Delighted to have a track from Scenes from the Blue broadcast on the New Music Show. Thanks so much to Kate Molleson for including me in such a fantastic line-up for an International Women’s Day special edition.
Now on BBC Sounds – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002s4tb
I’m excited to have a Featured Artist Exhibition at Glasgow Print Studio. 🙏😊
A Kind of Scoring
Preview – 5th March 2026, all welcome!
The exhibition runs from 6th – 28th March.
More information at: Glasgow Print Studio Exhibitions
A Kind of Scoring presents a series of abstract landscapes that evoke experiences of sound and listening – part of a body of work I’m continuing to develop over the next few months. I’m grateful to Glasgow Print Studio for this opportunity to share the work.
I’m pleased to share new album Scenes from the Blue – available from 6th March 2026 on Bandcamp.
The album is available as CD and Digital Download.
Link: Scenes from the Blue at Bandcamp
While Bandcamp is a good option, this album is also streaming across platforms of choice from 20th March 2026.
Link: https://ffm.to/nicholascrutton-scenesfromtheblue
Creative Scotland and Tramway Glasgow for supporting this work.
New single Scene 7 Cyan from my forthcoming album Scenes from the Blue has now been released across all platforms and is available for streaming. Find your preferred platform here:
https://ffm.to/nicholascrutton-scene7cyan
The single is also available at Bandcamp. The album is currently available for pre-orders, and the single is instant access when pre-ordering CD or Digital Download. The album is releasing on 6th March 2026. Listen and pre-order options at:
https://nicholascrutton.bandcamp.com/album/scenes-from-the-blue
Track recorded, composed and mixed by: Nichola Scrutton
Mastered by: Jim McEwan, Bark Bark Dog Studios
Cover design: Pascal Blua
With artwork by Nichola Scrutton
Many thanks to Creative Scotland for supporting this work.
My limited edition etching Windborne (soundscape) has been selected for the Royal Society of British Artists | Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. The etching was created and printed at the Glasgow Print Studio, Scotland.
The exhibition runs from 26th Feb – 8 March 2025 from 10 am – 5 pm.
More info about the exhibition at: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/royal-society-british-artists-annual-exhibition-2025
Radio Art Zone – curated and edited by Sarah Washington
“Radio Art Zone explores the central themes and techniques of artist-made radio, emerging from over 20 years of practice in the field by a multitude of artists. It is a reflection of the world’s largest exhibition of radio art, also title Radio Art Zone, a project by the artist duo Modile Radio (Sarah Washington and Knut Aufermann) in collaboration with Luxembourg community station Radio ARA, which broadcast for 100 days as part of the program of the European Capital Culture Esch 2022.”
Book Cover, Radio Art Zone, published by Hatje Cantz
I’m thrilled to have two drawings and a micro-essay included in this new book Radio Art Zone, curated & edited by Sarah Washington. The experimental publication contains a stunning array of visual & textual contributions from artists worldwide.
The book is available in bookshops, online, and direct from the publisher at:
Delighted that recordings made via the internet during lockdown 2021 by Ali Robertson and me have been released by the consistently wonderful Chocolate Monk.
The always excellent Chocolate Monk has turned this collaborative effort into a limited edition of 60 limited edition CD-Rs with gorgeous artwork by Karen Constance. You can get them at: https://chocolatemonk.co.uk/available.html
“The last train is at 11:30pm and I wouldnae recommend the night bus. It’ll be full of Lothians troglodytes, Cumbernauld carbuncles and folks what like their improv idiomatic. Best hop in our taxi. It willnae be cheap and, with two drivers pulling in opposite directions on the same wheel, you’ll be unsure which way is up let alone which is East or West. Ensure you’re wearing your seat belt on this tour of the Scottish Central Belt as your escorts are predisposed to unleashing belters for strings, gobs & kerfuffle and you’ll get pure pelters if you dinnae subscribe to their version of the Highway Code.”
