Category: Blog

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Static Flux with Zoë Strachan

Static Flux – a radio art and performance collaboration

Zoë Strachan and I first produced Static Flux as a live studio broadcast for Radiophrenia in 2017. The work was then selected for a live performance at  Hidden Door Festival  2018.

Programme Note

Static Flux focuses on out-of-time memory states, and how they can be both static and in flux. We are interested in exploring narrative and time through chance encounters with remnants, fragments and the ephemera of past lives. Metaphors for our endeavour include the remnants found in second-hand bags and the pockets of clothing, or in notes scribbled on the back of black and white photographs. There is a melancholy air to these things, but as with any kind of haunting, also the potential for fear, and for deeper connections with our own sense of mortality.

@zoestrachan
@NicholaScrutton

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Building a Nation | Martin O’Connor

Building A Nation eflyerCollaboration as composer/sound designer with writer/theatre-maker Martin O’Connor on his solo show Togail Nàisean/Building a Nation. We toured as part of a double bill with Aisling Oidhche Meadhan Samhraidh/A Midsummer Nights Dream (performed by Daibhidh Walker, directed by Liz Carruthers).

The tour visited venues in  Lewis, North Uist, South Uist, Skye, Isle of Mull, Glasgow, Edinburgh. In 2018 the work had a performance at Tramway, Glasgow. Read more about it at Martin’s website here.

 

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Sonic Bothy Updates 2017

Sonic Bothy Review

Sonic Bothy Glass-instruments
Photo courtesy of Sonic Bothy.

Sonic Bothy Ensemble’s first gig of 2017 at Mono in Glasgow gets a wonderful review from The Cusp Magazine. Read the full review here…

Sonic Bothy recording 1

Sonic Bothy Ensemble have been in residence at Riverside studios recording tracks for a forth coming album.

Paritor Award – Sonic Bothy was one of several Glasgow Life/City Council partnered projects submitted to the National Music Council Awards, and received the Paritor Award for New Music in Education. Read more about the Paritor Award and other winners at the National Music Council website.

Sonic Bothy Ensemble, Sound Festival

Performances include: Recital Rooms, City Halls, Glasgow, Mono, Glasgow, CCA, Glasgow, UNLIMITED, Tramway, Glasgow, ISME conference, RCS, Glasgow, SOUND Festival, Aberdeen, Atelier Public #2, GoMA, Glasgow, Counterflows Festival, The Glad Café, Glasgow

More Information

For more information on Sonic Bothy Ensemble, and all the charity’s activities, please visit Sonic Bothy’s website.

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Sura Medura Exhibition

Sura Medura Exhibition

A Sura Medura exhibition is running from 21st April to 19th May 2017 at The Briggait in Glasgow. The exhibition includes a range of work by artists who have been artist-in-residence at Sura Medura in Sri Lanka.

Wave Shift, a new work made in collaboration with artist and illustrator Natasha Russell, is premiered as part of the Sura Medura exhibition. Read more about Wave Shift

 

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Wave Shift | Natasha Russell

Wave ShiftWave Shift was originally an experimental audiovisual collaboration with artist and illustrator Natasha Russell in response to the ideas and situations we encountered on the UZ Arts Sura Medura Residency in Sri Lanka. Natasha and I were in residence from October – December 2016, along with Sumit Sarkar and other visiting artists. Following the installation I re-worked Wave Shift into a stand alone composition.

During our post-residency collaboration, Natasha and I were interested in the way an understanding of the experience of a place shifts over time, between people, even at the drop of a hat. We decided to weave decaying memories, slippery facts and shifting folklores through sound and print to form a portable set that melts place and atmosphere into an imaginary landscape.

Wave Shift At The BriggaitIntegrating with the structure and printed visual landscape with the set, my Wave Shift audio was projected into the space as an immersive, abstract, evocative soundscape. Source materials for the work included a selection of field recordings captured during the residency and vocal sound recordings. Both the main thread of sound that underpinned the work, composed with a series of hydrophonerecordings, and the form, which unfolds as a series of wave-like emergences, draw on myriad notions of water as a bridge between real and fictional landscapes.

