film maker extrordinaire Maria Tran as she was filming her own project, I ended up on camera quite a bit and y'know, I quite liked it!) so we were a tad nervous to be honest! But knowing this amazing woman for nearly seven years and having a friendship that seems much longer made acting with her so natural and right. Chantal knows the song almost as intensely as I do and I didn't want anybody else for the project but her.

Even the director was pleased with how quickly we bagged our first few scenes and how well the day was moving. Onto some solo shots and my first 'singing' scenes...

My first solo shots included a lot of static 'moody' scenes of myself staring into the distance, looking pensive and even with a crew of ten around me, two with cameras, I found it easier than I thought. Might be because I intentionally envisaged a Tony Leung Chiu Wai MV in which he stands there doing next to NOTHING. Great song though.

Next were the singing shots. Again, this was all new to me, being filmed, sound technician Tom next to me with my song playing out the speakers of an ipod dock, but I knew what I wanted and I just started performing...

After lunch at a nice (but fairly expensive) restaraunt in Chinatown, we headed back to the park in Soho Square for the 'time lapse' sequence. I fear these words now! The plan was originally to sit there for an HOUR and not move, or, if I moved at all, VERY VERY slowly so when the footage was sped up it would have the desired effect that Milli wanted.

Here's where I feel I failed a little, coupled with my gung ho 'I've never done this before but I CAN' attitude and the feezing cold weather I feel I bit off a bit more than I could chew. After around five minutes my eyes were streaming as I wasn't blinking properly and my hands were starting to turn blue! All in all I ended up shooting about 30 minutes worth of footage. I hope Milli can use it, I wouldn't want that ordeal to be in vain!

That done and a warm drink for everyone we continued to get a few more singing shots and some more 'couple shots' of Chantal and myself. It was getting a little late in the day, the temperature was dropping further and we were losing light, but we all battled on regardless.

We finally wrapped in the early evening and had a group photo (minus our awesome runner Ellie who had to, well, run off!). This was a rare chance to catch our fantastic commercial and production photographer Chris Lee on camera as he was doing a stunning job of snapping the entire day. I think on day one alone he took in excess of 1200 photos! All the pictures that grace this page right now are his work.

I would also like to thank the rest of the cast and crew at this point, my co-star Chantal, production assistant (and StreetFighter 4 expert) Seun, Will, Tom, Ellie, Chris Lee, our amazing and non-stop hard working cinematographer Luc, Becky for making us look good and of course Milli who was astounding in all aspects of the production. You can direct me anytime, Ah Mui!

For more insight into the first day from the directors perspective, head on over to Milli's page and check out her side of the story (I don't know where the story of me getting lost halfway through the day came from though....).

Thanks for reading folks, and that was just the first day! I had such an amazing time working on this production and I cannot wait to share the finished product with you all.
For now, please don't forget to head on over to www.reverbnation.com/cdgmusic to hear my music and for some more updates on what I'm up to!

Day Two and Three recap to follow shortly...
Signing out,

ChrisG

'Thousand Words' MV... Part One

Evening all,

This is the first in a series of updates detailing the adventures and exploits of an intrepid band of artists and film makers all pulling together to make my vision of a music video for my song 'Thousand Words' a reality.

The song itself I wrote nearly six years ago and it still holds the same impact and feeling now that it did all that time ago. It's like having my very own time machine. Over the years people have come into contact with the song and have taken their own thoughts and feelings from it and the response has always been good.

 This is something that touches me deeply and I am so pleased and grateful that I have been blessed with this song and the chance to share it with the world, this little piece of my heart and soul, and that six years on it is still making waves and speaking to people from all walks of life. This is the overwhelming power of creativity and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

So now I am even more thrilled and excited to take the song to the next level by filming a video for it with my good friends Milli Lo, Chantal and a crew of equally talented and passionate film makers. These guys have all put in a lot of hard work before the shoot had already begun and I am glad they are on my side. I couldn't have got this far without them!

Last week we all got together to have one last pre-production meeting before the shoot took place (which was today! More updates about that soon!) to talk about the final details and making sure everyone knew what the project was all about.

 It was great to meet everyone and to share my vision and passion with them. I know I got really excited and animated when I was talking!

I truly cannot wait to share more of this experience with you as events unfold, and don't worry, I will! For now I want to say a BIG 'Thank You' to the crew, Milli, Chantal, Becky, Ellie, Tom, Will, Luc, Shaun and Chris Lee, who cannot be seen in these pictures as he is the maestro behind the camera. You cannot hide though, Chris!

More news and pictures soon, folks!

In the meantime, please don't forget to head on over to my music page at www.reverbnation.com/cdgmusic to listen to 'Thousand Words' and more of my tracks. Your support means a lot. And a final work from our hard working director, Miss Melissa Lo...

Stay creative, people!

ChrisG, signing out.

CGX

Enter the Kettlebells (A.K.A. Am I Trying To Kill Myself?!?)

Woah.... I must be crazy. I've just completed my first ever Kettlebell circuit (why did I wait this long to pick these little bad boys up? I'm not sure...!) and I honestly feel I was going to black out; even sitting here writing this, protein shake taken, heart rate back to normal, my vision is blurry and starry.... But I feel fantastic! 

Surely that's not right?