“‘Interzone’ is a mesmerizing and captivating work of experimental sound art. These haunting and beautiful soundscapes of layered vocals and various immersive noises effectively capture the dream-like twilight state that marks the end of the day, and also heralds the coming night…”
https://audiocrackle.blogspot.com/2023/06/non-music-roundup-june-23.html
“Sound design fans will be well-fed this month. Nichola Scrutton’s Interzone (15 Jun) earns its experimental distinction with innovations in performance and post-production, as well as themes of liminality, or in-betweenness. In-studio, Scrutton performs idiosyncratic vocal techniques, guttural chanting and sharp intakes of breath, which are intermixed with abstract accompaniments, modulating into the notes themselves. Unfamiliar methods of distortion create the sense that this is all a distant dream, or, as Scrutton’s voice becomes more overwhelming and antagonistic, a restless nightmare.” https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/new-music/scottish-new-music-round-up-june-2023
Delighted Trio from Interzone to has been included on the Music Now: New Scottish Music playlist, 30 Scottish bands and artists. Listen at: MUSIC NOW – Spotify
Quartet B was included in Late Junction 9th June 2023
“…Elsewhere in the show, we hear some energetic Cameroonian bikutsi from the late Roger Bekono, experiments on a toy glockenspiel from Australian producer Broken Chip, and vocal reflections on the space between wakefulness and sleep from Glasgow-based composer Nichola Scrutton.” More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mdc4
New album Interzone was released on Nonclassical label on 15th June 2023, and is currently available in CD and digital formats.
https://nicholascrutton.bandcamp.com/album/interzone
The Interzone series of tracks on the album were composed with voice, field recordings and archive materials by Nichola Scrutton in her studio, then mixed and mastered by Jim McEwan of Bark Bark Dog Studios. The second second series of voice tracks were recorded live in Solas Sound Studios by Jim McEwan, and then mixed and mastered by Jim at Bark Bark Dog Studios.
Cover art: Nichola Scrutton
Interzone has been supported by the PRS Foundation Open Fund for Music Creators, Creative Scotland and Nonclassical.
The Night Vision album is now available to buy on Bandcamp in both limited edition CD and digital formats.
https://nicholascrutton.bandcamp.com/album/night-vision
Night Vision is a project I’m working on through 2023, and it has several iterations. At the core of Night Vision is a large body of text written in the middle of the night lying down in a semi-conscious state over a two-year period – a very different approach for me as a composer and artist.
On the album, excerpts are performed by five vocalists in chronological order, set in a soundscape I composed with ensemble voices and my own voice/studio recordings.
Vocal performers on the release are:
Alison Peebles, Louise Montgomery, Nalini Chetty, Ian Spink and Mairi Morrison.
The live voices were recorded by Jim McEwan at Solas Sound Studios. All tracks were mixed and mastered by Jim McEwan at Bark Bark Dog Studios.
Many thanks to Sarah Praill for the cover design, which includes a few drawings/marks from the original journals.
Night Vision is supported by Creative Scotland.
Lying Over Under Another is a collaborative sound performance with Zoë Strachan.
We were absolutely delighted to have been selected for a Second Life Award by the Edwin Morgan Trust to research, develop and produce the work through 2023. https://edwinmorgantrust.com/2022/10/14/nichola-scrutton-and-zoe-strachan-lying-over-under-another/
Responding to the visual richness of Edwin Morgan’s scrapbooks, held in Archives and Special Collections, we reimagine the scrapbooking and research process through sound and gesture. This improvised performance combines recorded and live sound with spoken word to re-present the diverse materials Morgan collected as bodies (entities) in relation to each other; offering new connections that may be physical, emotional, psychical. Elements of verbal disintegration and moments of absurdity and humour echo Morgan’s own poetic practice and its rootedness in the city of Glasgow.
Supported by the Edwin Morgan Trust through The Second Life Award.
Image © Nichola Scrutton
New Worlds is a spoken word / sound composition created with writer Martin O’Connor in Autumn 2022. The piece weaves together recordings from Your Voice in Greenock, Inverclyde, Martin’s poems, field and other recordings.
Read more about the project and listen to New Worlds at: http://www.martinoconnor.info/new-worlds.html
Absolutely thrilled to receive an award from the Creative Scotland Open Fund to produce my Night Vision project in 2023. I’ll be sharing various updates along the way. Sign up for updates at Newsletter
Many thanks to everyone who’s supported the development of Night Vision.
