Your Hall Your Story - a celebration in sound

In March I was commissioned by Lesley Anne Rose at Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) to create a sound piece celebrating Aberdeen Music Hall. The Category A Listed building which has stood on Union Street for nearly 200 years was due to close temporarily at the end of the March for a major refurbishment, and APA had a weekend of celebratory events planned to mark the closure. My piece was to be part of an event entitled Your Hall Your Story, an evening of stories and memories shared by the people that have visited, performed and worked at the Music Hall. 

Listen to an extract below. 

The brief was simple: capture the sounds, voices and stories of The Music Hall.  I was keen to spend as much time at the Hall itself, recording in every nook and cranny, and I was most excited about the Organ built by Henry Willis which I was glad to discover still worked. Over 5 days in Aberdeen I recorded sound from the building (inside the organ, creaking floorboards, final security walks) and people that work there and lots of stories from young and old about their experiences as audience members. 

Far from a complete history, the final 17 minute piece serves as more of a snapshot of some of the interesting, unique, unusual things that have happened in the Music Hall, a building that one observer commented "is the history of popular culture".

I'm going to write a longer post about my experiences working on Your Hall Your Story and will also share some sounds that didn't make it in due to time constraints. 

Dramatic reconstructions performed by Tom Bevan. Organ played (tamed) by Ben Torrie. Poem written and performed by members of Aberdeen Youth Theatre Group. 

 

Cosmic Surgery

I've loved Alma Haser's work since I first saw some hanging in my brother's flat years ago. Her Cosmic Surgery project takes photographic portraits and transforms them through a kaleidoscopic lens using Origami. Last year she worked with Emily Macaulay (The Beam/Reverse Engineering) at Stanley James Press to create a limited edition pop-up book, which sold out in a couple of days. The pair now want to produce a bigger run and have just launched a Kickstarter to fund the manufacturing. Also involved is space history writer Piers Bizony who has written text for the book. Its a wonderful project and appeals to my love of all things cosmic. I was more than happy to supply a piece of cosmic ambience for the video below. There is even an online Cosmic Surgery experience created by Josh Emerson.

Support the project at Kickstarter. Experience virtual reality Cosmic Surgery here. 

Laurie Lipton - Love Bite

Jim Scott's short film about artist Laurie Lipton is being premiered at SXSW this year and I'm proud that a black channels track is used in a very moving moment towards the end of the film. 

No one on the planet has drawn more than Laurie Lipton. LOVE BITE chronicles her life and prolific body of black & white work spanning over fifty years. Largely ignored by the mainstream art world, her haunting creations are made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny strokes of the humble pencil. Laurie and her work seek answers to some of the most uncomfortable themes in our culture - fear, politics, sexuality, murder, mayhem, greed, and indifference - answers that will likely never be black or white. What compels a bright and outspoken woman to live a life of isolation drawing is as disquieting as the images themselves.

Find out more and keep up to date here.

Akiha Den Den

I'm just back from Aberdeen where I performed a sneak preview of a Radio Drama that I'm making with writer and producer Neil Cargill. We just found out that we won funding to make a 6 part series!!! We are obviously very excited to have the opportunity to create radio outside of the extremely rigid and risk adverse constraints of BBC radio. So expect new talent, strange sounds, an original soundtrack and experimentation. The full series will come later in the year but we'll start sharing little teasers before then. 

Big thanks to Lesley Anne Rose and APA (Aberdeen Performing Arts) and The Lemon Tree. 

Below a little clip taken from the soundcheck at The Lemon Tree Theatre in Aberdeen. 

Out of body sounds

A video posted by @thesimonsound on



Happy Christmas

Get this track and others on the free Castles in Space Christmas download album here. 

Taken from the B-side of the Two Knocks For Yes cassette released on Castles in Space in October 2015. Artwork by Nick Taylor.

Two Knocks For Yes live photos

Last Friday saw the culmination of weeks of preparation with the public performance of Two Knocks For Yes at St. Andrews Church. The team were pleased with a (nearly) full house and the evening went by without a hitch, apart from a dry ice machine overheating which led to a huge cloud of dry ice rather than the planned mist floating across the floor and down the steps of the altar. 

