When COVID hit I started a Radio Theatre course online with my friend and colleague Sean Quigley and we managed to produce - via ZOOM - a performance of my original comic adaptation of the famous work. Students participated from their homes in BC, AB, ON and Kenya.

ALICE (for The EARS) 2020

This Original Musical Adaptation of the classic tale was recorded with a student cast who were members of the young performance company MINIco. and distributed independently by the Theatre School, London.

Thumbelina (the song of the Beetle Prince)

1) Check Your Charts (Medical Farce)
2) Little Biting B@stards (Viral Farce)
3) Space Activation (Extra Terrestrial Love)
4) Nester James, Space Lawyer (Legal Sci-fi)
5) Defcon Pink (Family Farce)
6) Reve Incense (French Canadian Masterpiece)
7) Bandstanders (Dad's Second Chance at Stardom)

7 (Fictional) Movie Trailers

Here's one of the 3 front runners in my "which of these 7 trailers do you want to see"    You can check out the other 2 front runners here:

2) NESTER JAMES, SPACE LAWYER (https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/nl-trailer-nester-james?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)

3) BANDSTANDERS (https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/nl-trailer-bandstanders?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)

And if you're interested to the other 4 possibilities:
https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/5-fictional-movie-trailers?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

NL - Trailer CHARTS

Here's one of the 3 front runners in my "which of these 7 trailers do you want to see"    You can check out the other 2 front runners here:

1) CHARTS 
(https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/nl-trailer-charts?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)

3) BANDSTANDERS 
(https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/nl-trailer-bandstanders?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing)

And if you're interested to the other 4 possibilities:
https://soundcloud.com/nicholas-longstaff_nael/5-fictional-movie-trailers?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

NL - Trailer NESTER JAMES

NÆL

    13 followers13
    28 tracks28

Here's one of the 3 front runners in my "which of these 7 trailers do you want to see" You can check out the other 2 front runners here:

1) CHARTS
(Nicholas-longstaff_nael – Nl-trailer-charts)

2) NESTER JAMES, SPACE LAWYER 
(Nicholas-longstaff_nael – Nl-trailer-nester-james)

And if you're interested to the other 4 possibilities:
Nicholas-longstaff_nael – 5-fictional-movie-trailers

NL - Trailer BANDSTANDERS

Aiming at a place between funny and funky. 

Hope you get a kick out of this one. I had fun with the lyric, for sure, and I put in a little extra on the horn arrangement. 

Lyric: Way Over

That’s a mountain, but the range ain’t very wide
That’s a highway, and I guess it’s pretty high…
You know how it feels -- 
when your wheels don’t touch the ground?
You’re on your way over.

You know, People, prob’ly teeter on the brink.
You know people, prob’ly got it better than they think
That’s the way you know --
you got to get your one to two  
And you’re on your way… 
Over --

-- Time, distance diminishes, if we spend energy
   Jewels, not riches, make momentum seem to shrink --
   these moments in between

You’re a woman.
At least, that’s what you declare.
And listen, lady: I don’t deny. I wouldn’t dare.
‘cause I’m someone who loves someone who know knows –
just who they are.
And I’m on my way… 
Over --

-- Time, distance diminishes, if we spend energy
   Jewels, not riches, make momentum seem to shrink --
   these moments in between 

Anybody in a situation such as this
Would get their body into motion; reach your body with a kiss
Every body wants some body 
My body wants you          
And I’m on my way over.

Way Over

LYRIC: Turnaround

I jumped off the fun-go-round
	Don’t be surprised
Next time that it comes around
	Don’t close your eyes 
I’ll land both feet on the ground 
	Head in the skies 
	End the churn, I turned around

Somehow, I felt it deep inside
	Somehow, I knew it couldn’t hide
Insomuch as I know now, 
	I don’t know how, I could allow…
So much done before I tried         
	So much said before I lied
So much for now, hang up the phone, 
	hearts & minds are on their own

	Am I still the man I am?
	Can I find myself to be…
	More than I was once before
	I turned around?   Am I free?


   


Did we wait to see a sea change?
	Did we change our mind too much?
Did we cycle on, and on, 
	In endless revolution?
No synecdoche just state:
	We’ll complexly separate
Heretofore I thought we’d made 
	Leaps in our evolution

	And let’s just be frank:
	Not much left in the bank.
	Was it our boat that sank
	Or did we find we’d foundered?

