Zoë Strachan and I continue our exploration of performing live experimental radio artwork. Up Closeness is a dialogue between two green urban spaces, a close look at the local. An attempt to find small connections amid the dislocation from everyday life. Field recordings and voice sounds are combined with found and composed text to animate distinct temporal spaces. Live improvisation and embedded writing practice enact a mimetic re-inhabiting of space.
We first performed Up Closeness as a live broadcast at Radiophrenia Glasgow on 20th November 2020 in CCA Glasgow.
Wave Shift is an immersive soundscape composition. Source materials for the work include a selection of field recordings captured during an artist residency with UZ Arts at Sura Medura in Sri Lanka, and vocal sound recordings. Wave Shift was originally composed for a collaborative installation with artist/printmaker Natasha Russell, and then subsequently recomposed as this shorter standalone work.
Wave Shift Released in 2019
Wave Shift was the first release in August 2019 in the new season South Asia PhoNographic Mornings as part of the soundscape project Each Morning of the Worldproduced by Stéphane Marin in France on BandCamp. All donations from the project go to the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE). Many thanks indeed to Stéphane for inviting me to contribute the track, record the voice intro and outro for the season’s radio broadcasts each week, and the album artwork.
Lateral was made as a live, site-specific installation set in Dixon Street, Glasgow. The work was commissioned and created for High-Slack-Low-Slack-High – a suite of audio works relating to the Clyde River curated by Minty Donald for GI Festival of Visual Art. Subsequent to that event I created a studio version of Lateral, which is now available at Bandcamp.
Fretwork is a sound collage and draws its compositional language from the intimate physical gestures associated with playing the guitar – the act of plucking becomes transformed metaphorically into a range of percussive attacks, pops and clicks and extended resonances. Available at Bandcamp.
Some tracks are available on my Bandcamp page – currently I have a few early studio compositions up and over the coming months I’ll be adding more recent works. Here is a link to follow me at Bandcamp and be notified when I release more sounds.
Sonic Bothy Ensemble had two very exciting performances in the pipe-line – one in late March at The Sage, Gateshead for Gateshead Jazz Festival and one in early May at Tectonics, Old Fruitmarket. Unfortunately both were cancelled or postponed due to lockdown.
Meanwhile Sonic Bothy has resumed some rehearsals online. More news about future events will follow as and when available.
Performance Anxiety Research Project
Since September 2019 I have been Lead Artist on the development of Sonic Bothy’s Performance Anxiety Project, along with Creative Director Claire Docherty (Project Manager) and Malcy Duff who works with Bothy Learning Space (Support Artist). At the core of the project was a series of exploratory workshops, co-led with Malcy. The project aims, through direct experience in workshops, consultation and research, to increase awareness and create resources to support musicians with an ALSN in any aspect of performance anxiety and associated issues. The project has been detailed in an extensive research report, written up at the end of the practical work.
Sonic Bothy Ensemble Album Fields
Sonic Bothy Ensemble’s debut album Fields is still available at Bandcamp in hard copy and digital formats…
More Information
For more information on Sonic Bothy Ensemble, and all the charity’s activities, please visit Sonic Bothy’s website.
Sonic Bothy Ensemble are next performing at TUSK Festival at The Sage in Gateshead, which is very exciting! We’ll be in Hall 2 at 7:10pm on Sunday 13th October 2019.
In June 2019 we had a fantastic time performing at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery…Also in June we also had a wonderful time recording some new work in the studio at Gorbals Sound, Glasgow.
Sonic Bothy Ensemble Debut Album
Sonic Bothy Ensemble’s debut album Fields is available at Bandcamp…
More Information
For more information on Sonic Bothy Ensemble, and all the charity’s activities, please visit Sonic Bothy’s website.
Delighted to be working with Ian Spink, Aya Kobayashi, Skye Reynolds, Selina Boyack and Stella Boyack to develop Radio Play. The immediate focus was a scratch performance for UNFIX Festival 2019. Here’s more info about the event on Sunday 31st March at CCA Glasgow Scratch Night. We re-visited the work for Batch2 Festival In August 2019.
Lateral was made as a live, site-specific installation set in Dixon Street, Glasgow. The work was commissioned and created for 