It was an absolute treat to perform in such an atmospheric space. The Buchla shook the wooden pews and bounced around the stone walls. I even got a chance to make an impromptu improvised recording when I had half an hour alone whilst everyone had gone for dinner and before the audience arrived. 

As well as my performance of Two Knocks For Yes, there was an intriguing found tape recording of a scientist talking about some strange experiments, a talk on the folklore of water and death by James Burt, and some shared ghost stories from the audience. We learnt a lot from this first show and will be working towards expanding it for future outings. 

The best thing about the whole event was getting a rare opportunity to work with my brother Curtis James, who instigated the project and made it happen (and hosted on the evening). It took me back to our teenage years working the lighting and sound for school plays. 

Photos by Dominic Butler and DJ Food/Strictly Kev

Two Knocks for Yes cassette release

Radiophonic investigation in to the poltergeist phenomenon gets a limited cassette release on Castles in Space, just in time for Halloween. The Buchla 200e Electric Music Box is used to haunting effect providing otherworldly tones, presences and vibrations. The B side features instrumental incidentals for ghost stories. Available mid October. Pre-order here.

I'll also be performing Two Knocks For Yes at Saint Andrews Church, Brighton (UK) on the 23rd of October. More info here.

Sleeve designed by Nick Taylor.

The School is Full of Noises

An interesting (if slightly limited) exploration of experimental music in the classroom. Back in the '60s kids got the opportunity to experiment with tape machines and play with bringing stories to life using sound and what some call 'challenging' composition. I hope this still goes on in classrooms today, but I have a funny feeling it probably doesn't. I was lucky enough to have a music teacher that had some synthesizers and who also invited a group of musicians in to show off their samplers and drum machines - I was pretty much hooked instantly by this exciting world of playing with sound and music that didn't involve playing the guitar or violin. Thanks Mr.Hayter.

How did tape loops, recycled everyday sounds and countless other weapons of the avant-garde find their way into school music lessons during the 1960s? That's the challenge for Ian McMillan as he sets out on the trail of one of music education's more unexpected byways.

Listen here - link will probably die at some point.....

Sounds of our Shores

Earlier in the year I entered a sound recording of Brighton's Palace Pier Ghost Train to the National Trust/British Library Sounds of our Shores project. The project aims to create a coastal sound map of the UK using sounds recorded by the public. It is a neat idea and there are some lovely sounds gathered already. Anyway, my sound has been selected as one of the top ten favorite sounds, and voting has now opened to find THE No. 1 favorite sound of our shores.

If you feel inclined please VOTE HERE (the form isn't the neatest design, but move to the 2nd page to find and listen to the sounds).

To those who know me, the Ghost Train is probably a pretty obvious choice, but as well as being a dynamic evocative sound in itself (the clackety clack, compressed air, shrieks and howls), the recording has a personal connection for me. I grew up in Brighton and remember my first 'late night' out with my gran (who always took me and my twin brother on new adventures) and as if it wasn't exciting enough to be out after dark as a child, to then ride the ghost train sealed that magical memory forever. I've been fascinated by ghost trains ever since.

The Beam enters The Science Museum

Copies of The Simonsound science fantasy escapism record 'The Beam' will be available to buy at London's Science Museum from the 24th of June as part of The Poundshop.

The Poundshop is an art project with the goal of spreading design to a wider audience and create a platform for designers to sell their items with minimal risk in our pop-up shops. The Poundshop creates a bespoke interior for each shop and curates a unique product range selling wares that are well designed and have a function for the fantastic prices of £1, £5 and £10.

I have to admit to a sense of excitement at having this particular record for sale in a place that is full of science wonder and space adventure. It feels like the perfect home. I'm hoping to attend the launch event which coincides with Science Museum Lates, which this month explores The Next Big Thing.


black channels 10" on Death Waltz Originals

I'm pleased to be able to announce that my project with Becky Randall is getting its first physical release on Death Waltz Originals (Death Waltz is the soundtrack re-issue label which has previously released records by John Carpenter, Ennio Morricone and Clint Mansell). The 10" vinyl will feature 3 tracks and will be available in a limited edition and standard edition on the 17th of July 2015.

Here is the sleeve artwork by Luke Insect.