Really delighted to have been selected for a Second Life Award with Zoë Strachan – thank you so much to the Edwin Morgan Trust for such a fantastic opportunity to develop our collaborative practice and make new work! More info to follow…
Read more about the selected projects at: https://edwinmorgantrust.com/the-second-life-awards-2023/
In case it’s of interest, sign up for updates at Newsletter …
I’m delighted to be one of 100 artists creating a 22-hour programme for Radio Art Zone’s 100-day programme for Esch 2022 European Capital of Culture. Radio Art Zone is a project by Mobile Radio and Radio ARA.
Dream Stream weaves together field recordings, voice, fragments of text, visualisations, stories, performance and archive materials in a sonic contemplation of inner / outer landscapes. Read more, see the full 22-hour itinerary and listen at https://radioart.zone/monday-22-august
In case it’s of interest, I also have a Mailing List for occasional news updates – Join Mailing List
Many thanks to Knut, Sarah, and all at Radio Art Zone.
Dream Stream was commissioned by Radio Art Zone as part of their 100-day programme inviting 100 artists to create 22-hour long radio works for European Capital of Culture at Esch 2022, Luxembourg. https://radioart.zone
Dream Stream weaves together field recordings, voice, fragments of text, visualisations, stories, performance and archive materials in a sonic contemplation of inner / outer landscapes. The sound of water is a thread across the whole duration. From that constantly shifting ‘surface’, various other sound worlds emerge and recede in a transient dream-like encounter.
In case it’s of interest, I have a Mailing List for occasional news updates – Join Mailing List
Many thanks indeed to Sarah, Knut and all at Radio Art Zone.
Artwork © Nichola Scrutton
I’m thrilled to say that I have been awarded Creative Scotland funding for the Night Vision project over 2022-23.
As part of a general website overhaul, I have temporarily removed background information, credits and plans for Night Vision so I can update all the details.
In the meantime, I’ll be posting news about select performances and a recording, to be released first on Bandcamp in early April and then across all music platforms on 28th April so please do connect / follow for updates. Many thanks.
Many thanks indeed to everyone who has supported Night Vision.
More information and Scottish tour dates for summer 2022 at Company of Wolves website.
Director – Ewan Downie
Associate Director – Brian Ferguson
Set and Costume Designer – Alisa Kalyanova
Lighting Designer – Benny Goodman
Sound Designer – Nichola Scrutton
Cast – Lawrence Boothman, Esme Baylay, Oat Jenner, Belle Jones, Megan Lovat
Technical Stage Manager – Stephen Cunningham
Wardrobe supervisor and Costume-maker – Catherine Barthram
Producer – Corinne Salisbury
Production Manager – Elleanor Taylor
In collaboration with Radiophrenia and the Goethe Institut Glasgow ‘Mobile Radiophrenia’ is a cultural exchange and radio residency that will result in five new live broadcast works. The artist duo Mobile Radio (Sarah Washington & Knut Aufermann) from Ürzig in Germany have been invited over to work with five Glasgow based artists or artist duos on an intensive daily collaboration that culminates in a live radio performance at 5pm each day.
I’m delighted to be performing on Thursday 17th Feb – the performances have been devised within the following framework:
Mobile Radio residency – Glasgow Calling Scale live with Nichola Scrutton – 17 February 2022 5:00 pm – 5:30 pm
‘Glasgow Calling Scale: a verbal response series in five parts’
There are five grades starting with the most musical:
Mon 14th Feb – No verbal response
Eothen Stearn, Lady Neptune, Knut Aufermann, Sarah Washington.
Tues 15th Feb – Incomprehensible sounds
Elina Bry, Knut Aufermann, Sarah Washington.
Weds 16th Feb – Inappropriate words
Cindy Islam, Knut Aufermann, Sarah Washington.
Thurs 17th Feb – Confused
Nichola Scrutton, Knut Aufermann, Sarah Washington.
Fri 18th Feb – Oriented
Rebecca Wilcox, Hannah Ellul, Knut Aufermann, Sarah Washington.
In another strand of research that emerged during Night Vision R&D in 2021, I curated a series of micro-commissions. I created a series of abstract images, photographing fragments of drawings. Those images served as a prompt, a connecting point, a spring board for dialogue.
Under the umbrella title, Memory Dream Encounter, I invited composers/artists Ruth Wiesenfeld, Elisabetta Senesi, Dafna Naphtali, Julia Drouhin and Claire Docherty to create miniature sound compositions in response to the prompts. On 31st August 2021, the six composers met in a virtual gathering to listen together, and discuss the creative process.
