four questions (+ one !) # 9: Lawrence English

OK, OK - I know we've jumped from interview number 7 to interview number 9, but the limited pressing of the new cd by Lawrence English has prompted me to post this one now. Interview number 8 with Patrick Farmer (+ MP3 exclusive) will be posted in the next couple of weeks, following which I will re-arrange the posts in order for these numbers to make sense !

'Studies for Stradbroke' , the latest cd by Lawrence English, concentrates solely on sounds gathered around Stradbroke Island, Queensland using hydrophones (microphones constructed to record underwater). There are an increasing number of field recordists & phonographers using HP's or geophones (underground mics) these days - perhaps a sign of attempting to find new areas, perhaps an often worrying sign of the rush for more technology influencing the creative impulse ? However, as this blog focuses not on the scientific but on the artistic it's fair to say that thankfully there hasn't been a flood (no pun intended !) of HP based releases of interest so far.

Here though is one that got the release it deserved - not only in terms of the content but also the package as a whole - from the letterpress sleeve to it's high quality cdr pressing - a hallmark of the Winds Measure imprint. I'm of the school that believes, in the right hands, the package can add to the work as a whole. Be warned though, this is a limited edition of 150 copies & will go fast.

On 'studies...' we get a range of recordings, some that capture more abrassive sounds such as those of boat motors through the water and the ghostly lashings of the two 'slide' tracks, but most concentrate on more subtle elements, such as on 'reed of brown lake' & 'invented tide'.

'intercepted communications' features the sounds of fish, mammals and of plants made during the process of photosynthesis (also explored by yours truely on 'field recordings volume 21' & by Lee Patterson of course - as featured on his Resonance FM series of broadcasts - repeats please !).

'rock walls' is the only track that comes close to documenting some of the more conventional sounds associated with recordings made in and around water - one can detect the sound of the tide splashing against the walls in question, however only in the background with further clicks and slight disturbance of the hydrophones holding the attention.

Releases such as this offer a clear example of the marked difference between the superfluous range of technically precise but bland water-based nature recordings available & an abstracted, yet more evocative approach.

Lawrence (whos also involved in the Room 40 label) has previously used field recordings as one element in his compositions or by heavily processing them, here the recordings are left to speak for themselves & the result is a release that should be considered for purchase asap before it sells out !

JrF: when & why did you become interested in field recording ?

LE: I think the first time I really remember listen to environments was when I started bird watching with my father. He was a fairly avid bird watcher and would often take me out with him to have a look for various birds at plain lands near-by our house. His approach was very much focused on listening for the birds, which were often camouflaged and then finding them by eye once we'd established a rough area they might be in. I think those experiences of really focusing on ears was something that has stuck with me and still to this day if I am looking for birds or animals in environments then I'll apply that approach. The first field recordings I made were in the 1990s, but they were more for having a 'sound memory' of a place that I could return to at a later date and recall a particular space or place.

JrF: how do you use your field recordings in your own artistic output ?

LE: I think increasingly it's becoming difficult to utilise field recordings in meaningful and original ways. Given the huge rise in domestically available recorders, there's a great deal of material emerging that is either entirely field recording based or utilising environmental sounds for a bed in which other musical elements might co-exist - much of it lacking any real investigation or reasoning. Whilst I think it's completely fine to use these kinds of sounds, like you would any instrument etc, I do think the commonplace nature of found sound in electronic and other musical areas means to create something unique takes a greater focus and concept.
With that said increasingly I'm finding that my own work uses field recordings in a number of ways. Obviously, like the recent winds measure release, I am still creating works entirely based on untreated field recordings. Like the works on Studies For Stradbroke, I really enjoy finding sound environments that are tactile in a way, but unfamiliar - something that asks a listener to consider what it is that they are listening to. Ideally to have them invest something of their own experience into the piece. I find hydrophonic recordings really bring this to the fore.
I also use field recordings in a compositional sense - not just as a sound source, but also as a reference from which I might design various sound elements. That technique I employed extensively on 'For Varying Degrees Of Winter'.

JrF: do you regard 'natural' sounds as a musical element (bearing in mind that the conventional definition of 'music' is rapidly becoming obsolete) or as sound ? is this definition important to you ?does it matter ?

LE: I guess music, if we define it as this notion of 'organised sound or noise', could certainly include natural sounds. For me these sounds often exist in very natural ways - especially with the growth of home studios etc - the environment around the recording becomes part of the sound space in a given recording. Like the traffic outside the window augments and modulates other sound elements in the recording. I think that can be nice, a hint at the spaces surrounding where the music was created.

JrF: has the act of making field recording had an effect (positive or negative) on the way you listen to your everyday surroundings and how has it affected the way you listen to other music and sound (if at all) ?

LE: I think certainly like most artists working with sound there is a heightened sense of awareness that comes from making field recordings. I've always been fascinated with the way that our minds learn to block out incidental sounds and it's something that occupies a slab of the work that I undertake I think. Often I'm drawn to using these sounds in compositions - they can often establish an element of focus when repositioned. I think if anything working in this field has just made me realise I'm interested in all sounds equally and find they all have a value, it's merely about the context about how they are 'heard' or 'listened' to.

additional question:

JrF: Could you tell us about your latest release 'studies for stradbroke' ? how it was recorded, your thoughts on exploring using hydrophones etc. (feel free to avoid the technical & focus on how you felt when making these recordings !)

LE: The edition for Winds Measure was recorded last year on two seperate visits to Stradbroke Island, which is a lovely island in Moreton Bay about an hour and a half from where I live. I was using a new stereo set-up of hydrophones with my sound devices recorder. I was really impressed by the qualities of the water environments there - the inland lakes with their reed beds created an incredible sound space - very low frequency responses. Equally the wal walls that dot the island also create a really rich texture as waves assault them. I think for me the quality of these spaces, in terms of the sounds that existed and equally could be 'found' on closer inspection...there's tactility to the sounds I was able to capture that is alien, yet at the same time somewhat comforting and I really enjoy that quality about the recordings.