Welcome to the second warmest part of my studio (the warmest being the booth after a 2-hour videogame recording session).

My house – and my office – is filled with furniture from the 60s and 70s. It’s that late midcentury vibe that inspired me to commission this series of illustrations from the excellent commercial artist and illustrator Katie Hounsome. Check out her site; there’s a lovely selection of vintage-style travel and transport posters there.

The aesthetic also inspired the style of voiceover for the poem, which I rewrote from a well-known Christmas classic. That old-fashioned, almost Transatlantic American accent I voiced it in lends itself well to whimsical storytelling, I hope you’ll agree. There’s a gentle undertone of crackling fire. I also added a little 1970 vinyl processing to give it some period colour (thanks, Izotope!).

Perhaps when I’ve got around to repainting this part of the office, I’ll put up a photo to directly compare Katie’s drawing with reality. The main difference is that in real life Tom and Luna would be destroying everything in sight… Which is why they make mostly fleeting forays into this space when I’m not paying attention. They’re enormously affectionate but impatient little monsters who’d force me out of the booth by causing havoc outside. Let’s face it, very few recordings benefit from impromptu script changes to include “What the hell was that crash?”

Here, in illustrated form, they’re free to do as they please.

PS. Have you seen the second Voiced by Ant Christmas ecard? Watch Tom and Luna dispel the studio cat myth here.