Part 2

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?

For me personally, I see music as a giver of strength.

Ambient music can help me come to terms with the world and how it is, to zoom out and reflect. It can help me to concentrate on something, or it can help me rest. Beat-driven or dance music will give me energy, inject some positivity and help me achieve something. While this formula has always worked wonders for me, I don’t doubt that many people will have exactly this the same feeling for their own taste in music, despite the fact that the actual sound they listen to may be completely different to mine.

In terms of acoustic health of an environment, I think the sounds of nature can help bring peace to an environment, and industrial sounds of the city may do the opposite for some people. Field recordings from artists living in a city may sound quite different to those from the country, and sometimes music scenes spring up based on the inspiration and sound that can be extracted from an environment.

I guess it’s all down to the individual as to what they see as acoustic health, and what their tolerance levels are. For some, certain sounds of an environment can be nostalgic. I grew up with the late-night whir of machinery in nearby factories and it never bothered me in the slightest.
 
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?

I think one moment I remember particularly fondly is one of my early field recordings, from back in 2008. I was away on holiday in Pembrokeshire with my parents at a time when I’d just started making ambient music. We visited Caldey Island by boat, and it’s a small island inhabited only by monks. I stood still and recorded the sounds of birds, ducks and the general ambience whilst being set back from the main path where other tourists were exploring.

It was a very quiet and peaceful experience, and I later made a track called “7 Minutes Of Peace,” with the field recording playing live and more or less unedited. By chance, the characteristics of the sound I recorded were all natural, with the tourists all thankfully staying quiet as I captured the sound of the environment, exactly as it was. Time seemed to stand on end - it’s hard to describe, but it was a pretty magical moment.

I have found that more than anything, the field recordings I capture become more moving and more important to me years on from the release of a record. The sounds help remind me of what I was doing at the time and transport me back to that period of time. They sort of activate nostalgia for me.

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?

Having had pets for at least the last 15 years, I’ve seen it with domestic animals, that their sense of sound can be incredible. For example, our cat could tell apart the particular tone of our car’s brake pads from another vehicle. She’d jump fences to greet us as soon as she heard that sound.

And my dog Monty had learnt the sound of a Jiffy bag containing CDs, and associated these with walks! I’ll usually always take him with me to the post box in the village to send out UK orders.

I find it fascinating as to us, these small sounds and textures can be inaudible or too innocuous to notice.

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?

I thankfully don’t currently suffer particularly with either of these conditions, although I have noticed in recent years that there’s a slight dip in my hearing. Mostly through having to ask people to repeat what they said!

I used to get tinnitus back in my DJing days but whilst I do miss DJing, thankfully I don’t miss being exposed to such extreme volumes of sound.

I try to keep music volumes down where I can, particularly when listening to ambient music, as I don’t actually feel the need to hear it play loud; I prefer it at mid-volume.
 
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?

As mentioned earlier, I think sometimes when walking outside with headphones you can sometimes miss magical moments of naturally occurring sound. I’d say also that silence may be a good method to help protect the ears, in reference to the previous question.

For me personally, time away from music can heighten my connection with music when I do get chance to listen to it again.
 
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 personally place a lot of emphasis on the sense of sight too when it comes to connecting with music. I love the physical media and a quality artwork aesthetic. So I am often searching for records, whether on other labels or creating/organising them myself, that engage both the ears and eyes.

That said, sometimes you can overlook a record based on its visuals, I.e judging the book by its cover. There are plenty of wonderful records from a sound point of view, where the art concept isn’t very strong, not my cup of tea, or perhaps it’s so minimal that it doesn’t necessarily try to portray a particular message or form a strong aesthetic. I think it’s important both as a music collector and someone who listens to demos, that I don’t place everything on the sight and sound element being equally strong.

But, my preference personally is for music and how it is packaged overall to be strong. That is the vision for how I try to curate my label; music should mean something, and awaken the senses.
 
For interested readers, what are books, websites, articles or other sources of information you recommend for them to educate themselves on the topic?

I’d say this is a question where I’d struggle to give much of a helpful answer, as I’m not someone who reads a lot for my inspiration, I’m ashamed to say. Any books I read or resources tend to be factual, or aimed at trying to develop - whether this be as an artist, record label or around business/marketing techniques.

That said, I’d be interested in passing this question back to the reader, to see what they would recommend to me!