Memento Mori/Radiophrenia

Tomorrow my sound/radio play experiment thing airs on Radiophrenia at 7.30am.

You can listen here http://radiophrenia.scot/how-to-listen/

This was the end result of some research and introspection into death, my death and how death currently impacts people around me. It is quite strange. I also don’t think its entirely finished. I mean, it is. This play isn’t going to change much, but I'm thinking of adding to it possibly in the future. I’ve experimented with directly addressing the audience and explaining my thoughts and also presenting abstract sounds, ideas and themes for them to widely interpret.

The play has been aired in two group sessions. One in a completely dry acoustic and dark room, which allowed for a great immersion. The other was a public event in an open airy hall, filled with light. It didn’t work so well that time around. I’m so excited to see how it works being aired live. The prospect of an individual listening to it privately is so satisfying, and to think there might be a couple being listening to the same thing in different locations but having completely isolated experiences is just so fantastic… Radios. It really is a special medium that artists/playwrights/composers need to make more for. It is only live medium of performance which can be experienced entirely by the choosing of the listener, and that affects how they hear it. Someone may hear this play while preparing their kids for school, someone else while driving, someone else by lying in bed drifting in and out of consciousness, focusing and hearing snippets out of view from the rest of the play… It is so highly personal. Two different people can interpret something in two completely different ways and never be aware of the other, unlike a concert environment where other visual factors can impact this, or by conversing with other audience members about their interpretation.

Anyway, I’m rambling here. Radiophrenia has been a real joy to listen to this week while I’ve been working night shifts. Eerie experiences, weird sounds, funny stories and sounds in abundance. With the technology we have I think we as people should be exploring art on the radio more. Radiophrenia is a great advocate for this and I can’t wait to hear more and see what comes from them next.

TL;DR

Death play yay, radio needs more art, radiophrenia is great.