I'm normally one for the 'conventional' exercises, squats, push ups, chin ups and some dumbell work for my puny arms, and I do know the importance of 'switching up' to keep your muscles guessing and not settling into a routine where they're used to everything and stop growing. 

But this was TOTALLY different. Every move was something I wasn't truly used to, even if they were variations of exercises I've become accustomed to. I loved the changed. I loved the challenge. I know at some point over the next few days I'll silently be cursing the toll this change will take on my muscles! I want to master these new moves, become one with the kettlebell and incorporate it into my workout ethic and regime... 

And learn not to drop them mid-exercise.... They nearly went through the floor! 

I apologize in advance to my friends and colleagues that may hear me comment on how sore I am, but know that deep down inside I'm secretly enjoying this pain.... Yeah, I'm a sicko.

In other news, this weekend is the final weekend of pre-production meetings for the "Thousand Words" MV project! I'm so excited! Storyboarding on Saturday and BIG group meet up on Sunday! Can't wait to meet everyone!

Have a fantastic Friday everybody. You'll be hearing from me soon. And if the kettlebells start doing there thing, maybe you'll be seeing more of me soon! Haha! Okay, that was a joke, sorry!

I'm gonna lie down for a bit now. Stay creative!

Fighting!

CGX

                                                          

Work Hard, Play Hard, Work Harder!

First of let me start by telling you how I'm feeling right now....

SORE. VERY SORE.

I trained like an animal yesterday, wanting so badly to get back in shape for this year and all the exciting things to come so, pain aside, I'm feeling petty good. Just SORE.
Right, that's that out of the way!

Also, I would like to say a big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" (or "CHUC MUNG SINH NHAT" in Vietnamese) to a dear friend and fellow creative, Maria Tran.

I met Maria on my travels in HK earlier this month, a fellow intern at B&E Productions, home of the great Bey Logan as she was on her own travels with her project "Quest For Jackie Chan".
The "Quest" is an amazing multimedia project that not only focuses on Jackie (I am also a big fan) but on the nature of modern film making and the differences in generations in the creative industry, not just in HK but all over the globe.
My humble words cannot do Marias work justice, so feel free to check out and follow her adventures here.
I was honoured to meet such a talented and inspirational individual on my journey, who added so many dimensions to not just my travels, but to my creative way of thinking and life in general!
So, Miss Tran, wherever you are in the world, Happy Birthday and I'll continue to support you!

Talking of creatives, I'm off to meet my partner in crime and director of my MV project, Milli Lo. I've known Milli for coming up to two years, as we both worked at Madame Tussauds, London at the time. She has become somewhat of an adopted little sister, hence calling her "Ah Mui" and we share a lot in common, creatively and at times culturally (those who don't know me that well should note I'm a big fan of Hong Kong Film and TV, and Milli often knows what I'm talking about, when nobody else does!).

                                                           

Milli has just started her MA in film making and as her "Dai Go" (older bro) I'm very proud of her accomplishments thus far and wish her all the best in the future! We are just about to go into pre-production of my début music video "Thousand Words" which can be heard over at Reverb Nation. Become a fan!

Milli is showing her usual flair and talent when it comes to this project and I am glad that when it comes to vision, we are seeing more or less the same thing. I am very happy to be working with her on this project, as it means a lot to me personally and I know I have the right person on my side who can deal with the aspects that I cannot (which is probably most of them!). A massive THANK YOU to Milli for all the work she has put into the project so far, and we haven't even begun shooting yet! Look forward to more news, snippets and even a 'Behind The Scenes' featurette coming your way soon! Exciting times!

I'd like to sign out by saying a big thank you to everyone who has been behind me, my music and this project, from day one to now, fans new and old. It means a lot. Let's keep this going!

I'll be updating you guys soon. Stay safe.

CGX

Enter the.... Tiger? From the city of dreams to dreams in the city...

Hello world!

Chris here, on my very first blog!!! How exciting, how green am I?
Just thought I'd start things by talking a little about how I got here, to my very own little corner of the blogging world.

A lot of you may know, some may not, that I'm a singer/songwriter (among other things!) and I have a few songs recorded at a demo stage, around twelve, I think! Those that have heard some of them have been very supportive of what I have done, and for that I am grateful. What have I done with these, you ask? Until this point, tragically, nothing.

For some reason my creativity took an extended holiday and I sadly got caught up with the 'normalities' of everyday life, just going along with the flow with the millions of Londoners doing their routine day in, day out. Now, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but that's just not me. I had an epiphany of sorts about two months ago regarding this, my music and, ultimately, myself. Time to do something about it, the little voice in my head was screaming... In Cantonese if I remember correctly.

So I decided to take my most personal work, and, seemingly everybody's favourite track of mine, 'Thousand Words' and re-record it, get a video shot to accompany it, get it on the web and see where we go from there.
A lot of this blog and the posts that follow will follow this process, from the recording and the production of the video.

As I am writing this, a little over a month down the line, I have a renewed vigour. I have just returned from Hong Kong, my favourite place in the world and had the most amazing and inspirational time. I met the most influential and creative individuals there, and they deserve a post all of their own, which will come in due course, worry not!

On my return from my city of dreams I wanted more than ever to make my own dreams into a tangible reality, the feelings and emotions i felt back then and feel now shared with you guys, with the world.
This is the start of my new, renewed journey.

Jump on and enjoy the ride.

Speak soon.
CGX