Tide comes in; the change winds blow
	Now there’s no more status quo
Oh, I know, I know, I know
	I got it turned around

	Am I still the man I am?
	Can I find myself to be…
	More than I was once before
	I turned around?   Am I free?

Turnaround

My current fascination with audio environments lies partly in my ability as an artist to pattern environmental sound-creating a comprehensible, meaningful answer to aural situations in daily life. The monologues for “The I Project” exist within a definite structure, but the words are the same as those we hear in a busy restaurant or at the back of a bus. By encouraging participants to pick out voices in this manufactured crowd, I certainly hope to transmit my ideas on the nature of ‘I’, and to awaken the participant’s ears to the magic of overlapping sound in the less-constructed world of every day life.

There is such an abundance of indirect language in our society–in business, on television, radio and popular film–that we have fallen out of the practice of open, free, and direct language with others. Yet it is only through this kind of interchange that people may reach a true understanding of each other.

Understanding ‘self’ must be a constant journey of the mind–for the mind and the ‘self’ are in constant flux. It is my hope that The I Project will serve as a signpost on that journey, and that it will ultimately encourage participants to seek out an understanding of themselves and others.

 

Nicholas Longstaff has created music, texts, sound and set designs for theatre productions in London (Ontario), Richmond (BC), and Toronto. He has also created performance, video and interactive works for the Norah Vaughn Gallery, OCAD Gallery, and Trinity Square Video. His audio-visual installation The I Project will be presented during the Sign Waves Phase I series in June 2002.

photos : The I Project, courtesy of Nicholas Longstaff

Nicholas Arnold Longstaff | I Am Sitting in a Room

this is a tribute I made for my friend and Mentor Jake Levesque in London Ontario. It was a terrific event, that I had to miss because I was on the other side of the country. I hope this little tidbit gives you a sense of the enormous impact this enormously tall man has had on my life, musically and otherwise. Love you Jake

4JAKE - FromNICK

Nicholas Arnold Longstaff, a composer and sound designer with a keen artistic sensibility, is recognized for his impactful contributions to the realms of film and audio art.

Having earned awards at film festivals across the United States and Canada, Nicholas has demonstrated his skill in creating evocative music compositions and sound designs across various genres, including drama, action, comedy, children's, and horror. His recent success with the sound design and music for the 2023/24 feature "A View From Above" https://stage.leeds.ac.uk/events/the-view-from-above/ has garnered positive reception in Leeds, UK, and is set to continue its journey at festivals across Europe in 2024.

As an alumnus of the Ontario College of Art and Design and the Canadian Film Centre, Nicholas Longstaff has showcased his audio expertise at notable venues worldwide, including The Harbourfront Centre, the Fleck Theatre, ArtSystem, Circa Nightclub, Luminato, Nuit Blanche (Toronto/London), and LOLA Fest. as well as on-air with CBC Radio, CBC TV, BRAVO!, TWN, TMN, CIUT, CHRW, CKLN and ResonanceFM: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/clear-spot-2nd-march-2016-the-violent-justice-in-our-hearts/ .

Beyond film and theatre, Nicholas has composed and presented touring productions for children, staged musicals and straight plays, across Ontario, Québec, and BC. You can see his annual live musical performances at events like the Richmond Maritime Festival in Steveston, BC, Canada.

In addition to his artistic endeavors, Nicholas is actively involved in education, coaching creative expression at Nobel Academy in Vancouver, BC. His commitment to education is further demonstrated through his work with Innovative Arts in Oakville, ON, where he developed collaborative musical theatre works. During the 2000s, he ran ArtsCore school for drama and music in London, ON, and conducted workshops for educators on teaching with sound and music in Québec, China and Brazil through O.A.C.S. I.D.E.A. and C.O.D.E. 

Nicholas' music underpins the official drama/movement curriculum for the A.I.C.S., and during the pandemic, Nick wrote the bilingual French/English school song for Bastion Bobcats at Bastion Elementary in Salmon Arm, BC.

Nicholas invites you to discover the recent release of Pierrette Requier’s audiobook (which he had the honour of mixing and mastering): Les Petites nouvelles du Last Best Ouest (Published in French/English by La Nouvelle Plume https://plume.refc.ca/livres/fiche-livre/?titre=petites-nouvelles-du-last-best-ouest&ISBN=9782924237786)

Experience the artistry of Nicholas Arnold Longstaff, a seasoned composer and sound designer, and elevate your film and audio projects with his creative touch.

Nicholas Arnold Longstaff

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