Hugh has in recent years been commissioned in various ways to deliver verse and song. With CahootsNI he has written for Duck Death and the Tulip ( 2013 ), Pinocchio ( 2016 ), Milo’s Hat Trick ( 2019 ) and The University of Wonder and Imagination ( 2020 ). For Dublin City Council’s Dockers and Demons Halloween Festival, Hugh has written, with Donal Scullion, songs to launch the festival each year ( 2017, 2018, 2019 ) and directed the video that brings the theme of the song to life. Each year Hugh has also delivered and directed a series of monologues to be performed by local actors from the Ringsend, Dublin area. These monologues reflect the rich history of the area but often are placed in a contemporary site specific setting. This has seen performances in pubs, abandoned buildings and churches. In October 2020, three new monologue films were released that contain original soundtracks by Hugh and Henri Chevaux and can be viewed on the Home Page of this website.
“And then we came home, i couldn’t wait to get my hands on a pint and go for a walk by the Dodder with my Lizzie. But these streets, it didn’t feel like they were mine anymore. The faces, they were all the same faces but they looked at us different. Bosco McCann, he didn’t even look up when I first saw him down the pub. And as for Wacker and Shane, I know what they called us. Deserters.”
Extract from Deserters ( originally performed by Philip Murphy, The Vintage Inn, Dublin, 2017 )
The Dockers and Demons Trilogy
Episode 1:The White Demon ( 2017 )
Episode 2: The Banshee Dance ( 2018 )
Episode 3: The Terrible Revenge of Ma Bloomer ( 2019 )
“It’s too much for Mr Pidgeon. He knows in an instant exactly who they are. Somehow they know him too. A bond is built, then ripped apart as he stutters and sways, his head spinning grasping at the filthy feathery air. He falls, reaching for his daughters skinny hands and breaks his neck on the stone floor below. With just enough life left in him to see one more face. His brother Peregrine Pidgeon who mutters…..Once a Pidgeon, always a Pidgeon.”
Extract from Vincent’s story ( originally performed by Malcolm, Pidgeon House Hotel, Dublin 2019 )
The Postcards Project
Whilst touring with shows like Shh, We have a Plan in places such as China and the United States, I travel with a small synth/studio set up ( OP-1, Volca’s, Microgranny and Logic ) and try to capture samples and sounds of the people and places we meet along the way. Along with my photographs these are then turned into audiovisual postcards.
The Music of Hugh W. Brown and Henri Chevaux
“Hugh W. Brown and his occasional partner in crime, the elusive Henry Horse, present frantic electro pop with a depth of musical heritage. The 80’s, 90’s and 00’s are all referenced here, travelling from the pop simplicity of The Lotus Eaters, through to the luxurious emotional beats of Jon Hopkins. There are a few Magnetic Fields type handbrake turns in the song construction, and at times a little unnecessary noodle. Vocalist and lyricist Hugh Brown is clearly in love. Rather than merely wearing his heart on his sleeve, he has opted instead to open his ribcage and present his heart on a spike. And the accomplished musicians who make up the rest of the band support the whole construction with aplomb.”
Gerald McWilliams