The installation was exhibited in 2017 at Sura Medura Exhibition, The Briggait, Glasgow and then Summerhall, Edinburgh

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Seasonal Yoga Academy 200hr Yoga RYT

Registered Yoga Teacher

I completed my Seasonal Yoga Academy 200hr teacher training in March 2017 and am now a Registered Yoga Teacher. The range of practices are a very natural extension of my creative sound and voice explorations. The yoga practice feeds directly into the work in a very holistic way.

Many thanks to everyone at the Seasonal Yoga Academy and to all the wonderful people I have met and shared experiences with on the journey so far.

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Sura Medura Moving Out

Moving Out Sura Medura 2016

The final stage of our residency was focused on preparing for our Moving Out event. The other artists involved were Natasha Russell, Sumit Surkar, Samson Ogiamien, and Rose Staff. On the day, we were thrilled to have a big local crowd join us, and delighted that many people came down from the Colombo Biennale and the University Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts to join us for some or all of the time.

Overall, the day at Sunbeach was a wonderful combination of visual art, sound, sculpture, video, performance, people, food, beer, Arrack sour, sea, sand, laughing, chatting, sharing…and cake (what a fabulous day for a birthday!). In our exhibition, which combined some finished elements and work-in-progress, my sound work Sabda saha Pintura was available as a headphone installation.

Listening Post Sabda Saha Pintura

The title Sabda saha Pintura means sound and picture in Sinhalese – through much discussion this seemed to be the most apt translation for the collage idea I was working with in the piece. Exploring  differences in the English/Sinhalese languages was very intriguing – how or in what way  metaphors or concepts translate, for example, sound, soundscape, landscape,  environment.

 

 

Sudu - Tuk Tuk Tour Driver

Tuk Tuk TourDuring the afternoon an audiovisual tuk tuk tour was running – a collaboration between Natasha (Russell) and me. Three people at a time could hop into Sudu’s tuk tukand take a short round trip to visit Natasha’s work in local shops accompanied by my soundtrack.

The soundtrack combined recordings I gathered from those shopkeepers  introducing themselves and their businesses, shop sounds, etc – the general store, jewellers, barbers, a fruit and veg stall. I also recorded an introduction to the tour in Sinhalese, with pronunciation help from folk at Sunbeach. Big thanks to Sudu and Chinthaka for running the tours.

Samson and Nichola Moving Out 1Samson and Nichola Moving Out 2

Early evening, I accompanied Samson Omiagien with some live vocals for his performance piece with sculpture, which we had rehearsed  in the lead up to the event.  The evening finished with a fantastic Sri Lankan curry banquet.

Big thanks to Neil and all at UZ Arts, Chaminda, Chathura, Hasantha, Kari and all at Sunbeach, Maria and Jack, my fellow artists-in-residence, everyone I met.

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Video Jam at Colombo Art Biennale

BANNERColombo Art Biennale - 2

VideoJam

In the final week of the Sura Medura residency we headed up the road for the opening of Colombo Art Biennale in Sri Lanka. I was excited to also have been invited by Shereen Perera to create a live score for the Video Jam event on the opening night. I responded with a solo vocal performance to a beautiful, strange and thoughtful clip of Sri Lankan film-maker Vimukthi Jayasundara’s Light in the Yellow Breathing Space. 

The event took place on 2nd December 2016 at the ZMax Fairway Hotel roof terrace and was part of the Colombo Biennale Performing Arts Programme.

Here’s the Facebook event  and a link to a film clip here Video Jam clip

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Creative Collective, Platform

Photo by Katy Dye
Stories of Easterhouse (photo: Katy Dye)

Stories of Easterhouse

As part of Made in Easterhouse at Platform Glasgow, I worked on the final stages of Stories of Easterhouse with the Creative Collective and Platform Associate Artist Katy Dye.

I recorded the stories, generated atmospheric backdrops through a creative sound workshop and composed the audio pieces for the final installation.

The map/sound installation is running through October/November 2016.

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Good Days Bad Days Excerpt

Good Days Bad Days was a 5-month research and development collaborative project with writer Martin O’Connor , Glasgow’s North East Recovery Community commissioned by Platform-to-Health and GRAND (Getting Real About Alchohol N Drugs). Participants were engaged in conversations focused on remembering their first and last alcoholic drink, to open up bigger discussions of childhood and family life, living conditions and wider society in Glasgow, and the impact of addiction and recovery on individuals and communities.

