Five Questions from Quarantine: Jonathan Watts
From Adelphoi Music, Head of Production, Jonathan Watts, shares his musical quarantine powerhouse, assures you that he's great at chess, and wants you to remember that live music is out there, even if you don't see it.
What's your self-isolation set-up at the moment?
I live in Brockley, SE London. I share a flat with my girlfriend who works as an architect. We have plenty of room and space to carry out our work without treading on each others’ toes - though I’m sure she can hear the faint notes of a melody repeated for the 1 millionth time! We’ve been working on some audio branding projects and have been able to continue working on productions, with musicians, composers and artists in their self set-up home-studios. There are many benefits to working in a studio directly, but it’s surprising, aside from general home distractions, how much we can still achieve working remotely.
Applications like Zoom are our current heroes of the day - helping us connect with one another! I have even managed to stream a direct line-in of the audio and the GUI (visuals) streamed of the composer's music writing application. It has worked for short bursts at a time, until the composer and music sound like a Dalek and the type of music a Dalek might listen to. Dalekstep anyone? Anyway....please don’t Google that!
It's lockdown; aside from your family, which four people, past or present, would you most like to be quarantined with?
Quincy Jones, Goldie, Gene Wilder, J Dilla.
We need entertainment, what's your favorite short film?
Here’s a music video directed by Douglas Bernardt from Stink. I miss going to gigs and in light of not being able to go to a live gig, check this performance.....
Credits
powered by-
- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director Douglas Bernardt
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Credits
powered by- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director Douglas Bernardt
- Production Service Radioaktive Film
- VFX NASH/Sao Paulo
- Assistant Director Vadim Yuzba
- Executive Producer Katie Lambert
- Producer Martha McGuirk
- Service Producer Valentyn Petyshkin
- Service Executive Producer Kate Galytska
- DP Adolpho Veloso
- Editor Lucas Moesch
- Post Producer Flavia Gannam
- Colourist Tim Stipan
Credits
powered by- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director Douglas Bernardt
- Production Service Radioaktive Film
- VFX NASH/Sao Paulo
- Assistant Director Vadim Yuzba
- Executive Producer Katie Lambert
- Producer Martha McGuirk
- Service Producer Valentyn Petyshkin
- Service Executive Producer Kate Galytska
- DP Adolpho Veloso
- Editor Lucas Moesch
- Post Producer Flavia Gannam
- Colourist Tim Stipan
You've completed Netflix. And Amazon Prime. And Disney+. It's on the hard stuff; board games. What do you pick and why?
Let’s play a game of chess. I invite anyone to join me on chess.com. Here you can pit your wits against anyone, from anywhere globally, even your mate, and of course, me! So please send me an invite so I can beat you! OK! OK! Yes. I do lose, just sometimes.
On a serious note, how do you think this situation will impact you individually, and the industry as a whole?
I am fortunate enough to be part of a group of companies that are more resilient to the current situation.
There is no huge impact in the creation of music as it’s been possible to create music from your bedroom with a laptop and speakers for many years. Yeah, there are many things we can’t do, such as not being able to capture the dynamics of an orchestra playing together in a large studio or concert hall, but it’s still possible to record musicians and vocalists in remote set-ups. It has been inspiring seeing many orchestras still finding a way to perform, one in particular, The New York Youth Symphony was forced to cancel its spring concert at the Carnegie Hall, yet all 71 members of the orchestra came together virtually:
It’s almost impossible to predict the impact, a lot depends on how long the lockdown continues and how that impacts certain brands. There is plenty of research to prove the value of advertising during an economic downturn and it makes sense for brands to find ways to stay relevant to their customers during this time. We have already seen the versatility of our industry in our ability to adapt and create engaging content with limited resources. Naturally, I think for many in the creative industries our focus will be on how we can continue to push the creative boundaries with the restrictions in place. I’m sure we’ll see some really interesting results.