Radiophrenia 2022
Subsequently I edited the works into a programme that was broadcast on Radiophrenia at 9pm on 13th February 2022.
The programme in order was:
Claire Docherty – Pulse dream fragment For Una MacGlone (bass) & Emma Roche (flute) (3’23)
Dafna Naphtali- Striations (3′)
Elisabetta Senesi – Under the Surface (3’50)
Julia Drouhin – Mer4 (3’50)
Nichola Scrutton – Gestures (3’44)
Ruth Wiesenfeld – the wool from which the ribbons were made (3’54)
The micro-commissons were supported by Creative Scotland.
Zoë Strachan and I first performed Salt Cellar as a live-to-air broadcast on Radiophrenia, 11th February 2022, in the Creative Lab at the CCA Glasgow.
What is a prompt? It’s an inciting, a bringing forth, an augury, an urge, a bringing to light. In this live to broadcast performance, Nichola Scrutton and Zoë Strachan employ a cootie catcher (also known as a salt cellar) to provoke a series of discreet but interlinked improvisations based on texts, photographs and physical objects. Thus they seek to enact an archaeology of embodied memory within the palimpsest of a time-limited performance space.
Zoë and I collaborate to make sound art/experimental radio combining newly written and found text, composed sound, field recordings, found sound, voice and improvisation.
Two of my sketchbook drawings have joined the Berlin-based Fleeting Archive at Towards Sound. Many thanks to Ruth Wiesenfeld.
More information: http://www.towardssound.org/
Devising and delivering a series of voice workshops with Wendy Kirkup as part of her 2021 research and development towards a new film looking at 16mm film and improvised voice.
Performers/participants: Wendy, Catherine, Laura, Nicole and Emmie. The film footage was captured by Alex Hetherington, and Stevie Jones recorded the sound. See more of Wendy’s work at Wendy’s Instagram.
Group photo © Alex Hetherington. Film photo © Nichola Scrutton
I’m really thrilled to share news of a PRS Foundation Open Fund for Music Creators Award to record an album for release on Nonclassical. More info to follow. Sign up for updates at Newsletter…
The recently formed hyphæ drawing collective are having a group show in Folkestone. The details are:
Dates: 9 – 14 September 2021
Opening hours: 11 – 17 h daily
Touchbase Gallery, 15 Tontine Street, Folkestone CT20 1JT
You are warmly invited to an afternoon of refreshments with the artists of hyphæ drawing collective to celebrate our exhibition, Letting it settle.
Saturday 11 September, 2021, between 14 –17h at the above address.
Please let us know if you intend to come along, so that we don’t run out of tea…RSVP
Read more about hyphæ drawing collective at our website, where you can also contact us and sign up for our newsletter.
I am delighted to have produced some new drawings for the cover of tape / digital album River . Pathway . Static – at Colliding Lines. Release date is Monday 19th July 2021. More info and link for tape purchase at Colliding Lines (which includes a digital version). The digital version is also available at Colliding Lines Bandcamp
Colliding Lines are also broadcasting on Resonance Extra – info and listening links at #18 Nettles and Chalklines.
Thrilled to have the opportunity to develop Phase 1 of Night Vision with support from the Creative Scotland Open Fund. This funding supports me to work with an ensemble to develop my sound and performance ideas. Thanks to all who have supported this work so far. Sign up for updates at Newsletter…
I was thrilled to be one of ten artists selected for the pilot of the Drawing Correspondence Program. The Program was developed and facilitated by artists / educators Anita Taylor, Chloe Briggs and Tania Kovats. In addition, we were fortunate to have guest artists to share and discuss practice.
The intensive six-week development period had an umbrella theme of Grow. Regular self-directed drawing practice was focused through an exciting range of activities and investigations, live online drawing classes, one-to-one and group discussion, sharing and presentations.
We produced a publication at the end of the Program – 10 Letters and 10 Drawings – initially published on Issuu, with a physical publication to follow. Link to Issuu publication
A huge thanks to all on the journey.
I am delighted to be collaborating as a vocalist with artist Anne Colvin on her moving image artwork/experience Dear Prudence re-imagined. More information about the work is available at Dear Prudence re-imagined.