These conversations formed the basis of a composed, immersive sound installation, originally staged at Platform Glasgow, and then as a headphone installation at Outskirts Festival in 2016.

Subsequently, I re-designed that material as interactive sound track for Martin’s solo performance Mark of the Beast in 2018 ( “An exceptional piece of work” ***** The Herald ).

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BBC Radio 3 Exposure

Exposure GigI was delighted to be performing solo on the first programme of a new BBC Radio 3 series – Exposure. The programme ‘explores the local alternative and underground music scenes’.

The live event is on 23rd September 2016 in Glasgow at the Glad Cafe. The programme will be broadcast on 29th September at 11 pm and available online for a month.

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In Transit with Zoë Strachan

In Transit – a collaborative live-to-air broadcast

Radiophrenia commissioned me and writer Zoë Strachan to collaborate on a Live-to-Air commission. We performed live from the Radiophrenia studio on 5th September 2016 at CCA Glasgow.

Programme Note

In our collaboration we explored the state of being In Transit and how it disrupts the interior monologues of two people on separate but overlapping journeys of a slightly mysterious kind.

Radiophrenia is a temporary art radio station broadcasting from the CCA in Glasgow. In 2016 it produced a two-week exploration into current trends in sound and transmission arts.

@zoestrachan
@NicholaScrutton

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Sura Medura Residency

uzarts logo sura medura residency

I was thrilled to be selected for a six-week Sura Medura residency with UZ Arts  from October to December 2016. The Sura Medura residency on this occasion was being hosted in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. My fellow artists were Natasha Russell and Sumit Sarkar, and two other artists arrived later in the residency – Martin Janicek and Samson Ogiamien. Early experience after arrival was a whirlwind of sensations and there was definitely a process of settling into Sunbeach and adjusting – heat, humidity, sounds, smells, surf, swimming, dogs, jungle, mozzies, food, walks, and meeting many warm friendly folk along the way sharing experiences, tips and ideas.

Sura Medura, Storm Brewing

Presentations

As part of the residency we travelled to Colombo and gave presentations to staff and students in the University Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts in week 3. That was a really good day – as well as meeting people, we were fortunate to be shown round all the art departments then had lunch before travelling back.

Sura Medura, Train Nichola ScruttonTrain TimetableFaculty Of Visual And Performing Arts Colombo UniversityFaculty Of Visual And Performing Arts Colombo University2

Thinking about soundscapes

The sound environment is generally very dense and I spent quite a bit of time actively listening and drawing.The area has two main aspect – beach and jungle – and each has its own distinct soundscape. On the beach side the sea roars continuously as the surf thunders in and on the jungle side the air is thick with heat, bird song, massive trees rustling and people going about their daily lives.  A railway line runs between the two through much of the area and regular trains, horns and bells punctuate the air. In the mix are a whole rich array of sounds – the hollering voices of people selling at markets and on the street, the honking and revving of huge buses overtaking other vehicles at breakneck speed (treacherous), thunderstorms and torrential rain, intermittent firework eruptions, the bread, fish and other vans making melodic announcements and so on. I created two soundscape pieces – Sabda saha Pintura and Wave Shift.

Sura Medura, Fish Market

Sura Medura, Lightening Storm

Sura Medura, Jungle

 

 

 

 

 

In week five  we hosted a Moving Out public event at Sunbeach as part of the Colombo Art Biennale, which was a big success. And actually it was on my birthday so an extra cake was involved at the end of the night. Read a bit more info on that at Moving Out. Finally, we had a trip up to Colombo for the opening of the Biennale. I also had been invited to perform/score a film clip at the opening as part of Video Jam. More info on that at Video Jam…

Huge thanks to Neil and all at UZ Arts, Chaminda, Chathura, Hasantha, Kari and all at Sunbeach, Maria and Jack, my fellow artists-in-residence, everyone I met.

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Curator – WebSYNradio

websynradio

Glasgow Soundscapes: Place, Space and Memory

I am delighted to have been invited by Dominique Balaÿ to curate a programme for broadcast on WebSYNradio from 16th – 30th June 2016.  Alongside a selection of my own works are compositions by Alistair MacDonald, Bethan Parkes, Luca Nasciuti and Mark Vernon – big thanks to them for contributing.

Read more and listen at synradio.fr.

