Name: Long Island Sound
Members: Rob Roche and Tim Nolan
Nationality: Irish
Current Release: Long Island Sound's new single “CV GATE” is out via Signs of Space.  

If you enjoyed this Long Island Sound interview and would like to know more about the duo and their music, visit them 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?

Our response to music is emotional first and foremost. In our opinion, the best music can elicit really strong feelings: melancholy, nostalgia, euphoria etc. Although dance music is our thing, we always crave emotion in music.

We listen with our eyes open!

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

There are so many variables that can change your experience of music - where you are, your state of mind, etc.

Listening to music on a proper sound system as a shared experience is the ultimate buzz for us. Having said that, you can have powerful experiences listening by yourself with headphones.

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

In terms of electronic music, the first Bicep album has always been a source of inspiration for us.



Daft Punk’s Alive 2007 is also an absolute classic, and is the benchmark for live electronic music in our opinion.



Overmono’s Good Lies is also a great example of an album music that fuses pop sensibilities with underground house and techno sounds. Hearing that album inspired us to approach our own music in that way.



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?

We’re primarily drawn towards melody. Synth riffs, chord progressions and basslines hold the key to emotion in our eyes.

We can’t explain why these have such a profound effect. One of life’s mysteries!

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?

Resonances, especially high up the frequency spectrum, are the most irritating to us.

These are the sounds that we spend a lot of time combating in the studio.

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

The rhythms, noises and hum of a city are all interesting to us.

Everyday sounds, and how they interact, can be inspiring; traffic lights, people talking, airplane hums etc.

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

There’s a really interesting place on the outskirts of Berlin called Teufelsberg. It’s a defunct Cold War US listening station that was built over an unfinished Nazi training college. The rubble from the war was taken from Berlin and used to elevate the site.



At the top of the building, there are 4 domes, some of which you can enter. The sonic reflections in there are very disorienting. If you speak in one direction, the sound of your voice appears to travel all the way around the dome, eventually creeping up behind you.

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

We have one place where we primarily record: our studio in Dublin. We love it here.

With regards to playing our music, one of our favourite recent experiences was playing live at fabric in London. Shouts to Rob on sound tech!

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

We think that music and sound feel more material the more you work on a particular piece. Once you’ve recorded something and can see the waveform on a screen, it becomes more visual. Music terminology is also completely bound up in visual language, eg. ‘this bass is fat and round’.

The mixdown phase feels especially like sculpting, as you’re trying to prevent unnecessary spikes and smoothing out the piece.

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

It seems like the healthiest society would be the quietest society. We find that living in noisey cities is more taxing on your mental health.

Thankfully, as cities go, Dublin is the perfect size, with close access to peace and quiet at the sea or mountainside.

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?

In terms of moving experiences, it’s difficult to beat the sound of the ocean.

There’s a beach in Nice, France where the waves crash onto the shore and the tide then drags some of the pebbles back towards the ocean. There’s both a swell and percussive sound as a result.



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?

Interspecies communication is definitely possible.

When communicating with humans, your tone of voice, the amplitude of voice, your body language and your facial expressions all play a bigger role than the words you use. So, although animals don’t speak our language, they can likely pick up on these cues.

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?

We both suffer from tinnitus. Tim has been drumming since the age of 14, so has experienced significant damage due to close proximity to the snare and cymbals.

We both wear earplugs to prevent further damage. Once the damage is done, it’s impossible to undo, so you just have to learn to live with that.

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?

We might not consider it the ultimate delight, but we think the use of silence in music is definitely under-rated.

A moment of silence before a moment of intensity can be really powerful. You can’t have one without the other.

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?

The world would be a better place if we paid less attention to looks and listened to each other.