THE MAX FACTOR
In which our peripatetic music man finds himself doing the lost-shoe shuffle beside the ski slopes of Idaho, then launches his long-awaited download service
FEBRUARY WAS A slightly unusual month for me in that it involved no travel. Well, I say no travel, but that’s not strictly true. What I actually meant was no international travel, as I did board a plane mid-month to fly to the magnificent snowy heights of Sun Valley, Idaho, for the wedding of my good friend Caspar von Winterfeldt to his lovely bride, Lisa Firestone.
I flew in several days prior to the big day, as a full itinerary had been planned for the whole week to accommodate the numerous
guests, many of whom had flown in from all
over the world.
The surrounding landscape is absolutely beautiful and is renowned for its excellent skiing. I’d landed late Thursday afternoon and had initially planned to hit the slopes on Friday. However, on arrival I was whisked to a welcome cocktail with all the other guests, which finally ended at 3am with several of us searching the hotel for a lost shoe. Needless to say, my best-laid plans to spend the following day skiing were soon cast aside when I arose the following afternoon nursing a very sore head. That evening, we gathered for the rehearsal dinner prior to the main event the following afternoon.
The wedding was a very intimate and emotional affair, and once it was over we went for cocktails before sitting down for dinner. Of course, the bride and groom had requested my services to ignite the dance floor when everyone had finished eating, and I was more than willing to oblige. I cranked up the volume and got all the guests – both young and old – shaking the night away to a super high-energy mix of all genres from every decade. Certainly the dance floor was on fire, so much so that it seemed it may have been a little too hot for a number of guests, including some septuagenarians who ended up gyrating on the tables!
All in all, it was a memorable three days and I headed back to LA that Sunday with just a few days to rest up and recover before I welcomed my old friend, Prestige Hong Kong Associate Publisher and Creative Director Gordon Lam, and his fiancée Tais, who’d flown in from Hong Kong for a long weekend as guests of Piaget to attend the Independent Spirit Awards, to which I’d also been invited.
Since I’m always shown such great hospitality whenever I come to Hong Kong, I was delighted to be able to return the favour and hosted a welcome dinner at home the night our guests arrived to meet and greet everyone prior to the Awards ceremony on Saturday.
The actual ceremony, which takes place the day before the Oscars, was a truly star-studded affair with the usual horde of paparazzi congregated on the red carpet outside. Very much an industry-only affair, the luncheon and ceremony were naturally attended by all this year’s nominees, as well as a host of former winners.
In addition to our hosts from Piaget and other distinguished members of the Hong Kong press, we were joined by British actress Lucy Punch, star of the Woody Allen film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, and Ben Kingsley’s wife, actress Daniella Lavender, who came with my old friend from London and LA, celebrity hairdresser Tara Smith, herself no stranger to the A-list, having styled the likes of Demi Moore, Marisa Tomei and Rosario Dawson, among countless others.
We had a very pleasant afternoon with our hosts as we were entertained by Hollywood’s glitterati, who gave some highly amusing speeches before we headed on our respective ways later in the afternoon in preparation for dinner that evening.
Of course, the big news this month on my front is the soft launch of savantsounds.com, which, due to popular demand, is finally up with a selection of mixes to download, prior to the official launch later this year. Savant Sounds is an online bespoke music service that provides new mixes on a regular basis, covering a wide variety of genres and aimed at supplying listeners with a range of sounds to suit every mood, moment and mindset. New mixes will be available each month to download, showcasing our selection of the latest and the greatest songs and sounds from around the world.
Be sure to check in each month for all the latest selections. All that remains is to wish you happy listening!