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Carnival Summer School

Carnival Summer School
Carnival Summer School at Platform, Glasgow. Led by Erin Scrutton and Nic Scrutton.

I was delighted to co-facilitate the drumming activities with Erin Scrutton at the Platform Glasgow Carnival Summer School for children and young people. Other activities included movement, circus skills, big makes, costumes. An excellent week in general: skills, fun + games, parading, performing –  some really wonderful moments and a huge dose of fun!

Carnival Summer School
Carnival Summer School at Platform, Glasgow. Dance and drumming team (Erin Scrutton, me, Jayne Middleton).

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Phoenix Dance Theatre | Choreographers and Composers Lab

I was absolutely delighted to be one of four composers selected for the Choreographers and Composers Lab 2015 – a two-week intensive residency with Phoenix Dance Theatre in Leeds. The residency was led by  Sharon Watson and Ken Hesketh, with guest speakers – Robert Cohan, Peter Weigold, Zoé Martlew, Dr Jo Butterworth, Mike Dixon, Didy Veldman.

Choreographers: Adrienne Hart, Mbulelo Ndabeni, Claire Lefèvre and Sandrine Monin.
Composers: Roberto David Rusconi, Nichola Scrutton, Sarah Westwood and Eloise Gynn.
Dancers:  Hannah Bateman, Francesca Caselli, Andreas Grimaldier, Joshua  Harriette, Carmen Marfil, Marie Astrid Mence, Ben Mitchell, Vanessa Pang, Alice Shepherdson, Sam Vaherlehto , Prentice Whitlow.
Musicians: Hara Alonso, Oliver  Dover, Sean  Hamilton, Becky Yen-Huan

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Sound Kitchen Prague

Sound Kitchen
A new solo live work City Song has been selected for performance at the forthcoming Sound Kitchen as part of Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space in June 2015. See the Event page here for more info and links.

City Song explores a shifting dynamic of power, connectedness and fragmentation, and emerged during development time that was supported by a Creative Scotland Artists’ Bursary Award.

Creative Scotland

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Framework Radio CD

Post-Industrial Broadcast #1 has been selected for Framework Radio’s seasonal CD release (winter 2014) to be issued on 21st December 2014 (the solstice!). Meanwhile it is available for listening through Framework and on various other broadcasts. The CD was first aired on Resonance fm on Sunday 7th Dec 2014. More info,  with an option to purchase through donation, at Framework Radio. Here’s the track listing and details Issue #7. Well worth a listen – it’s a lovely thing…Many thanks to Patrick Tubin McGinley

 

 

 

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Away with the Birds/Hanna Tuulikki/

Vocal performance with  Away with the Birds, Hanna Tuulikki’s site-specific work for 9/10 voices that explores mimesis of birds in Gaelic song.  More info at Hanna’s Away with the Birds on Facebook and Tumblr page.

Away with the Birds Tramway
Tramway

Tectonics

Isle of Canna

Performances

2014
August: Isle of Canna

2013
March: Tramway, Glasgow
June: Tectonics Festival, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow

 

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Voix Brutes Vol II

A recording of Songs for a Stranger: (v) in the midst has been selected for the documentary audio compilation Voix Brutes Vol II, to be released by Audition Records on 15th May 2014. The focus of the Voix Brutes compilations is the voice in live performance – its extended forms, techniques and possibilities.

More info including the list of selected artists is here.

[ar093] VOIX BRUTES | International Compilation | Vol.II listen

More info here about Songs for a Stranger.

And here’s Vol I – listen

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Theology CATS Award Nomination

Theology with Martin O’Connor has been shortlisted for a CATS 2013-14 award in the Best Music and Sound Category. Announcements will be made on 8th June 2014. See details and the full listings at CATS.

Reviews of recent performances at Behaviour Festival

**** Joyce MacMillan The Scotsman

Mary Brennan The Herald

Gareth Vile The Vile Blog

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Lateral at here.now.where Marrakech

Lateral has been selected for here. now. where? – a project in which a collection of soundscapes from different ‘sensibilities, languages and formats’ will be diffused inside local taxis through the sound and radio art platform Saout Radio. The project is curated by Younes Baba-Ali and Anna Raimondo and seeks to explore a notion of ‘delocalisation in the present moment through the experience of listening in the urban space’.