what's up ?
4.1.2008 Our video for "Trees" is finished... awesome job, Emma (Biggins, Director), thanks. And thanks to the trusty bikers who turned out for us and rode with such panache. There is a bikes only version winging it's way to you all in the next few weeks guys.. via mortypost. To view it go to our video page... or find us on youtube - search for 'uk heights trees'
15.11.2007 back playing gigs in Second Life now, roughly once a week - see below for details of you how to get notifications of times and dates... also we have been making a video - before Nige got ill, he and Mike had conceived a storyboard for "Trees" for "Welcome to Life", and Nige had shot footage for it on his DVcam. As some time has now passed, we felt that it had to be finished, and we were lucky enough to find director Emma Biggins who agreed to help us shoot the remaining footage and edit it all together. It is nearly finished - details to follow on this page.
06.10.2007 We are hoping to do some more shows in Second Life at the end of this month or early next. Look for us as SL Heights (see below) in Second Life if you wish to come. Other news - we have had to take down the snocap player on our music page as Snocap no longer cater for non-US residents... sorry - you will have to go to iTunes or somewhere to audition tracks not on our music page - links on that page. We are in the process of making a video for our track "Trees" from "Welcome to Life" - we have been really fortunate in our choice of Director - Emma Biggins - who has agreed to help us out with it. the idea was originally conceived by Nige and Mike a few years ago, and though it has taken us this long to get round to finishing it, it will be sweeter for the wait. We are also gearing up to start work on a new album next year - more details to come.... slowly...
06.08.2007 well we didn't bottle out and we played our first gig without Nigel last weekend. Thank you to everyone who came and supported us, and to our hosts Brian, Linda and Kelly. And even bigger thanks to Jerry McCarthy a.k.a. J Le Bass, who helped us with our sound and with the boring task of lugging gear around. We could not have done it without you m8y, and that's a fact.... Also the rumours are true, and Mike is having drumming lessons... Claire thinks he is mad... however he could not have chosen a better teacher - Sam Green (www.drumzen.com) - Sam studied at the Guildford Academy of Contemporary Music in Surrey, here in the UK - he qualified with a distinction grade, and having heard some of the work he has done, we can see why.
28.07.2007 we are doing a short notice semi-acoustic gig on Saturday 4th August at The White Hart Public House in South Harting, near Petersfield, in Hampshire, South UK. Time will be 8PM. We hope to be back in Second Life in the autumn...
02.06.2007 we are currently rehearsing to play a few gigs in the real world - just a few public house affairs in central southern UK - if you come from that part of the world and would like to come and see us you can join our mailing list to receive updates of where and when we are playing. We will try and remember to post them here too. if we don't bottle out at the last minute, that is. We may also do a "warm up" show in Second Life, if the weather is cool enough (currently looking less likely, summer's back here..)
06.04.2007 whole mp3's of tracks from our first two albums can now be bought direct from our music page using the snocap player - the second two will hopefully be in there in a while... you can still use the links to iTunes if you prefer. Links to Emusic coming soon. We are taking a break from playing live in Second Life though it's been a laugh; thanks to everyone who came and supported us. The SL Heights platform is still streaming some of our Ambient music and we may be back playing live sooner or later... depending on the temperature in the studio through the summer...
24.11.2006 we have been playing acoustic gigs in Second Life, streaming live from the studio to both our listening platform in Dusun and other clubs on the grid. It's been a laugh and we plan to do more. Nige definitely would have approved of the whole concept, and it beats lugging amps and guitars around any day... If you want to come and see us play, and are a resident of SL, look us up in "Groups" - we are called SL Heights and you can join the group to get updates and times of future gigs. If you have trouble finding us send an instant message in-world to Mic Mahoney or Lydia Ludwig or email us here (see contact page)
8.8.2006 the link to "Absurd" at iTunes are now up - see music page or album page - Alternative Mixes 1 also on music page.
23.6.2006 the new album is up at iTunes - we've no direct link yet, but if you go to iTunes and search for - "U. Kay Hytz, An acute sense of the absurd", you should find it. We'll put up a link when we get one. Also up there is a recently remastered version of "Love's where your heart lies (Love and Intent summer thunder club mix)" with Kerry Schultz, together with the alternative mixes of Mackeral Skies, all from way back when (1999 actually, or thereabouts)
3.6.2006 Our page at CDBaby for the new album is http://cdbaby.com/cd/ukayhytz3
1.6.2006 well it seems we have ourselves a new ambient album. We have called it "an acute sense of the absurd" (one thing which Nige definitely had). More details to come - CDR's should be available mid June at CD Baby, and by September at itunes and other internet music providers. In the meantime we are intermittently streaming a preview of the whole album to our listening platform in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) - look for SL Heights under Groups, or the co-ordinates are - (Region - Dusun - 280.82.193)
11.5.2006 our pages at iTunes can now be accessed direct from this site... see music page for the links
29.4.2006 we've discovered Second Life (www.secondlife.com) - if anyone reading this is a resident, then look for us in "Groups" - we are called SL Heights - we have a small but picturesque listening platform (built by Pavl Duke...if you need a build done in SL he is your man) in Dusun where we are streaming the full version of Ambients, top to tail. And (some of) the sofas are very comfy... We are currently trying to find a way of scripting music visualization/sound to light into an SL environment.... if anyone is into SL and thinks they can help please get in touch.
28.4.2006 we made some stings and idents last year for Pulse Rated (www.pulserated.com) - Rob Bailey played a few UKH tracks on his show Pulse Lounge, so we recorded him some Show Idents by way of a thank you.. if you listen to his show at the weekend you'll hear Claire's husky whisperings between tracks. We will probably send them tracks from the ambient album that we are working on when it is finished... which is looking more likely as an eventuality (see below)... more details in a month or three.
27.3.2006 decided to keep this page going with infrequent, sporadic, un-obliged updates about UKH activities, such as they are. Get used to gaps.
25.3.2006 .. we would like to thank all our friends and supporters for the support and love they have shown us since Nigel's death 14 months ago. He would have been touched by the things that have been said about his drumming, pictures, and persona.
It has not been any easy time, and we are both still unsure as to what will be the future of the band. When Nige was in hospital and had just been told that he was dying, he said to Mike, in his inimitably ironic way, "who's yer next drummer going to be then ?"... Mike, trying to be funny, instinctively replied "dunno, there's some malingerer in hospital we have to be with, haven't had time for the auditions yet..." ..seems he knew that when the dust settled, for us, that would be a big question. UKH is, or was, nothing more or less than the culmination of a 30 year musical collaboration between Nige and Mike, and for the last 16 years, Claire too, and without him it's not the same. But his question implied continuance, and was not lightly put, as he was on oxygen and fighting for every breath. Nige was not a man of many words at the best of times, and like all the statements he made in that last week, he must have said it for a reason. So we're still struggling with that one.. no conclusions reached yet.
But in the meantime, his spirit lives on in Studio 10a in the form of all his drums and percussion toys, which he left to Mike. Had he been alive, the "band plan" was to record another ambient/chill album - when we made "Ambients" we decided to, until further notice, record an album of 'songs' followed by an album of totally arbitrary, reasonless ambience. It has increasingly seemed the right thing to do to go ahead and record another ambient album, using his instruments and the spirit of his drumming that still lingers in them. Having a band of 3 people made decision-making easy - there was always a majority in a vote - be it musical decisions, or decisions about direction and intent.... that balance has now gone, so what we come up with may turn out to be rubbish, if we finish it, which some days it seems we will, some days not...
Mike and Claire