Name: Thomas Beech aka Fthmlss
Occupation: Producer
Nationality: British
Recent release: Fthmlss's new single "En Le Frith" is out via Folded.

If you enjoyed this Fthmlss interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and bandcamp.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Most of my time spent listening to music is while driving these days. Daydreaming away and enjoying the scenery of my surroundings. Nowadays I work in such a beautiful, scenic location so my eyes are well and truly open. Appreciating those views and making sure my eyes are on the road of-course!

In terms of what happens in my body, I experience that same sensation when caught up deep in a cinematic experience. The possibilities in life feel endless, time slows and the moments last for what can feel like an eternity at times.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I definitely have certain songs I prefer to experience through certain mediums.

For example I love listening to ambient soundscapes through headphones. There’s something so personal and intimate in the way sound is received, as if you’ve been locked away in a chamber and your imagination runs wild.

If i’m in the mood for some 2-step energetic type vibes, i would always opt for experiencing it through a weighty system where the experience is worlds apart from bopping along to a tune in headphones. It breaks into that physical realm in which sound feels much more alive.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Villager recently, absolutely loving his energy and hyperactive style of production.

As someone who has very clear attention and fixation troubles, I always find myself eager to hear what’s next within his productions.



Album wise I’m always spoilt for choice regarding projects that I love for their sound, I have recently found myself going back to an old favourite which is Burial’s self-titled Burial album.

Still hits the same as when i heard it when it first came out all those years ago.



It’s so texturally rich that the scenes set within each track are so vivid and prevalent right from the very get go, it enables me to get wrapped up in the story each and every time!

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

100%! A lot of the time its random tonal alerts and beeps around town, distant PA and intercom systems in a dead train station in the middle of the night. Both a sense of melancholy and immersion into a story unfolding. Guaranteed I’ll get my phone out to try and record but the moment passes.

My track ‘3am’ from my last project features one of these noises as the lead synth line.



It was actually from a car park ticket barrier in Stockport that caught me off guard the first time but I later returned and managed to record it from which I cut up and layered and harmonised to create what’s in the track today.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Mmm this is a tough one! I guess a lot of drone style noises and heavy metallic sounds that you often hear near industrial sites.

I find due to metal being involved, the tonalities to the sound are fascinating and often emotional in a way where I guess others may feel it’s just a horrible metallic noise.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

Absolutely, although I’ve never actually gone out and collected impulse responses, there have been a lot of spots over the years that I’ve stuck on the bucket list.

The OG being pipes, a place near where I grew up that is essentially massive concrete pipes big enough to crawl in underneath train tracks that acts as a drain between a flash and a stream.

The reverb you get when sending sound into the pipes is incredible. Almost a combination of a slap delay and a flanger/phaser as you hear the sound ricocheting down to the end.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

I have indeed, I first went into an anechoic chamber at university as they had one on site. Such an unsettling experience that is very interesting to listen to music in, feeling much less alive without some kind of room characteristics thrown in the mix.

I’ve also been in a fair few caves around UK and Czech, always love the eerie spacial dynamics of these spaces, great to record in.

Last year my partner’s brother took me and my partner to an abandoned quarry inside of a mountain, the acoustics where insane! I don’t think I ever ended up sampling the recordings I made there but it’s definitely on my list!

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I love travelling around to listen to music. Constantly evolving surroundings that connect and provide a deeper story to the soundtrack of the journey.

In terms of recording/producing, I also love doing this while out and about. My last project ‘Itinerant’ was solely created whilst camping around the peak district in my car using Logic and my 404 mk2.



I love that connection to nature and so find nothing more satisfying than to be outside and creating sound waves.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Sculpting the airways through time and space is a way I certainly look at it.

I definitely feel a sense of sculpting, whether it’s mixing a track down to try and make every single element more cohesive and when the process is more sound design driven.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

I feel it is a crucial element! I’m a strong believer in your daily environment directly impacts your mindset and i feel the sonics are a big part of that.

I work out in the sticks and so most of my exposure is from natural sources like streams flowing and birdsong. I feel this is why these kind of sounds work so well texturally in a musical context as they have an innately positive and calming effects on the mind.

This connection is also potentially why I feel drawn to certain instruments that are known for their calming and meditative qualities. I recently purchased a handpan as it’d been a long time dream to be able to record one and It’s a joy to play and listen to. You can hear some handpan chops from my latest single ‘En le Frith’.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

There have been too many instances where sounds have caught my attention and completely thrown me off whatever it was I was doing, I love those moments!

One freshest in my memory is just the other day whilst out near work there was a combination of distant metallic machinery along with birdsong and a helicopter looming far away creating that constant drone whilst nature and machine sang together in such a put together way It was the perfect distraction.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?

Just like in many situations where there is that symbiotic relationship between humans and animals, I feel communication between the two could be an incredible breakthrough, creating a deeper connection and understanding to nature as a whole. If all we know is observation, this can often be misinterpreted and so the more knowledge we have on life as a whole the better off position it could put us in the future.

Creatively I think we already see it happen. A lot of animals understand rhythm and music to a degree. I’ve seen lots of birds and dog videos in which they are jamming out to various songs.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

It’s something I experience infrequently, but always try to stay aware and take precautions.

Ear protection is a must at nights out and I always ensure that levels are never too high whilst in the studio and make sure to take breaks.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I feel silence plays a huge role in the importance of sound itself. As the dark with the light and so on. Constant relationships between two polar opposite forces or energy and lack-there-of truly highlight the beauty and magnificence of that force/energy in the first place.

I always relate it to the fact it always rains in Manchester, and I like that as it makes me so much more thankful for when the sun finally comes out. If I lived somewhere where it was sunny all the time, it’s not something I would appreciate half as much as it is a constant.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

I feel that the pacing of life would slow down massively. I feel it would boost creativity to no end as we tend to use our imaginations so much more when receiving information through sound.

We don’t have to concentrate with our eyes, it allows us to almost switch off and still process the information at a sub conscious level at times.