Simon WhethamNever So Alone

The sound materials gathered from Lisbon lay untouched/unheard for a while after visiting the city. Emotions were in turmoil and situations were changing forever. Work began on composing with the materials as a cathartic release, one that aided the healing process. Far from being a downbeat ending, I feel the work signifies a new positive beginning, but charts all journeys leading to that point. — Simon Whetham, April 2011

During an extended stay in Lisbon, courtesy of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupting and causing european airspace to be closed, Simon Whetham explored the sonorities of city, and the surrounding countryside, using the various microphones he employs in his work. In addition to a Sennheiser shotgun microphone and two Tram lavalier mics, which capture ambient sounds we all hear, he uses contact microphones and hydrophones to expose sound vibrations that travel through objects, an electromagentic coil pickup and a radio receiver.

Simon then composed with these sound materials, in part responding to the geography and architecture of the location, the inhabitants, the weather even, but also the broad spectrum of feelings and emotions felt while investigating the place.

Field recordists tend to work alone when gathering their recordings, entering a state removed from their surroundings, but simultaneously absorbing them and becoming part of them. The loneliness alluded to in the title should therefore not be read as negative, but positive, and essential for the creation of this work.

• All sound materials gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, April 2010
• Mastered by Miguel Carvalhais
• Cover photo by Hugo Olim

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