ABOUT

ABOUT

I am a Scottish composer, sound designer, performer and sound artist who has been based in Birmingham, UK since 1998. My output spans electronic music composition, sound design for theatre, dance, film and multimedia, live electroacoustic performance, multi-channel sound installation and soundwalks. I am particularly interested in investigating the creative potential of recordings of the sound environment and exploiting the inherent musicality of this material through reduced listening, digital manipulation, composition and performance. My work is driven by a desire to encourage people to engage in, and enjoy, the act of listening.

I am a co-director of SOUNDkitchen, a Birmingham based collective founded in 2010 dedicated to the creation and presentation of experimental electronic music and sound art. Together we curate and produce live electronic music events, create augmented listening soundwalks, sound art and perform live electroacoustic music.

Composition

I studied electroacoustic composition with Dr. Alistair MacDonald at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and was awarded a PhD in electroacoustic composition from the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Prof. Jonty Harrison. My portfolio consisted largely of acousmatic concert music. As a member of BEAST (Birmingham Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre) 1998 – 2005 I was involved in the public presentation of electroacoustic music at various venues in the UK and abroad, regularly diffusing my own and other composer’s work.

My studio compositions have received numerous presentations at concerts, festivals, conferences, broadcasts in the UK and abroad including: BEAST, Birmingham, UK; MUSLAB, Tamaulipas, Mexico; New Adventures In Sound Art, Toronto, Canada; Sonorities Festival, Belfast, UK; ((audience)), Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi, India; Urban Observatory Festival, Torun, Poland; MANTIS, University of Manchester, UK; Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, UK; Nuit Bleue, Besançon, France; Pointe D’Ecoute Montreal, Canada; Musiques et Recherches, Brussels, Belgium; International Computer Music Conference, New Orleans, USA.

Sound Design

I also create work for various contexts outside of the concert hall. This includes dance, theatre, film, podcasts, soundwalks and sound installations that have been presented nationally and abroad.

Recent theatre productions include: The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me Leicester Curve (2020, 2022), The Glad Game (2021), Jekyll & Hyde Birmingham REP (2019), Rocket Fuel mac Birmingham (2019), The Fear of Fear, Warwick Arts Centre (2018), (sorry) Birmingham REP (2017), Delightful Birmingham REP (2017), Heather Tobacco Factory, Bristol (2017), The Whip Hand Birmingham REP (2017), Stories To Tell In The Middle Of The Night, Birmingham REP (2017).

I have worked with Humanhood Dance composing music for their outdoor performances Sphera (2020) and Orbis (2017) and their full length theatre pieces ∞ [Infinite] (2022) and ZERO (2016). ZERO won 1st Prize at Certamen Coreografico de Madrid 2016 and all pieces toured internationally.

In 2019 I composed the soundtrack for Anna Falcini’s film Chère Julie presented as part of the exhibition In Between The Folds Are Particles at Oriel Davies Gallery, Wales and Aberystwyth Arts Centre (2022). More recently I recorded and produced the soundtrack for Siôn Marshall-Waters’ short documentary Forest Coal Pit (2022) commissioned by Ffilm Cymru, BFI Network and BBC Wales and shortlisted for a Grierson Award 2022.

I’ve designed a number of soundwalks including Look Left Look Right’s theatrical soundwalk Taking Leave and Olivia Winteringham’s A Journey Round My Theatre. With SOUNDkitchen I have created soundwalk commissions for Flatpack Festival, Royal Musicological Association, Still Walking, Eastside Projects and Blast! Festival.

Performance

As a performer I create live electroacoustic music with a focus on manipulated field recordings and multi-channel spatialisation. I am one half of music production and performance duo Anvil & Stirrup in collaboration with composer Antti Sakari Saario. I also perform regularly as part of the SOUNDkitchen collective with Annie Mahtani and was a member of BiLE (Birmingham Laptop Ensemble) from 2011-12.

Performances at concerts and festivals including: SOUNDkitchen, Birmingham, UK; Electric Spring, University of Huddersfield, UK; Flatpack Festival, Birmingham, UK; Klang! Electroacoustique, Montpellier, France; Supersonic Festival, Birmingham, UK; Lovebytes Festival, Sheffield, UK; Site 13 Festival, Stroud, UK; BEAST, University of Birmingham, UK; Audiograft Festival, Oxford, UK; Anorg Festival, Zurich, Switzerland.