catharine buchanan
Or, to borrow a title, Desperately Seeking Catharine Buchanan.
Somewhere between 1989 and 1991, while Vera and I were living in Fishers Lane just off Chiswick High Road, I worked with Catharine Buchanan. We were both published by Warner Chappell at that time and somebody there suggested we hook up.
Quite the artist, Catharine is a distant relative of the US Admiral Buchanan, mother in Florida, a quirky mix of Ivy League and Artist-in-the-Garret, she came to London via 80's New York. She'd had a hit with a dance track produced or remixed by Jellybean Benitez. There was some history or friction with Madonna, don't know what exactly.
In London she was living a very bohemian lifestyle, in a council tower block with her boyfriend in Soho and hanging out with a crowd who seemed very preoccupied with narcotics. There always seemed to be some turbulence or drama in her life, usually involving love or lack of money. I think it was this drama, and the emotional pitch she was living at, that provided a rich seam for us to explore musically. Very different to her 80s pop/dance stuff.
For all the tremors happening outside our "studio-world", she was great to work with. Fascinating and very creative. We did quite a bit of sampling and manipulation and created a very fragile, textured music. It's very honest and vulnerable, and yet, with a clear determination and purpose. I still love it.
I really can't remember why we fell out. Around that time she wrote me this amazing letter - hand illuminated. It's beautiful. I wish I could remember why we didn't carry on. It was also around this time Vera and I were experiencing our own financial crisis. I had to work hard and had a couple of albums to produce. It's entirely possible we just lost momentum while I was working on other projects and the opportunity faded.
I saw her a few years later, by which time my studio was based in Soho and she was living in Camberwell and working as a florist in Claridges.
I have been wanting to make our work available on the site and have been trying to track Catharine down for the past 5 years or more. I have tried all the old contacts - our publisher at the time, people she knew or worked with - Steve Severin, the florist at Claridges. I have trawled the web every couple of months, phoned or emailed or messaged through facebook countless Catharine Buchanans around the world. Has anyone seen her? Are you out there Catharine?
In the meantime, I couldn't wait any longer. These tracks need to be out there in the ether. Liah Cheston at the Cutting Room in Stockholm mastered the tracks and now they are available as downloads. Hope you like them as much as I do.
Catharine - please get in touch!