Van Gogh carried his easel into the open air (‘en plein air’)to capture the bright heat of Provence. Monet painted in his beloved garden at Givernay, recording the fleeting effects of light. Stanhope Forbes donned oilskins and braved the gales on Newlyn quay in an effort to paint life and nature truthfully.
I have attempted something similar in music, hoping to capture the landscape and soundscape of Scilly. The twelve tracks on this album were recorded over twelve months on St Agnes, at twelve different island locations. At the core of each track is an improvisation recorded outside, in situ, in response to the landscape, accompanied by whatever natural ambient sounds were happening at the time: sea, wind, birdsong, tractor… I returned to the studio with this ‘sketch’ and set about creating a rich, finished sound picture, adding piano and electronica, and distilling my personal experience of that particular place at that particular moment into music.
Jan 2018
I have attempted something similar in music, hoping to capture the landscape and soundscape of Scilly. The twelve tracks on this album were recorded over twelve months on St Agnes, at twelve different island locations. At the core of each track is an improvisation recorded outside, in situ, in response to the landscape, accompanied by whatever natural ambient sounds were happening at the time: sea, wind, birdsong, tractor… I returned to the studio with this ‘sketch’ and set about creating a rich, finished sound picture, adding piano and electronica, and distilling my personal experience of that particular place at that particular moment into music.
Jan 2018
Have a listen to a couple of tracks from the album... The first one features the St Agnes dawn chorus in full voice, and the second is based around an improvisation recorded outside in the rain!