“Maker makes good stuff happen.”
Alison Balsom has become a family friend through an association lasting longer than a decade. We’ve been proud to assist her storytelling and shifting image for a wide range of albums along the way. “The sense of Maker sniffing out the most engaging, attractive and cutting edge style is unparalleled,” says the virtuoso trumpeter.
Our films for Alison have taken various forms: in-depth Electronic Press Kits with interview, “as live” edits from the recording studio and concerts, and music videos of single tracks. They’ve all been shot in London, even the evocative Gymnopedie no 3 for the album Paris with jazz musician Guy Barker. Hugh’s long-form film for 2012’s Sound the Trumpet on Warner Classics with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert has been viewed 4.8 million times, and counting…
In addition to the films, we’ve supplied album cover photography and behind-the-scenes photography, a new website, and rebrand work including a new logo. “Maker is a Utopian organisation,” Alison continues, “Hugh Carswell leading the team is uncompromising in his search for excellence and beauty and impact no matter what the project. He is a true aesthete in every meaning of the word - ridiculously stylish in everything he does, but Maker is growing now to resonate internationally as the gold standard in making and presenting art in all its forms.”
For her 2014 iTunes Festival set at the Roundhouse in Camden - streamed to a digital audience of half a billion people - Hugh provided video assets shown on a giant, stagewide screen, and did the lighting design and live sequencing for the set.
“For me personally,” adds Alison, “I have a wide range of creative interests I'm always looking to explore, and Jane has been a fantastic and consistent source of inspiration, practical help and positivity in every one of our collaborations.
“Maker would always be my first port of call for creative ideas, inspiration and especially for results in brilliant photography, film-making, recording and design of all types.”