Rouge are back with a new single – Myself – and a brilliant new self-produced video featuring the talented Polly Shields as the lead character. Shot almost entirely on a GoPro camera with a DIY bodycam contraption made by yours truly.

Mostly shot in one long day, the video chronicles the day in the life of a girl – from getting up in the morning, her thoughts, journey throughout London to a psychedelic night out in a club.

The song is the first release from the upcoming EP, the name of which I cannot divulge just yet. We launched the single on the 18th of February via a exclusive limited edition hard-copy hand-made Rouge-style release at a major gig at Nambucca in London. All 100 copies are unique, made by Becky Wixon, signed by the band and include a single artwork and a print with a written message. These can be purchased on the band’s website for £2 + postage.

Earlier this year I was very fortunate to work on a very special project with a band called Mercia. It was (and is) special to me because I got to meet some truly talented individuals, got to spend a lot of time with them and have input to their work, got to record them and mix this wonderful EP.

Mercia are essentially a duo – Simone Picknett on guitars, vocals and songwriting; and Dan Endersby on drums. Additionally, the EP features a giant of musical knowledge, heart and spirit of Tobias (Toby) Edward Hawthorne; pianos and violins by Dan Richards, marching drumming by Tom Ashcroft, and stunning additional vocals by Luke Crawford.

Simone’s writing is way too mature for her age. Augmented by a brilliant sense of melody, alternative tunings and open chords, she creates lush textures that create the basis for her beautiful storytelling. Equally, Dan’s solid drumming and Toby’s exceptional bass work all create a head-shaking and foot-stomping performance. Luke adds exceptional lead and backing vocals to Simone’s lead vocals which interleave like a elegant dance.

I’ve attended rehearsals with the band prior to the recording and we’ve done simple pre-production at my studio. With a recording plan and a schedule in mind, we went into Snap Studios for three days to track the songs. Starting with drums and bass, and working through guitars, piano, violins, vocals and percussion. One by one, every piece of the puzzle came into place.