May 25, 2019

Sion, Switzerland

I don't think there's ever been a time in my life when my work flow has been regular. Monday-to-Friday or nine-to-five have never been phrases that have characterised my existence accurately. In my life as a performing King's Singer, I'm sure that statement seems obvious. Most mornings on tour I wake up and go to sleep in different beds. Programmes can vary from concert to concert, and our venues can be anything from Twelfth Century fortified churches (like the Château de Valère here in Sion, where we're singing tomorrow) to airport hangars and sports arenas. It's nuts, but also totally invigorating if you're ready to deal with the unexpected challenges any given day can throw at you.

What's interesting is that, just like our touring life on stage, our work lives behind-the-scenes can be just as variable. You might know that we're technically a partnership: between the six of us, we're in charge of The King's Singers business. Part of that is that we decide what our new projects, programmes and recordings are going to be and we build them, as well as performing them. Last year, once we had released our Gold anniversary album in November 2017, our main job was to tour it - the building process was done. Right now, we're at the most crucial point in building a new album - one I believe is among the most ambitious and meaningful albums the group has ever put together. It's incredibly exciting, but it also means that, in addition to the already-irregular beds and concert hours, we're working almost every waking hour of the day to make sure it's as good as possible.

I won't tell you any more about it at this point, but I'm afraid I need to get back to work! Thankfully I can see the Château de Valère out of my window, so please don't think I'm missing out on any beautiful Swiss scenery (or cheese - I have that to look forward to at breakfast tomorrow morning).