Our thriving company choir loves to rehearse and perform new works, so we commissioned a company song. As the lyrics say: ‘What is old can be new. And its beauty shine through. All it takes is the vision to see. And reclaim it for you and for me.’
John Watson started playing the piano when he was nine years old and built a reputation as a professional musician, writer and composer when he left Music College. When we heard him playing we immediately knew he had a great talent. We asked him to write a song for our company and a few weeks later he came back with an mp3. We just knew “Reclaimed” song would be perfect for Katie’s voice and so we introduced them. Together they made a musical arrangement and created a great original rock ballad.
John then brought in drummer Sophie Alloway and bass guitarist Chris Rodel to provide backing.
By good fortune we found two incredibly talented people who have made it happen for us. We met Katie Ray when we heard her singing on a cruise ship and we met John Watson when he was resident pianist at a hotel in London. Together we believe they have created something magical for us.
The beautiful and talented Katie Ray performs “Reclaimed” live for guests at the PGT–RECLAIMED (AUSTRALIA) 3rd Birthday Event. Katie traveled all the way from the UK to be a part of the celebrations. Together, Katie and composer John Watson created something truly magical.
Katie is much more than just a wonderful singer. She started training in music at the age of ten and went on to train classically. She studied at the BRIT school for performing arts and at the London School of Musical Theatre, studying acting and dance as well as singing.
She appeared in a number of shows from touring Europe as Truly Scrumptious in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” to starring as Liesl in “The Sound of Music” at the London Palladium. At the same time she attended yoga classes, believing yoga gave a more rooted and grounded quality to her voice. Wanting to delve deeper into the philosophy of yoga practice she travelled to India, Thailand, America and Cambodia to study the subject and is now a highly qualified teacher in Meditation and Yoga posture practice. She also holds a BA Hons degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics from the University of London.
Sophie has been playing the drums for over twenty years, working in a variety of musical settings for a wide range of artists. She played drums for rapper Roots Manuva for two years; touring the UK, Australia and New Zealand with him, as well as appearing on the BBC’s “LaterWith Jools Holland”. She has played top festivals including Glastonbury, Hop Farm and Festival, and toured with the Michael Jackson musical “Thriller”.
Chris started playing bass guitar with bands when he was seventeen years old. He signed a singles deal with MCA Records, and had a couple of chart hits as part of the ‘Brit-funk’ scene, (one written by him). He then signed to Island Records and released an album with The Martin Ansell Band, (An Englishman Abroad), touring the album throughout the UK and Europe.
“I love everything about the music making process,” Chris told us, “from the germ of an idea of a song to the final flourish of the mastering engineer’s fader… From the opening chord of the gig to the flutters of the drummer’s brushes as the last song dies away…”.
We are so happy with the resulting song and so proud of the powerful way that it tells the story of what we are achieving at PGT-RECLAIMED!